III: Requiem

by RedCenturionG

The Collector threat is done; and the Normandy crew survived. The Shadow Broker has eyes watching a friend of Shepard's. Loyalties will be questioned, lives put on the line. And Peta will stop at nothing to get the girl of his dreams. In this, the crew is never safe. And in the end, Marcus Shepard will have to make a decision that could cripple his resolve forever.

29. Chapter 28 Ponderous Interim

REQUIEM

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT:

PONDEROUS INTERIM

November 15, 2185

1235 hours.

Main Bridge, Baktha-Class Light Frigate BRS Glorious Point, Bahak System, Viper Nebula.

Captain Sargesh Trak.

Noise; the bridge was full of it. And she had had enough of it.

The bridge of the BRS Glorious Point was a hectic mess, as Sargesh usually found it. Men and women of the batarian hegemony rushed about, performing their tasks with as much noise as batarianly possible; it was quite annoying. It was times like this that Sargesh really did miss the serene tranquility and simplistic life of her birth world: Cholis, in the Indris System of the batarian home cluster, the infamous Kite's Nest.

Sargesh herself wasn't your stereotypical batarian; she didn't participate in the hegemony's slave trade policies, and most certainly didn't despise humans. Sure, she disliked them, but she didn't wish to wage a scorched earth campaign on their worlds like most batarians did. She was a simple captain, serving on a outdated warship, fighting for a military that died out long ago...

In truth, she hadn't seen Cholis in years. When she was twenty, she had been taken away by the hegemony and forced to join their military. However, fate was obviously smiling on her, because on that exact day, the hegemony had to put down a full-scale uprising on Khar'Shan, forcing them to implement an anti-mandatory conscription scheme, making it possible to refuse to partake in slave trade actions, which she was quick to act on, immediately leaping on the chance to be part of the batarian people's limited navy, assuming command of an old Baktha-Class Light Cruiser, which had to be as older than the hegemony; which was at least a hundred years old.

Now she flew this piece of trash in a routine patrol through the Bahak System, part of batarian-controlled space and bordering right on human-occupied territory, making it a 'possible target' for the Systems Alliance, or that's at least how Admiral Uhtero had put it; yet again, the man was probably just paranoid; having been a slaver himself, and witnessed defeat at both Elysium and Torfan during the Skyllian Blitz.

So as she sat there, blankly watching her crew move around frantically like they had purpose with her four-eyes, all she could feel was pity for the batarian race. They were disgusting, vile and absolutely despised by the rest of the galaxy, and she knew full well why. Quarians were the suit-rats, geth were the emotionless synthetic murderers, and batarians were the big bad people who came to take you away and enslave you. The hegemony had a bad reputation, and always for good reason. It was surprising it hadn't been overthrown yet. And its anti-human propaganda was no secret.

With a heavy sigh, she looked out the viewscreen to view Aratoht; the ugly ball of blood that it was. The whole planet looked like a sea of blood; with great blotches of volcanic orange and threads of white cloud here and there. Overall, it was the most unattractive planet in the whole damn system, possibly the whole cluster, and the batarians were 'proud' to colonize; despite its blatant obvious marketing as a 'bone to a starving dog;' a bone thrown by the Council that had disowned them.

And she was charged with defending it; the only inhabited planet in the system; figures. A light cruiser so old it would make the quarians laugh, and it was charged with protecting this planet from the 'big bad humans.' It showed how much the hegemony really cared; that, or its just being the same, brainless fuckwit's autonomy that its always been, which is probably the case. Not that she'd ever say that aloud; she'd have her tongue cut out, especially with such a autocratic government in control. And her crew, you could call them, were hardcore 'hegemony loyalists,' as she called. Herself? She'd like to think of herself as the reformist. Or Neo-Reformist. Or whatever the hell you called it these days. As far as she was concerned, the batarians were the bloody space Nazis; just without the military might and intelligence to go with it...or the extermination camps.

She exhaled a final time before tearing her eyes from the planet infront of them, unable to keep looking at the eyesore longer, as she picked up her datapad and began reading through its contents; apparently the hegemony suspected their was human activity in the Bahak system, and had decided to dispatch a battlegroup of ships to try and ambush it if it ever appeared. She rolled her eyes, seriously annoyed by the fact that the Khar'Shan government was still butthurt over the incident with the SSV Budapest back in 2184. Sure, the Alliance's justification stunk of a cover-up, but couldn't they let it lie?

"Ma'am!" her sensors operator shouted, turning fully in his chair to face her as she turned to him, "I've picked up something on sensors; its IFF pings it as a merchant vessel, under human corporate contract."

She narrowed her eyes, not quite believing it. Maybe they really did pick up a human ship. But if its a merchant freighter...its not Alliance, so why all the military build-up? She shook her head, leaning forward as she spoke again, "Where's it located?"

"It seems to be...hovering around the relay, captain," even her sensors operator looked confused as he read out the readings, scratching his head, "I don't understand ma'am; they aren't moving an inch. They just seem to be...sitting there. Its location puts it on the skirts of the asteroid system, and its registry lists it as the MSV Ground Zero, an Explorer-Class ship."

Her frown only deepened, troubled by the news. Derelict maybe? "Does it appear to have power? If its a freighter, does it have any shields?"

"Yes, typical civilian standard. Built to fight off pirate ships, but useless against a cruiser like our own; not designed to fight off military. We'd make short work of it," he appeared to grin as he said it, "Crew could make nice slaves; maybe the hegemony will shove a few extra credits our way, eh captain?"

Batarians found it hard to roll their eyes, but Sargesh did her best as she leaned backwards, shaking her head as she did, dumping her datapad on the arm of her chair, "We're not here to make a slave run, operator. I don't do slave trade; better get that into your head quickly. Sensors, send the navigator the coordinates of that ship and plot a course. Communications, hail the human vessel. Let them know we're here."

Not a sound was made, save the low mumble of batarian curses coming from her sensors operator, most of which she ignored as the navigator brought the Glorious Point on a full port turn, keeping on this course until they were no longer facing the red surface of Aratoht, and asteroids danced past them, followed by the Alpha Relay. And in the distance, just barely seen, was the rugged outline of the MSV Ground Zero.

We'll soon find out what you're up to. I dont dislike humans, but I'll give the hegemony this; they have a right to be concerned. They just seem to be...hanging...there. Snoop, maybe? Surveillance vessel? Gathering intel on us?

"Bring us one hundred kilometers off their starboard bow; just enough to be in view," Sargesh ordered, leaning to her left and placing her elbow on said side, "I want them to see us. I want them to know we won't tolerate this violation of our territory."

Soon, within two minutes, the BRS Glorious Point sat just a hundred kilometers off the Ground Zero's starboard bow, and hung there, but the freighter made no movements. Narrowing her eyes in concern, she turned to her communications officer, giving him a curt nod to let him know to open up a channel. Quickly hacking into their PA system, the officer turned to her, letting his captain know they could hear her. She nodded and turned back to the screen, speaking.

"Crew of the MSV Ground Zero," Sargesh began, her voice loud and full of demand, "You are in violation of Batarian Hegemony territory. The people of Khar'Shan hereby demand that you leave batarian space immediately or we will act accordingly. Do you understand?"

No response. Not even a whisper, not even a bit of static. She growled lowly, speaking once more after a minute of no reply.

"Crew of the MSV Ground Zero, this is your second warning. You will accompany us outside of the Viper Nebula immediately. I will not ask again."

Still no response. The ship just sat there, ever silent.

Having had enough, she got a look at her tactical officer, speaking as she did, "Prep two Slinger torpedoes and fire them 20 meters along their stern; warning shots, make sure not to hit. Also, prep a squad of soldiers and have them meet me at the airlock. If this doesn't work, they'll board the ship and see if its abandoned; I'll lead them myself."

She pulled a Raider shotgun out from under her chair, folding it into her lap and pulling out a bag of thermal clips as well, watching the viewscreen as she absent-mindedly loaded the weapon with a thermal clip, sliding it into the open chamber and slamming it shut, pumping the injection cylinder to load the shotgun.

She watched as a lance of dark red light shot out from one of the cruiser's bow torpedo launch tubes, the shot missing the freighter by what seemed to a hair's breadth, followed by a second, both shots missing cleanly. That should get their attention.

But it didn't. Not a sound, not a single engine firing up or shields flaring. Not even a hiss of protest from the ship's bridge crew. Just utter silence. Growling to herself, she shook her head as she shot up, raider shotgun in her grip, "That's it; they've had their chance, now its time to act. Locate the ship's airlock and bring us in for boarding action."

She didn't even wait for a response as she marched of the bridge in just her dress fatigues, or what passes for uniform in the batarian military, and moved towards the airlock, which was located just outside the bridge, as was customary in most warship designs. The requested squad of soldiers was already rushing up to the bridge when she got there, all of them carrying M-55 Argus assault rifles and shotguns ranging from the traditional batarian Raider, to the powerful, human made M-11 Wraith. They all wore the grey/brown light to medium armor of the Batarian Hegemony military, with full-head helmets, making their features invisible to the normal eye.

She nodded to them, and together, they moved through and into the cruiser's airlock, waiting for the decontamination sequence to run its course before they moved into the Ground Zero's airlock, the squad's hacker bypassing it as they moved inside, taking up defensive positions.

In an instant, two humans, wearing black and white armor and wielding avenger assault rifles and equally sealed up armor, spun around, taking aim. One of her men fired his raider, the shotgun tearing through shields and armor due to the proximity and killing the human instantly. The second armed soldier was equally as dispatched, but not before gunfire poured into the hallway.

"Damn humans!" She raised her shotgun, rushing into the frey as her men returned fire at the surprising well-trained human mercenaries, "Always got to do it the hard way!"

About five of them waited at the end of the deck, using both sides of the hallway to take cover as they exchanged fire with the batarian troopers. Shots were exchanged from her side equally, including herself as she leaned out and caught one woman full in the face with her shotgun, blowing it asunder from getting back behind cover.

"You don't understand!" the voice of an elderly human woman shouted from down the deck, "You...you musn't...you musn't interrupt our important work! You don't...ahhh...you don't understand what's at...WHAT'S AT STAKE!"

Sargesh merely scowled as she peeked out of cover, watching as said elderly woman, clad in white labcoat and holding a predator pistol, fired at their position. She shook her head as she took aim at the female. What is she on about? Her sights landed over the human, but she hesitated as she went to pull the trigger. I won't find out if I kill her. Instead, she swung the weapon to the left and instead blew into the chest of a charging trooper, killing him instantly and spilling his guts out onto the deck.

The battle was over quickly, as her men were far better equipped; but they those mercs...they were heavily-trained, giving how they fought. She shook the coming thoughts away as she reloaded her shotgun, her squad following behind her as they cornered the remainders of the human crew, who immediately dropped their weapons, seeming to immediately, and in a very machine-like manner, to instantly fall, hands and knees, onto the ground, hands behind their heads. The elderly woman dropped her weapon, but did not kneel, only seeming to glare at her.

"You must not stop us," she spat, "You musn't."

"Stop what..." Sargesh began, eyes trailing down to the name tag on the woman's coat, "...Doctor Kenson?"

The woman's glare was full of fire, and...something else? Something much more sinister...a presence that seemed to send shivers down her spine, "The...we must destroy this relay. We must destroy it. For the sake of all..." she seemed to zone out, and she gripped her head in severe pain, but she ignored it, speaking once more, "...for the sake of all life, IT MUST BE DESTROYED!"

"Destroy the relay!?" one batarian exclaimed, shoving his weapon barrel inches from Kenson's face as he brimmed with barely contained batarian rage, "Human terrorists; I knew it! Those mercs were too well trained! They're Alliance, I bet!"

"I do not act on behalf of the Systems Alliance," Kenson retorted, meeting the soldier's glare with absolutely no fear at all in her pose. A matter of fact, she didn't seem to be feeling anything except anger at the moment, "I act on behalf of what's right. Please, you must let us complete our work. The Reapers...they're coming! If we don't destroy this relay...THEY'LL KILL US ALL! ALL OF YOU! YOUR CHILDREN! NONE OF US WILL LIVE!"

Rolling her eyes, she merely shot forward, having stopped listening at 'destroy the relay.' Her weapon shooting forward, she rammed the butt into Kenson's forehead, sending her flying back and onto the deck, unconscious. And in that instant, the all crew just...well...went feral.

Snarls and growling was heard as everyone leapt up, charging at them. She yelled out as she raised her weapon, blowing the torso off one human who got too close. The rest of them were mowed down as they charged at the soldiers; a slaughter house if there ever was one. Red jets of crimson shot up in all directions as the human crew fell in droves; bodies plopping down ontop of each other where they fell as they tried to overwhelm the batarian squad in an animalistic fashion.

Within a minute, all gunfire ceased, this time with the entire crew dead, save for Kenson's unconscious form now lying on the ground. Sargesh simply stood there, in the midst of her team, who slowly lowered their weapons, turning to her for leadership as she simply eyed the dead mountain of corpses with shock. That...ferocity. It was just animalistic. What the hell is wrong with these people? Her eyes quickly landed on Kenson, and remembered just what these humans had admitted to trying to do. She didn't know they planned to do it, but the intent was there, and it was enough for her anger to boil. She'll explain what the fuck they were trying to do here. And what the hell these 'Reapers' are.

She pointed at Kenson's unconscious body, "Pick her up and lock her up in the brig; also, destroy this ship with all crew onboard. We'll take her to Aratoht; Warden Fertagh can question her. I'm sure the Hegemony will want to know just why a human freighter was trying to blow up a mass relay. In our territory."

The squad seemed to hesitate for a moment at her orders, but one glare at the squad sergeant had them rushing to complete their orders in an instant, two men picking her up by the arms, flinging them over their shoulders and dragging her off and down the flight deck towards the airlock. The rest of the squad followed, with Sargesh at the front, her mind full of vehemence, confusion and concern.

"Why did you do that, captain?" the squad sergeant asked, "I thought you didn't hate humans. But that look on your face...you looked about to murder somebody."

She shook her head in response as they continued their approach to the airlock, coming to step infront of it, "I didn't," she responded, and she walked into the airlock, squad following behind as they prepared to leave for Aratoht, dragging one suspicious human scientist with them.

"That's until they planned to blow up a batarian relay. They became terrorists..."

"...and you know how much I hate terrorists."

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November 15, 2185

2016 hours.

Cockpit, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, Aquila System, Ismar Frontier Cluster.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard, Chief Engineer Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Ex-Shadow Broker Meru'Zorah vas Rayya, Flight Lieutenant Jeff 'Joker' Moreau.

The silence in the cockpit had never been so thick as it was right now. He stood there, his hands clasped tightly behind his back as he assumed a parade rest position, barely moving an inch in his Terminus armor, eyes gazing blankly out the cockpit window. Joker sat in the pilot's seat, barely the same amount of sound as he lazily drifted the Normandy towards the Tonbay.

Tali stood on his right, with Meru beside her, both of them talking almost constantly. Tali hadn't shown any negative side effects to the serum yet, so he guessed that was a good thing. But the only real way to find out if it was actually working was to...well...yeah.

But those thoughts only stirred what was already going on in his mind. To think, it had all started with Zaeed. And from there...just when did it really start to decline? Was it Zaeed? Or was it the destruction of the Shadow Broker and his replacement by Liara? When did it all truly begin? Zaeed was gone; to help the coming war. Miranda's comatose on Illium, Jack's comatose on the Citadel, Grunt has left with Wrex to return to Tuchanka, and Thane has left to see his son one last time before rejoining them in combat.

And now three more people would be leaving them, not including Meru. Three more people, squadmates and comrades...friends, who had charged into the howling darkness with him and bled so they would destroy the Collectors, were leaving.

Lia had been first, technically. She had planned on sneaking out, but Joker had caught her, and she had been ashamed, eventually explaining that she had her pilgrimage to complete, and she was of more use to her people than on the Normandy. Marcus had been angry at Joker for just letting her leave, but knew it was unjustified; Lia had a right to leave, and knew what was best for herself. It didn't make her departure any less harrowing.

Then there was Legion. Again, he had to hear from a secondary source, but the geth itself hadn't left itself. EDI had informed him that the geth believed that returning to Rannoch was a better and safer way to exchange important information on the Reapers, and would allow it to prepare its people for the looming threat. He agreed...he always did...and as soon as they left the Migrant Fleet, they would rendevous with a geth interceptor and Legion would leave with it back into the Perseus Veil. And because of this, his plans to unite the quarians and the geth were completely torn asunder.

Another plan ripped to shreds.

And finally, Professor Mordin Solus, the scientific genius of the crew. His explanation was alot more vague than the others, stating that he had 'moral issues to resolve' and that he 'felt he needed some clarity and closure' before he died. The fact the salarian was extremely old in human terms, equivalent to his 90s for humans, saddened Marcus. He had come to know the salarian well, and alot better than the brief time he had talked to him during and after the Battle of Virmire, and the man had a dark past; one he continued to justify, but one he knew deep down he wanted to atone for. It wasn't something Marcus could deny him, no matter how much he needed him. Mordin would stay with them awhile longer, but once they came within range of a inhabited colony, he would take a shuttle and leave.

He wasn't an idiot, by any means. He had left Chakwas the last of his research and medication regarding his and Tali's possible child, and anything that had directly effected the crew would be left in her hands, so all areas were covered.

It wasn't that that saddened him. It was their departure. Sure, he had the people he cared about the most...

He glanced at Tali, but his gaze quickly got dragged back into the void of space, and not even a smile broke across his lips. Its never enough. You don't forget the losses. They may leave, but they're still alive. But by the end of this war? I don't know...He thought of the people he had lost already. The people who had died before the war even begun.

Nihlus. Jenkins. Ashley. Fai Dan. Palin.

Even Saren.

He had barely known Jenkins or Nihlus before they died. Fai Dan had seemed like a good man. Palin had been a by the law kind of person. And Saren had only been doing what he thought was right for the entire galaxy, even if he had been his enemy.

It was the memories of Ashley that truly haunted him. He had known her, spoke to the marine, and the love she had for Kaidan, and the one the latter marine reciprocated. He remembered how that love had gone up in a nuclear fireball, and how that remained of Ash was her sisters and the rifles left uncleaned on the weapons rack she left behind. The woman he had met on Eden Prime, a terrified marine who had only just escaped the slaughter of her unit, yet so eager to join his crusade to stop the destruction of the galaxy. Ashley had been remarkable, and the Normandy was less of a whole for her loss.

He had lied about how much Ashley's death had affected him. He had pretended that he had gotten over it and moved on, but when he looked back at himself and his situation now, he hadn't. He never had. He had never recovered from her death because it reminded him of what he had lost on Elysium. On Torfan. On Akuze. All the people I've lost under my command. I thought I had changed...and Ashley had to die to prove me wrong. He glanced again at Tali, his eyes lingering alot longer. And no matter how I try to ignore it, I can't shake the feeling away that even Tali may die before this is all over. The whole crew might perish before the Reapers are vanquished...

And to his growing disgust...

...he was becoming more and more accustomed to that. And it terrified him what thoughts like that might lead to.

But despite all his woes and sadness, he moved on. Because he was Commander Shepard. And Commander Shepard never faltered, never gave in, never collapsed.

...if only that were true.

"ETA 30 seconds to dock, Commander," Joker spoke up, shaking Marcus from his thoughts as he watched the Tonbay's hull close in, "They're requesting IDENT from the ship's captain."

He nodded and spoke, knowing Joker had already set the comm unit to the cockpit, "This is Commander Marcus'Shepard vas Normandy, Captain of the Normandy, requesting permission to dock with the Tonbay, over."

"Solid copy Normandy. We read you five-by-five," the Tonbay's communications operator replied without missing a beat, "Proceed to the main airlock. We presume you are here for Admiral Raan?"

"We are indeed Tonbay," Marcus replied.

"Copy. The admiral will meet you at the airlock. Tonbay out," with that, comms cut out and Joker slowly glided the ship so that their airlock aligned perfectly with the old quarian ship's and began to move closer into a docking position. Not even waiting to witness the connection, Marcus turned away from the cockpit windows, and unclasped his hands, his left leaning down and slipping inside his helmet, picking up and letting it hang at his side as he turned to the two talkative quarians at his side, "Okay, time to go. Let's face the music."

"Face the music?" Meru asked, confused but quickly resolved to answer for herself, "Wait, let me guess. Its a human saying," noticing the curt nod Marcus gave, she chuckled half-heartedly, "I thought so. You humans have so many."

He let a slight grin cross his face, "It gives us a unique persona, if you ask me."

"Apparently so," Meru chuckled, moving past him and into the airlock, Tali moving to follow. He moved to put on his helmet, but stopped when he felt a soft, three-fingered hand grab his hand, stopping it and forcing him to lower the helmet so that he would look her in the eyes.

She spoke first, her voice soft and tone low, "Is there something wrong? You're acting strange. You haven't talked to me for the entire ride here. Anything we need to talk about?"

She had seen it. She saw me; the sadness in my eyes. She always knows. Always so observant, my Tali. The thought usually would have cheered him up, but his sober state made that nearly impossible at present. He merely shook his head, "Its nothing you need to worry yourself with, Tali. Just remembering the past."

She gave him a skeptical look, one that he met with a cold, emotionless look. I'm so sorry, Tali. But you don't deserve to carry the same burdens I do. He wished he could fall into her arms, and just empty out all his burdens into her, but he couldn't do that to her: that would be selfish. Irresponsible. I would never do that to you. And because of that, I alone must carry my burdens.

"As long as you're sure," Tali finally spoke, letting her hand fall from his shoulder, and he knew she was still suspicious, "You know I'm here if you need me."

He gave her a convincing smile, "I know," I always need you, I'm just too much of a male to admit it. I can't be weak; not now. The galaxy needs me. I need to be strong, to be the shining paragon they believe me to be. If only they knew who I really was...who I was after Torfan was not who I am now...if only, if only...He gave her a quick nod, before turning to join Meru in the airlock, Tali following behind him. Her thoughts remained skeptical of him.

What's wrong with him? He was fine not too long ago; now he seems...distant. Is it because of Lia, Legion and Mordin leaving? I'll have to ask him later. She had to admit, she had liked Lia and Mordin had been nice to talk to, and even Legion had grown on her, but she didn't think their leaving would leave her so distraught as Marcus seemed to be.

Their time in the airlock was short, and ever silent. Marcus barely moved an inch, his eyes seeming to be focused solely on the pressure seal before him. Meru stood behind him on his left, hands at her side and watching Tali with an analyzing look. Tali herself seemed to be entirely set on watching her husband, her eyes scanning his form seemingly far away, almost looking...afraid? Why was she afraid of him? Or was it concern? Her analysis of quarian body language had fled her due to the time she had actually spent away from her people, but from what she could tell, Tali and Marcus were excellent together. They seemed to adore each other, protect each other, and make up for each other's strengths and weaknesses. They were perfect.

If only Marcus was quarian. Or Tali was human. Then they could conceive. Have the children they deserved. She had always envisioned her little girl being a mother some day, but it appeared that the ancestors did not favor that path. Tali was not meant for motherhood, and that Meru could accept.

The subject of motherhood brought up a painful subject she had tried to avoid, and one that had brought tears to her eyes on several occassions.

Her husband was dead; killed in his attempts to build a home for a wife he thought dead and a child who had long given up hope in bringing out the father in him; the one that had died with Meru's absence. She knows she should have been there, and she kept wondering what would have happened if she had never made that deal with the batarians. I could have avoided all this. Rael's distancing himself from Tali...Rael dying...Keelah, maybe Tali would never have been put on trial for treason in the first place...maybe my husband would still be alive...Tears threatened to escape her, but she would not allow them. She could do that in private.

No, now she needed to play the survivor. She needed to play the unexpected Broker. Only when she was in the privacy of her new quarters could she weep her grief. Until then, she must remain strong for her people...for Tali...for herself.

The Normandy finished docking with the Tonbay, and with that, the airlock hissed as decontamination protocols kicked in, like usual. The air pressurized with the outside and eventually the door slid apart, revealing the dull interior of the cruiser that Shala called her home. Its been such a long time...what will she do? Order me shot? Believe me an impostor? Ha! That will be a sight to see.

Marcus moved inside first; the spectre looking ever intimidating in his full, bulky set of Terminus combat armor; tall and undaunted. Tali followed by his side, taking his armoured glove in her unarmoured one, and squeezing it, to which Marcus gave her a quick look, before pulling it away. Meru followed not far behind, and soon all three of them found themselves on the dock of the Tonbay.

A squad of quarian marines stood at the airlock, most of them carrying assault rifles and SMGs simply for show, as everyone knew Commander Shepard and his crew, and knew they would not here to attack them. A few frowned at Meru, as some of them knew Shepard's crew long enough to know that he only had one quarian crew member; well, one quarian female member, anyway, but Meru ignored their looks, merely joining Marcus' side as the sergeant of the detail addressed him.

"Admiral Raan will join you shortly," the sergeant said hesitantly, speaking his next few words with careful delicacy, "You have caught her at a...very important moment. Suffice to say, now was not a good time to show up."

"What's happened?" Tali quickly jumped in, concerned for her aunt, "Is she alright? Did someone hurt her? Or is she still recovering from her mate's death? If anything has-"

"Nothing like that ma'am," the sergeant interrupted, holding up his hands after holstering his Tempest SMG, "The Admiral, however, prefers that I do not say anything else. It concerns classified quarian military intel."

"I understand," Marcus replied sincerely, "Being a soldier, I understand where the line blurs between family relations and simply what's not to be said."

The sergeant nodded, a smile forming behind his mask, "True enough," his look quickly fell on Meru, and his smile turned into a noticable frown, even behind the helmet, "Who's this? The file I got never mentioned another quarian woman on your crew; well, aside from Miss Soi, anyway. Just who is this?"

"That's for Admiral Raan to discover, I'm afraid," Marcus replied with a curt shrug, "Not much I can do about that. She wishes to remain anonymous."

"Very well," the sergeant replied, "But if she's an exile, I will have her shot, you understand?"

"I don't necessarily appreciate the threats," Marcus stated in a calculated tone, "But I get what you mean, soldier. I can assure you, she's no exile. Merely someone who has been away from the left for alittle bit too long."

A moment later, Shala arrived, moving down the corridor towards them with a purpose in her step, as all admirals usually do. Although there was something different about it; it seemed alot more weary, tired and saddened, not the usual 'I've got something to do, and somewhere to go' kind of walk, but the kind that was full of sadness and regret. What had happened to induce that in the woman?

"Tali'Shepard. Marcus'Shepard," Shala greeted, wrapping her arms around her niece and the commander respectively, as if to mask the sadness she experienced, "It is good to see you again, but I did not expect to see you so soon. You have a 'honeymoon' as you humans call it to enjoy, do you not?"

"Yeah, we were enjoying it," Marcus began.

"Until the Shadow Broker's thugs attacked us in our apartment," Tali finished for him.

Shala's eyes widened in an instant, "He did!? Were you hurt, either of you?"

"No. But the Shadow Broker certainly paid dearly for that mistake," Marcus declared smugly, "After that attack, Liara managed to locate his base and we launched an all out assault on it. The original Broker is dead now, and Liara is now the new one, so we can continue safely without that worry."

"You killed the Shadow Broker, let alone found him? Keelah, you never cease to impress. The both of you," Shala stated with a half-hearted laugh, "You'd think you two were immortal. Not even the most powerful of people can kill you."

That got a laugh out of Marcus, "Yeah. I'd like to think the Illusive Man is next on our hit list, but he seems to be the slippier fish to catch," he squared his shoulders, sighing happily as he knotted them, "I'm just happy we got him out of the way. I feel much better knowing I don't have to constantly look behind my back. I'm sure Tali is too. But just for safety's sake, I think we'll continue our honeymoon in our cabin on the Normandy. Less windows to blow up. However, the Shadow Broker wasn't exactly who we expected..." he almost turned around to look at Meru, but dare not do so for the repercussions, "We...well we...let's say the Broker isn't exactly a person, and is actually two people."

"That's interesting Marcus," Shala sarcastically commented, "But you best stop being coy. Why is this important?"

"Because we only killed half of the Broker. The dangerous part. The second half was a...much different matter," Marcus trailed off, "We couldn't kill her."

"Her?" Shala asked quizzically, "Who's 'her?'" she looked to Tali for some explanation but, finding none, turned back to Marcus, eyes demanding answers, "Marcus'Shepard, why is this person so important that even Tali seems unwilling to tell me?"

"Well Shala, that's because..."

Meru had had enough, "Oh please, just spit it out. Delaying the inevitable serves us nothing but a foul taste."

All noise in the room went silent, and Shala didn't even look at Meru at first. Marcus stiffened and went as straight as a tree, while Tali stopped shuffling, eyes watching Shala's for a reaction. The admiral herself slowly turned to face the quarian ghost, the one who was supposed to have died years ago, when Tali was just a child. Her eyes told of her confusion.

"How...no, who..." she merely stood there, only her head facing Meru as she spoke incredulously. Finally, her body turned fully to face the woman, pointing an accusing finger, "I believed it from Tali about Shepard, but you can't possibly..."

"Unless cloning has been perfected Shala, then I am who you think," she replied, holding her arms out with a smile, "I'm Meru'Zorah, Tali's mother, the woman you thought long dead. You can say the name if you wish. Unless you've made it a curse, which if that is so, I'd rather you rename me to something more appealing."

Shala merely looked on for a few more seconds, still confused and incredulous as to what had just happened. Hands tightened on weapons in terms of the marines, all of them confused as to just who this woman was. After a long, dreadful silence of stillness, Shala spoke, although her words were calculated and coordinated, as if carefully trying to weave her way through a diplomatically awkward predicament. The equilibrium of silence and stillness was almost suffocating.

"My quarters...now. The three of you," Shala she stated firmly, "It is clear we have much to discuss on...recent and past events, it would seem."

The distance to Shala's quarters were crossed pretty quickly, which made Marcus happy...better to get this mess over with sooner, rather than later. Shala's quarters were pretty utilitarianistic and very spartan when it came to preserving face and the fundamentalism of its design, as was common with all quarian ships; even the admirals and captains didn't get special treatment.

When the door was closed, Shala spun at Meru and gave an enraged growl, "Where the hell have you been all these years!?" She seemed almost about to assault Meru, but all she did was stand inches from the quarian, Marcus and Tali forced to watch the commotion as it unfolded before them, "What do you have to say for yourself, disappearing like that!? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!" She pointed at Tali, "Where were you when she needed you! How dare you make her grieve like that! The Meru I knew would never make her grieve like that!"

"I didn't have a choice!" Meru exploded, and Shala fell silent as she spoke. She told the admiral about the things she had done to protect her family, and how it had lead to her self-imposed exile, and her need to hide to keep her family safe. She also told her of the conversation she had shared with Tali and Marcus on Hagalaz, and how it had lead to her being here.

By the end, Shala was baffled, "Meru, I'm so sorry. I didn't know...I didn't..."

"Its okay Shala, all is forgiven," the quarian replied, patting the old admiral on the shoulder, "I'm just glad you've taken care of my daughter while Rael didn't," the thought of him saddened her once more, but she pushed those thoughts away, refusing to give in just yet, "I also see you're fitting in the new role of admiral very well. Have you been looking after my patrol fleet?"

Shala forced a chuckle, nodding as she did, "That, and then some. Being admiral is alot more wearisome then I thought it would be in my youth, I admit. I can see why you were so happy to surrender the position, even if the real motivations were justified lies. Although, it appears we can now both share the companionship that comes with widowship."

"Widowship?" Meru asked, confused, "Wait, what happened?"

"You didn't hear? Well, guess even the Shadow Broker doesn't know everything," the admiral replied, shaking her head, "He's gone, Meru. Dead. A human named Kai Leng killed him. He was working with Cerberus. Tried to kill me and my husband got in the way."

"Byp's dead?" Meru asked with sudden horror, and with the confirmation of Shala's slow nod, she almost broke into tears for her old friend, "By the ancestors, I'm so sorry Shala."

"The ancestors had need of him earlier than I thought," Shala stated, but looked at Marcus with a cold look in her eyes, "But if you ever encounter Leng Marcus, I want his head. I want to see Byp avenged. He didn't deserve to die. Not him. Not him of all people."

"I'll see to it Shala," Marcus promised, "That son of a bitch will pay for his crimes."

"Thank you Marcus," Shala thanked, "That is all I can ask for," she turned back to Meru, a smile in her voice this time, the admiral clearly pushing back her grief, "Now, why don't you tell me what you've been up to for the past couple decades?"

And everyone took a seat and fell silent as Meru explained her adventures as the Shadow Broker.

And all Marcus could think of was the eighty-six different ways he could kill Kai Leng.

{Loading...}

November 16, 2185

0329 hours.

Debriefing Room, Revenge-Class Destroyer CAW Rememberance, Docked with Cronos Station.

Agent Kai Leng. Agent Eva.

The walk to the debriefing room was measured with cold precision, each step calculated and remembered. His eyes scanned the area around him, constantly trying to analyze his surroundings and trying to find ways to neatralize a crowd of hostiles if they did appear to attack him. It was the same paranoia that allowed him to become such a clean cut killer; to become the assassin that he was, that Cerberus needed him to be. He never would have gotten away with the things he had done if he had been in the Alliance. No, in Cerberus, he was free to do as he wished to get the job done. And Leng loved it.

But that didn't make him infallible, much to his growing disgust. He always vowed to never fail, as failure was a sign of weakness, something that was unacceptable if he was to ascend to perfection. He had failed to kill the quarian admiral, which had left the Illusive Man sour on the topic of using him for further assassinations. Instead, he felt the need to constantly remind Leng of that particular failure, and how he must improve. Never again. At least I got to sink my blade into her mate. I killed her, just not in the literal sense. And that gives me joy. It gives me a taste of the victory I failed to achieve; a snippet of what I could feel if I had finished the job.

Instead he ran away like a coward. But not next time; no, next time, he would conclude what he began and then he would bring the Illusive Man her head and helmet. Then he will have succeeded.

He continued through the destroyer's CIC, weaving through the throngs of officers moving about the deck, and ignoring the blank looks of the augmented Cerberus troopers that now patrolled its halls.

The CAW Remembrance, second of a line of brand-new Revenge-Class Destroyers based on updated Alliance designs, was just one of the proud members of the new Cerberus Navy. Her form was small; just alittle bit bigger and longer than a frigate, and only a bit smaller than a light cruiser, with armament enough to tackle a heavy cruiser. The Revenge-Class Destroyers were designed to engage the Alliance's much bigger vessels, particularly carriers, in single combat; quick and agile, and with the range of a sniper, they could cripple a target from long range before they knew what happened, or act as long range fire support for the much bigger Cerberus capital ships. Because of this however, they had lower shields and their armor could only ward off a few torpedo impacts before buckling, but it had an impressive array of broadside torpedo launch bays and even had a few long-range pulse lasers. A few ship-to-ship turrets aligned its spine, and for absolute last resorts or for use against dreadnoughts or space stations, it had a single Chamberlain Tactical Nuclear ICBM ready for launch. And the Illusive Man had definitely stressed how much of a last resort it was; nuclear weapons were hard to come by in a galaxy like this one; but the Alliance was definitely trigger-happy when it came to them.

It possessed at least 913,000 nuclear launch silos on Earth only, all of them with missiles and primed to fire; and only under the Alamo Protocol could they be fired. Of course, it hadn't been hard for Cerberus to duplicate the technology, launch designs, missile prototypes and gather the uranium, plutonium and nuclear fission needed to create the WMDs. Now Cerberus had enough to make the Alliance start pissing itself. Something which Kai Leng loved the idea of. Only he could walk on a vessel containing a weapon capable of levelling an entire city, cause great firestorms, and vaporize anything within its blast zone and not be worried. And this one was only low-yield.

He crossed the deck fairly quickly, the design of the CIC so simplistic that it made traversing it particularly easy enough to find your way around. Two guards stood at attention at the door, both of them Assault Troopers, and both stood aside when he approached the door, unlocking it for his entry. Barely giving them a glance, he kept the same thin line of a mouth pasted on his face as he moved between them and into the debriefing room. The room was pristine white, with a gold table, which had the Cerberus insignia emblazoned on its surface. A few of his phantoms stood in the room, katanas sheathed on their backs and all of them at attention, looking just as blankly at the walls as the troopers had. Mindless foot soldiers. But they do their jobs. Mindless is what I need. Mindlessness leaves no room for weakness.

His eyes scanned the room, and quickly came to land on a lone figure standing at the end of the table, a woman. He eyed her wearily, his permanent blank glare watching her carefully as he came to stand inches from the table's golden surface. She stood there, hands clasped behind her back, cold, emotionless eyes having met his upon his entry into the room. She had cropped black hair, piercing green eyes, and smooth, round cheeks. Her bosom jutted out from her chest like a pack of useless balloons and the skin-tight Cerberus uniform she wore accented her curves quite disgustingly well. He did not know this woman, but her very appearence gave her a air of arrogance that only Miranda Lawson could match. Lawson. Should have brought the Illusive Man that whore's head on my sword. How I would have enjoyed that. No, I would have made her beg for mercy first...maybe I would have started my cutting off her nipples, then those pathetic tits of hers. Then I'd circumcize her, followed by everything else she holds dear. Once she confesses her treason, I'd then decapitate her and bring a recording of her confession, accompanied by her head. Yes, that would be most beautiful.

Her stare was beginning to irritate him. When women stared at him, it usually meant they wanted to get inside his pants; like whores usually do. Sex and hormones and intercourse was all a foreign concept to Leng; he hadn't had need of it in his profession, and had elected to make sure that any woman seeking such endeavours with him would end up dead or wishing they were. Lawson, to his own grief, had never seeked such a relationship with him, and neither had Chambers, or the rest of the Normandy crew...traitors...

Hell, he hadn't even had a need for a cock. That's why he had had it removed when he was 'upgraded.' It had hurt, oh yes, but it taught him discipline. It helped him shield himself against such agony. To make himself stronger. It had helped. Women were an extravagance, a distraction...entertainment. None of those three appealed to him, so he elected to ignore them. Forcefully. And usually with a few puddles of blood.

"Women who look at me don't usually last long," he spoke finally, breaking the tension between them, but to his growing frustration, it did not break the woman's stare. Incapable of sighing, he merely spoke once more, like a robotic going about its pre-programmed dialogue, "So I recommend you stop looking at me, or I'll elect to cut your eyes out."

"Removing my optical sensors would not be wise," the woman replied, her voice almost...synthetic. Emotionless. Devoid of any form of care or clarity, "It would cause a disruption in the equilibrium of my operation. I could not and would not allow this to happen. I would be forced to terminate you, something which is fully within my programming as a Cerberus infiltrator. The Illusive Man made it so."

A synthetic, how surprising. And this one is an AI, too. I thought the Illusive Man would be done with AIs after that one working with Shepard, but apparently not. This one seems to be more restrained however. That's good. I'd hate to rip it open; alot of credits must have gone into making that. "You bore me with your talk, machine. Just what do you want? I don't know why I was brought here."

"For us to be introduced," the synthetic declared, nodding its head so lazily it might as well have been reading a script, "I am Eva. That is an acronym Enhanced Virtual Assault. I am, by the Illusive Man's command, Cerberus' prime infiltrator. Now that introductions have been exchanged, I must leave. The Illusive Man wishes to speak with you, and I have a mission to be prepped for."

Leng simply watched it leave, the robot moving with the same mechanical grace he had in her exit, and soon, the door had closed on her, ending their brief meeting. Eva, huh? A ridiculous name. However, it is much easier to say than Enhanced Virtual Assault. Much easier, I must admit. Still, I'll keep my eyes on that thing. Might betray us like the last one.

Slowly, he approached the front of the table where Eva had been standing and tapped the beeping comm terminal, watching as the table melted into the floor, and his body was scanned into the quantum entanglement communicator. Not long after, the holographic form of the Illusive Man's office appeared, with the Illusive Man already facing him and waiting, sitting as always, leg crossed over the other with his cigar in hand, watching him with piercing blue synthetic eyes.

"Agent Leng," the Illusive Man cooly began, blowing out a fresh puff of smoke, his calm expression giving off a sign of annoyance, "You're late."

"I was bothered with petty introductions," Leng replied, hands at his sides and posture straight as a tree, "I presume I wasn't meant to meet our dear Miss Eva? It is a good thing I did not seperate that pretty neck of hers from her inconveninent-looking body."

The Illusive Man rolled his eyes, "'Wasn't meant to' is a strong term to use, Leng, and I would watch its use if I were you. No, you were merely not scheduled to meet her. You just happened to come across her after her own mission debriefing."

"What mission?" Leng asked, "Is there something I should know?"

"Nothing particularly ground-breaking. But it will give us an insight into the Alliance's activities and what they know about the Reapers," the leader of Cerberus replied, "Suffice to say, Eva's espionage into the Mars Archives is, as of now, none of your concern. I will be sure to update you when it becomes your concern. Suffice to say, her mission there could provide valuable intel. The scientists in our scientific division believe the Alliance knows more about the Reapers then they are letting in on; they may have even uncovered information on a Prothean artefact. One capable of destroying the Reapers."

Leng scoffed, "This is obviously a myth. The Protheans would not be long dead if they had a weapon capable of such destruction. Best to contribute resources to something more practical; something tangible and real, not something based on a fable."

The Illusive Man's scowl was ambient, "Do not presume to tell me where and where I may not devote resources too, Leng. You are becoming too complacent, as of late. If my scientists believe there is a weapon in those Archives, Eva will find it. And if it doesn't exist? Then she'll continue her search elsewhere. A few months should do it. Besides, even if we don't find the artefact, she will be able to extract a vast treasure trove of information. Remember, the Mars Archives is the jackpot of Prothean technology, history and culture. If there's a weapon to be found or technology to be unlocked, it will be there. Not that you need concern yourself with such matters."

"I don't much care for the technology of a dead race," Leng sneered, "They failed, but humanity shall not."

"Once again, your ignorance fails to rot," TIM sighed, exasperated, "Not that I should be surprised. You're obsession with the art of ending lives has left you blind to the true intricacies of social life and historical revelations. It has left you rather...bland, in that regard. Not that I need to make a scientist out of you, of course; your ability to kill does not require knowledge of long dead races. Which is why you won't be accompanying Eva. No, I have another task for you."

Leng stood straighter, mind clearing and refocusing with the prospect of fresh death, "Whatever you require of me, I will make it so."

"If only that were true all the time," the Illusive Man remarked, as always, bringing up the topic of his failure with the Admiral Raan assassination, before moving on, clearing his throat, "I want you to locate and trail Aria T'Loak. Petrovsky's rule over Omega is absolute; of that, I have no doubt, and Aria could not hope to retake it. But I'd rather keep her under watch for now, at least for a month, until I can be sure she'll pose no further threat. That's if you can locate her, and that's if you manage to not be spotted. Think you can do that?"

"Yes," Leng replied simply, "It shall be done."

"Good. Keep me updated on your progress, then," the Illusive Man replied, but before he could cut the line, Leng spoke again.

"Wait," Leng hurriedly pleaded, "I would ask something of you."

"Would you?" TIM replied, "Speak."

It was a question that always lingered on Leng's mind; the ultimate kill. His ultimate trophy. The one that would make him the true assassin. The one who's blood would taste the sweetest in his mouth and on his lips, "When will I be able to kill Shepard?"

TIM scanned him for a few moments, before meeting the area where Leng's eyes were and speaking once more, his tone more diplomatic, "You have not brought this up before Leng. Why do you want to kill Shepard?"

His response was immediate, "Because he is a filthy traitor. You gave him life, and in return, he spat in your face. He disgraces humanity with his very existence. He cares more about aliens then he does his own species, and even has the disgusting need to marry a suit-rat! A suit-rat! The very thought makes me sick to the stomach! However, he is a worthy warrior, and I would relish defeating him in combat. I would humiliate him with defeat, before bringing you his head and the testicles he no longer needs. He is a plague, and I would be your cure to disperse at will."

TIM mulled over his words for a short while more before snuffing out his cigarette in the ash tray beside him, before letting go of the dead butt and shaking his head, eyes meeting his once more, "And like with all plagues, the cure must wait. Shepard is a traitor, I could not agree more, but once again you fail to see the bigger picture Kai Leng. That always has been one of your faults. Shepard will fall, and I promise it'll be by your hands, but not now. Not yet. He has far too much work to do. But when the time comes, you will strike him down."

Leng merely nodded, "Very well."

The connection was cut, and Leng left the room, a very different man. He was still a cold, calculating machine, but now he had one mission, and one goal. It would make up the entirety of his life for now. It would be his sole purpose.

He would kill Shepard. Kill his quarian slut. He would kill the entire Normandy crew. And when he brings the Normandy into Cerberus drydock, with the corpses of aliens and humans alike all dumped in its cargo hold, the Illusive Man would give him the attention he deserved. Shepard was the ultimate prize.

And Kai Leng would acquire it. Through the taste of blood.

{Loading...}

November 16, 2185

0516 hours.

The Shepards' Quarters, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate Normandy SR-2, In Orbit of Terra Nova.

Commander Marcus Lee Shepard.

"Shepard."

He spun to face the source of the voice, but all he saw was the same perpetual darkness; the same blurs of light that danced behind the scenes, tormenting him; mocking him. He wanted to scream, but everytime he opened his mouth, nothing came out. He was trapped, he had nowhere to go. He wanted to fall inside of him, but he couldn't. He was Commander Shepard. He couldn't fall apart. He couldn't collapse. He was infallible.

"Shepard."

The whisper was stronger...closer this time. It was more familiar, and he tried to put a name to the voice, but he couldn't. He desperately tried to find a source of light, but he couldn't find anything. He couldn't speak, he couldn't scream, and he couldn't see. He was helpless; and that was one of the worst feelings a soldier could have.

"Shepard."

This time, he did recognize the voice, and all light seemed to return for a second, focusing on a single point. One area. His throat felt less constricted this time, and when he turned around, his eyes went wide.

There stood a female figure clad in pink and white Phoenix light combat armor, with the helmet off. A Striker pistol was wrapped in her grip in her right hand, the barrel smoking and overheated. Her armor was covered in splotches of white and orange; the blood of krogan and geth, alike. Then his eyes landed on her face, recognizing it in an instant. Her smooth features, the raven black hair that was braided in a ponytail at the back of her head, and the supple, red lips of hers. She was beautiful, and she was a soldier with a dark past.

He finally gained the ability to speak, and at that moment, he could only mutter one word; a name, "Ashley."

Her face was emotionless as she spoke, "Skipper. Welcome to hell."

He shook his head, "Hell? I don't understand. Hell doesn't exist, does it?"

"Oh, its not hell in the literal sense," Ashley replied, dropping her pistol as she did, "Its your personal hell. Remember me? Tell me, how is Kaidan going?"

"Ash..." he whimpered, "I didn't meant to...It wasn't supposed to...I was going to come back for you..."

"Oh, were you?" the gunnery chief retorted, shaking her head with a fake grin of mirth, "Well, isn't that a relief to my dead corpse. Were that I had a corpse. Unfortunately, your nuclear bomb made sure of that. You made off safe, with Tali and everyone else, and left me to die."

"No, you sacrificed yourself!" he shot back, unable to take it. She wasn't real. She died on Virmire. None of this was real. It was all a nightmare. He just had to wake up.

"Is that what you say to yourself in your sleep?" Ashley ridiculed, her voice becoming a pitiless snarl, "Is that the song you sing to Kaidan, the man I loved? He loved me too, you know. That was...until you took that all away from him. Commander Shepard, so willing to pretend he cares for his crew and that all so willing to dispose himself of them when he sees fit. We're all toy soldiers to you, aren't we?"

"That's not true..." Shepard pleaded.

"Don't lie!" Ashley spat, moving to within inches of his face, "Especially not in the face of the truth. You are a pathetic little man, Shepard. Noone cares about you. You'll face the Reapers all alone when the rest of the crew figures out your dirty little secrets. Tali will stop loving you, Garrus will want you dead, and Kaidan will finally see you for the man you really are; a murderous scumbag who's willing to murder his own friends for his own survival and gain. You're a coward, Marcus Shepard."

He shook his head, but could only watch as Ashley backed away. His eyes were suddenly unable to move, fixated on Ashley's retreating form. She only gazed at him, a forced smile on her face, "Tell me, have you ever been vaporized by a nuclear bomb? Of course you haven't. But I have. Its quite painless. Well, if you're in the Ground Zero, anyway. If you're not, then its excruciatingly painful, I've heard. Involves lot of melting flesh, sizzling eyeballs, and an incinerated skeleton. Then you've got the firestorm; completely destroys everything. And if you survive that, then you've got the nuclear winter. That's the slowest kind of death; death by radiation. The most painful. Luckily for me, I was in the ground zero. But you weren't. Oh, imagine if the Normandy had an engine failure? Oh yes, what would have happened then..."

Before his eyes, and to his horror, Tali, along with Garrus, Wrex, Kaidan and Liara appeared behind Ashley, along with Chakwas and Joker. All of them looked at him accusingly, and Ashley only mocked him further as the sound of fire reached his ears, "Imagine...if you all burned with me."

Cries of agony shot up into the air like a chorus of sirens and tears flowed from Shepard's eyes as he watched as his friends screamed and wreathed, their bodies going up in flame as the flesh sizzled and popped off their body, slipping and slidding in wet pools, pits of bone and skeleton appearing all over; the picture made him sick to the core. But his eyes wouldn't budge and he could only watch in sheer terror and horror as their skin slid off their bones, as their eyes popped out of their sockets, and they fell to the ground; all that was left of them was sizzling skeletons. He screamed as Tali's suit caught fire and she too succumbed, her beautiful pale skin vaporized in seconds and her accusing eyes popping. She reached out an arm, begging for help but it soon fell, her body exploding as her skeleton blew apart, scattered to the wind. Ashley soon followed her fate, and her last words fell on the wind...

"What if you burnt with them."

He could only scream as his own body melted and wreathed, and a gargantuan white flash filled his vision followed by a sound like that of a clap of thunder...

He sat straight in bed, springing up like a well-placed spring, his body drenched in a cold sweat. He quickly looked around his room to see if everyone was okay, and noticed that he was back in his cabin. He heard soft snoring, and looked to the right, letting out a long breath at the sight of Tali's naked form curled under the blankets and sleeping softly. She hadn't woken, so he merely kissed her on the shoulder, taking in her taste before he tossed the covers on his side aside and sat on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands, wiping the unwelcome sweat from his forehead and cheeks.

I've never had a dream so vivid. Those images...they felt so real...But what had truly frightened him was how his mind perceived Ashley in that dream. It perceived her with a deep sense of loathing for him, of hatred. But she hadn't hated him had she? She had known what had needed to be done. But to see the flesh melting from her bones...he wanted to vomit, but his body would not let him. Instead, he let out a rough cough, feeling as if he was about to choke.

His omni-tool beeped on his night stand, and he reached out to it, picking it up and sliding it onto his wrist, activating it. Seeing that EDI was calling him, he let a grim smile reach his lips before he answered the call, whispering, "Thanks for the discretion EDI, what is it?"

"Yeoman Chambers would like to inform you that you have an incoming call for Arcturus Station on a secure channel," the AI informed him, "The caller has been identified as that of Fleet Admiral Steven Hackett."

He frowned, "Admiral Hackett is calling me?" He looked at his bedside clock, "At this hour? Its still morning, even in galactic time."

"The call was marked urgent," EDI stated, "That is all I can say. Would you look me to rout it to your terminal?"

He sighed, shaking his head. Legion had left not too long ago, and Mordin had left a few minutes ago from what he saw on the crew roster section of his omni-tool, leaving the Normandy's crew infinitely smaller. He didn't need this. But whatever it was had to be important if Hackett was contacting him directly from Arcturus, "No," he glanced at Tali's slumbering form, before moving over to the couch where they had haphazardly tossed their clothes, grabbing a shirt, "Patch it through to the debriefing room. I'll be in there in a few minutes."

Once dressed, he immediately entered the elevator, ableit quietly, and sent for the CIC. Once there, he moved across the empty deck, with only Kelly being at her post, and through the armoury into the debriefing room. Once inside, he requested EDI set it up on the big screen at the back instead of the quantum entangler. Following his request, he leaned back against the table, crossing his arms whilst rubbing the soreness from his eyes; the lack of sleep he had was disgusting. Even his and Tali's love-making last night hadn't helped. It wasn't long before the feed was put through, and Hackett's familiar, old-grissled face appeared on the screen.

"Commander Shepard, glad you could make time for this. I'm sorry for waking you at this ungodly hour, but something serious has happened that requires your attention."

Marcus' interest was peaked in a second, the fuzziness in his eyes fading as he met the admiral's gaze, "What's happened? Has the Alliance fucked up on something, and needs me to sweep up some stuff?"

"Nothing like that. Much worse, actually," Hackett replied cooly, clasping his hands behind his back in a position he seemed to love, as all officers did apparently, "We have a deep-cover operative working out in batarian space; the Viper Nebula, to be precise. She, along with a marine battalion and some of our best scientists were volunteered for black ops in that nebula."

He still wasn't sold, "Just what are they doing in batarian space? Is the Alliance trying to start a war?"

"No Shepard. We're trying to stop one," Hackett replied, shaking his head, "Doctor Amanda Kenson and her team were called The Project. They were tasked with finding any evidence of the Reapers' existence. She got it, and alot more. Her last communication states that she believes that a Reaper invasion is imminent."

"Tell me something I don't know," Marcus replied, shaking his head incredulously, "She's only proving what I've been telling the Alliance and the Council for years."

"Except this is alot more serious commander," the admiral declared, gulping, "As of last communication, the Reapers are due to arrive in seven days."

His eyes widened in shock, eying the admiral, "What!?" All our planning. All our hard work. How did they get here so quickly? I thought we'd have more time! Only a week until the Reapers are here!? "What's her proof!? Just how did the Reapers get here so quickly!?"

"They aren't here yet, Commander, so rest easy," Hackett informed him, "Kenson has stated that the Reapers will still take quite a long time to reach our galaxy, but they may reach it sooner through the use of a continegency plan they had set up in case the Citadel failed; she believes the Alpha Relay, also known as the Bahak Relay and Viper Nebula's main relay, could be the key to their entry. Due to this discovery, she was tasked with finding any means possible to stop the Reapers from arriving."

Marcus had listened the whole way through and was intrigued, but he knew there was a catch. Otherwise Hackett wouldn't have bothered contacting him just now, "But something went wrong, I presume?"

Hackett sighed, rubbing his temples, "Unfortunately, you're correct. Kenson's ship, the Ground Zero, was on its way back to Project Base, a facility she had built on a asteroid in the system's asteroid belt, when a batarian cruiser spotted her. The batarians killed her crew and I've just learnt she's been arrested and taken to Aratoht and accused her on the basis of terrorism against the Hegemony," he finished with his sentence with a obvious air of annoyance, "Now you can see why I've contacted you. We can't risk our marine units in The Project breaking silence and rescuing Kenson. That would only alert them to their presence. Someone else has to land on Aratoht, break Kenson out of prison, and return her to base so she can finish whatever it is she has planned."

Marcus jabbed a finger at himself, desperately holding back a yawn, "Oh, I can only guess who you want to go in."

"We need you Shepard. Kenson needs you. You and your crew are the only ones who's experienced the Reapers head on," Hackett explained, "You're the best candidate to rescue her. We need the best of the best in an op like this. Your old N7 skills will come in handy."

"I bet," he nodded, confirming Hackett's orders, "Very well. As soon as we're done on Terra Nova, I'll have the Normandy set a course for Aratoht. I'll take a team down into the prison, extract Kenson and bug out. Then we'll let her finish whatever she has planned, and we can stop the Reapers from returning just yet."

Hackett's face turned blank, and he didn't nod his agreement. Marcus looked at him for a few seconds before knowing something of what he had said had been wrong, "What is it, Admiral? Did I say something wrong?"

"Shepard, I'm not saying your squad isn't able. They've more than proven their worth to the galaxy," Hackett told him, mouth set in a grim line, "But I need you. As a favor to both of us, I'm asking you to go in alone."

He widened his eyes in shock, uncrossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the admiral, "Excuse me? Sir, you should know that I don't work alone. I work with a team. People I depend on to watch my back. I can't believe you expect me to waltz into a batarian prison full of murderers and psychopaths with only my weapon to guide me. That's ridiculous. Even I didn't defeat Saren or the Collectors without a team."

"Defeating Saren and the Collectors didn't require stealth," Hackett pointed out, "This does. We want Kenson extracted with minimal diplomatic fallout. The Parliament is up in arms about hiring you to get the job done, but if the Normandy simply bombarded the planet, your name would be all over the headlines, with the batarians demanding your head. The Alliance would be forced to answer. You would be part of a galactic manhunt. Do you want that? For your sake, your wife's and your crew's; go in alone, that's all I can ask."

Marcus took time to ponder on that. It's for the best if I go lone wolf on this. I can't risk Tali's safety, or that of the crew's simply because I don't want to go in without a squad. Its something different, but I can do it. I'm N7 special forces for god sake; if I can't do it, noone can. It'll take time to convince Tali on that, but I'm sure I can manage it.

It's for the best, he continues to tell himself. He just hoped that were true.

He finally met Hackett's eyes, "Okay, I'll set a course for Aratoht and I'll take a shuttle down to the surface. Alone, like you said. Don't want to arouse suspicion."

"You're doing the right thing Commander, I hope you understand that," Hackett hold him, "Keep me posted, Hackett out."

Hackett's face disappeared from the screen, and he was in the process of opening his mouth to tell EDI when the AI spoke, "Joker has already been informed. ETA is one galactic day, Commander."

He nodded solemnly, sighing heavily as he moved around the table and moved to the door, "Thanks EDI," was all the words he could muster as he left the room in utter silence.

The galaxy just hadn't said 'fuck you' enough to him, apparently.

"And so begins the beginning of the end of our adventure...for now, at least."

- Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"Definitely one of the more painful endeavours, I'll admit."

- Marcus Shepard.

"What's that?"

- Reia'Inas pav Earth.

"You might have heard of it. They call it 'the Bahak Incident.' You'll find out why."

- Marcus Shepard.

A/N:

This is but a taste of what's to come. Chapter 29 next, and then the Arrival DLC in Chapter 30; 29 will just be the build-up to it and the final conversations before the DLC commences. However, it seems I have forgotten one little fact.

Chapter 29 might be delayed, for I now have Work Experience to contend with; it lasts a whole week, and I'll be working from 9:00am to 5:00pm at a Law firm, which means I won't have much time to update as I thought. HOWEVER, once that week is over, I can enjoy the holidays, which will last for two weeks, meaning I'll be able to finish Requiem and move on to Holocaust (I hope).

Keelah Se'lai!