Arcturus looked massive. Not as big as the Citadel, but still, for something not made by the Reapers it was huge. When the shuttle reached the docking platform, it felt like I was an ant walking into a cave. It was almost disorienting, but thankfully, my focus had to quickly shift to getting off the shuttle, so I didn't have time to dwell on the station's size. Once Nihlus and I got off the shuttle we were greeted by a technician who pointed us to a door and then got to work on refueling and checking the shuttle's systems.

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting to be on the other side of the door... correction; I'm not sure who I was expecting to be on the other side of the door, but when it opened and we stepped into what I assume was a lobby, Hackett was right there. The guy sure did look grizzled, and his eyes seemed almost weary but still very alert. I wondered how exactly he got the scar, but wasn't going to ask, both out of respect for his privacy as well as the fact that he wasn't alone.

The other person was the first to speak, "Ah! You must be Dazac. A pleasure. Have much to discuss with you."

My mouth was moving as I tried to form words, but no sound came out for several seconds until I'd finally managed to choke out, "Mordin Solus?"

The salarian smiled widely and gave a nod, "Correct. I was contacted by Nihlus, told to meet Hackett, had your situation explained in some detail. Have many questions."

"I'm afraid the questions will have to wait for a time Doctor Solus," Hackett said to the scientist before turning toward me. "I've freed up my entire schedule for the rest of the day. We've got a lot to talk about, and the sooner we get it done, the better."

"Very good," I heard Nihlus say next to me and I turned to see him looking at Hackett, "We should get to it."

Hackett voiced his agreement and then began leading us out of the room and through the corridors of Arcturus station. I just followed with a great deal of confusion. Mordin hadn't been one of the people I thought we'd planned to tell early... so what was he doing here? I looked to Nihlus, drawing his gaze, and he seemed to recognize my confusion and the reason for it.

"My apologies Dazac," Nihlus said, "But I felt that it would be more beneficial to have Mordin helping us from the start than to wait until this business with Saren is over. We could use his expertise, especially with the Thorian."

"The Thorian?" I asked.

Nihlus nodded, "I'll have to explain later, but yes."

If Hackett and Mordin heard us, they didn't acknowledge it, instead just walking swiftly down a hallway. It was kind of odd to see all the people stopping and saluting as Hackett walked by, but he seemed to give a quick nod to each individual and they went back to what they were doing. I think I'd be a little creeped out by that if I were in his place. I'd definitely have a sore neck.

We entered another room and Hackett gave a wave of his hand, "Please, take a seat." I stepped up to the table he'd motioned to and took a seat in one of the chairs, thankful to be off my feet but nervous as to what was coming next. We'd just gotten off the shuttle and the first thing we were doing was this? I'd been hoping to at least get settled first...

"Before we begin," Hackett said as he took his seat and looked at me, "Admiral Kahoku asked that I express his gratitude, mister Praeletum. Thanks to your information, his team was able to destroy that false beacon and didn't sustain so much as a scratch."

"Uh..." I had no clue what to say. I hadn't realized Nihlus had shared that. Besides, how do you respond to that kind of statement? You're welcome? That seems kind of pointless when the person who's doing the thanking isn't even present. The wry smile Hackett gave at my hesitation was reassuring though, and the subject quickly turned to the information I'd been able to give them.

The next several hours were spent going over everything that we already knew. Everything from the start of the first game to the end of the last. Hackett was a bit perturbed when I mentioned that there was some new content that had been coming out that I hadn't seen. I explained what I knew about it, and it was quickly discarded for the time being. Because we didn't have any concrete data on it, we'd just have to deal with it once everything else was in motion. Much of the time was spent talking about how things were going to change now, especially when it came to recruiting everyone. I was pretty adamant about actually getting all the squadmates from the games involved, and while I think the other three at least understood my reasons for it, Hackett seemed a bit hesitant when it came to a few of them.

When we finally finished I felt as though we'd gone through all the games more than a few times. Hackett said we'd meet again tomorrow once we'd all had time to process what had been discussed and we all had some new ideas. I was grateful to be finished with it, but that joy was short-lived. After an hour of rest Nihlus made me come with him to the training deck on the station. An entire deck just for training... it apparently covered all manner of different set ups and scenarios with different environments, different mock-enemies, and different objectives. Nihlus told me I was just going to focus on basic combat, so that was a relief. We made our way down and the first stop was the armory.

Sweet! I get some armor! We approached the officer who seemed to be in charge in the armory and caught her attention. As soon as she saw us she got a surprised and then doubtful look on her face.

"We're here to get some armor for Dazac, here," Nihlus said, gesturing to me.

"Yes..." the officer said as she looked at her Omni-tool, "Dazac Praeletum, was it?"

I nodded and noticed the look she was giving me with narrowed eyes. I smiled slightly, "Not what you were expecting?"

"Not even close," she replied. "Well, let's see how well you live up to your name there, Dazac. You've been authorized to pick out anything you want, so go ahead and start looking."

"Thanks," I said quietly before walking further in. I looked at Nihlus who gave me a curious look that stopped me. "What?"

He shook his head, "It's nothing. Start looking for something you think you'd like. The sooner you pick something out, the sooner we can get to training."

"Joy..." I muttered as I turned and started walking past the wall of shelves and to a terminal. As I thought, it turned out to be a catalog of everything they had, and I started looking through it. This was more difficult than I thought it would be. I wanted mobility and protection, but to get more of one, I had to sacrifice some of the other. I couldn't figure it out, so instead I started looking through things besides armor. I browsed through the weapons briefly but didn't spot anything, and then I started looking through some of the military grade Omni-tools they had. They were definitely better than the one I'd been given. Most were pretty much the same, just with different specs that benefited different programs at the cost of effectiveness of others.

I finally stopped on one though that peaked my interest. When Nihlus saw that I'd taken an interest in one he looked over my shoulder at it and commented, "That's still only in its prototype stage."

"Yeah, so?" I asked.

He pointed to the screen and added, "It's still going through testing. You sure you want to take that risk?"

I frowned before nodding, "Yeah. An Omni-shield will be really useful, I think."

Nihlus nodded, "Very well, if you feel you can be effective with it, go ahead. I'd just recommend an armor set with expanded Omni-gel storage."

"Omni-gel?" I asked, confused. That had only been in the first game.

Nihlus nodded, "Yes. In order to use the Omni-tool's fabricators to make things such as drones, blades, and the like, it requires Omni-gel. This Omni-shield you want consumes a rather large amount of the stuff. In a prolonged battle, it's possible you'd run out."

"Where's it stored?" I asked, curious.

"All Omni-tools store some themselves, enough to be used a few times at least," Nihlus explained, "But any extra is stored in the armor, or on your belt."

I nodded at his explanation and turned back to the terminal. Well, that would narrow my search parameters a bit, so I started looking through the armor sets. I finally found one that looked promising, at least it had high shields. "What about this?" I asked.

Nihlus leaned forward, "Hmm, the Kestral Armor System. Another prototype... well, it has adequate shielding, and it is adaptive so you don't have to have everything it shows on the stock model here. I assume you'll want to focus more on your biotics and weapons so I'd suggest choosing a different piece for the waist."

I selected the option for advanced customization and removed the waist piece, then selected a different one that allowed for me to carry extra omni-gel and medi-gel, as well as grenades if I wanted.

"Are you sure you want to keep this headpiece?" Nihlus asked, "It relies on micro-cameras for you to see instead of a normal visor."

That was a good point... if the camera's went out, I'd be screwed. Then again, it was more protection, and I bet that the cameras would have multiple settings, so that might be useful if it was difficult to see... "I'll stick with it," I said. I was pleased to see that the suit had several micro computers in it, so that the HUD had an aim assist that would register what kind of weapon I was holding, and where it was being aimed to help me know where to shoot. The arm pieces also had stabilization elements in them, so that should help keep my aim steady as well.

I finished with that and submitted the request for the armor and was asked to step into a scanner so they could figure out the proper size I'd need. The officer from earlier approached us with a half-hearted smile, "Well, I see you sure put Admirals Hackett's privilege to use." I frowned at her and she added, "You picked out two prototype items, and then customized one of them further."

"Are they expensive?" I asked.

She gave a nod, "Very."

I cringed at the reply, but luckily Nihlus was able to make me feel not so guilty about it by saying, "Considering what you'll be doing with the armor, and the risk you'll be in because of it, it's not really all that much."

"Big mission, huh?" the officer said, "You don't look like you're at the age where you've got that sort of experience."

"I'm twenty-four," I said.

She blinked and opened her mouth to say something but then seemed to think better of it and just shook her head. "Because the armor you requested is a prototype, we don't keep a variety of sizes in stock," she said, looking at a datapad, "It'll take about an hour to fabricate the armor." Nihlus let out an audible sigh of exasperation, apparently impatient to get me started on training. "The work has already started though," the officer added.

"Thanks," I said to her before turning to Nihlus. I gave a weak smile as he just shook his head. I think he got the feeling that I was relieved that it would take longer now, and he'd be right. I had the feeling I wasn't going to be enjoying this training all that much.