Everyone on the Quarian transport was tense. They had been ordered by Admiral Han'Gerrel to track a trio of Geth frigates that had, for reasons unknown, left the boundaries of the Perseus Veil. Kal'Reegar leaned against the co-pilot chair with the pilot, a middle-aged male Quarian, sitting comfortably in the chair next to him. Kal never took his eyes of the ladar the entire trip thus far. The Geth ships, although out of visual range, still remained well within sensor distance. If it weren't for the break-through in stealth systems that the Migrant fleet recently achieved, they would definitely have been noticed by now.

"Whatever happens, try to stay out of visual range." The hardened Quarian Marine spoke sternly. "Lets not take the chance the Geth started using windows." The pilot nodded and returned to his duty as Kal lifted up off the chair he had been leaning on and walked to the back of the transport where his team of Marines were sharing conversation about the mission, as well as performing equipment checks.

Reegar's team consisted of 6 Quarians. Five of them were men with the exception of one woman. Reegar looked over his squad mates which halted in their duties and rose to their feet to give the Quarian version of a salute upon noticing their commanding officer.

"Carry on." he said formally. The squad went back to their tasks without talking amongst themselves anymore. Kal could tell, even with their enviro-suits, most of them were very young, probably having just completed their pilgrimage. The single female Quarian who sat in the back corner of the ship was cleaning her pistol with a greasy rag. After stroking the barrel a few times she pulled back the top half of her weapon; cocking it then placing it on the table next to her as she let her head fall and gaze at the floor while giving a heavy sigh.

Kal could tell something was bothering her. Normally he would have dismissed it, but he wanted everyone in his squad to be clearly focused on the mission; especially with the Geth being involved. He silently walked over to her as she let out another sigh; this time being a little more relaxed. She lifted her head up only when she saw the two steel-plated boots standing in front of her. Her eyes widened and she gasped when she realized she this to be her squad leader.

"Sir!" she said nervously as she tried to rise from her seat, only to be stopped halfway by calls outstretched hand.

"At ease." said Kal, formal as ever. The young Quarian girl slowly sat back down and became unsettled by Reegar's very presence. "Something on your mind? He asked politely. The girl stiffened at his question as if she was about to be mauled by a predatory animal.

"Uh, No sir." she said nervously. Kal could tell she was avoiding the question so to test her focus, he began inquiring about her weapon.

"Show me how to load your weapon, from scratch."

"Sir?" she asked, puzzled by the order.

"Load your weapon soldier." Acting upon his command, the Quarian girl grabbed her pistol, unloaded the clip, then shoved it back in clumsily and cocked it.

"Weapon fully loaded sir." Kal narrowed one of his eyes which caused the girl to almost cringe in fear. He then took a seat next to her.

"Text book quality soldier. But you forgot to prime the thermal chamber before cocking it. Not even a novice would make that mistake, unless they intended on shooting cold shots." The girl slowly lowered her pistol into her lap and once again dropped her head.

"Permission to speak freely granted soldier." The female Marine cleared her throat but still couldn't seem to get the words out.

"Sir...I-I...err..." Kal decided to evaluate her, seeing that she wasn't exactly a talkative one.

"How long have you been a Marine soldier?"

"Err...four months sir." she replied nervously.

"Have you ever been in combat before?" he asked politely.

"Six recon missions sir, I've...never killed any Geth..." The girl took her hands and placed them in her lap as Kal took a moment to read her behavior.

"What's your name?" The Quarian girl took a moment to gather her composure before replying in full.

"Vel'Lara vas Neema nar Rayya, sir."

"Are you scared Vel'Lara?" She dropped her head at his question for a moment then looked back up into his eyes with an expression of fear clearly showing even behind her visor.

"...Yes sir...I am. I've never been up against the Geth before, and we still don't know where they're going or what they're doing. What if they find out we're following them?"

"I'm sure it won't come to that. But if you want my advice..." Vel leaned slightly forward to hear his answer.

"When and if things get bad...stay scared, it'll keep you alive." That said, Kal stood up and walked back to the cockpit, leaving young Vel'Lara to dwell on what he had said. After watching him stroll back into the helm, she slumped back in her chair and looked over at her pistol. What her squad leader told her didn't make her feel any better about the mission. She had hoped for something more comforting words, but accepted that this was just the way of the Quarian Marines; to fear the Geth, and build a hatred for them upon that fear.

"Keelah...please ancestors, let this end as simple recon mission..."

Nearly half an hour had passed and the crew of the Normandy had all but settled in; Aranya being the only exception, as she was having her gun shot wound to the arm tended to by Dr. Chakwas. Of course the Eclipse veteran was quite disappointed that the Normandy's chief medical officer happened to be, as she put it, "A withered, dried up, hag." The pain of the Doctor stitching up her arm only worsened her frustration.

Shepard and his beautiful fiance, Tali, were the only ones truly relaxed even after the ordeal earlier. After enjoying their intimate "session," They decided to clean up with each other in the cabin's bathroom. Shepard stood under the shower nozzle; running his hands through his buzz-cut hair, washing the shampoo from his scalp while Tali lay in the bathtub next to him with all but her head submerged into the steaming, hot water. Where as humans looked at bathing as part of a day's normal routine, Tali saw it as a luxury; being that Quarians such as herself, didn't have the opportunity to feel actual water on flowing on their skin, no thanks to being caged in a suit all their lives. The form of liquid she felt on her skin most commonly was blood from injuries in battle and was determined to change that.

Shepard turned nozzle off after cleaning himself thoroughly. After shaking the water off his face he turned to Tali to see only her fragile head, eyes closed from the pleasure of the water's warmth, leaned back against the interior of the tub. He tip-toed his way over to her and knelt down, propping his head up on the edge of the bathtub with his folded arms, as he watched her breathe in and out slowly.

"Enjoying yourself darling?" she nodded slowly in response to his playful tone while keeping her eyes shut. He watched her without saying a word for a few moments, until a rather naughty thought crossed his mind. Quietly he unfolded one of his arms and slowly dipped it into the water without her noticing, until his fingers touched her in a place that left her very surprised. She squeaked and nearly jumped out of the tub upon feeling his fingers; water was splashed all over the floor from her sudden movement. Her eyes shot open wide as she shifted her head to Shepard.

"Shepard!" she said trying to refrain from giggling. "Don't you think we've had enough excitement for one day?"

"I just wanted to see your beautiful, pearly eyes." he replied lovingly. Tali began to blush and tilted her head to the side.

"You could have just asked you know." said Tali with a small chuckle. Shepard titled his slightly to match hers and grinned.

"Where's the fun in that?" he teased. Tali's mouth hung wide open and her eyes bulged as she gasped and used her hand to playfully splash him in the face. The two began laugh together; admiring each others gaze. After calming down, Shepard reached for her hand and held it close. He began to gently caress her second finger and then placed a kiss on it.

"I promise you that once we're done with this Sovereign business, there will be a ring on this finger." he said softly. Tali looked at him curiously.

"A ring?"

"Yes," Shepard replied. "When humans join together in marriage, the two will wear identical rings as a symbol of their love. We almost never take them off."

"Oh well..." Tali averted her eyes as she sadly stated, "I'm not sure you could find one in my size, and even if you did, it would be hard for me to wear it with my gloves and..." Shepard placed his hand on her shoulder which she gladly accepted by grabbing it with her free hand and leaned her head onto it.

"We'll figure something out." he said with soft smile. Shepard placed one last kiss on her finger before releasing it. As he did so, Tali began to step out of the tub. Shepard watched in awe as the water softly ran off of her lithe form, making sure his eyes gave extra attention to her butt. Tali smiled, knowing full well where his eyes were fixated, and walked over the wall to grab a towel off the rack and wrap it around her body. She turned to see slight disappointment in Shepard's face and giggled before taking another towel and throwing it in his face.

"Speaking of Sovereign, don't you think we should tell the rest of the crew what happened?" said Tali sternly. Shepard had just finished wrapping himself in the towel given to him and turned to face her.

"I guess your right. As much as I hate to plunge them into, possibly, another suicide mission, the sooner we get to him, the easier it'll be to destroy him."

Shepard followed his lovely fiance out of the bathroom and over to their bed where her suit lay on the floor at the foot of it. Tali looked down at her suit and gave a sigh of disappointment, wishing she could be out of it just a little bit longer, even if it meant getting worse of a fever than she already had. Shepard walked up behind her and hugged her from behind while placing a few kisses on the side of her neck.

"Shepard..." she sadly asked. "Do you really think we can raise a child together?"

"I don't think we can, I know we can." replied Shepard.

"But what if the drug doesn't work...I—You want children as much as I do, and I just really want you to be happy."

"Tali, even if it turns out that you can't bear my children, I'll still love you just as much as I do now." Shepard spun her around to meet his eyes and noticed her expression had perked up slightly. He always knew just how to butter her up. Leaning in he placed a kiss on her luscious lips before continuing. "Just have faith, we'll keep trying."

Tali responded by returning the kiss and then the two broke their embrace. Tali began the complex task of putting on her enviro-suit while Shepard slapped on his usual Cerberus uniform. After being fully dressed he waited until Tali was fully suited, occasionally helping her with a few of the straps and latches which she humbly welcomed. They shared one last look into each others eyes before she latched her visor in place. Shepard then turned his attention to the holographic projector next to the cabin door.

"EDI, tell the team to gather in the briefing room, and...make sure our Asari guest is confined to med bay for now."

"Acknowledged Shepard." That said, the loving couple made their way to the elevator.

Mordin and Jacob were the first to arrive in the briefing room when Shepard and Tali walked in. Mordin was pacing back and forth deep in thought while Jacob leaned over the edge of the table. Moments later, Miranda walked in, followed by Garrus, Thane, Samara, and Kasumi. Jack and Zaeed came in a minute later.

Jacob was the first to inquire as everyone spread out in the room. "What's this all about commander?"

"It's a long story, so I'll try to keep to the short version." Everyone in the room watched expectantly as Shepard folded his hands behind his back and straightened his back. "First of all, Grunt won't be a problem anymore, he's taken a leave of absence on Tuchanka. Second—please try to bear with me on this one."

"Before arriving at Tuchanka, The Illusive man tasked us with investigating a Cerberus research vessel they lost contact with. He also told us this ship was testing a new energy source; something that could be used against the Reapers." Shepard took a deep breath before continuing.

"When we arrived, we discovered the ships lead researcher had gone insane and reprogrammed the security mechs to kill the entire crew. We recovered the energy source but..." He cleared his throat.

"After it aboard we...some of us started seeing things. When EDI finally decrypted the data we recovered from the ship, it was already too late." Miranda stepped forward.

"Commander, what happened?" she noticed Shepard swallow a lump in his throat. "Where's Legion?"

"The energy turned out to be a fragment of a Reaper core. That Reaper possessed Legion and escaped through the conduit..." The entire room fell into complete silence as they eagerly awaited the next details. "Sovereign is back."

Nearly everyone in the room gasped and shared expressions filled with shock. Shepard raised his hand to calm everyone down. "Now listen, I've given the data we recovered from the Collector base, as well as what we salvaged from the Cerberus ship to the Council. As far as I can tell, we have their support."

"They've tasked us with pursuing Sovereign...to Ilos."

"With all due respect Commander, he's probably long gone by now." Jacob interjected.

"Maybe, but that's a chance we're going to have to take. We don't have any other leads."

"Jesus H. Christ..." Zaeed mumbled to himself drawing the attention of others. "First you manage to piss of your pet Krogan, and now we're hunting down a Reaper that's supposed to have died 2 years ago?" He shook his head in disbelief. "You better have one fat fucking paycheck for me when this is over Shepard."

"I'll make sure you're compensated for your help Zaeed." said the Spectre staring angrily at the bounty hunter. "Right now I need you all in top shape, so get some rest as best you can. We depart for the Mu Relay in ten. Dismissed."

The team began to disperse and head back to their usual stations. Shepard never moved from his spot in front of the table as the individuals behind him crammed into the hallway. Tali walked up beside him moments later.

"I'll be in engineering if you need me," she said plainly. "I should check the drive core's optimal efficiency before we lift off." Shepard pivoted toward her and embraced her for a brief moment.

"Show it the same love you do me and it'll make precision jumps." he said with a wink.

"Of course commander." she replied seductively then walked out of the run while swinging her hips in a sensual fashion. Shepard smiled as he watcher her leave and shook his head in embarrassment. Thoughts of the mission however, brought him back to reality. Not even a month after wiping out the Collectors and already the Reapers are at it again. He felt that the word peace, and anything to do with it, should be erased from the dictionary with the way events were unfolding. But now was not the time to quit, they had a job to do.

"Joker, set a course for the Mu relay. Let's go pay our friend a visit."