Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect and its characters. I can only take credit for the OC's and changes in the plot.

POV Shepard

I stood next to Joker as we began the landing sequence on Noveria.

"SSV Normandy to Approach Control. Requesting a vector and a berth, over." Joker gave his most professional voice, something he obviously didn't do very much.

The response was done in a suspicious tone. Not surprising based on the people stationed there. "Normandy, your arrival was not scheduled. Our defense grid is tracking you. State your business."

Joker rolled his eyes. "Council business. We have a spectre on board."

"Permission granted." The male voice sounded even more suspicious, like it was impossible for a spectre to want to come to Noveria. "We will have people there to confirm your identity. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. Joker turned to me and smirked. "Fun group, here. I might have to come here for my next vacation."

I couldn't help but chuckle as I turned to the airlock. Jentha and Liara were already there; the former smoking and smirking as usual, the latter giving me a small smile as I joined them. We ran out of the airlock when the pressure equalized, thrusting us into the cold docking bay. Based on what I saw through the windows, the outside of the facility was far worse. The three of us travelled around the edge of the docking bay, the path constructed to get to the main facility. We jogged for a full minute before being stopped by the squad sent to confirm our identity.

The asian woman stepped up and raised her hand. "That's for enough."

I put my hand in front of Jentha to stop her from trying anything stupid. She caught my glare and crossed her arms, but did nothing else. Afterwards, I crossed my arms as well. "Can I help you?"

The woman didn't even register any emotion in her face. "This is an unscheduled arrival. I need your credentials."

"I am part of the Council's Special Tactics and Reconaissance division. The name's Commander John Shepard."

She raised an eyebrow. The blonde woman next to her scoffed. "Load of horsecrap, ma'am."

The asian woman rolled her eyes. "We'll need to confirm that. Also, firearms are not permitted on Noveria. I must request you leave them on your ship or we will be forced to confiscate them."

Jentha laughed, pulling out her shotgun, pointing it directly at the face of the first woman. "Don't try it, scum."

In response, the three other guards as well as the blonde raised their weapons, facing it at us. Liara and I raised our own.

I shook my head. "We're not here to cause trouble, but we must keep our weapons."

Suddenly, the loudspeaker came on. "Captain Matsuo, stand down. We've confirmed their identity. Spectres and their companions are allowed to carry weapons here."

Matsuo looked down as the woman on the loudspeaker talked, then looked back at us, motioning the rest of the guards to lower their weapons. "You are clear to proceed, spectre. I hope the rest of your visit is less confrontational. Parasini-san will meet you upstairs."

The blonde scowled at us. "Behave yourselves," she said as a threat. Jentha laughed, and I glared at her again to make sure she didn't do anything stupid. The guards dispersed and we were granted access to the outpost. We went through the door and walked up the stairs to what looked like a check-in center. There were several small drones with what looked like scanners. We passed one and an alarm started going off.

The woman in what looked like a pink jumpsuit stood behind the counter, looking at us. I walked up to her and leaned on the counter.

"Ignore the weapon scanners. I am Gianna Parasini, administrator to Administrator Anoleis. We apologize for the incident in the docking bay."

I nodded in understanding. "Security is tight here."

She shrugged. "We have to protect the interests of all the companies present on the planet. I hope you understand that the captain was only doing her job." I crossed my arms. "Anyway, one of my duties is orintation of new arrivals. Do you have any questions?"

I nodded. "Has anyone unusual passed through here recently?"

She thought a moment before responding. "Unusual?" she began. "Yes, an Asari Matriarch passed through here a few weeks ago. Matriarch Benezia."

I heard Liara inhale sharply. So she was still here. "Can I speak with her?"

She shook her head. "She left for the Peak 15 research facility a few days ago. To the best of my knowledge, she's still there. If you want to go to Peak 15, you'll have to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave the port."

I nodded. "Where can I find Anoleis?"

She motioned to the elevator down a set of stairs on the other side of the one we came from. "His office is on the main level. It's to the left at the top of the elevator."

I took a step back. "I understand. Can we go now?"

She smiled and bowed in response. "Of course. If you have any questions, you can ask me in front of the administrators office." With that, she turned and left the same way she came from behind the counter.

I turned to Liara. She had a distant look. When she noticed I was looking at her, she said "Shepard. We have to find her."

I put my hand on her shoulder. "We will, Liara. We just have to get to the resesarch facility first." She nodded and we walked to the elevator. After exiting, we walked along the edge of the main floor to the left of the elevator, getting strange looks from the various people standing around talking to each other. I noticed the weapon scanners didn't go off when we passed anymore; apparantly we had been excluded from the algorithm.

We entered the first door we reached, which led to a long room with Parasini at the end of it. She smiled at us and opened a transmitter. "Mr. Anoleis. Commander Shepard is asking to see you, sir."

Anoleis snapped back, "Right, fine. Come in." He said his syllables quickly, like he didn't have the time to talk. Parasini motioned to the wall behind her. We went behind the wall and entered the room. A lone salarian was behind a desk.

"You will excuse me if I don't stand up," he told me, obviously unimpressed by me. "I have no time to entertain refugees from that urban blight called Earth."

I preemptively motioned Jentha to leave the room, giving her a death glare. She rolled her eyes and gave a grunt of frustration, then left the room roughly. I turned back to Anoleis. "I need to get to Peak 15. An Asari matriarch, Benezia, is there."

The politician shook his head. "I'm afraid you cannot. Peak 15 is a private facility in the Skadi mountains. Regardless, there is a blizzard in the area. Shuttle access has been cut off."

I crossed my arms as a small threat. "I'll drive there."

The salarian exhaled in exasperation. "Cut off," he said again with finality. "The roads are not suitable for travel. Don't make an issue of this, Shepard."

I shook my head in disgust and turned around, leaving him to his work. I walked back out, but was stopped by Parasini when I went past her desk.

"Shepard, Mr. Anoleis isn't the only one with a pass to leave Hanshan."

I walked up to her and raised an eyebrow. "Sounds like an offer."

She leaned forward and began talking, looking around in fear. "Talk to Lorik Qui'in. He's in the hotel bar. Can't say more. Not in the earshot of Mr. Anoleis."

I nodded and grinned at her. "Thanks for the tip. I'll go talk to him right now."

She waved as I left the office. I walked around the main level until I saw a door with a giant sign of a cup and fork over it. The three of us entered the elevator and stood there as the elevator moved. Elevators were all so god damned slow. I didn't understand it.

We walked out when the door opened, looking around to see if we could find Qui'in. We found a lone turian sitting at a table dressed in official looking closed. I walked up to him slowly. He looked up when we got close and motioned to the other chairs at the table. "Afternoon. Sit down, have a drink. What can I do for you?"

I sat down and leaned on my elbows, clasping my hands together. "Are you Lorik Qui'in?"

He nodded. "Lorik Qui'in, manager of Synthetic Insights, although only in name for the moment. Mr. Anoleis closed my office. He claimed to be 'investigating reports of corruption'. Anoleis is an interesting man. He's become incredibly wealthy ever since he took direct control of rents."

I smiled knowingly. "I sense a connection, Mr. Qui'in."

"Indeed. I found evidence of his actions. They're ransacking my office to get it."

My smile grew. "I heard you have a garage pass. I need to get to Peak 15."

He immediately picked up on my offer. "You're offering to retrieve that evidence for my garage pass" I nodded. "If you get that evidence, you can have my garage pass. I will also throw in a sum of credits. Take this disc. It connects to my console. Just slip it in and all you need will be downloaded to it. However, there's one other small snag."

I raised an eyebrow. "What would that be?"

He leaned forward on his arms. "Violence against Anoleis' thugs may be necessary. He has some of Hanshan's security team going through my office. He is paying them under the table. Ms. Matsuo is unaware of their outside employment."

I nodded. "If I have to, I will. I'd prefer not to, if possible."

Qui'in shrugged. "On the main level, take a left and go down the hallway at the end. The elevator to my office is the first one you see. Oh, and if it comes to violence, please try to keep bloodstains off the carpets."

I rolled my eyes while Jentha laughed. We left the hotel bar, going back up the slow as balls elevator. When we reached the top, we followed Qui'in's directions to his office. We reached the top and entered the room, where a guard immediately walked up to us.

"Freeze! Hanshan security. This office is sealed."

I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow. "Qui'in gave me a pass in."

The soldier shook her head in disbelief, then her face furrowed in anger. "You're working with Qui'in? He's under investigation."

I sighed in exasperation and took a step forward. "Anoleis is paying you to sack his office. Does Captain Matsuo know you're here?"

She visibly reeled back in surprise, as if she was afraid of the consequences. "I'm not the one who wants Qui'in. Anoleis has a varren up his ass about the guy." She sighed and took a second before adding, "Tell you what. You pretend you don't see us, and we'll pretend we don't see you."

I smiled and gave a curt nod in response. She walked off, continuing her investigation. Two more guards walked into view as we stepped inside, giving out a cry and raising their weapons. Immediately, one fell over dead. Jentha moved her sniper rifle to the other and shot the other in the face, overheating her own weapon. We methodically cleared the room of guards except for the one we met when we entered. She simply ignored us as she went through the room, giving me a wink as I passed.

We travelled to the end of the upper level, cracking open the door to the room inside. Liara and Jentha travelled through the room while I inserted the disc. A second later, the disc popped out and I grabbed it, slipping it into a secure section of my armor. As the three of us left, we were stopped by the blonde guard we met when we first entered Noveria, as well as six extra guards.

She stepped forward and regarded us with a cold smirk. "I'm Sergeant Kaira Stirling, Elanus Risk Control Services. Anoleis would throw you offworld for what you did here. I won't. Do you know what we do to cop-killers on my world?"

Jentha stepped forward after chuckling. "You're here off bribe money while off duty. You think we should give a remote shit about you?"

Stirling's eyes became fire. "Kill them!" she exclaimed, bringing out her assault rifle. Jentha snorted and shot once, Stirling's body falling to the ground with a single groan.

Jentha stretched, as if this was hard work. "Do you want to end up like her?" Her voice carried menace, which sent chills down my spine.

The guards looked at each other, then decided their fear of Anoleis was more than fear of us. I shook my head in disbelief. Despite the body of the blonde sergeant on the ground, they decided that trying to kill us was the best option.

A minute later, we were leaving the office, leaving a mess of dead guards in our wake. We entered the elevator and exited the other side to see none other than Gianna Parasini on the other side.

She appeared to be half sarcastic as she began speaking. "Commander. There's been reports of noise in the Synthetic Insights Office. Would you happen to know anything about it?"

I picked up on her tone, shrugging. "It was probably Anoleis' thugs ripping the place apart."

She smiled, picking up on mine as well. "Meet me at the hotel bar, before you talk to Qui'in." She emphasized the word before. "I'll be waiting." She walked off, leaving us in front of the elevator.

We walked back to the bar, curious as to what Parasini could want to talk to us about. She grinned at us when we approached her.

"Let me reintroduce myself. Gianna Parasini, Noveria Internal Affairs."

I raised my eyebrow in surprise. "Why is an Internal Affairs agent here?"

Her eyes twinkled. "The Executive Board knows about Anoleis' corruption. I've been undercover for six months, looking for evidence to shut him down. I want you to convince Lorik Qui'in to testify before the board. With Anoleis gone, this planet can run profitably again."

I sighed. "I need Qui'in's garage pass to finish my mission."

She stopped me there. "If you help me with this, I'll make sure you get a pass. Look, Shepard, I don't like this either. You spectres play fast and loose with the law. That's bad for business."

I rubbed my temples. "All right, you've convinced me. I'll talk to Qui'in and see what I can do."

"Thank you. You know where I work. Come see me when Qui'in is ready to play ball."

I walked back to Qui'in, who looked at me expectedly. "Have you recovered the data?"

I sat down and brought out the disc. "I finished the job, but an Internal Affairs agent contacted me. She wants you to testify against Anoleis."

He sighed in exasperation. "You have my property, so now you want to tell me how to use it? I have no interest in a public spectacle."

I didn't back down. Without any hesitation, I continued. "Everyone's chafing under Anoleis' extortion." I motioned towards everyone in the bar, including them in my example. I turned back to him, grinning. "You could even end up a hero."

He wasn't convinced. "My employers rely on the goodwill of the Executive Board to work here."

"The board is already investigating him," I responded in my most reasonable voice. "They're concerned about what will happen if he stays in charge here."

Qui'in sat thinking for a few moments. With a defeated sigh, he said, "All right. It's obvious I cannot dissuade you. Very well, I will testify. Make whatever arrangements you need with your contact. I will be here."

We left the bar, leaving the turian to his drinks. Liara gave him a strange look, as if she wasn't sure this was the best thing to do in the situation. I sighed and led the way back to Anoleis' office.

Parasini was waiting for us at her desk. "Spectre Have you given any consideration to my offer?"

I nodded. "Qui'in is on board."

She sighed in relief. "That's a world of stress off my back. I'll need the evidence for safe transport." I nodded and gave her the disc. She smirked in response. "I didn't think you'd help me, spectre. I guess some of you can be all right."

I nodded, ignoring the jab. "So, how about a garage pass?"

She smiled, grabbing what looked like an identification card off of her desk. "I got this while you were working on Qui'in. Be careful over there, Shepard." She smiled mischevously. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have an arrest to make. I wish I had time to change into something. Skirts aren't easy to move in."

I decided to stay while Parasini went into the back room. Folding my arms, I heard the salarian administrator's yells of protest. Parasini walked back into view with Anoleis in front of her, the latter with his arms pinned behind his back.

"I'll make sure you never work in this sector again!" His eyes locked on me. "You! Spectre! Arrest this bitch!" He was clearly enraged. I simply smirked back, making him even more angry.

Parasini rolled her eyes. "You have the right to remain silent. I suggest you do it." She looked back at me as she escorted Anoleis out of the room. "I'll see you around the galaxy, Shepard. I owe you a beer." They exited from view, leaving the three of us alone in the large room. I laughed for a moment before following. We made our way to the same hallway the Synthetic Insights office was located in, going down the hallway to the end. Another guard was stationed at the end.

"The garage is restricted at this time. Do you have a pass?"

I handed her my pass, watching as she inspected it. She nodded, handing it back. "That's a genuine pass. Drive safely, sir. The weather's supposed to be pretty bad in the Aleutsk valley."

I nodded respectfully as the door opened. I walked through, but stopped when I saw a geth stalker shoot itself up to the ceiling.

Liara gasped. "Benezia must have smuggled them here!" I nodded to her as I brought out my assault rifle.

There were three geth platforms in the room, and all of them went down quickly. We put away our weapons and heard multiple pairs of feet sprinting to our location. Captain Matsuo entered the room and saw the dead geth platforms in the room. Eyes wide open in shock, she stated, "Wha-What are these things?" She turned around to the guards with her. "Fan out and secure the area. No one gets in or out."

She turned to us. "Thank you for taking out those geth. I assume you got clearance to leave Hanshan? You should go now, before I'm forced to stop you from leaving. Good hunting, spectre." She ran off, back in the direction she came from. I scratched my head and walked towards one of the Mako tanks in the room. We climbed in and drove out of the port into the cold winter storm.

We entered the Peak 15 facility, having just driven across the winding path of the Aleutsk Valley. There were several geth turrets in the path, proving that Benezia's influence was around. Jentha had a field day with the gun on the turrets, which reminded me of Wrex.

The first big room after we entered had a lot of geth inside. We methodically cleared them out, which took more time due to the prime and several destroyers. For some reason, there were krogan troops here as well. Obviously, the Virmire facility had been successful, at least in part, with sending krogan troops to other locations.

"User Alert. All Peak 15 facilities have suffered a great deal of damage. Biohazard materials present through facility. Virtual Intelligence user interface offline." The station's VI broadcasted through the entire facility.

I stretched my neck and led the way through a door on the outer side. "Getting the VI back online seems like a good place to start with finding Benezia down here. Let's go, team."

We explored several empty room, then found what looked like an airlock with a turret facing towards the inside of the facility.

Liara put on her thinking pose as she stared at it. "Why would they face a turret towards the inside?"

I sighed. "They want to keep their people in as much as they want to keep intruders out." She gave me a strange look, but I ignored it as we filed into the elevator. We exited to a room that had snow all over the ground. Obviously there had been a leak. I didn't spend much time dwelling on it, as more hostile geth were in the room.

After we took them out, we heard a noise. Liara looked around, confused. "What is that?"

She had no earlier said that, than a loud crash was heard. Suddenly, a bunch of small drones began filtering from every direction. We shot down most of them easily enough, but some of them reached us and exploded, coating us with toxic gas. I coughed at the stench, but continued firing. Eventually, the drone swam stopped, but not before we heard a screech. Turning towards the source of the sound, we found what looked like a giant bug. We shot it down without any hesitation.

The three of us stood over the bug. Jentha began with, "I know this thing. Looks like one of those damn Rachni."

I gave her a surprised look. "Rachni? Aren't they extinct?"

Liara gasped. "Marcus' story! He said Cerberus was trying to clone Rachni! Binary Helix owns this facility, right? What if they're working with Cerberus?"

I shook my head. "It doesn't matter right now We'll figure it out later. For right now, let's keep moving." The two of them nodded and we continued through the facility.

Another elevator ride brought us to the VI's primary core. After dispatching of more Rachni, we turned on what looked like a small power junction. The same VI voice popped up with, "Critical startup error. Virtual Intelligence user interface offline. Manual boot required."

I rubbed my temples and walked forwards towards a large circular device. I activated the elevator to go down into the emergency restart area for the VI. For some reason, I had to complete a tower of hanoi game to restart the interface. I completed that quickly enough, which caused the elevator to bring me back up to the normal level. I stepped back as a holographic woman appeared where I had just been standing.

"It looks like you're trying to restore this facility. Would you like help?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Are you the virtual intelligence that runs this place?"

"This system is monitored to respond to the name, 'Mira.' May I ask your name?"

I nodded to the hologram. "Commander Shepard, Council Spectre.

"One moment, please. Council authority confirmed. You are entitled to Secure Access of all systems. Please note that queries regarding corporate secrets require Priveleged Access. Priveleged Access is reserved for Binary Helix executives. This system is ready to process queries. You may access me at any holographic interface within Peak 15."

I sighed in relief. "I need to find Matriarch Benezia."

"Lady Benezia departed on the passenger tramway to the Rift Station subsidary labs."

The VI continued with various errors. "User Alert! The tramway is currently inoperable."

Why can't things just work out for once? I thought in annoyance. "What's the situation here?"

"One moment please, diagnostics in progress."

The VI stood there, staring at us. Suddenly, it began talking again. "Critical Failure: Main reactor shut down in accordance with emergency containment procedures. Manual restart required. Critical Failure: Landline connections are disabled. Passenger tram systems are offline. Report complete. Do you have an additional systems query?"

I nodded. "Do you know why the reactor was shut down?"

"I'm sorry, but I was offline at the time. Shutdown would occur if reactor breach seems likely, or in the case of catastrophic laboratory containment failure. Emergency guidelines suggest the frigid environment will kill biological contagions. It may also damage mechanical ones."

I nodded. "What do I need to do to get the power back on?"

"The valves to the Helium-3 fuel line must be opened. This can be done at the controls on the reactor assembly proper."

I committed that information to memory. "What are the landlines, and why are they disabled?"

"The landlines connect my mainframes here at Central Station to the various sub-facilities of Peak 15. This allows the crew to remotely access my databases from the comfort and security of their labs. When emergency protocols were implemented in the hot labs, the cabling was automatically ejected."

I nodded, having been told all the information I needed to get the trams back online. "I'm done for right now, Mira."

"Very well, Commander. Logging you out."

I turned and walked through the path behind the core. Mira's voice rang through the facility, the same errors that she had explained to me in full. That's going to get annoying real quick, I thought in annoyance, pushing the voice out of my brain. The elevator in the back led to the roof, where various Rachni were guarding the landline. We took care of them easily enough before repairing the landline.

With that out of the way, we went back down the elevator to the VI Core, walking past it towards where we came from. This time, we took a left. The elevator led to a small room attached to a large room by both edges. A Mira terminal was in the small room, but we ignored it for now. We cleared out the room, then found the intersection of both paths. The fuel line terminal was in the direct middle of the room, and we easily fixed them.

We returned to the Mira terminal and turned it on. The holographic woman appeared before our eyes.

"Connected to subsidary facilities. How may I assist you?"

I crossed my arms. "What's this about loose contaminants? You mentioned those before."

"Dangerous biological agents are present in the tramway decomtamination chamber. The tram station has been sealed in the interest of crew safety. Activation of the failsafe plasma jets is recommended prior to access."

I rubbed my temples. This entire process of turning everything back on in this system was getting on my nerves. "How do I activate the failsafe system?"

"Controls for the failsafe systems are located in the security checkpoint outside decontamination. User Alert! The failsafe system is currently inoperable."

I sighed, frustration starting to get the better of me. "What would it take to get the decon failsafes operating again?"

"There is a hardware fault in the control system. This can be repaired on-site with a standard omni-tool."

I took a deep breath. "That's all I need right now."

I didn't even wait for Mira to log me out. I simply took the elevator back up to the VI Core. This time, we went straight and into the Tram's elevator. We went through the hallway to the locked door where the 'contaminants' were located. I had to stop myself from hitting something when I realized that the 'contaminants' were simply Rachni. I didn't care anymore, and simply unlocked the door to the room. We cleared out the Rachni and continued to the tram.

I sighed a breath of relief as we entered the tram. The ride to the other end was uneventful. I was sitting down with Liara next to me, trying to relax before we had to meet Benezia. I stood up when the door opened, and we walked out. There was only a single path of unlocked doors, and we followed them until we met what appeared to be a military garrison. The one standing in the open said, "Stand down!" when we approached.

He walked up to me and sighed in relief. "Sorry for the cold welcome. We couldn't be sure what was on the tram. Look. You're human, and that's enough for me not to shoot. I'd still like to know who you are, though."

I nodded, understanding. He looked to be stressed out. "I'm Shepard, a Council Spectre.

His eyes opened wide, but his voice remained steady. "Well, then. I won't look a heavily-armed horse in the mouth. The aliens overrun the hot labs last week. Only Han Olar got out, and he ain't all there anymore. The first we knew, they were clawing into my command post. We had a lot more staff back then."

I put my hand on his shoulder in reassurance. "You were taken by surprise and had civilians to protect. You did a good job, Captain."

He shook his head. "Sure doesn't feel like it. The board sent an Asari to clean up the mess. She went to the hot labs yesterday. Haven't heard from her since."

My heart skipped a beat. We now knew where she was. "We're here for the Asari. Don't worry, Captain. I won't let civilians die here."

He sat down in a chair a few steps behind him. "All I can do is hold out here and try to keep them safe. There's an emergency elevator out by the trams. This card will let you activate it. It goes to the hot labs. Good luck, Shepard."

I nodded and we trekked back to the tram. The first locked door we had come across when we entered opened when I swiped the card across the access terminal. We entered the elevator and stepped out at the bottom to find a volus standing in the middle of the room. He was visibly shaking when we approached.

"You're here to find out about them, aren't you." He sounded terrified and depressed at the same time.

I nodded. "You mean those things out there?"

"Yes. I'm the only survivor from the hot lab, you know."

"Tell me more about them."

He sighed before beginning. "They found a Rachni egg in a derelict ship, just waiting since the last battles. They brought it here-"

That was when I first noticed the two other scientists in the room. The turian took a step forward while the human watched. "Shut up!" he screamed at the Volus. "God, do you want to get us killed?"

The volus turned to them. "I don't have any control over who lives or dies here. Do you?"

The turian sighed in response. "If you're going to be crazy, be the silent kind."

Han Olar shook his head. "Crazy? I'm sane. By god... I'm sane."

I hesitated before responding, then crossed my arms. "Could Benezia have survived in the hot labs?"

The volus shrugged. "Maybe. The specimens are sensitive to biotics."

I decided to take a different route. "Tell me what you know. I'll make sure your survival means something."

He didn't bite. "You think I want absolution? There is none, human."

I sighed. "All right, I'll leave."

Han Olar's only response was a half hearted, "Yeah." I ignored him and trekked to the back of the room, where another turian was guarding a door. He looked at us suspiciously as we approached.

"Hey, you're not part of the crew!" It sounded like an accusation.

I folded my arms. "I'm Commander Shepard. I'm a Spectre, sent by the Council."

He rolled his eyes. "There aren't any human spectres." He waved us off. "Look, plague doesn't care who you are. This lab is under quarantine."

I raised an eyebrow, but got the hint and went back to the camp where the Captain was at. The three of us entered the medical lab where the doctor was at. He let slip about a bioweapon contained in the hot labs, and that it's not viable anymore due to the toxin breaking down after a short time. He also commented that Benezia was in the secure lab, and that he would let me enter the maintenence area to meet her there if I helped him with the cure. I talked to the Captain and offered to solve the toxin problem. He eventually gave in and allowed me access to the laboratory I could synthesize the cure from. I smiled my thanks and returned to where the turian guarded the hot labs door.

He recognized me and sighed. "What do you want?"

"I have Ventralis' permission to enter."

He nodded. "He also said you have to prove you're not contaminated to get out." He sighed. "You can go in. If you want a death wish, you could've just asked for a watch on the barricade."

I rolled my eyes and opened the door. The next room was another extension of the room we were in before. The door closed and I heard the lock go into place behind us. I walked up to the desk on the far side and began making the cure. Using the instructions from the medical officer, I made the cure easily enough. Before I could turn around, I heard a voice behind me.

"Your mission ends here, Shepard."

I turned to find the asari I had seen several times in front of the medical bay. "So you work for Benezia." I crossed my arms.

She laughed without any humor in her voice. "I was ordered to kill you if I got the chance, and here you are. Trapped in this lab. Weapons free!"

She was escorted by four shock troopers, which were no match for our assault rifles, shotguns, and biotics. We walked up to her when she was the one left standing, kneeling and holding her hand to a wound on her side. Jentha grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up. The asari stared back in fear. Jentha spat in her face and threw her to the side, her neck snapping on impact. Liara stared at the body in shock, while I gave Jentha a disapproving glare.

With only one further moment standing in the room in annoyance, I led the squad back through the hot labs door. Han Olar walked up to us when we approached.

"They came out of there." He pointed to one of the locked doors. The sign above showed the maintenence area, which was the entire point of making the cure.

I nodded. "The synthetics?"

Han Olar's response was, "Benezia brought them with her."

I crossed my arms. "I need access to the maintenence area."

"A project lead like Dr. Cohen would have access. Go to him in the medical bay."

I nodded my thanks, even though I was going to anyway. I again took the path back up to Dr. Cohen. He told me about the guards being on edge since I arrived, and gave me the pass into the maintenence area. I thanked him and left the medical bay, sincerely hoping the cure worked on the scientists. The previously locked door in Han Olar's room opened with the doctor's card, and we entered the snow-filled hallway. The hal connected back to the primary halls of the facility. We only had to travel down two more before we finally met Benezia. It was a large square room, a small path connecting four small square platforms on each corner, the nearest connector extending into a raised platform where she stood.

She laughed as she turned towards us. Her eyes betrayed pure malice. "You do not know the privelege of being a mother. There is power in creation. To shape a life. Turn it towards happiness or despair."

She turned her back to us, and I realized why. The creature before her inside a glass cage was a giant Rachni. Common sense screamed 'Rachni Queen.'

"Her children were to be ours. Raised to hunt and slay Saren's enemies. I won't be moved by sympathy, no matter who you bring to this confrontation." She stared directly at Liara with that last statement, causing her to gasp.

I stepped forward. "Liara's here because she wants to be. Not because I asked her to."

Benezia laughed. "Indeed? What have you told him about me, Liara?"

She shook her head and took a step back. "What could I say, mother? That you're evil? How to kill you? What could I say?"

Benezia walked to the path and stared us down. "Have you faced an Asari commando unit before? Few humans have."

I gave her a disgusted look. "I can't believe you'd kill your own daughter."

She waved it off. "I should've been stricter with her." She walked back to the raised platform, other Asari taking her place.

Benezia was channeling an impenetrable barrier on the raised platform, so I focused my attention on the commandos. There were several of them, but over time we took them all down. Benezia summoned geth shock troopers easily enough, although I noticed her barrier weakening. The next wave was more asari commandos and geth shock troopers.

I stepped on the last shock trooper and looked up at Benezia. She sat without a barrier, weakened by the continued effort of keeping up the barrier and summoning more troops. We walked up to her, folding our arms.

"I... will not... betray..." she groaned, struggling with herself. Suddenly, she stood up elegantly and stared us down.

"You must listen," she began in a desperate voice. "Saren still whispers in my mind. I can fight his compulsions, but the indoctrination is strong. I locked away part of my mind for a time where I could help destroy him, but it won't last long."

I raised my eyebrow. "So you could attack me again?"

She nodded. "Yes, but it wouldn't be my will, Shepard. People are not themselves around Saren. They come to idolize him, worship him." She took a deep breath, obviously still fighting the indoctrination. "The key is Sovereign, his flagship. It is a dreadnought of incredible size, and its power is extraordinary."

I nodded knowingly. I figured that out well enough on Virmire. "Where did he get it?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. The geth didn't build it, the technology is far too advanced for them. The longer you stay aboard, the more Saren's will seems correct. You sit at his feet and smile as his words pour over you." She shuddered. "It's subtle at first. I thought I was strong enough to resist. Instead, I became a willing slave, eager to serve."

She shuddered again, stronger this time. "I was sent here to find the location of the Mu Relay. The position was lost thousands of years ago."

I scratched my head, surprised. "Someone on Noveria found it?"

She nodded. "The Rachni discovered it two thousand years ago, since they inhabited that section of the galaxy. The Rachni share memories across generations. The queens inherit the knowledge of their mothers. I took the location of the relay from this queen behind me." She looked down with a guilty expression. "I was not gentle."

"You can still make it right. Give me the location of the relay."

She struggled with herself, dropping to her knees. After a few seconds, she stood up uncertainly again. "I was not myself. I... I should've been stronger. I transcribed the data to an OSD. Please, take it." She ran up to me, pressing the drive into my hand. I slipped it into my armor.

Benezia stepped back roughly, only stopping when she reached the glass railing behind her. "You... have to stop... me. He's... taking control. You should..."

A single gunshot rang out and Benezia slumped back, leaving a blood trail in her wake from a wound in her chest. I saw Jentha lower her pistol, staring at the asari in contempt. I hugged Liara, allowing her to cry on my armor. After a few moments, she broke away, smiling at me in thanks. I patted her on the shoulder and walked to the console. The Rachni Queen looked at me. As I looked at the console, suddenly I heard Liara cry out. I turned around with my pistol raised and saw one of the asari commandos shuddering with a blank expression on its face. It ignored me and walked to where Benezia stood slumped over before turning around.

The asari commando spoke in small chunks. "This one. Serves as our voice. We cannot sing. Not in these low spaces. Your musics are colorless."

I scratched my head in confusion. "Musics?"

"Your way of communicating is strange. Flat. It does not color the air. When we speak, one moves all. We are the mother. We sing for those left behind. The children you thought silenced. We are Rachni."

"How are you speaking through her?"

"Our kind sing through touchings of thought. We pluck the strings, and the other understands. She is weak to urging. She has colors we have no names for. But she is ending. Her music is bittersweet. It is beautiful. The children we birthed were stolen from us before they could learn to sing. They are lost to silence. End their suffering. They cannot be saved. They can only cause harm as they are."

I sighed. "If you're sure they can't be saved."

"It is lamentable. But necessary. Do what you must. Before you deal with our children, we stand before you. What will you sing? Will you release us? Are we to fade away once more?"

Jentha walked up to the console. "There's acid tanks on the sides of the cage. I'm going to release them. Letting the Rachni go free again will only threaten the galaxy in the future."

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Stand down, Jentha. We're releasing them."

She slapped me on the face and I stumbled backwards into the railing. "Do you have any idea what that would do?" she screeched. "We cannot risk it," she added menacingly.

I stood up, fire in my eyes. "You would disobey your commanding officer." I put as much malice as I could into my voice.

She stepped up to me. "I'm going to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life." She pushed my into the railing, pressing her pistol against my stomach. Suddenly, she grunted and fell over. I saw Liara with her biotics activated. She looked at Jentha in fear, but the air had been knocked out of her lungs. I pressed my foot against her chest and looked down into her face.

"Listen up, Jentha. You've been a pain in the ass since we picked you up. Next time we're on the Citadel, you're leaving. You're not welcome on the Normandy anymore."

I radioed Joker and told him we would be coming. Then I turned to Liara. "Immobilize her and bring her back to the Normandy. I'm going to join you once I done doing what the queen asked me to." She nodded. I went to the terminal and released the tank.

"Thank you. We will remember. We will sing of your forgiveness to our children." The asari fell as the glass cage raised up through the ceiling. I turned around and saw that Liara had bound Jentha up and was immobilizing her with her biotics as well.

"I'll meet you on the Normandy, Liara. I'm going to end the Rachni on this base."

I walked into elevator to the hot labs, exiting on the other side. An insane human inside was all that remained of the crew. He told me how to arm a neutron purge that would kill the remaining Rachni. A rachni soldier killed him before he could finish, but I cleared it out and Mira walked me through the rest.

The purge armed, I walked back to the entrance to the initial room. Unfazed at the sheer amount of rachni troops in the room, I sprinted across to the elevator. I slumped on the far side as it went up, smiling as I heard the several blasts of the purge.

With my mission on this planet complete, I returned to the Normandy.

A/N: Whew. I don't remember a whole lot about Noveria, but I hope it doesn't detract from the chapter too much. Up next is the Citadel!