The Aspect of Fire - Book I - Interventions

by Roku - Molester of Science

What was once known as the legend of the Shepard, might very well become something entirely different, when a certain Aspect decides to intervene in the happenings of mortals. The Aspect of Fire will make his move, and change the face of the Galaxy, forever. REWRITING IN PROGRESS, CHAPTER 5 NOW OUT.

71. Separated minds

Ah... good graces, look at the word-count on this one! I dare say, it is over ten thousand! And actually, I could easily have continued, but then it would have taken longer to write, and it would have been trickier to read and keep a track of events. So, instead we do it this way. I split this chapter up in multiple narratives, giving us the views of differet people, and a reunion of sorts with a canon character that was scripted to die in either ME1 or ME3. Also, we get some insight in what it is like to prepare a HAS-mech for combat, ammunition included. Then, how about some more politics? Nah, let's have some family-fluff first. Actually, it's been so long since I wrote fluffy scenes, I have no idea how good or bad it ended up.

Now then. The poll seems to be the most popular I have done yet, and more than thirty people have voted so far. Still, the poll remains open and I will follow the final vote of the poll.

Right... now, the last chapter pretty much divided you guys. Either you loved it, or you thought it was overkill and somewhat un-needed. Well, the afterburn of the battle is our starting scene, so why don't you see for yourselves how everything turned out?

WARNING: Character on drugs later on in the chapter. Random thoughts and lines might be uttered.

---

Separated minds

Virmire, Hoc System.

Saren's base of operations.

21:58

This was the part of combat Ashley Williams always hated. Seeing friends and comrades fall in battle was terrible, and would never stop hurting. Seeing them pull through all the way, only to die from ignored wounds when the fighting was over… that was the worst part. But… this was different.

She had been ready to scold Thomas whenever he would pull off something dangerous and nearly get himself killed, if only because it was the only way she knew how to imprint on him, just how scared she became when he fell to the ground. But now, berating was nowhere near the top of her list. She was running across the sand with as much speed as the armor would allow for, forcing down the lump of worry that was building up with each step. Her legs were pumping as she closed the final meters between her and the still form. As she reached him, she slid to her knees and turned him over, placing the marine on his back. Wiping the sand from his front, she fumbled for the release to the helmet, borderline ripping it off.

Thomas's face was peaceful. A rare thing to see after he had been using his powers. Usually, his expression would be contorted in pain as the migraines set in. Thát would have calmed her down, as it would have meant he was conscious. This still expression, placid even, was causing her stomach to churn with worry. As the rest of the company reached her, she ignored them, focusing on checking for vitals instead.

"Thomas." She said, pressing a finger to his now exposed throat. Thank God, there was a pulse. It was weaker than it should be, but there was a pulse; "Thomas! Corporal, wake up!"

There was no response. As she stared from his throat to his face again, she noticed two thin trails of blood running down from his nose. Fear started to build in her gut as she tried recalling what to do when the patient might have brain damage or severe head injuries. Dammit, why was those things leaving her when she actually needed to remember them? That was when she noticed another thing.

Thomas wasn't breathing.

One of the marines from the company, the medic from earlier, knelt into the sand next to her, his helmet off with a worried, but professional expression on his face. Without waiting for her to speak, he started unclasping the corporal's armor, opening seals and clasps with trained efficiency. Most of the edges of the armor were scorched, colored black from the heat. That it had not melted completely was a miracle she did not pay any attention.

"He's got a pulse?" The medic asked.

"It's weak, but it's there." She responded, feeling her words come out dry, scraping her throat like sandpaper.

The medic went to work, pulling out field-IV's and patches of green fluids from his satchels. As more and more armor came off, Ashley could see just how much damage had been done in the fight. Multiple places had large splotches of blood accumulations starting to appear where the armor had been struck through. Scars were easily visible at the same places, showing where bone and tissue had been broken and reset in seconds. In mere seconds, Thomas was stripped down to his torn undersuit. The black, flexible material was torn at the arms and on the right side of the chest, showing even more darkened areas. The medic started treating the worst of the areas, slapping on and gauzing up the packages with green fluids. Ashley didn't ask what it was, instead focusing on getting the drop inserted into Thomas's upper arm, then held up the package of clear plastic filled with fluids.

"Has he done this before?" The other marine asked, drawing her focus from Thomas's face, now starting to show off dark blotches as well, to the medic. For a moment, she hesitated, unsure of what to say. A look at the corporal's battered body was enough for her to send said hesitation out the window.

"Twice. Not this intense though. And not nearly as long in duration." She managed to say with a somewhat clear voice. Dammit Williams, now was not the time to fumble around, she thought. Averting her eyes from the medic's, she watched the fluids from the IV run through the tube and into the blood vein in Thomas's upper right arm.

"Damn, I can't do much here. He's suffered at least one fractured rib, burst blood vessels from what I can see, and the nosebleed hints at cranial fractures or maybe a hemorrhage. I can't tell like this, but he has to get to a proper facility." The medic ordered, taking charge of the situation. Ashley was grateful, as most of her thoughts were undoubtedly illogical and driven by fear for the time being.

"The Normandy has a med-bay." Jane's voice suddenly came from behind them. Ashley could feel her body tense up with the voice of the captain. Dammit all, this was her fault! She had been the one to order Thomas into this sick scenario, using him a human weapon; "Joker, we need a medevac. Do you have our position?"

The change of Shepard's voice caused Ashley to look behind her, fixing her eyes on the helmeted red-head as said woman was talking into her wrist-com.

"Uh, that's a positive commander. I just don't know if the Normandy can handle the anti-air fire between her and you guys. I might be able to get to you, but it'll take some time. Who's down this time?" Joker's voice was broadcasted from the link. Jane shook her head and tapped a button, setting the conversation on private. Ashley ground her teeth, nowhere near happy with being left out of the loop. The only sound protruding while Jane was having a talk with the pilot behind her helmet was the huffing of breath coming from a few of the marines wearing heavier gear than the rest. Keeping the IV raised, she stared straight into Jane's visor, trying to see if she could gauge a reaction or stare the woman to death.

After what felt like hours, but was only a few seconds, Jane deactivated her wrist-com, shutting down the militarized version of the Omnitool.

"The fleet is sending a transport to get him. Joker can't get here himself, but there will be a transport with a doctor on its way here soon. "

"How soon will it get here?" Ashley demanded, not tolerating any waste of time, not even from her commanding officer. Jane tipped her head a bit, the only emotional display visible with the helmet on.

"Less than a minute. I'm guessing the troops took some heavy losses punching through, so one of the medevacs was already on its way down. We bunker down here until it shows up, then we join with the main force and go after Saren." Jane's words were weighed, empty of emotion like a good officer should. So it stood to reason that Ashley wanted to punch her.

Instead though, she clenched her fist and looked back down at Thomas, where his face had become mostly purple from the spreading of the dark blotches. If Thomas ended up permanently incapacitated from this, she would visit harm on Jane, captain or not.

---

En route for Daratar.

BSV Scorpio, cargo-bay

10:36 (Ship time)

"So… who gets to drive these things?"

"I call dibs on the blue one!"

"Magnus, they are both blue…"

"Exactly!" The man exclaimed, patting the leg of the hulking mech. While not the best with most kinds of technology, like computers, he loved heavy weapons. And how did you get much heavier than a HAS-mech? The answer, a tank. And since they didn't have a tank, the HAS-mech was the next best thing. Besides, in his eyes mechs beat tanks every time. Unless it was a Mako, but then he would have to make sure Jane wasn't driving the… right. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to shut out the feeling that always seemed to return whenever he thought of her.

"I swear, I sometimes don't understand humans at all…" Lantar muttered, rubbing his brow plates with an idle talon. The other one held the welder he was currently using to assemble the oversized assault rifle used by the mechanized suit. One advantage this thing had over the Hellhound was that its weapons were far easier to maintain, allowing even a regular trooper to do it.

Still, it was one heavy piece of destructive gear.

"Hey, don't fret it. Humans don't understand Humans either. That's why we still kill each other over religion, territories and fashion." Magnus shrugged, leaning back against the mech. He held up one of the carbonized lead shells, admiring the shine of the bronze exterior before he placed it in the row of shells feeding into the gun. Each shell was longer than his hand extended, and thicker than his thumb. He'd guess it was a 9 Caliber shell, maybe 10. Each tip had been marked with a small cut, allowing for more damage to the interior of organics upon impact. And that was saying something when the regular rounds were being fired at 200 a minute, with explosive rounds fired at 60 a minute, allowing for one lonely suit to lay down a lethal and explosive suppressive fire. If there was one drawback he could easily point out though, it was that the suit was unable to be armed with both regular and explosive shells at the same time.

"Fashion? I understand the two first ones, but… you kill each other over clothing?" The Turian asked in disbelief, shaking his head.

"Yep. I heard that once, this woman was killed with stones because you could see her face." Magnus said, shrugging again. By Njord, travelling was boring when you didn't have a sarcastic twit of a crippled pilot to annoy, or a hot red-head to… fuck! Magnus bit his lip, wanting to use the pain to shove Jane from his mind. It was frustrating, not being able to keep someone from your mind. He could feel the tugging in his chest whenever he remembered something they had done together.

It didn't make matters better that apparently, the captain of his new ship seemed to be hooked on him too. It had to be something he smelled like… except that Quarians couldn't smell things, could they? That was one of the things he had been curious about, but Garrus had told him to 'not ask Tali if she could smell things like Turian sweat'. Not that he would have used Turian sweat as an example, but Garrus had been rather annoyed whenever he brought it up, leaving Magnus with the impression that maybe it was a sore spot for Quarians that they couldn't smell things. Either way, he never got around to ask.

"…really?" The Turian asked, looking up from where he was cleaning the interior of the barrel. Magnus nodded, not looking up from where he was inserting shells into the ammo-belt; "Your species is insane…"

"That we are. Or well, most of us. Take one of my old friends for one. He could eat bugs if he had to, but he was afraid of needles. I mean, what's up with that?" He asked with a cocked brow at the Turian. Sidonis seemed like he was considering whether or not to speak, then decided on not to. Magnus sighed, leaned back against the mech and started whistling as he inspected, cleaned and inserted the shells. Gods above, he still had hundreds to finish. Sidonis better pitch in after he had reassembled the gun, or Magnus would be a little prickly. And when he became prickly… Turians with purple markings tended to get a sore butt.

If they had a butt that was. Having never used the showers at the same time as Garrus, and having never looked up naked Turians on the net, he honestly didn't know. Not that he really wanted to know either.

"Need a hand?" A new voice broke in. Magnus looked to the stairs where one of the human Suns emerged. It was not one of the guys he knew, but there were only so many humans on the ship. The Sun had a Sentry helmet dangling from his hip instead of the regular helmets, marking him as one of the ship's three regular scouts as well as sharpshooters. He had red hair, almost auburn, skin that rivalled Magnus's own in paleness and small, nervous smile on his face. Great, a ginger.

Still, help was help

"Sure, drop down and start cleaning shells, then insert them into the ammo-belts." Magnus replied with one of his trademark shrugs; "Takes a war, so better sit your ass comfortably."

"Thanks. I'm Pfc. Tremaine." He said, sitting down while looking at the odd pair for something akin to acceptance. Great, so he was a bit insecure as well? What was he even doing on this ship? Not that Magnus said so, not in those words at least.

"Magnus Olafur, Trooper." Magnus said, offering the younger man a nod. Not that he looked that much younger, but it was clear he was not as old as the Icelandic ex-Alliance. Sidonis extended a hand towards Tremaine.

"Operative Lantar Sidonis. CQC-expert." He said, shaking the man's hand. It was evident in the red-head's eyes that he had not expected this reaction. Probably the opposite, with the human being the welcoming one and the Turian being less welcoming. Magnus just snorted at the notion, going back to cleaning his shells for a few moments. Surprisingly, Tremaine seemed to take after him right away, himself starting to clean shells and insert them in the belt.

"Your name?" Magnus asked after a few minutes of silence, causing the private to look up from his work.

"Tremaine?" The private asked, seemingly not sure what Magnus was asking. The trooper let out an annoyed sigh, realizing that this one probably was one of those stiff rank-and-file people who only spoke with the surname.

"Your first name?" He tried, not looking up from a shell that had a nasty caking of grease on one side. There was a moment of hesitation from the newcomer, followed by an "ah" as he understood what Magnus was asking.

"Kyle." He said. He then added; "I work with Nassir and Boris as sharpshooter."

Sidonis nodded with approval, probably because all Turians valued sharpshooters for their precision and patience. Magnus had never gotten the hang of sniping outside what was required in N-school. It took a few things he lacked. Patience and calm were two key factors.

"So, Kyle. How long have you been with the Suns?" The Turian asked, putting down one of the bolts for the guns' firing mechanism, wrapped in a greasy cloth.

"Only for a few months." He said, then went silent as if it was something he was embarrassed over. Magnus caught Sidonis's eye with a cocked brow, the puffed out a breath as he realized it seemed to have become his turn to chat up the private. He wasn't even sure why. People could work just fine in silence too, but since they were stuck on the ship together, that was probably the reason.

"And… what did you do before that? You don't just become a sharpshooter overnight." Magnus knew from experience that thát was true. He had spent more than half his time in N-school learning how to become an effective sharpshooter. No way someone became it over a few months.

"I… worked with SAS." He said, not taking his eyes from the huge bullet between his fingers. While Magnus racked his brain for that particular organization or division, Sidonis just looked questioningly at the two humans. Right, Turians wouldn't know what human military groups were called.

"SAMS? Like in Special Air Marine Services? Systems Alliance Marine… what?" Magnus tried, placing the shell in the belt, then took a new one from the large container of industry-grade shells. The shells were packed lying down, with thousands of rounds in each container, and four containers in each crate. Tremaine cleaned a new shell and inserted it before looking back up at the pair looking at him.

"Systems Alliance Marine Scouts." He said. It didn't explain why he was on the ship though, and Magnus could easily imagine that the regular forces were more comfortable than serving a mercenary organization. So, again… why?

"Huh…former military too?" Sidonis asked, looking between the two humans. Magnus sent him a look that pretty much asked the Turian to shut it about his past. Trying to explain his supposedly real former life, was always a bother as he had to invent and remember new lies each time. In one version he had told Aresh, Magnus had been forced to seek new work after an incident with some Batarians. There were worse lies, considering the anti-Batarian mindset the Suns currently held.

"Yes. Aren't most people in the Suns former military?" Tremaine asked.

"Well, the Turians are. I don't know how many of the humans, but I'm fairly certain our captain started her military career in the Blue Suns on Omega." The Turian mused, tapping an idle talon on the handle for the gun's stock, being in the process of checking the trigger-system.

"Omega?"

"Yes, apparently she ended her Pilgrimage there, joining the Suns. The details are…sketchy." Sidonis said, scratching his mandible with the other hand.

"So… what did you guys do before all this?" Tremaine asked. Sidonis, who knew what Magnus and Tara had been doing until they joined up with the rest of the Suns, glanced at his colleague.

"Alliance Marines, 501st division. Left them after an incident on the Citadel. Leave it at that" Magnus said, his voice not allowing room for any arguments. Tremaine nodded, then looked at Sidonis.

"Turian fourth navy, served for six years before I grew tired of the rigid mindset and their intolerance to other opinions. Now I serve on a multi-species crew, and I have the time to work on my project." The Turian added the last part with obvious pride. Magnus repressed a small groan as he remembered the Turian's unusual obsession with everything connected to Human culture.

"Project?"

"Well, you see, I-" Sidonis began.

"Lantar here has a fetish for human culture." Magnus broke in, not even bothering to look up from where he was rummaging through shells, paying more attention to the gorgeous feeling of brass and cobber combined with the weight of lead on the inside of the shell. Sidonis snapped to look at the human.

"I do NOT have a fetish!" He exclaimed, flapping his mandibles widely.

"You ask about everything from Nordic gods to what kind of soap and clothing Muslims use." Magnus pointed out, causing the Turian to splutter but remain silent.

"He does?" Tremaine asked, looking at the Turian with disbelief.

"No!... well, maybe… I mean, I'm writing a paper on human culture and…" The Turian said, trailing off as he realized he had lost the debate; "Dammit…"

"That's awesome. I've never met a Turian who was interested in human culture before!" The private exclaimed, throwing his arms to the side. Unfortunately, one of those hands held a shell that went flying from its place and hit the floor a few meters away; "Bugger"

As Tremaine got to his feet to retrieve the shell, Sidonis shot Magnus a glare. The trooper just shrugged it off though, sending the Turian a smirk that basically said 'what are you going to do about it?'

"Humans are really weird…" The Turian grumbled, then added; "And have a tendency to be pissing annoying." Which just caused Magnus to chuckle;

"And thus, we are back at the start of the conversation. Now we only need Tremaine to arrive and offer-"Magnus smirked.

"Need a hand?" The voice of Tremaine came from behind before he dumped himself on the crate again, wearing a smile that spoke of renewed confidence. Magnus cocked a brow at that, momentarily unable to speak. Then, he just barked a laugh and slapped the private on his shoulder.

"Hah! You'll fit in just fine here!" He chuckled. Maybe there was some proper company to be gained with this guy? If anything, he was more sociable than Aresh. Still… Ginger. Magnus breathed out a small, content sigh, wondering, if she was alive somewhere and sometime, what Jane might be doing right now. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts. Thinking about Jane still hurt, and with the knowledge that Tara wanted his 'D', or whatever Quarians said, he felt like even remaining near the adorable Quarian was something of a betrayal.

Still, Jane would probably have smiled at the scene.

---

Virmire, Hoc system

Saren's base of operations

22:00

Watching Fisher fall forward on his face, seemingly with no life-signs, Jane gave the order to move out, the realized that Williams had already started running down the hill even as she raised her hand. Had there been enemies about, Jane would probably have shouted at the younger woman for not being careful. But considering that the reason for her head start was that Fisher had just worn himself out by killing a small army, she remained silent, instead setting off after the Gunnery Chief, clasping her rifle into its seals on the run.

Even while running, she was bypassed by one of the other marines, a man carrying numerable satchels and bags, as well as a red cross on his shoulder marking him as a medic. Jane's legs were pumping already, yet she was not nearly as fast as a man carrying medical equipment? That settled it, she was going to hit the treadmill first thing when they came back. However, her condition was not her worry at the moment. Rather, it was the fear of events repeating themselves, her losing the people under her command, the people who trusted her. Well, maybe not like her old crew had, but she was and felt responsible for the lives under her command, and Reapers be damned if she was losing someone now. She knew it would be fully her own fault if Fisher died now.

"Damn, I can't do much here. He's suffered multiple fractured ribs, burst blood vessels from what I can see, and the nosebleed hints at cranial fractures or maybe a hemorrhage. I can't tell like this, but he has to get to a proper facility." The marine, marked as a medic, exclaimed, wrapping up Fisher, now in his undersuit, with the experimental medicine she knew Chakwas had stocked the med-bay with when they docked at Arcturus. Jane knew Fisher's life was probably hanging in the balance here, and judging from the blotches on his face, as well as the nosebleed, he had cranial injuries.

"The Normandy has a med-bay." She said, shutting off all emotion from her voice. Ashley was livid with worry, looking between Fisher and the IV held high in her hand. Somehow, the sound of Jane's words seemed to snap her attention from the battered marine, and straight to Jane. The captain could feel the withering glare sent her way by the Chief. Swallowing the worry in her gut, she pulled out the armored version of the Omnitool. While essentially the same as the regular model, it was armored and enforced to survive falls, explosions and the likes which the regular tool couldn't take; "Joker, we need a medevac. Do you have our position?"

"Uh, that's a positive commander. I just don't know if the Normandy can handle the anti-air fire between her and you guys. I might be able to get to you, but it'll take some time. Who's down this time?" Jeff's voice came in from her helmet. Jane realized her communication was on public. She grit her teeth, shut down the speakers and scowled. Calm down Jane, this isn't Jeff's fault. If anything it's yours, so don't start chewing him out for not being Superman. Right…

"Fisher is down with severe injuries, probably internal bleeding, with risk of organ-damage. We don't know, but he needs to get to the Med-bay this second. Now get your ass here, or be degraded to 'average' pilot."

"Aw shit… I can't get straight to you, but I'll call up the fleet and have them send a transport down there. Should take just a minute. Also, the main force has broken through the barricade, how copy?" There was no snarky comment to be heard in his voice, signifying just how serious the situation was.

"Fine… tell them to prepare for immediate treatment." Jane ordered, scowling behind her helmet. Why was it that every time she started caring for people, they got hurt or died? She had loved Magnus, and he had died in her arms. She had seen Kaidan as a brother, and Ashley as something of a surrogate sister. One she had been forced to abandon, the other was killed anyway when the nuke went off. Along with the rest of her team…

No! No way was she going to let the same events repeat themselves. If she had to bite the bullet to prevent it, then so be it.

Realizing that Joker was still on the line, she shook her head and killed the transmission, looking back at the scene in front of her. The medic was still patching up Fisher. Ashley was still staring her down, and the rest of the marines had arrived. Jane tipped her head, taking a deep breath before switching her helmet back on to speakers. She really needed to get a grip, or she would end up losing people. That, or she would have to let the leadership pass to John.

"The fleet is sending a transport to get him. Joker can't get here himself, but there will be a transport with a doctor on its way here soon. " She said, keeping her voice as free of emotions as she could. It wasn't easy, as her heart was beating a mile a minute and her mind kept screaming that she was going to lose someone.

"How soon will it get here?" Ashley demanded. Jane didn't look her in the eye, knowing that she deserved whatever wrath the woman threw at her until they knew I Fisher would be fine or a vegetable for the rest of his life. Jane looked down, staring at the sand for a moment.

"Less than a minute. I'm guessing the troops took some heavy losses punching through, so one of the medevacs was already on its way down. We bunker down here until it shows up, then we join with the main force and go after Saren." She said. Instead of answering, Ashley just looked back at the battered form of Corporal Fisher. Jane swallowed a lump, feeling the dread and bile always following in the wake of a bad decision. Sure, he had cleared the valley, but… had it cost him his life?

Jane turned to regard the soldiers who had gathered behind them, most of them taking some precious time to check their weapons and gear. Looking through the crowd, she picked out the Normandy Marine Detail.

"Staff Sergeant Vega?" She called out, hoping the man had survived so far. He hadn't been among the dead, but so many things could go wrong in a war zone, he could have been killed while she wasn't looking. It was a relief to see the bulky form of the marine run up to her, wielding his Revenant Light Machinegun at ease. He saluted when he reached her, his expression completely hidden behind the helmet.

"Ma'am."

"Sergeant, take two of your best men, and protect Corporal Fisher until the medevac arrives. Then follow us into the base. Understood?" She barked, feeling back in her element while doing something useful. She could still feel the drilling stare Ashley was sending the back of her head. They had to move, but she wasn't going to leave Fisher alone. Never. It was her fault he was the way he was now, and God strike her down if she was just going to abandon him. Vega nodded, tapping his wrist-com.

"Johnson, Yekhev, we're up." Two armored marines, both carrying standard Avenger rifles, stood out from the crowd. Jane took a moment to inspect them, then nodded and turned back to Vega;

"I'm trusting you on this Sergeant. Don't let me down.

---

Citadel, Serpent Nebular

Councilor Tevos's apartment.

05:11

The sound of her communicator going off was the first thing the Asari Councilor heard, disturbing her much needed sleep. She had wanted to sleep away the stress of the job, especially after that human ambassador had acted so utterly insolent with the Council. Demanding that they should sacrifice the lives of Council races to protect worlds under the jurisdiction of the Alliance. They were just paying the price for having borderline ignored the treaty of Farixen all these years, having built a great deal more cruisers than they had been officially permitted to. And now, they were even experimenting with Artificial Intelligences. They were arrogant, upstarts and needed to understand that a stable galaxy needed the Council to be in control.

"Mghmmmgg… Selene, take it will you?" She muttered, trying to order her bondmate to pick up what humans would call a cellphone. Of course, it was so much more advanced than anything a human could make, since it was Salarian design. Her bondmate just snored on, turning her side to the Councilor instead of obeying. Ah yes… she had been annoyed at Tevos for not handling it better with the human ambassador, and they had gone to bed at a sour mood. The communicator kept up the annoying tone, appearing to her that it was hellish sounds wanting to steal away her sleep, the precious few hours she got anyway.

"Fine…fine, I'm coming… Goddess, stop the… I'm coming…" She mumbled, palming the bedside table for the small device. She ended up slapping it on the floor, the clattering sound waking her a bit more up. Opening her eyes to check if she had accidentally ruined it, she found the small beeping device still going merrily off with its hellish tunes. Finding the device, she put it to her ear-canal and rolled to the far side of the bed, not wanting to face Selene's annoyance of having being awoken. Still, there was a pit of worry in her stomach, wondering what warranted a call at this time.

"Councilor Tevos here… who is this?" She muttered, deciding she might as well swing her legs out of bed, and onto the carpeted floor.

"Sparatus. Tevos, go to the TV and shift to Citadel News Network." The Turian sounded… worried? He was hurrying her along anyway, which in itself was more than a little unsettling. Stumbling into the living room while rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she closed the door to the bedroom, making sure Selene wasn't going to hear the screen being turned on. Fumbling with the control, she turned on the screen and switched to CNN.

"-shaking hands with Amul Shastri. This cements the Declaration of Unity as in effect, marking the date of the Quarian induction into the Systems Alliance. Donnelly, what do you make of this sudden move from the Parliament?" A human woman asked her partner, a red-haired woman. Tevos furrowed what humans would call brows, but since Asari didn't have those, she just furrowed her forehead.

"Well we don't know much actually. It would seem this union has been formally planned since the Quarian fleet helped defend Elysium, earning some respect from the thousands of civilians on the planet." The woman said. Her voice was… off. Tevos didn't know a lot about human language, but this sounded like English, only… thicker somehow.

"But, that's less than a month ago. Can politics really work that fast?" The woman with the regular voice said. Tevos rubbed her forehead, recognizing this as the post-event news whose job it was to pick apart events for symbolism, meanings and consequences.

"Well, we did see Ambassador Donnel Udina making a rather heated statement to the Council two days ago. It would seem that politics have been escalating lately indeed."

"Do you think this move is connected to the naval battles fought against Saren and his Reaper ships?" The first asked again, causing Tevos's eyes to widen in shock. So the Alliance told their citizens of the Reaper-threat. Idiotic! Catastrophic! This was bound to be followed up with mass hysteria and panic, chaos in the streets, riots.

Only Sparatus had mentioned to the Turian Hierarchy that what Saren possessed was more than just big dreadnoughts. And that was because the Turians had the discipline to not panic planet-wide. Neither she nor Esheel had informed their civilian governments about the Reapers, and only the top-rank members of the Matriarch War Council and the STG had the same amount of knowledge that the entirety of the Turian governments knowing everything about Saren's biggest assets. Well, everything except for the goddess be damned vision, that Hellish nightmare that a single human marine had showed them. Somehow, by using some sort of gas or other method, he had showed them what could happen if Saren won. Yes, that was it. If Saren won, the Reapers would be a threat. But only if he won. And that was why the Council was preparing to withstand whatever assault the traitor Turian let loose on them.

"It's highly possible. We know that the Alliance has lost more ships than the military has let on, but not how many. Possibly, we are looking at numbers all the way up to another thousand dead from the Battle over Valhalla, and casualties are coming in from other places in the galaxy too. It's logical that we need the Quarians now. They do happen to have the galaxy's biggest fleet." The strange-speaking woman explained, probably laying things out so that the audience could understand it.

"Do we know who is behind this induction by the way? It just seems too sudden for an official delegation to have managed it."

"Yes, I agree. Want something done, do it off the record. I'm just guessing here, but it wouldn't surprise me if Admiral Fisher had something to do with it. Her, or Admiral Petrovsky. Both are known supporters of humanitarian aid for the Quarian people, and we have seen a major influx of Quarian on Arcturus Station already before this."

"So, you are saying you think the military jumped at the chance? Went in before the Parliament knew?" There was a small amount of entertained disbelief in the blond woman's voice. Not that it could compare to the scowl on Tevos's face. If it was a possibility that the human military had done this without the initial knowing of their Parliament, that left just one single possibility.

Fisher.

Admiral Anna Cologne Vestergaard-something Fisher.

It always came down to that very same human officer whenever there was trouble. It had always been that annoying woman who was shouting and flailing her arms, like an infant calling for attention where none was needed. Dammit! Why couldn't the Council find some way to force the Alliance to diminish her influence? They were the Arbiters of the galaxy, surely they had some way of doing so legally?

But dammit all, it was too late for that now.

"Tevos? Councilor Tevos, are you still there?" Sparatus's voice came from the communicator. With a startled expression spreading over her face, the Asari realized she was still holding the thing to her head. So when Sparatus asked, his voice was like shouting in her eardrums.

"Yes… yes, I am here. Goddess, this is…" She muttered, trying to figure out what to say.

"Unexpected?" Sparatus offered. The Asari shook her head.

"Bad, more like it. The Alliance has always been clawing for power, and now, if they get their hands on the Migrant fleet, they can add fifty thousand vessels to their fleets." She shuddered at the thought. True, it would be needed if Saren won, and the Reapers really did become a threat, but since Saren wasn't going to win, this was more a threat than a helping hand. Humanity always wanted more power, and they probably still resented the Council for not paying for the aftermaths of the 314 Incident. Even when they had invaded more Turian worlds than the Turian had with humans, killed more Turians than humans had died, and used weapons forbidden by Citadel law, like nuclear weapons and bombarding planets.

"Be practical Tevos. Saren has more than one ship, we know that much. If he sends a small fleet of them to the Citadel, there is a risk that we might lose. Then we will need the Alliance to be ready to help us, seeing as Fedorian is convinced simply guarding Relays and planets takes priority over the Council. And when Saren has been defeated with the help of the humans, they will be weakened. Then, we can place them back under Council law and demand that they give up illegal projects." Sparatus advised. Right, that did make sense. But the Quarians couldn't just skulk from their punishment could they? Just seek refuge with a new species after what they had created on Rannoch? After unleashing the geth on the galaxy?

"What about the Quarians then? You know better than me that they are more trouble than worth." She said. Sparatus just sighed on his end, an audible nod through the link.

"Indeed, but let them be humanity's problem. If they keep from interfering with Council affairs and keep them out of Citadel space in a public understanding… then I really don't care even if the Quarians settled Luna."

"So… what now?" She asked, waiting to hear what the most war-knowing member of the Council had to say. Esheel would probably have valuable advice too, but with Salarians being so fast-paced, she needed the few hours of sleep she got each night. There was a pause on the other end, probably because Sparatus was considering their options.

"Get some sleep. First thing in the morning, we take it up with on a meeting. If we can, get Amul Shastri on a vid- or holo-link. This needs to be discussed and handled at its beginning. Good night, Councilor."

"Good night Sparatus" She muttered, feeling too shaken to address him as Councilor instead of his name.

The link ended, leaving her to listen to the two irrelevant human females, snickering and bickering about what this would mean for the Human Systems Alliance, why the Alliance would take in the Quarians, what the Quarians could probably gain from this… and a lot of other things the Asari councilor really didn't care about. Snapping the remote, she turned off the screen and went back to bed.

Selene was still snoring, completely unaware of the turmoil raging inside Tevos. Just as well. She probably wouldn't understand it, and there was no need to trouble her with it. Tevos would find a way to legally trump her adversaries. She always had.

---

Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream

Hospital Ward

15:12 (Station time)

"I can't believe it…" Tali muttered, her voice small compared to the feelings burning through her. Hope. Relief. Disbelief. Joy. Pride, maybe? She and her father were fixated as much on each other as they were on the screen. It must have been strange for him, Tali thought, not being at the most important event in his life since her birth.

"I know Tali, I know." Rael'Zorah said, his voice uncharacteristically soft for his usual persona. Then again, usually he didn't get to spend much time with his daughter, a fact this union of species would surely help remedy.

"And… you are here. I mean, father, you're here with me. I… I'm so glad you came." She said, looking at her father. The fact that he was with her, not some admiral or a political person of importance, did things to her heart that were both painful and pleasant at the same time. Rael smiled, looking at his daughter with what was the clearest expression of fatherly pride she had ever seen on him. She could see it, because he had removed his mask first thing when he had been decontaminated by the door, right before she had tackled him to the ground.

Looking at her father's face, unobstructed by his mask, was a rare experience for the young Quarian. She rarely ever got to see him before her Pilgrimage, and when she did, they were not in a situation where he could have his mask off. To have time to talk, just talk with her father while he was mask-less, was almost as alien a concept to her as it had been serving with Turians on the Normandy. Though far, far better in her eyes.

"Of course I am daughter. I came the second I found out you were here… Keelah, I didn't even know you were injured." He said, forcing an audible breaking from his voice. She smiled at that, imagining how rare it was for him to show this kind of emotions. Not since mom had died… there goes the smile, she thought. She looked back to the screen where a pair of human journalists were trying to get a statement from Korris.

"It… wasn't serious, dad. I only broke my leg, had some scrapes. The other out there suffered far-" She mused, feeling a little flustered over the worry evident in his voice. Rael placed his hand on her shoulder, a thing she hadn't experienced from him since the day he saw her off for her Pilgrimage. She hadn't appreciated it back then, still being angered that they had failed to find her John. But now she had John back, and now she could appreciate the feeling of her father's comfort and love.

"I don't care about the others if they started growing extra heads. You are my daughter, Tali. My daughter and only child. You are all I care about." Rael broke her off. She was momentarily taken aback at the sheer conviction in his voice, unsure of what to think of it. If she was all that mattered to him, why had she been alone so many times where other children had been able to spend time with their parents? She decided not to voice this thought though, not wanting to shatter the peace and comfort her father shared with her now.

"Heh… I can imagine they would be a little flustered at growing extra heads." She giggled, leaning against his shoulder. She smiled again, imagining how many times she had wanted to simply touch him, but he had always been so busy. She was rewarded with a sound so rare, she had to blink a few times to make sure it was actually coming from her father. Rael was chuckling.

"Father…Dad, are you laughing?" She asked, disbelieving. He turned to face her, golden eyes shining unhidden by the opaque glass normally making up the face she knew as her father.

"And why not? Tali, the Quarian people has a friend now. Friends, who want to help us. Han sent me a copy of the document they signed." He said, waiting for her attention to be guaranteed to be on him, not the screen; "The Alliance wants to help us repair the fleet and return to Rannoch, to the Homeworld."

He was beaming, his voice hoarse and yet still clear. Tali's heart stopped at this, not having heard thát part in the ceremony. And she had been paying attention. Finding that her breathing had stopped, she gasped, drawing in the lacking oxygen before she looked at her father to see if he would start laughing and admitting to having pulled a joke on her. Not that he had ever pulled jokes on people, but it was a risk she was unable to ignore. Finally, she realized that he had spoken the truth, since his face remained beaming and honest.

"Are…they… they want to…" She stammered, unable to find the right words. Her father's grin remained on his lips as he nodded, seemingly perfectly fine with her lack of words.

"It's true. After three centuries of exile, we can finally return home." He exclaimed. His smile withered then, for just a moment, but enough that she could see it.

"Father?" She questioned.

"It's… not official yet, but… Tali, you may have to prepare for some shocking news…" His voice suddenly shifted from overjoyed and proud, to grave and serious.

"What? What happened? Who died? Not John… father, has something happened to-" She started, unconsciously ending up ranting as the different, multiple and horrible worst-case scenarios went through her mind. Rael stopped her by raising his hand, silencing her with a simple gesture.

"No, nothing bad. At least, I don't think so. Not yet. But… Tali, you know that Saren, the Turian John'Shepard is hunting, is using geth as his soldiers?" Rael started, seemingly unsure of how to proceed. There was something in his voice that Tali couldn't understand. It was worry, but it was more like he was worried for her.

"Yes?"

"I… this is going to sound as strange as I find it myself, but… since the exile, the geth have divided into two factions. One serve Saren… they are the ones wanting all organics to die." He said, gesticulating to make up for the words he was unsure of how to put.

"The geth have two factions?" Tali exclaimed, jumping to her feet before immediately regretting said action as she put weight on her broken leg, causing a searing pain to shoot through her body. Slumping back down in the human-made and human-meant couch, she looked at her father with disbelief. Why would the geth ever split? That would be indicating intelligence and personal feelings, emotions. Geth were machines, computers and runtimes. They didn't have emotions.

"Calm down Tali. Listen… nothing is certain yet, but there is a strong chance that our people can return to the Homeworld without the loss of countless lives in the process." His words were well thought over; himself not being certain if his daughter could take the excitement currently.

"…How?" She asked with a hopeful voice, not understanding how it would be possible without the geth simply bowing to the Quarians and surrendering. Even if they had two factions, or a million for that matter, they would still just kill them all. That was what geth did, right? Rael's expression grew somber.

"Tali, this cannot leave the room. Understood?" He said, back to his regular, commanding voice. Tali winced at the sudden shift in emotions, but nodded. He pulled in a breath before continuing;

"Tali… this station… they have Artificial Intelligence here. It has… he has communicated with the geth. We-"

"What…" Her face went slack with fear. It was one thing to have the geth simply shoot at you, but if one of the AI's had infiltrated an entire station, it could vent the oxygen, activate security systems on the residents, cause a meltdown in the reactors. There were so many things that could go wrong, would go wrong if an AI was controlling the station. Before she could start, her father held up his hands in a calming manner;

"Listen… I know this sounds odd, coming from me in particular. This AI… it is not a threat. Ancestors know I never thought to say that about an AI, but so far it has only helped us. It was it… him, who set up the deal with the geth. They will let us return home to Rannoch, anytime we want, with no need for death and bloodshed." Rael said, his voice filled with emotion as he placed a hand on each of her shoulders; "Do you understand Tali? We can… go home, and live with the geth."

Tali didn't speak. She couldn't. She could feel her chest tightening up, making it more difficult to breathe. Her vision became fuzzy as water started rimming the corners of her eyes. She breathed in sharply, not wanting for her father to see her cry. Not now Dammit, not when they were finally without their masks and could see each other. But the tears didn't abide by her wishes, and started flowing down her cheeks. She lowered her head, trying to hide the tears. Father always told her to be strong. He wouldn't like that she started crying like a child when something good had happened.

As she tried stopping the flow of tears, she suddenly felt a pair of strong, gentle arms lift her into an embrace. Her thoughts froze in her mind as she tried processing something that had happened so rarely she often thought the occasions to be nothing but dreams. Still, she rested her head against her father's chest, feeling the heart beat through the suit.

If this was all a dream, then it was a good one.

---

Virmire, Hoc system

Saren's base of operations, underground.

22:17

"I don't like this place… it's too silent." Riley muttered as she came up behind Jane, holding her shotgun in a strong grip. The Crusader could pack a punch when needed to, and fired a single slug that could go through most objects, enemies included. Jane eyed the weapon with some interest, remembering that she had only ever seen it used by the N7 soldiers. And yet, there was a feeling that she had seen it used before, outside the N7-corps. Torfan maybe? No… no, she wasn't going back to that place. Not again.

"You'd rather have some abomination ripping your arms off Lieutenant?" Clarke mused from behind, aiming his rifle at the dark corners, finger on the trigger.

"Abominations, I can shoot. Silence and shadows, I can't." She muttered, not letting her guard down. Jane looked at where Williams and Alenko were walking, rifle and shotgun held at the ready. She could feel a nagging guilt tear at her heart, knowing that she was responsible for subjecting Williams to much the same ordeal she herself had gone through when Magnus had been shot. Only, Fisher wasn't going to die. No one were going to die.

"I still wish we could have brought Fisher with us here. For a single guy like him, he sure as hell is a powerhouse to be reckoned with. Poor geth, never stood a chance." Clarke said, his voice almost somber at the last words.

"Fuck the geth, they're not what's worst about this place." Riley bit back, aiming her rifle at a fleeting shadow. She squinted her eyes, fairly certain she had seen something move. But when she activated the thermal vision in her helmet, there was nothing. Not even the cold outline of a geth platform. Dammit, was her mind playing tricks on her?

"Then what is?" Clarke asked, his voice suddenly more serious as if he could sense the tensing in Riley's body. She never got the chance to answer, as the entire group suddenly stopped. Looking over the Captain's shoulder, she saw the commander, the Quarian named John'Shepard, kneeling next to a puddle of green liquid.

"Thoughts Commander?" The Captain asked, looking down at the Quarian as he ran a scan of the fluids.

"Well… it's organic. Levo-based DNA. Since it's green, I'd say it's Salarian blood." He finished, deactivating his Omnitool as he looked from the puddle of blood to the Captain. Riley looked at the blood, noticing that it seemed to go straight into the wall.

"Why's there blood here though?" Jane asked herself as much as John, not being able to reach a conclusion. There was no body to be seen, and blood didn't just appear out of nowhere.

"Captain? It looks like it's going straight into the wall. Probably a hidden doorway. Do we check it out?" Riley said, knocking on the metallic walls making up the entire corridor. It was uniform, dull and grey. No windows, no décor, no nothing. It was like walking inside a machine, completely devoid of life.

"If this is Salarian blood, it might mean Saren has Salarian hostages or prisoners. We breach, but quietly" Jane said. A pair of marines came up, both identified as engineers by the obvious tools they were carrying. Welders, heat-knives and torches. Everything you'd need to repair or deconstruct a vehicle in the midst of battle. Or, to cut open a door.

When the marines stepped away from the doorway, a large square shape had been melted through the hidden door, allowing Jane to send it toppling inwards with a solid kick to the metal. Biotically enhanced, or she would have likely broken every toe on the foot.

As soldiers slowly entered the room, flashlights on to make visible the dark interiors, they were met with a most unusual sight. Even Jane had to stop and look again, making sure it hadn't been a trick on the eyes.

"What… the…" Riley started.

"…Fuck…" Clarke muttered, finishing her line. She didn't mind, nor did she notice in favor of staring at the dozens of Salarians walking about inside the room. They were completely obvious to the darkness as they bumped into each other or the walls, long strands of drool and spittle dripping from their mouths while green blood dripped from gashes and bruises on their heads, evidence of either torture or meeting the wall head-on one too many times.

One after another, the marines filed into the room, taking up confused positions at the walls. All were staring at the seemingly zombified Salarians, some with angst, others with just simple confusion. The room was big, easily big enough to hold hundreds of prisoners, in numerous cages along the opposite walls. All the cages were open, having obviously held the Salarians. Another, rather disturbing feature Jane realized, was that all the Salarians were naked as the day they were born… hatched? Salarians lay eggs, didn't they? If she had ever wanted to see a Salarian penis, now she had definitely lost that wish. God, this was just… 'disgusting' didn't quite fit.

John stepped up to one of the Salarians, the amphibious alien having yet to even look at him. Jane started feeling a nagging sensation in her stomach, like something was even more wrong than she had originally thought. And since she was standing in a room with twenty-odd butt-naked Salarians who looked like zombies, there had to be a whole lot more wrong before it accounted as 'even more'.

"Ehm…" John muttered, sneaking a peek to figure out the Salarian's gender; "Sir, are you alright?"

The Salarian answered him. Though not with words or a meaningful nod. Instead, the sentient frog started screaming, a high-pitched scream that turned into an anguished wail as it suddenly flung itself at the Quarian. John let out a shout of surprise, jumping back before he sent the Salarian back with a weaker version of a throw. Instead of simply stumbling backwards, the alien crumbled to the floor in a briefly unmoving heap before it stood back up and started drooling, resuming his trance-like walking.

"Ancestors… the hell is this?" John muttered. Jane shook her head, trying to find out why this all seemed so familiar. There was something about this scenario that struck her as something she had seen before. What had happened when she had been on Virmire the last time? She shook her head, trying to remember, but it was like there was a block, a wall that fuzzed up that part of her memories. Now that she thought back on it, she couldn't remember much more from Virmire than… sorrow, heat and a blinding light.

"What's wrong with them?" Williams asked, her rifle pointing downwards but ready. After that one had assaulted John, Jane didn't blame her for being cautious. Nihlus stepped up, looking over the Salarians.

"This is… extremely odd. They exhibit trance-like behavior, no response to our presence…" He muttered.

"I'd call that one before 'responsive' if you don't mind." John bit out, looking at the numerous Salarians wandering the room.

"…and, they seem rather aggressive when approached." Nihlus continued, glancing at John. Jane shook her head, still not being able to figure out the memory. If it was important, she would find out sooner or later. She walked up to the closest Salarian, grabbed his shoulders and held him there, waiting for the frog to wake up.

In a way he did. Almost the moment Jane put her hands on the naked shoulders, the Salarian screamed and swung his arms at her, managing to strike her over the head with sweaty, week hands before Jane, shocked as she was, hesitated a second then grabbed him, delivering a pair of smacks across his face. The Salarian was momentarily dazzled, leading Jane to let go of him.

"Now, who are- fuck!" She shouted as the Salarian broke her question off with an attempted bite to her face. The result was that the toothless gums clambered down painfully and disgustingly on her face. Jane almost screamed, then punched the Salarian in the head, knocking it to the ground with an angry shout.

That was all it took for the rest of the Salarians to let go of their stupor and launch an attack at the marines, complete with drooling mouths and haunted screams. The marines raised their weapons, ready to fire and kill if need be.

"Don't kill them! Subdue! Subdue!" Nihlus called out, leading with an example as he clubbed the closest Salarian with the stock of his shotgun. The marines obeyed the Spectre, probably because he had mission authority on par with the commander, and the Captain wasn't saying 'kill them'. Still, each time a Salarian was clubbed down, they just got back up again. Even as blood started seeping down their foreheads, they still came at the line of marines.

"They don't seem to give- gah! –a fuck that we knock them down." Riley sneered, hearing a wet crack as her rifle crushed the nose of one of the Salarians. It didn't seem to care, instead attempting to crawl onto her like some sort of depraved sexual harasser. A kick hard enough to break its shin sent it to the ground before another kick sent it backwards on the floor.

"If anyone's got a stun-program, feel free to use it!" Jane called over the comms as she fought to keep a brown Salarian from biting her ear off. To make matters worse, it was bleeding and drooling all over her front, making her nauseous from the sight.

Apparently, she hadn't even had to say it, as Clarke had just finished sending a Salarian twitching to the ground, his gauntlet ignited with the circular holo-frame of the Omnitool. He went on to another one, freeing Williams from the attack of the amphibian that was refusing to back down from an infantile fistfight. A fistfight it lost when a knee from the woman went into its chest, knocking the air from it before an uppercut from the same source sent it to the ground. Before it could rise, Clarke had zapped it. Around them, most of the other marines had done the same, leaving more than twenty twitching Salarians on the ground.

"Clear!"

"The fuck was that about?"

"Ma'am, there's one left." One of the marines called, alerting Jane to the fact that there was a Salarian leaned against the wall inside one of the cages. He was naked like the rest, but seemed to be actually aware of it. He was staring out at them, his eyes dull and lifeless, but still with the spark of recognition that marked him as at least not a zombie. Letting go of the wall, he started walking out towards them. Jane whipped up her rifle, aiming at him;

"Hold it! Who are you?" She demanded, her finger dancing over the trigger. The Salarian stopped his slow approach, looking between the marines with obvious confusion. There was a bit of drool on his lips, which he noticed and wiped off.

"Captain Kirrahe, STG." He said, looking around, then back at himself, then back to his probable friends on the ground. Jane's eyes widened at the name, and she took her weapon down. She couldn't remember why she knew the name, but she knew it was one of the good guys.

"Kirrahe? What are you doing here? What happened to these… men? And why are you all butt naked?" Jane asked, beckoning for the Salarian to come closer.

"We were sent here by the Council to see if Saren had a base of ops here. Turns out he did, but we didn't get to send out a transmission before he caught us. He used… I don't know, some kind of weapon on my men, left them like that" He said, pointing weakly at the still or twitching forms on the ground.

"And you?" Jane asked, still ready to send slugs off despite somewhat trusting the soldier in front of her.

"I knew what was coming. He kept me here to see the others deteriorate…" There was a bit more drool coming from his mouth. He looked annoyed, the wiped it off and continued; "When the whispers began, I knew to block them out."

"Really? Out of all the STG here, you remained sane?" Nihlus inquired, taking a step closer to the Salarian. Jane could see that Nihlus wasn't exactly ready to point away his gun, keeping the shotgun aimed at the Salarian's legs.

"Yes. Saren believes me to be his slave. Let me come with you, I know the corridors of this place. Saren can't be allowed to get away." Kirrahe said, a strange pleading in his voice. Jane was about to speak when a private communications opened up. Accepting it, she was faced with Kaidan's thoughtful eyes.

"Lieutenant?"

"Captain, something's wrong here. If all his men cracked like this, how come he is still sane? And did you notice the drool? Aside from being able to talk, he's the same as the rest."

"You think?" She asked, looking from his eyes to Kirrahe as the Salarian shifted his feet. True, he was drooling a little, but seemed aware of it.

"I don't know what's going on here Shepard, but I don't think he's as unaffected as he claims."

"Alright, you're the brain on the ship Alenko. Say he isn't clean, what do we do with him?" Jane asked, keeping an eye on Kirrahe as Nihlus asked him questions. All volume was blocked out in favor of the comm., so she had to rely on her eyes to gauge the situation. Well, that seemed to be one more technicality that could be improved on the armor.

"Lock him in here. We'll return for him later. If he resists or becomes violent, we can't risk him jeopardizing our mission." Kaidan said, not sounding like he liked the idea, but not like he was hesitating either. Jane nodded, seeing the sense in it. If anything they could have the other marines pick up the Salarian and detain him. There had to be at least three-four thousand soldiers left scouring the base and its surroundings.

"Fair enough." She said, ending the transmission, then turned to Kirrahe; "Sorry Captain, but we'll have to detain you in this cell for the time being. You… are in no condition to fight."

"What? No N- no, I have to go with you." He stammered, taking a step towards Jane. Nihlus put a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.

"Sorry, but being the commanding officer present at this op, I'm in charge. I say you wait out the fight in the cell. We'll send a team to retrieve you when we're done." She said, stepping closer to the Salarian. Kirrahe was starting to drool again, but didn't bother wiping it off this time, instead staring daggers at Jane. Something about the way he looked at her, gave Jane the shivers.

"But I have to. Don't you see, Saren… I need to be there. Sovereign will kill you all if-" He started, then stopped at the same time as the officers glared at him. Jane picked up her rifle casually, stroking the trigger.

"Tell me, how do you know about Sovereign?" She asked with an icy voice.

"I… I was briefed by command that… that Saren and Sovereign were going to be here and…" He stammered, more drool now dripping on the floor..

"No one, not even Alliance command know much about Saren and his ship." Jane continued, making sure Kirrahe didn't suddenly make a move. Whatever trust she had had in him before had vanished, and now she was just waiting for him to snap like the rest of them; "So… since your command knows of them, why didn't they share information?" She demanded with a low voice, staring the Salarian down through her visor. His eyes were the same dull and lifeless ones she had seen in the others, but now the spark was gone.

Even as Kirrahe jumped for her, she raised the rifle and belched out shots, cutting his frail body to pieces with phasic rounds.

---

SSV Normandy

Deck 3. Medbay, Mess hall and Captain's quarters.

22:15 (Virmire Equatorial time)

A heavy, swimming sensation was the first thing he noticed. It was a feeling like he was pressing himself into the ground, the remarkably soft ground that smelled like antiseptics and soap. The sensation stayed, even as a new feeling, pain, entered his mind, causing him to groan as wave after wave of immense headaches washed over him.

A small prick on his neck, and the pain slowly ebbed out, leaving him with just the swimming sensation. He suddenly found out that it was a little nauseating as well, and clutched the ground for a standpoint, a hold on reality so that he wasn't going to float off whenever the swimming stopped.

He noticed now that he could hear the dull humming and buzzing of machinery, probably a tank or a Mako that had stopped. Right… he was in a battlefield… Why was he in a battlefield again?

Right, because he had been fighting geth. Geth… Legion? No, not Legion… no, it had been regular geth. Yet, they had been biotics, hadn't they?

No, geth couldn't be biotics. Even he knew that.

What had happened then?

Right, he had gone full Avatar-mode. Roku had said something about gates… Bill Gates? No, just gates. Gate, in plural. So, what was this about a gate? Or gates? Roku had taken over at some point. He could remember that much. And, that odd, green color that had been in his eyes, his own eyes that was. Roku didn't have eyes… probably. Maybe… He didn't know, and frankly, he didn't care either.

So, since he wasn't being shot at right now, that must mean he had won the battle. Of course, now Ashley was probably going to come down on him with more fury than Hell itself. What was the saying? Hell hath no… no what, anger? No… fury, than a mad woman… no, that wasn't it either. Dammit, if only the swimming would stop, then he could open his eyes and…

Oh yeah, they were closed. Right… better open them then, he figured.

One eye started moving under the eyelid, not really succeeding in opening the lid from his ocular module in the left eye. Damn, he could still remember how weird it had been, finding out he had been given a new eye. Back home, that wasn't really possible. And the arm, of course, that was new too.

Come on little eyelid. He tried coaching it, telling it to be a good little eyelid and open up. He wanted to see the sky, wanted to look around and maybe look at the ocean.

Could he see the ocean from there? He hadn't checked earlier, just run straight down and started killing… well, destroying, since there were no one alive to kill. Geth weren't alive… were they?

He wanted to go swim. Go for a nice little swim, or maybe just skinny-dipping… with Ashley. He could feel a small, silly grin come to his face at the thought. So far, he had seen her in a swimsuit once. That had been nice, but he had been just as busy taking care of Jenny as he had been enjoying time with Ashley. The prospect of going skinny-dipping with the gorgeous woman, just the two of them, suddenly made him aware that he was wearing pants, as they seemed to get tighter all of a sudden.

Now come one little eyelid… open up in Talos' name.

There… the left eyelid opened a little, revealing a crack of dull light coming in through the opening. Good eyelid, now open a little more… yes, that's good. Now, he could see a grey surface. Grey lines, like tiles, or welded metal plates. Odd, were there plates in the sky? He focused his one open eye on the lines, counting the almost concealed bolts keeping the plates where they were.

So, if it wasn't for the bolts, the sky would fall down? Did that mean Max the Mole was right all along? Did they have to visit the heavens to fix the giant cloud factory now? And why was his head still swimming? Still, the thought of taking the Normandy to the cloud factory made him crack a smile, despite the pain the facial expression caused him.

Now, last eye… how many did he have? Two, he was fairly sure it was a total number of two… now that he thought of it, if a Batarian wore glasses, was he called an eight-eye? Humans with glasses could be called four-eyes… funny. Another smile, bringing with it another dull, deep pain from the muscles of his face. It felt like when Ash had kicked him in the jaw at some point in their sparring.

Now… Tequila was right, Wrex really did look like a super-sized space-toad. Heh… space-toad. Why not a space squid? No wait, that was a Reaper. Hmmm…Reaper… Why not Zoidberg instead? Reapers, your reasons are bad, and you should feel bad.

Back to business, meaning the other eye. Repeating the same good-dog method as he had with the left eye, he slowly managed to force a small crack open, allowing his right eye to share in the experience it was to follow lines in the sky. Where were the clouds though? And why could he hear a beeping now? Tanks didn't beep, did they? Or… did they beep when they were backing up? At least the lines were standing still now. Funny, he could have sworn those were markers reading 'made in 'Sweden' on a lamp, hanging from the skies. But lamps didn't hang from the skies, peaches did. Another smile, this one resulting in enough pain to make him groan audibly. Okay, so his face was in pain. Great.

"Ah, you have awaken. How are you feeling?" A voice suddenly said. It was a familiar voice, belonging to an aged individual. Aged… wine got good when it was aged. Or brandy, although he had never tried the stuff. Still, he figured maybe the voice or the person behind the voice would give him some if he asked nicely… maybe said please? Although… maybe alcohol wasn't the best for him right now. A soft ice perhaps?

"Soft ice…" Was the first and only word he thought of muttering. Whatever the voice had wanted to say, or expected him to say was ended as a silence followed by a low chuckle filled the room. Wait, room? Widening his eyes rapidly, Thomas suddenly discovered that he wasn't lying on the sand of Virmire, he was in the medical bay on the Normandy.

"Well, I don't have any of that, I'm afraid. How about some water instead?" He looked to his right, seeing Doctor Chakwas sitting in her chair near his bed. Okay, that was the soft feeling. He was lying in a bed… wait, was the battle over? No, no no no! He hadn't been there! He hadn't made sure Ashley had survived! What if Chakwas was about to start a sentence with 'I'm sorry to tell you, but…'. If she did, he would really be unhappy. Then, he might throw himself out the airlock. Though, he still didn't know where it was. Roku?...Roku?! Roku answer me by Lucifer's pimples!

There was no response, so instead he focused on Chakwas.

"Where's… how long?" He managed to croak out, finding that he really was quite thirsty. He didn't pay it any attention though, instead focusing on getting the bad news as quickly as he could. He had never liked being held up with bad news in the wait.

"Since… you were knocked out?" She asked. He nodded eagerly, wincing at the pain he felt in his neck-muscles as he did; "Only about half an hour, if what Sergeant Vega told me was true. Again, are you thirsty?"

He was about to start swearing, even though he knew it was nothing she had done. He took himself in it though, as her gentle, caring voice soothed him a bit. Feeling his throat was like vellum, he just nodded, accepting the suddenly appearing cup of water with surprised eyes. As soon as the water entered his mouth, it almost hurt when he forced it down. Nevertheless, he held it towards Chakwas again, silently asking for more. Gods, he was thirsty. His lips were cracked, probably from the heat of being a walking inferno.

As Chakwas gave him a cup with fresh water, he took it with a small, painful smile and drank out, feeling the liquid starting to help soothing the desert-like feeling his throat was giving him. Finally, he felt like he could actually speak.

"Where… where are the others? The team?" The dread hadn't left him, still feeling that he might get the devastating news each time the doctor started speaking.

"On Virmire, I'm led to believe. You haven't been here for nearly long enough that they could have finished the mission and be back. You are worried about Chief Williams, aren't you?" There was a sort of motherly warmth in her voice, like she was talking to her son about the first infatuation. For some reason, he couldn't speak about it, so he opted for simply nodding.

"She is a capable soldier, if I have ever seen one. Rest easy, she will be back here soon." Chakwas said. He knew she meant and believed the words she said… probably, but it didn't help his feeling of dread one bit. He could see it in his mind, the look of defeat Shepard would have on her face when she came to the med-bay, telling him what he had feared would happen, had happened.

"Can you contact them? I really want to know." He pleaded, looking at the doctor with as miserable an expression as he could scrounge up. It wasn't even a fake one, no matter how extreme it became. His chest was a tight ball of fear and anxiousness, and his heart was pounding away. Chakwas looked to be annoyed for a moment, then sighed and nodded, opening her Omnitool. A few seconds passed, then the sound of shots being fired reached the room, causing Thomas's heart to miss more than one beat.

"Captain, do you have a-" Chakwas began.

"No I don't fucking have a moment!" Jane's voice came back, clearly strained and focused on something other than Chakwas. The tell-tale sound of Tequila's pulse rifle could be heard somewhere in the background, followed by the sound of a geth screaming its death-scream.

"What i-s it Chakwas?" Jane's voice still sounded winded, and didn't improve when she grunted in pain, followed by the sound of air displaced as she shifted in place at the speed of light, causing the sentence to drag out for a moment.

"How is Chief Williams fairing?" Chakwas asked, obviously wanting to take up as little time as possible so as to let the Captain focus on the firefights. There was a pause. In that pause, lasting only a few seconds, Thomas's pulse went up dangerously high, causing him to get nauseous.

"She's fine." Jane said, the cut the transmission. Chakwas turned to Thomas, a genuinely sympathetic expression on her face. The 'she's fine' was the infamous line that could be used to describe 'picnic-fine' to 'we managed to revive her-fine'.

"She will be alright Thomas. Ashley is a strong woman, and she is not alone. Now, try to get some rest and let your injuries heal. Medigel does wonders, but this new medicament, Bacta, is really what I have needed throughout my entire career." She said, turning off the Omnitool. Thomas sighed, knowing he could only escape the med-bay so many times. Still, Chakwas was… wait… bacta?

"Bacta?" He asked, his throat still sore as the burning fires of the Oblivion. Every muscle in his body hurt, with the odd exception of his brain. Hadn't Roku said he would have the migraine of the millennia? Still… Namira take it, he doubted he could even stand at this point, much less help Ashley. He just had to pray that she would survive. Gods… all Gods everywhere! God, Jesus, help her! Keep Ashley safe, keep her alive. I can't lose her, not now. Mara, Arkay, Akatosh, Stendarr, Talos, Dibella, Julianos, Kynareth and Zenithar! Keep the love of my life save, let her survive whatever the universe itself may throw at her. I can't lose her, Divines, please help me!

---

Citadel, Serpent Nebular

Council Chambers

10:39 (Station time)

The Three Big, as they were called by most lower political leaders of the galaxy, were joined in what was officially a regular meeting to remain adjourn on events that had occurred since the last Council meeting. In praxis though, it was closer to an emergency session. A large scree was playing on the wall next to the raised podium, showing a loop of the entire ceremony where the Human Systems Alliance had formed the bond with the Quarian people, effectively making them one faction in the eyes of the Council. One faction, with a substantially large amount of ships meant for warfare.

Esheel was busily looking over what the STG had managed to sneak out for her, namely the Declaration of Unity, as the Alliance called it. Tevos and Sparatus were doing the same thing, looking over the copies of the stolen documents. Sparatus was calm, like a Turian should be in a situation like this, while Esheel was more curious than upset. Tevos though, was restraining herself from letting it show just how worked up she was. She had to, as her position as Councilor required of her that she be perfectly calm, collected and able to view every fact and event with neutral eyes.

"This… this can't be right." The Asari muttered under her breath. What she was reading, it was effectively humanity spitting on every single sanction the Council had levied on the Quarians. Restrictions against entering systems, usage of certain Relays, presence of armed ships in systems. The Alliance had just cancelled it all by making the Quarians partners in their Alliance, legally granting them the same rights in the galaxy as humanity itself was enjoying.

"It is interesting, to say the least." Sparatus mused, scrolling through the documents. True to the roles of their respective races, he was more interested in the military aspects of the treaty, while Tevos and Esheel were onto the legal and technological matters respectively. The politician in him, the politician who worked to the benefit of the Citadel races, could see that this was bound to create some disturbance in the public once it was made known that the Quarians had been taken in by the Alliance. He could see the issues this would create, how it would probably mean the need for increased patrols at the Alliance/Citadel space borders, as well as a probable smaller presence between the factions of the Hegemony and the Alliance. If the Quarians were joining humanity with their own fleet, there was probably not going to be any need for Turian patrols to prevent Batarian slavers from entering human space. Han'Gerrel was probably going to become bolder by this too.

The soldier in him admired the move though. It would grant both species an increase in security, amount of vessels and military strength, while no-doubt also adding the needed resources to the Migrant fleet to fully restore it.

"Interesting? Sparatus, you do realize that this completely removes the Quarians from our influence, don't you?" Tevos asked him with a calm, yet annoyed voice. Funny, she always seemed so tranquil when others spoke to the Council. It was only when the three of them were alone that she loosened up.

"Yes, I do. True, it isn't favorable to us, that much is certain. Still, this can bring new… what's the word, cards to the table, whenever Saren decides to show up." He said, keeping calm.

"And what happens when Saren is caught or killed? A faction consisting of the Migrant Fleet's numbers combined with the resources of the Alliance, isn't going to just abide by the Council's words." She responded. Sparatus sighed, sneaking a look at where Esheel was still reading the document.

"Hmm… no, that is a possibility. However, as a member of the Citadel races, they have to. If nothing else works, sanctions and restrictions will keep them in line." Sparatus said.

"Where is Ambassador Udina?" Esheel finally asked, looking up from the holographic interface. Both Tevos and Sparatus looked back at the Salarian. It took the Asari a moment to realize that the question had been levied at her.

"On Arcturus, I believe." Tevos snapped around, looking at her Turian colleague. He could see the confusion in her eyes quite clearly. She had thought Udina had remained on the Citadel when there was a major ceremony on the human station? Odd, she should have been able to figure out that of course he had left. Sparatus would probably have left the station himself if he was needed for a ceremony of such obvious importance.

"Why was I not informed that the prominent link to Humanity has left the station right when we need to question him?" She pressed out with what was obviously hard-found calm. He mentally shook his head, pondering at just how big a pressure Tevos must be under, representing her race for the rest of her life. He was just glad his term wasn't nearly as long, another forty years at most. He was about to answer her when Tevos continued; "Never mind… call him up and request his presence here as soon as possible.

---

Yeeeha!

Now, I bet you all thought I'd have Thomas either go meditation-mode with Roku right away, or just flip off the bed and rejoin the battle. Well... the guy broke a few bones, more than what the medic found, and he received some rather innovative treatment viewed by residents of our galaxy. Took them long enough to figure out a copy of bacta that didn't require the ingredients solely found in the Andromeda Galaxy. Wonder what's in the stuff though...

And yep, Jane shot Kirrahe. That's about as far from canon as you get, considering her last words to Kai Leng in ME3 were for some "That's for Kirrahe, you SOB" Here, she gunned him down in self defense instead. Well... he did try tricking them, probably into an ambush, him being indoctrinated and all... sigh, poor guy though. (the boring reason is that I didn't save him, as my ME1 save couldn't export to ME2, leaving me with Genesis to go from. So, I have no personal experience with what he would have done later on, except for the scene of Master-Chief level badassery on Sur'Kesh in ME3, where he went 'ping, ping, ping...BOOM! BOOM!BOOM!')

Now... the final and far too boring, mainstream and expected statement: Remember to review, it keeps me going. Wacky ideas are appreciated too, but comments on the story itself most of all.

See ya :)