Author notes: Sorry about the long wait time on this update. I had a bit of writers block to power through, and FanFiction was giving me some grief uploading the document. As compensation, this chapter's a bit longer than usual (6k words rather than my usual 5k).

Chapter 20: Hell on Earth

When he left the Alliance embassy on the Presidium, the first person Shepard ran into was Benezia, who was heading towards the office he'd just exited.

"Benezia, I wanted to thank you for your help with the Council."

"You're welcome, Johnathan. However, this will not be a repeating occurrence." she said firmly. "You saved my life, my mind from what Sovereign did to me. You also saved my daughter from Saren… and me." Her eyes lowered for a moment in contemplation and regret. "For that, you have my eternal thanks. Even so, what Nihlus said to the Council applies to you, as well as to them. You must learn to put aside your Human pride and arrogance if you wish to fight the Reapers. You've already made enemies of the Council, and if you push them any further, no one will be able to avert the consequences."

"I understand that, Benezia. Hopefully… hopefully you can convince them to see reason, before it's too late. And hopefully I can learn from my mistakes."

She shook his hand gently, and moved past him, but before she did, he posed one final question.

"Do you think I made the right decision with the Rachni? Or was it a mistake?"

She hesitated for a long moment before responding. "I don't know. However… given the choice between risking possible destruction by the Rachni at some time in the future, and not having them as another ally in the fight against the Reapers… I would choose the former."

He only nodded as she left. He made his way back to the Normandy, and when he emerged from the airlock, his entire crew was waiting for him in the CIC. They didn't say anything, but then again, they didn't have to. The message was loud and clear: they were with him, to the bitter end.

"Well, I'm sure you've all heard the news." he began. "As far as I'm concerned, nothing's changed. The mission's the same today as it was yesterday, as it will be tomorrow, and every day after until we've succeeded: find Saren, and kill him."

There was a round of nods and murmured agreement, and he finally made up his mind. He was going to have to bite the bullet sometime, and now was as good as ever.

"With that said, I think everyone could use some time off. So, for the next forty eight hours, we're on shore leave." There was some scattered cheering and applause, which he quieted with a wave of his hand. "Additionally, I'm sure you've all been made aware of my… talents, despite my best efforts to keep them secret." There were chuckles and snickers, and he cast a very pointed glare at Tali, which only caused her to laugh harder. "So… ah fuck it; if you wanna hear me sing that badly, get to the damn cargo hold."

There was a mad dash to the elevator, and even Joker was fairly spry in his step, despite needing Kaidan and Liara to help carry him.

"I still can't believe you're doing this, Commander." he said with a grin. "I never had you pegged as a singing and dancing monkey. Now all we need's one of those street organs, and a cute little outfit with a tin cup."

Shepard resisted the urge to strangle his pilot as he responded. "Be careful what you wish for, Joker. I could suddenly decide to start dancing a waltz, with you in tow."

The smartass wasn't fazed in the slightest. "Sure… if you wanted to piss off your Spectre girlfriend. But hey, be my guest. Normally, I'd pay through the nose to see that kind of entertainment."

Trying and failing to come up with a retort, Shepard ceded the exchange to Joker by walking away, and heading towards his quarters. Despite hating the idea of what he was about to do, he'd still practiced for it. Being forced to sing a song from a classical opera was bad enough, so he'd be damned if he did it poorly. He ran through a few quick breathing exercises, followed by a moderate warm up with basic chromatic scales. To a certain extent, his voice felt rusty, having not been used this way in over a year. After a few minutes, he decided that it was time, and he uploaded the orchestral version of the arrangement to the Normandy's com system, before making the ride to the cargo bay.

When he arrived, he involuntarily began analyzing the mostly open space for its' acoustic properties, and realized they were shit. 'Well of course they're shit. This is a damn warship, not a concert hall.' Even so, he moved to the best spot available, near the hangar door. As he turned and opened his omnitool to begin the song, he cleared his throat, his mind slipping into autopilot, and he blocked out everything around him.

"La donna è mobile
Qual piuma al vento,
muta d'accento
e di pensiero.

Sempre un amabile,
leggiadro viso,
in pianto o in riso,
è menzognero.

..."

With four more verses, the song seemed to last for an eternity, despite being less than five minutes in length. When it was over, his crew gave Shepard a round of polite applause, and there was less laughter than he'd expected. He graced them with a small, polite bow in response.

"Encore!" yelled Joker, who was sporting a devilish grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear.

As much as he loathed admiting it, Shepard actually felt good putting his voice to use again, even if it made him look like a complete jackass. 'Ah, what the hell. Why not?' he thought, pulling up one more song on his 'tool and transfering it to the Normandy. Most of the people in the hold were surprised when the music started again, but quickly quieted down when they heard the more subdued and gentle tune that eminated from over their heads.

"Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Maria, gratia plena,
Maria, gratia plena,
Ave, Ave, Dominus,
Dominus tecum.
Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus,
Et benedictus fructus ventris tui,
Ventris tui, Jesus.
Ave Maria!"

When the last note of the song faded from the hold, Shepard was greeted with near total silence, which was quickly replaced by a second round of applause, real applause this time, and not a single laugh or chuckle from the peanut gallery.

"That was beautiful, John." said Tali, approaching him slowly from the front of the crowd. "I can't understand why you don't sing more often."

"Singing and shooting people don't really mix too well, most of the time." he replied, looking uncharacteristically embarrassed and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Then you obviously haven't heard Turian war chants." said Garrus, slapping him hard on the shoulder. "I'll admit, I hadn't expected this, when Tali told me you could sing. Still, I guess this is just one more facet of the oddity that is Commander John Shepard." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Along with almost perfect aim."

Shepard didn't even feel the need to retort. "Well… now that's over with, why don't we all head to the Citadel? I know this great place for drinks. First round's on me."

Watching the entire crew of the Normandy enter the moderately small nightclub that was Flux was an interesting sight for Shepard. After all, there were nearly forty people that make the vessel run, and a full quarter of them were on the ground team. As soon as everyone had gotten themselves situated and ordered a drink, he strode to the balcony overlooking the lower floor of the club and motioned his crew for silence.

"To the crew of the Normandy. Finest ship in the galaxy, past, present, or future!" he declared, raising his glass.

"Hear, hear!" they responded, raising theirs as well, before simultaneously partaking in their chosen drink.

With that, the party began in earnest. A good portion of his crew divided themselves amongst the dance floors, where they were joined variously by Kaidan, Liara, Ashley, Nihlus, Garrus, and, surprisingly, Pluribus. The Geth drew quite a few curious and disbelieving glances, at first, but after a moment, he began to flow into a series of moves that were uniquely him: a mixture of jerky, robotic limb movements interspersed with smooth, flowing motions that reminded Shepard of nothing less than liquid metal. Soon enough, the rest of the crowd had all but forgotten about the oddity of a dancing Geth, and went back to their previous activities.

Shepard made his way to a lone table where the rest of his ground crew was situated. For once determined not to let Yuri's presence destroy the good mood, Shepard had had him placed in temporary cryo-sleep aboard the Normandy before they left, where he'd remain for the next two days. Taking a seat between Joker and Tali, across from Wrex at the circular table, Shepard finished the last of his martini before ordering a new one.

"Never really been a guy for parties, Commander." said Joker, downing another draught of beer from a frosted mug. "They normally don't agree with my bones."

"Everyone needs some rest and relaxation, Jeffery." said Chakwas, who appeared to be drinking some kind brandy.

"Jeffery?" asked Tali. "I didn't know your name was Jeffery."

"That's because he doesn't broadcast it, Tali." said Shepard, casting a glance at the somewhat flustered pilot. "After all, Joker sounds a lot more badass than Jeffery Moreau. Didn't you read his dossier?"

"Well… it just never seemed that important." she replied, finishing off her second cocktail and waving for a third.

"Going a bit heavy on the sauce, aren't you Tali?" asked Shepard, who'd barely started in on his second drink. "We can't have you going off the rails this early in the day."

"I don't know what you're talking about." she said defensively, her speech already a little unsteady.

"Really?" he asked impishly. "So you've forgotten what happened when you turned twenty two?"

Shepard was sitting too close to her to dodge the kick to his shin that she sent towards him, though he didn't show any sign on his face when it connected.

"Not one word, John. I'm warning you."

"Is there a story here, Commander?" asked Joker inquisitively.

"Yeah, but I think it's best if I don't say anything… for now, at least." he said with a wink.

"Darn right, you big bosh'tet. You don't shee me spilling all your shecrets." she said, knocking back her third drink.

She waved a waitress over, but Shepard flagged her off. He only now realized it was Rita, from his last excursion at the bar. She gave him a small smile and a third martini, mouthing 'On the house' as she did so. He only nodded.

"What're you doing, John?" Tali pouted. "I'm a big girl. I can handle a few drinksh."

"You might be a Spectre, Quarian, but you don't have the quad for a real drink." said Wrex, downing his seventh shot. "Shepard, try something a warrior celebrates with." he challenged, sliding a Krogan sized shot-glass of liquid over to Shepard. "Ryncol; imported straight from Tuchanka itself."

Shepard eyed the glass warily as he lifted it to his mouth. When it was a few centimeters away from his nose, the vapors immediately started his eyes to watering, and it felt like his nostrils were on fire. Bracing himself for what was sure to be the worst decision he'd made this week, he slammed it back hard and swallowed, before immediately going into an uncontrollable fit of coughing and gasping. He recovered after nearly a half minute, before wheezing out a reply.

"Holy shit. What's in that stuff? Liquid fire?" His vision began to double almost immediately, and he swayed slightly in his seat. Wrex let out a bellowing laugh and quickly downed another glass of his own.

"Not too many Humans that could handle Ryncol, Shepard. Figures you'd be the one who can still speak afterwards."

The crew celebrated like this for nearly a full three hours, though they slowed down on the booze somewhat. Near the unofficial end of the party, Shepard found himself on the dance floor, though he wasn't too sure how he got there. The music in the background seemed to pulse with the beating of his heart, and he felt his body respond automatically to the rhythm. He looked down at the figure in front of him, and was startled to see that it was Tali, who'd managed to press herself against him in a rather… suggestive way.

"John…" she breathed. The way she said his name made his pulse quicken, and he suddenly found his arms wrapped around her, as she looked over her shoulder into his eyes. "Let's… go somewh… som…away."

Shepard tried to protest, but couldn't manage to get out a coherent sentence as she all but dragged him out of the club. Most of the trip was a daze, but eventually, he found himself stumbling through the Normandy's airlock, heading towards his quarters with Tali supporting him. Or was he supporting her?

The drunken duo stumbled into Shepard's room, and the moment the door slid shut behind them, Tali whirled and planted a sloppy kiss on his mouth, nearly missing as she did so. It lasted for only a few moments, but when it ended, she dragged him over to his bunk and collapsed onto it, her body sprawled across it lazily.

"Get over here… bosh… boosh… you." she slurred in a sing-song voice. "Gonna teach you to – hic – let some Asari scientist – hic – get into your… you." He moved to join her, but the moment he felt her run a hand across his body, a chill went up his spine.

'It's the booze talking! Booze! Mind… out… of… gutter! Can't… won't… NOPE!' he thought furiously. He swallowed hard, then again a second time, shaking his head and trying to clear out the cobwebs. When he looked back down at Tali, he saw she was snoring gently, and he breathed a sigh of relief as he quickly covered her with blankets. 'Shower. Now. Need shower now. Cold, COLD shower.'

He managed to stumble his way down to the men's showers and somehow got out of his armor before turning on the water. The moment Shepard felt the icy liquid hit his skin, his mind began to clear, and he was able to focus more and more.

'Damn. That was close. Too close. She'd never forgive me if…'

He wasn't sure how long he stayed there, but eventually, he began to shiver from the cold, and he turned off the water. His mind was mostly working, though he knew in the back of his head that it wouldn't last. He managed to dry himself, at least for the most part, and don his armor, which was only slightly damp. He walked out of the showers into the cargo hold, when he heard a low, raspy voice.

"C'mere you." It sounded like Ashley, though it came from inside the MIAFV. The rear hatch was closed, and the 'sounds' were coming from the open turret on the roof of the vehicle. There was a brief shuffling sound from inside the tank, and Shepard thought he heard a low growl, though he couldn't be sure what it was from. His curiosity got the better of him, and he crept towards the noise.

He almost fell on his face when Garrus' flanged voice responded. "W-wow. I might h-have r-r-reach, but you have… all the f-flexibility."

'So that's how it is, huh? Well, considering I had to give them a goddamn extorted performance earlier, I think it's time for a little payback.'

Shepard opened up his omnitool and typed a short command. Or, it would've been short, if he'd managed it on the first attempt. Trying and failing to ignore the increasingly… intriguing sounds coming from the tank, he finally managed to connect the vehicle's broadcast system to the speakers of the Normandy's intercom… minus the cargo hold, of course. As he rode the elevator up to the crew deck, he felt himself blush up a storm as the volume of the 'activity' going on below increased.

Just as he exited the elevator, Shepard suddenly toppled into the nearest wall, and nearly into unconsciousness, when a third voice echoed throughout the ship.

"He might be a hell of a sn-sniper, but I'm a Spectre. My reach is t-twice his." said a different Turian voice, which pretty much narrowed down the possibilities. Shepard's last thought before blissful sleep claimed him was filled with confusion, and no small amount of fear.

'Oh shit. I'm a dead man.'

Pain.

Shepard woke with a start, immediately wincing from the unbelievable throbbing in his skull. He thought he was lying on a bed in the Medbay, despite the fact that there was a small sun a few feet above his head.

"Awake already, Commander?" bellowed Chakwas sarcastically, in a voice that seemed to be louder than an exploding nuke. "It's only been ten hours."

"Not so loud." he moaned in a dull roar.

"You deserve every iota of pain for this, you know?" she screamed. "Still, I suppose I can't fault you for a night of normalcy and enjoyment. I'll get you something for your hangover."

A few moments later, Shepard felt a small prick on his neck, followed by a cooling sensation in his blood. Almost immediately, the pounding in his head diminished from 'Ozzy Osbourne concert' to a more sedate 'jackhammer on steel plate,' and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thanks Doc." he mumbled, slowly sitting up. He rubbed his temples in an attempt to quell the remaining pain, and was surprised to find his head bandaged. "Did someone bash me over the head with a frying pan?"

"From the looks of it, you ran face first into a bulkhead. You should've gone to sleep instead of wandering around the ship like a drunken sailor." she chided. "I had to drag you in here like a sack of potatoes."

"Yeah, well my bed was taken at the time." he replied, very carefully rising to his feet.

"So I noticed." she retorted dryly. "I take it that you and Tali didn't-"

"No!" he blurted, far too quickly. "She was drunk, and I just left her there to sleep while I went to take a shower."

"Then how, pray tell, did you end up unconscious outside the elevator after ramming your head into a wall?"

"I…" he struggled to dredge up the memories of the previous night's events. When he did, his eyes went wide with shock. "Oh, shit. I'm a dead man."

"Is there a problem, Shepard?" asked Chakwas concernedly. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"I… uh… never mind. No problem." he said with a nervous laugh. "I'm gonna get some chow." He turned suddenly and all but ran for the door, leaving a bewildered Chakwas behind him. Immediately when he entered the cafeteria, he saw Tali and Pluribus sitting in the small mess, Tali slowly eating her dextro rations while cradling her head. Shepard quickly grabbed a levo ration pack for himself before joining her. The pair sat there in rather awkward silence for a few minutes before Shepard finally broke the ice.

"So, how'd you enjoy sleeping in a real bed, Tali?"

Tali responded to the question like she'd been pinched, and she jumped suddenly. "It was… soft." She hesitated a few moments. "Did we… you know… do it?" she asked with a furious blush.

"Nope." Shepard responded immediately. "We stumbled in there completely plastered, but you fell asleep almost immediately. I… took a shower. A cold shower."

"Oh… Well, I suppose that's for the best." she replied, the barest hint of disappointment in her voice.

"Yeah. Maybe… maybe someday. But only when we're ready." said Shepard with a small smile.

She blushed even harder, if that was possible. "Can we… not talk about this?"

"Sure." Turning to Pluribus, Shepard changed the subject. "I saw you at the party, Pluribus. Not that I'm complaining, but why'd you show up?"

"We thought it would be an… enlightening experience. Recreational activity is not a part of normal Geth operating procedure. It was… fun."

"Fun?" asked Tali. "I didn't know Geth could have fun. Still, it's nice that you joined us, Pluribus."

Shepard opened his mouth to speak, but the words died on his tongue when he saw Ashley and Nihlus enter the cantina. They picked up their respective ration packs, and silently sat on opposite ends of the table from one another, pointedly avoiding eye contact. Tali was oblivious to their body language, but Pluribus studied each of them quickly, his optic constricting slightly. A moment later, Garrus walked into the room as well, and made a beeline for the food.

"Williams Sergeant." began Pluribus. "We have managed to formulate an answer to your inquiry."

"What?" she asked blearily, digging into her rations.

"Based on their respective heights and builds, we calculate that Vakarian Detective has a significantly longer reach than Kryik Spectre."

As soon as the words left the synthetic's 'mouth,' there was a loud crash of metal on metal as Garrus tripped over his own feet and went tumbling to the floor. Nihlus choked on his food, despite it being nothing but paste, and Tali had to slap him several times on the back to get him breathing again. Ashley's face turned an unbelievably vibrant shade of crimson as she blushed to match a sun. "Wh-what?" she stammered.

"You broadcast repeated queries over the ship's intercom system early this morning between 0114 and 0336 hours." he replied bluntly. "We thought it prudent to allow you to recuperate before answering your question."

"Intercom!?" she shrieked. When he didn't respond, Ashley suddenly let out a nervous and relieved laugh. "Oh thank god. I thought you were serious for a moment there. Damn Geth humor." she grumbled.

"We were serious." he responded, sounding confused. "Shepard Commander connected the broadcast system of the Multi Infantry Adaptable Fighting Vehicle to the Normandy's intercom, and we heard your inquiries."

Both Turians and the now mortified and enraged soldier turned murderous gazes towards Shepard, who could only stutter apprehensively. "Best served cold?" he asked with a nervous laugh. The instant before any of them could reach him, or one of their many weapons, Shepard activated his chronosuit and found himself standing on top of the Normandy, outside the ship. He cast a quick glance around the area before deactivating his direction finder and deciding to make a run for C-Sec headquarters, then onto the lower wards.

'And Nihlus is a Spectre. He actually could kill me for this. Fuck me.'

It took most of a day for Shepard to convince his three victims not to rip him to pieces when he got back to the ship, which meant his shore leave was basically shot. When he finally did get back, he found himself instinctively falling back on his Geist and N7 training, constantly keeping his eyes open for a potential ambush. Just as he was about to enter the Normandy's airlock, he was stopped by a reporter. He sighed internally, figuring he knew what this was about.

'Now I've got to explain to the entire Alliance how I managed to get my idiotic ass kicked out of the Spectres while on the most important mission of my carrier. Fuck me sideways.'

"Commander Shepard! Emily Wong, Alliance News Network." she said, introducing herself. "I was wondering if you had time for a few questions regarding your recent activities."

"I suppose. Understand that most of what I do is classified, though."

"Classified?" she asked with a smirk. "Doesn't seem very classified to me, but if you say so..." Shepard barely managed to suppress his surprise at her tone as she pulled up a recording suite on her omnitool. "Now then: what's your opinion on your newfound notoriety?"

"Well, I'm not really that notable." he replied, trying and failing to comprehend what she was talking about.

"Such modesty." she said. "Still, I suppose it must be quite a shock, having accumulated fourteen million extranet hits in less than a day. Do you have any plans for the immediate future?"

"Fourteen million?" he asked incredulously. "I didn't realize it'd gotten that much attention."

"Well, considering your obvious natural talent, I'm a bit surprised it didn't happen sooner. There've been rumors that Expel 10 was interested in recruiting you. Do you intend to retire from the military and pursue a civilian carrier, or stick with the Alliance?"

"OK, hold up a minute. I think we're having two different conversations here. What exactly are you referring to?"

Wong looked a bit astonished at his question. "You mean you don't know? The video of your performance of 'Ave Maria' is one of the fastest spreading vids on the 'net. Where've you been for the last twenty four hours?"

Shepard felt his jaw drop when she said the name of the song. 'Ave Maria!? How the hell did…?' "JOKER!" Wong jumped at his sudden outburst, but he hardly noticed. "That sonuvabitch uploaded that to the extranet?!" he asked incredulously.

"You mean you didn't even know that you're on the path to stardom?"

"Stardom?!" he asked with wide eyes. He quickly refocused his attention towards the matter at hand. "Excuse me Miss Wong, but I've got some business to take care of." he said, trying to keep his tone neutral. "I'll be sure to give you a more detailed interview some other time." She tried to stop him, but Shepard was already in the airlock. The moment it opened, he stormed to the cockpit with murderous intent.

"JOKER! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN WALKING!"

The pilot spun quickly in his seat, and he was wearing a set of Groucho glasses. "Calm down, Commander. You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses, would ya?"

Shepard teetered over the line from burning rage to cold fury as he responded. "Hit? No." The pilot donned a nervous smile, but it fled screaming when Shepard's rage returned, hotter than ever. "MURDER?! YES!"

Shepard lunged for his pilot before feeling a strong grip clamp down on his right shoulder, near the base of his neck. A moment later, there was blackness.

Shepard once again found himself waking up in the Normandy's Medbay, though this time it was without the hangover induced headache, or any kind of headache, really. The only person in the room was Chakwas, and she spun to face him as he rose.

"This is becoming a habit for you, Commander. I'd almost believe you were going out of your way to spend time with me."

"Vlery flunny, Klarink." he replied automatically. When his brain finished processing what he'd just said, or more specifically, how he'd said it, he groaned. "Goth damn Vluculan neck pinth."

Chakwas giggled slightly. "You deserved it, Commander. It took some doing to convince Ashley not to murder you in your sleep. Couldn't you at least have turned the intercom off before you passed out?"

"I almosht brooke a wall wish my face!" he retorted.

His speech only made her giggle harder. "Perhaps I should ask Pluribus to teach me how to do that… maneuver. It would help with some of my more… unruly patients." she said with a pointed look.

"Oh, hla hla. How longth ish this goingk to lasht?"

"Oh, a few hours at most, I'd say." Her tone switched from light to serious in an instant. "In the meantime, you've a message from Admiral Hackett. Something about the missing Marines you located last week. Tali had Joker set a course for the Voyager cluster while you were out."

Shepard scowled, but stood and made his way to the CIC to check the message. He found the communique she'd been talking about, and his scowl deepened when he read it. Rear Admiral Kohoku had gone missing a few days ago while he was investigating the source behind his S&R team's disappearance, a group calling itself Cerberus. His last reported location was on Binthu, in the Yangtze system, which was less than two hours out at their present speed. Shepard called his team together for a briefing when he finished reading, and in a few minutes, they were situated.

"OK, here'sh the sthituation. Rear Athmiral Kohoku wensh mishingk a few daysh ago, and we're healded to hish lasht known locationk." His entire team started laughing at his ridiculous speech, and he almost couldn't blame them. Almost. His voice got hard and cold as he continued. "Damnish! Thish ish serioush. You can mock mle lather. We need to hith the planeth gunningk if we wanth to find Kohoku. For now, flocus!"

That shut them up quickly, and they began to listen again. "What's the plan, John?" asked Tali, still fighting back a smile.

"Shree facilitiesh, shree theams. Me, Liara, and Ash, theam one. Thali, you thake Plurbush, Yuri, and Garrush on theam thu. Nihlus, take Wrex and Kaidank on theam shree. Luke and load, people."

A short while later, the respective members of each team had chrono'd to their targets, and Shepard's vocal impairment was finally gone. The facilities they appeared in were heavily defended with automatic turrets, but they teams had bypassed them by transporting directly inside their respective targets. The facility Shepard's team appeared in was protected by a handful of personnel, but they hadn't been expecting company, and they were quickly overwhelmed. Before the last one fell, she deactivated the containment field in the center of the large room, and the three man squad found themselves being swarmed by Thorian creepers, which were also quickly dispatched. In the center of the holding cell, Shepard saw something that caught his eye.

"Looks like these Cerberus bastards decided to dispose of someone by dumping them in with their experiments." said Shepard. He moved over to examine the disfigured corpse, and his heart sank when he recognized it. "Fuck. It's Kohoku."

Ashley joined moved to his side at the announcement, but quickly averted her eyes when she saw the state of the Admiral's body. "Murdering bastards." she spat. "Not only did they lure an entire squad of good men to their deaths, they killed Kohoku when he got too close to figuring them out. Son of a bitch!"

"They've done a lot worse than that, Ash. They're behind Akuze as well." She cast him a heated glance, still angry at him for his not-so-harmless prank, but her eyes softened when he mentioned the clusterfuck of a mission from his past. Shepard bent down and quickly searched the remains, retrieving one of the admiral's dog tags as he did so. He also found an OSD, which he quickly opened with his omnitool and examined. "It looks like he managed to find some intel on the people who're behind all this. It says here they've got a second base in a nearby system. Chances are, we tipped them off by attacking this one. We need to get there and catch them before they slip away."

"Roger that, Skipper. Let's get back to the Normandy."

The other two groups hadn't found anything significant in their searches of the other facilities, and Shepard had Joker plot a course for the nearby Colombia system. One short briefing later, as well as a quick thirty minute flight, and the Normandy was in orbit above Nepheron. His entire team joined him in the assault on the facility, and they tore through the merc defenders like a blowtorch through butter. When they reached the back of the building, Tali hacked the base's computer and retrieved the data on it, encrypted as it was.

"We need to get this to the Alliance. They can do a better job of decrypting it than I can." she said.

"Right." agreed Shepard. "Let's get out of here."

Once they were back aboard the Normandy, Shepard contacted Hackett and apprised him of the situation. When he finished explaining and uploading the data, the admiral got a pensive look on his face.

"This might be connected to a different case we've been investigating. If Cerberus is behind what happened at Akuze, it might explain why someone's been eliminating the scientists stationed there."

"Scientists?" asked Shepard.

"Classified project: need to know only, sorry Shepard." he replied, shaking his head. "Still, this might be of personal interest to you, considering. The last scientist still alive is a man named Wayne, last spotted on Ontarum, in the Kepler Verge. I'll send you the details. Hackett out."

One day, and one briefing, later, Shepard found himself on yet another planet, about to assault a base with Ashley, Tali, and Nihlus. When they arrived, they were greeted by five mercenaries, who Shepard quickly dispatched from range with his Perch on the MIAFV. Leaving Ashley to watch the vehicle, the three commandos entered the base and tore their way through three times their number in mercs, before finally making it to the rear of the building. When Shepard walked through the last door, he was met with the sight of the mercenary leader holding a scientist at gunpoint.

"Stay back!" he yelled, leveling a heavy pistol at the terrified scientist. "I've got no grief with you! All I want is this bastard!"

"Please! He's crazy!" cried the scientist, briefly glancing at Shepard before returning his gaze to the merc. "Mr. Toombs, you're insane! You need help!"

Shepard felt his jaw drop as he suddenly recognized the mercenary. "Toombs? Corporal Toombs? I thought you were dead." he asked incredulously.

"Shepard?" asked Toombs, equally stunned. "My god, Shepard, is that you?"

"I saw the Thresher Maw pull you under at Akuze, Toombs! What happened?"

"They took me, Shepard. The scientists." he replied, filling his voice with scorn.

"You can't prove that!" retorted the scientist. "This man is delusional!"

"Shut the fuck up, before I kill you myself." ordered Shepard angrily.

"They were running tests on the Thresher Maws. They let those things hit us, just to watch and study." spat Toombs. His voice took on a more broken tone as he continued, and Shepard could feel his sincerity and pain. "I woke up in a holding cell. The scientists were delighted I'd survived. Now they had someone to run tests on."

"Toombs… I swear, I didn't know. I didn't see anybody. If I'd seen anyone, I'd have come back for you, I swear."

"You can't believe Toombs!" protested the scientist. "He doesn't have any proof! I demand a fair trial!"

Shepard felt his rage build to an unimaginable degree at the man's words. He ripped into his mind, and didn't have to look far to see the ugly truth.

"Trial?!" bellowed Shepard, now completely enraged. "You sick MOTHERFUCKER! Here's you goddamn TRIAL!" Shepard whipped out his pistol and put five rounds into the scientists head, continuing to fire even as he sprawled on the ground. The rest of the people in the room took a step away from the incensed Commander, though Toombs looked more shocked at his anger than his actions.

"John… what… what was that?" asked Tali fearfully.

"Toombs is telling the truth." replied Shepard, finally lowering his pistol. "I'm absolutely sure of it. That was the least of what that motherfucker deserved." He faced his old squad mate. "Toombs, I couldn't let you do it. You're not like that. Tali and Nihlus have Spectre authority, so they can cover for what I just did. Let me help you, Toombs. It's… it's the least I can do."

Toombs only looked at him numbly. "Yeah. You're right. They couldn't make me a murderer. Thanks, Shepard."

"I'll have the Fifth Fleet pick you up, Toombs. We'll get you the help you need." He turned to leave, but Tali stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.

"John…"

"I know, Tali. I know."