Google Thunderstorm Sounds before you start. Or anything remotely related to the topic I suppose. The louder, the better. Ambiance goes a long way my friends. And it'll only make things this chapter that much more DRAMATIC. Because if this story has one thing going for it, it's DRAMA.

Back to your irregularly scheduled program.

From inside our cozy office, I gazed through the door at the walkway outside, watching the storm continue to hammer the thing with rain. The occasional crack of thunder accompanying the torrential onslaught. Back inside that lab with Wrex and Droyas...it had been quiet. Nice. I had already forgotten what was going on outside. Not a peep was heard save for the noise we made ourselves. And it had been a very welcome respite from the brutal weather.

But now that I was back outside...or near it anyway...it seemed that the storm had come back with a vengeance.

The walkway itself almost seemed to move with the run-off from the downpour, water endlessly cascading off its ends.

And despite the armor hugging my body, the sight chilled me to my bone.

"Don't shoot! Please, I just want to get out of here before it's too late!

"Really? Because everyone in this place so far is trying to kill me."

Though I sometimes felt like I was singled out more often than most...Shepard really was wary of making new friends. Some might even call it paranoia.

Though in this scenario, I guess I would have been particularly thankful for it.

"Do I look like a soldier? I'm a neurospecialist. And this job isn't worth dying over. Or worse."

"Well it's too late for that isn't it Thanopsis?!" The Asari scientist's eyes would pop open wide with my declaration, mouth agape. Would plead for mercy with how I'd incriminate her. But unfortunately...it was already too late for her. "Shepard, from my intel, this is Saren's lead researcher on indoctrination. She's been exposed to it as much as the others...she can't be trusted."

And then Shepard would have followed this accusation up by pressing the Asari for more information, how she was linked to Saren, what they were doing on this level, what exactly indoctrination was, then probably turn around and question me on how I even knew any of what I said in the first place. Again.

But my answer to that wouldn't matter.

Unlike I had imagined...we hadn't made it back in time for any of that to occur.

I looked over my shoulder at the Asari lying dead in the middle of what was once her office.

"You conducted brutal experiments on helpless test subjects. You helped Saren. You don't get to live."

"I just did what I was told! I didn't have a choice, I'm sorry!"

"Sorry doesn't help all your victims."

"No! No!"

Wrex and I had been entering the room just in time to hear her last words.

And they disgusted me.

I knew what would happen if we let her go.

She would just help Okeer with his cloning facility, which indicates she was somewhat involved in what was going on with Droyas. And if she was even given a second chance, let go again...she would kill several dozen Asari officials along with herself in 2186.

She was going to die regardless.

No matter what choices we made.

By our hand or her own...her death was going to happen.

Making sure it was here and now would mean however she would die alone.

However...watching her plead for her life, Shepard subsequently execute her, purple blood splattered on the ground-

I realized I never had the resolve to do such a thing in the first place. I had wanted Shepard to do it for me from the very beginning let's be real, which is why I had been planning on entirely convincing the Commander of her guilt. Because I didn't want the guilt of having to do it myself. No, I didn't have the ability to. Noveria. The Citadel. I already knew this.

I just wouldn't have been able to do it myself.

And, a philosopher once said 'the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword...and if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps that man does not deserve to die.'

...so could I really have just assumed her fate would be the same in the end? Did she even deserve to die? Even with everything that's happened? Should I really have just condemned her to death without recourse? Without even considering any of the other possible options? I mean...wasn't that the whole reason I was here? To change the fate already assigned to everyone-

I immediately bit my tongue. And it hurt like a bitch.

But the action served its purpose.

Marauder Shield doesn't second guess his actions. Marauder Shield's resolve doesn't waver. Marauder Shield just saves the day.

I nodded my head in affirmation, deciding to turn my attention instead back to Phase 4 of my Master Plan. It wouldn't be easy but-

I froze once I realized that I no longer heard the storm outside. And my suspicions were met as I turned back around to the office's entrance, finding that the torrent of rain outside had suddenly ceased to be. And I had about a second to squint before a gale force wind suddenly slammed into my face, tossing me, everyone in the room, backwards onto our asses, windows of the office shattering into a million glass shards as the sonic boom obliterated them.

What the-

"Commander, we got trouble."

I froze as I realized what just happened.

"Lay it on me Joker. I love bad news," the Commander's voice sounded over the radio.

Sovereign.

"-it's moving. I don't know what you did down there, but that thing just pulled a turn that would shear any of our ships in half. It's coming your way, and it's coming hard! You need to wrap things up in there. Fast!"

"We'll head for the breeding facility. Time to blow this place to hell."

"Right, Commander. I'll meet you there. Joker out."

Recovering first, I got up and offered Tali a hand, pulling her up. The Salarian, Ganto Imness, and Wrex got back to their feet across from us. And the short silence we had disappeared as the squall immediately resumed with a vengeance, lightning illuminating the room.

"That was a ship?" the former STG POW choked.

"A Krogan cruiser once fired its cannon above a village in the Kelphic Valley. The aftermath left little standing."

"I understand in atmo-firing Krogan," Ganto replied. "But was that really just due to a ship merely turning-"

"*Unintelligible Geth Growl*"

We had a second to stare at the Geth Hunter in the doorway slick with rain before it launched a carnage blast in Ganto's direction. In turn, two shotgun groupings, a barrage of assault rifle fire to the head, and a final biotic blast sent the bipedal lamp to robot hell, flipping it over the railing.

"Are you alright?!" Tali was the first to ask the Salarian sprawled on the floor.

"I'm-"

Ganto was interrupted as Shepard, Garrus, and Liara came through the other entrance and rejoined our company.

"Sovereign is an actual Reaper."

A flat "what" escaped most of their lips as she then continued.

"And we don't have much time before it gets here. We need to get to the drop zone. NOW."

The frenzied voice of Kirrahe suddenly came on over our radios next.

"Look! The Geth are turning from your position, Jaeto. Looks like Shadow kicked a sensitive spot! Aegohr, head them off! Hol-"

His voice barely audible over the gunfire and storm suddenly cut out mid-sentence. And Shepard's face contorted into a grimace before her mouth urgently opened again.

"Move!"

"Hey! We got the charges set! Heads down you frogs! Heads down-"

As Joker circled the Normandy on the outskirts of the facility, he could already see the plume of smoke now rising from Fredericks and Jaeto team's well-placed detonation.

"Ah ha ha, alright!" escaped his lips as lightning further illuminated the massive breach in the facility's tower. "Nice work! That's one less thing to worry about." He hit several flips before signaling for Rosie to vent the heat sinks. "Commander, I'm bringing us in. I'll get as close to the site as I can. MSV Erros, you're clear to pick up your guys."

In response to punching the engines, the Normandy gave a jerk as it suddenly abandoned its stealth course and dove in for the coordinates coming from Shepard's suit. Things here were as good as done. Everyone completed their objectives, ships were inbound, and mission was accomplished! All they needed to do was go back home and receive their medals.

Or so he had thought.

He wanted to blame the next thing on the storm but...in reality...it was really all Gladstone's fault. Should have seen the signature on the scans earlier.

"Incoming!"

Joker barely had time to veer under the flak as one of the AA towers started firing upon them during their descent. He cut the throttle just in time as the Normandy collided off the walls of the Breeding Grounds and came to a rather abrupt stop over Shepard's ground team, a stop that surely created a gust of wind that blew them all on their asses.

"What was that?!" he immediately heard Shepard shout.

"Hey, you almost detonated this thing Joker! What the hell?!" Chief Adams voice then came from the garage.

"Sorry, looks like we came in a little early. We didn't realize the other AA was still online," he could only reply to them both sheepishly.

"Dammit!"

"Joker," Harry spoke up beside Gladstone now. "...the Erros reports it was hit on its descent. It had to pull off before it was downed."

The hair on his neck stood on end.

"...will it still be able to leave atmo?"

"I don't know. They cut off before I could ask. I'll try hailing them again."

Some time passed on the bridge before the voice of Officer Fantum in the garage came over the comms next.

"Bombguard has just safely escorted the package out of the garage. I repeat, Eagle has left the nest."

From the bridge's window, Joker tensely looked on as said 'bombguard' placed the nuke smack dab in front of the trench's sewage drain. Tanaka wiped his brow, Felawa readied his rifle, and Kaidan immediately went to work. Without even asking, Gladstone then decided to remind Joker that the 2-kilometer-long dreadnought and genocidal robot Sovereign was still inbound, closing in.

Things weren't looking too good at this point.

"Bomb is in position! We're all set here-"

"Hey Commander, can you read me?!"

Fredericks' voice suddenly came on over the team's common channel again, accompanied by heavy rain-no, gunfire.

"The nuke is almost ready. Get to your rendezvous point!" the Commander immediately yelled back at the marine over it.

"Not an option, Commander! The Geth have us pinned down on the AA tower. We weren't able to demo the thing without team Aegohr-"

"What? What happened to Williams?!"

"We don't know! But we've taken heavy casualties without team Mannovai too. I don't think getting out is an option anymore."

...when did they lose contact with both?!

Joker tried to rack his brain in an attempt to remember but...both other teams were MIA?

Wasn't Mannovai the Salarian Captain's team? And Emerson had been on it with him too-

"Where's their evac Joker?! Get them out of there, now!"

"We saw our ride go down trying to pick us up Commander!" Fredericks responded for him. "And I don't think they're coming back! We'll hold them off as long as we-"

Fredericks' voice cut out over the radio.

"Uh, Joker-" someone on the bridge had already begun.

"It's okay Commander! I need a couple of minutes to finish arming the bomb. Go get them and meet me back here," Kaidan's static-y voice suddenly cut them off.

"What?" Joker hissed annoyed as Gladstone continued murmuring his name.

"Tanaka, Felawa, Shield, you keep that nuke safe!" Shepard shouted back into the radio. "The rest of you, up to the AA tower, move!"

"There's three Geth dropships inbound."

"Dangit!" Joker immediately reopened the Normandy's line, shaking off his deer frozen in the headlights routing, while simultaneously pulling the ship out of the trench. "Shepard! The Geth have more ships on the way! We got to get out of here. We'll try to pick some off but with that tower up-"

"Just do it!"

"Shit," Joker hissed as the ship rolled back out of the landing site.

"One ship is headed straight for us!" Gladstone spoke again, as the AA tower lit up their ascent.

"Shit!"

The ship's shield immediately tanked as ordinance directly blasted its belly.

"Joker! Get us out of here!" Pressly loudly shouted from the CiC.

He jostled the yoke, cutting the Normandy around and without hesitation, zoomed out towards the mountainous terrain nearby, barely dodging the next AA barrage exploding over the ship and the Geth frigate still in hot pursuit.

"SHIT!"

Aegohr and Mannovai were AWOL. My commandeered vessel downed because Jaeto alone hadn't been able to take down their respective AA tower. The Normandy under enemy fire. Shepard about to be forced to make a choice I had never wanted her to have in the first place.

What had just happened?

"Heads up Alenko! I think we just spotted a ship headed for you!"

A round ricochet off the corner of the stone slab I was behind, just inches away from my helmet. Gritting my teeth, I leaned out from the pillar and returned fire. The Geth's heads really made it easier to spot them then it should be in the dark downpour. One of the flashlights suddenly went dark beyond me as it was hit. But at this point...it seemed almost pointless as another immediately replaced it, leaping out of the Geth frigate stationed in the dark clouds somewhere overhead.

"It's already here. There's Geth pouring out all over the bomb site," Kaidan shouted over the comm back at Fredericks, the LT still somewhere near the bomb. I didn't know where Tanaka or Felawa had taken cover when it had arrived but I could still hear them firing...still alive.

"Can you hold them off?!" Shepard yelled back.

"There's too many. I don't think we can survive until you get here-"

My brow furrowed as I heard his reply. "Don't listen to him Shepard! We can hold out!" My head snapped back as a larger chunk of the pillar I was behind suddenly disappeared. "Get to the AA tower, shut it down, and both teams can still evac-"

"I'm activating the bomb."

"What the hell are you doing Alenko?!" we both shouted at him in unison.

"I'm just making sure this bomb goes off. No matter what..." A pause of disbelief passed over the conversation before Alenko suddenly came back on. "It's done Commander. Go get Fredericks and Jaeto. Then get the hell out of here. Tanaka, Felawa, Shield, go. I have it from-"

"We're not abandoning you LT!" Felawa yelled over the rain.

"Yeah, fuck you Alenko!" Fredericks shouted at the same time. "WE can handle ourselves. Go back and cover the LT, Commander!"

"No, fuck you both!" I blurted over the radio. "Take down that TOWER Shepard and-"

"Oh shit it's SAREN! I see him Commander! He's here-"

...and just like that.

His report had sealed our fates.

Shepard had one mission over these past few months.

And she was intent on completing it.

No matter the cost.

Stop Saren.

"Radio Joker and tell him to meet us there."

"SHEPARD-"

But she had already cut me out.

"Yes Commander. I-"

"You know it's the right choice! I'll meet you there!"

Rage gripped my mind and I hurled my lancer at the wall, the weapon loudly cracking against it.

What happened? Are you really going to-

I drew my handgun and spun around the pillar, firing blindly at the Geth still marching toward us. I wouldn't let it get to me. I had to hope everything would work out. That this wouldn't be the end. My gun popped its heat sink before I was done, but I reluctantly fell back behind cover as my shields were ripped apart, a round not failing to hit me dead-center.

"Stay alive! After we're done with Saren, I'll be coming back to get you too!"

I ran a hand over my chest, feeling the shard still stuck in the ceramic plate.

"Tell Emerson and Williams to move their asses if you see 'em!"

"Damn it! Suppressive fire!"

The cries of Tanaka brought my attention back to our own team.

"Watch your flank Rob! Cover your-ARGh!"

I wheeled out in panic to my left, where a flashlight significantly taller than the rest was standing still, apparently hovering over something.

I open fired before it was suddenly wrenched up by a violet field.

"I got him!"

I wasted no time in sprinting through the water up to my ankles, rain and rounds pelting my armor harmlessly as I bolted for the downed marine, fighting through the throbbing pain in my abdomen. I slid the last leg of it, right as my shields sputtered out, saddling up to the marine now clutching his shoulder. I immediately took a medigel stim off his belt and stabbed him with it, the man too weak to even do it himself. He and Felawa had seen less action over the course of this mission then me, so it didn't exactly surprise me. They had just been glorified security guards up to this point.

I then forced my head and Tanaka's down toward the ground as a rocket launched at where we had just been, sending charred pieces of metal from the crate scattering everywhere upon detonating. I tried to look around from where it had come from but-

"Shield, fall back!"

But I refused. I would die if I did. I didn't know where he had gone or where the other Geth remained.

I would be picked off as soon as I left cover.

I don't know how I even got to where I was now without dying, my mind was completely-

I picked up Tanaka and threw him into the corner of the wall, and I sandwiched myself in after him as another carnage shot created a wall of water from where it had just impacted. I fired back at where I thought the Geth was, but again...the battlefield was covered by darkness, an impenetrable field of rain and mist hiding the enemy from us. The storm itself was so dark it blotted out the sky. And the maelstrom's occasional bout of thunder and rain masked the actions of whatever could be happening around us, auditory and visually.

"I'm moving back LT! Cover me!"

The voice of Felawa snapped to my attention. My eyes were able to pick out Rob's faint figure, due to him moving against the grain of the rain and the shadows at breakneck speed, before it suddenly hit the ground as another Geth volley of fire was launched upon it-

And as I thought we had just lost someone else, the volley was suddenly interrupted by another. I flicked my head back behind me in time to see what I took to be 'Shadow' Team exiting the breeding grounds, launching an entirely new offensive of their own. A 'shadow' simply knelt in the middle of it, immediately loosing what I assumed were several well-placed rounds into the storm. Two more figures strafed the Geth alleyway with the sounds of shotguns, guarding another behind them glowing faintly violet, an individual now throwing a biotic barrier over the marine who had just hit the ground. The two who were first out the gate simply deigned to add to Kaidan's suppressive fire still coming from the nuke, with the rest now establishing their beach head inside the trench.

And it was clear at this point that Shepard's decision had been made.

Then a bright flash appeared in the sky again, blinding me. But unlike the strikes of lightning before...this one wasn't natural. It was made by something other than the storm. A purple nova had suddenly been sent out like a flare. It shot up into the sky, illuminating the dark trench, before another was suddenly sent in what I could now see to be Shepard's direction. The blast barely flew over her shoulder, instead impacting the Turian behind her. And the Commander immediately pivoted in response, firing into the dark sky at where it had come from before the thing flashed violet again, now from the opposite side of the trench.

Shepard narrowly dodged this one as well. But only by a thread.

The biotic blast ignited upon impacting the water, and the explosion flung her behind the pillar she had originally just been heading for.

"I...there."

My eyes followed Tanaka's finger as his semi-coherent voice, barely conscious, accompanied a flash of lightning that had lit up the trench. And for that brief second, my eyes opened wide as they witnessed the figure of a Turian drop from a platform levitating several dozen feet in the air. The Turian that Tanaka had been the one to report and cause Fredericks to meet his maker. The Spectre responsible for starting this all. I held my head down as a burst of gunfire suddenly pelted our location again.

Shepard fiercely spun out of cover, ignoring the uncompromising rain and gunfire sweeping across the trench, decisively training her gun solely on him. And she couldn't help but think how appropriate that a Spectre-issued weapon would be the thing to end the Silver Turian. It was over now that the lightning finally allowed her to see where the bastard had been hiding this entire time.

Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger. Liberally. His barrier was the first to go, purple aura finally dissipating with her gun only half-way to overheating. But despite this event, the bastard continued to casually walk forward through the trench, as if nothing was even happening around him. He simply allowed the next few rounds of hers to be stopped by his shield, the bastard refusing to even flinch. But before she could finish him, finish this, Shepard was forced back into cover as darkness fell back over the trench, veiling the Turian, and as the remaining Geth began to fire on her position next.

The voice that soon followed her retreat was rife with arrogance, barely audible over the vimiran storm.

"I applaud you Shepard. My Geth were utterly convinced the Salarians were the real threat. An impressive diversion. Of course, it was all for nothing-"

Nothing?

"-I can't let you disrupt what I have accomplished here. You can't possibly understand what's really at stake."

Her fist curled in frustration, head swirling with emotion as his words rattled in her head. Words left her mouth before she was aware they had even formed.

"This isn't complicated! You'll do anything to get power! Even joining with the Reapers!"

"You've seen the vision from the beacons Shepard. You, of all people, should understand what the Reapers are capable of."

Her head ached as the visions began to creep into her head.

Not now-

"They cannot be stopped. Do not mire yourself in pointless revolt. Do not sacrifice everything for the sake of petty freedoms. The Protheans tried to fight, and they were utterly destroyed. Trillions dead."

That's what the visions showed.

That's what they told her.

But-

"-what if they had bowed before the invaders? Would the Protheans still exist? Is submission not preferable to extinction?"

Saren's words were as lifeless as his cybernetic eyes. They weren't the words of a free, living being.

No...they were the words of a slave.

"I'd rather die than live under the rule of those machines!"

"Now you see why I never came forward with this to the Council," the Turian scoffed. "We organics are driven by emotion instead of logic. We will fight even when we know we cannot win. But if we work with the Reapers, if we make ourselves useful, think how many lives could be spared!"

"Do you really believe that?!"

Another voice rang out over the rain before she could respond, derailing her thoughts.

But it had also given her time to collect herself.

"You think you're the first in time to ever side with them? You don't think that even one Prothean sided with the Reapers in the last cycle?!"

"That thing had even said itself that it existed for millennia," Garrus barked along with him, following his lead. "To think you're the first in galactic history to ever try and appease them is idiotic!"

"...you're both wrong. No one ever submitted. And that is why they died."

Shield spoke again as she glanced at the shadow she presumed to be Garrus, giving him a signal and to pass it along.

"You idiot! Why don't you ask Sovereign what's behind the Omega 4 relay then?! There were Protheans that helped the Reapers! But only because they were indoctrinated...just like you!"

"You are delusional Human. That is simply not true. I am aware of the...dangers. That is the reason for this facility...so that it could protect me-"

"And what about the Krogan!?" Wrex shouted out next. "What about the cure to the Genophage?!"

"The facility was never truly meant for that. Just a pretext used to recruit your people to Sovereign's cause. Because with the more Krogan that joined us, the more Sovereign would see organics as useful-"

She had heard enough. Krogan, Salarian, Geth. It didn't matter.

"You're just like every other poor bastard in this place! A tool Sovereign can use then cast aside!"

And instead of more propaganda...the alien immediately tried to refute her. Like he wasn't just trying to convince her. Like...

Like he was trying to convince himself as well.

"I've...studied the effects of indoctrination. The more control Sovereign exerts, the less capable the subject becomes. That is my saving grace. Sovereign needs me to find the conduit. My mind is still my own...for now. But the transformation from ally to servant can be subtle. I will not let it happen to me."

It was pathetic.

"But it already has!" Shield shouted over the thunder again.

"If my mother could not fight it...what makes you think you can?!" Liara now joined him.

"She was expendable. Unlike me-"

"Why are the Geth following you?!" Tali's voice curtly echoed over the dark valley of the facility next.

"They believe Sovereign to be some kind of god, the pinnacle of their own evolution. But the reaction of their deity is most telling. It is insulted. Sovereign does not desire the pitiful devotions the Geth hurl at it. They are just tools. And no amount of belief on their part will change that."

"Do you not see anything wrong with that?!" Kaidan shouted at him. "The flaw in your own logic?!"

"But as just tools, they are still useful! They will survive the coming invasion. If organic life is to survive, we must also be useful. We must work with the Reapers."

Shepard straightened her stance and peered at the others taking cover. There could be no mistakes. Their timing needed to be perfect. She motioned to another one of the darkened figures as she spoke again.

"Tell me why Sovereign needs the Conduit! Tell me what it is!" she yelled over the storm.

The Turian's inky voice, matching the darkness that had returned to the trench, now returned to her.

"The Conduit is the key to your destruction, and my salvation Shepard. Sovereign needs my help to find it. That is the only reason I have not been indoctrinated-"

"Keep lying to yourself Saren!"

"My mind is still my own!" the Turian shrieked as thunder shook the ground.

"NO, THAT'S WRONG! You're indoctrinated Saren-"

"NO I AM NOT!" the thing shouted with fury.

"You know you are! And there's only way to redeem yourself you bastard! Kill-"

"RARGH!"

A warp suddenly shot through the darkness and detonated where Shield had just been shouting from.

Shepard only grimaced in response.

She hadn't known what he had been doing but...it was what they currently needed.

A distraction.

He had done enough.

"Well I'm not like you Saren! I'd rather die fighting than live as a slave!"

And that statement was absolute.

She would never become a slave.

Not to the Batarians.

Not to the Reapers.

Not to anyone's design.

She would fight to the very end.

Her fate would be her own.

"I'm a Spectre! I swore to defend the galaxy! And you were too. But you broke that vow to save yourself!"

"I'm not DOING this for myself Shepard! Don't you see?!" the rogue Spectre continued to yell enraged. And it was the exact kind of unhinged behavior she'd expected. And particularly wanted. "Sovereign will succeed! It is inevitable. My way is the only way any of us will survive!" She peered around the corner into the darkness, eyes having adjusted enough by now to pick out his pacing figure in the river. "I'm forging an alliance between us, and the Reapers. Between organics and machines. And in doing so, I will save more lives than have ever existed!"

She ducked her head back behind the crate, activating the VI setting for a carnage on her shotgun.

They had stalled long enough. Everyone should be ready.

It was time to end this.

"You're just a depraved, brainwashed lunatic with a messiah complex Saren! It ends here!"

She flipped around the cover and immediately launched the blazing projectile in the Turian's direction.

DAMMIT!

But his figure was already gone, back aboard the humming platform she was now aware was somewhere in the air.

"Yes. That's right. Even after all this, you would still undo my work. You would doom our entire civilization to complete annihilation on principle. And for that...you must die."

She furrowed her brow, gritted her teeth, grip already tightening around her hand gun now as she immediately switched guns and began firing as Saren and his Geth did the same. Bullets and mass effect fields flew across the gorge, finding targets wherever they were exchanged. Sometime near the beginning she had yelled for her team to target the fallen Spectre entirely. Because his death would end all of this. The Conduit. The Arrival of the Reapers. Everything would end with his-

Then the Geth dropship still humming above them fired its cannon at the solitary pillar standing atop the trench's drain.

"LOOK OUT!"

The shout from afar was overcome by the explosion that shook the ground beneath their feet, with nearly everyone reeling to the ground with the stone tower's collapse. And the event had distracted her just long enough for Saren's own carnage blast to connect dead center with her barrier. The attack stripped her of it as well as her shields, and her helmet smashed against the ground as she was knocked back.

She groaned, mind blank, head rising from the water just in time to see Saren angrily tossing his gun away as he approached. Her fury immediately returned. She attempted to get back up, reach to her gun, fire her pistol on him before his cybernetic arm suddenly grabbed her by the throat, lifting her far up into the air with the ease of a Krogan. The Turian then pulled out a fifteen-centimeter serrated blade from its sheath with his other free hand, eyes as lifeless as she remembered during his trial.

"Know that you die for nothing."

Her hand shot for Saren's claw, stopping it from plunging the knife into her mid-riff entirely, blood already dripping from the entry wound.

Then another loud explosion echoed across the facility.

But this one was not of Saren's design.

And this one was not from the trench.

And her other hand immediately formed a violet fist that connected with Saren's jaw after seeing the opportunity. The action caused the knife to pull out, and herself to quickly drop to the ground gasping in turn.

"The AA tower's down! Normandy, you're free to land!"

Ash?!

Her head jerked in the direction of where said AA tower should be, mouth agape at the voice that had just come over the radio. That was before another explosion illuminated the sky, this time coming from the crackling blue Geth ship that had just been hit by two Javelin Torpedoes. The transport began to immediately list, before quickly disappearing into the trench adjacent to theirs.

A siren coming from the bomb began to wail across the facility just seconds after. Her mind snapped back to the matter at hand, and Shepard whipped her eyes back toward her attacker, who was already back aboard his floating platform.

"SAREN!"

Though she called his name, drew her weapon on him, trained it on him, grimacing through the sharp pain in her mid-riff...the Turian merely returned her gaze coldly before disappearing into the dark sky.

She still fired her gun after him, continuing until the pistol began clicking, loudly venting from its overuse.

Then calmly, she let her arm drop to her side and spoke just loud enough for herself to hear.

"Whatever your plan is Saren, it's going to fail. I'll make sure of it."

And with that oath uttered, the Normandy landed in the trench not moments later, bay doors already opening for evac.

"Hey, the Erros just arrived and is already packing us in Commander! As soon as you guys are in the Normandy, punch it!"

"Where were you?!" Shepard shouted into her radio as she began sprinting, half-stumbling toward the ship before her.

"Had to go silent to pick up Kirrahe and Emerson Commander," Ashley replied, sounding almost amused. "Happy to be bringing both back alive. See you soon!"

Shepard was immediately helped aboard the ship by two crewman from engineering.

After being pulled up and stumbling inside with a pained grunt, she looked up in time to witness Wrex throwing his gun inside his locker rather harshly. And near the garage, Garrus was being looked over by Tali, armor clearly singed from the biotic blast Saren had originally intended for her. Already within the garage's bowels, Liara and Tanaka were being looked at, just a little worse for wear. The STG they had picked up had his back against a crate. And then the Commander stopped and leaned against the Mako as she noticed who was missing.

She turned around in time to watch the last team members board the ship, one being escorted on a stretcher by two others, and Doctor Chakwas who had already come down to examine them.

Her blood ran cold when it was clear who was unresponsive.

And an icy shiver ran down her spine as the bay doors began to close.

"Sovereign is RIGHT on our heels Commander! Hold on!"

The voice barely registered as she began cautiously approaching the man downed, taking off her helmet in the process, finding the garage's air frigid upon her skin.

The ship shook as nuclear fire hounded the Normandy's escape. But it did nothing to help warm her.

For he was dead.

Codex Entry:

Saren's Synthetic Arm Graft

Arterius purportedly gained his prosthetic arm some time in 2180 CE along with his extensive cybernetics, after an investigation on Jartar led to an underground explosion the Spectre was unable to entirely escape from unscathed. His replacement was obviously Geth in origin, though lack of contact with the Perseus Veil kept most acquainted with the Turian in ignorance. Those who were aware of its source assumed it was contraband the Spectre simply confiscated, not realizing the full extent of his relations with the Geth at this point.

Our own research so far on Geth synthetic muscle fibers have advanced our perception of the field by leaps and bounds. By using the knowledge gained from this new research, our cell found a viable way to attach natural ligaments and tendons to synthetic muscle fiber in an attempt to replicate Saren and the Geth's own accomplishment. Using heavy bone weaves along with a number of synthetic threads containing a number of monitored mini-processors allows replacement limbs to be integrated with little hassle.

While this prosthetic is significantly stronger than a natural one however, they still result in a number of safety hazards that stop them from being used at full capacity. This is due to the sheer strain on the body of using such a limb that exerts force magnitudes beyond its own. Just lifting a weight with a synthetic arm past the body's limit would likely permanently damage the organic muscle fibers and ligaments still residing on the scapula and clavicle. We are still examining how Saren has overcome this pitfall, if he has at all.

Interestingly, this type of prosthetic's simulated tissue operates just the same as other Geth platforms. It even grants the additional bonus of being hardened against EMPs and electrical attacks, according to the data cores 'we received'. While the exterior shell does protect the more 'delicate' synthetic muscle underneath from menial debris, it can be breached, and it appears damage to the synthetic tissue itself requires repair. This can apparently be achieved via regular medical means...notably including medi-gel. Which is a phenomenon that has even been observed by several of our own agents.

How the Geth came to learn about this mechanic, let alone adopt it into their own military complex is subject to another investigation entirely.

Author's Notes:

Update. E'er. Day. Hyphy.

But to be honest, every time I writ for this chapter, I was disappointed with how it eventually turned out. All the various outcomes I wrote for it didn't really match what I wanted, and it kept reading real weird too. The Virmire mission was legendary, but I found myself never quite capturing that in the end. And I don't think I ever was. So at the end of the day, this was the rendition I decided to stick with. The follow-up will hopefully mend some things and misgivings I have with it.

And I learned recently that Saren wasn't supposed to look like a Geth abomination until AFTER Virmire in the game. Was supposed to have a regular Turian model before Bioware ran out of budget to do so. I already mentioned his extensive cybernetics though so here's my codex explanation for why. Got them by covering up and destroying Reaper artifacts for Sovereign that could point to his existence.

Reviews:

Maes~desu - Did I just read JAJAJAJA?! What the hell?! You're reading a whole-bred, yankee-born, American story son! I won't have any Jajaja or salu2 or muak's up in this story you dig?! Speak American. Or South American. And I guess Central American is acceptable too. For I only recognize the languages of America, comprenez vous?!

Elvis the 23rd - Me too.

The Ultimate Booty - Oh my god. A TvTropes page?! That's when you know you made it. Hit that place up all the time. And of course, Shield nearly dying literally every fight is a gag I will never stop using. You can pry that passe cliche from this story over Shield's cold dead hands.

Demon of the Night Wind 199 - And I kno rite?! Wrex getting cut-scene killed by Ash on Virmire in one shot? AS IF. Krogan Battlemasters are reputedly bad ass enough to measure up to 10 soldiers of any race. Ain't no one soloing a Krogan and walking away unscathed. Except for another Krogan maybe. Even Shepard learned that in Chapter 12.

Ton of Deku - I'll pray for your safety.

(Rains)Frère Jacques - And it's something that Shield himself will have to be mindful of in the coming trials. Maintaining that resolve and laser-guided intent on what he originally sets out to do. Though unforeseen consequences are just part of the game. It's extremely hard to be prepared for every scenario, and though I hate to have him regress, some setbacks are gonna happen despite his best efforts since he can't hope to anticipate them...I guess I hope that this one will just serve as his final lesson, and that he'll learn Indy Ploys rarely work out the way they do in the movies.

Good Ol Beej - I also really did nitpick over this, and whether or not Saren did have a cure in the end. Since yeah, both interpretations are equally valid. You'd think the STG of all things would know what's really going on inside, though in this head-canon, they just intercepted Droyas' mad rambling and took it at face value. I ended up settling on the cloning route when I came across ME writer Patrick Weekes' post on PennyArcade however, where he stated Saren's base really was just a cloning facility. But again, the game itself never explicitly says so eh. I just wished I took an opportunity during the chapter to make an 'Attack of the Clones' reference. Would've been top kek.

In the next chapter: The End Draws Near.

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