I'm Nobody

by free man writer

He didn't have anything when he was born. Just a name and number. But over time, what he had grew. He, with his friends began to understand that there was more to their existence then just their name and number. They will prove that they were meant to be real. To exist. To become something more than just a Nobody. Co-written and created with Jebest4781. Fem Shepard. Now on Ao3.

4. Excavating an Archaeologist

Burning, fiery fingers everyone. They are on FIRE.

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I'm Nobody Chapter 4: Excavating an Archeologist.

Day 34

Roxas sat alone in the mess hall of the ship, a small meal before him as he ate calmly with one hand while he had his Omni-tool open in the other.

Currently, the Normandy was on route to a place known as the Artemis Tau Cluster where they would need to track down an Asari of importance to the mission.

Li-something was her name. He couldn't really remember at the moment with him reading about the Codex right now.

Apparently, this was where a number of information could be found on the galaxy and all its species, ships, weapons and so on.

He had been reading this for a while now, having been mostly spending his time alone for a majority of the day with a bit of it being spent with Tali. Though, after a while, she appeared dead set on learning as much as she was able to about the ship having Roxas realize he was not needed at the moment.

So, it was back to research and recon as Vexen had so aptly put it during his first forays into Twilight Town.

He was reading about the Citadel for the most part until Shepard seated herself before him.

"Hey Roxas." She said politely.

"Hi." He said plainly.

"Mind if we talk? I'm just making the rounds to the squad."

The Commander momentarily gauged the boy for a moment who deactivated his Omni-Tool and gave her his attention.

"How are you adjusting here on the Normandy?"

"Fine."

"What were you reading there?"

"The Codex. About the Citadel."

"Cool." Shepard felt like slapping herself. 'Cool? What are you? Four?'

"What about the Citadel?"

"Everything I guess."

"Oh…"

"..."

"..."

"So…" Shepard was strangely at a bit of a loss on what to do here. She wanted to talk to the young kid but she was kinda finding it difficult.

Jane was considered to be a peoples person. Someone who could talk to and get along with just about everyone. She can hold conversations with gracious ease and was able to gauge a person's characters after a few exchanges of words.

Yet somehow… with this teenager before her, Shepard couldn't lie to herself.

She didn't exactly know how and what to say to him.

That was until her Omni-Tool gave her an idea.

It gave her a notification that Garrus was conducting his physical checkup under the ship's doctor Karen Chakwas.

"Oh, Roxas." Shepard said. "Have you gotten your physical yet?"

"My… physical?"

Jane could only stare a bit at the boy, not entirely sure if he was joking or not.

"Yeah… you're physical." Shepard said again, hoping maybe he'd remember what that meant.

"Like… to see if I can fight?"

"Er… not the way I would describe it, but sure." Shepard said. "Just to see if you're all good medically. No ailments or illnesses, allergies, none of that."

"Allergies?"

…

…

…

"J-just, when you see Garrus walking out of the hallway to your right, go down there and you'll see Doctor Chakwas." Shepard explained. "She'll give you a medical examination and physical to make sure you're up to snuff to fight with us. It's required for all new crew members to undertake before being deployed."

Roxas only nodded with Shepard sighing and standing up from her seat and gave him a small nod of her own. As she walked away, she brought up her Omni-Tool and sent out a message to all but Roxas of the ground team.

They needed to discuss a few things.

As Shepard went off to speak with some of the other crew members, Roxas waited patiently for his turn to go to the medical wing while also finishing his food.

Seeing Garrus leaving the med bay, Roxas realized it was his turn now for this physical he needed to take prior to doing field work.

It's a little weird when hearing that. For him, Roxas never went through a physical prior to being sent out to training and his missions. Closest thing he guessed would count as a physical would be the ruthless training regime he had undergone by the other members of the Organization.

Perhaps the Organization wanted him out to the field immediately to help take care of the Heartless for their intended goal for all of them.

Seeing the light above the med bay door shutting off, Roxas saw that as the sign for him to properly enter it now.

When entering the med bay, he saw an older woman with short grey hair sitting at the desk. She was finishing typing up things on the datapad before turning her attention towards him.

"Hello," he greeted. "Are you Doctor Chakwas?"

"Ah, you must be this Roxas fellow I've heard about." She said in a kind voice. "Welcome aboard the Normandy."

"Thank you." Roxas nodded. "Shepard said I have to do a physical. You're going to do it for me?"

"Yes I shall." Replied the doctor. "After hearing from Shepard on the addition of new crew members joining aboard, I needed to get everything taken care of for the long haul." She went back to her datapad and started typing away. "I do find it odd that someone with no military training would take part of Shepard's ground team, let alone boarding this ship."

"But Tali told me that prior to being sent out on their Pilgrimage, everyone had to be trained at the basics before more is added in over time."

"So she told me."

"And I was trained before." Roxas said, making Chakwas look at him curiously.

"Oh? And what kind of training was it?"

"Physical." Roxas answered honestly.

Karen was a bit surprised at how straightforward he was but she soon found herself chuckling.

The doctor then gestured to one of the beds. "Please take a seat. I'd like to ask you several questions before we get into the greater part of the physical exam."

Roxas complied with the request. Once getting onto the bed, Dr. Chakwas spoke the first question.

"Now then, what are your earth weight, height and age?"

Roxas paused for a moment, racking his mind a little for the answers. 'Earth weight and height?' He thought.

"I… don't know exactly what I know about my weight." Roxas scratched his head. "I know I'm five foot two if I remember correctly. And I'm fifteen."

A cover up lie. He didn't know how she'll react, along with everyone else, if they learned he was over a month old.

"That's fine. We'll take your scale once the testing begins. It's just a little formality to somewhat speed things along." Roxas nodded as Karen asked the next question. "Have you had any history of physical handicaps that you feel we -the crew and I- should know about?"

Roxas was unsure of whether or not to do this but… right now, it's the only thing that really works right now.

"Does being an amnesiac count?"

"Amnesiac you say?" Chakwas asked in slight surprise.

The Greater Nobody nodded slowly. "Yeah… I… don't remember anything else other than the past month."

"Really?" Chakwas eyed the boy, trying to find any deception yet she found none.

He remembered Tali asking him about how he knew so little and he spoke of how he only remembers the past month. When she asked him if he had amnesia, he looked more into it afterwards in order to learn what it was. And so far, it's the best of an excuse he can work with in order to hide the origins of his "existence".

"So…" Roxas awaited her response to his previous question.

"Being amnesiac counts… only if it's actually legitimate." The doctor typed down the bit of information onto her datapad. "You would not believe the number of people I heard of trying to use that excuse in order to get away with a number of things. But I'll be sure to see it so."

Before Roxas could have the chance to question it, Karen asked her next one. "Do you possibly know any allergies you have?"

"Allergies?"

"Something your body reacts to negatively and rejects it one way or another." She said without missing a beat. "Trouble breathing, rashes and swollen areas on one's face are some examples."

"No." He said quickly.

Karen hummed as she checked more things off her list, no doubt having to skip over them due to several factors. "Do you perhaps have any serious injuries or illnesses?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

The doctor nodded before saying something that came to mind. "Now, with athletics… I heard from Shepard that you were able to jump extremely high into the air and run up the length of the wall with no sign of falling down. Is that correct?"

Roxas simply nodded. "The others saw that."

Dr. Chakwas hummed as she wrote some more details on her datapad. "Anything else athletic wise?"

Roxas shrugged. "Haven't done anything else."

Now that was interesting.

He did not appear to confirm nor deny that. As a matter of fact, it almost appeared as though he was unsure of his own capabilities.

If he truly has amnesia as he has just told her, then perhaps he is rediscovering what he can do. After all, if the mind doesn't remember, often the body can do it for you. Chakwas has seen and studied individuals where that turned out to be the case.

"Any history with drugs, stimulants or alcohol?"

"No to all of them." He didn't exactly know what they were to begin with save for that alcohol bit after seeing people in Chora's Den drinking. From seeing the side effects, he wasn't really keen on having the same reaction.

Since these drugs and stimulants were lumped into the same question as alcohol, he figured they would probably cause the same kind of response.

The doctor nodded before quickly checking those off.

"Can I ask you a question?" Roxas abruptly asked.

Karen momentarily paused and looked at the Nobody quizzically. Seeing no harm, she complied on the request. "Ask away."

"I'm just wondering but…" Roxas rubbed his chin. "What are your thoughts of Shepard being in charge of the Normandy instead of Anderson?"

He had learned that Captain Anderson was the previous commanding officer of this ship since it first took flight into space on its maiden voyage. He oversaw the enlistment of many of the crewmembers when they were first assigned onto the Normandy. Practically everyone cared and respected the man because he earned it from each and every one of them.

Yet it came to a surprising shock when Anderson had to step down as commanding officer with Shepard taking his place.

Reason why this happened was simple, Spectres need their own ship for assignments. The Normandy is quick and quiet, a perfect vessel for such a Council operative. One can put too and too together.

But when looking behind the curtain, there's more to that story.

Roxas learned from Kaiden and Ashley that Anderson was in Shepard's "shoes" twenty years ago as he was a candidate of becoming the first human Spectre. He didn't make the cut apparently because the soon-to-be captain was sent out on a mission with Saren and it was botched with the Turian causing it to happen. He then reported to the Council on the results and thus Anderson was rejected.

One can see that if Anderson took part in being majorly present on the Normandy when this assignment was taken place, actions might be hampered with the 'old beef' the man had towards the former Spectre.

Roxas wondered if something like that could happen to Xemnas.

The Organization has a very set structure with each of its members having a strictly defined role that occasionally overlaps with other members depending on the circumstance.

Hearing about a leader willingly stepped down to let another take his place, despite circumstances, intrigued Roxas.

"I think that Captain David Anderson is a man who has nothing left to prove and was very brave in making such a hard choice." Chakwas said. "I've known him for quite a while. This is not a decision he would make lightly or just on a whim. And I think Shepard is even braver in being willing enough to take up the role Anderson offered to her directly. You heard her on the intercom the other day. She owes Anderson a great deal with everything he himself has done for her."

Roxas nodded after digesting her words, utterly fascinated by the answer.

"And you young man?" Chakwas then asked. "What do you make of it?"

No. XIII frowned, thinking it over.

"I… don't know." Roxas said after having all these thoughts race through his head. "I don't really understand all this."

Chakwas found his honesty rather endearing. She rubbed his hair with a kind smile with him gazing at her in confusion.

"You're an honest young lad." Chakwas said kindheartedly. "I think you will make for a fine addition to the crew."

This certainly surprised the young teen who hadn't had someone say such a thing to him.

"Before we start the actual test, I'd like to ask you one last thing?" Chakwas placed the datapad on the table as her attention was completely focused on him. "Why…?"

"Why what?"

"Why not live out your life peacefully instead of taking part in this mission the Council gave Shepard? You're young, impressionable. You could be able to find a nice girl -or boy if you prefer- to settle with one day and enjoy things to their fullest." Chakwas said, watching the boy for any reaction out of her words. "Not many people can get away with this cleanly. You haven't been in this too deeply yet, so there's a chance for you to just walk away."

The young teen sat there, staring at the elderly doctor with her chewing the inside of her cheek. She didn't want to come across like this but she'd rather not see a young man such as Roxas here just throw his life away for something he clearly doesn't understand.

She could see it in his eyes and hear it in the way he talked and asked questions.

His inquisitive nature she feels may get the better of him on this mission and Chakwas would be damned if she didn't at least try in dissuading him from making a foolish mistake.

"I can't." Roxas suddenly declared, surprising the doctor.

"You can't?" She asked expectantly. "Or you won't?"

"... Both." He stated. "I… I have to do this. I need to do this."

Chakwas gazed intently at the boy, trying to locate any measure of doubt within him yet failed in doing so.

He was resolute in doing this and was not going to turn back.

She didn't know whether to be impressed or disappointed with the answer.

"Now then, with those questions out of the way, I'd like you to follow me."

Roxas hopped off the bed and walked behind Karen, who soon directed him to a machine.

"This here will be the first part of your physical," she said, going to a virtual control panel and looking at the piece of technology. "This will scan your vital signs and your health. I will ask that you do a few other physical activities afterwards, but this will cover most of the exam."

"I see…"

Chakwas nodded as a bed was laid out from the machine. "Now please lay here." Roxas complied and laid along its length. "Try to relax," she said. "This process can take upwards of fifteen minutes or so. Scanners will go over your entire body, and a few might get very close, so just relax and you should be fine."

Roxas nodded as he did the best he could to relax, as if he was trying to take a nap.

"Alright," said the doctor. "I'll be starting the exam… now."

Roxas soon felt a small jerk on the bed as it was being pulled into the device. As he went through it, it was mostly quiet as he heard some faint sounds here and there with a small hint of light breaching past his eyelids as the scan commenced.

-Scene Cut-

"Alright." Shepard cleared her throat, taking a moment to look at the five individuals seated in the comm room. "I think some of you can take a gander as to why exactly I brought all six of us here together."

While one or two of them had an idea, the others were sort of iffy as to why they were all gathered here. One in particular voiced her opinion on this meeting.

"Shepard." Tali meekly raised her hand. "Not to sound rude or anything but… why isn't Roxas here?"

Shepard hesitated for a moment. "Er… ya see Tali, that's kinda the reason we're having this meeting."

Tali paused, soon connecting the dots. "This is about Roxas?"

"Yeah." Ashley confirmed a moment later. "Look, we don't wanna come across like a couple of assholes but we need to be frank. What the hell is his deal?"

"Pardon?"

Shepard rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Ash, for God sake."

The Gunnery Sergeant realized her slip up, cringing in an apologetic manner towards Jane. "Sorry Commander. Couldn't contain myself."

Tali however ignored all this, looking around at the new squad she had joined.

"What is this about Roxas?"

"Oh come on, Quarian." Wrex rumbled. "You seriously can't figure out why we would have this little get together to begin with? Calling that human strange would be putting it politely."

"Yeah, not to sound rude or anything but I've been kinda holding back on really getting to know the kid after seeing what he did down in the wards." Garrus admitted. "I thought I saw him float for a moment before all that thunder came down. Which, by account, should be impossible to happen in such a location."

"What was up with that?" Kaidan asked a moment later. "Not gonna lie, that shit looked like straight up magic."

"I-I-I don't know any of that." Tali said defensively.

"How can you not?" Wrex accused.

"Hey now." Shepard said in a firm tone. "I saw her how she reacted when Roxas did what he did. Pretty sure that was a first for her too… was it?"

"It was." Tali confirmed.

"Really?" Ashley was slightly disbelieving. "That was the first time you saw him do that?"

"I've only known him for two days by that time." Tali countered. "How was I supposed to know he could do that?"

"You didn't ask?" Garrus inquired with him slightly flinching at the flat look he got from the Quarian.

"Oh I'm sorry, and how would you approach him on abilities you had no idea existed." Tali deadpanned. "Hey Roxas, I know we've only known each other for a day but is there a possibility of you having the ability to summon a weapon to your hand, shooting fireballs and reign down lightning?" She asked in a mocking tone. "Because if so, that'd be really neat."

"Alright, alright." Shepard said placatingly. "Let's not go jumping to conclusions about Roxas just yet. We just wanted to have at least an idea of who it is we're dealing with. We're not here to make an enemy out of him."

"I'm still not sure we should have even allowed him to come." Ashley said with her arms cross. "He's just a kid for crying out loud."

"And yet you saw what he did to those… what were they called, Tali?"

"Heartless." Tali answered. "He called them Heartless."

"And they are…?"

"I don't know." Tali threw her hands up. "That was the first time I saw them too, you know."

"We should ask him sooner than later." Shepard said.

"Do you think he'll give us an answer?" Kaidan asked.

"Kid's probably a lot of things." Wrex said contemplatively. "But from what I've seen… he ain't a liar. Don't think it's in his nature to lie."

"Best to do this as delicately as possible." Kaidan said.

"Or just straight forward." Wrex said with a huff.

"He might just whack you with that oversize key of his if you pressure him too much. Let alone hitting us with that 'magic' before hitting it towards the nearest escape pod."

"No…" Tali shook her head. "I think Wrex is right on this one. We should just ask him outright. This is something that's very serious. Who knows if we'll encounter those creatures again."

"Are you sure, Tali?" Shepard asked.

Tali nodded. "We should."

"...Well that wasn't unsettling to hear at all."

"What?"

"The whole creature crap." Ashley dryly responded. "And here I thought those Husks back on Eden Prime were scary enough."

She could still remember it clearly as day as if it were yesterday. The Geth skewering innocent people, out in the open, on those odd dragon teeth-looking devices. The moment they died; the people started to drastically change way too quickly. Anything organic was replaced with metal and what Husks remained acted like zombies out of the 28 Days and Weeks Later films with the Rage Virus.

And it didn't stop on living victims as fresh corpses were turned as well.

"Actually." Kaidan frowned with a slightly disturbed look to him. "You guys saw what happened to that Turian guy right? When that, what's it again? Heartless? That Heartless stabbed its claws into the guy's chest, he vanished a moment later. There was no body left behind."

"Just questions on top of questions." Jane said with a sigh, leaning against her empty chair.

"Another one to the list to add when we talk to him." Garrus said.

"Wonder what he's made out of." Ashley mused aloud.

"What?" Shepard looked at her.

The Sergeant shrugged. "Just wondering out loud. Kid's a human but maybe there's something else to him. Kinda like biotics and all with their implants. Maybe he's got something special inside him that allows him to perform all that crazy shit."

"It seems you want Roxas dissected in a lab somewhere." Tali accused.

"What? No! I didn't mean to insinuate- Look; I don't want to offend Roxas or anything but he might become a very peculiar person of interest from a whole lot of people." Ashley said. She may not exactly trust the kid just yet but she wasn't cruel. "I was just wondering aloud is all. And you gotta realize there's some messed up people out there that would probably think the same."

"The Salarians, for example." Wrex said in a dark tone. "Slimy little Pyjaks always studying everything. Won't leave anything of interest alone for even a moment."

"Alright, enough of that." Shepard said sharply. "We're not here to talk about that kinda crap about a teammate. I feel dirty enough already talking about a kid like this behind his back. He's a part of this squad now. All of you are. That means we'll have to trust each other for this mission we're all a part of now. Are we clear?"

The squad all nodded and spoke in compliance.

"Crystal."

"Yes sir."

"I'll be holding you on that, Commander." Tali said, tightening her hands together.

Shepard took notice of the Quarian's reaction and didn't address it, clearly knowing what she's feeling right now.

The only friend she's with at this time, prior to coming onto this ship, is being discussed in a rather mistrustful manner. Jane would feel the same way if she were in her shoes.

"Alright, dismissed." Shepard waved her hand. "Just get ready. We'll be at the cluster soon enough."

The squad all stood from their seats and departed from the meeting room.

When Jane finally left the room, she was about to make it back to her quarters to get suited up for their upcoming task.

As she walked past the med bay, she saw the door open up with Roxas stepping out.

"Ah, Roxas." Said the commander. "How'd the physical go?"

"Chakwas said I'm good to go." Roxas declared.

"Great." Jane said with a smile.

"She said she also wants to talk to you." Roxas said, making Jane gaze at him.

"What for?" She then smirked slightly. "I hope she knows I already had my physical. No need for another one."

The young teen only shrugged.

"She wanted to talk to you about something important." he said.

Shepard only nodded. "Alright then. Get suited up, Roxas. You're coming with me on the ground for this mission."

The teen inclined his head forward, walking away whilst Shepard went off to the Med bay.

Arriving at the med bay, Jane saw Chakwas looking over her datapad before seeing her out of the corner of her eye.

"Ah Shepard, glad you could come." the Doctor said. "I needed to speak with you."

"Alright."

"I just wanted to let you know the squad you have is in good health and is ready for combat." Chakwas declared getting a satisfied nod out of the newly anointed Spectre.

"Great to hear." Shepard said, her eyes momentarily looking down at the datapad and saw the name of the person she had just conducted a physical for. "So, Karen, what do you think of Roxas?"

"First off, he's in perfect health, better than I expected." She said to the commander. "He would need to be in a specific exercise regimen as I don't exactly know what he'll be like out there, due to him being a civilian."

"Seems I'll be seeing him in the gym a bit more often. Wonder how much he'll do well on that."

"Might give you a run for your money, Jane. Probably even Wrex."

"Excuse me?"

Karen typed away on the keypad and pulled up Roxas' results. "He has an abnormally high endurance and strength rate from what I was able to find. Seemed to exceed the standard limits on the machines on his cardio and weight limits."

"I don't see that being a problem. Kid's probably a good runner." Shepard dryly stated, recalling his astonishing gravity defying fleet back at the Citadel. Not to mention cleaving through those Heartless quite well.

"I placed him on the treadmill and he ran until I told him to stop." Karen accentuated that last word with great emphasis. "He barely broke a sweat. If he did at all."

Shepard was silently taking it in.

"And how fast did you...?"

"Far exceeding than I should if I'm honest. And the same goes for the time limit."

"So… what exactly are you insinuating here, Doc?"

"He was trained, conditioned prior to Miss Zorah meeting him." Chakwas said. "He spoke of physical training."

Shepard didn't respond at first.

"Has he also told you he has amnesia?" Chakwas asked, causing Shepard to jolt back.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Amnesia." Chakwas repeated. "Apparently, he doesn't remember anything other than a little over a month since as of right now. Emphasis on anything from what I am able to gather."

Shepard was at a bit of loss as to how to respond to such a revelation.

"D-did you-?"

"I'm not entirely sure of the validity of this but he has told me that Tali'Zorah is aware of this."

"Why didn't he say anything?"

"It appears to me that Roxas doesn't like bothering people with things that perhaps shouldn't be fretted over."

Shepard scoffed. "I'm sorry but having a squadmate who has amnesia isn't exactly a casual problem that could be fixed so easily like a scratch."

"How do you think I feel?" Chakwas asked rhetorically. "I've had to deal with cases of Amnesia before but they were for the most part dealing with a few short hours or days at most. Roxas doesn't remember anything from his past fifteen years of his life."

To say that was disconcerting to Shepard would be putting it mildly.

"He told you all this?" Jane asked softly.

"He was rather forthcoming." Chakwas stated. "I asked and he answered for the most part."

"For the most part?" Shepard noted in a questioning tone.

"Like I said before, he says he remembers only this past month." Chakwas said. "Roxas wound up on the Citadel somehow, not knowing how he got there. I asked if perchance was with anyone else before his arrival there and he said only a name. A friend he had by the name of Xion."

"And?"

"And when I prodded further he seemed upset, but at himself instead of me." Chakwas said. "I heard him mutter underneath his breath that he wants to see her again soon and one other named Axel. Whoever they are, I only have the foggiest. But they clearly appear to be important to him."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing after that." Chakwas said. "I'd rather not pry more than I need to. He's still a young boy after all. However…"

She looked down at her datapad with a deeply troubled expression.

"I am concerned with his heart rate."

"...I don't follow." Shepard frowned in worry. "Is there something wrong with it?"

Heart conditions aren't exactly common these days. Some come naturally due to hereditary traits or through certain illnesses. Others, however, come through a heavy consecutive take of various stimulants and drugs that are rather harmful to the body. Back in the past few centuries, the treatments have been developing better over time.

"Throughout the rigorous tests I put him through, I expected it to go through the normal results. Instead, it was steady. I had to triple check if the machines were receiving an error, but in fact they weren't. Not to mention when I was checking to hear the heartbeat afterwards through a stethoscope when the machines wouldn't help, do you want to know what I heard? Nothing."

That threw Shepard for a loop. "Huh? What do you mean nothing?"

"I mean that he has no heart rate." Chakwas said aloud in confusion and trepidation. "There was nothing. Nothing at all. I couldn't pick up on anything. It's contradictory. The machine shows there supposedly is one yet hearing it through a stethoscope shows there's not."

"Doc… what are you insinuating?"

"Shepard." Chakwas was grim. "There is something very wrong with Roxas. And I do not know how to diagnose him or help him or whether I can."

Who in God's name were they dealing with right now?

"I… I…" Jane wasn't really sure on how to respond to such a declaration.

What did this mean? Roxas had no heart? Then how in the hell is he alive right now?

He's not a machine from what she was able to tell.

And Chakwas didn't refer to him as a machine to begin with so…

'Ugh.' Shepard internally groaned. 'It's really too soon for this kind of madness.'

"Listen, doc." Jane was massaging her eyes and forehead. "I just gotta know right now, is any of this gonna affect him on the field at all?"

"At first glance, no." Chakwas said, making Shepard slump forward a bit dramatically.

"Uh… Doc? I kinda already told him he's gonna be a part of our first mission together." Shepard said. "Kinda gonna need a different answer."

"If you would allow me to finish." Karen said with a dry voice. "Much as I abhor the thought of sending a boy so young as Roxas out into the field, from everything I have been able to gather, there's nothing truly stopping me from clearing him for active field service."

Jane was silent for a few moments, processing what was spoken.

"Do you get out in the field much?" The commander asked suddenly.

"Heavens no. I'm not a field medic. I'm more suited here." Came Karen's answer. "But I can tell you this, I don't have to be a field operative to see the obvious. It's quite often a young people's game."

"But Wrex told me he's hundreds of years old." Shepard pointed out.

"Roughly 700 years, actually." She corrected her. "I know what you're trying to say, but I'm trying to say this… there is no shame in admittance, Jane. The shame actually comes when it's too late."

Jane gritted her teeth a little. "He said he was ready to help us, Chakwas."

The doctor breathed in a little before giving the commander a certain look. "Perhaps you can't see it or… you won't."

"What are you implying?"

"You're sentimental about him."

"As long as I'm in charge of this ship, I choose my field team."

Karen gave Jane a longer look before breaking away. "Fair enough. I just hope you don't regret taking him with you out there."

'You and me both, doc.' Shepard mentally told herself as Joker announced their arrival into the Artemis Tau Cluster.

Their planet of destination?

Therum.

The last known location of Doctor Liara T'soni.

Jane bade Chakwas goodbye, leaving the doctor to her own devices. Karen knew that Shepard wished to change the subject back there and frankly, she was rather glad for it.

She wasn't quite sure how she would react to the unusually high brain activity going on in Roxas' head.

She's pretty sure that missing one vital organ and the other having enough activity to power a ship would make Shepard put Roxas on hold indefinitely. Not that she wouldn't mind that. But she's also painfully aware that he'd probably go out on his own.

Down in the cargo hold, Shepard arrived to see Tali and Garrus, two of her comrades for this mission getting prepped and ready for Therum.

"You two all set?" Jane asked, walking over to them.

Garrus nodded with Tali quickly pulling up her Omni-Tool to be sure.

Jane then took a moment to look around.

"Where's Ro-"

"Sorry I'm late." Spoke the aforementioned teen, walking up to them from the stairs above. "I was talking to Joker."

"Ah, Joker. It's no problem." Said the commander, waving him off. "Get him talking the right way and you don't know when he'll shut up."

Suddenly the intercom to the hangar bay came on. "I heard that, commander." Said the helmsman.

"Were you listening in?"

"Occasionally."

"Please don't make it a habit."

"No promises." Was all he said before cutting things off.

Roxas managed to crack a little smile, something which the other ground team members took notice of.

Wanting to know more of the people he was going to be with for the unforeseeable future, Roxas soon found Joker in the cockpit.

To Roxas, Joker reminded him of Axel on a number of aspects.

He was snappy, quickly spoke his mind -with some restraint- and often had a good comeback on something said around him.

Joker wasn't his real name, but in fact a nickname he received back in flight school.

Back then, Jeff -his real name- never smiled, causing one of his instructors to start calling him Joker in hopes of getting a rise out of him. Soon enough, it stuck.

When asking the reason why he didn't smile all that much was because he was more focused on his work, his craft.

Joker boasted that he wasn't a good pilot, not even great. In fact, he is the best damn helmsman in the Alliance fleet. By the time he graduated from flight school, he came out as the best pilot to ever grace it's halls, even better than the instructors.

It was only then did Joker start living out his nickname as he smiled triumphantly as the "sickly kid with the creaky little legs" kicked all of their asses.

Joker's words, not his.

Roxas didn't know if that was true or not on being the "best helmsman" bit, but he heard the utmost confidence in his voice and the determined look on his face that probably said just that.

For some argument's sake, Roxas would want to witness the man in action to see if the pilot proved just that.

He worked hard to earn everything on whatever military file there was on him and those weren't given to him out of charity for his disease.

Speaking of… Roxas learned about his condition, something called Vrolik's Syndrome or brittle bone disease for the simplest of means. The bones in his legs didn't develop properly, rendering them basically hollow. He had to be careful with how he moved them or else they'll shatter easily. Same applied when getting hit.

It's hard to get around, even with support with crutches and leg braces, but he learned to manage his moderate to severe condition over the years.

It was quite inspiring really.

Though Roxas still had much to learn he was able to recognize Joker's conviction and determination to prove he was something more than he was born with.

Something that honestly resonated with the young Nobody.

The ground crew looked down at the teen with them taking a moment to look over his attire which he did not change out of.

"Uh… Roxas?"

"Hmmm?"

"Where's your suit?" The commander asked.

"What suit?"

"Your combat suit? You know… for combat?"

"This is my combat suit." Roxas said, gesturing to his outfit.

"Roxas, that's just your cloak."

"Yeah."

"Roxas." Garrus began slowly. "I'm pretty sure you can't fight in a cloak."

"But I've always fought in this."

"That thing doesn't have shields." Shepard pointed out. "What if you get hit?"

"I'll heal."

Garrus and Shepard both short circuited for a moment.

"Th-that's not how it works." Jane stuttered.

"This is all I have."

"Um, Shepard?" Tali spoke up tentatively. "This is seriously all Roxas has worn."

"What?" by this point they had gotten into the Mako, even though Jane's attention was on the young Nobody. "Doesn't that thing smell?"

"It's self-cleaning."

"..."

"..."

"Self-cleaning?"

"And what about it being blasted and ripped apart?"

"It repairs itself as well." Responded No. XIII as he earned some bewildered looks. "Look, it's what I was told when I was given it. Hasn't been proven wrong yet."

"By whom?"

"Saix."

"Who?"

"No. VII."

"No. VII?" Garrus repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Roxas suddenly clamped his mouth shut making everyone now look at him.

Seeing his little bit of duress, Tali spoke. "Perhaps we can talk about this later. Not when we're about to depart."

Shepard wanted to ask him more questions, something Garrus shared, but Tali was right.

They were nearing Therum with Joker about to fly by to drop them off. She needed to focus.

"Aren't we going to wait for Wrex, Kaiden and Ashley?"

"I'm having them stay behind as our backup." Shepard stated. "Right now, the four of us are enough as is."

With that out of the way, the squad prepped themselves as the Mako was turned on with the vehicle rumbling and shaking.

"Get ready!" Shepard yelled from the driver's seat.

They then heard Joker on the intercom saying. "Mako, prepare to drop in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Mark!"

Shepard accelerated the Mako forward as they exited the cargo bay. For a few seconds, they all could feel the free-fall as they felt the pressure of being dropped from the Normandy. Roxas felt the sudden stress in his body as it went from stable to weightlessness in an instant. This sensation wasn't new to Shepard and possibly not to Garrus, due to their respective training; however it was new to Tali since she hasn't had this type of experience before.

The drop only lasted four or five seconds, but to Roxas it seemed shorter. It ended when he felt the sudden rush come to an end as Shepard activated the Mako's boosters. That was when the harness around Roxas took effect because he felt his body jerk and jolt back and forth in his seat, nearly falling out of it, as the Mako landed on the planet's surface as he felt all six tires slammed on the ground following a few more bounces as the vehicle stopped moving.

He was slightly bug-eyed at the landing, looking around with Garrus and Tali showing similar reactions with the former managing to reign it in more so then the latter.

Shepard took a moment to glance back at them and couldn't help but smirk slightly at the reactions.

The Spectre then pressed the accelerator of the Mako, the tank on wheels driving towards where the marked dig site is located. That's where Liara T'soni's last known location was.

As she drove, Joker informed them on what's going on. "Commander, I'm picking up some strange readings. Really strange. Like, off the damn charts. It looks like it's coming from an underground complex a few clicks away from the drop zone."

"That's where we are heading?" Roxas asked aloud.

"Must be." Shepard replied as she drove off towards the location of where the signal originated. "Then I guess that's where we should go."

The Mako began its traverse across the rocky ground below, constantly going over multiple bumps and small craters.

During the entire drive, Tali was not enjoying it at all as Shepard hit another pothole as she continued to plow through the rocky volcanic terrain.

"Hey, you doing alright, Tali?" Asked her blue eyed friend.

"Keelah, This is not how I pictured my first experience inside a ground roving vehicle, Roxas."

"What's the matter, Tali?" Shepard teased. "Can't handle the road?"

Tali gave the human a flat stare in response.

"I kind of doubt this will be the last." Garrus said from his seat. "Probably best to get used to this sort of thing."

"Really?"

"...Maybe without her driving."

"Hey! I'm a good driver!"

"Shepard, this is our first outing together." Garrus said as cordially as he was able to convey himself. "You're leaving a bad first impression here."

"Ah, come off it with that." Shepard waved off, performing an exceptionally sharp swerve.

"Bosh'tet" Tali muttered under her breath.

"What about you, Roxas?"

"I seem to be alright."

Garrus practically rose a brow. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Am I supposed to?"

Tali only shook her head, which seemed to be a bad idea as she leaned her head back against her seat.

"Just… Never mind, Roxas, never mind."

"Incoming." Shepard said aloud. "Garrus, Geth on the horizon. Get up on that gun."

"Copy that Commander." Garrus quickly moved up to the primary cannon of the Mako, staring down two large quadrupedal Geth armatures that were marching their way towards them.

Shepard pivoted the Mako to the side with Garrus adjusting himself as he aimed at the Geth and began firing.

It was a brief skirmish with the Turian managing to take out the two Armatures, clearing the way for them to continue on.

Their path had several more Geth foot soldiers along the way, Garrus making quick work of them until they reached a gate.

A gate that wasn't opening for them.

And with the Geth around, Shepard was correct in assuming that the gate won't open unless they access it directly.

When the Mako stopped, Shepard got out of the driver's seat. "Let's move it, people. We're stuck between a river of molten lava and a base of sorts blocking the rest of the way."

"So we gotta take care of that, then?" Roxas asked, earning a nod from the commander.

"Sooner we clear that out, sooner we can progress." Garrus said, stating the obvious.

The three residents of this galaxy stepped out of the Mako with their weapons drawn from their respective holsters.

Roxas, however, merely summoned his Keyblade with a flash of light surrounding his hand.

"So… that's just a giant oversized key then?" Garrus found himself asking.

Roxas blinked glancing down at his weapon. "It's called a Keyblade."

"Right." Garrus paused, looking between his weapon and the young humans. "...Would you think it's sad of me admitting that I'm envious?"

"Why'd you say that?"

"Easier to not hold so much gear and just… summon it on the fly."

"Then what would happen if you could but then can't?" Said the commander.

"Then I could pull the stick out of my ass every Turian has and use it."

Roxas arched a brow up. "Stick up his ass? What does that mean?"

The Commander and the Turian looked at each other, rather flummoxed by the boys…

Oh right… amnesia.

"It's a joke, Roxas." Tali quickly said. "A bad Turian one at that."

"Oh please, it's a good old classic." Garrus defended.

"Weapons up people." Shepard abruptly said in a sharp tone.

Immediately, the four of them saw Geth running out from the base and began firing upon them. Some hit them yet their kinetic barriers absorbed the bullets.

Roxas on the other hand…

Deflected them.

The shots went sailing in different directions as he rolled into cover with the rest of the team.

"Spirits, you could deflect fire?" Garrus asked in disbelief.

"Apparently." Roxas said.

"Appa- Apparently?!"

"Not the time for that." Shepard said, a bluish-purple hue surrounding her body drawing Roxas's attention.

Rising up from cover, Shepard threw her hand forward and a blue sphere shot out from her palm which sailed forth and ensnared several of the Geth firing at them. The Geth began to float up and about, flailing with Garrus and Tali popping out of their cover to take out the Geth.

They then proceeded to quickly move out on the offensive, Tali bringing out her Omni-Tool to send out an overload against more nearby Geth.

The synthetics spasmed with Roxas running forward and bashing the Geth with such force that they either caved in from the power or were shattered by it.

Shepard utilized more of her strange, unfamiliar power once again, this time causing a red armored Geth to fly across the battlefield, crashing into the gates.

Garrus snapped over to it, shooting its single optic out.

Next to Shepard, the Nobody gazed upon the Spectre's glowing form with awe.

"What was that?" Roxas asked in open wonder.

"That? Oh you mean my biotics." Came the clarifying statement. "It's something I can do along with most of the galaxy."

"...Cool." Roxas said softly, with Shepard unable to hide the small smile on her face.

"I'll show you what it could do more later." Shepard promised. "Now come on, let's get these bastards."

Roxas nodded, Keyblade resting on his shoulder as he ran towards the remaining Geth.

Cleaving through the Geth one by one seemed much different than the damage received via ammunition.

"I've gotta ask this, but how can you cut through them?" Garrus questioned him. "That Keyblade of yours is just so… blunted and round."

Roxas simply shrugged. He didn't know how the Keyblade worked half the time. Just that it did. And that was all that mattered in the end.

Garrus only rolled his eyes by the lack of a response.

He felt this may become a common occurrence with the human.

A few moments later, the Geth in the area were cleared out.

"Alright, help me find the controls. They can't be that hard to find." Shepard said, gesturing for Tali to follow with Garrus staying behind with Roxas to look out for the Mako in case of any stragglers.

As Shepard and Tali went inside the small base, Roxas merely stood in his spot, gazing at the gate before him.

There he stood, looking at the gate from top to bottom until…

He felt an unusual sensation.

Eyeing the gate, his vision seemed to flicker for the briefest of moments. When it did, he saw something rather odd.

The rocky surroundings around him was replaced with an urban environment. Before him was a large gate that appeared to be locked. Suddenly the Keyblade was brought up and a beam of light shot out of its tip. Once connected to the door, it glowed for several moments before it opened up.

Returning back to the present time, Roxas gazed down at his Keyblade in hand and back at the gate before him.

Wordlessly and a bit unsure of himself, he raised his Keyblade up, the teeth pointed down.

Garrus saw this, perking up at the boy's behavior.

"Rox-?"

Light gathered around the tip of his weapon until a beam of light shot out

This time, however, the gate had a glowing symbol of a keyhole appearing and hovering above its surface. A clicking sound was heard soon after before the light disappeared. Not long after, the gate opened up on its own.

"Spirits, what the hell did I just see?" Garrus asked aloud, jaw gaping.

The blond teen looked over to his Turian companion and then back down at his Keyblade.

"What the hell happened out here?"

No. XIII saw Shepard and Tali exiting the base, both conveying bewilderment as they had seen the gate open before they could even find a control panel. Both had their eyes on Roxas, momentarily looking over to the still slightly gaping Turian detective.

Roxas didn't verbally answer the Commander, merely giving his weapon a quizzical look.

"As much as I wanna know now, I'm not gonna look at a gift horse in the mouth." The commander remarked. "Let's get back to the Mako and keep going."

Tali and Roxas moved to re-enter the Mako with Shepard having to go over to a shell-shocked Garrus and grabbing him by the back of his armor and pulled him inside.

"Come on Garrus, snap out of it." Shepard ordered. "I need you manning the gun."

Finally shaking himself out of his stupor, he looked back at Roxas who had seated himself before going back on the gun just as the Mako began moving again.

Along the way, they occasionally came across Geth Armatures. They were these mobile anti-vehicle and anti-personnel units employed in high-risk areas. They were quadruped tank-like walkers, armed with superior firepower and a pulse assault cannon. While deadly, it does have a slow recharge time between each shot, giving Garrus the opportunity to fire his shots to take them down.

This went on for several minutes, drive by encounters with the Geth along the way.

Upon reaching a peculiar rock formation, too small for the Mako to fit through, their signal began to jam.

"Think this is as far as we can go with the Mako." Garrus muttered.

"Gonna need to walk from here, then." Shepard stated.

"Yeup."

The squad jumped out from the Mako once more, moving past the rocky formations and immediately being fired upon by several Geth yet they were handily taken care of.

From a distance, however, the group could see the first proper wave of Geth coming down from the cliffside as they readied their weapons again. Some Geth units were activating a type of transparent barrier this time to create cover for themselves while others were charging forward.

Shepard and Garrus fired upon the charging units as Tali was pacing herself since she knew that shotguns are only effective at close range.

Roxas, meanwhile, was eyeing the Geth hiding behind the barriers, looking at them and then down at his Keyblade.

He recalled that sudden move he did back on the Citadel, what was it called again? Strike Raid, right?

He hasn't had a chance to practice it yet but maybe he could pull it off here, breaking through those makeshift shields the Geth deployed.

Now or never.

Reeling his arm back, a brief light flashed around his body with his Keyblade having a glowing aura around it.

"STRIKE RAID!"

Roxas flung his Keyblade, the spinning weapon crashing right through the hard light barrier the Geth deployed and directly into the Geth behind them.

He continued this attack several more times, causing pandemonium in the Geth lines as it was clear to see for the squad that the synthetics weren't quite sure on how to combat this new foe.

"They're in shambles, move!" Shepard yelled out, going on the offensive.

This strategy done on the fly was working as Shepard and Garrus were firing on either opposing sides whereas Roxas and Tali managed to draw a few Geth into the center.

Yet things came to a snag with a resounding crack heard in the air.

"Sniper!" Garrus yelled out, ducking for cover.

The others followed suit behind some of the natural defensive areas. Garrus peaked over and saw the shot came from a control tower, which looked over the entire layout.

It made the perfect sniper's nest. Yet it often depends on the surrounding environment.

"Do you see the sniper?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah." Garrus nodded while noticing Geth coming down from the ledge. "Not much room for a clear shot but need you guys to take care of our new friends."

"You got it!" Roxas replied as the hooded duo went out and attacked on the advancing Geth from their cover.

"I'll cover you two." Shepard said, firing from her assault rifle.

From his cover, Garrus switched into his sniper rifle and lined the shot. He controlled his breathing in order to keep his weapon steady. Once it was set and done, he pulled the trigger. A resounding crack filled the air, resulting with the Geth's head exploding soon after.

The body fell limp, fell over and plummeted to the volcanic floor below.

Seeing his work done, Garrus switched his sniper rifle back to his assault one in order to assist the others.

"Move up." Shepard ordered. "The dig site is just over the ridge."

The four began their run up the hill, taking out several other Geth troopers until at last they reached the main facility.

They moved in slowly, weapons up with Shepard noting Roxas walking forward in a rather unusual stance.

"This looks like the place." Shepard said, pointing at the two structures. One was an ore loading dock while over on the right side was the mining entrance to the side of the mountain.

Just as they arrived on the scene, a Geth dropped before them and ran on the ground and climbed upon the walls with its four limbs before hopping around all over the place.

No sooner did that happen did a Geth ship fly by and drop down even more Geth on the scene with one large one in particular that they had fought on the road here.

Yet this one seemed a bit bigger than before.

"An Armature?" Garrus asked, running for cover as the Geth fired at them.

"Worse, a Colossus." Tali said grimly, cocking her shotgun.

It looked just like a Geth Armature, but it was larger in scale and no doubt had thicker plating to withstand a number of attacks. And instead of just having a cannon, it also had machine guns built into it.

They saw that the Geth were here in force and this fight would undoubtedly be a lot tougher than before.

*THUM*

And of course the bastards decide to drop another Colossus with some Armatures to back the gargantuan two Geth up.

Of course they would.

Why wouldn't they wanna make this easy?

Cycloptic assholes.

Seeing the numbers before them, Shepard instinctively called the Normandy. "We've run into a pretty heavy resistance with a pair of Geth Colossus. Please send back up."

"Copy that Commander." Joker responded.

The Normandy flew overhead, the pilot chiming in again a second later.

"Okay, so hitting a snag here but I can't seem to find a drop zone here."

"This'll work fine." A Krogan Battlemasters voice rumbled with an excited tint in his tone.

"Wrex!" Kaidan shouted over the comms. "What are you doing?!"

"Taking care of business, Alenko."

Back down below, Tali saw the Normandy hovering above and took note of a red blob jumping out from the ship.

"Um, Shepard?"

The Spectre looked up in time and gawked at what she saw.

Wrex looked like a falling meteor, surrounded in a biotic field. As he plummeted, he roared from the skies, barreling straight towards the large Geth.

The Geth war machine, processing the sudden arrival of the newest threat, turned it's optical sensors upward, just in time to see a roaring, angry Krogan smashing right into it. Then everything went black.

The battlefield erupted in a cloud of biotics, debris and synthetic material, obscuring the other colossus from view for a few seconds. Suddenly, Wrex burst from the wreckage, roaring in a battle rage as he started firing his shotgun at the surrounding Geth.

"Now that is how you make an entrance." Wrex declared triumphantly, immediately firing at a Geth trooper nearby.

"Keelah." Tali said aloud, rushing over to assist the crazy Krogan.

"Leave it to Wrex to live up to the old saying." Garrus said, shooting down a Geth Rocket Trooper.

"We still have that other Colossus to deal with and I think setting up another flying Wrex would take a while." Shepard said, biotics flaring as she shot out several throws to send the Geth around them flying back.

"Incoming!" Tali shouted as the Geth Colossus began shooting at them directly, kicking up rocks and dirt into the air.

Leaping high into the air, Roxas cleaved through a Geth Hopper before kicking the severed halves into the other Geth down below. While midair, he casted Thunder to help shock their present enemies.

"I don't think I'm gonna get used to that." Garrus murmured, firing at the Geth that were shivering in place with electricity crackling all around them.

"Really useful though." Wrex grunted out, grabbing one of the paralyzed Geth and throwing it into another Geth that was running towards him. "Could help deal with those annoying Hoppers-"

Suddenly, the ground beside the Krogan Battlemaster blew up, causing him to stumble back. A moment later, another explosion sent the Krogan hurtling back and crashing down hard on the ground.

"Wrex!" Shepard yelled out.

"I'm fine." The centuries old Krogan growled out, managing to rise to his feet though he was wincing.

Resilient as a Krogan was, there are still things that even the strongest don't take head.

Like a missile to the face.

Wrex felt his body aching yet he managed to fight on, albeit slightly more defensively. He figured now wouldn't be the best time to go into a blood rage.

Over with Roxas, he had seen the damage the Colossus would cause if it continued to hold its presence here on the battlefield.

It nearly took out Wrex just now.

Needing a bit of an advantage, Roxas ran up a nearby wall and cleaved through some Hoppers getting in his way. When he reached high enough, he kicked off the metal surface and basically flew in an overarching way right above the Geth Colossus.

In a new sense of freefall, Roxas splayed out his body, letting the drag momentarily slow his fall, if only by so little. Soon enough he came close to the Colossus, swinging his Keyblade with the momentum and crushing through most of the larger Geth's armored plating like a hot knife through butter.

The Colossus' kinetic barriers and armor didn't stand much of a chance soon after as the Nobody continued his assault.

He continually bashed his Keyblade into the Geth until his Keyblade glowed with a bluish-white aura momentarily appearing and encompassing his weapon down to the golden guard. With a final slash, Roxas sliced through the Geth's head with it falling to the ground.

The Colossus' body swayed on the spot for a brief moment until its legs gave in and fell to the ground.

As the body fell, Roxas used the falling body as a platform using his own strength and the momentum of the falling Colossus to propel himself forward.

He landed in a kneeling crouch as he sliced through two more Geth shock troopers.

Wrex saw all this and barked aloud in laughter. "Shit, that kids got a pair of quads bigger than any on Tuchanka."

"Trying to process what I just saw." Garrus stated.

"I can't tell who was crazier." Shepard said dryly. "The kid with amnesia and magic key sword or the free falling cannon ball Krogan."

Their comms roared to life once everything settled down. "Guess you guys don't need any more backup after all."

"Shut it, flight lieutenant." Ashley said to the pilot.

"Commander," spoke Kaidan. "Chief Williams and I are still ready to assist. Do you require backup?"

"We're all set here, LT. Thanks, though. But stay ready on the Normandy just in case things get dicey."

"Roger that." Kaidan said before cutting the connection.

With everything settled, the group got back together with Tali speaking up first.

"Wrex! You-You!" Tali managed to stutter out before Wrex cut in.

"Literally air strike that colossus from the Normandy, yeah I know." Wrex said with a smug air around him

Shepard just grinned before punching Wrex on the shoulder. "Great aim there!"

"Thank the spirits you didn't fall into the lava pools." Garrus jabbed in.

Wrex merely smirked. "Haven't done that since my early days as a merc."

"And how long ago was that?" Roxas asked.

"Trust me, kid, it was a long time ago." The Krogan then patted Roxas on the back, causing him to stumble forward. "Great job on the other one, though."

Roxas blinked before feeling a small grin come across his face with him scratching the back of his head.

"That's putting mildly." Shepard said, ruffling his hair. "That was insane."

"Spirits, both of you are." Garrus quipped. "Looks like we've joined the craziest squad in the galaxy for this one."

"You could say that again." Tali commented.

"I remember Joker saying we were an odd ragtag group or something." Roxas muttered out.

"No disagreements from any one of us." Shepard said, resting her rifle on her shoulder. "Much as I'd love to continue talking about that wild shit we just saw; we still got a mission to accomplish."

The team of five now nodded at the Commander, with them moving forward to enter into the underground caverns.

The entrance of the mine was long and burrowed deep into the rocky soil. It didn't take a genius to figure out that this mining operation stopped when the Prothean artifacts were found. Some of the ground team began thinking about the team of surveyors that might've been here or gotten out when the Geth showed up, hoping there could've at least been survivors.

There weren't any Geth along the way, surprisingly.

Guess they took care of them up on the ground level.

Still, that didn't mean they were naive enough not to keep their weapons up. Who knows what might be able to sneak up on them.

The group found an elevator and took the ride down as far as it would take them.

"What were they looking for down here?" Roxas asked curiously.

"Prothean artifacts and technology." Garrus answered.

Suddenly, the elevator malfunctioned before taking them to the direct bottom.

"What's the big deal?" Tali said in annoyance.

"It's broken, obviously." Wrex said bluntly.

"Come on people." Shepard ordered. "Can't have ourselves be sitting out in the open like this."

Wrex got the elevator doors open with his strength and they resumed their trek downward.

As they got to solid ground, the group heard the voice of a woman calling, distorted even. "Uh… hello? Could somebody help me? Please?"

Tali asked the obvious question. "Did you hear that?"

"I sure did." Was Roxas' response.

"Hello?" The woman called out again. "Please, is anyone there?"

They followed the voice and found the source coming from an Asari wearing a green and white suit. She was situated behind a blue barrier as she was levitating with her arms and legs outstretched, trapped inside a glowing ball.

The team approached the barrier with the Asari's eyes widening with a hopeful look in her eyes.

"Can you hear me out there?" The Asari called out in desperation. "Please, help. I'm trapped."

"Doctor Liara T'Soni, I presume?" Shepard asked the captive Asari.

"Thank the goddess." Said the Asari. "I did not think anyone would come looking for me."

Roxas spoke next. "Are you okay? What happened?"

With a hint of mixed urgency and relief, the now identified Liara explained her situation. "I was excavating this Prothean ruin when the Geth showed up. Can you believe that? Geth beyond the veil. Anyways, I hid in here and I got caught up in this stasis field. I must have pushed something I wasn't supposed to and now I'm trapped."

"We need to get her out of there." Tali said looking to Shepard, but the Spectre appeared guarded.

"Not to insinuate anything on you, but…" Shepard eyed Liara analytically. "We're after a rogue Spectre named Saren. And with Saren is a Matriarch by the name of Benezia, your mother. Whose side are you on?"

"What?!" Liara asked in bewilderment. "I-I'm not on anyone's side. Please, I haven't seen my mother in years. I am nothing like her, truly. I just wish to be out of here."

"Any way we can get her out?" Garrus asked, looking around the area for any clues.

"We just need to figure some way to get past this barrier." Shepard said as she tried thinking of some ideas.

"You must be careful." Liara warned from her confinement. "There is a Krogan with the Geth. They've been trying different ways to get past the barrier."

Roxas kept his eyes on the trapped Asari when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Immediately, he whirled round to face behind the group with Keyblade flashing into his hand and crouching down into his stance.

"Guys!" Roxas shouted. "We have company."

The group turned round with their weapons raised and at first were confused as they saw nothing there when...

Tali's eyes widened greatly as the small shadowy creatures from the Citadel rose up from the ground.

And this time, they weren't alone.

Small orbs of darkness appeared only to be replaced with bipedal humanoids with a black and red heart shaped emblem on their chest, clawed hands, a knightly helmet and pointed shoes.

On top of that was one large, round and fat enemy that also had a small silver helmet with large, beefy arms, small stubby feet and a big armored belly.

This one too had the black and red heart emblem on their chests though the one unifying feature all three of these enemies shared with one other was the sickly yellow eyes.

"Roxas." Shepard said slowly, slightly nervous even. "Are they…"

"Heartless." Roxas said grimly. "Shadows, Soldiers and a Fat Body."

"Ah, lovely, they have names." Garrus quipped, trying his best to steel his nerves.

"Goddess!" Liara said aloud in stunned silence. "What in Thessia's name are those?"

"What, you didn't hear the kid?" Wrex said, pumping his weapon. "Heartless."

The Heartless were all either twitching about or swaying about but they were all facing the direction of the squad.

"Keep your distance." Roxas found himself instructing them without realizing it. "Use your Biotics and don't hold back on firepower. These guys can take a lot of damage."

Without waiting for them to respond, Roxas jumped straight into action, not hearing Shepard call out for him to wait.

"Come on Shepard." Garrus said. "This looks like his specialty. Let him lead."

Much as she wanted to argue such a notion, she saw how quickly Roxas jumped into the fray and in an instant cleaved through several of the smaller, twitchier Heartless.

Resigning herself to the fight, Shepard thrust her hand out, capturing several of those Soldier Heartless that were running about.

Rather than wasting ammo, Shepard instead lobbed two grenades at the ensnared group of Heartless, the explosions destroying several with two remaining.

She fired at the other two, taking care of them before turning to face a set of Shadows running at her.

Garrus stayed in front of the barrier, taking shots at the Heartless with some being taken out while the others were only stunned.

These small opportunities were taken advantage of by the four fighters below who made sure to take them out as quickly as they were able to.

There wasn't much though it was still a bit hectic.

Several had even managed to slip by them and actually land hits upon Wrex, Shepard and Tali.

These strikes… they felt distinctly different from any pain they had felt before in the past.

There was an unusual burning sensation that lingered making them either wince openly or internally as they fought on.

These injuries didn't appear to hinder their combat capabilities so they soldiered on for the most part.

Wrex was currently fighting the big bodied Heartless, with his bullets and headbutts seemingly bouncing off the Fat Body.

The Heartless swung its large arms in an attempt to hit the Krogan who jumped back to avoid them.

Growling, Wrex saw the Heartless raise one of its hands up and appear to scratch its head underneath its helmet.

Although he was thrown off by the strange absentminded behavior, Wrex saw an opening and threw his shotgun up to fire directly at the head.

Now, most people in the galaxy are aware that most Krogan can take quite a bit of punishment and handle some heavy duty equipment.

This of course was reflected on their weapons as well with most Krogan making sure that they have some heavy-duty firepower on them at all times.

So being a Krogan of seven hundred years old, the shotgun had some serious power behind it as it was fired at the head of the Fat Body.

This in turn caused the Heartless to flinch.

Rather violently.

And it responded in an almost childish, temper-tantrum like manner.

Its form glowed, with its arms waving about as it hopped back and forth from one foot to the other.

Bewildered by this behavior, Wrex's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets when he saw the Fat Body quite literally fling itself forward.

It rocketed right at him, the rocky ground not slowing it down in the slightest.

Now… being a Krogan, when they see an enemy charging at them their typical response would be holding their ground to fight back.

However, this was an enemy Wrex was completely unfamiliar with and was facing for the first time. And the one hit he received was bothering him.

So, he decided to follow his mind for this one, jumping out of the way as the Fat Body crashed into the rocky wall behind him.

It popped out of the hole it made unperturbed, jumping up and down angrily as it thumped its belly and once again threw itself forward.

Wrex managed to get to his feet and saw the oncoming fat missile.

Knowing there wasn't time to dodge, Wrex braced himself, digging his feet into the ground and roared aloud in challenge.

The Fat Body drew closer with the Krogan tensing up and ready to take the damage…

When a black blur suddenly jumped before Wrex.

The Krogan blinked, recognizing Roxas who shocked the Battlemaster when he performed an upward diagonal slash that sent the Fat Body spinning about wildly. Not waiting for a chance that it could recover, Roxas jumped forward and spun the teeth of his Keyblade downward.

He then impaled his weapon straight through the back of the Fat Body with it dispersing a moment later.

Standing up, he looked back to Wrex who was just staring at the human trying to make sense of what he just saw.

"Well… that just happened." Wrex said as he kept blinking in surprise.

Roxas regarded his handiwork momentarily before shrugging.

"Uh Roxas?" Shepard called out to him.

He looked over to her seeing the Commander next to a bunch of blue and yellow spheres and diamonds.

"Mind explaining just what this is?" Shepard asked, warily pointing to the currency on the ground. Next to her was Garrus and Tali who were equally unsure of how to address the spheres and diamonds around them

"Munny." Roxas said, picking up a few next to him. "Sometimes, Heartless drop munny or other items when you beat them."

"Uh-huh." Shepard deadpanned. "Munny. And that's supposed to-"

"INCOMING!" Garrus shouted, eyes snapping upward as the five squadmates all scattered.

From above, six large pieces of metal fell to the ground, clanging up off the ground violently and sailing up into the air.

There the pieces hovered until they all came together to form a large body of sorts.

The new arrival consisted of several pieces resembling a violet and silver knight's armor from Earth: a body, a head, two arms and two legs. Neither of said pieces were directly connected to each other. The torso is vaguely hourglass-shaped with a diamond pattern around it's waist with the Heartless symbol on its center.

It's spherical head sports three silver spikes and a silver faceplate with several holes in it. Both of the gauntlets are violet with wide wrists and segmented fingers. The legs are short and end in large hammer-like black feet.

-Play Shrouding Dark Cloud: KH1 OST-

"By the Goddess!" Liara exclaimed.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me." Shepard couldn't help but whine. "They get bigger?"

"This is supposed to be one of the smaller ones." Roxas said, readying himself for battle as the newly arrived Guard Armor began stomping towards him with its hands spinning about.

"Not helping Roxas!" Garrus shouted, firing repeatedly at the Heartless with his bullets unfortunately bouncing off the metal body.

Roxas swiped his Keyblade left and right, deflecting the swinging arms that Guard Armor had. When the right one came in for another attack, Roxas jumped and swung down from overhead. The force in which he delivered the strike sent the hand down, embedding it slightly into the ground.

Roxas used the hand as a jumping off point, going straight for the main body of the Heartless. However, he has a momentary lapse in judgement as he forgot about the other hand which promptly whacked him across the cave.

"Roxas!" Tali cried out in horror at seeing her friend crash into the ground.

"Tali, focus." Shepard barked out. "We need to take this thing out!"

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Garrus asked aloud, running a large rock the Heartless threw at him.

"There's five of us and only one of it." Shepard said, firing at the Heartless. "We just need to find the right way to take it down."

"In case you haven't noticed Shepard, but our "expert" is-"

They heard the shifting of rocks, glancing over to see Roxas on his feet again a small trail of blood going down the side of his head. His clothing was miraculously intact with a few scratches here and there. If one squinted their eyes, they would be able to see that the cloak was slowly losing some of its creases and tears.

"Roxas." Shepard said with relief. "You alright?"

"I'm fine." Roxas grunted, holding his Keyblade forward.

As he gazed upon the large Heartless, Roxas experienced an unusual shift in his vision.

It blurred for a moment with Roxas blinking for a moment to find himself in an entirely different place.

His surroundings were that of a town plaza… no, a district.

And there were barriers around the area that prevented him from escaping.

Before him was the same Heartless from before, standing before a small fountain of some kind.

But he wasn't alone.

By his side were two anthropomorphic individuals with one being a duck holding a magic staff and the other being a dog wielding a silver shield that had three circles on it.

And like that, Roxas's vision snapped back to reality with him shaking his head and looking around for a moment.

'What was that?' Roxas thought to himself.

"Roxas!" Shepard called out to him, snapping him out of his stupor in time to see the Heartless was stomping over to him.

Cringing at his own lack of awareness, Roxas barely managed to swat aside the two spinning arms of the Heartless.

He used the armored arms, jumping on top of them to get to the head to deliver a strong whack across the head.

The strike rattled the Heartless with it falling apart into a heap on the ground, Roxas quickly spinning about and bashing his Keyblade into the chest piece of the Guard Armor.

The Heartless was sent into the air rather dramatically only for the six components of the armor to break and paired off. Chest to head, arm to arm and leg to leg.

All operating separately.

"What was that about us having the numbers, Shepard?" Garrus sarcastically asked, Shepard grumbling beneath her voice.

"Bite me, Vakarian." Shepard said, retreating away from the arms that were spinning towards her and Garrus.

Tali and Wrex in the meantime had to deal with the tromping pair of metallic feet that had a visible shockwave with every step.

Leaving Roxas with the spinning torso and head that was making it slightly difficult to hit. It just kept spinning around with him having to keep himself at a distance.

Shepard in the meantime kept throwing out Biotic Stasis fields to keep the Heartless from moving. Yet the damn Stasis only appeared to work for two or three seconds at most with the blue Biotic aura bursting off the arms.

In that time, Garrus and Shepard unloaded on the arms, noticing that a few of their shots appeared to leave a mark or two on the Heartless' arms. That means it wasn't as invulnerable as it seemed to be.

Over with Wrex and Tali, the Krogan Battlemaster led the charge with him infusing himself with his Biotics and charged at the legs with Tali firing her Geth weapon.

They appeared to stagger the legs when it shifted suddenly and delivered a swinging hit that sent Tali tumbling on the ground.

"Shit." Wrex growled, unfortunately being occupied with the large boot that nearly punted him.

Roxas saw this from the corner of his eye, his Quarian friend struggling to get back up.

"Tali!"

He jumped away from the spinning torso and made a beeline for her, screeching to a halt in front of her.

Without waiting, he threw his Keyblade up into the air.

"Cure!"

Immediately, a flutter of green leaves with an emerald aura surrounded the Quarian who froze.

"Are you alright?" Roxas asked, holding his hand out to her.

The Quarian stared up at her friend in wide eyed awe, carefully grasping his offered hand and being helped up.

"Wha-What was that?" Tali asked softly.

"A Cure spell." Roxas quickly explained. "Heals a few injuries and bruises."

"Right." Tali said weakly. Honestly, it was just one surprise after another. And it's only been a few days. Four at most.

Roxas simply nodded, turning back to the Heartless who had at last lost an arm and a leg thanks to the combined efforts of the other three squadmates.

The Guard Armor had recalled its remaining two limbs to the rest of its body, ready to fight again.

Roxas frowned, looking over to the others and it was clear that they were starting to get worn down.

Much as he figured they could go on fighting for a while, this was their first time against an enemy that they didn't know how to fight yet.

Not on the level that he was able to.

He knew that he needed to end this now.

Sliding his feet apart slightly, Roxas held his Keyblade out to his side and focused on his power.

He called upon his element, his power.

Light.

Wind swirled around him with light surrounding him and his Keyblade had a bluish aura appear and encompassed the weapon with it expanding.

"You're finished!" Roxas shouted aloud, making the squad turn to him with their eyes widening and jaws dropping.

The others could only watch as he literally glided over the ground and directly in front of the Guard Armor, unleashing a string of hacks and slashes that struck the Heartless with such force it staggered upon every hit.

And like that, in a matter of a few swings, the Heartless lost its remaining limbs and crashed down on the ground.

Before it's head and torso portions could get back up and attack, several pillars of light exploded out of Roxas' form and spread outwards as they faded away. This happened a couple of times with each "explosion" caused significant damage to what remained to the Guard Armor.

As Roxas' Limit Break ended, the Heartless was trembling spastically until the head fell from the body and a moment later, a large glowing heart came out from the chest with the body fading away.

"Whew." Roxas exhaled, the white aura around him subsiding.

The rest could only stare, trying to make heads or tails as to what they had just seen.

"I… I-I… I don't even…" Shepard was trying her damndest to formulate anything, anything right now yet she was finding it a bit difficult to do so.

"Seven hundred years." Wrex groused out with a huff of amusement. "I've seen and done a lot of shit. But a kid that's not even close to your version of adulthood is the biggest shock I've ever seen in my life."

"Yeah… yeah…" Garrus was fairing no better than Shepard with him just at a loss for words and thoughts. Who in the hell did they recruit to the squad?!

Their lone spectator hovered in her stasis field, mind being unable to comprehend what she saw. At first, it was slightly difficult to make out until she saw the gigantic armored being fall from above to engage the squadron of people who had come for her.

Then… that young boy in black with a strange weapon performed feats of astonishing powers and strength that she couldn't wrap her mind around.

Tali was just as in shock, her mind blank.

"Kee… lah…" Was what she managed out.

Roxas had already turned back to the Asari still trapped in the Prothean field, moving to assist her.

"Shepard-"

"Let's just… let's just not right now." Shepard at long last managed to gather her wits together. "Can we just get the Asari and get outta here?"

Wordlessly, Garrus and Wrex went to follow after Shepard, joining Roxas who was standing in front of the trapped Asari.

Tali however still needed a moment to process what she had just seen.

Her bearings were slowly returning to her until she saw something on the ground where the Guard Armor was slain.

Curiously getting the better of her, Tali went over to the item on the ground and saw that it was a rectangular block of some kind that was blue in color with black stars all over it.

'What's this?' Tali internally asked herself.

"Tali!"

"Sorry." Tali said, grabbing the block and pocketing it.

She rejoined the others with them standing before the still entrapped Asari who was staring directly at the Nobody.

"So…" Shepard rubbed the back of her head. "Any ideas on how to get you outta here? We… kinda got distracted."

Liara didn't answer, mouth opening and closing as she attempted to gather her thoughts together when Roxas called forth his Keyblade once more and held it up to the barrier.

The Asari froze up when she saw light being concentrated at the tip of the blade when a beam of light was shot out, striking the barrier.

Liara's eyes widened at the appearance of a keyhole on the barrier itself until it vanished with her falling flat on her rump.

Shepard was by her side quickly, helping her back to her feet.

"You alright there?" Shepard asked, hand on her shoulder to keep her steady.

"I… yes, I am…" Liara said offhandedly, eyes firmly placed upon the Nobody who was starting to look left and right feeling a bit uncomfortable at the prolonged gaze she gave him.

Noticing this, Shepard shook her slightly, making her look to her now.

"I get it, crazy shit, crazy creatures, trust me and all of us, we're just getting introduced to all this." Shepard said with an understanding look. "Let's just get outta here, ok? We'll talk when we're in the clear."

"Yes… yes… of course…"

Now that Liara was no longer trapped inside the barrier, she was eager to follow the others. As they were about to activate the Prothean made elevator to take them back to the surface, Liara was trying to come to rationalize a few things.

Specifically, what she had just seen.

"What were they?" Liara asked in a soft tone.

"The kid here called them the Heartless." Wrex said evenly.

"And… why were they here?"

"Don't know." Shepard said, side eyeing the Keybearer who held a look of contemplation. Maybe he knew.

"And… the Geth?" Liara was starting to get her thoughts in order. "You mentioned Saren and my mother."

"Saren's is looking for something called the Conduit. It has to do with the Protheans." Shepard explained. "And since you have such an impressive resume on Prothean artifacts, I figure he wants your expertise."

"The Conduit? But I don't know-"

Liara was unable to finish when the whole complex began to shake violently.

"What the hell was that?" Wrex asked.

"These ruins aren't stable." Liara looked upwards and then looked at the others. "That armored thing you fought must have triggered a seismic event."

"It was pounding the ground a bit too much." Roxas muttered out, earning dry looks from the rest.

Liara activated the Prothean control panel and found the button to take them to the top floor. "We have to hurry. The whole place is caving in."

Shepard immediately called Joker in the most urgent tone she could muster. "Joker! Get the Normandy locked in on my signal! On the double, mister!"

Joker responded on his end of the line. "Aye, aye, Commander. Secure and aweigh. ETA eight minutes."

Wrex merely grumbled. "If I die here, I'll kill him."

"I have a knife on me you could use."

This drew in a surprised look from nearly everyone present as they looked right at the Quarian.

"Why do you have a knife on you?"

"For self-defense."

"Do you even know how to use that thing?"

"Yes… stick 'em with the pointy end."

Wrex chortled. "Well that's the general idea."

The ancient elevator took all six people headed for the surface and now that the security barriers were deactivated, they will not have trouble getting out of the mine.

At least that was the plan.

As they reached the surface, everyone was ready to race out of the mine. That was until they were greeted by a fully armed Krogan being accompanied by nearly a small army of Geth.

"Surrender. Or don't. That would be more fun." Said the enemy Krogan.

"In case you didn't notice, this place is falling apart." Shepard tried to reason with quakes happening around them.

"Exhilarating, isn't it?" The Krogan stepped forward. "Thanks for getting rid of those energy fields for us. Hand the doctor over."

"Whatever it is you want you're not getting it from me." Liara defiantly replied.

Roxas quickly summoned his Keyblade and went into his battle stance. "In other words, you'll have to get through us first."

The enemy Krogan quickly got out of his little moment of surprise before chuckling. "I like your attitude, human. But Saren wants her and he always gets what he wants." He turned his head and gave a command to the Geth. "Kill them. Spare the Asari if you can. If not, doesn't matter."

The Geth complied with the Krogan's orders as Shepard, Garrus, and Tali drew their weapons and opened fire. Liara ducked for cover behind the console of the Prothean elevator as the fight before her commenced.

With the speed that belied his size, Wrex rushed from his spot and released a throw field that pushed all of the Geth off of their feet. The enemy Krogan was sent skidding back. Sensing the implicated challenge, he roared out in response, charging at Wrex in return.

Roxas, meanwhile, somewhat followed Wrex's lead but only towards the enemy Geth. With a few Hoppers in their present ranks, he had to occasionally leap into the air in order to deliver successful hits on them. When they were cleaved in half, he batted the remains into the other surrounding Geth for some added damage.

The act helped Shepard and Garrus as they were dealing with their own respective Geth. The incoming synthetic body parts helped throw the whole Geth off balance, giving the ground team members a better shot in taking them down. Especially when Roxas casted Thunder to help electrocute them.

Soon enough, a familiar crack filled the air, causing Garrus to instinctively duck for cover. Switching out to his sniper rifle, he was quick to work in finding where the sniper shot came from.

"Of course it would hide behind a blasted crate." Muttered the Turian.

Tali ducked behind one of the nearby hydraulics connecting to the elevator and used it as her cover from the attacking Geth. She took careful aim with her shotgun and unleashed round after round while the others worked on the rest of their opposition.

It was at this point did the Quarian notice Liara hiding behind the panel and realized that she was not armed. Her natural instinct told her to protect the Asari doctor as she crouched next to Liara in order to keep her safe from her abductors.

As the two Krogan grappled, Wrex looked at his opponent with a savage grin. "You're strong."

"And you're too weak." Growled the enemy Krogan.

Wrex's grin only widened. "Your mistake here is underestimating your opponent."

With that said, Wrex suddenly let his resistance go slack and let the enemy Krogan push him backwards. Skidding on his feet, Wrex pivoted. The other Krogan, thrown off balance by the sudden lack of resistance, became an easy target for Wrex, who turned to the side and threw his enemy away from him. And for extra measure for hurt, Wrex threw yet another throw field to send his opponent further away.

Tali kept Liara safe as best as possible, firing upon the Geth trying to get close to them. Everything seemed fine at the present moment until the enemy Krogan ended up landing near their position due to Wrex's biotic attack.

The moment he scrambled onto his feet, the Krogan felt his kinetic barriers flare. Looking over, he saw Tali recently unloading a clip from her Geth Assault Rifle and was presently in its cooldown period. The Krogan knew the Quarian was protecting his target, so the large reptile decided to change his opposition from Wrex to Tali and specifically charged right at her.

Tali fired upon the Krogan, just when the cooldown period just ended. The kinetic barrier broke with a few bullets punctured the enemy Krogan's thick armor, but it wasn't enough to stop the bulldozing mass of muscle and rage. Before she could attempt to fire again, the Krogan knocked Tali's weapon out of her grasp before taking a hold of her neck and lifted her off the ground.

"Ha! What are you going to do now, Quarian?" Laughed the enemy Krogan, seeing the 'suit-rat' struggle to free herself from his tightening hold.

While Tali was on the verge of losing consciousness, she could see Liara possibly being helpless in the wake of her present protector about to meet her demise. Glancing over, she saw the others were too preoccupied with helping her as they were taking care of the enemy Geth.

Not wanting her Pilgrimage to end like this, a small thought popped into her mind before bringing her one free arm down to her side.

"Savor these last moments of life before I kill you and swallow-"

The Krogan immediately stopped talking as he felt a solid object pierce into the flesh of his head.

Tali unsheathed her knife earlier and drove it hard as she could and just as hard as she could feel her strength leave her body. But the adrenaline and drive was pushing her to bring down the knife again and again on the Krogan's forehead, located between the soft fleshy mound above the eyes and the shell plate covering the upper head area. As each knife strike came and went, thick orange blood started pouring out of the Krogan's head.

"AAAARRRRGGGGGGGHHHH!" Screamed the Krogan as the knife strikes soon pierced one of his eyes. The pain was enough for him to let go of Tali, who fell to the floor.

Tali took this opportunity to unholster her shotgun and while the Krogan kept screaming, she quickly shoved the barrel of her weapon into its open mouth.

"Swallow this, you Bosh'tet!"

Tali squeezed the trigger and a large cloud of orange mist erupted from the back of the Krogan's head.

Once the Krogan fell to the floor, Tali unleashed another round at the back of the large bipedal reptile's head to make sure the Krogan was dead. After that, Tali started to pant heavily with air returning to her lungs.

"Tali." Said Quarian looked over and saw Roxas rushing over to her. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine." Tali said, voice rather horse due to her throat being clamped by the Krogan earlier. She looked down to the corpse as her heart rate was starting to go back to normal. "I can't believe I just did that."

"You and me both." Roxas said to himself, slightly disturbed at what he just saw.

That was… certainly different.

The others managed to finish off the rest of the opposition just before they all witnessed Tali killing off the enemy Krogan. Shepard nods in approval and while Wrex does the same, his reaction was a bit more with a grin.

Garrus though…

"Huh, and some people say knives aren't a good staple in any military these days.

"Seems no one will talk shit about knives anymore, then." Shepard chuckled out. "She proved just that."

"Quarian's got a quad on her now."

Tali overheard this conversation, but she was a bit more focused in seeing Liara's mortified expression of her witnessing Tali brutally killing the Krogan.

"Sorry you had to see that, Dr. T'Soni." Tali roughly said as she retrieved her fallen Geth Assault Rifle.

The Asari merely gulped and nodded as she couldn't speak in response when getting back onto her feet.

Suddenly, the Prothean structure was shaking violently and it was time before they all found themselves trapped underneath tons and tons of rock.

"MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Shepard screeched out the order.

The six fled down the corridors and raced as fast as they could to get back to the surface. They dodged the falling rocks and collapsing catwalks while Roxas occasionally swatted any debris about to hit his squadmates. This continued on until daylight was sighted, having the group narrowly escaping the collapsing mine shaft.

They saw the Normandy get as close to the ground as it dared with the hangar door opened with Kaiden and Ashley hanging at its edge. The others seemed to get the message having themselves run as fast as possible before jumping into the air.

Garrus and Shepard were able to land on the hangar door while Garrus and Tali needed assistance from the two Alliance soldiers to get pulled in.

Roxas was about to jump but saw Liara fall to the ground.

Screeching to a halt, he jumped back to the fallen Asari and picked her up in a bridal carry, starting to run as fast he could.

"They're not gonna make it!"

Suddenly, Roxas' and Liara's form blurred out of existence, like a quick flicker.

"Where'd they go?!"

In an instant, both suddenly appeared beside them, shocking the other ground team members, even the Asari still in his arms.

Shaking her head, Shepard yelled at the top of her lungs. "Joker, get us out of here, now!"

With this said, the hangar door began closing with sounds of a loud rumble being heard. The ground beneath the ship started cracking open as steam escaped from the fissures. Suddenly, a jet of lava jumped up barely missing the hull off the Normandy.

"Whoa!" Garrus cried out, leaping further back into the hangar.

The sight and sound from the area below was cut off as the hangar door finally closed before the ship flew away from the planet's surface which soon soared past its orbit.

The Normandy ground team all slumped over, save for Roxas who was checking over his suit and saw that a majority of his outfit was back working order.

A moment later, Ashley and Kaidan rushed in, the former immediately asking…

"Shepard, with all due respect, what the hell happened down there?"

The commander scratched the side of her head as she responded to Ashley's inquiry. "Nothing much… well except for this giant suit of armor looking… Heartless, causing the semi-active volcano to wake up."

"Heartless?"

Shepard groaned, slumping down to the ground. "I'll explain later."

-Scene Cut-

Now that things were settled down, everyone in the ground team was present in the comm room with Liara brought along for this meeting.

Roxas looked at the newcomer in silence. In terms of comparison, the Asari's skin was a few shades darker than Sea-Salt Ice-cream with some dark blue freckles sprinkled on her face. The doctor was a little flustered, but it was excusable given the whirlwind of events that happened to her prior to boarding this ship.

Breaking his little inspection of the Asari, Roxas gazed around the rest of the room.

The seating arrangement where each member of the ground team was sitting was placed in a circular manner. It reminded him of The Round Room or The Room Where Nothing Gathers, a place that was inaccessible by any means other than a Corridor of Darkness. Thirteen throne-like chairs made out of marble were arranged around the space and had interchanging heights to each.

Asides from the commander, No. XIII was the only other person standing. There had not been enough chairs there to seat everyone for this briefing, but it was solved with Roxas volunteering to stand. He didn't mind at all as he stood beside Tali with hardly any problems at all.

"Gotta say, Commander, that was too close." Joker's voice rang through the intercom. "Ten more seconds, and we would've been swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull." The pilot then paused for a few seconds. "Just for future reference."

"We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara asked in disbelief.

Shepard decided to alleviate the situation. "Joker pulled our asses out of there. I think he's earned the right to a few bad jokes."

"I see. It must be a human thing."

"More like a coping mechanism of his." Kaidan said aloud.

Liara nodded, shifting in her seat slightly. "Sorry, I don't have a lot of experience dealing with humans. But I am grateful to all. You saved my life back there, and not just from the volcano. Those get would've killed me. Or dragged me off to Saren."

"I believe some of the credit should go to Tali." Shepard pointed to the Quarian. "She was the one who defended you whether or not that Krogan wanted to take you away."

Liara looked at Tali and gave her a thankful nod. "That is true. Thank you, Tali for what you have done for me back at the ruins."

"It was nothing." Tali said, clear signs of her voice slowly returning to normal as the injury was getting better. "But you're welcome."

Ashley spoke next. "Yeah, I heard of what happened from Wrex on some of the details. Very impressive."

Kaidan soon changed the subject, looking at the Asari doctor. "What did Saren want from you? Do you know something about the Conduit?"

"Only that it was connected to the Prothean extinction." Liara answered as best she could. "That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

The conversation briefly diverged off topic for a little bit when Shepard asked Liara of her age. Being 106, while impressive on some naive individuals in the looks department, is actually considered a child or a teenager in Asari culture, due to them living as long as a thousand years or so.

But this tied in with the fact that due to her Liara's age, much of her research hasn't received the attention it deserves, having other Asari doctors dismissing her theories in Protheans.

With so little archaeological evidence found on the Protheans, Liara thought that someone or something was deliberately covering things up to make it much harder for people to learn the truth.

Yet that wasn't the only thing the Asari found out as the Protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish as it went on a cycle of sorts that's repeated itself many times over. The subtle patterns emerged from whatever scrap and shred of evidence she tracked down in these past fifty years.

Kaidan frowned, looking at Shepard immediately. "Commander, do you think this is related to the Reapers?"

Liara looked over at the Lieutenant. "The Reapers?" She asked.

"We don't know much about them, but we recovered a recording of Saren talking about the reapers." Said the commander. "Even better, I know what they are."

The Asari glanced at Kaidan before shifting it at Shepard. "You do? How?"

"I received a vision from a Prothean Beacon on Eden Prime… just before it blew up in my face." Shepard rubbed the side of her head. "It showed me these… machines, overrunning the Prothean empire. There were so many screams… and then I saw a planet get blacked out like it was being consumed by something dark."

For the briefest of moments, Roxas momentarily thought of the Heartless as something nagged him in some corner of his mind. Something to do with the Heart of a World and Keyholes. But that wasn't the case right now.

"The sentient race of machines I'm talking about are the Reapers."

"Visions?" Liara stated and quickly came to a conclusion. "I… suppose that makes sense. The Prothean Beacons were meant to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare."

"Well too bad that it didn't last past Shepard, though." Ashley interjected. "Saren had already used it before we got to it too."

"That would not surprise me." Liara added. "A Prothean Beacon, even one that is not fully functional, is worth any risk. It is no wonder Saren worked with the Geth…" The Asari then looked at the commander. "Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear. I'm amazed you were able to make sense of it all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong willed, commander."

"Okay, I don't mean to sound rude and all, but this doesn't exactly help us find Saren or the Conduit." Snapped the Gunnery Chief.

"Ash…" Jane warned.

"No, it's alright. I'm sorry." Liara quickly apologized. "My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find either of them."

"Don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture. But I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along."

Liara smiled. "Thank you, Commander. I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship. And my knowledge on the Protheans might be useful later on."

For the first time in this meeting, Wrex spoke up. "And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts."

Shepard nodded. "Welcome aboard the Normandy, Liara. It'll be good to have you on the team."

Liara stood up, wanting to shake hands with the commander. "Thank you, I am very-"

All of a sudden, Liara felt lightheaded swaying a little on her step but was quick to rebalance herself.

"You alright?"

"Thank you for your concern. Just a bit light-headed is all."

Kaidan soon voiced a concerned thought. "When was the last time you ate? Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you."

"It's probably just mental exhaustion, coupled with the shock of several startling discoveries." Liara said, sitting back down onto her seat. "I… just need some time to process all this… while eating something. I'm rather peckish right now."

"Could this help?"

Liara looked over and saw Roxas holding out a Sea-Salt Ice Cream in his hand.

"...Where'd you get that Roxas?"

Roxas shrugged.

"I usually have one at the end of a successful day."

"...You just… have that on you?" Ash dryly asked. "Where do you keep a popsicle intact like that on you?"

Wrex chuckled however.. "I hear that, kid. But instead of an icy treat, I go for the hard stuff."

Garrus groaned a little. "Please don't tell me you brought ryncol."

"I did, but I'm saving that for later."

Liara on the other hand, tentatively accepted the ice-cream stick, feeling it to be rude if she were to deny the offered treat from one of the individuals that had saved her life. Especially from the one with the extraordinary powers.

"Even a small thing of ice-cream won't help all that much." Liara bit into the treat and hummed a little on the unique taste. "Still, it couldn't hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It'll give me time to think things over." Eating a bit more of the ice-cream, she asked one final question. "Are we finished here, Commander?"

Shepard shifted about uncomfortably in her seat, clearing her throat slightly as she took a look around the squad until her eyes stopped on the one who was truly on most everyone's mind.

He had pulled out another bar of ice-cream (where in the hell was he getting these?) and began munching on it casually.

Even Tali seemed to have a bowl of the stuff as she was slurping it away in a cup this time through a straw.

How did that even happen?

...Anyways… Roxas looked rather adorably innocent right now, just sitting there like that eating his ice-cream like the kid he is. If only he didn't just display powers and abilities that couldn't be described whatsoever.

"Not… exactly. We have a few other things to discuss."

"Like?" Ash looked inquisitive.

"The Heartless…" Shepard then turned to Roxas. "And you."

"Me?"

"Yeah." Shepard sighed. "Look, Roxas, we don't wanna be forceful or anything but, you gotta level with us here. We just saw creatures that we've never heard of that only you seem to know and can use magic and all sorts of other shit we probably haven't even seen yet."

"...And?"

Shepherd's head fell with the others sharing similar reactions.

"Roxas." She began slowly. "What you have shown us and what we've seen is something we can't even begin to comprehend. We're used to fighting synthetics and merc assholes who were getting paid too much to get shot at. But with you…"

"What were those things?" Wrex asked bluntly. "The Heartless. They were some tough bastards."

"More like that oversized armor." Tali grumbled, rubbing her sides as she felt phantom pain around her body.

"Since we are working together, we need to know a number of things so we can trust you better." Shepard stated.

Roxas frowned, hands resting on his legs.

He was never really put in a position like this before.

Whenever he questioned things back with the Organization, they would usually have an answer for him or would brush it off and tell him he didn't need to know.

But here, this group of people were asking him something that he barely understood. Something he hasn't really experienced doing yet.

"What… do you want to know?"

"You could start with the Heartless." Garrus said. "What are they? How many of them are out there? What else can they do?"

"You mentioned that they can get… bigger?" Tali asked nervously, dreading the thought of facing even larger foes like that one down in the caves.

Roxas was silent for a brief moment, thinking of what he had been taught by the Organization.

"The Heartless…" Roxas began. "Are creatures born out of the darkness of one's Heart."

…

…

…

"Uh… what?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"...Sounds rather religious right there."

"Ok…" Shepard said slowly. "Let's try to have an open mind on this."

"Shepard, if my mind is gonna get any more open, I'm pretty sure I'll be able to see the Spirits themselves."

"After what we just went through and saw… you really wanna tempt such a thing?" Wrex asked.

Garrus clamped his mouth shut.

"Right… Roxas." Shepard looked back to the young teen. "Care to elaborate?"

Roxas slowly nodded. "The Heartless are creatures who come from the darkness of people's hearts. You can say… they are the evil or sinister intentions within taken form. Going after their primal instincts and intuitions in order to grow their ever expanding numbers. And there is no definite number to their limit."

"...Well that's just fucking perfect." Wrex grunted out.

Garrus could feel a migraine coming along now.

"Where did they even come from?" Tali asked.

Roxas looked down. "I'm not really sure. They just are."

"But we've never met anything like them before." Shepard pointed out. "How do you know about them then?"

Roxas wracked his brain, trying to think of the proper means in which he could explain.

Then, as if from the recesses of his mind, something came up. His vision blurred, the room around him reforming into one of a studio sort of apartment with him sitting on a bed.

In front of him were two people, a man and a woman with one wearing a short sleeved jacket and the other a green vest and headband.

The man was momentarily holding his Keyblade and then held it out with it flashing out of his hand and back into Roxas'.

Or so he thought.

Then the vision shifted back to normal as he looked at the ground team in the comm room.

The group watched in awkward silence as Roxas had remained quiet for several seconds until the Keyblade had appeared in his hands.

"The Heartless… have great fear of the Keyblade." Roxas began. "They fear its power but they will also pursue the one that has it. To claim his heart for themselves. For if he stands, the Heartless will never truly be victorious."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Um… ok…" Shepard was seriously lost right now. Nothing he said made sense to them.

The darkness in one's heart? Claiming the Heart for themselves?

What did that all mean?

"How did you learn about them?" Liara asked, leaning forward.

"I was… taught… by the people I worked with." Roxas said, not really sure if he should divulge the Organization.

From the looks he was seeing, Roxas wasn't entirely sure if they were ready to learn of thirteen other individuals with powers and abilities as crazy as his own.

They had enough to deal with as is.

"Who were they?" Shepard asked.

The teen didn't answer.

"Roxas." Jane urged. "We're not trying to pry or be rude. We just have to know what we're up against."

"What can we expect from these Heartless?" Garrus asked.

"They can show up at the most random of times. Sometimes when you least expect it."

"Wonderful." Ash and Wrex said sarcastically.

"Anything else?"

"I… don't know how to explain it all." Roxas admitted. "I only know what I've been told for a month now."

"Right…" Tali glumly said. "Amnesia."

The air in the meeting room was rather heavy now.

"I don't know about you, but I believe I have learned enough for now. Anymore and I might be like the Asari."

Liara didn't know if she wanted to be offended or not from hearing Wrex's words. But she had to agree with the comparison.

"At least we'll be able to accept it better than the Council." Ashely pointed out. "Their heads are so thick they hardly accept anything, even with evidence presented right in front of them."

Many in the room practically snorted in utter agreement.

"Am I missing something here?" Liara asked, who just finished her ice-cream.

"You had to be there to know, Liara." Said Kaidan.

"Alright everyone." Shepard exhaled tiredly. "Dismissed. I'm in the mood for some grub and a nap."

She received grunts and vocal sounds of agreement as the group stood and departed from the meeting room.

All the while, the first human Spectre had her gaze linger upon Roxas up until he was out of sight.

There was much she felt that he didn't tell them. As much as she wanted to actually leave and take her nap, she needed to report to the Council. Not about Roxas, thankfully, but on the results of her latest mission.

Talking about the Heartless may come as a difficulty.

But who knows.

Maybe the Heartless could up and show up right in front of the Council.

That would save her a headache… or give her another one, undoubtedly having to explain just what they're supposed to be.

Shepard groaned aloud.

This Spectre status was becoming more of a hassle then it was cracked up to be.

So, that was a long one but it was damn fun to write.

We got Liara now and the crew had their first run in with the Heartless, yay~

My brain is sorta pounding right now cause there are so many crazy scenarios and events that will occur and I just can't even begin to convey to you guys the excitement I have of when we get to them.

The Normandy is getting exposed to the madness that is Roxas' life and it only goes uphill from there cause that's the only way some stories can go.

But really, nothing else to be said.

If you guys have an idea for a poll pairing, please leave it in the review and I may add it. Don't forget to vote.

Not much else to say really, just really glad how this one turned out.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.