One week later

BOOM…

BOOM…

The echo of the gunfire bursts rang out across the range. The deep bass wave of the weapon combined with the comfortable recoil gave Shepard a moment's appreciation for the situation. The pulse that traveled through his ears did not make him flinch, rather it caused him to firmly set himself on his target across the room.

The spent heat sink automatically ejected as it was pushed to its capacity and the slide remained open. The gun could no longer fire anymore. Satisfied, he set the gun down on the table in front of him, muzzle pointed downrange, while he waited for his friends to finish up. Overcome by interest, he quickly swiped his hand across the heated metal of the barrel and visibly recoiled once the hot temperature transferred to his hand, causing the quartermaster in the corner to sigh in frustration.

He held his limb up as he watched the surface of his palm turn an angry pink. Despite the pain, he smiled. It was a reminder of what he had to lose, what he could have lost permanently.

Momentarily, the reports of pistols also quieted as Garrus and Kaidan set their weapons down, both breathing hard but calmly as they turned to the monitors on the side to observe their score. They had been using the C-Sec range for the past day now in order to brush themselves up on actual weapons and tactics. It wasn't a mandatory requirement but both Shepard and Garrus had at least felt compelled to go through with it, Kaidan joining them voluntarily to maintain better unit cohesion. It would keep them occupied as Shepard was, for the moment, grounded. He had to do something to pass the time.

Kaidan, after looking at his riddled target over the monitor, walked over to Garrus' station to compare results. If Kaidan had noticed the turian's twitching mandibles beforehand, he needn't have bothered.

"Damn!" he scowled as the score flashed across the turian's board.

"That's three in a row, human," Garrus said triumphantly, "You game for one more round?"

"Want me to throw you across the room?" Kaidan shot back, lifting a purple glowing arm as the air distorted around it. The threat was real but the tone was light.

Garrus laughed, "Sore loser." He peered around the side to take a look at Shepard's score and quickly turned back after making eye contact with the smirking commander.

"I've noticed that you haven't made of point of comparing our results out loud for the last fifteen minutes," Shepard said teasingly.

"Yeah, well," Garrus shrugged, "A still target is one thing...and completely steady hands is another aspect entirely."

Shepard chuckled, "Sore loser."

The turian merely rolled his eyes as the signal was given to load their weapons. Shepard's hand moved to the side to grab a fresh sink before a voice loudly broadcast itself over the intercom.

"Will Commander Shepard report to the quartermaster's office, please. Commander Shepard to the quartermaster's office, please."

Shrugging to both Garrus and Kaidan, he set the sink down next to the weapon and walked to the door out of the range, rubbing his hands together to wipe the excess grease off them. The quartermaster's office was the next door down so he didn't have to go far. Once he entered the extremely drab, grey room, Shepard unconsciously saluted as he saw the man sitting behind the desk.

"Anderson."

The councilor returned the salute and offered his hand. Shepard gratefully grasped it, careful not to crush the man's hand in a firm vice-like grip.

"You know, commander," the dark-skinned man smiled, careful to use his official rank now, "You don't have to salute me these days. The position of councilor is not military so I have no official jurisdiction over you."

"True," Shepard smirked, "But I am a Spectre and you are part of the council that gave me that title. So, in retrospect, you do have jurisdiction over me, to some extent at least."

"To some extent," Anderson repeated in agreement, sitting back down as Shepard pulled up a chair, "You feeling any better?"

Now Shepard grinned, one of the biggest he'd had in days, "Much. I've only started getting used to my normal range of senses again. You have…" he trailed off for a moment, "I'm sorry...it's just that to experience this is something I never want to partake in again."

"You don't have to apologize, son," Anderson said kindly, "There wasn't anything you could have done to change what happened. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to you."

Shepard only smiled as he held up a hand, "You've tried to apologize over the last few days, Anderson. I know I was angry at first but you did all you could. I don't blame you for all of the red tape that surrounded my death, I just needed to vent on someone at the time."

The councilor reached out, initially hesitant, but followed through and patted Shepard's hand, "You'll do fine, Shepard."

Shepard nodded sagely, "Thank you, sir."

The two sat like that for a minute as the silence festered. Their thoughts turned to the past, when it was just them, captain and commander. The two of them against the galaxy with no end in sight.

How naive of them to even think that.

Anderson broke the awkward pause with a cough, "It was at least a relief to see that the rest of the councilors voted for you to retain your Spectre status. I was afraid that they would make a big fuss over it considering the lengths they went to cover your revelations up."

"It was worth it to see their faces. I noticed that Councilor Sparatus was not particularly excited."

Anderson chuckled, "Well, what did you expect? The whole galaxy thought that you were dead and suddenly you come sauntering through the door with a few extra bells and whistles. He had every right to splutter in place."

"Even though he continued to vehemently deny the Reapers' existence, along with the rest of them."

Now Anderson leaned forward, voice grave, "I won't lie to you, Shepard. The other councilors might not to admit it, but they're scared. Deep down I believe that they are aware of the truth, but they haven't found the courage to acknowledge it yet."

Shepard sighed, "So, what you're saying is that it's a pissing match at this point."

"Crudely put, but accurate. Words aren't going to push them that extra step they need in order to adopt your mindset. You need actual proof."

"What proof? The only proof we had was Sovereign and Vigil on Ilos. But Sovereign is rusting in a scrap yard now and Vigil has been deactivated. I have nothing to back me up. Nothing."

"A little defeatist, wouldn't you say? What happened to the Commander Shepard who wouldn't let anything stand in his way? Who would overrun legions of enemy forces to reach his objectives? That man still sits before me, does he not? You might not have any proof at the moment, but you will. I know that."

"How?" Shepard waved a hand, "How can I get any proof if I'm all I'm doing now is sitting on my ass, shooting at targets, until 'further notice?' How can you explain that?"

Anderson only smiled as he pushed a datapad across the desk, "Further notice, you say?"

Shepard picked it up, "You're joking."

"Approved by Admiral Hackett and myself," Anderson beamed, "You're back on active duty as of right now."

Shepard breathed in, "Thank you, sir. I...I don't know what to say…"

"You don't have to say anything. You'll be even more pleased to know that you have been given an assignment passed down straight from the top, effective immediately. Classified, of course."

Shepard skimmed the file before lifting his head, "That reminds me, will I have a ship for this? I know the Normandy was blown up and all but I'm assuming that you have one in mind."

"Indeed I do. That Veritas you brought in here seemed to have done the job for you. Why not take it out for a few more laps around the block?"

He nodded, "It did serve me well. A bit smaller than the Normandy, but it's a good ship, nonetheless."

"We swept it for bugs and have pronounced it clean," Anderson encouraged, "It may not be the Normandy but it's got the firepower and the speed for practically any job. Minus the heat diffusion system, though. Only one ship had that capability and she's gone."

"I guess it'll have to do," Shepard agreed.

"Once we get a more thorough accounting of our assets, we may be able to provide you a bigger and better ship. As it is, that oddball of a vessel will have to do for now, but it won't exactly look out of place once the fleet is organized."

"Fleet?"

"You may be a Spectre, but you were Alliance first. And someone with that much credibility to their name doesn't deserve only one ship, but six, wouldn't you say?"

"Five extra ships for me to command?"

"As you see fit. They'll be ready for deployment in a few weeks' time but the current mission that we've set you on is a bit simpler than that. One ship served you well in the past and you can surely do with one until everything is ready, yes?"

"Absolutely," Shepard eagerly replied, "I've been itching to get back into the game. But what is on this report is rather concerning." He held up the datapad for emphasis, "It says here that an entire colony has gone dark. Is that really so much a cause for concern?"

Anderson's mouth was a hard line, "Ordinarily, no. We'd usually attribute it to a power failure that would mean disrupted comms. Only trouble is, over a hundred colonies has had this happen to them over the past year. A hundred human colonies."

"No warning?"

"None. And that isn't even the weird thing. We've only managed to properly examine a fraction of these colonies due to their location in the Terminus and it seems like everyone up and left."

"Vehicles still on the pads?"

"Not a sign that anything had even been packed. It's as if everyone just walked away in the middle of whatever they were doing."

"And this happened at over a hundred colonies?" Shepard rubbed the top of his head, where his hair was starting to create peach fuzz, "Damn." He scrolled through the rest of the report, trying to see if he had missed anything, "So this one colony, 'Freedom's Progress,' we only heard about two days ago?"

Anderson nodded, "We try to keep in touch with these colonies as a source of backup for these people. Most of the colonies that you see here are made up of individuals who are trying to fend for themselves without the Alliance to watch over them. They consider it to be a protest against individualized governments but that's not what's at stake here. This means that the Alliance does little to protect them, which is a vulnerability that enemy attackers could exploit."

"Think it's an abduction?"

"Has to be. No trace of weapons fire and there is no way anyone could survive out in the wilderness of these worlds without proper preparation."

Anderson stood up and after a few seconds, Shepard too, "The mission is simple, Shepard. Go to Freedom's Progress and ascertain the situation. A single ship can maneuver through the Terminus systems relatively easily and can drop down there and find out what happened. You will pick the ground team of course. Once we're done here, everything's in your hands."

"Just like old times," Shepard breathed in relief.

"Joker has been assigned as your pilot as he was rather insistent on it. Between you and me, he would be rather lost without you or me. Also, we managed to procure a few familiar faces to be assigned to your vessel: Dr. Chakwas and Engineer Adams. They've been tapped and are eager to resume their duties."

"I can't exactly say it's a bad thing to have a few extra friends around," Shepard smiled as Anderson held out his hand for a parting shake. "I'll let you know what we find down there, Anderson."

"Good luck, Commander."

"I gotta say, Shepard," Kaidan wrinkled his nose in disgust, "I prefer the Normandy."

"You're not alone there, pal," Garrus shook his head, "I haven't met anyone on this rig who hadn't made a favorable comparison to that ship as of yet."

Standing in front of the galaxy board, Shepard silently agreed with them, but it wasn't becoming of a commanding officer to trash talk his own ship in front of a loyal crew, no matter how inferior it was in every aspect. The Veritas-class vessel (they still had yet to give it a proper name) had passed through one of the many dozens of relays within the Serpent Nebula and had been en route towards Freedom's Progress for the better part of an hour now.

From the looks of things, it would be about twenty more minutes before they were due to appear in the system and the three of them had already taken the proper preparations. They all stood, heavily armored, Garrus in his blue armor, Kaidan in the silver and blue accented one of an Alliance officer. Shepard had immediately gone to the rack on the side of the armory where a full set of N7 armor had been procured. Eager for the familiar embrace, it weighed like nothing once it was firmly in place, the armor fit like a glove.

Their weapons were all Alliance issue, but Shepard, thanks to his Spectre status, had managed to get a hold of a set of Carnifex pistols and several custom components for their assault rifles. The M-8 Avengers now had improved sights and extended barrels for greater accuracy. They also were inserted with gas-powered compensators to reduce recoil. Those guns had now gone from peashooters to precise instruments of death. Thank god for that credit line.

The intel reported that the atmosphere of the planet was safe but Shepard had ordered helmets on at all times, just in case. No telling what they would find down there. Despite the fact that all signs pointed to this colony being deserted, reducing any chance of injury was a crucial step that Shepard now emphasized immensely. It only took one death to realize how fragile life was.

"It isn't the Normandy," he chose his words carefully, "But it's what we have at the moment. And it'll suffice."

"The beds are less comfortable on this ship than the last one," Garrus grumbled, "And I thought that no one could possibly do any worse."

"Well that's what you get for taking over a ship run by an only-human terrorist group," Kaidan shrugged with a faint grin, "But, if it's all the same, my bunk's pretty crappy as well."

The group moved past the small CIC to the second floor from the staircase nestled in the corner as they continued to talk. As Shepard brushed aside a request from Chakwas for a quick physical, they walked onto the bridge where Joker was mumbling a tune to himself, air-drumming away on the holographic keyboard. He stopped once he heard the sound of boots on metal and sheepishly grinned at Shepard, who smirked as a result.

"Approach due in five, commander," Joker said, trying to avoid the gaze of the amused man.

"Nice and easy, Joker," Shepard gazed out the viewport as the stars raced by and glanced over to where Garrus and Kaidan were standing as they started to put their helmets on.

"Nice and easy, yeah right," Joker muttered quietly, "This thing would be just as stealthy even if I had turian rock music blaring from the external speakers, stupid piece of shit…"

Okay, so no one was taking to the ship very well. There wasn't any chance that the Alliance was building another Normandy right now for them, were they?

There was a quiet thrum as the ship transitioned out from the relay network. Joker calmly engaged the sublight drive as the system in question was within their current ballpark, so to speak. Patting the pilot on the back, Shepard donned his helmet as he, Garrus, and Kaidan stole over to the elevator and it deposited them in the shuttle bay. The lone shuttle was painted blue, in Alliance colors, much like the ship after the techs had taken a fresh coat to it. They clambered in and immediately the door slid shut, the VI sensing the right amount of people on board. Engines coming online, it quietly glided out of the bay and into open space.

Seated across from the two, Shepard let his breath momentarily fog his visor before opening, "All right, we don't know what we're headed into over here, so I'd advise complete visual contact. On me at all times and report anything out of the ordinary."

Kaidan couldn't stop grinning like a kid underneath the helmet as he turned to Garrus, "Ah, it's good having the commander back. I'd almost missed the usual crisp and precise order."

"If you want, Kaidan," Shepard said teasingly, "I can always just solve the mystery on my own. You and Garrus can have the run of the ship while I go and do the heavy lifting."

"Um, as much as it is relieving for you to actually find some humor in the situation," Garrus coughed, "I'm going to have to voice my displeasure with a 'no,' a 'no,' and another 'no.'"

"Not striking your fancy?"

"It doesn't strike my fancy."

"Suit yourself," Shepard leaned back, helmet hiding a sly smile, "But when we finally get the chance to add more people to this roster, you're first on the chopping block there, buddy."

"He just doesn't want the extra competition," Garrus whispered to Kaidan.

"Oh, sure," the human nodded sarcastically.

"He says more people on the roster, but I can't really imagine who else we'd take," Garrus pointed out, "If we found Liara, I'd guess we could convince her to join up, if she's not working with the Shadow Broker that is. Wrex is…well, Wrex. And then there's always Tali…" The turian shrugged, "I suppose if you really wanted to spice things up, Shepard, you'd hire a master thief or a crazy tattooed lady or something along those lines, in case you thought we're getting too stale for your tastes."

The turian's train of thought caused Shepard's own mind to drift to Tali. He recalled promising her that he would keep in touch often and would come for her when he was out of the madhouse. There were a few problems that had interfered with that promise. For one, his extranet access had been cut the moment he had stepped onto the Citadel, to prevent the possibility of any unauthorized transmissions. Even his remote cracking software that had been previously installed had been bricked. It was only when he left on the ship was he allowed to use his omni-tool to the fullest extent again.

The other problem was trying to balance between duties as he was technically on a mission. As this had more importance considering the time-sensitive nature, this took priority over coming to get Tali. As much as he wanted to go to her and show off his old look, he knew he couldn't abandon his duty for her. Maybe when they were finished and they had a few days to kill, he could find an opportunity then. He would contact her after the mission and let her know what was what. Wouldn't that be nice? She would be thrilled and eager to finally come along, back with her commander again.

A bump told him that the shuttle had made contact with the ground, the only tremor that the motion dampeners allowed through. Springing to his feet instantly, his assault rifle was in his hands as Garrus and Kaidan also readied their weapons.

Shepard gestured to his face, "Eyes open, move out." With that, he pressed the button for the door and they all stepped out as the craft powered down.

The first thing they saw was that they weren't alone, in the general area. The VI in the shuttle had deposited them towards the nearest heat signatures in the colony but right now, they appeared to be coming from here.

Shepard switched the visual wavelength in his optics to infra-red, and saw that two of the craft that were crowding the pad were warmer than the surrounding area. Several of the more dusty looking craft blended in perfectly with the background by comparison, their blue and purple shapes having no meaning in his view.

"Shepard, look," Kaidan called out as he approached one of the craft. He immediately snapped back to the visible light wavelength as he walked to the side of the craft where Kaidan was pointing. It was a Kodiak shuttle, painted white and whatever Kaidan had noticed was on its side. When Shepard reached the human, he glanced down and immediately was able to spot what had alerted him.

The unwelcome logo seemingly glowed in its black and gold tinges. Cerberus.

"Goddamn it," Shepard breathed, "How did they get here so quickly?"

"Must have piggybacked the communications and were closer to act than we were," Kaidan guessed.

Garrus glanced over, "Two craft. Enough for a few squads?"

Kaidan looked at the other for a few seconds, "I don't think so. This shuttle is clearly marked. The other is bare. I don't think it's just us and Cerberus here."

A faint noise then came to them from past a series of blocky structures. All three of them peered in the direction of the sound. It was unmistakably the sound of a gunshot.

"I don't think they like each other, whoever's here," Shepard stepped towards the commotion, "Which means someone might need help. Come on."

The white alloy of the docking structure rattled as they tramped across it to the rectangular design that served as the proper template for temporary housing. The door was unlocked and they all stepped in. Inside, they found a simple arrangement of a series of bunks complete with a kitchen and living room. Nothing was particularly extravagant, only the fact that no one seemed to be home at all.

This was in line with the initial analysis. Even the vidscreen at the far end of the structure still blazed with life, showing a taped recording of a bioti-ball game from a few weeks ago. A pot on the stove continued to steam as the heat source had never been turned off. It was like everyone had vanished off the face of this planet.

Moving through, they ventured into a small courtyard. Stone blocks lay all around, material for more permanent structures. The area reminded Shepard of a quarry, white limestone, heavy machinery. To its actual purpose, he couldn't say. He had never lived on a colony before.

"Hard to believe there used to be almost a million people on this planet," Garrus whispered, "Where do you think they could have gone?"

"I'm wondering that myself," Shepard admitted, "The reports should have prepared me for this but I'm just getting more and more confused by the second."

A scuffling noise by the nearest shack caused them all to turn in alarm. Someone was inside there. Shepard made the "follow me" motion with his hand as he took the right side as Kaidan took the left. Garrus was on point as the door opened and he was the first to enter.

Shepard could see a lone man standing in the middle of the room. He was partially clad in white armor as he stood over the crumpled form of a body. Upon hearing the door open, he turned and Shepard could see the man's face partially drop in shock, the mouth making a stunned, "uhhh."

There was no question that the man was Cerberus. Blood pounded in his ears as Shepard's world took on a hazy red blur, the man the only thing in the room remaining in focus. But before Shepard could even raise his arms, despite his enhanced reflexes, before the thought to move ever entered his brain, a shot rang out and the man collapsed as blood pooled around him. He jumped as the noise snapped him out of his trance to see Garrus' pistol wisp vaguely from its report.

"Oh, crap," the turian sounded shocked, "I kind of meant for that to be a warning shot…whoops?"

Intentional or no, Shepard had no motive to berate the turian for his hasty action for he would have done the same, no questions asked. Instead he moved past Garrus and walked over to the dying man, nudging his leg with a boot as he coldly regarded him from behind the helmet.

There was no salvation for this man. Garrus' shot had completely pierced his neck, blood was streaming out in a small geyser. His mouth also spurted up the red liquid as he struggled to breathe, blood pressure decreasing with every second. His eyes wavered as they slid in and out of focus, desperate to grasp a shred of life. Upon seeing his assailants, he began breathing faster and his red-stained neck leaked more vital fluids until he was still all at once.

There was no reason to mourn. The man had put on the uniform of an enemy. He had chosen this path and this was where it ended. Shepard got out when he had the chance, this man could have done the same.

Next to the body, the thing that had grasped the man's attention seconds before his life was extinguished, was another corpse. This one was not human, which meant it was neither Cerberus nor one of the colonists. It was a quarian.

"Why would a quarian be here?" Garrus asked in surprise. Shepard could not even begin to speculate. The quarian was a male, dull brown shawl, brushed grey helmet, simple attire for a common soldier. Shepard bent down for a closer look as he gingerly felt the body for signs of life.

"The quarian wasn't restrained," Shepard determined, "It looks like he fell where he was shot. I'd guess they happened to stumble across each other and reacted rather badly. Probably the source of the fighting that's going on right now, in fact."

"It doesn't exactly make our job any easier," Kaidan shook his head remorsefully, "Any additional orders with these new parameters, Shepard?"

"Simple," Shepard stood up as he plucked his rifle forth again, "Keep any quarians alive and kill anything that is Cerberus. I've got a reputation to uphold here."

The thundering of gun blasts gave a clear indication of where they were to go. They had not encountered any further resistance as they headed through the compound, but did have to frequently step over the scattered remains of various security mechs and occasionally the body of a quarian.

They still were unable to explain what had drawn the quarians here in the first place. The Cerberus presence was slightly clearer. It was apparent that they too shared an interest in why human colonies were suddenly disappearing and were trying to develop their own conclusions. That made their ulterior motive all the more sinister if they believed that there was powerful information hidden in here somewhere.

The squad approached a large set of doors which were flashing green. Motion sensors were picking up life signs on the other side, and if the smattering of chaingun bullets on the door was any evidence, they were going to be embroiled in a fight very soon.

Taking point, Shepard motioned for Garrus and Kaidan to cover both sides of the doors while he crouched behind a makeshift barricade. Once everyone was in place, he hit the remote switch for the door and it slid open effortlessly.

Almost immediately a mass of bullets prevented them from making any headway into the area beyond, for a YMIR mech was in the middle of dispatching its intended targets. Shepard let his head peek out from cover as he saw that the enormous mech was rotating in all directions as it worked to rid itself of the pests in its midst. Oddly enough, there did not seem to be any parameters by which this mech was set in that it callously fired upon anything in sight. Quarians and humans fell in heaps as the rest worked to disable the giant metal machine.

Eventually, a yellow armored human stepped forth with a shotgun and moved into the killzone. The mech turned to face this man but he ran diagonally to its motions. Once he was within striking distance, the mech had been too slow to target, and the man raised his gun up and fired once, shattering the head and raining plastic and metal on the ground as the stump sparked a few times.

Shepard and his cohorts still hadn't been noticed yet, and the remaining Cerberus forces weren't entirely on the lookout for reinforcements as they worked to silence the still writhing bodies of quarians that lay from the YMIR's rampage. Shepard fumed as he vaulted over the flimsy sheet metal as he quietly walked to the man who was supposed to be on the lookout but was watching his comrades calmly in their revelry. He only had time to hear the faint electronic click before the tip of the omni-blade speared through his throat, severing the spine and causing instantaneous death.

Shepard let the body fall with a noisy thump. The sound caused the remaining four humans to turn and see the black armored man standing over one of their own, right hand dripping blood. There was nothing else to say as Shepard's arms came up, rifle in hand, and casually fired. A man's face disappared from the bullet's impact as pieces of his skull shattered and broke. Alerted now, the two soldiers standing on opposite sides of the yard now turned their weapons on the commander.

On cue, a huge piece of debris suddenly came out of nowhere, a faint purple aura surrounding it, and completely flattened a man with a noisy crunch. Kaidan's timing was impeccable. The final soldier's mouth was agape until a shot from Garrus' sniper rifle removed his head above the jaw, a wet splash accompanying the fallen remains of the head, the exposed windpipe let out a sigh as the remaining air escaped the formerly living man's lungs.

The yellow armored man had shied behind a pillar once the firing had started anew. Shepard was closest so he made to flank him. However, he had positioned himself too close to the other man's cover and was therefore vulnerable when a hand shot out and shoved the barrel of his rifle down. Surprised, Shepard was unprepared for the man to smash a fist into the side of his helmet. He took the blow in stride as his cheek flared uncomfortably, but was still incensed.

Shepard took a few paces backwards so that they were no longer within striking distance, which was exactly what his enemy was looking for. Snatching up a pistol from his side, he started to unload on the commander, whose shields were starting to fall rapidly. With a static flare and a smell of ozone, his shields abruptly dropped as they were overwhelmed. That had never happened to him before. He had gotten sloppy, giving up such a valuable tactical advantage, that he had walked into this encounter all cocky and arrogant.

The human's gun bloomed and Shepard felt a small twinge as his shoulder was knocked back. The armor stopped the bullet but it felt like someone had leveled a brick at his side. This was getting serious. Before the man could reload, Shepard lashed out and the gun was knocked out of his grip. Now the man was retreating as he nursed his wounded hand. He was rather ugly, his armor had a distinct black pattern on top of the rusty yellow hue and he had an enormous scar down the right side of his face. A grey eye peered lifelessly at him and Shepard could surmise that the eye and the scar were obtained in similar circumstances.

"Burn, you son of a bitch," the man rasped in a rough accent. He lifted his left hand and a tube near his wrist spouted a long gout of flame. Shepard leaped to the side as the flamethrower scorched the spot he had just been standing. The flame died out as the limited tank clicked on empty. Swearing, the man groped for a knife just as Shepard had engaged his omni-blade.

Steel clashed with energy as the two sent sparks in the air. Shepard gave a few strokes to the man's weak side but he managed to parry them effectively. A backslash to the face caused the commander to throw his arm up as the blade almost made contact with his helmet.

The man was clearly a professional but he couldn't help but feel that this wasn't a regular Cerberus agent. For one, there were no logos anywhere on his armor, a feature that went somewhat religiously within that organization. Also, his choice of armaments went outside the regular range that the footsoldiers had, they looked to be all custom made.

So, the man was a mercenary, and a good one at that. Had Cerberus become so desperate that they had started to hire outside help?

With a guttural yell, the merc leaped to deliver a high slash but Shepard dodged. In the corner of his eye, he could see Garrus and Kaidan hovering in the background, waiting for a clear shot. Boots scraped across the patchy ground, sending up small clouds of dust as the two continued to clash. Both remained fresh and full of energy, the adrenaline from combat peaking their abilities.

The man shoved and Shepard tripped over the body of a feebly stirring quarian, landing on his back. He rolled over before a knife could be embedded in his chest (provided it got past his metal frame) and briefly glimpsed a huddled form of another quarian in the corner, this one curled up and unhurt.

He jumped to his feet and caught the next blow on the fly, grasping the man's wrist and constricting, his grip crushing it, causing him to drop the knife. The merc yelled in pain as Shepard started to pummel his chest with his free hand, hearing the cracking of ribs with every blow. He didn't want to kill him yet...he wanted to make it hurt first.

The man spluttered a wet cough and sank to his knees, out of the fight. Shepard reached for the dropped knife, taking a moment to admire the sharpness and the detail on it. It was a knife fit for a warrior. The lone grey eye fixed him with a stare of pure damnation. He didn't care, he had already been to such a place. Not even bothering to quip, he raised his arm and brought the knife down to the hilt on the top of the merc's head. Blood spurted once and then just leaked as the man sat frozen in place. Barely brushing the man's chest with his foot, the man toppled over and lay there as his life oozed from the wound, starting to drip in fat beads.

Seeing that their commander had prevailed, Garrus and Kaidan began to sweep the area for any more enemies, both moving off in one direction. Shepard brushed himself off as he looked around, momentarily entranced by the lull in action. He flexed his fingers as he felt his skin stretch, a little stiff but otherwise intact.

He walked over to the structure on the opposite side of where Garrus and Kaidan were scouting, looking for anything that would provide a clue as to what attracted Cerberus here. Shepard found a monitor and was in the process of booting it up when someone stood up from behind the couch where they were hiding, shotgun in two hands.

Shepard turned and his hand twitched towards his pistol only for it to freeze in place as he saw who was walking towards him.

Un...believable…

Tali'Zorah vas Rayya was cautiously walking towards him but her shotgun had moved away from his body when she saw the Alliance insignia. Her stance was tentative but he could still tell that she was relieved. Her appearance was largely unchanged from the near two weeks that they hadn't seen each other, which didn't prevent her from looking any less striking. She still clung to her fierce determination despite the fact that she was still filled with wonderment at what the galaxy had to offer.

"Thank…" she started to stammer, "Thank you for...for the help, soldier. I would be dead if...if you hadn't shown up...thank you…"

Ah. His helmet was preventing any recognition. It was not like he wanted it to keep his identity a secret this time so he slowly moved to pry it off, unable to hide his grin as he spoke, "How is it that every time we meet, Tali, that I end up saving your life?" His head free, she was now able to look upon him as she had once did, all those months ago, whole again.

The shotgun dropped to the floor with a clatter as Tali lost all feeling in her limbs. "Shepard!" she shouted gleefully and soon he found himself wrapped in the quarian's wild hug, numbly returning the gesture as she buried her head against his chestplate. Her fingers found his face and they gently smoothed over it. "Your...your face," she whispered in awe as she pulled back, "It…It..."

Shepard lightly took the hand that was testing his skin in his own and smiled, "Didn't I tell you that I was going to fix this?"

Tali trembled in his grip, "Oh, Keelah...I did but...I just didn't think I would see you like this for a long time. It's just that…"

"Well," Shepard shrugged, "Better looking than before, I would imagine?"

"Definitely," she blurted before jumping, "Oh wait, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. It...I...I only meant that I prefer…"

Shepard laughed, "Relax, Tali, I know what you mean. I prefer my look now than my old one. Despite the fact I still have my...upgrades." He waggled his fingers to make a point, the brief scrape of joints still barely noticeable.

At this she relaxed, "It feels real...it…" She shook her head as she hugged him once more, "It's just so good to see you...normal again!"

"Trust me, I probably feel even better than you do at my appearance. But it's great to see you too. Although I do have to apologize about not getting back to you for so long."

"Yes," she replied in a mock tone of condescending, "What was the reasoning behind that?"

"Ah, they took away my extranet access. I couldn't contact you even though I sincerely wanted to."

"Oh, I didn't think of that. Keelah, that makes sense." Her head tilted up slyly, "But how badly did you want to talk to me?"

Shepard smiled, "Quite badly. But I have to ask before the thought escapes me, what were you doing here in the first place? I actually wasn't expecting to find anyone here, much less any other humans, or a friend."

The quarian dipped her head, gesturing around her, "We had received a distress call from here. One of my people was here on his Pilgrimage, a young man named Veetor."

"Kind of odd that he would have picked such a backwater colony for his Pilgrimage."

"He was always nervous in crowded areas. I think he felt that he would have been more successful here."

Shepard frowned, "'Would have?'"

Tali stiffened, "Cerberus got to him before we did. They wanted to see if he had any information on the colony but he hacked the mechs to keep them away. They thought that killing him would stop the attack but it was too late. We weren't expecting anyone to be shooting at us when we landed and were...we were unprepared. I think I'm the only survivor."

She was starting to sway as she spoke and Shepard wrapped an arm around her for assurance, "I'm sorry, Tali. Come here." She willingly went into the embrace and relaxed as he held her. With what must have been an enormous feat, she broke away after half a minute.

"I...I didn't want to have to put my problems on you, Shepard…"

"You didn't. Cerberus did." He put a hand on her shoulder as he calmed her, "You know what I would do for a crewmember, for a friend. I'm not going to let anything happen to them if I can help it."

"You do seem to have a habit of getting yourself involved in other peoples' problems anyway, Shepard."

"You see? What other answer am I supposed to give? I help people, it's what I do." He spread his arms wide in a dramatic fashion, "I also recall that I made a promise to come and get you and I intend to keep that promise. We can send for someone to collect the fallen for later." He gave a warm smile, "In all honesty, I want you to come along with us. I want the best technician in the galaxy by my side. I want my friend with me."

By his side. "How badly do you want me to go with you?" she asked facetiously.

"Quite badly," he asserted.

Tali giggled, barely able to contain herself in her joy, "Then what are we waiting for?" She started to move to the door, Shepard behind her when she suddenly turned around, "I almost forgot, in true quarian fashion, it's customary for us to give a gift to our new captain."

Shepard stopped, surprised, "Tali, we know each other already," he held up a hand, "There's no need for you to give me a gift when you are all I want."

Do you even know what you just said? The voice in his head chastised.

Does he even know what he just said? Tali thought, cautiously optimistic.

Both shaking the moment off, Tali merely brought up her omni-tool as she spoke, "I think, Shepard, that you would want to see what we found here."

Shepard peered down to see what she was referring to. The video that was playing was grainy and in a sepia tone. It was hard to discern the images on screen as it looked like it had been hastily edited together but the contents made Shepard's eyes widen regardless as the images clicked in his brain.

Looking up, he glanced at Tali, who had to be smiling in triumph under that visor, "You ready to leave now?"

She nodded, "At any time."

A/N: Uploaded on company time, so technically I'm getting paid for this. (Heh...heh)

At this rate, I may be able to make my deadline for finishing this part by the end of the month. Fingers crossed, though!