A/N 2/6/2013: Thanks to GoogleFloobs for thetaing (Check out his story)! Again, this story is currently under revision, so please excuse any inconsistencies. A full plan of my revisions is avail in Chp. 59, Author's Explanatory Note: An Update.

Disclaimer: Mass Effect is copyright of Bioware. Ci-Ci is mine.

I welcome constructive and/or encouraging reviews/critiques. Please leave feedback!

Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

27 June 2183—Virmire, Hoc System, Sentry Omega Cluster

Despite being occupied by the geth, Virmire was a beautiful planet, a veritable stormy paradise. The sky was purple with thunder and lightning cracked the horizon like egg shells. The teal ocean lapped up against white beaches, where pod-like creatures roamed like cattle. Every so often, waves would crash against the black, shining, mountainous rocks. The sandy paths were smoothed to perfection, absolutely perfect to rip up.

Corinthia had done just that. Killing the geth lining every path was almost a game rather than a challenge. Shepard, Wrex, Alenko, and Garrus rode atop the ATV, taking potshots at the local wildlife and weaker geth. When necessary, they would hop off and destroy a mini-encampment of the AIs while Williams helped on the Mako's main guns. Tali and Liara kept the Mako in one piece with shields and various other mundane things. Corinthia drove, her goal to throw Wrex like a bronco throws a cowboy. She succeeded three times and was very pleased about it.

With all of that said, everyone was glad for the change in driving pace; her tendency to attempt to scale near-vertical cliffs on whatever planet they landed on had grown wearisome.

The STG camp was a few miles away from shore. The only reason Joker hadn't gotten them right there were some AA towers, which, of course, Shepard took down on the way in. Sometimes he wondered if Joker was as good as he claimed, since the pilot had this annoying habit of dropping them off very, very far away from their target.

Salarians were darting about, almost all of them armed with weapons unlike anything Shepard had seen. He could only assume that the STG had access to goods that even Spectres didn't. Or they had designed them themselves. A few glanced at him when they arrived, but no one seemed very interested in them at all.

Wrex was the first off. "Won't give that damned woman another chance," he muttered, glaring through the windshield at Corinthia. She grinned and cheekily waved back at him.

Shepard shrugged. "At least it wasn't in space."

"Or back home on Tuchanka. I'd be maw fodder," Wrex growled. He lunged at a salarian, laughing when the STG member skittered away. "Ah, that's better."

Alenko landed next to Shepard, water splashing everywhere. "They look the worse for wear," he murmured. "What do you think's going on here?"

Shepard frowned. "It had damn well better be important. If this is another fucking wild goose chase..."

"I don't think Ci-Ci would do that, not again."

Shepard shook his head. "You don't know her like I do. She would chase after a rainbow until she caught it."

Alenko chuckled. "And now I wonder how she made lieutenant commander."

"So do I."

Garrus was scanning the horizon through his scope. "Doesn't look good, Shepard. Lots of geth ships... And... Wait, I think..." He lowered his rifle. "I think I see Saren's ship, Commander."

Shepard scrambled back atop the Mako, grabbing Garrus's weapon to take a look. A chill ran down his spine when he spotted it. "That's it," he said quietly. He stomped a foot on the hatch. "Everyone out!"

Liara was the first to exit, as usual. She slipped and fell into the water. Wrex started laughing, and Shepard might have if he wasn't busy imagining ways to disembowel Saren.

The asari righted herself and brushed away the extra water. "How clumsy of me," she murmured, cheeks flushing with embarrassment.

Garrus was helping Tali out. "I wouldn't worry too much about it, Liara," he called, smirking. "At least your weapon didn't go off."

"Thanks, Garrus," Tali said, hopping off the Mako. "Are you alright, Liara?"

"Fine, thank you," Liara replied.

"Damned funny, that," Wrex chortled. "Almost as good as a turian falling flat on his face."

Garrus leapt down, splashing the salty water all over Wrex's face. "What was that? I seem to recall turians having very good balance," he observed, successfully hiding a smirk.

Williams shook her head as she climbed out. "So, no one's taking this seriously, are they, skip?" she asked Shepard.

Shepard didn't reply beyond shaking his head and getting off of the Mako. A salarian approached him, waving to something behind him.

Corinthia landed beside Shepard with a splash. "Kirrahe! It's awesome to see you again!"

"I'm glad to see you, Ci-Ci," the salarian replied. His relief was more than apparent. "I take it you received my transmission? Have you brought reinforcements?"

"We are the reinforcements," Shepard replied, stepping in front of Corinthia.

Kirrahe frowned. "Is this all they sent? I requested an army."

"You're getting better." He saluted Kirrahe. "Commander Shepard, Spectres."

"Captain Kirrahe, Third Infiltration Regiment, STG. I've heard of you, Commander. You have quite the reputation." Kirrahe smiled wearily at Corinthia. "I'm glad you're here. We can use all the help we can get and you're the best of the best."

Shepard gritted his teeth. Corinthia was good, but not that good. "She's under my command."

Kirrahe blinked. "That's unexpected. I was led to believe that she worked best alone."

"I work best with teams, Kirrahe," Corinthia quickly excused. "Always have and probably always will. So, what's bugging you? Your transmission wasn't exactly… clear. The Council sent us to see what was going on."

Kirrahe frowned. "That was why we were sent as well."

"The Council?" Shepard hissed. "Ci-Ci…"

After coming back from the Luna Facility, Corinthia hadn't really taken the time to explain anything more about the transmission, let alone that she'd been the one to talk to the Council when they called.

"They said you'd just cut them off," she answered innocently. "And you would've, wouldn't you?"

"Point."

"We're pinned down," Kirrahe continued. "We've been here for weeks, sent as reconnaissance. I've lost half my team investigating this place. We found something big, but we couldn't get word to the Council." He warily eyed the other members of Shepard's team as they joined the conversation. "Commander, are all of these people privy to this discussion?"

"Yes," Shepard answered. "Now, continue."

Kirrahe eyed Wrex before saying, "Saren has set up a cloning facility. He's breeding an army of krogan warriors."

Wrex stiffened. "Is that so?" His voice was dangerous, bordering between hope and eagerness.

Kirrahe nodded. "We believe he found a cure to the genophage. It must be destroyed."

Wrex clenched a fist. "That's not possible… That would mean the salvation of my people."

"Curing the genophage is a mistake." Kirrahe offered no explanation, assuming that the others would simply agree with him.

Wrex put a finger in Kirrahe's face. "We are not a mistake." With that, he stormed off.

"What's with him?" Williams asked, uneasy. She knew exactly what was wrong and reached for the safety on her pistol. She had never been overly fond of Wrex and had no qualms about putting him down.

"I'll get him," Corinthia offered. "Shep, I've got ears through you, so no need to update me later."

He raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She held up her omni-tool. "Voice recorder and linked systems."

He frowned. He didn't like being kept tabs on. "When did you do that?"

"After Eden Prime, when you weren't looking."

Although he shouldn't have been surprised, not to mention that it would explain a few things, Shepard wasn't pleased at the information. Why did she have to know everything? At least she could keep her mouth shut, though, when she learned about things no one else was supposed to know.

"Who asked you to do that?" he growled.

"No one. I did it in case another Eden Prime happened," she answered, expression turning serious. "If you can keep an eye on me, neither of us will get into that kind of trouble."

That made her intrusion a little better, but only enough to make it excusable. "Fine. Just make sure you tell me how to access it."

"Will do. I'll be right back." She winked and followed Wrex.

To say that Wrex was enraged was an understatement. The krogan was ready to literally tear something limb from limb. He paced the beach, muttering, growling, glaring at Shepard and Kirrahe, and shouting at anyone that dared venture near. Right as Corinthia approached, he drew his shotgun and began firing into the water.

She took out her omni-tool and began to see if she could hack into the system.

"Let's start by seeing if this is a cure to the genophage or just cloning," she started, voice calm and reassuring.

"What's it matter?" Wrex retorted, rounding on her and putting the shotgun right in her face. "Those are my people. We are NOT a mistake."

Corinthia didn't flinch, but she could feel Shepard's hackles rising from where she was. She waved at him to stand down and continued with her work. "I agree, Wrex. And I want to make sure that we go about this the right way. So, can you please take a deep breath? For me?"

Wrex narrowed his eyes. "And what, exactly, is the 'right way'?"

"I don't know yet, but if it's a cure to the genophage, it starts with capturing that data."

Wrex lowered his weapon. "Go on."

Corinthia cursed. "Damn it, I can't get in from here... But, briefly, cloning is not a cure. It's merely copying a living creature. So, Wrex, assuming you have the genophage and we cloned you, Wrex Number Two would have it also because it's genetic. Now, I'm not saying that the galaxy wouldn't benefit from two of you, but that doesn't fix the problem. Do you follow?"

Wrex nodded, not amused.

"So, if that's all Saren's doing, he's going to be making copies of infected krogan who were too weak to fight being captured. Their weak genetics would get into your pool and make it harder for mighty krogan like you to have adorably vicious and strong krogan babies."

"And if there is a cure?" Wrex said quietly, voice still edged like a razor. "That makes me wonder why we're fighting Saren at all. He wants to help my people."

"No, he wants to control them," Corinthia answered. "Your people are known for the stubbornness as much as their strength. Would you really bow to someone like Saren? Someone who wants to dominate and control? You follow Shepard, sure, but you're walking beside him. You're almost rivals, you know? No, if Saren found a cure, I'm taking it and we'll get it to the right people to finish and deploy. Not Saren. I bet you my annual wages that he probably built in some will-breaking or mind-controlling thingy into whatever 'cure' he came up with. Hell, he probably did it with the cloning, too. Either with chips or drugs or some stupid whatnot like that."

Wrex locked eyes with her. "So what?"

"You know that Shepard's right. He's led you this far. Give him a chance to prove that what's going on in there is wrong. If Saren's right… Well, I think you can figure out a way to defect." She smiled, easily masking how nervous she was. Wrex was her friend. She didn't want him up and leaving. Or shooting his way out, either. That would be bad. And very, very bloody.

"Let me talk to Shepard, then we'll see," Wrex finally said.

Corinthia nodded. "Alright. Want me to get him now?"

"Whatever." Wrex went back to the water to shoot some more.

Corinthia backed away, not giving Wrex her back. "Shep, you finished?" she radioed.

"I'm right here," he replied as she bumped her back into his chest.

She looked up at him, grinning. "Oops. So, Wrex is..."

"I heard. I'll deal with it." Just as she had been listening to his conversation with Kirrahe (which had really only been the salarian begging for help with an attack on the cloning facility), he had been listening to her talk with Wrex. He was glad that her logic made some sense, at least, and that she hadn't lost the krogan in technical jargon. She could do that and he was already worried that she'd turn salarian at the drop of a hat.

Kirrahe turned to her. "Lieutenant Commander, I could use your help planning our next move."

Corinthia raised an eyebrow. "My rank, Kirrahe? What's up with that?"

The salarian wearily rubbed his eyes. "Please. I need the help. Your reputation for reconnaissance is unsurpassed."

She nodded. "Don't know if that's true anymore, but I do have a knack for finding things out. Shep, you alright without me for a bit?"

He nodded. "It's not like I've never done a mission without you around."

She rolled her eyes. "Aw, poor baby. Lead the way, Kirrahe."

Corinthia left the with the Captain, both chattering away at nearly triple the pace as usual. Williams blinked. "Is she... speaking salarian?"

Shepard groaned. "Don't remind me..." As much as he liked the fact that she was very, very intelligent, he was not looking forward to the ramifications of her going into 'technical mode'.

"Does she have to do that?" Williams said.

"Do what?" Alenko asked.

"Show off for the skip."

"She's not," Shepard muttered. "She's in her element."

"What are you talking about?"

"Being a total, complete, and utter nerd," he spat. "She's going to be speaking in complete technical gibberish for the next three weeks and I'm going to have to deal with all of it."

"I just dealt with it, sir," Williams put in. "It wasn't pretty."

"No, it wasn't," Shepard echoed.

"Huh, wouldn't get that from her tendency to say, 'ooh, shiny'," Alenko mused.

"You have no idea how smart she really is because she holds it back," Shepard explained. "You just don't see her when she's getting giddy about something like this. She's probably going to be excited about this mission because she's working with the STG again."

Williams rolled her eyes. "Great... Now I get to deal with her hyper?"

Alenko patted her arm. "Don't worry. You won't die. I think."

"Yeah, right. I love her, but I am NOT putting up with that. Skip, it's all on you." Williams clapped him on the shoulder. "Good luck, send me a vid with how it goes, I'll be back on the Normandy avoiding the fallout."

Alenko laughed. "Oh, come on, Ash, it's not that bad. For all we know the situation could be so bad that Ci-Ci won't even be able to crack a joke."

Williams looked at him incredulously. "Seriously? You are a thick-head sometimes, Kaidan."

"What?" he answered innocently.

Shepard ignored them, making for Wrex. Unlike Williams, Shepard got along very well with the krogan. Hell, Wrex was almost a friend. If they had to part ways, it shouldn't have been with bullets.

Wrex lowered his shotgun when Shepard approached. "Ci-Ci says you're better to follow than Saren."

"She's biased," Shepard replied, resting a hand on his pistol.

"You don't agree?"

"I don't know what the fuck is going on, Wrex, but I'm not going to let Saren get his hands on a goddamn krogan army. You're all tough sons of bitches to kill."

Wrex smirked. "Agreed." He eyed Shepard's pistol, noting that the safety was off. "So, is that how it's going to be?"

"That depends on you," Shepard replied, locking eyes with the krogan. "I don't want to kill you, but I will if you get in my way. The only real question is if you trust me enough to see this mission through. For all we know this place could be a front for geth production."

"The lizards don't get their information wrong very often," Wrex said.

"Neither does Ci-Ci. If she said she'd save what data she could, she will. I can't promise that I wouldn't fight against you if the krogans repeat history, but it'd be one hell of a good battle."

Wrex smirked. "Can't wait for the day that I can go head-to-head with you, Shepard." He held out his hand. "But it isn't today."

Shepard shook it. "At least not for another couple hours."

Wrex laughed. "I like you, Shepard. Better than most humans I've met."

"Someone has to be." Shepard was relieved that Wrex had decided to trust him. Maybe it was only because Shepard had given the krogan the chance to kill him later, but, either way, it was better than killing each other then and there.

"But if you get any ideas about betraying me, Shepard -"

"It won't happen."

The conversation was over. Shepard walked away, his mind now focused on everything else he would have to deal with. Firstly, if Saren really was there, then that completely changed the game. The mission was less destroy and more annihilate. Timing would be critical. They wouldn't have the luxury of doing anything extraneous.

He had a bad feeling about the planet. Though beautiful, his gut was clenching like he was on Torfan again. The air was electrified, making his hair stand on end - or was he just apprehensive? He cracked his knuckles, not particularly keen on finding out. If he was right, then they were all in for one hell of a ride. Saren wasn't to be taken lightly. Even if Shepard wanted the killing shot - revenge for the bastard almost killing Corinthia - he would settle for anyone taking it.

Thunder steadily boomed in the distance, mingled with the garbled, echoing, electronic voices of the geth. It was like a requiem for everyone its notes landed upon. Corinthia had her omni-tool out and was pursing a lip as she analyzed the area. When she caught Shepard's eye, she looked genuinely worried; hell, she didn't even attempt to smile. If she was that concerned about a mission, then the entire crew was clusterfucked.

"Commander?" Liara asked softly.

"What?" he snapped, so on edge that his biotic flared around his fists. He hadn't heard the asari come up. "Now is not a good time, T'Soni."

She wilted and backed away. "You look unwell. I was simply concerned."

"Save it for after the mission."

"I... I understand. I, too, feel it." She put a hand on his elbow reassuringly. "I am confident that we will succeed. We have, against greater odds."

He shook away her touch. "Trying to read me again?"

"Hardly. I am merely stating my optimism."

"Tell it to someone who cares."

Shepard still hadn't forgiven her for breaking into his mind. Fact was that it had only made things worse, from his perspective. And he didn't intend to let her get anywhere near him again.

"I - I'm sorry - "

"Fuck off, Liara."

The asari quickly left, feeling hurt. She understood that he was a deeply private man, but she only wished to help. As naive as she was, she understood very well why he was annoyed with her. She made a mental note to find another way to aid him.

Kirrahe frowned. "He seems volatile."

Corinthia kept her focus on the map before her. Small blocks darted about, simulating the various attack schematics she had programmed. None looked very good for their teams.

"Don't write him off just yet," she murmured. "He's the best at what he does."

"And what is that?"

"Doing the impossible."

"I don't trust him."

"I do. You trust me, so therefore you trust him. Something's just rubbing him wrong right now."

"Damn right," Shepard said, leaning next to her. "What's all this shit?"

"Bad plans," she replied, waving her omni-tool. The blocks vanished. "I just had to check to make sure that there wasn't anything better."

"Better than what?"

Kirrahe crossed his arms. "Ci-Ci has proposed a two-pronged attack. A decoy assault on the front gates of the facility and the true infiltration behind the lines. There is a side door -"

"We're going with it," Shepard interrupted, not even bothering to watch the map as Corinthia reprogrammed it to show the plan. "I go behind the lines. You be the decoys."

"My thoughts exactly," Kirrahe replied, "but I will need help. My team isn't well-enough manned and we will need to split the diversion into at least another team. My executive officers have been killed and no one has the appropriate experience or charisma for the job."

"And you want Ci-Ci," Shepard finished.

"She would be ideal, but any member of your crew would suffice."

"Alenko and Williams volunteered," Corinthia added. "I asked them while you were talking to Wrex. They're both up for it."

"There is also the matter of destroying the facility itself," Kirrahe continued. "You will need to deploy a nuclear weapon. With my team engaged, I can't spare a tech expert for the job."

Shepard glanced at Corinthia. "You just wanted the biggest gun possible, didn't you?"

She grinned, but there wasn't any happiness behind it. "Yep!"

He sighed. "Fine. I don't care who goes with you, Kirrahe. Pick one of them." His brusqueness was masking his worry. The fact was that he wanted nothing more than to keep Corinthia safe and away from all of the madness that this battle would bring.

It was a damned stupid and impulsive thought, so he tried to dismiss it. It wasn't easy, though. He could still see her, a frown etched between her brows. Williams and Alenko were at her side, being briefed on the plan. Tali and Liara were helping the salarians recoup by fixing equipment and administering basic first aid. Wrex was still pacing, but at least he had holstered his weapon, and Garrus had found himself a bird's nest to keep an eye on Saren's ship.

The argument between Williams and Alenko began getting louder. Neither was willing to let the other take command with Kirrahe. Although grateful to have two people desperate for a job like that, Shepard wasn't about to have any of that.

Corinthia slammed her hand down. "STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" she shouted.

Alenko and Williams looked at her in shock.

"Is she... angry?" Alenko asked quietly.

Williams nodded in disbelief. "Yep, think so."

Corinthia glared at them both. "Honestly, I'm happy you're both eager to put your lives on the line, but this is ridiculous. Ash, you go with Kirrahe. Kaidan, I'm sure Shep is going to want you on his team. Kirrahe, do you want anyone else from our guys with you?"

"No. Chief Williams will be sufficient. Any one else would be superfluous," Kirrahe replied.

"Fine. That's settled." Corinthia stepped back. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to see to that nuke."

Williams released a slow breath. "I don't like her when she's mad."

"At least it wasn't Shepard yelling," Alenko observed.

"He's always yelling."

"Maybe at you." Alenko ducked her punch. "Oh, c'mon, Ash, lighten up."

"Don't think it's a good time for that," she replied, going back to the map.

Shepard caught Corinthia as she passed. "We need to talk."

She raised an eyebrow. "Alright..." She wasn't sure what he was about to do, but she still followed him. Whenever he led her somewhere, a type of romantic interlude followed, but there was no way he could have that in mind right then; he was too tense.

However, he only took her to the edge of camp, where they were mostly alone. A salarian was within eyesight, but not earshot, and he was busy fixing some type of complicated equipment.

"Saren is here," Shepard started.

"I know," Corinthia answered. "I saw the ship."

"Then you should know how I feel about this whole damn mission." He wanted to touch her, but another salarian was walking by. Fucking reptiles, getting in the way...

Corinthia took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair. "Yeah, I know already... I'm going to be careful, don't worry."

"Not good enough."

"What else am I supposed to do? Stay on the Normandy?"

Shepard remained silent. That was exactly what he wanted. The loss of leaving her behind was minimal, especially since Garrus and Tali worked so well together that they may as well have been one person. In fact, they were both a little better at their jobs than Corinthia, since neither had to multi-task, Garrus was one of the best snipers that Shepard had ever encountered, and Tali was fantastic at hacking the geth.

Corinthia blinked. "You... Shep, you can't do that, not today. EVERYONE has to be in on this or else... God, I don't even want to think about it."

He shook his head. "Today we're taking a small team and I'm sure as hell not leaving you alone to set that nuke."

"Because I'm going to be attacked from all sides, right?"

"The odds have not been in our favor in the past," he muttered, glancing around at the salarians. "Can't remember the last time I had a mission that didn't have me firing my gun."

She laughed. "You'd also just shoot your gun off because you hadn't."

"True." Finally alone, he grabbed her and dragged her to his chest. She squeaked in shock, but relaxed after a moment and held him back.

"Geez, John, relax a little. Saren's tough, but it could be worse, you know? If we look at this as anything other than just another mission it's going to be as bad as you think."

"Well, you can relax," he muttered, pressing his lips against her temple. "I won't until this place is blown to hell and Saren is dead."

"So in six hours." She grinned.

"It's not going to work," he answered, "and I'm not even going to hope for that good of luck."

She slipped her hand into his, squeezing gently. He interlaced her fingers with his, causing her to wince in pain as he tightened his grip, and led her to a more secluded area. Whenever he did this, he usually swept her into a bone-crushing hug or dizzying kiss, but instead he just stared at their hands. Corinthia's stomach started to tie into knots. She didn't like how he was just standing there, indecisive and mute. It wasn't like him at all.

"If you won't hope, then I will," she reassured him. "I'm the optimist, right? We have to look on the bright side. We've got help on this one. We'll make it out, relatively unscathed. Why are you so worried? It's just another mission. The only difference is that we know Saren's here."

Shepard shook his head, finally loosing his grip on her hands. "I just want you safe."

She sighed. As endearing as his protectiveness was, it was wearing her nerves. "Safe is all relative. We'll be luckier than Jesus if we all make it out of here alive."

"Jesus?"

"Well, you know… Him being the son of God and all… He was resurrected, lived forty days without food or water, you know…"

"I thought Christianity had been disproven."

"They haven't decided how to deal with the other species in the galaxy, but they're trying. If you want a religious discussion, we can do it later. The point is that we're going to need some kind of über supernatural power on our side if we all want to be alive at the end of this."

He put his forehead against hers. It was taking all of his self-control to stay gentle because all he wanted to do was throw her on the ground and ravish her while he had a chance. He couldn't even bring himself to kiss her for fear he'd hurt her.

"I think that one's on you," he said quietly. "You're the one that's turning me into a pussy. That takes some kind of magic."

She giggled. "Or maybe you've always been a good guy and were just too afraid to show it."

He thought for a moment. "No, it's you. It's definitely you."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not doing it on purpose! Promise! I —"

Unable to resist any longer (not to mention that he was damn tired of hearing her talk), he crushed his lips against hers. Aside from her usual squeak of protest and surprise whenever he assaulted her like that, her fingers dug into his hands and she kissed him back with uncharacteristic hunger. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't hide just how nervous she was.

Alenko coughed. "Sir, Kirrahe's ready to move out whenever you are."

Shepard drew away from Corinthia with great reluctance. "Alright... Let's get this fucker."