Sarah stepped into Wasea's office, and said, "Before you fire, might I point out that you are surrounded by containers of a chemical which tends to have a side effect of killing biotics. So, if you try to kill me, I could just blow up a few of those, get you covered in the Minagen, and then leave you to die. From my considerable understanding of how it works, there's only one cure in the galaxy to extended exposure, and it's nearly impossible to get. At least if you aren't a Spectre or government."
Wasea laughed, and asked, "How would a soldier have extensive knowledge of a chemical that was developed while she was dead?"
Sarah laughed, and asked, "Just because I was dead, doesn't mean I was out of the loop. Don't you think that the people who restored me would imprint knowledge of recent developments?"
"What could they hope to gain by informing you about the side effects of a very specific chemical."
Sarah shrugged, and said, "Alright, you've gotten me. I've actually traveled back in time through use of a device that will be constructed in a few months time, then attached to the Citadel. It released a fuckton of dark energy that created a massive space-time distortion that sent me into the past. As to why I know so much about it, last time my girlfriend got covered in it, and I had to delay my mission through the Omega 4 to get the cure."
"You really are crazy." Wasea said, "It is a proven fact that time travel is impossible."
"Actually, no one has been able to show proof that it isn't possible. It's just that no one has been able to figure out how to do it yet."
"Why, if you're from the future, did you let yourself get killed."
"Do you really want to hear about my motivations? Do you really want to listen to me talk about how I was suicidally depressed, how I charged a Sovereign class reaper on foot. Do you really want to know the details of how I brutally tore a man apart because of what he did years before then, and the fact that he was using his own child as a human shield? I seriously fucking doubt it. So, why don't we be civil, and get this over with. I want to know the name of the ship Morinth was on because she kills people by having weird mind sex with them. So, I have a simple deal to offer. You tell me the name of the ship she's on, and I won't have my friend standing right behind you tear your head off with her bare hands."
Wasea turned around, and saw Jack standing behind her. The convict gave the mercenary a menacing smile as she cracked her knuckles, and said, "Just hand over the datapad, and you'll get to live."
Wasea tried to kick Jack away, but her leg was caught and broken by the smaller woman.
Sarah laughed, and said, "Nice fucking try, but I taught her how to engage an opponent in CQB properly, and she's pretty damn good at it, even by an N7 and Spectre's standards."
Wasea, who was now lying on the floor in agony, said, "Shut the fuck up, Shepard! A creature like Morinth could do things far worse than just breaking my leg and killing me!"
"Do you really think that if you gave me the intel Morinth would live long enough to threaten you? If she came back, I would find her, and she would die. The simple truth is, you're the only thing keeping her alive. Maybe Samara would even be merciful with you if you just, I don't know, gave the location of Morinth's destination."
"That's bad for business, Shepard. You should know that."
"Always so concerned with getting the optimal number of credits. Well, I hope you can enjoy them in the afterlife, because you just gave up this one. Jack, she's all yours. Have fun."
"I will, Shepard." Jack said, grinning as she reached behind her back and pulled out a knife.
The asari's eyes bulged as she saw the knife begin to glow blue with biotic energy, and approach her. Then, Sarah walked over to the table, and took the datapad off of it. After gleaning the ship's name, she said, "Alright, Jack, how's your prisoner?"
"Dead." the ex-con replied, pulling the knife out of the asari's head. "Dumb bitch actually thought I was going to torture her."
"We did make it seem that way." Sarah said, looking at Mordin. "Something wrong, Mordin?"
"Was your story regarding time travel the truth, Commander?"
"Yup." Sarah said, "I'll explain everything in a bit, once we're back on the Normandy."
"Understood, Commander." he replied.
-=0=-
Miranda stepped into Eternity, and walked up to Aethyta. She said, "Has anyone suspicious-looking come into the bar and not left yet?"
"Just you." the asari replied, "We don't usually get Cerberus Operatives in here."
"I'm not actually Cerberus." Miranda replied, "I used to be, but my new boss arranged for my release from the organization. I just haven't had time to have the Cerberus insignia removed from my clothes."
"Sucks to be you. You think a secret terrorist cell wouldn't have their fucking symbol standing where it's very fucking easy to see."
"You'd be surprised how many people don't actually know what the Cerberus symbol is. I've only come across nine non-Cerberus individuals who immediately recognized it."
"And who are they?"
"I can't tell you that. My new boss might get upset. She doesn't like people giving up details about her team. She worries that someone might come after them to get to her."
"So, you're working with Shepard?"
"Yes." Miranda replied. "I would have thought you'd remember, after the incident on the Citadel where you and several others told the Council the reapers were real."
"Well," Aethyta said, "Samara and I agreed that it would be best to act as if that didn't happen. Worries about paradoxes destroying the universe and such."
"If what Sarah's done so far hasn't destroyed the universe, I doubt that your acknowledging what's happened would." Miranda said.
"It's like you humans say, better safe than sorry. Also, I may have heard about Shepard killing Liara. Care to give an explanation for that, Lawson?"
"Liara was proving to be detrimental to mission success. She was continually defying direct orders, and was putting the entire team in danger of getting killed. Sarah tried to send her away, but she would not comply. She gave Liara a choice, quit causing problems, or die. Liara chose to add further complications to a mission that was already extremely complicated."
"You expect a parent to accept that excuse for someone killing their kid? Why don't you go into some more fucking detail?"
Miranda said, "Any further details about it could compromise several Alliance operations throughout the galaxy. Including research into items which could help us defeat the reapers. Otherwise, I would share that information."
"Hiding information for Cerberus, Lawson?"
"I said the Alliance, not Cerberus." Miranda replied, "They aren't synonymous."
"Whatever you say. Just tell me, what was Liara doing to compromise the mission?"
"She was failing to follow orders which were tactically sound, and not dangerous in any way."
"Why is that?"
"Because of Shepard's involvement with Cerberus, even though they got the body from her. She was having difficulty trusting the Commander due to some of the differences caused by her time travel."
"Such as?"
"Hostility towards another Spectre, having the team positioned where without some form of precognition it would seem illogical, and the rejection of romantic passes due to hostility formed between them during the Reaper invasion. From what she's told me, Liara expected her to care more about Thessia falling than earth, and/or the deaths of several of her closest friends."
Aethyta said, "Typical Liara. Sorry about the hostility, I just wanted to know why Shepard would kill her."
"It was necessary." Miranda said.
"Yeah, you've already said that once, Miranda. Want a drink?"
"No thanks. I'm just here to meet someone."
"What about?"
"It's a personal matter." Miranda said, getting up.
"Just because I didn't see anyone suspicious, doesn't mean that you should let your guard down, kid. Shepard's made a lot of enemies in her time. And, they'd be glad to go after her crew if they thought it would get to her."
"Trust me, Aethyta," Miranda said, chuckling, "I know."
-=0=-
Sarah stepped into the precinct, where Samara said, "Do you have the name of the ship yet?"
"Yup. Ready to join the Normandy."
"As I am sure you are already aware, there is an oath I must make first. To ensure your safety if your actions conflict with the code."
"Right." Sarah said.
-=0=-
Miranda stepped into the private room, where Oriana had said she'd be, but didn't see her. Instead, she saw a man wearing a black mask, who said, "Ms. Lawson, I presume."
"Who are you and what have you done with my sister?"
"Nothing." he replied, "Those messages were merely fakes to get you here."
Miranda reached for her pistol, and asked, "What is it you want with me?"
"Not much. Our boss just told us to make sure we had you, so that a message could be sent to Shepard." he said, as Miranda felt three tasers hit her from behind. She shook, struggling to maintain consciousness against the influx of electricity, but soon found herself on the ground, shaking.
The man said, "We aren't really sure why you're wanted though. He doesn't usually try to fuck with Shepard."
Miranda managed to sputter out, "You're a dumbass if you think she'll compromise a mission for a member of her crew."
"Yeah, thing is, our boss seems to have strong reason to believe you're more than just a member of her crew." the man replied.
-=0=-
Sarah stepped into the CIC, and was instantly greeted by Kelly handing her a datapad. The yeoman said, "Some guy named Gary told me to give this to you. Said that it was something you should look at."
"What is it?"
"I don't know. It requires a password to activate, and the hint didn't make any sense to me."
"Got it, thanks Kelly." Sarah said, examining the datapad. The password hint simply said,
"That which you know as reapers are your salvation through destruction."
Sarah quickly typed in, Harbinger, and the datapad unlocked. She opened it, and saw a pair of pictures of Miranda tied to a support pillar in a ship. Underneath them, it said, "You will help us achieve synthesis, or she dies. When the Crucible designs are discovered by a pair of turian technicians you will do everything in your power to get it constructed and attached to the Citadel so that synthesis can be achieved."
"Shit!" Sarah said. "Joker, set course for the Citadel, NOW!"
"We've still got people out on Illium."
"They can get a shuttle to the Citadel and meet back up with us there. Set course for the Citadel now!'
"Alright, alright." he replied. "What's going on?"
"I don't have time to answer questions right now. I need to work on a plan." she replied, walking into the armory. She nodded at Ashley and Jacob, before saying, "We're going to create new weapons systems that haven't been invented yet. In here, right now."
"Why?" Ashley asked.
"When we get back to the Citadel, we're going to need the most sophisticated weapons systems in the galaxy. There's a major issue that we have to handle now."
"What is it?" Jacob inquired.
"The Catalyst had Miranda kidnapped, so we're going to make it talk. Tell me where she is, so we can do a rescue operation."
"What's the Catalyst?"
"Classified." Sarah replied, "But, the simple truth is that we've got work to do, and there's no way in hell that we can do it as a single unit. So, I'm going to be dividing us into two separate crews. Myself, Garrus, and, oh shit we haven't recruited Tali yet. Great. EDI!"
"Yes, Commander?"
"Tell Joker to change course. We're going to Haestrom."
"Done. Changing course."
"Excellent. What's the ETA?"
"Twelve hours."
"Plenty of time." Sarah said, "Once I'm operating on the Citadel, Jack will be in command."
"Why Jack? She's crazy!" Jacob said.
"Aren't we all?" the N7 asked. "Jack will be in command because she is the only person who I've ever taken under my wing and taught everything I know. She'll do just fine. She knows what will be necessary in order to get this ship ready for the Omega 4 mission."
"Are you sure about that?"
"I'll tell her personally how to handle the job. Do you have an issue?"
"I just don't get why you trust her so much. One of the first things she talked about on the Normandy was going pirate." Jacob said.
"She won't do that." Sarah said, as she grabbed several weapons. "I'm going to need a complete tool kit. As will you two."
"Roger." Ashley replied, grabbing the tool kits. "What's the schematic we're building."
Sarah stepped over to a terminal, and after typing in a few commands, had designs for the Typhoon, Reegar Carbine, Black Widow, and Paladin. "These schematics. They're the weapons I used last time around, and they were better than any other weapons I've ever used."
Ashley nodded, and said, "Shepard, if you want, Jacob and I can work on these while you do other preparations."
She said, "Alright. I expect three sets of them constructed by the time we reach Haestrom."
"Aye-aye, Skipper." Ashley replied.
The Commander nodded, and walked out of the room. In the science lab, she put in several more commands, and said, "Mordin, do these mods. Now."
Mordin looked at them, and said, "High risk of death. Will not do them."
"I'll be fine, Doctor. Just do it."
"Cannot be certain."
"You know what you're doing. Are you trying to tell me that you can modify the genophage, but don't have the skill to do these upgrades?"
"Not lacking in skill, Shepard. Operation too dangerous for anyone. Ninety-five percent death rate."
"Mordin, I had this done last time, and I didn't die. I will be fine. You're the best damn doctor in the galaxy, you can handle this with your eyes closed. And, you'll have EDI assisting you. I need you to do these mods, and I need it now."
"Will take five hours, Shepard. Are you sure that you have enough free time?"
"Twelve hours to the next destination, so yeah." she replied, "Just do what you have to in order to get me these upgrades."
"Understood, Commander." he replied, "This way."
-=0=-
Two men stood on the outer tip of one of the wards of the Citadel. They stared out into space, until the one on the left said, "The Catalyst has acted sooner than anticipated. It has had Lawson taken. The Leviathans finally have their bargaining chip to force her to give them synthesis."
The second replied, "You know what will happen to us if they achieve it. You must make contact with her earlier than planned."
"I would rather not. Who knows what further complications it could produce." he said.
"That is irrelevant. Shepard must be prepared to prevent synthesis, no matter what the cost. Even if she must sacrifice Lawson's life."
"You know what happened to her last time, I will not ask her to suffer it again."
"Perhaps you are not being entirely reasonable. Do you truly wish for the end of our kind, and of the very concept of free will over the suffering of a single woman?"
"She will find another way." the first said, "She always has."
"There isn't always a second way."
"You clearly don't know Sarah as well as you think you do. She always finds a better way to win. Give her a chance, and she'll surprise you."
The second asked, "Do you really think that she will care about the consequences of her actions to our kind if it will save Lawson?"
"I trust her, as you should. She'll find a way to end the reapers and the Leviathans, while keeping our kind safe. She doesn't want to die again."
"Do I need to speak with his majesty so that he will command you to make earlier contact?"
"If earlier contact is necessary, I will make it." the man said, "She is currently headed towards Haestrom, and I will speak with her there. But, I will not force her to make the sacrifice you are suggesting."
"Then you are worried too much about her happiness. It would be better that she is destroyed in the sun than if she aided them with synthesis. We both know it would, in essence, be the end of all life other than the Leviathans."
"I am no fool, Bryce." he replied, "But would you have asked Samantha to sacrifice her love for the fate of our kind?"
"In an instant. One must always be ready to make sacrifices for the greater good."
-=0=-
Sarah opened her eyes, and examined the med bay. Chakwas said, "The upgrade operation was a success. You should be three hundred percent harder to kill, two hundred percent stronger, five hundred percent faster, and fifty percent more accurate with a firearm due to improvements in eyesight."
"Good." she replied. "EDI, what is our ETA to Haestrom?"
"Seven hours, Shepard."
"Good. Tell Jack to meet me in my quarters."
"Done. Is that all?"
"Tell Gardner to prep me something to eat."
"Done. Any further orders?"
"That's all for now."
"Logging you out." the AI said.
"So, what's bugging you, Sarah?" Chakwas asked.
"I'd rather not talk about it, Karin." she replied, leaving the room.
The Doctor nodded, and said to herself, "Never one to talk about your own issues. Always more concerned with others. One day that's going to kill you."
-=0=-
Jack stepped into Sarah's quarters, and saw the Commander sitting at her desk. She looked up at the former convict, and said, "After Haestrom the team's going to be splitting up. You will be in command of the Normandy."
"Whoa, Shepard. What the fuck are you talking about?"
"The Catalyst has had Miranda taken. I'm going to go and find out where she's been taken so I can rescue her. I've already lost her once, and I will never let anyone hurt her. So, I'm going to make the Catalyst tell me where she is. Then, I'll destroy it."
"Shepard, why the fuck did you choose me to take your place as the boss? Wouldn't Scars be a better choice?"
"I'm taking him and Tali with me when I go to the Citadel. Once I know where Miri is, I'll contact the Normandy."
"How?"
Sarah tossed Jack a small bracelet, and said, "Miniaturized QEC. With it I'll be able to send you a text message. Unfortunately voice communications with it haven't been ironed out yet."
"The fuck did you get this tech?"
"I wish I could remember. I just woke up with it in my head on Lazarus Station. So, I chose to make some good fucking use of it."
"How many of these do you have?"
"Currently just the two." Sarah said, "My plan was to give that one to Miri, but she was taken before I could."
"When'd you pick it up?"
"Just before we went to pick up Samara." Sarah said, "But that's beside the point. What's important is that we have a means of communication, even when you're outside the relay and com buoy network. And, you will command the Normandy in my absence."
"Got it, Shepard." Jack said, "So, what's the order of operations."
"You know what's left, you can handle it in the order of your choice." Sarah said, "You're smart enough to keep the crew from killing each other while I'm gone."
"Will do, need anything else?"
"Not right now." she replied.
-=0=-
Tali was running towards the vault on Haestrom, the sun burning her shields away as the geth fired on her. Just as she was about to reach it, a colossus landed from a transport ship in front of her. She rolled away from its first attack,and dove towards the entrance, only to have a second block her path. It raised a single leg to crush her, when suddenly it flew backwards into a wall.
Tali looked around to see a man landed softly in front of her, and say, "Get into the vault. You will be safe there long enough for Sarah to arrive."
"Who's Sarah?" she asked.
"You mean you helped her stop Saren, but never bothered to learn her first name?"
"Shepard's coming here? But, it's too dangerous! With the sun like this, she'll get beaten by these bosh'tets!"
"No she won't." he replied, as the colossus he'd sent flying away stood back up. "But that is beside the point. You will be safe enough in the vault. And, once I have terminated this second colossus, I will join you within."
"Why?"
"I must speak with Sarah." he said.
-=0=-
Sarah collapsed onto her bed, and said, "Hey, dude who keeps fucking with my head. Do me a favor, and just let me get some sleep without any bullshit. I don't really have time to deal with you."
-=0=-
The Leviathan looked at the Catalyst, and asked, "Where is Lawson?"
"She has been relocated to a safe location, Master." the AI replied. "Udina proved to be a valuable asset."
"Excellent. How long until completion of the Crucible so that synthesis can be achieved?"
"At least three months." the Catalyst replied.
"Inform us when it is time. We are most eager to look Shepard in the eye when she must either choose synthesis, or the death of Lawson."
"Are you certain that it will work any better than before? She has proven to be most adept at doing the exact opposite of what we want."
"She thinks more with her emotions than with reason, so she will help us." the Leviathan said, as its holographic projection vanished.
-=0=-
Sarah stepped into the shuttle bay, covered in a suit of Kestrel Armor and flanked by Garrus and Grunt. She said, "We're going down, picking up Tali, and getting out. We aren't going to let anything slow us down, are we clear?"
"There's a lot of geth on the surface."
"Treat them as inconsequential. We fight just what we have to. The amount of time we have is minimal." Sarah said, loading a thermal clip in her typhoon. " These rifles have enough ammo to suppress the enemy long enough to get past them. We'll just walk forward, and kill every last goddamn one of them without slowing down. Understood?"
"Yes." Garrus said.
"Whatever." Grunt replied.
-=0=-
Tali sat down in the vault, as the man who had rescued her stared at the door. She asked, "Who are you?"
"That does not matter. What matters is that I must speak to Shepard."
"Why?"
"There are many matters that she must be informed about. If she is not, there will be dire consequences."
"What kind of consequences?"
"You would not believe me if I told you."
"With what I've seen, I've become very open minded to crazy ideas."
"It would be the end of life as you know it."
"As in an improvement, or somehow made worse?"
"It would be infinitely worse." he replied.
"How so?"
"It is complicated. You will hear when I talk to Shepard."
"Why can't you just explain it now?"
"Because, I do not want to say it twice."
Tali nodded, then asked, "Why are you so reluctant to say who you are?"
"It is unimportant. You will learn my name when Shepard and I speak. Before then, there is nothing that you need to worry about."
"You're really secretive. Why should I even trust you?"
"Like she said when she asked you for the information to stop Saren, because I just saved your life."
-=0=-
Sarah ducked behind cover as a geth prime fired at her. She nodded at Garrus, who fired the entire clip from his Black Widow into the machine. She then jumped on top of her cover, her helmet's HUD telling her that the sun was searing her shields. She jumped from that onto the top of the prime's head, and aimed her typhoon at her target with a single hand, using her other arm to hold herself on the flailing machine's head. She then held down the trigger, her augmented strength enabling her to keep it steady.
A few seconds later the geth collapsed, and she jumped back into the shade, her shields having deactivated. After they had recharged, she motioned for the collapsed pillar, and said, "You still have the explosives, right Grunt."
The krogan merely nodded, and said, "Tell me where to place them."
"Right on that fallen pillar." she replied.
The krogan nodded, and enthusiastically planted the explosives. After they detonated, Shepard walked into the next area, and soon found them stuck in a small room. She hit the terminal for contacting Tali, and said, "Tali, we need past this damn door. The pad on our end is broken. Can you open it?"
"Yeah, just give me a second." she said.
-=0=-
The man whispered, "Do not tell her I am here. It will only distract her from the main reason she is here trying to discern my identity."
Tali nodded, and continued typing into the terminal. A moment later she said, "There, it should be open."
-=0=-
Sarah said, "Thanks, Tali. We'll be there in ten minutes at most. Then we can get you off this rock."
"I've got some stuff I have to finish first." she replied. "These readings I've gathered have to be sent to the Migrant Fleet before I can go."
"Get it done quickly. We don't have a lot of time." Sarah replied.
"I'll try." the quarian said.
Sarah nodded, and went through the door, firing on any enemies that she saw.
-=0=-
Miranda blinked her eyes open, and found herself in a small room lit by a single overhead light. She tried to stretch out her limbs, but her arms were cuffed with biotic restraining handcuffs, and the room was so small that she could only just extend her legs.
She groaned, and asked, "Is anyone out there?"
What followed was absolute silence. She looked around, and said, "Looks like I'm alone."
-=0=-
Sarah walked up to Reegar, and said, "Stay back and let me handle this."
"No way, Shepard! These synthetic bastards killed all my men!"
"Just follow your orders! We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team! I 'll handle this, and they'll all be dead." Sarah said, pulling out her M920 Cain. "One shot from this, and that colossus will be dust. Literally."
Reegar nodded, and said, "I'll pester it with some rockets."
"No need." Sarah said, stepping around the corner, and lining up a shot on the Colossus while charging the weapon. A second later she released the trigger, and the round exited the barrel, propelled to a significant fraction of the speed of light. In the fraction of a second it took the rapidly traveling round the colossus began to collapse into its nigh-indestructible repair mode. Unfortunately for the machine, it was too slow, and the round connected, and as it vaporized the machine, no one could see because of the mushroom cloud of nuclear force rose up. When the dust had cleared, they saw that there were five geth platforms standing.
She nodded at Garrus, who pulled out his Black Widow again, and three rounds later, all five were rendered non-functional. "Nice job with those double kills."
"It was easy. They were perfectly lined up for it."
"Yeah. That was surprisingly stupid of them." Sarah said, as she continued to walk towards the door. She said, "Tali, open up! The geth are all dead!"
"Sure thing." the quarian.
-=0=-
Samara examined the data. Just as before, Morinth had travelled to Omega. It seemed that she was not changing her behavior at all from before. It felt strange to the Justicar to know all of her prey's actions. She had sent a message to the girl that would be Morinth's first victim, Nef, warning her of how Morinth was dangerous. Of how she was an Ardat Yakshi. Though her wording had made it appear that it was not certain.
-=0=-
Sarah walked up to the door, and opened it. The first thing she saw was Tali working on a terminal. Examining the room, she also saw a man looking at one of the rocks. She asked, "Who's this guy?"
-=0=-
Thane sighed, after reading the message. 'Kolyat,' he thought, 'how did you get that? And why would you seek to follow my sinful path? I will have to speak to Shepard for help with this.'
-=0=-
Ashley asked, "Do you know why Shepard cares so much about Miranda?"
"I think it was how Miranda is so protective of her sister."
"She has a sister?"
"Yeah." he said.
"What does her sister do?"
"I'm not sure." he replied.
-=0=-
The man turned around, and said, "Hello, Sarah."
Sarah stepped back in shock, and said, "Dad, you're alive?"
-=0=-
A/N: Here's the next chapter. In the next chapter there will be the explanations regarding some of the stuff regarding Miri's return. I hope you'll like it. Oh, and thanks to Cmiller13 for inspiring the original idea for the stuff that'll be revealed in the next chapter while I was talking with him/her regarding a review he/she gave.