Chapter 3 – Extermination

"Shit! I thought Liara said this guy was subtle." Shepard lowered his binoculars and watched the debris from the destroyed building, the shuttle, and his decoy rain down.

"If everyone expects you to be subtle then the most subtle thing you can do is not be subtle", Mordin replied.

Tali climbed to the top of the Hammerhead and watched the scene through her helmet optics. "I guess I can shut down these remote piloting programs. You're going to have to tell The Illusive Man that we need a new shuttle, Shepard."

"Keep those programs ready, Tali. We may still have a use for them." Shepard watched the scene below, waiting, his mind almost automatically producing possible contingencies. His plan had partially worked. The Normandy had departed the spaceport to launch the shuttle. Shepard hoped the conclusion anyone watching would draw would be that he was trying to conceal his shuttle's movements despite being required to file a flight plan. Shepard had a reputation as a leap before you look soldier, which might now help him with his own efforts at subtlety. The Normandy had launched the shuttle, but it was merely a decoy under Tali's remote control. Under the cover of the surrounding hills and mountains the Normandy had also dropped the M-44 Hammerhead. While the Hammerhead was a hover vehicle capable of jumping over obstacles with jet assisted boosts, it was not classified as an aerial vehicle and therefore did not require a registered flight plan. Technically. Ilium law was notably lax when it came to the use of military grade weapons in sparsely settled areas outside the major cities, so Shepard knew he was testing the limits of the gray areas of the law and counting on his Spectre status to make up any difference. He just needed to create enough uncertainty to keep the authorities from intervening until he could take out the Exterminator. He had the feeling that if he were successful, many of his possible legal issues would simply vanish.

He had intended to use the shuttle as a decoy. Expose any defenses with its approach and perhaps draw any defending forces out of position to allow an effective charge using the Hammerhead. He had not expected the entire building to be a trap and was grateful he had, at least this once, not simply charged in.

"What's our next move, Shepard?" Tali asked from her perch.

Shepard peered through the binoculars as the smoke and dust from the blast cleared. "There," he said, "there's our next move." Shepard pointed toward the civilian sky car that had risen from cover and was now carefully approaching the scene of destruction. "My money says those are lackeys of our target, maybe even the Exterminator himself, coming to check their handiwork. Tali, scan for any communications, let me know if you are detecting anything."

"I am picking up communications, Shepard. They are scrambled, but definitely coming from the vehicle below."

Shepard nodded, thinking. If there were transmissions going on then it was unlikely that the Exterminator was in the vehicle below. Why expose yourself when you can send cannon fodder? Shepard hoped to make that work against his target. "Mordin, can you fire the main gun on this thing?"

"Lack training in the use of naval capital ship weaponry, but have extensive training and experience with vehicle and personal weaponry from farm implements to siege cannons. I can operate the systems of this vehicle, Shepard."

"Good. Get ready to fire where I designate." Shepard reached to the pack next to him and hefted out of his gear the M-98 Widow sniper rifle he had obtained during their raid on the Collector vessel. Even with his enhanced muscles, he needed both hands to expand it and hoist it into a braced position on the rocky cover. Below, the vehicle had stopped several yards from his supposed dead body, actually a LOKI security mech wearing a spare suit of Shepard's armor. What appeared to be a Turian and a Human exited the vehicle and approached Shepard's decoy. The driver of the car remained in the vehicle with the doors open.

"Mordin, target my decoy and the two who are approaching it. It won't take them long to realize that's not me. When they reach the mech, take them out. I'll deal with the driver." Shepard had briefly considered whether they might try to take one of the lackeys alive, but he didn't want to take any chance on the Exterminator being alerted to what had happened. No, they would take them all out, right now. Shepard placed the crosshairs of the scope for a kill shot and prepared to fire.

Seconds later Shepard heard the main gun of the Hammerhead fire. A barrage of guided mini-missiles headed rapidly toward their target. Shepard gently squeezed the trigger and put a shot no larger than a grain of sand at hypersonic speed through the faceplate of the car's driver. Through his scope Shepard saw the driver spasm once, then go still. A fraction of a second later, the two lackeys looked up from Shepard's decoy in realization, just in time to be obliterated by the missile barrage.

Shepard collapsed the Widow and lugged it and his other gear to the Hammerhead. Tali and Mordin reentered the vehicle as Shepard slid into the driver's seat. The thrusters roared to life and Shepard hopped the tank over the outcropping that had mostly hidden them. He crossed the intervening ground rapidly, scanning for any additional threats. "Mordin, keep on the lookout for backup for these guys. Tali, come with me."

Shepard climbed out of the Hammerhead and dropped to the ground near the skycar. He drew his pistol, but could see from several yards away that there was no immediate need. Shepard could see that the armor of the driver was of Batarian design. The faceplate was shattered with the remaining jagged edges covered in red blood. Shepard could see that much of what had been contained by the helmet had been blasted into the back seat and window by his shot.

Tali came up beside Shepard and looked the scene over. "If you plan to have us ride in that car, Shepard, then I'm definitely calling shotgun right now." She hefted her own shotgun to emphasize this.

Shepard absentmindedly reached to stroke the stubble on his chin, but his helmet prevented this. "That was one possibility, Tali, but I don't think that's what we'll do. I want you to hack into the computer and guidance. See if you can find coordinates for where the Exterminator is really hiding. Do you need me to yank that body out of the way?"

Tali shook her head. "No, Shepard. I can take care of it from right here." She input commands into her omni-tool, hacking into the vehicles systems. A half-minute passed as Tali did her own form of battle with the computer's defenses. Shepard continued to scan for any backup.

"Okay, I'm in. There don't seem to be any coordinates for the Exterminator's location in the computer."

Of course not. Nothing was ever easy. "How about a flight plan, then? This is an aerial vehicle. If it had to file a flight plan then there should be an origin."

Tali shook her head. "Any flight plan would be filed with the Nos Astra authorities assuming they even felt the need to comply. From what Liara was saying it's likely the Exterminator spread around quite a few bribes, not to mention dropping the Shadow Broker's name. There's no data in the skycar's computer about a flight plan."

Shepard found himself leaning over Tali's shoulder to peer at her omni-tool. He quickly realized he didn't understand any of what he was looking at. He exhaled in frustration. "Are we out of luck then? I thought we would be able to find something in the computer to lead us to the Exterminator." Shepard felt desperation creeping up on him. He began to regret not taking one of the lackey's alive. He had used several tricks to get them to this point. If they were back to square one he wasn't sure he had anything else up his sleeve aside from whisking Liara off the planet. The thought was tempting. She would have to stay aboard the Normandy for safety and might very well rejoin the crew. It really would be like old times.

Shepard let that thought linger a few moments before crushing it as it deserved. Liara would never agree to run. It would mean giving up, at least in her mind, her quest to locate the Shadow Broker and rescue her friend. The idea of her falling back into his arms was a juvenile fantasy, the stuff of bodice ripping romance novels. The sooner he accepted that the sooner he could get on with living his own life. But first he had to find and deal with the Exterminator.

"Yes! Got it!" Tali exclaimed. Shepard's attention snapped back to her. "These skycars have inertial mapping. The vehicle can automatically retrace its flight path to its origin in case of emergency, like if the driver gets sick. It's an automated program. They could delete it, but they didn't think they had any reason too, if they even thought of it. I was able to overlay an aerial topographic map with the flight data and…" Tali dramatically waved her hand like a magician over her omni-tool's interface. Instead of a dove or bouquet of flowers appearing, a map of the area materialized. A flashing red dot indicated a location approximately ten miles north of where they were now standing.

Shepard leaned forward intently, looking at the location and terrain. "You found him, Tali? You can get us there?" Tali simply nodded, clearly proud of what she had accomplished. "Yes! Yes! This can still work! Thank you so much, Tali!" Shepard was feeling a heady mixture of relief and anticipation. It took a moment before he realized he had swept Tali up into a hug and her feet were currently dangling inches off the ground.

Shepard set Tali back down, gently. "I'm so sorry, Tali. My excitement got the better of me. It won't happen again. But thank you. You seem to be making it a habit to bail me out by finding out the impossible."

"No, Shepard. It's okay. I mean, it's not a problem. You're good at tactics, I'm good at this. I'm just glad I could help. I'll do whatever I can to help you, Shepard." Tali stood, wringing her hands with obvious nervousness. Dammit, Shepard thought to himself. He hadn't meant to startle her. He had just been so grateful. It seemed like she spent an inordinate amount of time just making him feel better. He hoped she wasn't resentful of that.

Mordin cleared his throat from his position at the Hammerhead's scanners. "Perhaps you can express your appreciation later, Shepard. Should not delay longer unless you hope to lure the Exterminator's minions here a few at a time. Do not personally consider that to be a viable plan."

Shepard knew Mordin was right. He needed to get his head in the game. "Tali, I want you to take remote control of that skycar. We'll leave the driver in his seat. We'll all board the Hammerhead and you remotely pilot it back to where it came from."

"Shepard," Mordin interjected. "The Exterminator's men likely had confirmation codes for their return. Without these the skycar will not be able to approach without meeting some form of countermeasures."

"I know, Mordin. In fact, I'm counting on it. We'll stay in cover the best we can and use the skycar, if possible, as a diversion. It worked with the shuttle, sort of, so I think it's our best bet to make a surprise approach to the Exterminator's home base. You're right that we need to get going, so make any further suggestions as we go."

"Shepard. I can set up a remote video feed as well. We'll be able to get a view from the skycar so that we don't have to show ourselves until we're ready. It should also give us a view of any defenses. One more moment while I make sure they can't take control of the skycar back from me." Tali took a small remote video camera from her equipment and attached it to the dashboard of the skycar. A few commands from her omni-tool later and she nodded to Shepard that everything was ready. The skycar lifted away while the Hammerhead followed at a distance.

It took only a handful of minutes for the Hammerhead to negotiate the hilly terrain. Tali watched her vid display as they maneuvered behind the low hills, staying hidden. The building that appeared on the display was quite similar to the one that had served as a trap. A squat structure with one visible level as well as a pair of smaller structures on the roof. It was built into the base of a rocky outcropping. They angled to approach the structure from behind low hills to the east as the skycar approached from the south. Shepard hoped they had been able to maintain sufficient cover to hide their presence.

"The skycar is receiving communications, Shepard. I believe they are asking for a recognition code."

"Send them back a garbled transmission from the skycar. Hopefully, they'll think the communications aren't working and let us get the skycar closer."

Tali sent the garbled transmission and almost immediately two smaller roof structures opened to reveal anti-aircraft weapons. "Shit." Shepard stated matter-of-factly as he watched Tali's display. "They didn't buy that at all. Evade the best you can, Tali, and try to bring the skycar in from the west as if you were trying to use one anti-aircraft gun to screen against the other."

"I'll do what I can, Shepard, but this isn't a gunship." Tali dove the vehicle low and angled to the west, trying to use some of the ground cover to confuse the guns and protect the skycar as long as possible. The guns began firing high velocity slugs. A hit would tear the skycar apart. Tali slewed the vehicle up, down, pulled off a rather impressive barrel roll, then had to struggle to recover as a slug ripped through the windshield and tore the canopy from the skycar. Sparks and smoke were visibly trailing from the vehicle. Had anyone living remained in the vehicle they would most certainly be dead. Unfortunately, the hit destroyed their remote camera leaving Tali to fly the skycar blind. Unable to effectively direct the vehicle, the anti-aircraft weapons zeroed in and sent slugs tearing through the vehicle. The burning skycar augered into the rocks, a pillar of smoke marking its resting place. Shepard took this as his cue.

The Hammerhead boosted up and over the intervening rocks into the clear terrain leading to the structure. The guns which had been tracking the skycar almost immediately began to swivel to come to bear on this new target.

Shepard leaned on the boosters, trying to cross the intervening space before the guns could traverse and fire on the Hammerhead. He had a good view of the side of the building as they approached. There were two small windows, widely spaced, but no apparent door. "Mordin, target the window on the right of the building and do as much damage to the wall as you can."

"Not the defense guns, Shepard?"

"No. We need a way in. If we spend too much time bouncing around sparring with the defenses they'll have time to prepare for us inside. That window will be the weakest point."

Mordin began firing into the oncoming wall, hitting the window and the wall around it, fracturing the permacrete structure outwards from the window corners. Shepard held a steady course, using the nearer defense gun to screen the farther one. A loud clanging impacts began as slugs struck the hull of the Hammerhead. Almost immediately alarms began to sound indicating damage. Shepard swore under his breath at the fragility of the vehicle even as he used its speed to cross the last of the distance. Shepard spun the vehicle one hundred eighty degrees and used the tail section as a battering ram, shattering the damaged wall inward. More alarms wailed.

With the Hammerhead wedged into the wall of the building the defense guns could no longer angle to fire on the vehicle. Wasting no time, Shepard opened the rear hatch and leapt into the interior of the building, followed by Tali and Mordin.

The trio found themselves in what appeared to be a large, empty bathroom area. Their forced entry had shattered the sink and toilet fixtures that had been along the wall. Water from the damaged pipes sprayed into the air and covered the floor. There was a single, closed door leading from the room. "We don't know how many guards the Exterminator has here, so watch your backs, and mine. It's unlikely an assassin is traveling with an army, but we can't assume anything. We don't know which one is the primary target, so we take them all out. Tali, give me a drone on the other side of this door."

Tali stepped near the door and triggered a surge of electromagnetic energy on the opposite side. This coalesced into a 'hard light' device capable of processing environmental data and sending it by those same electromagnetic pulses back to Tali's omni-tool. "There's a hallway going straight or left, Shepard. To the left appears to be some sort of living area. Straight leads down a hallway to a stairway going down. There's a door midway down the hallway on the left. Two guards just came into view near the staircase."

"Send the drone at them. If it makes if to them, detonate it. I'll go through the door while they're distracted. Mordin, provide cover on the hallway to the left. Go!" Shepard wasted no time bursting through the door into the hallway. He jumped to the cover provided by the corner. Mordin jumped past him and pointed his submachine gun toward the living area. From the head of the staircase two men fired into the drone with assault rifles, detonating it in a burst of electrical energy before it could reach them.

Shepard used the blast to mask the two grenades he hurled the length of the hallway. The grenades bounced near the pair of guards, who tried to dive away from the imminent detonation. Shepard cursed as he saw shields flare as they were caught in the blast. The Exterminator's men were prepared for combat.

Shepard decided to press the attack, to try to overwhelm the guards ahead of him and hopefully staying ahead of anyone that might try to flank them from the living area. "Hold the corner, Mordin. Tali, with me." Shepard surged forward directing suppressive fire down the hallway. He reached the door Tali had described as more guards appeared at the staircase ahead.

"Dammit, distract them and follow me, Tali." The guards ahead had appeared more quickly than he had hoped attesting to their readiness. Tali materialized a drone in their midst as they opened fire. The drone began discharging bursts of electrical energy. Shepard hoped the attacks would spoil the guards' aim, but the blue flashes of his and Tali's shields made it clear that it wasn't doing enough to make them completely miss in the narrow hallway.

Shepard threw his full weight against the door to his left, his augmented muscles proving to be more than the sturdy door could handle. He burst into the room on the other side of the door, expecting an attack. Shepard was not disappointed. A guard lay in wait to the side of the door. He raised his heavy pistol to fire, but Shepard was ready. His adrenaline was up now and he reacted with instincts and skills honed on dozens of battlefields. Shepard deflected the pistol with his left hand and it fired into the ceiling. He brought his assault rifle up under the chin of the guard with his right hand, pushing the barrel inside the man's shields. He pulled the trigger and a burst of high velocity rounds shattered the guard's helmet and sprayed Shepard with gore. As the guard dropped, Shepard pivoted to cover the remainder of the room.

Even with all his training and experience, Shepard wasn't perfect. He couldn't react in time to the other guard that had been crouching behind a nearby desk. The guard fired a shotgun into Shepard as he turned. His shields, already weakened from the hits he took in the hallway, collapsed. As Shepard fired a burst from his assault rifle, the guard fired again. Shepard staggered as he took the unshielded shot, trying to put his rifle on target, to bring down the guard's shields.

Tali came around the broken door, firing her own shotgun. Their combined fire overwhelmed the guard's shield. Tali fired twice more into the now unshielded guard and he collapsed to the floor, bleed pooling around his body. Tali switched out her thermal clip and fired one more round into the guard, who did nothing more than twitch slightly.

Shepard activated a dose of medi-gel. "Don't you think that was a bit of overkill, Tali?"

"No, Shepard, I think that was just enough kill. I'm not taking any chances."

Shepard cocked his head to the side with a half-smile, finding it hard to argue with that logic. He moved back to the door as his shields recharged, glancing down the hallway. "Dammit. I think some of them just went down the stairs. If that was the Exterminator he likely has an escape route. If he gets away, we lose. He can use his resources to strike at Liara while we don't have a backup plan." Shepard activated his comm. "Mordin, is everything okay back there?"

"Affirmative, Shepard. They do not appear to be interested in outflanking us. They appear to be holding a defensive position at the stairs. Just saw a few of their number disappear down the staircase."

Shepard turned to Tali. Tali stood at what appeared to be a console for monitoring the area outside the house. "This is a security console, Shepard. I can hack in and see what they're doing."

"How fast can you get past their encryption?"

"Please, Shepard. I'm a Quarian. I hack Geth programs. No matter how good the Exterminator thinks this security is, it's not good enough. I'm already in."

Shepard whistled, genuinely impressed. "What can you do with it, Tali?"

Tali tapped a few commands into the console. "I have control of the defense guns, but they aren't very useful at the moment. I have the internal and external cameras. The stairs lead down to a lower level. I can see a garage with a few vehicles. There are some areas I can't see and I can't see the Exterminator. It looks like he 'manually decommissioned' the security cameras wherever he is. I guess he didn't want to risk us possibly spying on him. I can tell you that this payroll spreadsheet indicates there are seven more guards aside from the three at the building and the two we took down here."

"We can't give the Exterminator time to get away. That makes it even more urgent that we get down those stairs. Get a drone ready. I'm going to try to scatter them with grenades. I want you to follow up with a drone to keep them busy while I charge them. Get ready to back me up. You too, Mordin."

Shepard returned to the door and flung two grenades toward the group of guards. He began to follow them, wanting to take full advantage of the chaos he was about to create, when a blue nimbus formed around the grenades. Suddenly, they were travelling back up the hallway toward Shepard. "Shit! Take cover!" Shepard yelled as he jumped back into the security room. He tried to push the door closed to shield them from the blast, but was not wholly successful. The door burst open from the force of the explosion, coating Shepard in dust and debris.

"Damn it. They have a biotic out there. I should have expected that on Ilium." Shepard was growing more desperate. Time was ticking away. They had to get past the stairway, but their weapons weren't enough to force the guards out of their defensive position. They guards were clearly prepared to stall, not exposing themselves and making sure the Exterminator had plenty of time to get away.

"Mordin. Tali has control of the defense guns. Can you get back to the Hammerhead?"

"Yes, Shepard. Moving there now. Are you planning to withdraw?"

"Not a chance. Drive out from the wall and swing around. Bring the main gun in line with the hole we made and prepare to fire."

"Shepard. Like what you are planning, but hole in wall not aligned with interior door opening."

"Perfect. They won't see it coming. The missiles that thing fires are guided. Program the targeting to angle the missiles through the door and straight down the hallway. Fire the moment you're in position."

"Ah. Firing parameters are within this vehicles capabilities. Results should be quite satisfying. Highly recommend you and Tali'Zorah take cover."

Shepard blind fired a burst from his assault rifle down the hallway. He wanted the guards thinking he was about to try something, just not the something he was actually trying. As their return fire began to shred the doorframe, Shepard stepped back and closed the damaged door as much as he could. Seconds later he heard the roar of a barrage of missiles racing past the door. He had no way to be certain, but he was almost sure he heard someone shout "Oh, shit!" before everything was drowned out by a series of explosions. The door tried to force its way open in the back blast from the detonations, but Shepard held it mostly shut. More dust billowed into the room.

"Shepard, someone just moved into the garage. I saw it just before the cameras in that area cut out. We better hurry."

Shepard tried to wipe the grime and blood from his faceplate. "Thanks for the heads up, Tali. Follow me. Mordin, catch up to us as soon as you are able. We're headed down the staircase to try to catch this bastard."

They stepped carefully back into the hallway. Dust still filled the air and debris covered the floor. Tali triggered a drone at the end of the hallway. It began discharging electrical bursts into the fallen guards. One prone figure raised a pistol and fired on the drone. Shepard fired several bursts into the figure and it went still. No other movement was visible.

Shepard and Tali reached top of the staircase. Shepard shook his head at the carnage. He had himself at time criticized the Hammerhead's firepower as underwhelming, but he had never before imagined using it as an indoor weapon. The missile explosions in the confined space had annihilated the guards. The stairway had partially collapsed, crushing two of the guards, their shields useless against the falling rubble. Two others, including an Asari who had likely been the biotic, had been killed in the missile explosions. The fifth guard, the one who had fired at the drone, had been finished off by Shepard. Thankfully, the staircase had not fully collapsed. Shepard worked his way past the rubble and began to descend to the lower level.

Suddenly, Shepard's comm pinged to signal an incoming message. Shepard paused at the top of the stairs to listen. "Shepard, come in, this is Joker."

Shepard knew Joker would not contact him unless something important was going on. "Go ahead, Joker."

"We just got locked down here, Shepard. The port authorities sent a message that there was a 'problem with our paperwork' and shut us down. We won't be going anywhere unless we shoot our way out, which seems like a bad idea."

The Exterminator was covering his bases, Shepard thought to himself. He wanted to take the Normandy off the table as either a threat or help for Shepard, at least long enough for him to get away. He clearly recognized that escape equaled victory. Shepard's desperation ratcheted up another notch.

"Respect the lockdown, Joker. We'll deal with things on this end. Thanks for the warning." Shepard pushed past the partial blockage on the staircase, hurrying to reach the Exterminator.

Tali was right behind him, but placed a cautionary hand on his shoulder. "Be careful, Shepard. If the computer information is accurate there should still be two more guards along with the Exterminator. We don't know what they might have been doing down there."

"Send a drone ahead of us. Hopefully it can trigger any traps they might have set or show us if they are in cover. Hopefully they haven't had time to do anything too clever, but like you said, let's not take any chances."

Tali nodded, triggering her omni-tool. "Go get them, Chiktikka." The drone descended the staircase, several feet ahead of Shepard. As the drone emerged on a lower landing, Tali piped up. "Hold on Shepard. I'm getting an electromagnetic spike. It could be from a sensor." Tali sent a command from her omni-tool. Below, the drone sent out an electrical burst. A grenade, concealed in the rubble at the base of the staircase, detonated. An armored firing port in the door leading off the lower landing opened and a guard raked the area with assault rifle fire, hoping to catch anyone disoriented or injured by the explosion. Seeing that no one was on the landing he closed the firing port.

Shepard descended to the landing, staying in cover from the door. Tali materialized another drone, which scanned the area. "No more traps I can detect, Shepard. That door looks tougher than the one upstairs. Give me a moment." Tali's drone vanished. Shepard heard gunfire on the opposite side of the door. "There only appears to be one guard beyond that door, Shepard."

"Buying yet more time for the Exterminator to escape. I don't know how quickly I can force that door. If I'm in the open and I can't get through immediately, he'll cut me down."

"I don't think the drone alone can do enough to distract him, Shepard. I might be able to drain his shields, but we'll need more than that."

As if summoned, Mordin suddenly arrived from the upper level. "Did I miss anything, Shepard?"

"Just a guard holding this door. If I get him to open that port can you and Tali take him down?"

Mordin eyed the port and the angle at which they would be standing. "I believe so, Shepard. Can coordinate with Tali'Zorah to incapacitate the guard. Need him to open that port, however."

"Get ready. He'll be opening the port in a moment." Shepard moved out into the open landing. The guard was clearly monitoring them in some fashion, because he almost immediately opened the firing port and unleashed a stream of assault rifle shots at Shepard. Shepard's shields flared blue as the shots were deflected.

Behind him, Shepard heard Tali say "Now, Mordin". Tali struck the area of the port with an energy drain, hopefully drawing enough power from the guard's shields. Mordin carefully triggered an electrical burst of his own a fraction of a second later, sending the jolt through the open port and into the nervous system of the now unshielded guard. The gunfire stopped as the guard grunted and collapsed.

Shepard charged the door, slamming his full weight into it. It groaned, but failed to open. He drew back and charged again. He heard movement on the other side and knew that Mordin's stun attack was wearing off. Shepard charged a third time and the door burst open. The guard was just rising from the floor, clearly still groggy. Shepard smashed the butt of his assault rifle into the side of the man's helmet, stunning him again.

Shepard looked up and realized they were in what appeared to be a small workshop that contained a computer and workbench. There was a single exit from the room. "Tali, see if you can get anything from the computer. Mordin, see if you can get anything from the prisoner." Shepard got up and walked to the workbench. It held several tools and clamps. It appeared to be a work area for modifying and repairing weapons, something with which he was very familiar. It appeared the work area had seen very recent use.

Suddenly, Shepard heard a loud bang. He turned and saw Mordin wiping gore from his face and chest. The man he had hoped to question was missing most of his face. Mordin simply looked up as Shepard and said, "See, Shepard. Ocular flashbangs very effective." Shepard cursed. This guard wouldn't be giving them any information.

"Shepard," Tali spoke up. "The data storage on this computer has been deleted, but I was able to recover the last data that was retrieved. It looks like some sort of chemical formula."

Shepard walked over to the display and looked at what appeared to be a very complex chemical formula. Beyond that, he had no idea what he was looking at. "Mordin, can you tell me what this is?"

Mordin walked to the display while Shepard covered the door to make sure that no one surprised them. "Ah, impressive," Mordin stated. "Appears to be a powerful toxin. If introduced into the body would be especially lethal to humans. Recommend caution, Shepard. There is a storage cabinet here with a number of toxins, but do not see this one. May have been taken for use against us, specifically you."

Shepard looked again at the recently used workbench. He had seen and used a number of modded rounds over the years. Some rounds were specifically designed to add destructive substances to their impact. He tended to favor incendiary rounds himself, at least when fighting organics. "We've got to keep moving, but be careful. The Exterminator should only have one guard left, but they may have been able to load up rounds with some very nasty stuff. Make sure your shields are charged and stick close. Tali, put the drone on point."

Tali triggered a new drone on the far side of the door. "It looks like the garage area, Shepard. It's a big space with a few vehicles. No one is near the drone, but I can't get any more information than that."

"Then we move forward, carefully." Shepard tried the handle, which opened the door easily. He stayed behind the cover of the door. Peeking out revealed a large garage space. There were three visible vehicles, a skycar like the one they had commandeered, a larger, open-topped truck with a cargo area capable of carrying several men, and a small tractor that appeared to be designed for moving and loading heavy equipment. The skycar and the truck, the only flight capable vehicles, both had sparks and smoke trailing from their open engine compartments.

"It looks like he sabotaged the vehicles. Any idea why he would do that?" Shepard was genuinely confused. He didn't see any other vehicles present. The only thing he could think of was that the Exterminator had run and damaged any vehicles that might pursue him. If that were the case, then Liara was in trouble. He almost certainly now knew Shepard was involved. If he chose to go to ground he could lay low until Shepard was forced to leave Ilium. His mission couldn't wait forever. And when he left, Liara would be as good as dead. She had made that clear. They needed to catch the Exterminator now. "Keep your guard up. We need to check these vehicles and see if there's any indication where the Exterminator might have gone."

They moved together toward the two damaged vehicles. As they moved forward, Tali scanned the skycar with her omni-tool. She looked at Shepard and shook her head. "The computer has been wiped on this one, Shepard. Hopefully the truck still has some data I can access." They moved toward the truck. Tali sent the drone around to the back of the vehicle to make sure there was no one waiting for them.

Suddenly, a Salarian leapt screaming from where he had been hiding in the cargo bed of the truck. He dove toward Shepard, knife in hand. Shepard reacted instinctively, dropping his assault rifle and grabbing the wrist of the diving attacker with one hand and seizing the handle like chest armor protrusion that seemed ubiquitous for Salarians with the other. He pivoted, using his strength and the Salarians own momentum to hurl him with bone shattering force against the nearby skycar.

The attack felt wrong to Tali. As ambushes went, it was loud and clumsy. Which she realized could be the whole purpose. She trusted Shepard to deal with the attacker, so rather than watch the attack, she pivoted to scan the room. At the far end of the garage her enhanced optics highlighted movement. A quick command zoomed in and revealed an individual pointing a very large weapon in their direction. Shepard's direction. Tali got out the word "Sniper!" as she stepped to interpose herself between the danger and Shepard. She triggered her omni-tool as she stepped, her shields briefly flaring with boosted power as across the garage the weapon fired.

The round struck Tali's boosted shields. At the point of impact there was a violent burst and her shields immediately collapsed. The armor covering her left shoulder shattered. Red blood, so similar in appearance to human blood, spattered Shepard's armor.

"Tali!" Shepard cried out. She staggered a few steps away. Shepard scanned back in the direction of the shot and saw movement. One individual, climbing onto a skycycle that had been concealed. Shepard scooped up his rifle and fired as the figure gunned the engine. At that distance only a few stray shots struck the individual, no doubt the Exterminator. These few hits were easily deflected by his shields. In a moment, he was gone. Gone through the open vehicle door at the far end of the room.

Shepard turned back to Tali. She was standing unsteadily, swaying, holding her bleeding shoulder. "I don't feel well..." she managed to say before falling toward the floor. Shepard dropped his rifle again and leapt forward to catch her, gently lowering her to the ground. He knelt by her, holding her hand.

"What were you thinking, Tali? You didn't have to do that."

Tali's voice was weak, surprisingly weak. "Wasn't thinking…Shepard. Didn't…want you…to…be…hurt. Thought I…could stop…the…" Tali's voice trailed off as her body spasmed.

"What the hell is going on, Mordin? This couldn't be a reaction to the suit breach, not this fast."

Mordin knelt on the far side of Tali, his medical kit open next to him. His omni-tool hummed as he scanned Tali. "Indications are Tali'Zorah was struck with a very specialized large caliber two-stage round. Concussion charge in the nose collapsed her shields followed by a shredder charge that breached her armor and delivered the toxin. Toxin is affecting her now. Inhibiting breathing, blood clotting, neurotransmitters. Toxin will be fatal if not specifically treated."

Shepard felt a surge of panic. He grabbed the handle protruding from Mordin's chest armor and pulled him closer until his nose was nearly touching Mordin's face. "You said that toxin was lethal to humans."

"No. Said especially lethal to humans. Also lethal to Quarians, Turians, Asari, and Batarians. Would give a Krogan a slight headache."

"Shit, damn, shit! You've got to help her, Mordin. You've got antidotes, right? I told you to bring antidotes." Shepard was flailing, desperate.

"Have administered broad spectrum anti-toxin as well as anti-biotics and anti-histamines, Shepard, but this is a particularly virulent tailored toxin. If shot had struck you, we would not be having this conversation. If specific treatment is not administered soon, Tali'Zorah will die."

Shepard held his head. There was a chance, a small chance, they could still catch the Exterminator with the Hammerhead. If they did that, then Tali was dead. If they let the Exterminator go then they might not get another shot at him. Liara couldn't hide forever and that meant if he got away now, Liara would likely be dead. Shepard looked down at the woman who had literally just taken a bullet for him. His emotions were in chaos, but through the jumble he was certain of one thing. He didn't want Tali to die.

He felt Mordin's hand close on his forearm. "Shepard. No time to agonize over choices. Need your orders. Now."