Shanxi. This was the planet where a lot of things began. Some of them were good, some of them not so good. The First Contact War was fought there which lead to the beginning of humanity's role in the galactic community, albeit in a bloody way. The events of the war were also what prompted a man known as Jack Harper to become the Illusive Man and form Cerberus. The war was also when Ashley's family curse of not advancing through the ranks began after her grandfather was blackballed for surrendering his garrison to the turians. Since the war ended, humanity had made great advances in society, Cerberus had been dissolved and Ashley's family curse seemed to have been broken. A lot of things began at Shanxi but now Shepard was on his way there hoping that something would come to an end.

As Shepard looked out the window in the shuttle's co-pilot seat, he found it hard to believe that such a beautiful planet had once been the sight of a terrible war. On account of his love of history, Shepard had always wanted to visit Shanxi but it never worked out. After he married Ashley it became impossible for him to go. He never wanted to go on a trip without Ashley but the one time he suggested a trip to Shanxi, she shot it down. Shepard didn't blame her for doing so. The history of Shanxi was not particularly good to her family. Despite the strides Ashley made in breaking her family's curse, it didn't make it any easier for her to think about Shanxi. That was why Shepard was initially surprised when Ashley volunteered to go to Shanxi to rescue the hostages. Though he figured it was because she knew he was going to want to be in the group that saved Tali. Now Shepard couldn't help but wonder if the Williams curse was getting a second wind with what had happened to Ashley during the mission.

Shepard shook the thought out of his head. He needed to focus on the task at hand. They were heading for the Morrison Company headquarters. The building was reportedly shut down once the news of Morrison's death was announced as the company's way of mourning her. With the building supposed to be empty, Shepard felt it would give Dana the perfect place to set up the last phase of her plan. Dana's knowledge of the building due to her job and the fact she would no doubt be expecting Shepard gave her a big advantage. The only chance Shepard had of getting Ashley out alive was for the plan he was hoping Dana wouldn't see coming to work.

"Captain," said Cortez, "we'll be at our destination in twenty minutes. I can take us the rest of the way if you want to relax in the back."

"Thanks Lieutenant," Shepard replied. "that actually sounds like a great idea."

"Just doing what I can to help sir."

Shepard gave a Cortez a pat on the shoulder as thanks and joined Garrus and Tali in the passenger compartment. He smiled when he saw them snuggled together with Garrus having his arm wrapped around Tali. Shepard wondered how many times him and Ashley would do the same on their shuttle rides. He took the seat opposite them and gave them their ETA.

"Shepard," said Garrus, "did I ever tell you what I find most ironic about the First Contact War?"

"Not that I know of," Shepard replied.

"That war was fought between humans and turians. Even after the war ended there were still some tensions between the two. Now thirty years later we have you and me, a human and a turian as best friends."

Shepard chuckled, "that just means one or both of us have bad taste in friends."

Both Garrus and Tali laughed before Shepard continued, "you know I was going to tell you both something before the final battle on Earth but then I found you both in the Normandy's main battery when you were…you know. I was caught up in congratulating you two that I forgot what I originally meant to tell you. I remember it now and since we seem to be in another final battle situation it seems as good a time as any to say it. You two have been with me longer than most of the people I've known. You always believed in me when most people didn't. I couldn't ask for better friends. Thank you…for everything."

Tali reached out and took Shepard's hand, "you and Ashley have been great friends to us too Shepard. That's why we're going to finish this the same way we did everything else…together."

Garrus nodded in agreement. The trio then spent the remaining trip in silence as they mentally prepared themselves for when they reached their destination. When the twenty minutes had past, Cortez called back to them letting them know the Morrison Company headquarters were in sight. Shepard activated the monitor in the compartment that allowed them to see outside the shuttle. Everyone gasped when they saw where they were heading.

The blueprints Feron had sent them of the headquarters building did indicate that it would be big but actually seeing it in person was a different story. The area it covered was as much as twenty soccer fields laid next to each other in two rows of ten. The building looked almost like a series of mountains as different sections had different heights. The tallest section of the building was fourteen stories tall. Based on what Shepard read on the building, it not only served as headquarters but was also the main factory where a lot of the company's products were made. With that in mind, it made sense that the building would be that massive. Unfortunately it meant it was going to be harder to find Ashley and Dana.

"Captain," said Cortez, "there's a shuttle landing pad on the roof of the main factory."

"Sounds as good a place as any to land," Shepard replied, "take us down Lieutenant and head back to the Normandy. You know what to do."

"Aye-aye Captain. Good luck."

Shepard, Garrus and Tali stood up and gathered at the shuttle door. They checked their weapons one more time to make sure they were primed and ready. As soon as the doors opened, they stepped off the shuttle onto the roof of the Morrison Company headquarters.

When a person normally pictures a factory in their mind, they usually think of a place with loud machinery being operated by anywhere from a small to large group of people. Such was not the sight of the Morrison Company factory. It was dark and so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. In order to see where they were going, Shepard and his squad had to use the flashlight attachments on their pistols. They moved slowly so as not to make a sound and checked every nook and cranny they came across. In this factory, there were a lot of them.

"Would Dana really hide Ashley somewhere in here?" Tali whispered.

"I doubt it," Shepard replied, "it does provide a lot of hiding places but I think she would rather use them to hide traps. Keep it slow and steady while keeping your eyes open for…"

Shepard didn't have a chance to finish his order when suddenly the entire factory lit up like a Christmas tree and the machines started running at full speed. The combination of the unexpected lights and loud noises nearly blinded and deafened the trio. They were so distracted covering their ears and letting their eyes adjust that they didn't notice three large mechanical claws coming down from the ceiling. They had just gotten used to the light and noise when the claws picked them up into the air. The claws proceeded to move them above what could be only described as a large chute. The claws dropped them and they fell down several yards of narrow, metal tubes with only their armor to soften the blows. When they had finished tumbling down the tube they came to a rest in something soft. While they were relieved their landing was soft, the aroma in the room told them they might have been better off with a hard landing.

"Please tell me we didn't land in garbage," Garrus groaned.

"I wish I could but it's been my policy not to lie," Shepard replied, "it's darker in here than it was in the factory before the light show. Fortunately we still have our flashlights so look around and let's find a way out of here."

Sadly finding a way out proved difficult. The room they were in was pretty big but no matter where they shined their lights, they only saw garbage and wall. In a last ditch effort, Shepard pointed his flashlight up. He saw the hole they had fallen through but there was no way for them to get out that way on account of there was nothing for them to grab onto.

When he shined his light a little ways down he found another opening. This one appeared to be an access hatch for maintenance. Even though it was too high to reach on their own, Shepard figured that they could make a human-ladder to get at least one of them out. In this case though, it would have to be a quarian/turian-ladder. Garrus was the tallest of the three and Tali was the lightest. It was the best combination that would ensure they could reach the hatch. He instructed Tali to climb up onto Garrus' shoulders. Tali couldn't help but let out a subtle giggle at the suggestion. After a bit of a struggle, Tali managed to climb on top of Garrus and opened the hatch. She then pulled herself up and out of the room. She called back that she was going to look for something to get Shepard and Garrus out.

(RIIINNNGGG!)

Before Tali had the chance to do anything, an alarm went off and the room slowly began to light up. Shepard and Garrus turned towards the source of the light were horrified by what they saw. On one side of the room, the floor of garbage ended and a growing fire began. They took some steps back but were surprised to see they were actually getting closer to the fire. A quick glance down revealed that they were standing on a conveyor belt that was moving them and the garbage towards the fire. Shepard and Garrus then took off full speed in the opposite direction. The garbage under their feet made it somewhat difficult but eventually the last of the garbage past them. They figured it wouldn't be much longer before the conveyor belt's automatic shutoff would kick in because of the lack of garbage and stopped moving but they were wrong. Instead the belt under them moved faster. Both of them were starting to get tired and were quickly losing distance between them and the fire.

Meanwhile outside the hatch, Tali had stepped away and was frantically searching for a rope, ladder or anything to help get Shepard and Garrus out. The room she was in appeared to be a maintenance room. She figured it would be easy to find what she needed but none of the equipment she saw could help her. The sounds of Shepard and Garrus telling her to hurry weren't helping to settle her nerves. She contemplated leaving the room to continue her search when a thought hit her. Turning around, she saw that near where she had been standing was a control panel labeled "Waste Disposal System." There were so many buttons and switches that an average person would probably go blind trying to figure them out. Fortunately Tali was not average. Her skills as an engineer allowed her to quickly decipher the controls and find the ones that would shut down the conveyor build and put out the fire. The sound of relived sighs from Shepard and Garrus told her she had succeeded.

Now without the pressure of time, Tali stepped out of the maintenance room and managed to find a fire hose mounted on the wall nearby. She smiled as she grabbed an end and carried it back to the hatch. The hose was just long enough to reach Shepard and Garrus below. They wasted no time in grabbing the hose and pulling themselves up and out. Looking at them panting, Tali couldn't tell if the sweat on their faces was from the heat of the fire or from all the running they did to avoid getting caught in it.

"Good work Tali," Shepard said between pants, "now I'm really glad you insisted on coming along."

Tali smiled, "you're welcome. Shall we move on?"

Shepard nodded and led Garrus and Tali out of the maintenance room and into the adjacent hallway. The nearest sign on the wall showed that if they continued down the hall they would leave the factory and enter the main headquarters. Considering the fact that the factory had been trying to kill them ever since they entered, Shepard figured they would be better off leaving it as soon as possible.

In a short time, they were in the wide open main lobby of the headquarters. There was a large reception desk in the middle of the room with a big "M.C." on the front. Also several pieces of art and plants lined the walls. Shepard briefly looked out the main doors and could make out the lights of the city in the distance. At least they didn't have to worry about anyone coming to investigate whatever commotion they would likely be making and ending up in the crossfire.

The trio was about to continue exploring the main floor when they noticed that Garrus' assault rifle began to glow in a blue light. He was unable to react quick enough as his rifle suddenly flew out of his hands and landed clear across the room. Shepard and Tali's weapons followed suit and landed near Garrus'. They all made a move to get their weapons back when the sound of a pistol warming up froze them in their tracks. The sound was followed by a menacing cackle and a woman's voice.

"Look Commander," the voice said, "your hubby's here."

Shepard and the others looked up towards the source of the voice and were horrified by what they saw. Standing on the balcony above them was a woman Shepard instantly recognized from the personal photo he saw on the Normandy. Dana Thompson, a.k.a the Mystery Backer in the flesh. With no reason to conceal her identity anymore, Dana no longer hid as a silhouette and was using her real voice. Shepard thought to himself that she was definitely Julia's sister. Not only because of the physical resemblance but also because her voice sounded similar to Julia's. However what horrified Shepard and the others was what they saw Dana pointing her gun at, a gagged and handcuffed Ashley. Shepard was initially relived to see that Ashley appeared to be unharmed. The relief vanished when he noticed that despite the lack of physical wounds, Ashley was not looking too good. She was barely standing under her own strength and the look on her face made her appear to be near death.

"Spirits," Garrus said.

The sound of Garrus' voice made Dana groan and roll her eyes, "I see you managed to avoid becoming a pile of ashes Detective. I'm guessing the ambassador had something to do with it."

"What if I did?" Tali asked sarcastically.

"Hello Ambassador. I have to say I was really disappointed to hear that Shepard and Detective Vakarian saved you on Rannoch. I knew you would insist on joining them and become a kink in my otherwise perfect plan to have the Detective go out in a blaze of glory."

"You listen here you bosh'tet….!"

"Not now Tali!" Shepard said cutting Tali off, "Ashley, are you alright?"

Ashley nodded weakly.

"Aw the commander is still trying to be a brave little soldier" Dana chuckled, "Actually Shepard while you three were roasting in the furnace, the commander was puking up a storm. You may be a murderer Shepard but I never would have guessed you would allow your wife to go on a mission when she is obviously not well."

Dana then paused for a second and pretended to be pondering something, "in fact she looks so bad…I don't know…maybe I should just…put her out of her misery."

"NO PLEASE!" Shepard pleaded.

Shepard, Garrus and Tali all took a step forward but were stopped when Dana pointed her pistol at them. They all took a step back while Dana's pistol returned to pointing at Ashley. The sight of the trio backing away made Dana's evil smile grow larger. Shepard was now on the verge of tears. Garrus and Tali shared a concerned look as they contemplated what to do. Garrus made a move to put a comforting hand on Shepard's shoulder but stopped when Shepard spoke.

"Please Dana," he said, "leave my wife alone. I'm sorry about what happened to your sister, I really am. I know you're hurting but what you're doing is not going to bring her back."

Shepard almost regretted saying the last statement as Dana's smile vanished and she appeared to tense up the minute she heard it. He was afraid that Dana was going to fire her pistol and kill Ashley right then. Then something else caught his attention. Despite looking sickly, Shepard thought he saw Ashley wink. She then made a subtle nod and titled her head towards Dana. Shepard had to hold back the smile he was about to make when he realized what Ashley was trying to tell him. She had a plan to break free and she needed Shepard to keep Dana riled up so that she wouldn't notice. Choosing his next words carefully, Shepard continued.

"Look Dana, I know Luciana said that your goal this whole time has been to make me suffer before killing me but don't you think I've suffered enough? I've already lost six friends who I cared a great deal about. Please let Ashley go and just take me now. There's no reason for you to kill her."

"YOU'RE WRONG!" Dana shouted. "You haven't suffered nearly enough! When you killed Julia, you took away the only family I had left. It is only because of what I've done that you are able to know the pain it caused me. To be honest I shouldn't even kill you because that would just put you out of your misery but I swore that I would get justice for my sister. When I'm done with your wife, I'm coming for…"

(POW!)

Dana was not able to finish her threat. Shepard and the others watched as Ashley managed to break out of her handcuffs. She then quickly knocked Dana's pistol out of her hand causing it to fall to the lobby below. After removing the gag from her mouth, she followed by throwing a strong punch at Dana's face. The two women then got into a fierce struggle that moved them away from the balcony's edge and out of Shepard and the others' view. The trio quickly picked up their weapons and raced to the nearest stairwell. As they headed up to the second floor, Shepard silently prayed that Ashley would hold on until they got there.

If there was ever a time Ashley was happy her dad had insisted that she and her sisters learn some kind of self-defense while they were growing up, it was now. Even in her weak state her marine hand-to-hand techniques were still as sharp as ever. After her struggle with Dana led them away from the balcony's edge, Ashley tried to force her against the back wall. Unfortunately Dana was able to break free and the two were now standing in ready stances waiting for one of them to make the next move.

Dana was the one who threw the next punch. Ashley was able to dodge the punch and followed with a punch of her own that struck Dana's side. Dana bent over and clutched the area of the blow. While Dana was stunned, Ashley moved around her and threw a karate chop that landed right in the middle of Dana's back forcing her to the ground. Dana quickly rolled over onto her back and brought her leg back and kicked towards Ashley. It didn't stretch far enough to make contact but the purpose of the kick was to keep Ashley from getting close enough to deal the final blow. The brief hesitation from Ashley was enough to allow Dana to hop back onto her feet and throw a punch that managed to make contact. The punch stunned Ashley but it didn't hurt as bad as previous times she'd been hit in the head during her career. Ashley retaliated by charging into Dana, blocking another punch Dana tried to throw. When Ashley reached her, she finally got Dana forced against the wall and began to land several blows to her face and side. Unfortunately she was so focused on throwing her punches she didn't notice Dana reaching behind her back. She continued punching until she was suddenly hit by a literal sharp blow to her abdomen. A quick glance down revealed the source of the pain was a knife. Suddenly Ashley's legs gave out and she collapsed. As she fell, Dana pulled the knife out and made a move to stab Ashley again.

"NOOOOOO!"

A scream made Dana freeze. She looked towards the end of the balcony the voice came from and saw Shepard and his squad entering from the opposite end of the adjacent room. A lot of things ran quickly through her head as she contemplated what to do. She looked down at Ashley. The knife wound looked bad but she felt she should at least deal one more blow to ensure Ashley couldn't be saved. On the other hand the longer she stayed where she was, the greater chance Shepard or his squad would catch her. She finally decided that it was too risky to stay and took off in the opposite direction. As she ran, she brought up her omni-tool and pushed a button. Her screen displayed a message that read "contingency plan initiated." She glanced back to get one final view of the wounded Ashley and continued running.

"NOOOOOO!"

Shepard and his squad were already running as fast as they could but after witnessing Ashley being stabbed by Dana, Shepard managed to get more speed. The resulting speed boost made him move like he was a bullet being fired from a gun. When he finally reached Ashley, he dropped down and started tending to her wounds. Garrus and Tali were right behind him. Tali assisted Shepard while Garrus kept a lookout in case Dana tried to come back.

While Tali began prepping medi-gel, Shepard examined Ashley's knife wound. The wound was pretty deep and had a large ring of blood around it. Shepard didn't know much about anatomy but he felt that there was a slight chance that Ashley was lucky and that the knife hadn't hit any vital organs. The chance was too small for him to put stock on it though and Shepard knew they had to get her medical attention as soon as possible. Right now the only thing he and Tali could do was give Ashley medi-gel and do their best to stop the bleeding. At the same time Shepard did his best to keep Ashley coherent.

"Ash can you hear me?" he asked.

"Sh…Shepard," Ashley managed to reply, "it hurts."

"I know. Hang in there. We'll get you patched up and back to the Normandy in no time."

"Liara…I…couldn't…save her."

Shepard sighed, "what happened to Liara wasn't your fault, nor was it mine. Now save your strength. We're not out of the woods yet."

As if to prove Shepard's point, an alarm started blaring. It was followed by a synthetic voice on an intercom saying "intruder alert, all security mechs report to main lobby." Shepard cursed to himself. They were about to be swarmed by mechs any minute but they weren't finished stabilizing Ashley. As if things weren't bad enough, Dana's voice replaced the synthetic one with an announcement Shepard and the others wished they didn't hear.

"You have two hundred mechs heading your way Shepard. Each one heavily reinforced with armor. I highly doubt that you and your squad have enough thermal clips to fight them all. If I were you I'd say your goodbyes to your wife quickly."

The minute Dana stopped speaking, Shepard heard the sound of mechs coming from the floor below the balcony. The sound was followed by gunfire as the mechs started firing towards them. Shepard and the others retreated further away from the balcony's edge. Temporarily safe from the gunfire, Shepard and Tali quickly treated Ashley the best they could. They managed to finish just before they became aware that some of the mechs were approaching from the opposite balcony entrance. Shepard got a glimpse of one and realized Dana wasn't bluffing about the armor. Even his inferno rounds would take forever to burn though it. The best he could hope for was that Garrus and Tali could keep them back long enough for him to get Ashley out of there.

"We need to get out of here," Shepard said to Garrus and Tali, "keep the mechs back. I'll see if I can get Ashley moving."

Garrus and Tali nodded and began laying down suppressing fire. They quickly settled into a rhythm where Garrus would fire a few armor-piercing rounds to damage one mech and Tali would fire a shotgun round to finish it off. Occasionally Garrus would launch an overload attack to temporarily stun a few. Tali did the same with her energy drain attack. It was a slow process but they managed to keep the mechs from getting close and even took down a few.

Meanwhile Shepard carefully tried to get Ashley on her feet. It quickly became apparent that Ashley was not able to stand on her own. With no other option, Shepard picked Ashley up in a bridal carry. He called out to Garrus and Tali ordering them to fall back. Before leaving, Tali deployed her combat drone to continue holding the mechs back buying them plenty of time to leave the balcony.

Shepard led the others back to the stairwell they came from. They had managed to get down half a flight of stairs when they noticed the sound of mechs coming from below.

"MECHS AHEAD!" shouted Shepard.

Tali quickly stepped in front of everyone and blew the first mech that turned the corner with her shotgun. Garrus joined her and kept the mechs back long enough for Shepard to carry Ashley back up the stairs. He went past the floor they had left and went up to the next one. The floor he entered had a smaller version of the reception area from the main lobby. According to the signs he had entered the floor that housed the company's legal offices. The reception area split into three narrow hallways with several offices down each one. The tight quarters were not Shepard's ideal fighting conditions but the mechs behind him forced him to accept that this was the floor he would have to settle for. He called for Garrus and Tali to join him and began assessing his options. He quickly realized that the right hallway ran along the outer edge of the building. This gave him an idea.

When Garrus and Tali joined him and informed him that the entire mech force was right behind them, he led them down the right hallway and sure enough the wall on the right side was large-sized windows that ran all the way down the hall providing a view of the outside of the building. When they got to where Shepard guessed was the center of the hall, Shepard ordered everyone into the closest office. Though Garrus and Tali were initially confused about why Shepard would order them into a place where they would get boxed in, they reluctantly followed him inside. After closing the door behind them, Shepard ordered everyone down on the floor and to lie as flat as they could. He then pulled up his omni-tool and made a call to Cortez.

"Cortez," he said, "we found Williams but she's wounded. Are you close?"

"Yes sir," Cortez replied, "I picked up the passengers you wanted me to get from the Normandy and came back with the shuttle's stealth systems on the whole way. We're hovering in the shuttle near the headquarters."

"Good. We're in the center of a hallway on the building's south side and we have mechs closing in on our position. Execute Plan J."

"Roger that Captain. Hang tight, we'll be there soon."

The sound of mechs getting closer made Shepard wonder if the plan would be activated on time. Despite being on the ground, everyone had their weapons ready. The mechs had just reached the door when the sound of a shuttle was heard. Shepard smiled. The Calvary had arrived. For added confirmation, a muffled but recognizable voice was heard.

"IT'S JOKIN' TIME!"

The battle cry was followed by machine gun fire, glass shattering and mechs blowing up. The machine gun rounds came through the walls of the office but with everyone on the ground they flew safely above them. Shepard carefully moved so that he was situated on top of Ashley and shielding her from the shrapnel. The gun fire and explosions continued for several minutes until Cortez came over Shepard's comm. telling him that the hallway was cleared for the moment and that it was safe for them to come out. Shepard opened the door and was greeted by the sight of several destroyed mechs, a shattered glass wall and a shuttle with its doors open and Joker manning the shuttle's mounted machine gun.

"Hey Captain," he said, "did you call for a crippled machine gunner?"

Always with the jokes, Shepard thought. It was then that Dr. Chakwas appeared next to Joker carrying a medical bag. With no more enemies in sight, Shepard picked Ashley up and carried her on to the shuttle and laid her down on some of the seats. While Chakwas went to work, Shepard turned to Garrus and Tali who were busy replenishing their thermal clip supply.

"I'll take Ashley back to the Normandy," he said, "you two find Dana."

It was then that Shepard felt someone tapping his arm. He turned to see that it was Ashley. He told her to lay still but she shook her head and tried to speak.

"Y…you should go…skipper," she said, "you need…to…stop Dana."

Shepard replied, "Garrus and Tali will get her Ash. I'm not leaving you."

"Please Mark," Ashley said as a tear began to appear, "I appreciate that you want to stay with me but you're needed in there. We lost so many of our friends because of that bitch. If she gets away…and you could have done something to stop it…I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

"Ash…I..."

"Please. I'll be fine."

"Not unless we get you to the Normandy quickly," said Chakwas, "Captain you do whatever you think is best but I am going to need a hand here."

Shepard didn't want to leave Ashley's side but ultimately he had to accept that she was right. Dana was his problem and he had to be the one to stop her. Besides he was not the right person to help Chakwas with Ashley. He turned and spoke to Tali.

"Tali stay here on the shuttle," he said, "help Chakwas with anything she needs."

"Will do Shepard," Tali replied.

"Are you coming Garrus?"

Garrus smiled and loaded a fresh clip into his rifle, "are you kidding? I'm right behind you."

Before standing up to leave, Shepard leaned over and kissed Ashley.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too Mark," Ashley replied.

After Shepard gave Ashley one final hug, he and Garrus hopped off the shuttle and back into the Morrison building. They turned and watched as the shuttle doors closed and the shuttle took off, vanishing into the distance. When the shuttle was gone, Shepard and Garrus began their search for Dana. All the while, Shepard was thinking about how everything was finally going to come to an end. Dana was not getting away from him this time. One way or another, he was going to take her down.