Chapter 3

*Shortly after recruiting Thane and Samara*

Commander Shepard

I have intel that may be relevant to your mission.

Meet me on the Citadel. I will transmit my exact coordinates to your omni-tool when you arrive. Rest assured that it will be in a public space.

You are welcome to bring backup if you feel you must. Just be sure that anyone accompanying you has no association with your current employer.

I look forward to seeing you.

"EDI, can you trace the message I just closed back to its sender?" Shepard asked.

"Give me a moment," EDI replied. "Done. It came from a public terminal on the Citadel. The terminal was hacked to remove the identification requirement. Without access to time-stamped security footage from the Citadel, it is not possible to ascertain the identity of the sender."

"Thanks," Shepard said. "We need to go to the Citadel anyway. Set the course, Joker."

"Aye-aye, Commander."

As the Normandy flew to the Citadel, Shepard retreated to his cabin to go over the latest mission reports. About an hour before they arrived, Miranda walked in.

"Shepard, Yeoman Chambers told me about the message you received a few hours ago. The one that cannot be traced to anyone and told you not to bring any backup associated with Cerberus. Do you really think it is wise to meet this person?" Miranda asked.

"He didn't say I couldn't bring any backup at all," Shepard pointed out. "And he said that the meeting would be in a public place."

"To make it easier to abduct you in plain sight?" Miranda suggested.

"What do you take me for, Miranda?"

"Shepard…"

"I know you don't like it, Miranda," Shepard began. "But if it gets us more intel on the Collectors, it's worth the risk. I've already decided to bring Garrus and Tali with me to be safe."

"And if that's not enough?" Miranda asked.

"I've been in much worse situations. So have Garrus and Tali," Shepard pointed out.

"That doesn't' guarantee your ability to escape any you encounter in the future. What if…"

"Look, Miranda," Shepard interrupted. "If you really want me to trust Cerberus, you need to give me some freedom to get help from other sources. This one has gone out of his way to give me a reason to trust him without actually revealing who he is. We'll know more when we get to the Citadel and he tells me where to meet. If there's something suspicious about the meeting place, then I'll think about taking more backup. Until then, I've ordered EDI to alert me if someone else leaves the ship and if I find out that someone has hacked into my omni-tool there will be hell to pay."

"Very well, Commander," Miranda said tightly. After she stalked out of the captain's cabin, Shepard just rolled his eyes and went back to his datapads.

When Shepard walked onto the dock, flanked by Garrus and Tali, his omni-tool pinged immediately. Shepard raised an eyebrow when he saw the coordinates. Why would his source want to meet him there?

Shepard went to the upper wards as he was told. When he saw the familiar sight of the Citadel's arms stretching before him, he couldn't help but think of the last time he was here. His eyes traveled to the viewpoint, where he noticed a familiar dark-haired human leaning on the fence. Shepard moved to join him as Garrus and Tali positioned themselves to watch for any listeners.

"Shepard."

"Kaidan. So… what's with the 'cloak and dagger' routine?"

"I wanted to give Cerberus as little ammo as possible," Kaidan explained.

"Fair enough. Why here?" Shepard couldn't help but ask.

"I thought you'd be more likely to come if you had some sort of hint about who you would be talking to, and Cerberus has no reason to think this place means anything to us."

"Doesn't feel like it's been two years," Shepard said sadly.

"I guess it wouldn't to you. To be honest, the extra time hasn't made it much easier for me either," Kaidan said.

"I can't help but wonder what Ash would think of all this."

"I imagine she'd be raising hell with the brass," Kaidan said with a laugh.

"Sounds like her. Speaking of the brass, have they done anything with your report on Horizon?" Shepard asked.

"They're convinced that the Collectors are a threat now," Kaidan began. "They've started looking more seriously into countermeasures. Though they're also using the husks as an excuse to pin this on the geth instead of acknowledging the Reapers."

"Figures," Shepard said tersely. "What kind of countermeasures are they thinking about?"

"A contact in R&D tells me that they're looking into repelling the seekers with shields and biotic barriers. They're using the footage recovered from Horizon to figure out the right frequency."

"They really think that will work?" Shepard asked.

"In theory. It's not exactly something that can be easily tested," Kaidan pointed out.

"I'll keep it in mind just the same," Shepard said.

"So… about the real reason I called you here," Kaidan began.

"I knew it wasn't just to reminisce and give me a sit-rep."

"No, it wasn't," Kaidan agreed. "I've been given a mission. A Blue Suns team on the planet Joab has uncovered a Prothean beacon."

"A beacon?!" Shepard asked, startled.

"Yeah. I've been assigned to take a team in and recover it. The council wants it for study of course, but it won't be much use without the Cipher. That's where you come in," Kaidan said.

"What makes you think this beacon will tell me anything the other two didn't?"

"I took a few scans of the Virmire beacon after you used it," Kaidan began. "It was in better shape than the one on Eden Prime, but there was still a lot of damage. It was dumb luck that the information on Ilos was still in there. You still don't have the full message. Preliminary reports on the Joab beacon say that it's in better shape than the other two, so it should have at least some of the missing pieces."

"And you think the extra information involves the Collectors somehow?"

"The Collectors are servants of the Reapers. It's possible that the Protheans knew about them and included it in their warning."

"It's a long shot," Shepard said.

"I know, but we need all the leads we can get. Even if it doesn't include anything about the Collectors specifically, it could still give you something that could help, either against the Collectors or the Reapers themselves."

"How is this going to work?" Shepard asked.

"I have about three days to prep my team. That should give you enough time to go in, get the message from the beacon, and get out before anyone knows you were there. Then I come in and bring the beacon back to the Citadel without anyone knowing the difference," Kaidan explained.

"The Blue Suns won't give up something like a beacon easily," Shepard pointed out. "Should I expect anything different from them?"

"They'll have brought in some of their most elite troops, but no unusual tricks."

"I appreciate this, Kaidan," Shepard said as Kaidan sent the exact coordinates to Shepard's omni-tool.

"Just make it count," Kaidan replied. "I need to go start my preparations. Tell Garrus and Tali I said 'hi.'" With that, Kaidan walked away.

As Kaidan vanished into the crowd, Shepard motioned for Garrus and Tali to follow him. They left to talk Captain Bailey about Fade. Once their business on the Citadel was complete, they would find out what was missing from the Eden Prime and Virmire beacons.

a/n: This AU also applies on the meta level. I figure that since Liara and Wrex both helped with sidequests, Kaidan would have too. In this scenario, completing the mission on Joab would trigger the Collector Ship mission.