A/N: All I can say is sorry for the wait, if anyone is still following this.

I'm revisiting this project after (3?) years, mostly as an exercise to keep my writing brain fresh. Enjoy the fruits of my labor.

As he walked alongside Anderson, Kaidan couldn't help but feel sorry for his CO. The weathered man was taut, trying hard to keep his feelings in check. Kaidan wasn't sure what his history was with Saren, but it was obviously enough to cause Anderson duress.

As for the turian, Saren was, well, unreadable. As good as Kaidan felt he was at reading people, the Spectre was a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The man seemed unperturbed that he would have to work with an old rival-or, at the very least, he was quite good at hiding it.

In any event, the alien's response-or lack thereof- was driving Anderson even worse. Kaidan put a silent hand on the captain's shoulder. He glanced around at the two other marines who trailed behind them. With a look, he urged them out of earshot. Jacob nodded, and walked ahead. Ash gave him a look of annoyance, but followed her friend.

Anderson stopped, letting the rest of their small group continue. His fist clenched he turned to face Kaidan's worried look.

"Captain, are you okay?" the lieutenant asked.

Anderson sighed, looking down and taking a deep breath. When he spoke, the fire that was in his eyes had subsided.

"I'm…not fine, Alenko," he said deeply. "Just…so much had happened."

"With Saren?"

"Recently. I mean, geth, protheans," Anderson paused. "…Shepard," He added slowly. "It's all…" he trailed off.

"Insane?" Kaidan offered.

Anderson nodded. His fist was unclenched, now, and he rubbed the back of his neck. "Believe me, lieutenant. I've seen some crazy shit in my time. But this…situation. It's like something out of a nightmare." He lowered his hand, running it over an old, notched white scar on the back of his palm. "What did you know about Shepard, lieutenant?"

Kaidan was taken aback by the question, but he cleared his throat in an effort to regain his composure. "Er…I knew that she was on Elysium during the Blitz, and the sole survivor of Akuze. Her mom is military, she was an L3 biotic…"

"No need to impress me, Alenko," Anderson said, bemused. "It was just a question." He motioned to continue their walk. Kaidan graciously accepted-his legs felt stiff after standing in the Council chambers for so long.

They proceeded down the stairs of the Council chambers. A keeper to their left was scanning one of the tree groves for biochemical degredation. It ignored Kaidan's curious stare as they passed it, studying it's omni-tool intently.

"Shepard was my protégé," Anderson confessed. "She was in a class of N7's that I supervised, and she…she was very gifted."

The others had reached the lift before them. Saren had already gone down, without bothering to wait. Ashley stopped at the console, waiting for the Captain and the lieutenant, but Jacob pulled on her shoulder and dragged her into the elevator with him, giving the two men time to talk. Ashley pouted, and looked as if she were going to punch her friend before they dropped out of sight.

Anderson stopped at the console to hail a lift.

"You know she was the first L3, and that alone was enough to make her special," Anderson continued. He looked off into the distance, as if into a long-lost memory. "I knew her parents. John and…Hannah. She was the best of both of them. She had her mother's fire and her father's heart," His head fell, and he closed his eyes. Kaidan shuffled.

"I didn't know her dad was Alliance, sir," he said curiously.

Anderson looked at him knowingly. "John Shepard died a long time ago, when Olivia was just a child. I won't say I knew him, but I knew of him. He was a crewman aboard the first Perugia, about the time of the First Contact War."

"He didn't- I mean, was he-?"

"Killed by turians?" Anderson gave a small smile. "No, boy. He was an engineer, working on a prototype Spartan-class mass effect drive. He died of a radiation overdose in a test accident. It's probably one of the reasons Shepard is such a strong biotic."

The console beeped, and they both stepped into the open elevator. As the door closed shut, Kaidan shuffled nervously. He was used to hearing people's life stories, but not from an officer. He felt like he was in uncharted waters as to what he should say.

Anderson kept talking, ignorant of his lieutenant's problems.

"I knew Shepard for a long time. I said I was friends with her mother, and I knew the daughter well. I taught her class of N7. I was her field instructor, and insisted on having her under my command once she graduated from the program."

He looked Kaidan in the eye. "Do you know why I'm telling you this, son?" he asked, bluntly.

Kaidan stared back and tried not to stutter. "No, sir." He cleared his throat.

Anderson paused for a minute, then gave a small smile. "I'm just letting you know how big the shoes are you'll be filling, Alenko."

"Sir?"

Anderson stared him straight in the eye. "With Shepard gone, you're the second highest-ranked officer on board," He patted Kaidan on the shoulder. "You're technically my new XO."

Kaidan's jaw dropped, prompting Anderson to chuckle.

"Thank you, sir. I think."

"Don't be so down, lieutenant. It's not against regulations to smile once in a while." Kaidan grinned despite himself. Anderson gave another chuckle and shook Kaidan's hand.

The captains cheer faded, and the lines on his cheeks resumed their gaunt positions. Kaidan recalled that he didn't know how old his captain really was-fifty? Sixty? He never bothered to ask, but now the man looked as if his age had finally caught up with him. The lieutenant turned away, trying not to make the situation more awkward. But Anderson kept talking, though it seemed to be more to himself.

"Good to have you on board, Commander."

The elevator beeped, signaling their arrival at C-Sec. As the doors slid open, Kaidan felt himself awestruck again as the biggest security force in the galaxy slowly began to unravel itself before his eyes. Officers decked in navy blue armor and suits paced quickly through the halls. The sound of terminals and omni-tools was almost overwhelming. As he stepped out, he was almost pushed aside by a salarian secretary, who brushed past him on his way to a nearby desk. These C-Sec types seemed like worker bees, always moving and never wasting a second. He figured protecting the heart of galactic civilization could warrant stuff like that.

He jogged to keep up with Anderson, who approached the remainder of their group. Ashley and Jacob seemed to be in a tense discussion off to the side, while Saren spoke with another turian about something.

"…'s come up, Ash. It's important." He heard Jacob say.

"You can't just leave me here, Taylor! We've gotta stick together!" Ash protested, but Jacob held up his hands to stop her. Kaidan shuffled a bit, trying to get closer. He wasn't eavesdropping. Not really.

"You'll be fine. These guys are alright, and they're doing good things." Ash made as if to speak again, but Jacob cut her off. "This is your chance, Gunny, and you know it."

Ash looked down, beaten. Jacob hugged her, and she hugged him back.

"I've just got some loose ends to tie up. I'll see you soon."

Ash squeezed him tighter. "Take care of yourself, Old Spice." They separated, and Jacob grinned.

Kaidan coughed, and Ashley spun, surprised. Jacob gave Kaidan a sad stare.

"Leaving so soon, Jacob?" Kaidan asked, his concern genuine.

Jacob nodded. "Sorry to say. Personal business. Nothing major, just…" he trailed off, looking out one of the windows. "…loose ends." he finished.

Kaidan nodded, and held out his hand. Jacob hesitated, then shook it. "Hope we meet again someday." He let go.

"Likewise." The two men saluted, and Jacob gave Ashley one last grin. He turned and walked away, and Ashley's eyes followed him all the way to the elevator. They didn't drop until his lift had vanished. She sighed, and closed her eyes.

"You okay?" She jumped at the sound of Kaidan's voice. He looked at her, concerned.

Ashley's eyes wavered. "I-yeah. I'm fine." She looked back at the empty space where the lift used to be. He stood by her, watching as the C-Sec officers bustled about, oblivious to their conversation.

"He was a good friend," Ashley finally said. "He was one of my only friends on Eden Prime, and…now he's gone."

The lift returned, and they watched as a half-dozen security guards filed out, only to be replaced by another group going up. The doors closed, and the elevator zipped upwards, into the depths of the Wards.

She gave Kaidan a sad look. "I… I just don't think I've ever been more alone."

For the second time that day, Kaidan put his hand on a shoulder. "Don't worry," he said reassuringly. "You'll be fine. And we'll make it through together, watch each other's backs," She looked up at him.

"Because that's what marines do."

She grinned, and he let go of her shoulder. They turned their attention away from the hustle and bustle of the offices, and instead toward their two companions.

Saren was speaking animatedly to a fellow turian a C-sec officer, though about what Kaidan didn't know. The other turian was angry, that much he could tell. Saren was trying to calm him down, but Kaidan could see the subtle twitches and shifts in his body language that suggested the Spectre's patience was wearing thin.

A few feet away, Anderson was on an extranet terminal, talking to another Alliance representative. The Captain was gripping the sides of the console, and the white scar on his knuckle was indistinguishable from the rest of his hand. He obviously was still trying to work out how he was supposed to work with Saren. Kaidan wasn't sure where this animosity came from. Anderson was a hard, stubborn man, but he never seemed to be one to hold this kind of a grudge.

Ashley seemed to pick up on the tension. "What is it with those guys?" She asked him. "I don't think they've said a word to each other since we got here."

Kaidan's brow furrowed. "Honestly? I have no idea," he said thoughtfully. " 'Old men hold the longest grudges', as my dad used to say." Ashley shifted uncomfortably, and Kaidan looked back down to her. "What do you think?" he asked.

Ashley looked at the two inquisitively. The turian that Saren was speaking to was getting more and more agitated, and his voice was beginning to rise.

"If I had to guess, I'd say the turian did something to piss the captain off," she finally said.

"Why?"

Ashley shrugged. "The captains got to be angry about something, right?" She said. She looked back at Saren. "Besides," she added, quietly. "Turians always start things they can't finish."

Kaidan gave her a surprised look, but didn't respond immediately. "I don't know…"

Ashley did a double take. "Seriously?" she scoffed. "Look at Anderson; he's jumpier than a fox in October. Man like him doesn't get that high strung, if you get my meaning."

He shrugged. "All I'm saying is that you've got to look at both sides of the issue here, Chief." She huffed, and Kaidan kept watching Saren. He paused as his eyes narrowed.

"Whatever's going on between them, I think it's a lot more complicated than anything we can understand," he said slowly.

"Why do you say that?"

Kaidan shrugged again. "I…don't know. There's just something that strikes me about him-Saren- that makes me think he's not someone you just 'get'." The turian moved under his gaze, and Kaidan's eyes followed.

"You've gotta remember, Williams, he's a Spectre; the very definition of his job is to be…secretive, mysterious. Illusory. And I think, that for someone who's had the job as long as him, you've got to be pretty damn good at that kind of thing. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover, especially this guy-who knows what kind of invisible ink he's written in."

Ashley was quiet for a second. Saren asked his friend a question; the other turian paused, and Saren's eyes, wandered over to the two marines. At his, side, Ashley stiffened. Kaidan met his gaze for a split second. The turian was unreadable.

Saren broke the stare first when the other he was speaking to regained his attention. Kaidan exhaled deeply, and closed his eyes for a second. It felt like years since he just sat down…

Beside him Ashley sighed. She stared at the ground for a second, contemplative.

"Do you trust him?"

Kaidan eyes flew open. He blinked at Ashley. "What?"

"I asked you if you trusted him."

Kaidan cocked his head. He looked at Saren one last time. The shawl covered spikes on his head, the black, menacing talons, the dark, sharp eyes.

"Yeah," He said. "I know it's weird, but…He saved my life…all our lives…I don't know if I just feel indebted to him, or what. But…Yeah…for some reason, I trust him."

Ashley was quiet again. Kaidan waited beside her, arms folded across his chest. They stood there for a minute, just two soldiers side by side.

"What do you think?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

Kaidan nodded toward Saren. "Do you trust him?"

Ashley looked up at him, and grinned slyly. "Well, I guess, if you trust him…then that's reason enough for me to not kick his ass. But I didn't see what you did." Kaidan grimaced. "I know. Honestly, I'm surprised you believe me at all. I'm surprised anyone believes me. This whole thing with Shepard, and now Saren...it feels off. It feels wrong. It wasn't supposed to be like this."

He looked at Saren again. The turian had finished up with the datapad and was walking towards them.

Ashley tensed up when Saren stopped in front of them. He surveyed them tentatively.

"I don't think we've formally met. I'm Saren Arterius," he said, extending his hand out to Ashley.

The gunnery chief eyed him warily, then took his clawed hand. "Ashley Williams," she replied curtly. The handshake was short.

"I saw you requested a transfer to the Normandy. May I ask why?" Saren inquired.

Ashley gave a small shrug. "The commander seemed like a good woman. I want to know why she did this."

"You won't have any issues following a turian?" Saren asked smugly. Kaidan felt Ashley's uneasiness as she responded.

"No, I won't." she said, her chin raised high. "Sir," she added with a touch of venom.

Saren didn't waste time. "I've got a lead on Shepard. A C-Sec officer was assigned to investigate any of her dealings on the station, and the last report had him down in the wards," he explained.

"Do we know what he's found?" Kaidan inquired.

"No, not yet. Shepard was thorough, any of her operations on the Citadel were through channels in the black markets and the wards that C-Sec doesn't have informants in," Saren smirked. "But my contacts have raised some red flags, and apparently this cop is pulling on the right strings in the underworld. That makes him as good a place as any to start."

Saren glanced at both of them, as if unsure how to proceed. "I'd prefer to work alone, but for an op like this I need as many eyes as I can get. Both of you will be coming with me, but we need to make one thing clear," he stiffened. "The Council has placed me in charge of this operation. Both of you will need to follow my orders, without question. This isn't a battlefield, it's a manhunt. You need to realize that I've been doing this a lot longer than you have, and you need to trust that I know what I'm doing. Is that clear?" Kaidan nodded. Ashley followed suit, with grit teeth.

"Then let's go. We've got a rogue soldier to find."

According to Saren's information, the officer they were looking for was tailing a local doctor with a clinic in the lower wards, a human named Chloe Michel. Apparently, the dear doctor was the victim of some kind of cover-up, at the hands of some less than savory characters. Saren was determined to find them and get answers.

The clinic was in a back alley of the station, behind a line of storefronts. The trio stood out of sight of the crowd, prepping their entry. Kaidan stood behind the Spectre, gripping his pistol. Ashley stood beside him, her finger itching on the trigger of her shotgun.

Saren flicked out his omni-tool and scanned the door. A display flashed for several seconds, before Saren turned around to address them.

"Eight hostiles, six on the left and two on the right. The doctor is in the middle, my guess is they're interrogating her. Williams, get the doctor down as soon as possible. Alenko, on me,"

He switched off his omni-tool and motioned them to follow. He clicked the door panel and threw himself in the room before it had finished opening. Kaidan and Ashley rolled in behind him.

The mercenaries were surprised, but their weapons were already drawn. Ashley took down the closest one with a shotgun blast to the stomach, and Kaidan disarmed the other with a biotic singularity. He turned left, only to see five dead bodies in front of Saren, and the sixth, a human, clutching at the neck of a woman in medical garb he took to be Dr. Michel.

Saren levelled his Phaeston at the man's head. Stricken with a sense of déjà vu, Kaidan called out to the Spectre before he could pull the trigger. "Wait!" he shouted.

The human's head exploded, showering Dr. Michel with blood. She screamed, and Kaidan's arms dropped to his side, exasperated. "You could have hit her!" he said angrily. Saren looked away, still tense.

"That wasn't me," the Spectre growled. Kaidan stood there, stunned.

"You're welcome," another voiced shouted out. From the shadows of the room, another turian emerged, glad in blue armor that marked him as a C-Sec officer. In his arms he held a Mantis sniper rifle, with the barrel still smoking. Ashley twitched, aiming her shotgun at the newcomer. This time, Kaidan raised his hand, urging her to lower her weapon. As the new turian got closer, Kaidan could see his face painted with markings similar to Saren's, albiet deep blue instead of white. A nudge in the back of his mind reminded him that they were colony markings that most turians wore to denotetheir homeworld.

Saren, unlike the two marines, only lowered his gun a fraction of an inch. "Garrus Vakarian?" he asked as the newcomer stopped in front of their group.

"At your service," the turian replied. He stowed away his weapon before attending to the human doctor, who was visibly shaken, but not panicking. "Are you okay?" he asked in a low voice. "I'm sorry, I was waiting for an opening and I-"

"No, no, it's quite okay Garrus," the doctor murmured. Kaidan only caught a hint of the lilt in her voice.

Ashley shot him a questioning look. "French," he mouthed. She nodded in understanding. The doctor stood up, and leaned on Garrus. Her eyes fluttered.

Saren finally sheathed his rifle. "I've been looking for you, Vakarian."

"You and everyone else," Garrus replied. He led Dr. Michel over to a chair, where she sat down, exhausted. "Ever since I started looking for the N7, half the criminals on this station have been after my hide, and the other half are trying to sell me out."

Kaidan suppressed a laugh. Saren pressed again. "I'm Saren Arterius, and I'm—"

"I know who you are," Garrus interrupted. Ashley and Kaidan traded a look. Saren, for the first time, seemed a bit surprised. Garrus looked at them blankly. "Seriously? I'm C-Sec, you're the most famous Spectre to have ever lived, and you expect me not to know you?"

Saren paused. "Point taken. Now, can I ask why you're down here in this clinic helping a human doctor?"

"I may be able to answer that," Dr. Michel piped up before Garrus could open his mouth. She stood up, rubbing her neck and wincing. Garrus stepped aside to allow her to speak. "This is a free clinic for ward residents," she began. "A quarian came in here a few days ago, with a bullet wound in her leg. I'm no xenobiologist, but her suit handled most of the damage. I just gave her a place to stay while she healed. She wouldn't say much, just that she had valuable information and was being hunted for it."

"What kind of information? How did she get it?" Saren probed.

"I don't know," Dr. Michel shook her head. "But after she left, a krogan came by, asking for her. Hideously huge thing, with big scars…" Saren's mandibles twitched, but he didn't say anything. The doctor sighed.

"That's where I come in," Garrus chimed. "Alliance Intelligence passed us information on Shepard, to coordinate the investigation. We want to make sure she doesn't have any contacts or sympathizers on the station who could help facilitate a terrorist attack, or allow the geth into our systems. I've got reason to believe that whatever this quarian girl has it's dirt on Shepard. She wants the girl dead, so she hired out a krogan to kill her and these humans," he gestured to the corpses strewn around the room, "to silence the doctor here, in case she blabbed about the girl."

Saren paused, and Kaidan could tell he was thinking hard. Garrus spoke up again. "I've been tracking the quarrian for a few days now, but the trail goes cold after her visit here, to the clinic." His head dropped, and his fist clenched.

"Have you told anyone else about your investigation? About the quarrian?" Saren asked. Kaidan gave the turian a quizzical look, but Saren ignored him.

Garrus looked up, confused. "Only my handler. I told him I'd be here, at the clinic."

"What his name?" Saren asked, mulling it over in his head.

"My handler?" Garrus asked. "Uh, Harkin. Human. He's a dirtbag, but a decent…cop…" he stiffened, and looked around at the bodies. Before Kaidan could blink, he and Saren were down, turning over corpses and checking their pockets and omni-tools.

"What the fuck…" Ashley whispered, as the two aliens scurried around, frantically stripping the humans' bodies down, until—

"Found it," Garrus said, holding an omni-tool up. Saren knelt down next to him, as the C-Sec officer scanned it. "Got it. Bastard used C-Sec encryption, what a fucking novice…"

"Okay, mind filling in the two human in on what's going on?" Kaidan piped up, flailing his hands exasperatedly. The turians ignored him.

"I assume this means I'm coming with you?" Garrus said as the two stood up. He flicked his omni-tool off. "I mean, I'd have to file a transfer request, but…"

"Please," Saren waved his hand. "You're forgetting who I am." He started towards the door. "Besides, we could use someone with a few more brain cells."

Kaidan and Ashley stowed their weapons away and jogged to keep up with the turians' urgent strides. "I resent that," Kaidan muttered. Ashley just laughed.

Saren and Garrus seemed to be operating on a different frequency than the two human marines lagging behind them. The turians moved through the Citadel like it was a maze only they knew the real path through. Kaidan was soon lost in the labyrinth of the massive space station, and the fact that the turians seemed not to care to keep the humans in the loop was starting to annoy him.

Ashley, for her part, kept quiet, though would occasionally mutter something under her breath to the effect of, "Oh, don't mind us, we're just hired muscle, not a brain cell to be found. Oh, you need this guy shotgunned to the face? Why certainly, Mr. Spectre, I'll get right fucking on that…" Kaidan wasn't sure she knew he could hear her.

Eventually, their trek landed them at the mouth of back alley behind a bar in the industrial district. Saren held up a fist, signaling them to prepare. The group ducked behind the corner, and Saren moved gracefully up to take cover behind another wall a few feet in. Garrus pulled out his sniper rifle, and adjusted the scope. He set it to his shoulder and scanned the area.

"Visual?" Saren hissed.

"Nothing," Garrus replied. Saren tapped his omni-tool. "Try now," he said. To his surprise, Kaidan's omni-tool blinked, and his HUD was altered. Now, through his eyepiece, he could see two forms outlined in red. A grunt from Garrus confirmed that he saw the same thing as he peered through his scope. "Two friendlies, one krogan, one quarian. No sign of Harkin…wait, there."

Kaidan and Ashley followed Garrus' gaze to an upper balcony. Sure enough, a lone red figure was crouched low, and Kaidan could just barely make out the outline of a sniper rifle in his arms. Something clicked in his head. He turned to Ashley. "Harkin's going to take out the quarian girl," he whispered. Ashley's eyes went wide, but she nodded, and pulled out her rifle.

"Alenko," Saren hissed. "What's the max range you can throw up a biotic barrier? We need to cover the quarian, top priority."

"What about the krogan?" Ashley said quietly, moving up to crouch next to Saren, her eyes trained on the scene in front of them. Saren gave her a look, but turned back to the pair.

"Leave him to—" Bang. The whole group jumped, startled, but stayed in cover. Ashley's brow furrowed.

"That was a—"

"Shotgun…" Saren finished. He peered over the top of his hiding spot.

"Leave me ALONE!" a female voice shouted. From his vantage point next to Garrus, Kaidan could see the quarian girl shrouded in purple on the ground, her left hand shakily raising a shotgun at the largest krogan Kaidan had ever seen. He realized that his HUD wasn't making the alien look red—his armor was dep crimson, matching the scarred plates on his head and his sharp eyes, which narrowed in exasperation.

"For the last time," The krogan rumbled. "I'm trying to help you." As a show of faith, he stowed his own gun away and held up his hands. "See?"

"Sure," the quarian quivered. "A bounty hunter isn't trying to kill me. I totally believe that."

"I'll admit, it's new to me, too," the krogan shrugged. "Not like that thing could pierce my armor anyway."

The quarian's shotgun dropped just an inch. "If you're not here to kill me," she said slowly, "why do you keep following me?"

"Garrus!" Saren shouted, leaping from cover. Ashley followed suit. The Spectre's yell startled Kaidan, and the sudden movement attracted the krogan and the quarian's attention as well. At that moment, two sniper rounds rang out. The first landed just shy of the quarian on the ground. She yelped, and rolled out of the way. The second came from Garrus, which bounced off a beam up by the balcony. Garrus swore, and Kaidan saw Harkin duck down and speak into his omni-tool.

Then all hell broke loose. From the sides of the alley, a dozen and a half mercenaries poured out, guns aimed at the pair in the middle. Saren raised his Phaeston, spraying covering fire to his left. The krogan roared, and charged the mercenaries on the right. Ash sprinted through the middle of the firefight and leapt toward the frightened quarian girl, grabbing her and pulling her into cover behind a nearby crate. Another sniper round from Garrus brought Kaidan back to reality, and he darted out from behind cover, readying his biotics. Garrus swore again, and maneuvered into a more favorable position.

The mercenaries wasted no time gunning for Saren. The turian had stepped out into the open, and made himself a clear target. As the Spectre's kinetic barrier flashed out of existence, Kaidan raised his palms, erecting a shimmering biotic shield in front of the turian. From her hiding spot, Ashley supplemented his barrage with a few choice shots of her own, taking out three mercs before they got too close.

Behind him, Kaidan saw the krogan fling off a salarian mercenary, who flew through the air with a scream and landed with a sickening crunch several meters away. Kaidan tried to shoot a few of them down with his pistol, but the Predator's rounds bounced harmlessly off their shields, and only served to divert their attention away from the krogan long enough for him to take their heads off with his shotgun.

As Saren picked off the last few stragglers with his rifle, another sniper round from Garrus whizzed over Kaidan's head. He followed it's trail with his eyes, right into the gut of a decloaking mercenary mere feet from the hiding spot where Ashley and the quarian had taken cover. The man's eyes widened as he keeled over and collapsed next to the Quarian girl, who let out a small shriek.

The dust settled, and a curious group had found itself in the middle of this back alley. The krogan breathed heavily, his massive shoulders heaving. Saren turned to face him as Ashley pulled the quarian girl to her feet. The two locked eyes for a split second.

The krogan growled. "Saren."

"Wrex."

Kaidan half expected Saren to level one of his Carnifex at the krogan's face—that did seem to be how they met most people these days—but instead, the krogan held out his hand and the turian braced it readily, smiling as he did so. The krogan laughed. "Should've know you'd show up sooner or later, you old bird. This whole mess just reeks of you."

Saren smiled. "Please, if I hadn't shown up, those mercs would've wiped the floor with your scaly ass."

"Ha! Bold talk for a man who got captured by those pirates back on Serrice."

"I needed a way into their base."

"You got captured. Just admit it."

"Um, excuse me?" Ashley waved her rifle in the air to get their attention. "Hate to interrupt the ol' war stories—trust me, I'm a big fan—but can someone please explain what the bloody fuck is going on here?"

Saren and Wrex separated, both chuckling. The krogan turned to the humans, grinning. "Name's Wrex, Clan Urdnot," he said with pride.

"Ashley Williams," Ash replied hesitantly.

"Kaidan Alenko," Kaidan said.

"Garrus Vakarian," the turian called, emerging from his perch and moving to rejoin the group.

Saren's eyes narrowed. "You let Harkin get away."

Garrus's mandibles bristled. "I made a tactical decision. I judged the quarian's life as more valuable than Harkin's capture, per your orders, sir. Besides, I've already alerted C-Sec to his activities. He won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

Saren growled. "We'll discuss that later."

"Um, hello?" Kaidan waved his hand. "Not to be rude or anything, but I'm totally lost."

Saren looked at Kaidan and Ashley, and sighed. "You humans are slower than I remember." He shook his head.

"Wrex here is on my payroll. He's one of the eyes I have throughout the galaxy. He sees anything suspicious, he lets me know. I can only assume you caught wind of the quarian's plight and tried to get to her before Shepard's men did?" Wrex nodded. Saren continued. "Garrus' handler, Harkin, is working for Shepard. I can only assume he worked with Garrus to keep him buried under red tape. When he found out about the quarian, two things needed to happen. First, anyone who knew about the quarian needed to be silenced before they could talk. That meant Dr. Michel, Garrus, and my friend Wrex here. Fortunately, we've thwarted all three attempts. Second, he needed to deal with the quarian directly, so that he could eliminate the problem at its source. Which," he turned to the quarian girl, "is where you come in."

The quarian laced her fingers nervously. "What's your name?" Garrus prodded, not unkindly.

"My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya," she said hesitantly. "Who are you?"

Saren answered first. "I'm with Special Tasks and Reconnaissance. The name's Saren Arterius. We heard you had intel on the rogue human soldier, Shepard."

Tali nodded. "Yes, I—I suppose I did." She opened up her omni-tool. "I got mugged, actually, by two batarians, down on Zakera Ward. They took most of my money. I went to C-Sec to try to get help, but they wouldn't let me in. Called me a 'space rat'", she spat, and Garrus shuffled uncomfortably.

"But while I was there, my omni-tool picked up a zeta frequency burst transmission—"

"What does that mean?" Saren interrupted.

Kaidan perked up. "It's a certain kind of radio encryption. Instead of encoding the message, it's just hitched to random junk data, like maintenance reports or status updates. No one really uses it because it's unreliable and unilateral, but if you're trying to send a message and you don't have anything else, it'll do."

Saren looked at Kaidan, his brow raised. Ashley smirked. "What?" he shrugged. "I'm a tech, too, not just a biotic."

"Yes…" Tali continued. "My people use it when they're on Pilgrimage. Usually, if there is a good opportunity for work or for scavenging, a pilgrim will use it to give any other quarians nearby a heads up. That's why I had my omni-tool set to alert me if I intercepted any.

"But it wasn't from another quarian. I got a transmission from an unknown source, and it was directed to a C-Sec office. Before I realized it wasn't another quarian, I had opened it and seen and heard a human woman talking." She shuddered, and Ashley put her arm around the quarian girl's shoulder protectively. "Harkin found out I had intercepted the transmission, and he came after me. I ran…"

"Shepard," Saren muttered. "What did the message say?" he pressed.

Ashley frowned at him, but Tali replied. "Something to do with an asari, by the name of Liara T'Soni. Said she had made contact and was moving towards the next phase of her plan, and to be ready for the inevitable."

At that, Saren stiffened. "What did you say?" he hissed.

Tali jumped. "The inevitable. I think she's going to—"

"Yes, that's quite obvious to everyone here," Saren snapped. "The asari—tell me he asari's name again."

Tali's face was unreadable under her enviro-suit's mask. "T'Soni. Liara T'Soni."

An exchanged look with Ashley told Kaidan he wasn't the only one in the dark again. "Who's Liara T'Soni?" he asked. Saren's eyes closed, his face contorted, but whether in concentration or anger, Kaidan couldn't tell.