A chess game with Howard was an entertaining spectacle. A rare chess game between Howard and Shepard where everyone could watch was entertainment you couldn't buy.

Howard had two boards. One was a holographic one and the other was his pride and joy: a genuine wood board with carved stone pieces that had been passed down through his family for years. In general, he used the holo-board.

Except when he was playing against Shepard. Then he used both.

They sat at the mess hall table with the boards set up between them, alternating between them after each turn. It was still relatively empty, though they would probably gather a crowd of onlookers later on. Shepard couldn't actually beat Howard, but she could put up a fight with two games at once. She was on the wooden one while Howard contemplated his move on the holo one when a shadow loomed over the table. She went still for a moment before making a move.

"I still don't get you humans' obsession with battle simulations, but I guess this is better than the turian wanting to run the Normandy through its paces just to see what it can do. Less chance of getting blown up that way," Wrex rumbled, his eyes on the boards.

"Don't be so sure," Howard said lightly. "I rigged that wooden board up so if she actually wins..."

"Good thing that'll never happen." Shepard leaned back from the table and looked up at the krogan. "Still pissed at me, Wrex?" She'd been more than ready to go to him before they reached Virmire but since he'd come up...

Howard glanced at her and she motioned for him to continue. Wrex was either one for a terse discussion or a full on brawl and they'd had enough of those already.

Wrex studied her expressionlessly. "You let the damned queen go. Nothing else to be said."

"They were indoctrinated."

That gave both Howard and Wrex a pause. Shepard kept her eyes on the krogan, her voice quiet. "A sour yellow note from space that silenced them and forced them to resonate with it. That's how she described it."

"Dammit, Shepard, not everything in the universe leads back to the Reapers!"

Shepard met his eyes and the eerie knowledge in them chilled even Urdnot Wrex. "Are you sure about that?"

The anger and annoyance he'd been carrying toward her shifted into genuine concern. He wasn't worried that Shepard was losing control- it was clear she wasn't -but he'd seen enough from his own people to know what happened when you let your focus on something drive you to the exclusion of all else. "I'm going back to Tuchanka."

Something flickered across Shepard's face...to his surprise she seemed unhappy from that fact. Before she could speak, he clarified: "After Saren is out of the way. I don't know if I can save my people, but I figure it's time to give it a try. We've spent too long focused on the past, letting it blind us to our real goal." He stared at her pointedly.

Shepard got the message. "I'm not blinded, Wrex."

"I overheard enough of what the Council and Udina are saying...and not saying, Ari," Howard chimed in softly, moving one of his bishops across the holo-board. "They're all starting to think you're unhinged."

"I think there's a reason they wanted you focused on this salarian team on Virmire," Wrex added.

Shepard was silent for a long moment. "I know who our enemy is. I want to know everything I can about the Reapers and I think he's the key to that, but I know who is the real danger. No matter who is backing him. I'm not so focused on the Reapers I've forgotten."

He believed her. She might be edging toward obsession with whatever the hell this Reaper thing was that haunted her dreams, but she wasn't there yet. "All right. Just watch you don't let that bastard use those visions of yours against you, Shepard."

"Even in the off chance I let it happen, you'll kill him first, Wrex," she said, snickering.

"Well, when you put it like that...anything that lets me get the first crack at him."

Shepard opened her mouth, then closed it. Satisfied he'd gotten the last word, the krogan watched the two return to their game. It was actually a rather interesting- if simplistic -strategy game. Plenty of species had similar ones.

Krogan preferred to learn the art of war as they experienced it. Always had, always would. But the more he saw, every time he looked at his family armor, and (though he would never admit it) the more he'd talked back and forth with Shepard the past few months, the more he became convinced it was time to give Tuchanka another chance. It was time to give the krogan a reason to fight for something instead of against everything.

"Oh, before I go. We saw Kaidan in a news vid about the Normandy. He's cute! Later sis."

Ashley heard a snort behind her and winced, glancing back over her shoulder at her commander. "I don't suppose you could just...pretend you didn't hear that."

Shepard was grinning. "Oh, don't be embarrassed, Ash. Just make sure she meets Kaidan at one point and put that to good use. Possibly use a recording."

Ash chuckled. "Oh, that's mean. But she's done worse to me..."

"Which one is that?"

"Sarah. The youngest."

"Oh, well as the eldest and youngest respectively, you two have a duty to humiliate each other."

"Only I've got more ammo." Ash checked her rifle over. "I remember Garrus talking about his sister back on the Citadel. Funny, I never thought I'd have anything in common with a turian. I guess younger siblings are the same no matter what the race, huh?"

"Unless you're krogan. Then there's less arguing and more stabbing if what Wrex told me about his brother is true."

"Or unless you're asari, in which case there's more blackmail and hiring people to assassinate." Ash raised an eyebrow pointedly, referring to the asari diplomat who had contracted them to 'rescue' her sister from slavers. Turned out her sister was actually leading them and the real goal had been to kill her. Shepard had actually rather admired how well Nassana Dantius had set the whole thing up. Especially since it had resulted in the deaths of an entire slaving crew and earned them access to some choice asari toys like omni-tools and bio-amps that had sent the techie and biotic members of the squad into a whirl of delight. Although none of them would be doing any business with Dantius any time soon.

"I don't think the whole Dantius fiasco was a common thing among asari siblings. I hope not, anyway."

Ash just shrugged it off. You never could tell with asari. "Has something come up? You wouldn't have just come down here to eavesdrop on my mail."

"Don't be ridiculous, Ash, of course I would."

Ash rolled her eyes. "Something different come up since the debriefing?"

"Nope, still get to the camp and clear the way for the Normandy." Shepard's expression went serious. "Kaidan mentioned someone was giving you crap about your grandfather."

Ashley blew out a breath slowly. "I don't like running to a superior officer about stuff if I don't have to, especially if it's nothing to do with our crew. I think Baker has been saying crap under the radar since I turned him down."

"He was. Admiral Hackett himself came down on him for it."

Ash jolted. "Are you kidding me?"

"Nope. Baker got a little too cocky about what he could get away with and apparently caught the Admiral's attention. Our good admiral, in case you hadn't heard, doesn't have a lot of patience for that kind of crap."

"Man, I wish I had been able to see that." Ashley didn't even bother to try and hide her delight.

Shepard just smiled. "Just wanted to make sure no one was starting any trouble with you. You knocked the brass for a loop, Ash. When we nail Saren, there's no one who will be able to get away with holding you down, no matter how much they want to."

"I wish my father was around to see it. Make him proud."

"I'm sure you did that already, Ash."

Ash gave her a crooked smile. "I did. I know that. When I made Chief, the first thing he did was salute." Her smile fell, became sad. "He worked his ass off trying to get recognized, Shepard. But he never made it beyond Serviceman Third Class." The unfairness of it still rankled sometimes but not as much anymore. "I think you would have liked him."

"You know, Ash, yours sounds like a hell of a family, I think I'd like all of you."

"'I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees. All times I have enjoy'd greatly, have suffer'd greatly, both with those that loved me and alone. For always roaming with a hungry heart. Much have I seen and known. Cities of men, and manners, climates, councils, governments...'" Ash murmured.

Shepard listened silently until she'd finished the quote. "Tennyson?"

"Yeah. 'Ulysses'." Ash flushed a bit. "Dad's favorite. Every time he shipped out, he recorded me reading it. He had a dozen versions when he retired."

"Appropriate way to start the mission, then!" Shepard gave her a friendly swat on the shoulder, giving her time to compose herself. "Garrus has the Mako prepped."

Ash agreed. In fact, she recited it to herself under her breath before every mission. "Right, so let's get down there and save the salarian super squad." She gave the commander a cynical grin. "And probably end up coming face to face with yet another crazy, dangerous thing completely unknown to the galaxy up until this point."

Shepard almost pranced away, waving a hand dramatically. "'Death, old admiral, up anchor now, this country wearies us. Put out to sea! What if the waves and winds are black as ink, our hearts are filled with light. You know our hearts! Pour us your poison, let us be comforted! Once we have burned our brains out, we can plunge to Hell or Heaven- any abyss will do -deep in the Unknown to find the new!'"

Ashley narrowed her eyes at her. "I still don't think he counts as a poet."

"That wasn't Poe, that was Baudelaire." Shepard grinned over her shoulder. "Who was possibly even more twisted."

"Of course. Why else would you be quoting him, Skipper?"

The journey was actually just killing geth pretty much the same way they had been doing.

The real trouble actually started when they found said salarian super squad.

Ashley stood tense beside Kaidan as they watched Shepard walk down the beach, her hands tightening on her rifle reflexively. He shook his head at her and she forced herself to relax. She couldn't make herself lower the gun. The rest of the squad stood arrayed across the beach, looking as helpless as she felt. None of them liked Shepard walking away alone but none of them dared follow her. Even the salarian captain, Kirrahe, looked tense.

Virmire was beautiful. A planet of rolling seas and sunlight. A pure place. It was also home to Saren's base of operations. They had finally hit the jackpot...and walked right into the middle of a mess.

Down the beach, there was a spray of gunfire that made Ashley go tense again, but the bullets were simply peppering the water.

"Ashley, stand down," Kaidan said, quiet and stern.

"I won't let him hurt her."

"He won't hurt her." Kaidan sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"He is pissed, Kaidan. He's not thinking straight. And he has a big gun. Those are three reasons to be really damn worried."

"Shepard said give her a chance to talk him down, Ash."

Ashley gritted her teeth. Yes, she had. Ash was almost angry with her for that. Her bleeding heart was going to get her killed, and then where would they be?

She forced herself to relax, but reminded herself to be ready for anything, her eyes never leaving the two figures down the beach.

Shepard was a tall woman but at this moment, she looked terribly, terribly small compared to Wrex.

If that cure leaves the planet, the krogan will become unstoppable. We can't make the same mistake again.

Mistake. Mistake. The salarians hadn't considered it a mistake after the rachni had been driven out.

The krogan had been wrong during the Rebellions. Wrex was the first to admit that. They should have taken a lesson from the wars among themselves that had destroyed Tuchanka. That sense of entitlement that had driven them to take more and more colonies and spread without checking themselves had been driven by the 'might makes right' mindset that was ingrained into them all. Unfortunately, they'd found out when going up against a united alliance of several other aliens, they weren't the mightiest.

They'd been wrong. Arrogant. But they had paid the price for it many times over as their race slowly died out and the galaxy watched. What they needed, what he wanted to do, was bring them back to the fierce, honorable people they had once been...but wiser. They didn't have to change, but they did have to adapt.

He'd been prepared to do that even knowing that the odds of them rebuilding the krogan population was slim to none. Until now.

Saren was breeding krogan. He'd found a cure for the genophage...

He heard the crunch of sand beneath boots and didn't need to turn his head to know who it was. "This isn't right, Shepard. If there's a cure for the genophage, we can't destroy it."

"We can't let Saren have it, either," she replied quietly.

"You're agreeing with the salarian, then?" He couldn't help the rage that started to pulse through him. Even as he looked at her, he wasn't seeing her. He was seeing bitterness and rage driving his father to the point he could feel nothing else. Until he was willing to throw aside all traditions in order to kill his son for not agreeing with him. "You think we should destroy it?"

"Wrex..."

He turned toward her slowly. All the warlords who actually did focus on trying to build their numbers back up and died without ever knowing hope for their people. All the females he'd seen break under the mixture of hope every time they conceived and despair every time the child was stillborn. Again and again until some of them couldn't take the pain of anymore and simply wandered out into the desert to die. "Help me out here, Shepard. The lines between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I stand."

"I can't promise anything, Wrex. If Saren is allowed to use it, you won't be around to reap the benefits. None of us will."

"That's a chance we should be willing to take!" The rare times a child was born, the joy of it was tainted by the fact it would be the only one for a long while. If ever. And for all Shepard had seemed to listen to him when he spoke, she seemed determined to destroy everything about the krogan. First she'd let the rachni queen go, the same race the krogan had worked and died to rid the galaxy of, and now... "This is the fate of my entire people we're talking about!" Of all people, he would have thought she would understand that best and it made him even more furious that she didn't get it. Wrex didn't even realize he was bringing his gun up, wasn't aware of anything but the need to make her see beyond her damned vision and her damned Reapers. She had the willingness and power both to sacrifice them because what were the krogan but a dying race of brutes and animals? "If you can't give me a better reason than a vision and a dream only you and Saren have seen to destroy the hopes of my people, then I'm done with you, Shepard."

Shepard froze, but made no move to draw her own weapon. He vaguely heard someone shout from down the beach. Saw Shepard glance over her shoulder and shift herself so she was standing in front of him more firmly. The realization she was moving so no one could take a shot at him without risking hitting her was the first crack in his anger. "Don't do this, Wrex. We can try and preserve the cure if we find it. But I can't make it a priority over stopping Saren, Wrex. We can't."

"So that's it. After all this time, that's all I get from you?" The fact she still wasn't going for her weapon was another crack in his anger. Even through the haze of fury he was wondering if he could truly just gun her down. "How can you not see what this means to the krogan? This base can't be destroyed. I won't allow it!"

"Saren didn't find a cure for the genophage out of the goodness of his heart, Wrex! These krogan are slaves. Puppets, tools to be used and discarded the same way he does with everyone else." She met his gaze down the barrel of his gun. "Is that what you want for your people?"

That made sense...he doubted Saren would have bred krogan without some means to control them through either the cure itself or some other method. But more than that, it was the look in her eyes as she spoke that forced him to look things over again. He realized why she hadn't drawn her weapon. Even now, with his gun pointed between her eyes, she didn't consider him a brute without honor. She didn't think he would kill her like this.

She was right.

And despite it all, he also- reluctantly -understood. "No. We were tools for the Council once. To thank us for wiping out the rachni, they neutered us all. I doubt Saren will be as generous."

Shepard said nothing, she didn't have to. The look in her eyes said it all. She had listened. She knew what she was asking of him. He lowered his gun slowly. "All right, Shepard. You've made your point. I don't like this, but I trust you enough to follow your lead."

"Thank you." She meant it.

He sent a quick glance to make sure Williams wasn't readying to shoot him. The human soldier did indeed have her gun out but she lowered it when Shepard motioned to her. He turned his eyes back to Shepard. "Just one thing. When we find Saren, I want his head.

An icy look passed across her face and her lips curved into a cold smile. "That, Wrex, I can promise you."

Shepard stepped back for a moment to consider Captain Kirrahe's words, going over their options. Leaving to get reinforcements wasn't one of them. Even if they could get past the AA guns aimed at them, if Saren returned in the meantime, he would know someone had found his hideaway. He'd probably blow the base himself and then they would never know what he was up to here...besides breeding a krogan army.

Forget your head, Saren, I'm just going to hand you over to Wrex and let him do whatever he wants to you, you bastard.

No matter how she looked at it, she had to come to the conclusion that Kirrahe's plan was the only real option, despite all the risks.

"Why is it when anyone says 'with all due respect', they really mean 'kiss my ass'?"

Shepard turned to consider her two human squadmates, shooting Ashley a warning look. Ash had surprised her by volunteering right after Kaidan. She'd come a long way.

She was also right. They had a better chance of arming the nuke they were supposed to plant with Kaidan...and the salarians had a better chance of surviving if Ash was with them. She nodded once. "Ash, if you're certain.."

Ash nodded and gave her a snappy salute. "Absolutely, Commander."

That's my girl. "Keep it simple, Williams."

"Aye, aye, Commander. Just shoot a lot." Ash grinned.

"I will have the ordnance loaded onto the Normandy and brief your crew on its detonation sequencing," Kirrahe said.

Shepard nodded. "Navigator Pressley is XO. He'll make sure you have everything you need."

"Thank you, Commander."

As Kirrahe moved off, Shepard turned. A shadow passed across the clouds as she caught a glimpse of the facility out of the corner of her eye. It seemed...ominous. She shook that thought off and turned to Ash. "Eyes open and ready for anything, marine."

Ash reached out and Shepard clasped her hand briefly. "Always, Commander. See you on the other side."

Everything was set. Shepard watched Ashley speaking quietly to the salarian team she'd been put in charge of. Again, that feeling of unease touched her. Probably just nerves. She glanced back at the facility again. Even without the shadow of a cloud, it seemed to loom over them, dark and secretive.

Once we have burned our brains out, we can plunge to Hell or Heaven- any abyss will do -deep in the Unknown to find the new...

Kirrahe called his men together and Shepard looked over. The captain stood before them rallying them against impossible odds. He looked the part too, speaking with a fire Shepard couldn't help but admire: "You all know the mission, and what is at stake. I have come to trust each of you with my life -but I have also heard murmurs of discontent. I share your concerns. We are trained for espionage; we would be legends, but the records are sealed. Glory in battle is not our way. Think of our heroes; the Silent Step, who defeated a nation with a single shot. Or the Ever Alert, who kept armies at bay with hidden facts. These giants do not seem to give us solace here, but they are not all that we are. Before the network, there was the fleet. Before diplomacy, there were soldiers! Our influence stopped the rachni, but before that we held the line! Our influence stopped the krogan, but before that, we held the line! Our influence will stop Saren; in the battle today, we will hold the line!"

"'Before diplomacy, there were soldiers.' That's good. I like that." She glanced over at the others, standing ready. Kirrahe, Ashley, and the salarians would draw attention and give them a chance to get in and take everything over from the inside. "Ready? I could try a speech if you like."

It was almost insulting how fast they all assured her she didn't need to.

AM: Ashley is, as mentioned, quoting 'Ulysses' by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Shepard's quote comes from 'Travelers' by Charles Baudelaire.