Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect and its characters. All I own is the OC's and changes in the plot.

POV Garvil

I took another bite of the bland rations. It never tasted any better, no matter how long I had been eating it. Tali, the one person besides Wrex least likely to be on this half of the ship, was sitting across from me with her flavored paste tube. We had gotten close during our time on the ship, which surprised me when I ended up thinking about it. She became noticeably happier after the conclusion of the geth incursion, and she had made it plain she liked my company as well.

Our silent meal was interrupted by Ashley, who walked over and sat down next to me. I raised an eyebrow. "Anything I can do for you Ashley?"

She looked down before responding. "Yeah... Look, Marcus. I've been thinking about what you told me a couple weeks ago. I..."

I held my hand up in response. I glanced over at Tali before responding. "No need to say any more, Ashley. Aliens are people too. The earlier everyone is on board with this, the better."

Ashley nodded and turned to Tali, who just looked at her silently. "I'm sorry, Tali. You're a real asset to the team."

Tali nodded. "That means a lot coming from you." Ashley stood up awkwardly and coughed into her fist before leaving in a speed walk. Tali returned her gaze to me. "What did you say to get Ashley to accept us on the ship? Even Shepard couldn't manage it."

I sighed. "She began the conversation, obviously expecting me to agree with her. She got a little surprise."

Tali laughed. "I appreciate it. Only you and Shepard have had any interest in my people. Most people are content to simply dismiss us as inferior, only useful for our technical skills. We're often either simply denied from working in most places we go to, or we're picked up for cheap labor. That's assuming we're allowed on at all."

I folded my hands together in front of me, nodding. "You've been a great help to us so far. I'm honestly a little surprised your people are given this much prejudice. From what you've told me, there isn't any other species in the galaxy that is better with technology than yours are."

She looked down at the table. "The salarians come pretty close, but you're correct. Nearly every quarian in the fleet has to be able to make repairs in order to keep everything running smoothly, and that means everyone has very extensive training about ships and electronics, and... you know what I mean."

I nodded. "Tell me if you have any problems you need help with. I'll see what I can do." I stood up and stretched.

Tali looked up at me. "Marcus..."

I stopped stretching and looked back at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Do you," she started. She seemed to be nervously choking back the words she wanted to say. I smiled, knowing what she was attempting to ask.

"I've been an only child, Tali. You're the first person I've ever truly been able to relate to. So yes, Tali. You're not just a friend to me."

She stood up roughly. "I... I need to think about this." After that, she ran up one side of the stairs. I scratched my head, slightly confused. Liara had just walked out of the medical bay, which was in front of her office. She looked at the fleeing quarian for a moment before turning to me.

"What did you do to make her run like that?" She sounded annoyed at me, which I guess was justified considering what she had just witnessed.

I decided to just sit back down. "She's confused, Liara. I wasn't trying to offend her or make her mad."

Liara apparantly understood, since she nodded and sat down in Tali's spot. She grinned for a moment, then asked me, "Say, Marcus. Shepard said you were involved in a mission shortly before transferring over to the Normandy. He also said that was the cause of, well, Therum." She said the last few words awkwardly, as if she didn't really want to mention it to me.

I let out a weary sigh. She put on a scared look and continued, "I understand if you don't want to talk about it. I was just curious, is all." The way she rushed it made me feel slightly guilty inside.

I shook my head. "No, it's fine. I was part of a mission against a Cerberus research facility." She raised an eyebrow. Apparantly she had never heard of Cerberus. "They're an extremist group of some kind, I don't know much about them. Anyway, the facility we infiltrated looked like they were trying to clone Rachni." This she gasped at, a shocked expression on her face. "We destroyed the facility, but my entire squad was killed. We went to the Citadel, and I was offered a spot on the Normandy six days later. You know what happens after that."

She looked down at the table. "I'm sorry, Marcus. I see why you did what you did now. It must be difficult seeing your friends die."

I couldn't swallow the lump in my throat. All I could get out was a choked, "Yeah.". I stood up again and walked towards the stairs, leaving Liara to sit at the table alone. I decided to go down to the armory to make any last minute adjustments, since we were going to arrive on Virmire in an hour.

Wrex was even more restless, but denied my question about his family armor. He didn't have a set location yet, but he was sure he would soon. Garrus was also more restless than usual, occasionally hesitating while he worked on the Mako. He noticed me looking at him curiously as I cleaned the inside of my shotgun's barrel, but he shook his head dismissively in my direction, obviously not willing to speak his mind at the moment. With fifteen minutes to dropdown, Shepard came over the loudspeaker.

"Wrex, Kaidan, Liara. We're dropping down in the Mako first. Everyone else, stay on standby. There's no telling what the situation is down there, and we might need your help. Initial scans have shown that there is a facility surrounded by AA towers. We also found what looks like a separate base camp, probably the team sent here. We'll take down the AA Towers near the camp so that you can dock. We're dropping in fifteen minutes. Get ready."

Wrex growled and put on his armor. Kaidan and Liara entered shortly after, doing the same. Shepard was the last to show up, a whole minute after Liara and Kaidan appeared in the elevator. Shepard entered the Mako first several minutes later after putting on his armor. Liara and Kaidan went in next, and Wrex piled in last, obviously the gunner.

Shepard's voice rang from the Mako. "Get everyone to suit up as well. There's no telling what can happen when you land."

Garrus replied, "Yes sir" before walking to the elevator. I fetched Tali from Engineering next door, then suited up in the meantime, ready for whatever happened. Garrus returned soon after with Ashley and Jentha. I watched in silence as the three of them prepared themselves for a battle.

It was twenty minutes later when Joker called for us to go up to the CIC. Shepard was at the second AA Gun in the area, and we were going to prepare to land at the camp soon after. Ashley and I waited at the bridge behind Joker, while the other three remained in the nearby room leading to the airlock.

"Ground Team to Normandy. The second AA Tower is down. I repeat, the second AA Tower is down. You're free to land." Shepard's voice rang through the entire room with the robotic version of his voice.

Joker ended the transmission and activated another one. "Base Camp, this is the SSV Normandy of the Alliance. Requesting to land, over."

A salarian answered immediately. "Roger Normandy. Be quick about it."

Joker turned and grinned with pride at us, then landed at the camp. The same salarian crackled over the loudspeaker again. "Attention Normandy. You are now grounded for the duration of this mission. Meet us outside your ship."

Joker responded with, "Affirmative. Sending the ground team out." Afterwards, he turned his chair towards us. "Looks like we're stuck on this fake paradise. I'll notify Shepard about what's going on; it doesn't look like he's there yet."

I nodded and walked to the rest of the team in the airlock, Ashley behind me. "Looks like the camp is clear of hostiles," I said to them. "Don't look to start a fight. The information they have could be valuable." I aimed that part at Jentha, who was holding a cigarette in one hand and a pistol in the other. She smirked as she put her pistol back on her hip, only removing it from her face to breathe in the smoke. I rolled my eyes as the airlock began to simulate the atmosphere of the planet. After a minute, the door opened to reveal what looked like a paradise world. We had landed on what looked like a few inches of clear water, a couple dozen feet away from the beach where the settlement was.

One of the salarians was quickly walking towards us. I jumped off the ship, taking in the sights. This truly looked like a place I'd go for a vacation.

The salarian stopped in front of us and referenced me. "Are you the commanding officer of this ship?"

I shook my head. "The CO is the one that took out the nearby AA Towers and will be here shortly. The second in command is still on the ship. None of us are in a position of command," I stated, extending my arm to include everyone behind me.

The Salarian nodded and turned around. "Kirrahe would like to speak with you. Follow me, please."

The group of us followed him to the beach, where another Salarian was holding a datapad. The Salarian leading us saluted him, which he returned.

"These are some of the soldiers of the ship that just dropped down, sir. The CO will be here soon."

Kirrahe looked us over, then gave the datapad to the other Salarian. "Did the council send you? I hope you weren't all they sent to us."

I stepped forward. "The council did send us," I told him. "That's all I know, however. Shepard will be able to tell you more."

Kirrahe shook his head and began to pace. "This is even worse than I thought. We'll have to make a new plan. The quarian and the turian can help us." I looked back to see Garrus' and Tali's response. Garrus nodded and started walking towards us, Tali doing the same after a slight hesitation. Kirrahe motioned to the largest tent, which I assumed was the staging tent. The two of them ducked inside the flaps. Jentha snorted and walked off to explore the camp. Kirrahe gave her a quick glance but didn't stop her.

We heard an engine in the background back from where we came. I turned around and saw the Mako zooming across the water towards us. It stopped next to the Normandy, and the four occupants inside piled out. Wrex growled at Kirrahe, but followed Shepard nonetheless. Kaidan stood next to Ashley and me while Liara stayed back with Wrex. I stepped to the side as Shepard walked past me, standing in front of Kirrahe.

Kirrahe began first by stating, "You're Shepard, Commanding Officer of this ship, correct?"

Shepard nodded. "Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. What's the situation here?"

Kirrahe nodded curtly. "I'm Captain Kirrahe," he began professionally. "Third Infiltration Regiment STG. You and your crew have landed in a hotzone. Every AA Tower within ten miles has been alerted of your presence. If you try to leave before our mission is done, your ship won't make it a thousand feet. If you're all the council sent us, then we'll have to be careful about how we do this."

Shepard put his hand on his chin, thinking. "What's this mission you're talking about?"

"We were asked by the council to investigate this planet, as they had suspicions that Saren was planning something here. The facility towards my back looks like a research facility, and it's very heavily fortified by geth forces. I lost half my men 'investigating' this place." He said 'investigating' very sarcastically, as if what had actually happened was far from investigating.

"What do you think Saren is doing here?" Shepard asked. Kirrahe sighed, hesitant to respond for a moment.

"He's breeding an army of Krogan."

I turned around at Wrex's approach. He looked confused and surprised at the same time. He stopped when he was next to Shepard.

"How is that possible?"

Kirrahe took a step back, not surprising with a krogan in his face. He appeared hesitant when he responded with, "Apparantly, he's discovered a cure to the genophage."

Shepard looked confused. "What's so important about this genophage?"

Wrex exhaled in annoyance. "It was their solution to the Krogan problem." He spat the word 'their' at Kirrahe, as if it was directly his fault. "Because of your kind, only one out of every thousand krogan pregnancies doesn't end in stillbirth." He stared daggers into Kirrahe. I was extremely glad that stare wasn't aimed at me, or I'd probably piss my pants on the spot. Kirrahe looked unfazed.

"The genophage was used to quell the uprising. Without the genophage, the krogan would overrun the galaxy within a few centuries. If Saren's krogan army is released, they would overrun the galaxy in only years."

Shepard sighed again. "The geth are bad enough, but a krogan army? This has to be stopped before it's too late."

Kirrahe nodded curtly. "I agree. We have to ensure that this facility and the secrets within are destroyed."

Wrex snorted. "Destroyed? I don't think so, Salarian. My people are dying. That cure can save them."

Kirrahe did not back down. Shaking his head, he responded with, "We cannot make the same mistake again. The cure cannot be released."

Wrex's eyes became enraged as he stepped directly up to Kirrahe. Pointed his finger only inches from the salarian's face, he stated, "We are not a mistake," before walking off. His voice betrayed his cold anger.

Kirrahe turned back to Shepard. "Will he be a problem? We have enough angry krogan to deal with."

Shepard held his hand up. "I'll talk to him. Don't worry." He walked off after Wrex, motioning for me to follow. I raised my eyebrow at him, but followed nonetheless.

Wrex was firing his shotgun into the water, growling incessently all the while. He turned gruffly as we approached.

"This isn't right, Shepard. If there is a cure here, we can't destroy it." He turned and fired again, turning his face into a deeper scowl.

Shepard held his hands up. "I understand you're upset, but we're not the enemy here, Wrex. Saren is."

His face whipped around again. He took a step and shook his head. "Are you sure? Saren's the one who created the cure." He turned to shoot the water again. "Help me out, Shepard. The line between friend and foe is getting blurry from where I stand."

Shepard sighed in annoyance. "Saren's using the cure to create weapons and nothing else. Saren's not going to let the rest of the krogan reap the benefits if this facility is left standing."

Wrex shook his head and growled in anger. "We should be willing to take that chance. Shepard, we're talking about my entire species. I've been loyal to you so far; if you want me to continue, I need to know you're doing it for the right reasons." He stepped back and aimed his shotgun into Shepard's face. Shepard, for his part, grabbed his own and aimed it into Wrex's. I sighed and pulled out my own, aiming it at Wrex.

I heard a female laugh behind me and felt myself being pushed out of the way. Shepard and Wrex looked surprised to see Jentha approach the krogan. She grabbed his shotgun and pushed it down. Wrex's frown became more and more enraged.

"Do you understand what Saren's doing here, you numbskull? Saren doesn't give a flying pyjak's ass about the krogan. He only wants to use them for his tools. After he's finished with them, he'll dispose of them just like the council did to you last time. If we save the facility, we'll make sure it's known to the krogan that it was Urdnot Wrex who did this to them." She smirked and smacked the shotgun out of Wrex's arms before stepping back and crossing her arms. She is either the most brave person I've ever met, or the most stupid, I thought in amazement. No one simply walked up to a krogan and disarmed him.

Wrex took a deep breath before responding. "The council's reward for us taking care of their rachni problem was to neuter us. I doubt Saren would be so generous." He picked up his shotgun and put it back with the rest of his weapons. "You've made your point, but you do not want to do that again, little girl. Understand?"

Jentha laughed, as if she was amused at the threat, and walked back to where Ashley and Kaidan were waiting. Liara had been asked into the commanding tent as well.

I looked at Shepard and he did the same to me, both of us shaking our heads in disbelief. Wrex had turned back to shooting the water. The two of us walked back to the large tent where Kirrahe had disappeared to. Kaidan and Ashley noticed and followed us in our approah. We ducked inside to see Tali, Garrus, Liara, and several salarians sitting around a relatively small table. Kirrahe was standing in front of them.

He noticed us and met us at the entrance. "We're close to done with our new plan. Thank you for talking with the krogan. It will be difficult enough as it is with his help. It will be much harder without."

Shepard nodded. "What do you have?"

Kirrahe began to pace as he talked. "We can convert our ship's drive core into a twenty-kiloton bomb. Crude, but effective. We'll assault the base directly, while you and a small team infiltrate the back." His voice was nervous, as if he wasn't confident in this plan.

Kaidan cut in with, "What's stopping us from simply dropping it in?"

Kirrahe shook his head. "The facility is far too fortified for that. We have to get the bomb into the facility to a specific location. The Normandy can hold the nuke, but we'll have to destroy the AA Guns and make sure the ground troops won't be able to disarm the bomb."

Kaidan piped up again. "Wait, we're doing a ground assault? We don't have enough men."

Kirrahe sighed. "It's the only way. I'll divide my troops into three teams of fifteen that will assault various sections of this part of the base."

Shepard shook his head in disbelief. "You'll be slaughtered, Kirrahe."

He nodded grimly. "That's why what I'm going to have to ask is even more difficult. Commander, I need two of your men to help me lead the troops."

Shepard raised his eyebrows in surprise. I stepped forward. "Shepard, I can handle this. I'm willing to go." Shepard looked at me with a strange unreadable look, then nodded.

"Garvil and Kaidan will go with you, Kirrahe. I will prepare the infiltration team." Shepard turned to the three of us. "Ashley, go with Kirrahe to arm the bomb." She saluted and marched back to the ship. The three aliens had left the table at this point and joined us. Shepard turned towards them and stated, "Tali, do what you can to provide the salarians with support." She nodded and sat back down at the table. "Garrus, Liara, we're the infiltration team. Go get Wrex and Jentha, they'll be alongside us as well. Get ready." The two of them nodded and left the tent.

Shepard turned back to Kaidan and I. "Marcus, you're my second in command on this mission. If I'm not around, then the you will be my voice." I was visibly surprised by the statement, but nodded. I was the obvious choice with my leadership training and experience. "Despite where we are all at, we are still a team. I trust you two to do what I know you can do. Do your jobs well, and everyone gets out of here in one piece." Shepard smiled at us. "Good luck."

With that, he left the tent. Kaidan and I looked at each other, then I walked to Tali.

She looked up at me when I approached. "Marcus, good luck out there."

I smiled at her. This time, I know I saw the small outline of her mouth return it within her helmet. "Good luck to you too, Tali."

I walked back outside the tent to find Kirrahe standing in front of several lines of salarian troops. Kaidan and I stood several feet behind him, listening to his speech.

"You all know the mission and what is at stake. I have come to trust each and everyone one of you with my life, but I've also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage. We would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way."

Kirrahe began to pace slowly as his words became more passionate.

"Think of our heroes: the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers."

Kirrahe's passion was getting even stronger. I was having trouble not getting inspired at this point.

"Our inspiration stopped the rachni, but before that, we held the line. Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line."

Kirrahe stopped pacing and faced the troops, not talking for a moment. The last part of his speech was silent, but confident.

"Our influence will stop Saren! In the battle today, we will hold the line!"

Kirrahe turned to face Shepard, who had walked up to the side alongside Wrex, Garrus, and Liara. "Good luck Commander. I hope we meet again."

Kaidan, Kirrahe, and I stood in three separate formations of fifteen men each. Kirrahe activated his comm channel to Shepard. "Do you read me Commander?"

"Loud and clear, Kirrahe."

"Good. We'll begin our push to the AA Guns. It might be up to you to finish the job. Oh, Commander. If you can find a way to undermine their defenses, we could definitely use the help."

Kirrahe turned off the communications channel and turned to Kaidan and me. "Alenko, you take the northern entrance. Garvil, the southern. My force will go up the middle. Any questions?"

Both of us shook our heads. Kirrahe nodded. "Off you go then. Good luck, you two."

I led my team towards the righthand path. I looked at Tali before dropping from sight, but she didn't notice me. Kirrahe's group was already out of sight from my location, and I only got to see her for a couple seconds.

I turned around to face my squadrom. "All right, you two go ahead as scouts. We'll stay out of sight until you come back with an assessment." The two closest Salarians nodded and ran forward along the path. I slowly walked to follow, making sure to stay behind. We walked for a minute before they came back.

"Sir, snipers are everywhere. Shock troopers make up a significant amount of the infantry force, but there are some regular troopers as well." I nodded without betraying my dismay.

I began directing everyone to the best of my ability. "I understand five of you are equipped with sniper rifles. Get them out and go up there to provide us with covering fire." I pointed to a dip in the path that ended in a raised platform. The five I referenced saluted and brought out their sniper rifles. "You two, go up there with them and make sure they don't get flanked. The rest of you, on me."

I began to jog down the path with my assault rifle raised. When I found the section of the facility referenced by the scouts, I dipped behind a low wall on the path. The various troops alongside me took cover where they could, but one was shot down by a sniper before getting to cover in time. My eyes blurred for a moment, the guilt beginning to set in. I gritted my teeth and pushed it away.

There will be casualties," I thought. "I can't avoid it. I just have to do the best I can with what is left."

The words sounded slightly hollow in my head, but I forced myself to calm down anyway.

The fight lasted several minutes, with three more salarians dying at the hands of the geth.

Kirrahe popped up on my omni-tool's transmitter. "Shadow Team is in the facility. My team is as well. Lieutenant Alenko and Aegohr team, status report."

"Heavy resistance, Captain. We're getting decimated."

"Acknowledged. Lieutenant Garvil and Jaeto team, status report."

I turned on my transmitter. "We're nearly in, Captain. Only four casualties."

"Acknowledged. We're approaching the first AA tower."

Shepard came on only moments after. "We've reached the facility. We're diverting some of the forces towards our end. Hopefully it will put some pressure off you guys."

I transmitted my order for the sniper team to join us as we approached the entrance to the facility. The door opened and we took out the geth inside the first room.

Kirrahe came over the transmitter again. They're calling sat strikes. Lt. Garvil, look for comm stations. Lt. Alenko, same. My team's at the first AA Tower. After this, there's five left. Stay alert, all."

My team travelled through the rooms towards the nearest AA Tower. I lost two more men in the exchanges. I had nine left alongside myself. One third of my force simply gone, I thought glumly. This isn't looking very good.

We reached the tower and cleared it out, disabling it afterwards. Another salarian was killed in action during the effort. I transmitted our success.

Kaidan began transmitting only seconds after. "We're pinned down at our AA tower. Aegohr team, take defensive positions."

There were only two towers left. I began making my way across the facility with what remained of my squadron. It was getting more and more difficult to keep the guilt at bay, although I kept my head focused and on the geth. Krogan troops appeared as well, and only became more common the farther we got into the facility.

"We've disabled another AA Tower. Heading towards the bomb site." Kirrahe's voice popped up.

Shepard came up a second later. "We're at the last AA Tower. Everyone who's left, try to get to the bomb site. After we're done here, we'll see about disabling the communications to this place."

I rerouted and fought to the bomb site. We made it to the coordinates with only three salarians left. Kirrahe was already there with two as well as Tali. Ashley was setting up the bomb.

Kirrahe walked up to me. "Lt. Alenko is still pinned down at the AA Tower. It will be some time before the bomb is ready. Take Tali and the rest of the troops. I can defend the bomb."

I nodded and saluted, which he returned. "Good luck, Lieutenant."

I took the five troops and Tali, running down the hallway that would bring us closest to the AA Tower.

Shepard came through the transmitter again. "We've shut down outbound communications. We have another problem, guys. Sovereign has arrived, bringing Saren and a new platoon of geth. You guys are in for some trouble soon. We're fighting Saren, but the geth are spreading throughout the facility."

I cursed softly to myself and sprinted harder.

Ashley came over the transmitter. "The bomb is armed, but I'm under attack by Geth forces."

Kaidan cut her off with his own transmission. "We're not going to last much longer over here. There's just two of us left."

"Garvil, you have to save Kaidan. That AA Tower cannot be online if you all wish to get out of here. Kirrahe's already on the Normandy, and they're picking up the Commander now. I can hold off the geth until the bomb's ready to go off."

"Negative. The bomb is the most important thing here. If that doesn't go off, this entire operation is for nothing. Go save Ashley. I can disable the AA Turret so they don't bring it back online.

I dropped to my knees. Tali came up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "Marcus, you have to make a choice. You can't save them both." Her voice carried compassion at my situation.

I barely heard her as I devolved to my flashback.

We approach the Cerberus research facility. My team breaks through under heavy fire. We reach the office. Two of my team stays behind to guard the door, while the other comes with me. None make it out alive.

None...

...

Alive...

...

...

I opened my eyes and got back to my feet.

I lost everyone because I waited, I thought bitterly. I failed my team.

I refuse to do this again. I will not sit by while two good people die. If I can save only one, then I have done my part.

I'm sorry Ash.

I began walking the same direction we had been going before. "We're going after Kaidan. Ashley's a good soldier; she's able to defend the bomb long enough for us to get away." I broke into a run, watching

I felt tears growing in the back of my eyes as I ran. I quickly wiped them as we ran. We saw the geth forces going into the AA Tower Kaidan was referring to. I dragged out my shotgun and mowed down every machine in my way, all the way up to the top of the tower.

I turned on my transmitter. "Normandy, This is Marcus. We're with Kaidan at the AA Tower." I paused as tears formed in my eyes again. "Ash, I'm sorry."

Ashley didn't respond.

Shortly after, the Normandy appeared and we hopped on quickly. Shepard and Kirrahe were at the entrance, but I ignored them. Sprinting to the engineering room, I sat down sharply in the chair I usually sat in to do my repairs, lost in my thoughts. I remained stuck until Tali brought me into a hug. I stared at the opposite wall, shocked, but my hesitation only lasted a second as I wrapped my arms around her as well.

"You did your best," she whispered into my ear. I nodded as she let go. I stood up and stretched, feeling like I had been awake for two straight days. Tali patted me on the shoulder and walked back to where Kirrahe was standing, along with the last three salarian troops. Out of the 46 salarians that were there when we touched down, only four had survived.

This mission came at a heavy price.

Shepard was up in the briefing room, as was evident when the loudspeaker came on. "All ground team units, meet in the briefing room."

Kirrahe smiled at me as I stood up, and walked up to me when I approached the elevator. "You did good, Lieutenant. I heard about the choice you had to make. You did what you could under the circumstances. No one can ask for anything more."

I nodded, knowing he was right. I entered the elevator as it closed, bringing Tali and me up to the CIC.

Everyone else was already there. I took the spot that had been Ashley's, while Tali took her usual spot.

Shepard was looking grim as he looked at my seat. "We lost a good soldier today. Ashley Williams gave her life to make sure that our mission was a success." He slammed his right fight into the other palm. "Take this as a personal reason to stop Saren. While stopping him will save the entire galaxy from the geth, now we can save a piece of that vengeance for Ash."

He stood up straight and returned to his usual composed self.

"I've found another beacon. Directly afterwards, we were able to talk to Soverign directly. Saren's not the biggest threat. His starship is a reaper."

My eyes opened wide at the news. An actual reaper?

Shepard sighed grimly. "Saren believes that the only way to save ourselves from the reapers is to join them. He's indoctrinated, although he still believes his mind is his own. He's as much a victim as Benezia. That doesn't mean he has to be stopped any less. Liara."

Liara stood up, apparantly already knowing what Shepard was going to ask.

Shepard nodded to her. "Shiala gave me the Cipher, the embodiment of the prothean race. The second beacon in Virmire might have had the missing pieces. If we were to meld minds, would you be able to tell what the message is?"

Liara nodded, smiling wide. She walked up to Shepard until they were only a single step apart. With only a few seconds of hesitation, she stated, "Embrace Eternity!".

Fifteen seconds passed before the two stopped staring at each other. Liara stumbled back, her face to the side of her forehead. Shepard stood straight, but still looked worse for wear.

"Liara," Shepard began after a moment. "Did the vision make sense to you?"

She finally stood up, having collected herself from the vision. "I understand now. The message was a distress call, sent across the entire prothean empire about the reapers. It was too late." She shook her head sadly.

Shepard nodded grimly. "Was there anything else related to the Conduit?"

Liara thought for a second, then began slowly. "There were locations, as well. My research..." Her eyes opened wide. "Ilos! That's where the Conduit is! That's why Saren needed to know the location of the Mu Relay! That's the only way to get to Ilos!"

Shepard raised his eyebrow, then frowned. "Saren probably already knows the location of the conduit as well. We have to get there before he does!"

Kaidan shook his head in response. "Shepard, we can't blindly so after it. Alliance ships aren't welcome in the Terminus Systems, and Saren will have the Mu Relay very heavily defended. We need the Council's help with this."

Shepard sighed. "You're right Kaidan. I'll try to petition the council to help. In the meantime, we can still go after Benezia on Noveria. If we can defeat her, then Saren will lose an important part of his army."

He turned towards the rest of us. "Crew dismissed. I need to talk to the council."

I stood up and left the room along with everyone else.

As we left, Joker voice came over the intercom.

"Marcus! Come here, you might want to see this." Joker's voice held sadness instead of his usual sarcasm.

I detoured to the cockpit and stood at his side as he turned towards the side.

"Um, I hope you already knew about this."

He brought up the screen that had been installed to keep him busy on his off hours so he wouldn't have to get up. His Vroliks Syndrome made walking around dangerous.

I read the article he had active.

Martha Garvil died today in the hospital of a heart attack. The wife of the man who owns the Garvil Corporation as well as the mother of Marcus Garvil, she will be sorely missed. Her husband refused to give an interview, and her only son was not able to be contacted.

I was completely blown away by this. Mother... gone? I thought, not comprehending the thought. I looked at the date of the article.

Three weeks and two days ago? I thought angrily. Why was I not notified of this?

My hand shook in rage as I read the rest of the article. After I finished, I turned around and walked back to the briefing room. Shepard had just left, walking towards the galaxy map. I entered the briefing room and created a secure channel, punching in my father's work phone as the destination.

There was only a few second's wait before the call picked up. "Marcus? Is that you?" My father's voice rang through the room.

I could barely contain my rage. "Mother died three weeks ago." I couldn't hold it in anymore. "Why didn't you tell me?" I yelled at him.

His response was arrogant. "You joined the military against my better wishes. When you enlisted, you left behind any chance of succeeding me as head of the company. I'm not going to use up my time with someone who will not be a benefit to me."

I stared in shock. I had stopped sending mail to him when I joined the Normandy since he never sent any back, but this was simply not what I would have expected.

I took a deep breath. "You're more worried about your company than me. You are no father of mine."

I closed the transmission before he could respond. I fell to my knees, tears flowing down my face.

In the span of two hours, I had lost one of my squadmates and both of my was no pushing away the anguish I felt.

A/N: The Virmire change was what I felt worked best with the way the story unfolded. Up next is Garrus' and Wrex's personal missions, then Noveria.

EDIT: Fixed a minor retcon.