The sun had edged towards the horizon when they finally reached the border of the forest. They had made it across the open plains before nightfall only by pushing hard. Just the thought of being under trees during the day for shade brought a sigh of relief to Amala. So far, though, they hadn't seen the rest of their party. But there was no telling how far around Saren had led the others in an effort to avoid that asari camp on the plains. All they could do was continue heading in the direction that Saren had indicated they needed to go in order to find the Primarch.

Life in the forest was more visible, especially now that the sun was not quite so fierce overhead. Their steps slowed however, when the sounds of the forest around them began to drop off.

"Think they are from the camp?" Amala murmured, as she caught glimpses of movement around them.

Garrus nodded. He put a hand on Amala's shoulder. She stopped and waited next to him. It wasn't long before several turians appeared. Garrus stepped in front of Amala as he moved to address them.

"Did General Arterius reach the camp?"

One of them stepped closer, her rifle dropped only slightly as she addressed them.

"Yes. You must be Vakarian, but he said it was another kind of alien with you," she said, gesturing towards Amala.

"She is. They call themselves humans, but like the others, she has to protect herself from the radiation of our sun. Your orders were to find us and bring us in, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, let's get moving then!" Garrus said with an exasperated huff.

At a nod from their leader, the squad fell in around the pair. Garrus pulled up the translation program as they walked along, figuring they would need it sooner rather than later.

"Hey!" Amala stumbled forward a few steps.

Garrus swung around just as the turian behind Amala was about to butt her in the back again with his rifle. A snarl from deep within was the only warning the offender got before Garrus grabbed his rifle with one hand and with the other, he held the turian by the throat.

"Idiot! She is a dignitary for her people, who are going to risk their lives to free us, and you treat her like this. You will treat her with the respect due to her!"

Garrus glared at him until he dropped his eyes; once his point was made, he released him and turned back around. He strode forward, forcing the squad leader to begin moving again.

"Thanks," Amala said, keeping pace with him.

"It shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry."

"It's okay-"

"No, it's not," he cut in. "You've been patient enough, probably more than I would have been."

"The turian people have been pushed to the edge. I can forgive a little tension between us."

Amala looked around to find that the turians were watching her, their mouths slightly open. It was then she realized that Garrus had gotten the program working before he had been interrupted. She had automatically tuned out the sound of her own words coming from his tool.

The rest of the trip was uneventful, the others keeping a respectful distance from her and Garrus. The camp, they found, was well hidden. In fact, it almost appeared to be deserted. The guards they passed merely nodded at their arrival. The majority of it was underground, very little was on the surface and what was there could easily be moved if needed. The entrance to the cave had vegetation in front of it and they carefully made their way through into the heart of the post.

Except for the surroundings, it looked like any military post Amala had been in during her career. Weapons were being checked, maps were laid out and being discussed, while others napped wherever they could. They were led to a chamber where they found Saren and Nihlus along with several other turians Amala hadn't seen before.

"Ah, good, you're both here," Saren said. "I assume the mushroom cloud over the plains was your doing?"

Garrus chuckled a little at that. "Scratch one asari camp."

Amala shucked her helmet with a sigh of relief. "Yes, they were going to hit Corinthus's people. The Cain made sure that wasn't going to happen."

One of the turians beside Saren moved forward; an older turian, his plates dark grey. His amber eyes watched her closely. "Commander Shepard? I'm Primarch Victus. The General here has told me a rather fanciful tale. If it had been anyone else I might not have believed it, but I know he isn't given to flights of fancy."

"I can appreciate your skepticism, Primarch, but perhaps we should get the QEC up and running and you can talk with my leaders and have some of your fears allayed."

"The instructions were surprisingly easy once we got them translated," Nihlus stated from where he stood next to the machine.

"We really didn't want to start it up without you here, in case your superiors wished to talk with you," Saren explained.

"Ah, they would just expect I was out fighting somewhere," Amala said.

At a nod from the Primarch, Nihlus pushed the power button. The machine flickered to life. The holo display was empty for a few minutes and then the shape of Admiral Anderson appeared.

"Shepard? You there?"

Amala stepped onto the pad and the machine transmitted her image.

"I'm here, Anderson."

He grinned with relief. "About dammed time."

"It took us a little longer than expected to get where we needed to be. We found the Primarch."

Amala stepped off and gestured to Victus to step where she had been. He strode onto the disc and Anderson smiled and gave him a cordial nod.

"Primarch, I'm Admiral Anderson. I'm sure you have a lot of questions and I'll try and answer them to the best of my ability."

"I'm to understand that your people will be inserting yourselves into this war?"

"Correct, though not alone. The krogan and even the salarians will be coming to your aid. The krogan as shock troops, and the salarians as tech and intelligence personnel."

"And how soon can we expect this to happen?"

"Anderson, sooner rather than later. It's ugly down here," Amala added.

"We are working on it. The troop ships are picking up the krogan now. That friend of yours, Wrex, has rallied even more of his people than he expected. We are planning a three-part assault, Primarch. First, we will be sending several of our strongest fleets through the relay to break the blockade. Once that is done, our troop ships will come through and begin dropping troops planetside."

"And what will this 'help' cost us?" Victus asked, suspicion laced throughout his tone.

"We need allies against the asari and batarians in order to prevent them from controlling the galactic council. Bringing out what is happening on Palaven is the best way to stop the batarians from getting a stronger foothold in the council."

"Yes, General Arterius explained some of this. I needed to hear it coming from you. So what is the third part of your plan?"

"To be blunt, it's you, sir. I've been charged to bring this half of the QEC to an open Council session. There we will present it as an innovation to impress the others. When we demonstrate it, well, that is when you get to tell the galaxy exactly what has happened to your people. We've already seeded copies of your language throughout all the major space ports and on the Citadel. And we've made sure to invite numerous representatives from various press organizations to the Council session. What has happened won't be hidden any longer."

Victus nodded. "I like it. When will you start the attack?"

"Two days on your time. So at that time I need you near the machine so when I start mine up, you can respond."

"Understood. With the return of General Arterius, I can be here waiting with my advisors. I will also try and insure the safety of your representative while she is on my world."

Anderson snorted. "Shepard? Point her at your enemies and let her go. Primarch, she is one of our best soldiers. She can take care of herself."

"Still, I would not want one of my people to hurt her, mistaking her for one of our enemies."

"Do what you feel is best. Anderson out."

Victus stepped off the pad and the machine went quiet.

Garrus swallowed the knot in his throat and took a step towards the Primarch. If Amala was to get a guard, it would be him. "Primarch, sir? I will stay with her and protect her. She knows me and I think trusts me," he glanced over at Amala and she gave him a smile and a nod. That was enough to bolster his resolve. "And, well, with my marks, I am pretty easy to recognize even from a distance."

Victus turned to gaze at the younger turian. "Agreed, you will be her liaison with our people."

With a flick of a talon, he gestured to one of the turians waiting along the wall. "Tarquin, show them around and get them settled in storage area five for now. Commander." Victus gave them a dismissive nod.

A young turian stepped forward and gestured for them to follow him. He led them out of the room.

"I'm Tarquin Victus. Yes, he is my father," he said with a bit of a sigh. "Come, you must be hungry. Let me take you to what serves as, well, I would call it our dining area, but I think that is exaggerating a bit."

They descended deeper into the earth. Some of the areas looked carved out while others appeared natural. Where they ended up was larger than most of the other rooms, but what stood out was a large hot spring that the turians were using for cooking.

"I'm afraid everything is boiled here. We don't risk fires. But at least it's edible, even if it is boring," Tarquin explained. "I, uh, don't know what we can serve you, Commander."

Amala gave him a reassuring smile. "Actually, hot water works for me. I have my own rations and they just need to be rehydrated."

"Oh, good," Tarquin said, relieved that he didn't have to try and figure out something for her to eat.

Tarquin sat with them as they prepared to eat. Amala had taken a ladle of water, dumped it into a pouch, and stirred it up while Garrus had taken a slab of whatever meat was being served.

"You two really destroyed an asari camp all by yourselves?"

Amala and Garrus grinned at each other. "Yes," was their answer.

Victus turned to Saren. "I know you've been traveling all day, but it would do the troops good to see that someone has returned from being taken by the asari."

"Of course, Primarch. I will make the rounds with Nihlus; they should see that someone has managed to survive a prisoner camp as well. I know that most of us thought they were taken off to be killed."

Victus gave a nod. "Good. Now, do you truly think the humans can free us?"

"I don't think they would send their forces in if they didn't expect to win. And from what Shepard has told me, their fleet is one of the largest in the galaxy. And if they have more like her as soldiers, well, our enemies are in for a shock."

"And after? What would you recommend, well, assuming we win and survive? You and your companions are the only ones who have been out in the galaxy and returned."

"Primarch, we have to forge alliances. It will be years before the Hierarchy will be even partially restored to what it used to be. We can't be unprotected. When the asari and batarians beg for peace, we demand money and resources. As much as we can get from them." Saren's voice dropped into a snarl at that last statement.

"There are those who will want blood for what was done to us," Victus replied. He was curious as to this shift. Saren was considered the more ruthless of the two brothers, though they were both considered to be gifted soldiers.

"If we were in a position of power we might be able to get it. No, the only reason we will win is because of our allies. We make our enemies pay the only way we can for now. Then we need to rebuild and formalize alliances. I won't have us unable to defend ourselves if I can help it."

"With who?"

"The humans at the very least. And if you want a brutal evaluation of other species, talk to Shepard. She hasn't steered us wrong, so far."

"Thank you for your candid advice, General. I look forward to your report on the troops later," Victus stated with a nod.

"Of course, Primarch," Saren replied, inclining his head.

Now he would get a chance to see what was left of the forces at this post. They still had to survive another two days.

~Thanks once more to Mordinette for all her help, thank you! And one to the readers who make writing this story a pleasure! Now for the bad news, the week of July 15th there will not be an update as I will be out of town for a few days and rather than rush a chapter I will wait until the following week to post a new one. So expect an update the week of July 22nd.~