Alrightie. Here is chapter two for ya'll. Now if you find some language a little weird in here. Please remember I am a Texas and so I tend to write with a little bit of a southern twang to it. I will try however, to make it as perfect as possible. Quick note we probably wont see many characters from the series for a little. However, people like Jack will be in.

Also Disclaimer (This also counts for all chapters i write for this fanfic) : BLAH BLAH I dont own mass effect or anything else i put into this story save my OC's characters and myself. Well at least i hope i own my self. Now since i know you guys skipped this, and yes i mean you who is reading this. ON with story.

Chapter 2

Humble it may seem

"Two years Will, in two years time meet me here. Until then you need to go about and gain support. You need to get a team together. Oh and by the way, it better be a damn good team if were going to take down TIM."

Those parting words kept going through my head. How was I going to get a team together? I didn't even know where I could begain. All the people that I knew of who had been wronged by Cerberus had been on the Normandy or wouldn't be wronged until the events of Mass Effect 3.

"Well fuck…" I mutter aloud to my self.

Then something caught my eye. A Quarian, "Of course" I say to myself. I could get help from one of them. Cerberus had wronged them and what better gift for pilgrimage then the Illusive Man's head. I know that if I were an Admiral I would want that person commanding my marines.

Now how am I going to do this…? I wondered scratching my head.

"STOP THIEF!" a C-Sec agent screamed.

This caused the Quarian to mutter something that sounded like "Keeshla not again."

"Well this seems like a plot from a poorly written fanfic," I think to myself. However I am not about to pass up a golden opportunity such as this.

Walking up to the C-Sec officer, I put on my best Texas accent "What seems to be the problem officer?" I ask.

"None of your business sir. Now please move along."

"I do believe that this is my business officer. You see I was hired by this person to watch out for her on her pilgrimage. Therefore, I will kindly restate the question. What is the problem officer? Has this kind LADY done anything wrong?" I speak rather forcibly. Trying to keep a smile back due to the accent I was using.

The officer now at a lost of words is just starring at me. "Uhhh uhhhh this lady is charged with the crime of stealing a Volus's credit chip."

"Where's your evidence?" I ask. Knowing full well that he will not have any.

"I have a statement from said Volus that she took it."

"Really and what other evidence do you have. Is their video footage? How about does she have the credit chip on her? Hell did anyone who else who is a non-biased witnesses see this happen?" I ask drawing up to my full 6'3" height.

"Uhh no, but I have the statement…"

"Let me get this straight. You have no hard evidence and yet you continue on harassing my employer. Now, we can do these three ways. I can call up C-sec and complain. I can call up detective Garrus Valkrin and I wonder what he would do to you, or you can walk away and not come back until you have hard evidence." I threaten.

The C-sec agent just lowers his head and sulks away.

Turning to face the stunned Quarian, 'He won't be bothering you anytime soon M'am."

If the Quarian was not shocked before now she damn well was. It is not everyday that a Quarian has a human stand up for them and then call them M'am.

"Thank you, I thought for sure he was going to lock me up. May I ask why you did that? Also where's your accent from. Haven't heard it before."

"Well my accent is from a place called Texas. It is a place on Earth. However," I say now dropping my Texas accent, "I was just using it for shit's and giggles."

"What is shit's and giggles. I have never heard of this term before."

"Oh right, umm well, it basically means because I thought it would be funny."

"Ahhh okay. My name is Kali'Gen Vass QuiQui."

I silently laugh to my self. I have always found the name of that ship to be funny. However, knowing that I need to screw up her last name I painfully say, "Well Mrs. QuiQui…"

"It's just Kali. QuiQui is the ship I was born on."

"Of course I am sorry. My name is Will. Anyways Kali. I have a proposal for you. A gift that would make the best Pilgrimage present ever."

Now if I did not have her attention before, I must certainly do now, "Wait, how do you know about the Quarian Pilgrimage?"

"I studied 4 years of alien culture in college." I quickly lie to cover my tracks.

"Alright, so what is this perfect present for a pilgrimage?"

I smile knowing full well that what I was about to say I couldn't do out loud. For TIM was sure to have agents somewhere here. Therefore, I pull out my Iphone and type it in.

When I hand her the device she looks like she is going to faint. Of course though, I mean who would not, this thing is ancient.

"Look how do I know that you are not part of his organization? She asks me.

"Look if I was, why would I want to work with aliens, no offense, but Cerberus doesn't like the whole Aliens are our equal thing."

"Alright, I will. However, I do have one condition."

"Go ahead."

"I want a ship with capital grade armaments when we are done."

"You have yourself a deal," I say extending my hand.

However, this causes her to just look at me with what I can only guess is a questionable stare. Of course, she doesn't know what a handshake is.

"You grab my hand and we shake. It is a custom among humans when we reach an agreement to do this."

"Oh Keeshla, I am sorry." she says as she extends her hand to mine. Shaking it.

"So what's the plan as of right now?"

"Well first we need to get a ship. Then we need to recruit people. I was hoping you could help me get a good ship as well as help steer me clear of anyone who smells like they could belong to Cerberus. We need to kinda keep this on the down low."

"Down low?"

"Umm… it means to keep it quite."

"Oh okay. That sounds like a good idea. Wouldn't want Cerberus getting wind of this."

"Exactly! Now come on first thing first we need to go pawn my items for some credits. Then we buy a ship."

With that, my new found Companion and me head off to the nearest store to a store to sell of my possessions. Along the way, I decide to get to know my companion a little better. I mean if this person is going to be with me in the foxhole I want to know what she is capable of.

"So Kali, let's play a game."

"What type of game?" she asks me.

"Well since were going to be working with each other. I think we need to get to know one another a little better."

"Alright."

"Okay the game is called 20q. I ask a question and you respond then you ask one. First question, what type of combat experience do you have?"

"Well all Quarians are given combat training before they leave the fleet. I have training in hand to hand, medical, and assault rifles. As well, as pistols. Alright my turn, why do you want to do this?"

"Easy I believe that whatever, Cerberus has good ideals. Such as the betterment of the human race. However, we need to do the right way. By gaining allies in the other races. Rather than just seek for the betterment of humanity. They could work for the betterment of all living species. What is your opinion on humans?"

"You're the first human I have actually talked to. Other than that I have only ever heard stories about humans."

"Looks like were here." I exclaim.

Walking in we see a human and an Asari arguing about something. I hear them mention something about Cerberus, this causes the Asari to throw up his arms and storm out past us.

"Sorry about that, what can I get for you kind sir?"

"Who was that woman?" I ask

"Oh her, she is just an unhappy customer."

Oh, she is more than that. It sounded like she had a grudge against Cerberus for some reason and if she had a grudge against them that made her a good recruit.

"Can I please get her name, maybe I could talk to her for ya."

"Don't so why not. Her name is Airrea, any ways what brings you in here today?"

"I want to pawn a few things." I say taking out Iphone, Ipod and ,now empty, wallet.

"Are those original sir?" he says his eyes glowing with greed.

"Yes they actually been in the family since 2012."

Ill give you a million a piece for the two electronics. And 100,000 for the wallet."

"Hold up, these things are worth more than that," Kali began, "They could easily bring you 5 million a piece. On a bad day. So how about this, 6 million for everything and you through in two top of the line Omni-tools or we will walk out and you will NEVER see them again."

"Damn she is good." I think to myself.

"Fine, but they better be original!"

"Don't worry they are in fact," I pull out the sale receipt from my pocket, "Here is the sale receipt for the Ipod touch there."

The man quickly grabs the receipt from me and looks over it. After a little, he nods his head and takes out a credit chip.

"Pleasure doing business with you" I say as I take the credit chips and the two Omni-tools handing one to Kali.

"Okay so now we have the money that we need what should we do now?"

"We need a ship. An old one. I want to upgrade it with new tech. Make it into something great."

"That's not a bad idea. I know just the place to go to. I was looking at ships for a while as a gift for my pilgrimage. I had all but given up on the idea when I realized that the cheapest was a million credits."

30 minutes later

"Just sign here and this ship will be yours," the used ship dealer says as he points to the spot I am suppose to sign. When I had first seen the ship, I did not think that this ship would exist here. However, seems like someone was an Old republic fan. However, the only reason it was cheap enough to buy was because of how bad it really was. It had no missile pods, no mass accelerators. It only had point defense turrets and at that, it only had two.

All this did not matter for 750,000 credits I was now the proud owner of the Ebon Hawk!

"I know you wanted a piece of junk, but this… this…"

"Look she may not look like much but trust me she'll get the job done. Plus ill buy you a new ship after this is all said and done so calm down."

This seemed to calm here down. As we started to walk to our airlock I saw the same Asari that I had seen earlier. Realizing that this could be my one chance I walk up to her.

"Excuse me miss."

"Yes?" she said turning around, "What Cerberus send you to kill me already?"

"Ummm no, actually I overheard your argument with the store keeper earlier."

"Ahhh yes him, I was just mad hat he was going to sell information to Cerberus. Information that could hurt the Asari Republic in the wrong hands."

Now this caught my attention. Just how did he get this information in the first place unless…

"Information that I gave him. We used to be married. We were having a great life until he cheated on me with a human woman."

"Hey look, my name is will. Captain of the Hawk," god how I always wanted to say that, "I am trying to do something big. However, I am going to need your help."

"Why should I help you?"

"Simple I will give you the chance to make up for mistake."

"How?"

I pulled up my Omni-tool and started typing in what we were going to do. Not wanting Cerberus to find out exactly what I was up to, just yet.

I showed her what I was planning on doing. This caught her attention. She just gave me a look, which I swore, was shock, fear and hop all rolled into one.

"Just how do you plan on doing this?"

"Well, it won't be easy…"

"That's an understatement."

"However, I am going to need a team. A good team. I want you on that team."

"Alright ill help you, however, you betray me I am going to flay your skin off with my mind."

Sweet Mass Effect 2 reference. I guess that the threat is a common one among the Asari. "Welcome aboard Mrs.?

"Airrea, Airrea T'Soni."

Hell yea she might be related to Lirea. When Mass effects events come around this is going to make it a hell of a lot easier.

"Alright this way Kali is already on the ship."

With that we head into the dock that held the Ebon Hawk. I was starting to get all teared up though. Never in my wildest dream did I ever think I would get to pilot the fastest ship in the galaxy. Well a ship that would be the fastest ship in the galaxy after I am finished with it.

Inside the Ebon Hawk

"This ship is a piece of crap!" Airrea exclaimed!

"Look I know she doesn't look like much but she has it where it counts."

"No she doesn't actually," Kali spoke up, "This ship is going to need major upgrades. There is little to no weapons on this ship. The drive core is a piece of crap and do not even get me start on how there is direct pilot control. However, with a little elbow grease, time, and a whole lot of credits she can be the fastest ship in the galaxy."

"Okay so we need to do major reinventing on this ship. How many people can we fit aboard comfortable?"

Well there are eight bunks total. With a huge cargo space which we do not need. Therefore, I am going to say comfortably we can fit 30 and that is only if we refit the cargo into a crew quarters. We will not have enough room for a Captains quarter though."

"That's fine; I could just use that storage compartment as my office in the main room. Seems to be big enough. What is it 5 by 8?"

"About."

"Alright and the armory. I guess we can put that right in front of the loading ramp?"

"That wouldn't be a bad place. It would allow people to get out of their armor as soon as they got on."

"Makes sense. Alright here is what we are going to do. Kali you are in charge of getting the ship's drive core and controls upgraded. Can you handle that?"

"No problem."

"Airrea, what past history have you had?"

"I was in the Asari Commandos in my maiden days. Served as a heavy weapon spec list. With a little bit of demolition."

"Okay then your in charge of getting proper weapons for this ship. Can you handle that?"

"Yes I think I can."

"Good now each of you has a budget of 2 million. Now it will go fast I promise you that so be economical. This is all the credits that we have for right now."

"Will what are you going to do?"

"Me? I am going to go and buy rifles handguns and what not. We need a proper armory. A good one at that. Therefore, weapon storage lockers, Suit holders, weapon station the whole shebang. Any questions?"

"Yes how long do we have?" Kali asked.

"24 hours to buy the material then we leave as soon as everything is done. Any more" I ask looking around. "No? Good then. Everyone move grab you chips before you head out and see ya'll in 24 hours."

Deciding that I had the least time consuming task I decided to take a look at the beds. To see how they were. I was hoping they would be nicer than standard military issued ones.

Walking into the west crew compartment I immodestly back up out of there. The smell was horrible. It was mixture of rotten eggs, shit, and bad milk.

"Damn it, looks like I need to get new beds and get this place cleaned out." I think to my self. Now if I could only figure out how to make calls on the Omni-tool. Oh well I can figure that out latter. For right now, I just needed to head out and start gathering supplies for the ship.

Upon exiting the ship, I decided that my first order of business should be to go get new beds. After all, if my crew found out they could not sleep then it would be a bad day indeed. Looking at the make, I began laughing. There was no way this place was still around. However there it was. Sears.

"Well looks like I know where I am going. I hope that they still do haul away. It would be nice to have some one else pull those things out for me." I mutter to no one in particular.

As I walk to Sears, my mind begins to wonder back to how I got here and my family. Knowing my parents, they will never stop looking until they find a body. Hoping against the tide. Then there was my little sister. The last thing I said to her was, "I don't care."

If I could go back, I would change a lot. I would tell my sister how much she meant to me. How I was always going to look out for her. Then there was my girlfriend. I had been blowing her off for the last few days trying to push though another mass effect character. Now, for all she knew, I was dead. I would never be able to tell her how much I loved her again.

Then I felt a hot liquid slowly dripping down from my eyes. Was I Crying? I could not be could I? Then I felt more coming down. God I was crying. I missed my family friends and girlfriend. I was never going to see them again.

Then I felt something began to warm up in my gut. It began to spread all over my body. Then when it hit my brain, I realized. I am going to make everyone proud of me. I may not every seem them again but frak this. I am going to make them all proud of me.

POV Kali

Of course, I got the highest technical aspect. I mean whose else would have gotten it. Will does not know the first thing about tech. Airrea, well, Airrea I did not know much about her. All she knew was that she wanted to make up for her past and that was about it.

"Hello there, what can I help you with?" the store clerk asked.

"Hello, I am looking for a frigate size drive core. I hear you are the best."

"Right you are. I have both new and used ones. Which one did you want to take a look at?"

"Used please." I said thinking that if I can get a good used one. I could save enough money and get some emergency thrusters. Because keeshla only knew how badly the ones on the ship were already.

"We have a quite a few that meet your requirements. Is their any order you would like to see them in?"

"Yes I want to see your best please."

Of course, you do now for starters I have an almost brand new drive core. Capable of boosting the ship to almost twice normal FTL speeds for extended periods of time. However, it does use a little more fuel than your average one."

"How much?"

"A million credits."

"How long have you had this?"

"About 4 years now. You're the first to make an offer."

"How about 750?" after all it's done is sit there with no one touching it for 4 years."

"Ill go down to 900 and no a penny less."

"Would you being willing to throw in a warranty and instillation for no additional cost?"

"No."

"Okay then have a good day." I say as I start to walk out. Knowing what he was going to do next.

"WAIT!"

"I can't give you a free warranty, but I can give you free installation and ill even take the old drive core back."

"How much for a warranty then?"

"If I can keep the old drive core that you have… then how about just 10,000 more credits."

"You got yourself a deal."

"Alright let's began the paper work shall we?"

With that, we sat down and started hammering out the details. They would deliver the new drive core in 12 hours install it in 2 days and take the old one back with them.

Heading out of the store, I decided since I had gotten that done so fast that I should grab a bit to eat. After all, I am not any good with out a full stomach.

Heading to my favorite dinner place, I began to think of what I was really getting myself into.

Then I felt a cold barrel pressed against my head.

"Look what we have here. A Quarian. Wonder how much she would fetch on the slave market?"

"Probably enough to feed us for a few years. You know how those Bartarians like them Quarries. The last one we captured got use 200,000 credits brother."

Bang a gunshot rang out.

Suddenly I no longer felt the cold barrel against my head. Turning I saw the Human with a bullet hole clean through his head. His partner immodestly tried to take cover. However, before he even got to cover another shot rang out. Sending this one over some railing into the lake below.

"Keeshla, what just happened?" I mutter to myself.

I immodestly start scanning around trying to find where the shots came from. However, I cannot seem to find a single person. Who could have done it. Infact there was no one around.

24 hours latter on the Ebon Hawk POV Will

"Just put the weapon crate there please," I motion to the loading crew.

"Will, its Kali I'm back," kali announced with what I could only guess was a Quarians way of giving a smug announcement.

"Welcome back, how did the shopping go?"

"Not to bad, not too bad. I got a new drive core for us. Suppose to make the ship twice as fast as a normal frigate. Figure we could use the speed. Besides, if that is how fast it goes before a Quarian gets her hands on it. Just imagine how fast it will be after."

"Great, by the way. I have the armory almost finished. So latter make sure you come by and get your weapons."

"Sure thing skipper."

"Skipper?'

"It's a title of respect among my people. After all you are in charge of the ship."

Realizing that if I turn this down I may very well lose her support I can do nothing but grin, "Alright Gilligan, how much long till the core is ready to go?"

"Gilligan, who is this Gilligan?"

"Never mind, it's from an old Earth movie."

"Oh, sorry didn't know."

Do not worry it's not your fault. Anyway how long till it is ready?"

"Two days. I also got the stuff to upgrade the ships controls. I even got a new shield generator thrown in. By promising to come back for regular service for 2 years." "Good find. Now go claim a bunk. I got them all replaced for ya'll."

"Thanks." kali says as she heads off to find her own bunk.

Turning back to the Armory I notice that the people here have finished installing everything. "Wow their fast." I think to my self. Might as well head to my bunk and get some sleep. Lord knows I am not going to get much in the next few weeks.

Codex entry:

The Ebon hawk. It is believed that this vessel is designed after the ship from the old Earth game known as KOTOR. It is classified as being a frigate. We will it is short on armament and shielding, it makes up for this by the sheer size of the drive core it can have.

Well here is to my longest chapter I have ever written in my entire life! For those of you wondering how I am going to take down Cerberus with anything less than a fleet. Let me tell you something. With the right knowledge in the right hands, even the mightiest dragon can be felled. Now I need a beta reader. However, it is not a necessity. I will keep pumping out chapters as fast as I can. While trying to give you the best story I can. Also i know i may have misspelled the Quarian words qusshla but i tryed my hardest to find it. So if you guys see it just say hey this is how it is spelt. Same goes for race names.