Recap: "Who is it?" Shepard asked. Last time he got a call from the Citadel, it was from Udina and Anderson. Udina was pissed about his decision to free the Rachni Queen, but Anderson had managed to calm the man down enough. When the Ambassador left, Anderson actually voiced his support in Shepard's decision. Shepard smiled at that.

"It's from the Council." Joker replied. Shepard got up and made his way to the comm room. Finally another lead on Saren!

Now

Shepard made his way into the comm room, ready to receive a new mission from the Council. He didn't wait long for their holograms to show up.

"Well, this is pleasant surprise." Shepard commented. The Councilors ignored it with Tevos speaking before Valern and Sparatus.

"Ghost. We've received information that may be critical to your mission against Saren." Tavs said. Shepard raised an eyebrow in interest. He finally had something to go on with Saren.

"What kind of information?" Shepard asked.

"We've received an urgent message from one of our regiments in the Traverse." Valery spoke.

"You mean spies." Shepard stated as he crossed his arms.

"Spectres tend to attract attention, Ghost. But they are only one arm of the Council. Special Task Groups are often a better option for monitoring developing situations." Tevos explained. Shepard's other eyebrow rose this time. Salarian STG, eh? This is going to be interesting. He never really dealt with them before or at least directly anyway. For all he knew he probably walked past a couple of them on Omega.

"We currently have several infiltration units scattered throughout the border regions of Citadel space." Shepard rolled his eyes in a yea-right expression. "This particular unit was gathering information on Saren." Shepard gained a serious look.

"What did they find?" There was a pause as if Valern was trying to think of way to say it correctly. Oh boy.

"Unfortunately, the message we received was little more than static. The infiltration team must be in a situation where they can't set up proper interstellar transmissions." Oh that's just perfect! That means that he and his team will be going in blind... Oh what the hell they've been doing that for awhile now.

"But it was sent on a channel reserved for mission-critical communications. Whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important. Considering your interest in Saren, we thought you might want to investigate this. Find out what happened to our team. The signal originated from the planet Virmire." Valern finished.

"I'll look into it." Shepard said as he uncrossed his arms. Then he smirked.

"You know I expected Aria to give information like this to me when I'm on a mission for her. Nice to see the Council will do the same from time to time." Shepard said absently.

"The Council prefers not to become involved in the specifics of Spectre activities. We only want you to be aware of all your options, including Virmire." Tevos replied. Shepard quirked an eyebrow at her as if to say, 'What other options?'

"Good luck, Ghost. We will keep you advised of if we learn anything else." Tevos finished before they cut off the connection.

"You catch all that, Joker?" Shepard asked aloud before turning from the comm console to the CIC.

"Yep. Want to head there now?" Joker asked.

"You know it." Shepard said as he messaged his team to prepare for the next mission.

The Normandy flew down to the tropical world of Virmire. Before heading to the hangar the group had taken a scan of the planet.

"Shepard, I'm reading a signal. Must be our salarian infiltration team." Joker said having caught the transmission. Everyone was looking at the scans they had taken of the ground.

"Look at those defense towers." Kaidan said gesturing to a couple of structures on the screen they were looking at. It showed several rock formations and rivers as well as the base itself.

"Yeah. Drop the Mako. We'll go in hot and take them out." Shepard said gesturing for everyone to go to hangar bay.

A few minutes later, everyone was inside the Mako and were ready to drop. As the Normandy's doors opened up, Joker spoke through the mako's comm.

"I'll get you in underneath their radar, Shepard." The doors finally opened up and the Mako zoomed out as the Normandy flew over.

"We've got a clean drop, Shepard." Joker said once they landed safely and without any geth attacking.

"Great. Stay out of range and continue evasive maneuvers until we bring those AA towers down." Shepard replied.

"I know the drill. Meet you at the camp once those towers are offline. Joker out." Shepard wasted no time driving toward the towers. The mako plowed through the waters at a fast pace before they came across several geth. First it was recon drones. Nothing a little machine gun action couldn't take care of. Then as they pushed further, they came across more troubling enemies, geth troops and armatures. Again, nothing a little machine gun action with a mix of rocket cannon firing couldn't take care of. There was one problem that did present difficulty however: Four Colossuses were in their way.

Taking on a Colossus would be easy in a mako for them now, but taking on four was tough. Shepard gunned the motor and sped toward one before knocking it down. He continued speeding until he hit the thrusters and landed on the second, pinning it on the ground. The mako's weapons turned to the other two Colossuses and fired continuously. A few minutes later the other Colossus had gotten back up while another had gone down. Both Colossuses fired at the same time forcing the Shepard to hit the thrusters. The mako landed on the pinned Colossus before firing again, this time destroying another Colossus and severely damaging the other. Shepard drove and ran over the damaged Colossus before speeding past it, allowing Ashley and Garrus to fire their weapons at it, before it exploded from the damage. The formerly pinned Colossus got back up only to be under fire from the mako. Before long, it to was finished. The mako drove passed the collapsed bodies and came to several small groups of geth on the shores each being protected by barricades of those hex shields. The cannon took care of those fast. After fighting them, Shepard allowed the mako to recharge its shields. During the 5 minutes of recharging, they heard what sounded like artillery blasts.

"I believe that is our target." Tali surmised causing everyone to nod. Shepard drove onward, following the sounds until they came to one of the AA towers. The AA tower was connected to a barricaded gatehouse which was closed off making any progress forward come to halt.

"There's the artillery keeping the Normandy at bay." Kaidan said as it came into sight. The mako's cannon fired at the geth on the ground but took fire from up top. Garrus pointed the cannon at the walkway and fired, forcing the geth to take cover. Everyone got out of the mako and stormed the area.

"That's a big gun. Hope we can take it out." Wrex commented firing his shotgun at a few geth.

"We must find a way to disable their artillery." Liara spoke as she used singularity on a geth trooper with her pistol firing. Garrus and Ashley had run up the stairs and began firing, taking out whatever geth were up there. Shepard followed closely while the rest dealt with the geth on the ground. That was when Garrus spotted something with his sniper.

"There's our target, Shepard." Garrus said firing from cover on the walkway pointing to a geth terminal down the hall that lead to a room carved into the rock formation the gatehouse was connected to. Shepard nodded having heard him and fired his assault rifle. The small mass accelerators bore through the geth fast as Shepard pushed on with little hesitance. Soon enough, the geth had been wiped out and the team made it to the AA controls. Inside they found two terminals. One was connected to the generator while the other had to be connected to the walls. Shepard hacked through the terminal and managed to cut the power from the generator. The AA gun immediately stopped firing.

"I'm reading that the grid is down Shepard. On approach to the salarian base now. Out." Joker radioed a few seconds after. Tali worked on the other terminal and soon everyone heard the doors unseal themselves.

"Ready to move out Skipper." Ashley said. Everyone moved back to the mako in a rush and once inside, drove forward only to be stopped by another barricaded gatehouse. The Normandy soared overhead as the geth fired on them. They quickly took care of the geth with Ashley being the one who got to the gatehouse terminal.

"There. Now we should have no trouble reaching the salarian camp." She said to Shepard who had come up behind her.

"Excellent." He said nodding. He turned around and began walking to the others with her following. From there on, it was smooth sailing to the camp. Shepard did notice as he looked on the horizon that a storm was brewing over the ocean. He wasn't much of a prophetic man himself, but there had been times in his life where he had seen certain things happen and couldn't help but feel as if there was something else at work that wasn't the work of his enemies or allies. A shiver went down his spine as thunder claps happened in the distance with accompanying lightning strikes. This was one of the times he felt it was an omen. Something bad was going to happen. He was shaken out of his reverie when Joker radioed them.

"Shepard, Normandy's touched down at the base, but it looks like we're grounded." Everyone looked at each other in confusion. If they made it, why were they grounded?

"Any reason why, Joker?" Shepard asked.

"The salarian captain can explain when you get here." Was all he said before the line cut. Shepard turned as the river turned until they came to the camp and right beside it was the Normandy.

"There's the camp." Wrex said as the camp came into view. It was along the shore up next to the facility wall and was composed of three tents. Shepard parked the mako next to the Normandy allowing the other crew members to take it back inside. Everyone came out it and proceeded to the camp, each on their guard. Shepard looked around the area before turning his attention to the base right beside the camp. How the hell had Saren and the Geth not noticed them here? Shepard then took note of the number of salarians and was baffled.

"Isaac?"

"Yes?"

"Is it my imagination, or shouldn't there be a few more salarians then this much for a unit?" Isaac took the time to go over how many were there.

"You're right. They should have at least twice maybe three times as more. These guys are greatly outnumbered." Shepard thought over the possible circumstances that might have caused this.

"Well, they had been using the emergency channel. It is possible that most of their men had been killed or captured." Shepard stated.

"You might be right. If so only two questions remain." Shepard looked at the wall again. "One kind of force are we dealing with in there and how are we going to stop it?"

Shepard spotted Ashley and Kaidan both talking with a salarian who was in white armor and red stripes, unlike the rest who had orange stripes.

'Must be the captain.' Shepard thought before walking over to the three. Isaac kept silent once he noticed Shepard was moving to the group. As he got closer, Shepard could here what was sounding like an argument.

"So what are we supposed to do now?" He heard Ashley ask the salarian.

"Stay put until we can come up with a plan." The salarian replied with authority. Definitely the captain or lieutenant.

"Are you in charge here? What's the situation?" Shepard asked causing the three of them to look at him.

"I'm Captain Kirrahe, Third Infiltration Regiment STG. You and your crew have just landed in the middle of a hotline. Every AA gun within ten miles has been alerted to your presence." Kirrahe said.

"That's just great. What are we supposed to do now?" Shepard said in annoyance as he face palmed himself. He hadn't though of other AA guns in the area.

"We stay put until the Council sends the reinforcements we requested." Kirrahe replied. It went silent for them for a few seconds until Kaidan broke it.

"We are the reinforcements." Kirrahe's eyes widened at the statement.

"What? You're all they sent? I told the Council to send a fleet." He said in mild dismay. Shepard shook his head no.

"We couldn't understand your transmission. They sent me here to investigate." Shepard replied making Kirrahe narrow his eyes in annoyance.

"That is a repetition of our task. I lost half my men investigating this place." Kirrahe said with some slight anger added in.

"So what have you found?" Kaidan asked. Kirrahe hesitated before answering.

"Saren's base of operations. He's set up a research facility here, but it's crawling with geth and very well fortified." Shepard's eyes widened at Saren's name.

"Is he here? Have you seen him?" Shepard asked.

"No, but his geth are everywhere, and we've intercepted some comms referring to Saren. This is his facility, there's no doubt about that." Kirrahe said making Shepard nod. They finally had a real solid lead on Saren now. But is the purpose of this facility of his anyway.

"What's Saren researching?" Shepard asked as his eyes went over to the facility wall.

"He's using the facility to breed an army of krogan." Everyone was stunned by the information. Shepard immediately began to think of what Saren could do with an army of krogan at his back. The most deadliest of ground soldiers at his beck and call. Sure the geth a great troops, he can attest to that with what he's seen them do. He's seen them bring two colonies to their knees, bring down Alliance forces with mild difficulty and hack through security systems as best as he and Tali could, but a krogan foot soldier would still be deadlier in the field. True, geth are synthetics but can they repair themselves while under fire? No, but a krogan could regenerate however. The geth have limitations which require them to take bigger bulkier bodies while krogan are already bred for such things.

The krogan had proven themselves time and time again as the deadliest of warriors. The Rachni Wars and the Krogan Rebellions burned that into everyone's memory. That's what Saren was after. An invincible ground force combined with a deadly technological one. With those two at his command he had enough power to take the Citadel by force possibly.

"How is that possible?" Wrex's voice sounded out. Shepard broke out of his train of thought and noticed that Wrex had walked over after hearing what Kirrahe said. Shepard immediately noticed the unnerved look in Kirrahe's eye.

"Apparently, Saren has discovered a cure for the Genophage." Kirrahe said making Wrex's eyes widen.

"What's so bad about curing it?" Shepard asked. Wrex had told him once that if he wanted details about the genophage, he'd have to ask a salarian. Well, here they were.

"It was the solution to the krogan problem." Wrex said still in mild shock. Kirrahe nodded.

"We introduced the genophage to the krogan population after the uprising. To quell their numbers." Okay he figured that much. "Without it, the krogan will quickly overrun the galaxy. And these krogan follow Saren." So that was how it was. The reason they kept the genophage still going was because they feared another krogan uprising. Shepard looked at Wrex and he suddenly felt that shiver again. He realized now what it meant. He was about to face what might be one of the most difficult decisions he'd have to make.

"The geth are bad enough, but a krogan army... he'd almost be unstoppable. Kirrahe nodded once more.

"Exactly my thoughts. We must ensure this facility and its secrets are destroyed." Wrex's eyes narrowed and his upper lip vibrated as he growled.

"Destroyed? I don't think so. Our people are dying. This cure can save them." Wrex said keeping himself as calm as he could. Shepard watched him closely as Kirrahe sighed.

"If that cure leaves this planet, the krogan will become unstoppable. We can't make the same mistake again." Kirrahe replied. Wrex snarled at him got up close to his face, finger pointed at him. Kirrahe leaned back at how close Wrex was.

"We are not a mistake!" Wrex growled at him before walking away to the shore. Kirrahe relaxed. Shepard noticed the salarian's hand move away from his holstered pistol. Kirrahe watched Wrex leave before turning to Shepard.

"Is he going to be a problem? We already have enough angry krogan to deal with." Kirrahe asked.

"He'll be fine. I'll talk to him." Shepard said.

"I'd appreciate that, Ghost. My men and I need to rethink our plan of attack. Can you give us some time?" Kirrahe asked. Shepard nodded.

"Go ahead, Captain. I"ll come back soon." Shepard replied.

"We won't be long, Ghost. In the meantime, if you need any supplies you can talk to Commander Rentola. He's in one of the tents nearby." With that Kirrahe left them to think. Shepard and Kaidan both turned toward Ashley who was thinking over things. Kaidan crossed his arms.

"Looks like things are a bit of a mess." He stated.

"Yeah, I wouldn't be so worried if it wasn't for Wrex. He looks like he's going to blow a gasket." Ashley said looking over at Wrex. A gunshot sounded making the other two to look at where it came from. Shepard calmed down when he noticed that Wrex was shooting into the water. He also noticed several salarians and crewmen kept their distance from him.

"You think I should go talk to him?" Shepard asked out loud before turning back to them. Ashley shrugged.

"It wouldn't hurt. Well, it might, actually. Just do it carefully." Ashley said with worry.

"I'll be careful, but be ready... just in case." Shepard said before walking to Wrex. He heard her say 'I'm always ready.' as he walked away. Shepard breathed out slowly, preparing himself for a fight. He got within 10 feet of him before Wrex spoke.

"This isn't right, Shepard. If there is a cure for the genophage, we can't destroy it." Wrex said before turning to him. Shepard knew there was still a chance that they could both walk out of this alive, and maybe...

" I understand you're upset, but we both know that Saren is the real enemy here. He's the one you should be angry with." Shepard replied as Wrex walked toward him shotgun still in his hand.

"Really? Saren created a cure for my people. You want to destroy it. Help me out here Shepard. The lines between friend and foe are getting a little blurry from where I stand." Wrex said in tone that made Shepard become extra cautious.

"This isn't a cure, it's a weapon. And if Saren is allowed to use it, you won't be around to reap the benefits. None of us will." Shepard said taking a step forward. Wrex took one step toward Shepard coming face to face.

"That's a chance we should be willing to take. This is the fate of my entire people we're talking about." Both stared each other down.

"I've been loyal to you so far. Hell, you did more for me than my family ever did. But if I'm going to keep following you..." Wrex took a step back and pulled out his shotgun before pointing it at him. Shepard did the same thing. Everyone was now extremely tense as they watched the human and krogan stare off down the barrels of their guns.

"I need to know we're doing it for the right reasons." And there it was. Shepard realized that this moment right here was a test for both him and Wrex. For Wrex it was test to see if Shepard would continue to be the leader he had been since the start of this. The leader who had always been fair and sympathetic to those unfortunate, but also stern and hard when he needed to be. For Shepard, it was time to see if Wrex, after all those talks they had about the krogan, would step into being the krogan who would guide his race into a better age or die in the sand.

"Wrex, these krogan are not your people. They're slaves of Saren. Tools. Is that what you want for them?" Shepard replied lowering his gun. He was going to show Wrex he trusted him and that he should trust him too. Wrex kept his gun pointed at him for a few seconds. Shepard could see Wrex muling over his words. Before long, he lowered his own gun.

"No. We were tools for the Council once. To thank us for wiping out the rachni, they neutered us all. I doubt Saren will be as generous." Wrex holstered his weapon making Shepard smile as he did his own.

"All right, Shepard. You've made your point. I don't like this, but I trust you enough to follow your lead. Just one thing. When we find Saren, I want his head." Wrex said before turning away. Shepard walked away from him and stood alone for a few seconds before...

"Your ability to calm the krogan is impressive." Liara spoke, walking up behind him.

"It wasn't easy." Shepard replied before asking, "Does your mother know anything about this place?" Liara shook her head no.

"I'm afraid he kept her away from here. She told me he spoke of it, but nothing beyond it being a facility that was researching on the krogan."

"So nothing we don't already know." Shepard said with a sigh. Liara was about to say something before four more entered the conversation.

"Nice work with Wrex. I didn't think anything would calm him down." Kaidan said as he approached.

"I still can't believe you were able to calm Wrex down." Garrus beside him.

"Yeah, nice job. He's totally changed his attitude." Ashley said coming up right beside Liara.

She's right. Wrex's mood has changed since you spoke with him." Tali said standing on Liara's other side. Shepard smiled at their praise before turning serious. He looked at the wall near them. Everyone noticed his gaze and followed it.

"This facility is well protected, it must be very important to Saren." Liara said making Garrus nod.

"With all these defenses, Saren must be hiding something big." He commented. Ashley looked at the salarians.

"I hope these salarians can fight." She said.

"These salarians seem pretty tough. I just hope they hold up under pressure." Kaidan replied looking somewhat doubtful.

"These salarians are some of the best-trained anywhere. We will need their help." Liara said with confidence.

"Normally, I wouldn't think much of salarians in a fire fight, but these soldiers do seem well trained." Garrus added.

"The upcoming battle frightens me, but I know Saren must be stopped. These salarians are willing to die to stop Saren... and so am I." Tali said. Shepard could see the resolve in her eyes. It made him smile.

"Taking the facility will not be easy, but I am sure we will succeed." Liara said to Tali.

"It won't be an easy fight, but we're ready when you are. " Ashley said turning to Shepard with a small smile..

"Whatever you need, Shepard I'm right behind you." Kaidan agreed. Everyone else nodded with the same thoughts in mind. Shepard smiled more at them until another voice added on to their's.

"Saren's base will be nothing but dust when I'm done. I'm going to tear this place a new one. I'm ready Shepard, just say the word." Wrex said coming up behind them. He had determined look none of them had seen on him before. Shepard's smile turned into a grin now.

"Okay then. Let's go see if Kirrahe has a plan." Shepard said before walking to the tent Kirrahe and several other salarian troops. Kirrahe noticed Shepard and walked toward him before stopping right in front of him.

"Thank you for speaking with the krogan. The assault on Saren's base will be difficult enough as it is." Kirrahe said. That got everyone's attention. An assault already?

"I assume that means you've come up with a plan." Shepard stated.

"Of sorts. We can convert our ship's drive system into a twenty-kiloton ordnance. Crude, but effective." Kirrahe explained.

"Nice. Drop that from orbit and Saren can kiss his turian ass goodbye." Ashley said. Shepard almost snorted. Nothing was that easy when a facility like this was involved. To prove his point Kirrahe spoke up.

"Unfortunately, the facility is too well-fortified for that. We'll need to place the bomb at a precise location."

"Where do we take the nuke? And how do we get it there?" Shepard asked.

"The bomb must be taken to the far side of the facility. Your ship can drop it off, but we'll need to infiltrate the base, disable the AA guns, and pacify any ground forces first."

"You want us to go on foot?" Kaidan asked incredulously. "We don't have enough men." Shepard thought it over.

"It does sound a bit risky. Is there no other way?" He asked.

"No, but I think we can work around that. I'm going to divide my men into three teams and hit the front of the facility. While we have their attention, you can sneak your 'shadow' team in the back." Kirrahe explained. That sounded like a good plan but there was one problem.

"It's a good idea, but your people are going to get slaughtered." Shepard replied.

"We're tougher than we look, Ghost." Shepard gave him a blank stare that said 'please'. "But it's true. I don't expect many of us will make it out alive. And that makes what I'm going to ask even more difficult." Shepard had that bad feeling crawling up his spine again and this time he had an idea of what Kirrahe was going to ask.

"I need one of your men to accompany me. To help coordinate the teams." Shepard's eyes narrowed making Kirrahe actually more nervous than he was with Wrex. He had heard about Ghost and how he had been able to elude STG teams in the past and he even heard at one point Ghost had fought an STG agent, but no one knew if that was true or not. Before Shepard could say anything to him, however...

"I volunteer, Shepard." Shepard looked over his shoulder at Kaidan. He almost glared at him before someone else cut in.

"Not so fast, LT. Shepard will need you to arm the nuke." Exactly. Ashley understood him. "I'll go with the salarians." Scratch that. She didn't get him at all.

"With all due respect Gunnery Chief, it's not your place to decide." Kaidan replied back with an authoritative tone. Ooohhh. He had to bring up rank at this time. Shepard knew that those two had different views on things, but damn. Ashley looked at Shepard.

"Why is it that whenever someone says 'with all due respect' they really mean 'kiss my ass?' She asked. Shepard groaned at the two of them. He knew he was going to regret this.

"Who would be better suited for the mission?" He asked Kirrahe.

"Either of these two will do, Ghost. Both seem willing to sacrifice their lives if necessary, though if we are lucky, such sacrifices won't be required." Shepard thought long and hard about it. Both Ashley and Kaidan were good on the battle field had decent leadership skills. Ashley would be able to jump into combat just as fast a Kaidan would be. Kaidan would have to be on the defensive and support role which could help the group as a whole, but there is still the off chance of something sneaking up on him while he's concentrating. Not only that, but Ashley did have a point. If Kaidan were out there, Ashley would be dealing with the bomb. She was decent enough when it came to explosives, but Kaidan had a better understanding of the tech itself. Plus it could slow down the bomb's efficiency by the smallest nanosecond. Shepard sighed as he made his decision.

"Williams, you'll accompany the Captain. No heroics, understood?" Shepard said looking at her over his shoulder. She nodded.

"Aye, aye, Skipper!" She replied. Shepard turned to Kirrahe.

"I will have the ordinance loaded onto the Normandy and brief your crew on its detonation sequencing. Do you have any questions before we go, Ghost?" Kirrahe asked. Shepard shook his head no.

"I'm ready when you are, Captain."

"Excellent. Then if you'll excuse me, I need to prepare my men." Kirrahe walked off to gather his men while Shepard turned to Kaidan and Ashley.

"Well, this is it. Don't do anything foolish while I'm gone, LT. That goes for you too, Skipper." Ashley said. Shepard could hear the nervousness in her voice.

"We'll be fine, Ash." Kaidan replied with an uneasy smile. Shepard could tell that the reality had set in on them. All they mission they had been on since the start of this crazy adventure, they had been together and now... two of them were going to do something alone.

"Yeah, I just... good luck." Ashley said."

"Is there something you wanted to say, Chief?" Shepard asked thinking she might need to vent.

"I don't know... It's just weird, going under someone else's command. I've got so used to working with you..." Her eyes gazed over to the others who were chatting away before moving to the ground. "All of you."

"Don't worry so much. We'll see you on the other side." Kaidan said comfortingly. Ashley looked up at him covering up any worry she might have let them seen.

"I know. I, ah... it's been an honor serving with you, Skipper." Ashley said looking at him with a... loving look. It was that same look he'd Liselle giving him from time to time when she thought he wasn't looking.

"It doesn't matter if we aren't in the same group, we're still a team. Watch each other's backs, keep your eyes open and fight like I know you can. We'll come out of this in one piece." Shepard said giving them an appraising look. They both smiled at him.

"You bet, Skipper." She said. Kaidan walked over to where the bomb squad was. Ashley was about to walk towards Kirrahe's group before Shepard called out.

"Ash." She turned around and saw Shepard raise an arm to her, hand extended out. She smiled sadly before walking over and grabbing his hand. They shook, but when she tried to let go she found Shepard still gripping her hand firmly, but also gently. He suddenly pulled her closer and hugged her. Ashley was shocked by his sudden embrace, but quickly returned it.

"Be careful." He whispered into her ear. She smirked.

"Kaidan doesn't get a hug?" She asked jokingly.

"He's not the one going into a fire fight with three salarian teams." Shepard replied before letting her go. He nodded to her which she returned before walking away. Shepard felt his heart drop for a split second.

An hour later...

After hearing Kirrahe give his Hold the Line speech to his men, Shepard and all the nonhuman squad members were in position at the far side of the facility.

"Comm check. Do you read me Ghost?" Kirrahe's voice radioed out. Shepard winced at the volume before turning it down just a bit.

"Loud and clear."

"Good. We'll start our push. We'll try to make it to the AA guns, but it might be up to you to finish the job." Shepard nodded before walking forward.

"And Ghost?" Shepard stopped. "If you see any way to undermine their defenses, we could definitely use the help."

"Understood." Shepard walked ahead with his group following.

"Garrus, Tali, Liara . I want you to scout ahead and see what kind of resistance we could be facing."

"Right Shepard." Garrus replied before moving further up ahead with Tali and Liara following. Once they were far enough Shepard motioned Wrex to come closer to him. The krogan did so wondering what Shepard was up to. Once he was right beside him Shepard spoke.

"What do you think about me swiping the cure?" Shepard asked nonchalantly. Wrex looked at him with a critical eye before grinning.

"I'd say if you did that, I'd follow you into any battle." Shepard smirked.

"Fine by me." Shepard picked up the pace. Wrex kept up with him.

"If you were a krogan, I'd place you as Chief of Chiefs." Shepard continued to smirk.

"I'm flattered but sadly I'm not." His smirk vanished. "Wrex listen, the reason why we had those talks and things ended up like this is because I've been trying to get you to get back into the krogan Chiefdom." Wrex looked ahead.

"I'm not going to tell you what to do, but I will say this: The krogan need a leader who will guide them toward a better way of life. One different from one they've been living since the Rebellions. You already know of the leader I speak of. You have but one question to answer now: Who is it going to be?" Shepard said before they noticed they were catching up to the other three. Wrex looked at Shepard for a moment before thinking over what he said. He found that Shepard was right. The krogan were dying. A once proud people rotting away. And the terrible part was it wasn't just because of the Council. The Council may have beaten the krogan down, but the krogan haven't bothered to get back up. Shepard was right, they need someone to guide them into a better way. After this Saren business is over... he'll step back in.

"Shadow is on the ground. Repeat: Shadow is on the ground. Chief Williams, with Aegohr team! Mannovai, Jaeto teams, move! Time to get some attention!"

They came to a watchtower of sorts. Heading towards the tower, they noticed its unfriendly inhabitants: Geth Troopers, Geth Rocket Troopers, and Geth Shock Troopers. Not only that but there was also a Geth Sniper and a Destroyer present as well. The Geth greeted them with a hail of gunfire forcing them to use the nearby rocks for cover. The geth also deployed a few smaller hex shields on the upper level, providing them additional protection. Shepard was pinned down by sniper fire almost immediately.

"Mannovai is under coordinated crossfire. Check for long-range turrets helping the geth target!" He heard Ashley say over the radio followed by gunfire in the background.

"Garrus! Think you could get this sniper off me!?" Shepard shouted over the gunfire. Garrus took out his Volkov sniper rifle and aimed at the geth sniper. Shepard glanced over his cover before ducking down immediately, barely missed by the sniper shot. Garrus had the sniper in his sights and fired. The sniper ducked behind a shield which took the hit instead. Shepard got up and fired his assault rifle at the balcony which the geth were on. The shots fired damaged or destroyed most of the shields but a few rockets had forced Shepard to take cover. Before he did, he noticed the Destroyer coming down the ramp that led to the balcony.

"Tali! Hack the Destroyer!" He shouted which Tali did. She sent the destroyer back up the ramp and immediately start shooting the geth. Everyone ran after it while the geth were distracted. As soon as they were up, the destroyer was down. Liara and Shepard used singularity on them while everyone else fired.

"I wonder why the geth were guarding this outpost?" Liara asked aloud.

"Yes, they seemed pretty determined to keep it." Garrus said looking around. He noticed a console nearby.

"Shepard, check this out." He motioned toward the console. Everyone came to it before Tali walked up and hacked it.

"What is it for Tali?" Shepard asked. Tali kept typing on it before saying, "It appears to be a Triangulation Tower."

"Mess with that and their communications would be messed up." Wrex said with a grin. Shepard nodded.

"Do it." He ordered. Tali began typing away before, "Geth communications disrupted."

"Good, that may help Kirrahe and his teams." Shepard said before walking down the ramp and went under the tower, finding a way forward. Everyone took out their preferred weapon and moved ahead. Kirrahe's voice sounded out over the radio.

"Something scrambled their targeting. We've got a shot! Chief Williams, take the heat of Mannovai!" Sounds like messing with the tower helped. They trudged onward coming up against only a scant few troopers which were easily taken out. Then Shepard felt an electric presence from above and fired at the rocket drones.

"They're calling sat-strikes! Jaeto, watch for comm stations! Williams, can you see anything?" Kirrahe voiced over. Guess that meant they were facing more than they were. Time to see if they could find something to help on their side. They moved ahead to find another tower. There was less resistance then the first since there was only a geth destroyer and a krogan.

The Destroyer charged at Shepard who made a power strike and shoved it into its chest, ripping it to pieces. The krogan charged at him next but it was intercepted by Wrex who tackled him to the ground and began beating him to death with his shotgun until he finished him off with a blast to the face. Shepard looked around for anything that could help Kirrahe's situation and noticed something on top of the tower. A satellite uplink.

'Sat-strikes!' Shepard realized before throwing a grenade at it. It stuck to it and Shepard detonated it. They moved passed it quickly, walking down the walkway that led further in towards the facility. Destroying that had to have left the geth defenses in disarray.

"Aircraft heading to perimeter stations to recharge. Bunker up before they come back!" Ashley's voice came over the radio. How many more defenses do these geth have? Oh well, if they run into them, they'll take care of it. They came to a t-junction that branched off in three directions.

"Wrex and Tali, take the one on the right. Liara and Garrus take, the left. I'll take one ahead." Shepard said. Garrus looked up where Shepard was going.

"Looks like the perfect place for a sniper." He commented.

"Exactly." Shepard said before switching to his Master HMWSR and walking forward. The others separated into their teams and ran in the directions they were supposed to go.

With Shepard

Shepard crouched and looked over to see if there were any enemies that he could see. Hmmm, only two krogan and three rocket troopers. Shepard fired at the geth and managed to kill the three of them before he had wait for his sniper rifle to cool down. He then saw the krogan looking for him. He shot one of them twice before he died and the other got shot once before Shepard had to wait. The krogan tried to leave the area seeing how he was outmatched at the moment, but Shepard wouldn't let him. With the aim of a master marksman, Shepard fired his sniper twice and killed the krogan. With that he left the area to go help his team. As he got to the t-junction he could sense two signatures. A single biotic signature to his right and one biotic signature with several electric signatures around it to his left. He followed after the one to his left.

With Liara and Garrus

The two had ran the way Shepard told them too but were met by two krogan who wasted no time attacking them. Liara used lift on the two before Garrus fired at them with his Breaker assault rifle. Once they were dead, they both walked down the ramp and onto the ground before being ambushed by a geth destroyer. Garrus used on overload on it causing its gun to overheat and its shields to be depleted. The geth swung its arm and knocked Garrus away before advancing on Liara. The asari used throw on it sending it back. She unholstered her pistol and fired at it and used warp. The throw ran out and the destroyer was only mildly damaged. It got back and grabbed its pulse rifle before aiming it at her. She used barrier hoping that the rounds wouldn't penetrate it. However, a grenade latched itself onto the destroyer before exploding. Liara turned and saw Garrus had gotten back up. He walked over to her and saw that the destroyer was dead.

"You all right?" He asked.

"Yes, just startled. What about you? That geth actually knocked you off the ground."

"Nothing I can't handle. Come on. We need to get to the facility and meet with the others."

"Right." With that they both walked ahead to the facility on the ground without much resistance after that.

With Tali and Wrex

Wrex and Tali passed by the area where they could see the facility entrance. They could hear Shepard sniping the guards from his cover. They came to another area where they heard a type of whirring sound. Wrex and Tali hug the wall and moved closer to the corner.

"Geth flyers. Looks like they're stuck refueling." Wrex said looking over the edge.

"Didn't Ashley mention them? We should disable them before they can return to attack the other teams." Tali said. Wrex nodded and jumped out of cover, firing at the fuel tanks. They exploded from the attack and managed to damage the drones before they began firing at him. Tali used overload and caught 3 of the flyers in it taking out their shields fully before she fired on them. Wrex used warp on one while shooting another. Eventually, they destroyed them. Wrex noticed his shields had been depleted by 60% before they began replenishing at a fast rate. He had to admit, Shepard definitely picked the best armor and weapon upgrades. He looked at Tali who was panting a little.

"You okay, Tali?" The Quarian nodded.

"I'm fine. Just a little excited is all." Wrex grinned at her. She was finally enjoying a fight.

"We should get going." She said walking towards the facility. Wrex followed after her.

SURPRISE! What do you think?