Author's Note: Hope you guys are enjoying the story thus far. And I hope the characters are in keeping with how they were in the game series. Thanks for reading. Feel free to leave a note if you have any comments or are enjoying the story.

To call it a base may have been an overstatement. When Vega was able to pry open the entrance to the scavenger's lair it revealed a rather dreary interior of makeshift huts and structures cobbled together by stolen construction materials, starship wreckage, and old building debris. In some instances the structures were built into the canyon walls. The scavengers had dug a well in the center of the encampment and there was a clutter of tables and chairs under an awning nearby, likely used as a communal dining area.

Despite the impressive cannon they had encountered outside there were no indications of powerful defenses or a well-organized guard force. The camp appeared empty, but the team advanced inside cautiously. As they made their way inside the shabby walls of the encampment they did so in an organized manner. Vega and Tali would shelter behind wreckage or an out of commission air car. From the safety of these positions they provided cover for Garrus and Liara, who advanced deeper into the camp and found spots to post up on near ramshackle buildings or in the fold of some advantageous terrain. They repeated this procedure time and again as they systematically cleared each hut and hooch in the camp.

"Were they all on the wall?" Vega asked no one in particular. The camp was desolate, no movement and no sound. "How many did you smoke up there, Garrus?"

"Four," Garrus reported throatily. His eyes vigilantly scanned the buildings they had not cleared. He followed Vega into a dilapidated shack.

"Impressive," Vega commended as he kicked over some furniture inside. There was a mildew-stained cot in the corner and some storage containers. The space was poorly lit and the air smelled musty. He glanced back to address the turian whose form was bathed in shadow, backlit by the ochreous glow of Malgus outside. "Didn't take you long."

"Child's play," Garrus grunted. "Thanks to all those husks, I've had plenty of practice with rapid target acquisition."

Vega finished his cursory examination of the hut's interior and stepped beside Garrus. Tali and Liara were out of earshot, clearing a lean-to nearby. "Thanks for the help," James said seriously. He placed a firm hand on the turian's armored shoulder. "Really, I don't know what would have happened to Tali if you hadn't…"

"Don't mention it," Garrus cut him off. He readjusted his grip on his rifle. "Just doing my job. We're a team right?"

"Right," Vega agreed.

But there had been urgency in the act that Vega was unaware of. When the situation worsened Garrus was desperate to save Tali. In the past he had been unshakable. Even with rounds whizzing by overhead Garrus maintained his calm and applied a surgeon's precision to the type of fire he delivered. After years of engagements his heart rate rarely spiked. Proper breathing, a shallow heartbeat and a slow trigger pull were essential to that ability. But in that moment, knowing Tali was in danger, he was almost frantic. He surged over obstacles and hastened across the undulating terrain to get himself in a position to fire. Unbeknownst to Vega, Garrus had missed his first two shots. After the fact he felt embarrassed by his frenzied approach to the situation. His feelings for Tali had compromised his abilities. And the sickest part of it was that it nearly cost Tali her life.

Any further thought on the subject would have to wait. The sound of a biotic's powers flaring up passed them both by like a shockwave. They stepped outside and bathed in Malgus' light. The pair's eyes were drawn to a nearby hut just as the wall exploded and showered them both with the remnants of savaged debris. A single turian body rocketed past as well and skittered into the assembly of chairs and tables in the dining area. From the bombed out remains of the hut Liara stepped, a sinister purple glow encompassed her delicate frame and she walked toward the turian with purpose.

"Where is he?" she demanded, but the turian must not have choked out an acceptable response. Liara lifted him high into the air then slammed him back down with tremendous force. Like a ball, he bounced off the surface.

"Liara!" Vega called out in a commanding tone. He and Garrus dashed across the open ground to catch up to the seething asari as her powers flared once more.

"Not good enough. Try again," she urged menacingly. She wasn't the innocent asari scientist. She was the Shadow Broker. She had transformed into the ruthless information broker that had allowed her to get Shepard's body back from Tazzik; the same broker that brought down her predecessor and saved Feron. She was filled with a passionate disdain for not getting what she wanted. With a flick of her wrist she sent the turian sliding across the rock-ridden ground until he collided with a stack of salvage. He let out a hoarse cry as the impact forced the air from his lungs.

"Liara, stop," Vega directed. He reached out and grasped her by the shoulder, stopping her advance on the turian scrapper.

"Stay out of this!" She whirled around on him and slapped away his hand. "I need to know what he did with Shepard."

Vega stepped in front of her. "Not like this."

Liara's chest heaved in and out as she fought to control her anger. Garrus lined up beside Vega as if to indicate the Marine was correct. Then Tali was there too, imploring Liara to calm down. She was not herself. Slowly her rage dissipated and the biotic aura that surrounded her form died down. "Please, James," she began. "Just find out what they did with John."

Vega bit his lower lip. "I'm going to find out," he assured her with a nod. He turned and headed toward the injured turian. Garrus advanced beside him, leaving Liara to be comforted and watched by Tali.

The turian was middle-aged and pockmarked. His dark carapace was covered with the white facial tattoos associated with the colony Magna. He was missing one of the digits on his left hand, perhaps the result of an old accident. At the moment he was coughing and spat up a dark blue fluid—blood. Liara had damaged his internal organs. He was dying. Vega could hear the wheezing as he labored to breath.

"I don't want to make this hard," Vega began. "But if I have to… I'll turn you back over to her." His head gestured toward the asari biotic.

"What do you bastards want? I'm just trying to run a salvage operation here," the turian wheezed.

"That might be true, but your people brought back something more important than salvage recently," Vega accused as he lorded his imposing physique over the injured turian.

The scavenger sat upright against the scrap that his team had collected, though not without some difficulty. "Maybe we did."

"You know damn well you did," Vega continued. "And you knew who he was… where is he?"

"No point… no point in telling you now. He's gone. Sold the legend off to someone that paid good for him," the turian sputtered. He let out a monstrous string of coughs and hacks. "Lot of good that does me now."

"Who? Who did you sell his body to and where are they going?" Vega demanded. He glanced back to see Liara and Tali approaching. Liara had gotten impatient, or perhaps she just wanted to hear the man spill the beans. Vega knelt down, bringing his scarred face closer to the dying turian. "Why would anyone buy a dead man?" It made no sense. There were strange people across the galaxy. But why buy a dead body, even if it belonged to Commander Shepard?

The turian's mandibles flexed as he choked on some of his blood and battled the pain. There was more damage to his organs than Vega had anticipated. "Dead? He's not dead."

Vega's eyes widened. "What?"

"What?" Liara blurted simultaneously. She grabbed Vega by the shoulder and yanked him back. The Marine barely managed to stay on his feet. "Where is he? Who took him!? I swear to the Goddess if you don't tell me everything you know I'll flay you alive."

"Get back. Get… get away from me you psycho," the turian coughed as he impotently tried to distance himself from Liara.

"Tell me!"

"Liara, stand down," James' voice boomed. He turned her around, clasped his powerful hands upon her shoulders and forced her eyes to meet his own. "I'll take care of this. You need to trust me. Please."

Liara fumed, but Vega's grip was vice-like. She could break free with the help of her biotics, but it wasn't a battle worth having. Vega was on her side and he was trying to help. She just wasn't sure she had the patience for it. Not when it came to this. "Fine."

He relinquished his hold on her and she stepped aside, well away from the threatened turian.

"Just tell me what happened," Vega counseled the scavenger in as soothing a voice as he could muster. "You said Commander Shepard is alive?"

"Yes… yes, he's alive. My team found him on the Citadel. Low pulse, beaten and bloodied raw, really bad shape—but he was alive," the turian explained. There were lengthy gaps between each word and he struggled to breath. It was evident to Vega that he didn't have much time to get useful information out of him.

"You brought him back here and sold him off… who did you sell him to?"

"Mercenaries, by the look of them. I don't know. They came in two ships. Well-armed, lots of armor. High-tech stuff, you know?"

"Where did they go?" James pressed; he leaned down again and reached out to lay a caring hand on the turian's shoulder. He locked eyes with the dying alien and a look of mercy surfaced in the reflection of his pupils. You can trust me.

"I don't know… I don't… I don't know," the turian murmured. Another dribble of dark blue liquid bubbled from his lips and leaked down his quivering chin. "Leave me… leave."

Vega shook him gently. "I need to know where they took him," he said firmly.

"No. I don't know… I said… I said I… don't know," the turian mumbled between gurgles that emanated from deep within the recesses of his chest.

Vega drew his muscular frame back to full height and glanced at Garrus. "It's not good," he claimed, then looked over at Liara whose own face was fixed with a hard edge. "He's dying."

"Good," Liara insisted coldly. She gave one last look at the feeble turian who choked on yet another dose of his own blood and then she stalked off.

"What do we do with him?" Tali questioned with a hint of concern in her voice. It was clear the turian was suffering and there was no telling how long it would be until he bled out from his injuries.

"I say we leave him. He sold Shepard off to some band of mercs. He deserves it," Garrus suggested icily. He still held his Mantis sniper rifle casually in his clutches.

"Garrus," Tali objected. "We can't just leave him here. It's not right."

"He stays," Vega said flatly.

"But Vega he's injured. He should be taken into custody and treated," she insisted. Or at the very least be put out of his misery, she thought.

"He stays. That's the end of it," Vega ordered resolutely. "Let's go." The Lieutenant didn't wait for an agreement from the quarian. Instead he walked off in Liara's wake and immediately hailed Lieutenant Collins for pickup. Garrus followed behind him, as silent as ever.

What's going on with all of you? Tali shook her head and glanced one last time at the dying turian who seemed resigned to his fate. He made no objections when she walked away.