DISCLAIMER – I do not own Mass Effect franchise, the story, or any of its characters. All rights go to Bioware.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

So, you liked the initial stages of the Mako's transformation into an armored hover assault vehicle? Yep, that's right – early stages. Yeah… by the time the Scorpion's fully done, the Nomad will have nothing on it! :)

Hmm... although, there were quite fewer reviews than usual... it must've been an exceptionally uninteresting chapter, I reckon... can't think of why, though, because I know I'm awesome. Ah, well, guess I'll just have to be even awesomer in the future!

Chapter posted on 6.3.2017.

Main Tags: Action, Sci-fi, Adventure, Friendship building, Love.

Additional Tags: Slowly turning AU, Technology-heavy, Geopolitical themes (to an extent), Economic themes (there are some), Intrigue (a bit o' that, too)…

Rated M – for mature and adult content.

Enjoy…

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Chapter 20 – Hades' Dogs

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Eight hours later; orbit around Therum…

"Admiral, we have an incoming transmission," the call came. "They're asking for you, specifically."

Kahoku sighed tiredly, looking nearly haggard. "Is it from that idiot, Ming, again?" he asked.

"No, sir," came a somber response. "It's from Commander Marcus Shepard, CO of the SSV Normandy SR-1. The communiqué is carrying Spectre credentials."

That got Kahoku's attention. "What does he want with me?" he asked with genuine interest.

"Didn't say, sir. He demands a Level 5 security protocol."

Kahoku frowned in concentration, then looked to his personal terminal.

"Link him to my quarters," he said. "Establish a secure connection."

"Aye-aye, sir," the officer replied.

Kahoku inputted a series of codes into his terminal and then activated the comms. The screen promptly showed Marcus's face.

"Admiral," he greeted with a nod.

"Commander," Admiral greeted him back. "What does the first human Spectre want from me?"

"Admiral, there is a very important matter on which I need to speak with you about," Marcus said. "There is a high level of security involved, however. Is it possible for us to meet on the Normandy?"

"Hmm," Kahoku mused. "I suppose that would be for the best. How far is your ship out?"

"We're already on approach to link up into formation with your task force, Admiral," Marcus replied.

"Good," Kahoku said with a nod and looked at his watch. "Dock with the Tereshkova. I'll be coming aboard your ship in fifteen minutes."

"Understood," Marcus said. "Shepard out."

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Fifteen minutes later, Kahoku was coming down the docking corridor that connected his carrier with the Normandy. When he entered the ship, Marcus and Jaina were waiting for him, giving him a military salute as he entered. Kahoku greeted them back before he sighed.

"Well, Commander, here I am," he said. "Frankly, I'm glad to have a chance to speak with you. I too have something I hope to discuss with you; perhaps we could help each other out?"

"Perhaps," Marcus said, inclining his head. "Though what I'm about to show you is a very serious matter. Follow me to the cargo bay, please."

Admiral nodded and moved to follow them. He took note of the unorthodox internal design as they passed through the CIC, crew deck, and went down into the cargo bay. It was there that once they rounded the skunkworks junkyard and the parked Makos, Admiral drew to a halt.

Twelve sealed body bags were spread out evenly across one section of the floor. Kahoku had a sinking feeling in his guts. Marcus motioned him wordlessly to one of the body bags, where he crouched and unsealed it, opening the body of the marine it held to Kahoku's eyes.

Kahoku's gaze hardened, and he sighed tiredly as he pressed his thumb into his throbbing temple, rubbing his forehead with the rest of his fingers at the same time.

"All twelve of them?" he asked grimly.

"Yes," Marcus replied as he resealed the bag and straightened up, scrutinizing Kahoku's facial expression carefully. "Were you even aware they were dead, Admiral?"

Kahoku sighed. It seemed to be his trademark as of late.

"I suspected as much," he said as he swept the body bags with his gaze. "Where did you find them? What had happened to them?"

Marcus shared a look with Jaina.

"We found them on Edolus, in the Sparta system," she said. "They were killed by a thresher maw."

"Edolus?!" Kahoku said incredulously. "What were they doing on Edolus? There's nothing there!"

"We were hoping you would tell us," Marcus said. "We went to Edolus to test some of our new systems away from prying eyes. What we found were their bodies." He looked at Kahoku with a discerning gaze. "What is going on, Admiral?"

Kahoku was silent for a few moments, looking off to the side, and then he spoke:

"Eighteen days ago, I received a confirmation that my N3-s had sortied out under total blackout to investigate a distress signal as per my orders," he then looked straight at Marcus. "Except that I hadn't made any such orders."

He let that sink in for a moment, and then he continued.

"By the time I realized what had happened, twelve of my men had gone missing, and I didn't even know where they had gone to, or who had issued the orders. I had sent two of the N7-s that were attached to my fleet, Halid and Ramirez, to work with the Alliance intelligence to try to figure out what had happened, but neither of them had had any luck. It was a damn wild goose chase for over two weeks. I was being stonewalled at every step. This, in fact, was the matter on which I had wanted to speak to you about, Shepard. I wanted your help and resources as a Spectre to help me find my men. Now, though…"

Marcus stepped toward the Admiral and spoke gravely:

"I think it's time you explain just what is going on, Admiral."

"I suppose it is," Kahoku said tiredly. "Can we do this somewhere more comfortable? There is a lot we need to discuss."

Marcus nodded. "We'll talk in my quarters. Follow me."

Marcus led Kahoku to his quarters and bid him to sit at the small dining table that was set there, and then joined him together with Jaina, to what Kahoku looked questioningly at her.

"Commander Jaina Shepard is my wife, Admiral," Marcus said. "The post comes directly from Admiral Hackett, and it was quite purposefully made, I assure you. She shares all of the Spectre mission details that I am undergoing. Whatever you are to say is safe with us."

Kahoku was brought up short.

"I was not aware of that," he said in surprise. "Hmm… interesting… That actually gives me comfort, Commander, believe it or not. Well…" the man sighed again and leaned with his elbows against the desk. "This all began a few weeks back when one of my N3 teams found a body of one Armistan Banes on a derelict freighter."

"What's so special about him?" Jaina queried.

Kahoku seemed to think on things, wordlessly motioning with his hands in the air, as if he was trying to figure out the best way to begin the story.

"Armistan Banes was connected to an organization called Cerberus," he said at last. "This organization was 'founded' in the period that immediately followed the First Contact War, before Humanity established its Citadel Embassy. Their mandate was to protect and progress Humanity in the face of the threats in the Galaxy."

Marcus frowned. "I believe I had heard some whispers about them in the upper echelons," he said.

"They were supposed to be a shadow group," Jaina said, sharing a look with him. "Very hush-hush. Very high level."

"Yeah, I remember now," Marcus continued, turning to Kahoku: "Cerberus was supposed to have ties with the highest levels of the Alliance Intelligence Brass, but they were never officially part of the Alliance."

"Precisely," Kahoku said, tilting his head sideways. "This was a black-on-black kind of thing."

"A kill squad?" Jaina asked discerningly.

Kahoku snorted bitterly. "If Cerberus was a mere kill squad, we wouldn't need to talk right now." He shook his head. "No. Cerberus is an entire fully independent organization. I'm talking multi-lateral spectrum of interests and activities: weapons systems R&D, advanced technology research, genetic engineering, supersoldier experimentation, even in-depth Prothean archaeological studies, and I suspect it goes even further than that. It was all protected by their own armed corps, and funded by their own private funds."

Marcus and Jaina shared a look of grim surprise.

"Are you f… are you serious?" Marcus demanded. "That goes far beyond anything that had ever been implied about them that anyone of us had ever heard."

"Oh yes," Kahoku said listlessly. "I'm pretty. Damn. Sure."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Jaina said with a frown as she rounded up on Kahoku. "The Alliance Military should know better than to cooperate with an organization such as that to a level of black-ops operation which is implied!"

"They did know better," Kahoku said. "But, like I said, this was right after the First Contact War. We had seen the overwhelming power of the other species and were afraid. We were feeling inadequate – one of the worst feelings one can have in life, don't you agree?"

Marcus rumbled deep in his throat, thinking. "I never deluded myself that the Alliance is a shining beacon of 'paragonship' – so to speak – but not even I thought they would go this far." He nodded toward Kahoku. "So, you say that was the reason why they signed the pact with the Devil?"

"Essentially – yes," Kahoku said.

"So, this whole thing with Armistan Banes and your men getting killed ties directly to Cerberus?" Jaina asked perceptively, then nodded toward him with her chin. "What happened to make Cerberus start killing the Alliance personnel?"

"Times have changed," Kahoku said with a shrug. "The Alliance is no longer an underdog; we have caught up with the rest of the species to a sufficient degree that we are no longer 'inadequate' and that everyone must consider our position. With that, the younger generation of the Alliance Brass felt that Cerberus was no longer needed, and with the old Admirals and Generals that had originally made that unofficial pact with Cerberus simply aging and dying, well…" Kahoku shrugged.

"Admiral Clarkson was the last one of that bunch," he continued after a moment. "With him getting killed three months ago, Cerberus severed its ties with the Alliance. They went completely rogue."

"Rogue?" Marcus repeated, then snorted derisively. "The way I see it, that organization was never a part of the Alliance in the first place. They're not 'rogue'; they're just a beast that someone failed to realize how dangerous it was, and now it is loose."

"Call it whatever you will," Kahoku said. "The point is that there is nothing that ties them to the Alliance anymore. Though, in truth, those 'ties' might have been nothing more than a gimmick since the day one."

"How did you get mixed up in this whole business with them, Admiral?" Jaina asked.

"If you're asking me how I know of Cerberus, I can answer you that every Admiral is acquainted about Cerberus once he or she reaches the rank," he said. "If, however, you're asking me how this thing led to my men being killed…"

"The second," Jaina said.

"Well, it was not by my intent, I assure you," Kahoku said bitterly. "My men had found a freighter on which Banes's body was located by pure chance. On him, there was a set of data files detailing some of Cerberus's activities and plans. Cerberus knew what had happened the moment I sent feelers into the Alliance channels. Their moles must be buried deep."

"And how does killing twelve N3-s link into the whole picture?" Marcus asked.

"It was a diversion, plain and simple," Kahoku said. "Those twelve men would have been the spec-ops force that would lead the raid to Cerberus locations that were revealed in the file. Eliminating them was like poking us in the eye – not lethal, and we'd still had all our facilities intact, but it would instantly force us to back off to nurse the eye. By killing those men, they had us scrambling to see what was going on – with us being temporarily blinded and disabled – while they evacuate their assets. It was actually a pretty clever plan and easy to accomplish. Shows Cerberus has a lot of skilled mindsets. Here…"

Kahoku activated his omni-tool and brought up a folder stacked up with files. He then motioned with his chin to his omni-tool.

"Take these files, Commander," he said, and Marcus moved to comply. "These were found on Banes's body. A lot of Cerberus assets are listed in there. Many of them are scattered throughout the Skillian Verge. I recon most of them will be gone by now, though some of them might not have been quick enough."

Marcus deposited the files into his own omni-tool and then locked his piercing gaze with Kahoku's, searching for what was left unsaid.

"So, why are you telling me all this, Admiral?" he asked.

"Because, Commander, my N3-s were sent to their deaths by faked orders which we cannot trace, and which came from within our own ranks," Kahoku said grimly. "Taking into account how long Cerberus was taking part in the inner workings of the Alliance Military, their reach must be vast. Nobody in the Alliance can be safe with these files. Not even my life is safe anymore.

"You, however, are something else entirely, Commander, because you are, at the moment, the most powerful human in the Galaxy. You are not dependent on anyone bar the Council, and the Council cares more about diplomatic stability than shadow operations. You are the only one I can entrust these files to."

Marcus clenched his jaw and tightened his lips, looking off to the side as he made internal calculations.

"My search for Saren takes priority, Admiral," he said at last. "No matter how much I'd like to punish those that had ambushed the Alliance soldiers in such a grizzly manner, Saren is by far the greatest threat this Galaxy has known for the past fifty thousand years."

Kahoku raised his hand placatingly. "I understand, Commander. I am only glad that a burden has been taken off of my shoulders." He then stood up. "Now, if there is nothing else for us to talk about, I need to organize the transportation of the bodies of my men. Some other preparations should be considered as well."

Marcus and Jaina followed Kahoku as he stood up and then walked him out of the Normandy.

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"Pressly," Marcus called as he and Jaina returned to the CIC sometime later, "break us off from the 12th and set a course for Gemini Sigma."

"Aye-aye, Commander," Pressly replied and set about to working his navigation console as Marcus and Jaina left the CIC toward the crew deck.

"So, whaddaya think?" Jaina asked as they settled back into their quarters a few minutes later, him leaning back comfily in a chair and her sitting at the edge of their bed.

"Truth?" Marcus asked rhetorically, raising his eyebrows as he looked on into the distance, his hands on the back of his head. "I'm thinking about Normandy being clad in Reaper armor."

Jaina made a long, exasperated snort, rolling her eyes, and fell back onto their bed. He laughed out loud.

"That thing again?" she said in amused exasperation. "We can't be even sure that the thing's armor is that powerful. All we do have are visions from the Beacon – and for all we know, Protheans might very well have been using inferior weapons to ours."

"Do you really believe that?" he asked, looking at her.

She sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "No, I suppose not," she said, then looked at him. "But that whole thing with the Reapers has gone to a cold dead end at this point, hasn't it?"

"True," he said, nodding, then thought a bit in silence. "You wanted to know my thoughts on the current situation we're in, don't you – about the trail of Saren going cold, and Kahoku now giving us this intel on Cerberus?"

She turned, lying on her side with her elbow against the mattress and leaning her chin against the hand.

"Well, until either Council's intelligence or Liara's fledgling network come up with something, we're stuck without much to do," she said. "And that's not the state we want to keep our crew in. Or ourselves in, for that matter."

"You're right; it isn't," he agreed. "We need to stay sharp and ready for when we do find Saren, and sitting around won't help that."

"Precisely," she said sagely. "We need to find assignments upon which we can practice, upon which we need to improve our state of readiness."

"The assignments would need to be of great variety," he took his cue. "We need to find enemies that have various expertise, utilize various combat skills and tactics. We need to be ready for anything and everything because that's what Saren is going to send against us."

"And we need to work more on our own people," she said. "We need to constantly work on our people, improving them, their skills and their gear whenever possible."

"So, how do we find these assignments?" he asked what was on both of their minds.

"Hackett has already indicated that the Alliance might have some requests for us," she said. "Remember the mission on Luna?"

"Yeah, but Luna was one mission, and new ones might or might not come any time soon," he said worriedly. "We might finish with this Cerberus business quickly, and then what? I'd rather have too many missions waiting for me than have none at all."

"I know what you mean," she replied, then puffed her hair bangs out of the way. She frowned in thought. "What if we were to seek out missions of our own?"

He looked at her from the corner of his eye. "What do you have in mind?"

"I am actually thinking about Liara's network," Jaina said.

The two of them shared a long look and watched as identical thoughts flashed in each other's eyes, forming and silently sharing the idea.

"Come on," she said, hopping from the bed and patting him with both hands impatiently on the shoulder as he rose with her. "Let's go run this through Liara."

The two of them walked out of their quarters and walked across the crew deck toward the medical bay. They exchanged a passing nod with Doctor Chakwas before they tapped the yellow entrance hologram of Liara's quarters. A couple seconds later, the hologram beeped and turned green when Liara called 'enter', and the doors opened.

As they came in, they spotted Liara sitting at her terminal, turning her head to see who was coming in. A look of relief could be seen in her eyes, and the frown of concern washed away from her pretty face as she hopped up from her chair.

Suddenly, all three of them spoke up at the same moment, speaking the nearly identical words:

"Oh, good, you're here! We/I need your help."

The three of them stood for a second, looking at each other in utter confusion.

"Th-That was unusual," Liara commented in slight confusion.

Marcus and Jaina smiled, sharing a quick look before they turned to Liara.

"Looks like that meld we had a few days ago might have put something from ours into your mind, huh?" Jaina said rhetorically, then waved it off for confused Liara. "Ah, don't worry, Marcus and I do that all the time. So – the problem?"

"Ah, yes, that's right," Liara spoke slowly, making a deep sigh before she pointed with her hand at her terminal, motioning them to follow her. "It's about my information network we have established," she said as she sat down in front of it, with Marcus and Jaina leaning down on either side of her, looking interestedly at the screen.

"What seems to be the issue?" Marcus asked.

"Does it not work as we expected?" Jaina assumed.

"Actually, the network is working better than we expected," she said, raising her eyebrows and sounding cutely troubled. "And that's the problem."

"Come again?" Jaina asked in bewilderment.

Liara opened an inbox of various messages, all of them neatly and intuitively arranged through various categories.

"I know we have initiated the making of this information network for the sake of finding Benezia," she started. "But, since Benezia is so well hidden, I had asked of all of my contacts to send any and all information that might seem even a bit relevant to either Benezia's current location or her movements, and I had instructed them to employ any of their own contacts that might also come across this info, citing that there might be something in it for them."

"Just like any normal information network," Marcus said from close to her left where he watched the screen, sharing an agreeing look with Jaina.

"Well, yes, but you see, we have failed to account for what has happened on Illium when we fought the Eclipse," she said. "Illium is not some backwater colony where the things that happened stay unknown. It's a Hub world. Our fight against the Eclipse was recorded by a dozen security cameras, and it has spread throughout the Traverse and the Terminus. Every single mercenary, pirate, smuggler and criminal organization from Citadel to Omega and from Kar'Shan to Illium now knows that we have established an information network and that we have the teeth to protect ourselves. To further things, they know that the Shadow Broker himself was involved as well."

"Sooo… how does this reflect on us?" Jaina asked slowly from the other side of her.

Liara reached out and tapped a button on the terminal. The screen displayed a list of about a dozen messages.

"These are the messages containing possible clues to Benezia's whereabouts that my personal contacts had provided."

She then tapped a different button, and the screen changed tabs to show a significantly longer list of messages.

"These, however, are the messages that the various legal, semi-legal, and downright illegal organizations had sent me via my contacts, requesting my services as an information broker because they don't want to go through the Shadow Broker for various reasons!" she finished animatedly, the excitement giving intensity to her voice.

There was a silence in the room.

"Liara, there are over one hundred messages here," Marcus said in wide-eyed amazement.

"I know!" Liara whined cutely as she slumped in her chair. "I don't know what to do!"

"Right," Jaina said with a sigh and moved her head forward a bit to look at Marcus from Liara's right. "Well, we might be able to get some of our friends in the Alliance Intelligence to give us a few pointers for start? Maybe an Alliance Intelligence VI?"

"Jaina, that's not it," Liara said in surprise as she looked up at her and Marcus in turn. "You misunderstand! I'm not having a problem because I don't know how to handle this network, it's because I'm conflicted inside on whether I should."

Jaina opened then closed her mouth in surprise as her head shot up, and she shared a look with Marcus over Liara's head. She then looked down at Liara and spoke:

"Are you telling us that you can maintain information flow to and from all these people?"

"Well, it's not like it's hard," Liara said. "All you have to do is to keep everything organized when it comes to contacts. And, when you make communiqués, that's where you need to apply hard or soft touch based on who you're dealing with. You threaten and cajole until it goes your way, but ultimately almost all of it is a bluff – all the things I've had to learn how to do when I was seeking financial grants from various sponsors for my archaeological expeditions and, later, to prove my theories."

Jaina was gaping at her in amazement before she narrowed her eyes at her.

"Sound like you actually love this," Marcus declared amusedly from Liara's other side.

The young asari smiled, looking down guilty. "Well, I… have to admit that… information brokering has always been an interest of mine," she said. "It drew me in for all the same reason that xenoarchaeology did – because of the mystery behind it, the search for knowledge, holding the power because of knowing what had happened. I stumbled onto it the first time as a means to find Prothean ruins. But I was always told it's not supposed to be something an archaeologist does, what any of the eminent scientists did; it's not even what asari my age do! I…"

She trailed off for a moment, looking distressed. As if on cue, Marcus placed a calming hand on her shoulder, and Jaina crouched down in front of her, placing her hand on Liara's thigh supportively.

"Look at me," Jaina said softly, but firmly, drawing Liara's gaze to her. "Whoever said those things to you is a fucking scumbag. They are wrong."

Relief exploded in Liara's eyes.

"I was hoping you would say that, but I couldn't know," she said slowly. "I have always felt drawn to this. I felt it was who I was. When everyone called me on my methods, I stood firm. I hoped you'd see it my way as well. Your approval was… important to me. Very important."

"Of course we approve," Marcus stated firmly, then spread his arms. "What is there to judge, anyway? That you're going after your dreams and desires using your brain, rather than your looks? That you crave to know how it truly is, rather than what is comfortable? That you want to build something and see where your full potential will take you?"

"You're a young asari maiden Li," Jaina said with a sisterly chastisement as she poked her gently in the stomach. "It's your right to go about exploring the universe. Except that you're not doing it by being a mercenary kid or shaking your ass in some sleazy club, but by wanting to learn how to influence events."

Liara smiled. "I was afraid of how you might react," she said softly, looking from one to the other. "I was afraid that you'd see these desires as a dark side of me that shouldn't be fostered."

"Power does NOT corrupt, Liara," Marcus said as he leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms. "Power is power. It just exists. It's how you use it that determines whether you are a good or a bad person. If you do not take hold of this power, somebody else will. At least like this, we can be sure that it's in good hands."

Liara smiled humbly.

"Thank you for thinking that, Marcus," she said, then looked on into the distance. "This passion of mine, this desire to question things, to seek knowledge and power that comes from it was something I've always felt proud about myself. Yet is also the big part of the reason why, despite the undisputed fact that unlike them I actually provided firm results again and again, the rest of archaeological and scientific community ostracized me. It gives me peace to see that you're not."

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said reassuringly. "I can't in good conscience call anyone out for following their dreams and actually being productive at it. The way I see it, the rest of the asari scientific community are idiots. It is because of their staid views and pressure on the diplomats that we're having great trouble convincing the Galaxy that the Reapers exist. Now, even though we do know what is going on and had evidence, there'd be a whole bunch of them to adamantly deny it just to keep their rep. Were those idiots even looking in the right places? What do they do anyway?"

Liara smirked in amusement.

"Well, most archaeologists don't use contacts among mercenaries and information networks to find Prothean digsites," she pointed out amusedly. "They wait for some proper government agency or a good and honest civilian to find it and arrange everything for them. They crave for funding and they crave for protection. They never risk. And that's why none of them have gone where I have."

"Their loss," Marcus stated as he began slowly pacing the room, the tone of his voice stating clearly as to what he thought of them and their matter.

"Our gain," Jaina added as she stood up from her crouch in front of Liara and sat back against Liara's desk. "Having you at the helm of this network might just help all of us in the long run."

"What do you mean?" Liara asked.

Jaina shared a smile with Marcus.

"That's the thing we were coming to talk to you about in the first place," Marcus replied. "We had wanted to know if it was possible for you to expand your information network to encompass areas other than search for Benezia and Saren."

"You did?" Liara asked in bewilderment. "Why?"

"I was thinking that it'd be good for us to find ourselves some homework, so to speak," Marcus said. "Jaina and I had spoken of this just now. Saren is out there, and our trail has gone cold. And he's not stupid; he's not just going to leave a clear trail for us to follow. Feros was a major stroke of luck on our part. Our decision to interact with the Beacon was, too. But these things have made Saren more careful. The next trail will be much harder to find. And the time is ticking away. With every day we sit and wait for something to crop up, our team gets rusty. Our skills get diluted, just like muscles weaken when not used."

Liara's eyes flashed in understanding. "So you need to find assignments," she said discerningly, "preferably the ones that call for the usage of arms and high amounts of skill, in order to keep us ready for the moment when the confrontation really comes. And you're hoping that my network might be able to ferret something out!"

"Is it possible?" Jaina asked.

Liara nodded firmly. "Yes, it is possible. Very much so, in fact! The information brokering siphons everything that crosses its path, and a lot of it does; it's the question of how, what, where, and when it is used."

"So, you do have some indirect mercenary contacts?" Jaina asked.

"Mhm," Liara nodded. "And one or two direct as well. They will provide a lot of information on what we need. Though, it will require a lot of money. I know Spectre funding is paying for this, but a lot of it will be needed in the first months – assuming this even stretches that long."

"Every logged success will bring more funding from the Council, and more basis for future funding as well," Marcus stated. "It's as simple as that."

"Then we have nothing to worry about," Liara said excitedly as she stood up, turning toward them. "In fact, if I plan my ventures through the network right, I can begin to actually earn money for us, by brokering the information back."

She began pacing back and forth across the room, her brilliant mind working like supercharged as she motioned with her hands.

"Furthermore, by making controlled releases of the information across the ether, we can actually manipulate what happens in the Galaxy, maybe even subtly prevent slaver strikes against colonies or something else in the line of that. It would take a lot of time for that, though, but it's far from impossible!"

"And what about using this in accordance with your own expertise on searching for Prothean ruins?" Marcus asked as he crossed his arms. "Could you find more?"

"I could," Liara nodded slowly as she thought carefully on the matter. "I have never had this many organizations contact me out of the blue when I was searching for Prothean ruins on my own before; if I were to use them to find Prothean ruins, I'm sure the return would be much greater than when I was on my own. But why would you want me to seek out Prothean ruins now?"

"Two reasons," he said. "One is because Saren is searching for them as well in his search for the Conduit. Overtaking him would mean a lot, and to do that, we need to find more clues of just what the hell happened fifty thousand years ago."

"Yes, of course!" Liara exclaimed in realization, pointing a finger at him. "The Eden Prime Beacon must not have been the only one to record the Prothean-Reaper War!"

"And then, there is the Reaper tech itself," Jaina said gravely. "The Citadel, the mass relays…" she shook her head. "Those were left on purpose, but you can't tell me that there aren't more of Reaper artifacts that were left around."

Liara nodded empathically. "That's right. If my theories of cyclical extinctions are correct, then Reapers must've left even more to ensure their victory – something that we still don't know about."

"And the species that had come before must've fought, hard," Marcus said. "Even a hyper-intelligent killing machine is not completely immune to attrition; some of its gear must've been left on the battlefield if they thought it was completely destroyed. Nobody is immune to mistakes."

"You're right," Liara said grinning, and her eyes as wide as saucers as she looked from one human to the other. "I will make this happen! I will find every shred of information, correlate it, and bring it to light!"

She looked at her terminal with new determination.

"It will be a lot of work," she said. "But I. will. make it happen."

"Don't overstress yourself," Marcus said with a chuckle. "And that's an order, ya hear?"

Liara smiled. "Yes, Commander."

"Good girl," Jaina said, poking her gently in the ribs and wiggling her fingers into them, making Liara jump up, then giggle as she tried to squirm away. "But, just so you know, I'll make sure we check up on you from time to time, just so you don't hole yourself up in here. Girls need to have fun sometimes."

Liara squirmed away from Jaina's brief assault, taking a deep breath and settling, her face lightly flushed.

"We should go and have a talk with everybody else about this as well," Marcus said.

"Right," Jaina said somberly, then turned to Liara. "We'll be seeing you then."

"Come back any time," Liara said, following them to the door.

When the two Commanders were out, she returned to her terminal, sat down, and her blue eyes began darting from one contact message to the other, her mind forming plans upon plans, upon plans.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I have watched the 17-minute video of ME:A Peebee loyalty mission the other day. The graphics were awesome! The characters that behaved like they were pulled out of some children's cartoon and the fact that the game felt the need to point out everything to you like you were 5-year-old kid? Not so much. Therefore:

From Omega to Mars,

From the Council to the seediest bars,

From the reaches of Space,

To the pillars of asari grace,

There are battle-worn batarians lacking in humility,

Turians that are bragging about their reach and flexibility,

Clutter of the cities spreads to the loneliest stars.

But, Ryder,

No matter what scars you bear,

Whatever uniform you wear,

You can fight like a krogan and run like a leopard,

But you'll NEVER BE BETTER than Commander Shepard.

…I should go.