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.

9. We're a Busy Crew

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I'm Nobody Chapter 9: We're a busy Crew

Leading them along, Anderson unlocked the door to his personal apartment here on the Citadel. He strolled on in with the Normandy ground team following right behind him before the door closed and locked itself up after the last member came through.

Garrus practically whistled as he gazed at what he was seeing. "Nice place you got here, Captain."

"Thank you, Mr. Vakarian." David said as he briefly looked back what he can presently see in his home.

It was a two floor, three bedroom and bathroom loft. There were two bar counters, a living room with a desk, a gallery, a kitchen and several seating areas. And filling up the space were all sorts of decorative plants and art works to spruce up the place.

In the front living room, there was a large piano placed right next to the large windows with the blaring sign of the Armax Arsenal Arena shining through the open blinds. A pair of sofas were placed around the piano as they were somewhat facing an isolated wall with a fireplace. Above said fireplace was a shelf with books on it. Behind that wall is another sofa in front of a large screen where the main bar was located. And the kitchen was nearby with a low ceiling as a cooking island was placed in the middle of it.

There was presently more to the place, only able to be seen if granted permission to explore the place.

Roxas gazed around, finding the lavish apartment a farcy from the small Spartan-esque bedroom he has back in The World That Never Was. In size alone, it was quite something.

He looked around the area, spotting Kaidan, Tali and Ashley seating themselves at the two couches nearby.

Opting to join them, he sat himself next to Tali, gazing over at the roaring fireplace finding it quite the sight. It reminded him of Axel.

Of course, Shepard ended up sitting in the lone incline chair situated in the living room as David Anderson looked at her while he stood before her.

Looking up at him, The Commander slumped with her face halfway between amusement and exasperation.

"Why does this feel like an interrogating intervention all of a sudden?"

Anderson's lip twitched upwards yet he managed to remain stoic. "You tell me, Jane, because clearly, there's a lot I'm missing here."

The red haired woman exhaled a sigh. "Where would you like to start?"

"The beginning sounds more appropriate. And don't bother leaving out any details."

"That's a complicated beginning then."

"I have time." Anderson stated, gazing over to the rest of the crew. "You are on shore leave with nowhere else to be."

Jane bit back a grimace.

"Okay… so our complications began when we were searching for Tali."

"Ah, this would mean there was definitely more to what happened to Fist's men."

"We were telling the truth on that one." Tali interjected. "It was just that… Shepard and the others showed up in the aftermath."

Anderson held up his hands. "Alright, begin with how you," he then looked at the youngest member of the squad. "Met Roxas here. I have a feeling this all started with him."

"I met Roxas just the same as I told the others, him helping me from Saren's assassin hurting me and taking me to Dr. Michel. For the time afterwards, he stayed by my side the entire time. Everything was relatively normal… until the Heartless appeared at the handoff."

Anderson was silent as he heard Tali recount the experience on her first encounter with the Heartless. How they acted, how Fist's men were practically killed by them and seeing Roxas effortlessly combating them like a veteran.

At its end, Anderson gave his thoughts. "I can probably understand how things could seem… unbelievable if you were to tell Udina and I of this upfront when you were presenting the recording."

"To be fair, neither of you would actually consider it to be true." Ashley stated.

Anderson nodded. "Sadly, but true. But after seeing the match earlier, I would be more inclined to believe. So… these "Heartless", what are they?"

The crew turned to Roxas who had shifted uncomfortably at all the sudden attention.

He briefly thought back to the previous times he told the Normandy crew about the Heartless, so he simply went from there.

Roxas touched on the "origin" of Heartless, so to speak, how they come from the darkness of people's hearts. How it festers, grows and eventually consumes their very being. How nothing was to be left behind other than the Heart that was to be consumed by the Darkness and Heartless.

This made Anderson think back to several distinctly unusual reports he had read up on the last time Shepard and co were here.

About how there were several people that had gone missing.

How there was literally nothing that anybody could use to find these missing individuals.

He wanted to ask more, but he knew now is the time to listen.

And listen he did.

David was silent throughout the whole debriefing as he heard each of the Normandy ground team speaking on their encounters with the Heartless up till today. Only nodding here and there as if acknowledging it all.

"Seems you lot have truly gotten your hands full while searching for Saren." David finally said. "Not only have you been encountering the Geth, but also these Heartless as well."

"To sum it up yes."

The Alliance captain rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Boy this is gonna be complicated. When I read through many of your reports, Jane, there was just a lot that didn't seem to fit as there was redacted information."

"I didn't mean to, sir." Shepard said her excuse. "Just didn't know how to properly address them without the Council and Alliance to make heads or tails on them."

"I understand that, but now things are gonna get worse with you lying in your reports." Anderson said with a stern voice. "No doubt the Council will be wanting a proper debriefing with you since they still have the chance to do so."

Jane only hung her head with half the crew grumbling negative comments in regard to the Council snooping on business that isn't their own.

Not yet anyway.

"Be lucky that Hackett will be more understanding as he shares my same mindset… once you talk to him personally." Anderson added.

"Can't you tell him everything yourself?"

Anderson only gave her a pointed look, with Shepard leaning back in defeat.

"That's gonna be fun." Kaidan muttered out as Ashley snorted in agreement.

The Captain gave the Alliance marines sympathetic looks, turning back to the Nobody.

He gave the boy an analytical look, trying to discern anything he could out of the boy. Aside from the unusual choice in clothing and the fact that he could perform feats that he couldn't even begin to describe, he couldn't really find anything truly notable.

That was safe for the boy's eyes.

There was something inherently strange about them. They were so… empty. Devoid, hollow, many other synonyms that correlate to a blankness in the boys gaze that was deeply unsettling.

"There is one question I do wish to ask."

"Only one?" Wrex asked.

Anderson snorted. "Alright, more than one. But right now, this one is important. There is one thing that I still want to ask about. Roxas…"

"Yes?"

"How was it that you..." David then pointed to Stitch, who came waddling in from the kitchen with a soda pack in hand and plopped himself on the sofa before cracking open a can to guzzle its contents. "...and him was able to get into the arena all of a sudden."

This quickly earned the same results as everyone else had the same question in mind.

No. XIII briefly contemplated on this, not sure how exactly he should reveal this little tidbit about himself.

Wouldn't that mean going against what he had been taught? About meddling?

Keeping the World Order?

Was he not supposed to keep this a secret?

Then again, he had been jumping from world to world really with Normandy and that's the norm here for the most part.

He wasn't sure if it was the same as the way he did it but it should count for something.

… he thinks.

Roxas wasn't entirely sure but after a few moments, he decided it was best to show them. He trusted them after all.

Standing up from his seat on the couch, Roxas walked over to where the piano was placed. With a wave of his arm, a Dark Corridor quickly formed, startling everyone present, except for Stitch. The group look on, greatly put off by the large oval shaped blob of literal darkness before them.

It felt as though they were dealing with the Heartless but… no, it was something different.

Still made them uncomfortable though.

"What the fuck is that?" Wrex barked out.

"This is the Corridor of Darkness, a means where I can travel to anywhere I have in mind." Roxas elaborated.

"Travel anywhere… you can teleport?!" Ashley surmised in shock.

To prove his point, he walked through it and shortly after, it disappeared, startling everyone once again.

"Up here."

The loft's occupants whipped their heads towards the upper floor, where Roxas was leaning against the guard rails. He leaped over and landed on his feet before walking back to where everyone was at.

"What in the…"

"Since when did you-"

"How long-"

"Alright, let the kid breath." Jane said aloud, lightly pushing some of her crewmates away. "So, Roxas. Mind telling us what that was exactly."

"The Corridor of Darkness." Roxas reiterated. "It's what allows us to traverse across different worlds."

"You mean to tell me you can travel anywhere through this thing?" Ashley asked in bewilderment.

"Basically."

"Wha-Why didn't you tell us about this before?" Tali stammered out.

Roxas only shrugged. "Didn't seem important."

The whole group, save Anderson and Stitch, practically fell over at his answer. Something they had already heard before.

Of course he would say that.

"Roxas." Jane rubbed the sides of her head. "I'm pretty sure this could be a really useful tool that could be used for us if you told us about it sooner."

"Yeah, we could've gone through this Corridor and quickly found Saren and Benezia and taken them down right away."

The idea could prove rather beneficial to their mission as a whole and save days' worth of travel on their search for whatever the rogue Spectre was planning with the Conduit.

"That wouldn't work." Roxas said, quickly dispelling such a notion.

"What?" Garrus said. "Why not."

"Honestly, I have no idea how it fully works and if I can do that just yet. I wasn't fully taught how to make that happen. All I know is that you need to wear this cloak," gesturing to his present attire, "to protect yourself from traversing through it or else you'll be lost in the Realm of Darkness."

Those present could only nod a little on that bit of detail with the Normandy team understanding a little more on how more unique his battle clothes were.

Yet one thing quickly popped into Anderson's and Shepard's mind with the latter voicing it.

"You were taught?"

Roxas nodded.

"Who taught you?" Jane asked.

"Wait… you mentioned this "Us" earlier." Liara brought up. "Who are these other individuals you speak of?"

"The Organization."

Everyone looked at Roxas with a more quizzical look.

"...That seems rather… odd of a name, Roxas." Kaidan commented.

"Why does it sound like a secret group or whatever like Cerberus?" Ashley said offhandedly.

"It… sort of is…" Roxas admitted. "I'm not entirely sure myself."

"Oh my god I was just joking."

"Then what is this group?" Anderson inquired. "What can you tell us of this… Organization, son."

Roxas recalled everything he had learned from the Organization in the short month he had been with them. They didn't appear to reveal much, only telling Roxas what he needed to know.

"I'm a member of Organization XIII as I'm it's thirteenth member."

"So you're like a part of what, a mercenary group?"

Roxas shook his head. "No, we operate separately from anyone."

"You mentioned Saix before and called him No. VII." Garrus stated. "So you guys have… numbers?"

"Labeling us on each member who joined. And there are fourteen of us right now."

"Wait, Fourteen?" Jane said. "I thought you said your group's name was Organization XIII."

"We have another member."

"Then why not call yourselves Organization XIV?" Wrex suggested.

Roxas frowned, trying to think on why the name had yet to change.

"Xion joined shortly after me and I remember them labeling her as a reserve."

"And how long have you been with them."

"For as long as I can remember."

A rather intense silence permeated the air after Roxas' answer, Shepard gaining a slightly conflicted expression.

"...You mean to tell us that you have known them for over a month, nearly two now?"

"They're all I've ever known." Roxas said truthfully. "Everything except all of you."

Shepard chuckled slightly, several of the others doing the same.

"I would find that rather sweet… cute even, if I didn't feel unsettled on knowing this."

Anderson cleared his throat, making everyone look to him.

"Roxas." David began slowly. "What exactly can you tell us about this Organiza-"

Unfortunately, before Anderson was able to finish his question, his Omni-tool chimed in a notification of a message he had just received.

"Oh… that's not good."

"What's wrong, Anderson?"

"The Council has requested a meeting with Shepard."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

David then turned to the sandy haired blond Nobody. "And Roxas."

"That sounds bad." Tali said a moment later, a sentiment shared with the rest.

"And why do they want to see him?" Jane asked tersely.

"Cause they saw your recent fight in the Arena."

"...How?"

"You only thought the matches were broadcasted just there, right?"

"...Crap."

Jane sighed in defeat, clenching her teeth in aggravation. She hated dealing with the Council and their bullshit half the time as is.

The last thing she wanted to do was to drag Roxas into it.

Hopefully, things won't be too bad. Fingers crossed.

-Scene Cut-

Shepard led Roxas toward the Council chambers, keeping a calm face on in order to convey nothing.

If the Council wanted to speak with Roxas, they'd have to go through her, Spectre and Council status be damned.

Momentarily glancing back to the boy, Shepard found herself a bit envious of his nonplussed expression.

He really didn't give a rats ass about this meeting at all.

Nor did she for the most part. That was until they decided to involve one of her crewmates. Now that was treading on a fine line with the N7 Commander.

In the far off area of the chamber, the Councilors were standing behind their podiums as they stared down at the individuals called in for this meeting.

"What is this about?" Udina questioned, sounding irritated.

"You'll find out soon enough." Anderson responded to the human ambassador.

Shepard soon stood before the Council flanked by Anderson and Roxas with Udina standing in between them and the three that had called them here today.

"Commander Shepard." Tevos greeted them first, demeanor cordial. "We are glad you are able to come to us on such short notice."

'Not like I had much of a choice.' Shepard internally said in annoyance.

"Councilors." She said respectfully. "I was told that you three saw what happened at the Arena."

"We did." Tevos, the Asari councilor stated.

"Came across it by chance during the off time." Spartacus, the Turian councilor informed. "After seeing it, I contacted my fellow councilors on what was broadcasted."

"There's a lot to discuss, Shepard." The Salarian Councilor Valern stated. "Did you- ah, there he is."

"So that's him I take it?" Sparatus said while eyeing Roxas suspiciously.

Shepard took a step towards Roxas in a defensive manner, slightly obscuring him from the Council.

"What do you wish to discuss, Councilors?" Shepard asked in a terse manner.

"We do not wish to cause a stir, Commander." Tevos said placatingly though Sparatus snorted derisively.

"Clearly not as you have seemed to have done that yourselves in a spectacular fashion."

"We just want to discuss what exactly happened." Valern quickly added.

"And here I was thinking you would be dismissing them as tampered holograms." Shepard couldn't help but snark out.

"We… would've if it weren't for some people coming forward to verify what they've seen when you and your crew were last here." Tevos admitted with as much humility as she can muster.

"Dismissed them as we did," Sparatus added in. "But after seeing the footage, we contacted these people again to see the match and they confirmed it all."

"So this is alright, but the Reapers is a fantasy then?" Shepard challenged, making the Turian Councilor bristle slightly.

"We are not talking about these Reapers as you have claimed, Commander." Sparatus said sternly. "We are here about those things."

"What are these things?" Valern asked straight away. "Where did they come from?"

"That's… a difficult question to answer." Shepard stated.

"And why is that?" Sparatus asked/demanded.

"We don't know what we're dealing with ourselves." Shepard stated, being honest for the most part. "They're a new enemy we've fought a handful of times."

"So they have a name?"

"Heartless." Roxas answered, speaking for the first time since coming here.

"Heartless…" Sparatus repeated, giving the Nobody a flat look. "And pray tell, what exactly are these "Heartless" supposed to be?"

"Creatures born from the darkness in one's Heart." Roxas answered.

…

…

…

"Is this some sort of joke to you?" Sparatus asked angrily, not exactly liking the answer he got.

"Sparatus, please." Tevos implored. "We are here for a debriefing with Shepard, not an interrogation."

The Turian backed off while Valern hummed aloud, deep in thought.

"To me, it sounds like something spiritual, religious even." the Salarian mused aloud.

"That's what some of my crew thought as well when we heard it the first time." Shepard commented.

"But that doesn't seem to be the case now, does it?" Tevos correctly assumed.

"Yes, Councilor." Shepard nodded. "We only know what Roxas knows and he doesn't know much to begin with on them. Just what they are in a manner of speaking."

"And how is it that he knows about them so well?"

"Because…"

"Because I was trained to fight them."

The three Councilors gazed upon the boy in bewilderment and surprise.

"Really? With what? I see no weapon on you." Sparatus said, gazing at the sandy blonde human.

"Wait…" Valern's eyes narrowed. "I recall seeing something you carried. A weapon of some kind. That which you used in the Arena."

Holding up his hand, he summoned his Keyblade with a flick of his wrist.

"What the devil?" Udina muttered out. He had been silent for the most part, knowing he would need to step in when necessary. Thus far, it didn't seem like he was needed here just yet.

But still, what he along with the Councilors just saw…

"That's not the least of it." Anderson said to the ambassador, recalling him seeing the Dark Corridor back in his home.

"This is a Keyblade, a weapon that can effectively take care of the Heartless." Roxas explained.

"Anything else merely 'sends them away' as it were." Shepard added in.

"What do you mean by that?"

"They come back."

"...Are there any more of this 'Keyblade'?"

Roxas only shook his head, his own Keyblade vanishing from his hand.

"Then how can your team handle them so easily?" Sparatus questioned the human Spectre.

"We have our own upgrades we've been working on." Shepard said vaguely. "It's taken us some time but we have our own means of fighting the Heartless."

"I see…"

"Could they be working for Saren then?" Valern inquired the Nobody. "Like the Geth?"

"Not that we know of, Counselor." Roxas said formally. "They pretty much operate on their own."

"Are you certain of that?"

"Positive."

This seemed to somewhat satisfy the Salarian and Asari councilors, but not the Turian.

"How can you be sure?" He questioned harshly. "What if they are operating for Saren?"

"And is he supposed to know that?" Udina countered, finally joining into the conversation. "He's been with Commander Shepard for the majority of his time. Do you not read her reports?"

"All we know is what is in the reports." Tevos said diplomatically.

"Which is apparent now has been edited if they've had the experience facing these Heartless so far." Sparatus firmly said, displeased at his self-revelation.

"If Saren controlled them, then we'd encounter them without the Geth shooting at them as well." Shepard remarked with her arms crossed. "They're not with Saren. They've attacked the Geth, Saren's mercs… just about anybody really."

"Why?" Valern asked, tapping his chin in thought.

"The Heartless act only on instinct." Roxas answered. "They go after Hearts to harvest and collect."

"For what purpose?" Tevos questioned, clearly disturbed by the idea of severing a vital organ of all things.

"Just so you know, counselor, it's not the organ, but one's essence as it were." Shepard said. "You could call it… their soul."

"That doesn't make it sound better." Valern commented. "But I must reiterate Tevos' question. Why are the… Heartless… doing this?"

Roxas opened his mouth for a moment but closed it a moment later, unsure of whether or not he should tell them about the Heartless' purpose. About their purpose.

Though Roxas was still a novice in terms of reading the room and situation, he was quick on the uptake. This may be one of those instances where not giving them the full story would be a better option.

"I… I don't know." Roxas stated after a few seconds of silence.

Rather than be met with disbelief and disregard for his answer, it appears Roxas's moment in mulling over his answer was enough of a convincing "act" that the Council believed he came to that conclusion himself.

And they weren't necessarily wrong per say.

He truly did not know or understand the purpose of the Heartless collecting Hearts. He remembered in the Organization about other members mentioning that he is the key to unlock Kingdom Hearts and achieve their goal.

Roxas didn't even understand what that meant.

Shepard merely exhaled a quiet sigh, thinking it would probably be best for her youngest team member to not inform the Council everything her crew already knows.

If they were to know about their infinite numbers… things would become far more drastic.

"I see…" Tevos said simply.

"Seeing as there's nothing else to hopefully discuss." Shepard said to the council members.

Valern was the one to add one last thing. "For now on, please inform us of these Heartless in your reports for now on, Commander."

"Yes, and we would like a more detailed, complete report on the past ones you submitted to us." Sparatus stated as he peered down at the human Spectre."

"...Of course."

Great, more paperwork.

Thank god Stitch wasn't brought into this meeting or else things would've gotten worse.

Exiting the Citadel tower, Shepard, Anderson and Roxas saw the rest of the Normandy team awaiting their return.

Upon spotting them, both groups converged on another, small pleasantries being exchanged.

"So, how'd it go?" Garrus asked. "Annoying?"

"Just about." Shepard said.

"And how much do they know?" Wrex questioned.

"What we could really tell them."

"Is there something else you would like to tell us, Commander?" Udina asked the N7 marine.

Shepard merely sighed. "Can we discuss this back in your office, Udina?"

"Most certainly."

Unbeknownst to the Normandy team, the Council members and the two humans, a wayward Cerberus operative was watching the meeting as she had her Omni-tool out to record everything possible.

Feeling satisfied, Miranda left before any of them were able to catch her presence.

-Scene Cut-

Roxas sat alone in the Cafeteria, his mind in a bit of a haze.

He had long since stopped eating his now cold lunch, mind in a literal swirl.

'Again…' Roxas internally said to himself. 'What is going on?'

He glanced down at his cold lunch, idly poking at it with his fork.

Roxas was back on the Normandy along with the rest of the crew with the ship having departed from the Citadel a few days ago.

Right now, the ship was on route to another assignment, a colony world from what Roxas was able to recall.

But that wasn't what occupied a majority of Roxas's mind right about now.

No, what was in his head was what he had been having for the growing part of the last few weeks.

Those… visions.

Were they memories? Another life? Another person?

Other people?

What? What was it?

Concentrating for the moment, Roxas flinched slightly as he began recalling the dreams he had the other night before.

It was dark at first…

Until he saw a light. A light that he had to get to.

He found himself gliding across the endless void right towards the light.

He was then floating in a library of some kind, watching as a girl disappeared.

Then, Roxas stood on an elevated platform where it was surrounded by water that seemed to be flowing upwards somehow.

"It's up to me."

That voice…

"Only the Keyblade Master can open the secret door and change the world."

He knows that voice.

That was… who was it again?

It began with an R… Riku!

Next thing he realized, he was facing Riku in a foyer of some kind, the boy he grew up to be best friends within the garb of the Heartless.

It was in a form-fitting bodysuit that appeared to be made of black muscle tissue. The black fades to red around the wrists and comes with purple gloves that are tucked under the suit. The purple-blue color on the chest has the Heartless emblem on the chest, but without the spiked bars crossing it for some reason. More purple was shown on the suit's boots till it fades around the shins. There was a dark purple belt with a torn white battle cloth round the waist, opening in the front.

He had fired a sphere of fiery darkness straight at him when Goofy stood before him, his shield easily deflecting the attack.

"Well I'm not gonna betray Sora, either." Goofy declared, Donald running up to join them.

"All for one and one for all." Donald declared.

"My friends are my power!"

Rather than thinking of Donald and Goofy as he had before, Roxas immediately saw Axel grinning down at him, Xion sitting alongside him at the clock tower, Shepard ruffling his hair, Tali happily chatting with him, Garrus constantly making jokes.

"So, your heart won this battle."

A beast of an individual declared with him nodding.

Suddenly, Roxas then saw a man wearing the black coat phase right through him. Through Sora.

Who was that supposed to be? He looks familiar…

Was that…?

The memory had shifted again by that point, facing Riku again.

Though this time… there was clearly something very different about him. He was again in his Heartless garb though the air around him… it wasn't his own.

What had happened for Riku to get to this point?

And… was that a Keyblade?

"It is I…" Riku's voice was even different. "Ansem. The Seeker of Darkness."

"Lead me into everlasting Darkness." Riku, possessed by Ansem, had his Keyblade poised to strike Sora down.

"SORA!"

In an instant, Sora had his Keyblade out, blocking Riku/Ansem's own.

"Forget it." Sora declared in fierce determination. "There's no way you're taking Kairi's Heart."

He then stood at the center of what was the battlefield with Riku, holding the silver-haired teens Keyblade. Sora looked over to Donald and Goofy who were looking at him in shock and fear, reaching out to stop him from what he was about to do.

He only smiled before jamming the Keyblade into his chest.

Kairi came back.

And he faded away.

Yet…

She brought him back.

"Kairi."

Roxas was gazing at three extremely familiar individuals. He knows them too.

Leon, Yuffie and Aerith.

"We may never meet again," Leon began. "But we'll never forget each other."

"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again." Aerith assured.

Roxas stood in a cave, Kairi placing something in his hand.

"Take this."

It was a star shaped charm. Something Stitch had. But instead of metal, it was made from sea-shells.

A Wayfinder!

"It's my lucky charm, be sure to bring it back to me, ok?" Kairi said, hands on her hips and leaning forward with an expectant manner.

"Don't worry, I will." Sora assured, clenching the charm tightly.

"Promise?"

He was now standing before the Keyhole of Hollow Bastion, locking it away. In the background, he heard Kairi's voice.

"Don't ever forget, wherever you go, I'm always with you."

…

…

…

Roxas' eyes slowly cracked open, hand immediately going up to his face.

"What is happening to me?"

His whole head was becoming a jumbled mess.

These visions… these dreams…

Who is Sora? And why does he have the same Keyblade that he has?

Who were those two with him? Donald and Goofy. But what were they outside of their names?

What did this all mean?

Looking at his hand, he stared at it for several moments until the familiar flash of light appeared followed by his Keyblade.

This weapon… This was with him from the beginning.

This was all he had. He just didn't know it until the Organization made him bring it out.

So why is it that both he and this Sora person had the same Keyblade?

"So many questions…"

He dismissed his weapon as he tried eating his meal as he didn't want it to go to waste.

-Scene Cut-

Shepard's squad was currently riding through the landscape of Edolus in the Sparta system.

The reason for their presence here was to find the last known location of Admiral Kahoku's missing marines. The human Spectre was keeping up in her promise of taking care of this first thing she got after leaving the Citadel.

Asides from Shepard herself, Roxas, Kaidan, Tali and Wrex were presently riding the Mako as they were heading towards a broadcasted emergency beacon.

Besides Roxas, Jane felt the rest of her squad needed some more rest after what happened at the Armax Arena. And she saw no point in having Stitch come along on this little endeavor.

Rolling over and down a sandy hill, the Mako came to a stop as its occupants climbed out of the vehicle. Said occupants were presently wearing their respective breathing apparatuses since the atmosphere of Edolus was rich in carbon dioxide and nitrogen. The surface was nothing more than a desert with only a few areas of igneous rock plateaus to break the abrasive, dust-choked wind which seemed to blanket the planet's entire exterior.

While everyone wore helmets to protect themselves from the elements, Roxas did not wear one.

When he took part in several past missions on some unbreathable planets, he didn't wear a helmet at all. It was a little concerning as he needed one in order to breath. Any other helmet they had on the ship wouldn't have worked due to them either not fitting or needed a suit to help connect and seal off the air supply.

A solution was made when they procured a dense fiberglass breathing mask.

It was normally worn for some crew members if they were needing to do quick repairs on the ship if a breach were to occur. Depending on the situation and environment, the apparatus could be able to help filter breathable oxygen for the wearer, though not as much as a standard helmet.

It suited Roxas just fine as he kept his hood drawn up.

Gazing upon the landscape, Wrex commented as they had to walk towards the emergency beacon now. "Place reminds me a bit of Tuchanka."

"What's Tuchanka like?" Roxas asked.

"It's a huge desert rock filled with sand and ruins." Answered the Krogan. "In fact, Feros was just the same. Only there we could actually breath instead of this place."

"That and if I remember correctly, your homeworld is heavily radiated." Kaidan added in as they were walking towards the emergency beacon with varying objects surrounding. One of which was a Grizzly tank.

"Yeup."

Eventually the group approached the site where the Alliance distress beacon was placed and searched the area.

"Well this is strange." Tali spoke aloud as she came out of the Grizzly tank. "There's no sign of the admiral's men."

"Yeah, we should've at least found them by now." Said the lieutenant marine.

"They're probably dead." Wrex commented.

"How could you say that?"

The Krogan listed off the details. "For one, they ain't here to greet us in this open valley. And if I'm really sure they're dead, we could've found their bodies."

"And if they aren't here?"

"Deserters most likely. They usually don't last long on their own unless they have the right connections and end up on Omega of all places. It's the only logical thing that comes to mind."

"Kahoku's men wouldn't desert him." Shepard argued. "He's been nothing but fair to them."

"Or so you think, Shepard. Take for example with what happened with that Asari diplomat. She lied to you, filling you up with sweet words with how much she missed her sister." Wrex spat out. "Bah! She kept things from you to do her dirty work."

Shepard grumbled as they kept going on in their search.

Roxas soon spoke up. "Then do you suggest we go to this Omega you spoke of and search there, Wrex?"

"If we can't find any evidence here, then yeah."

Seeing as there were no bodies present, Shepard gazed at the emergency beacon. "Tali, can you look into this and see what you can find?"

"Give me a moment, Shepard." Tali said, Omni-tool out as she began working on the Beacon.

The team waited patiently for a few seconds when the Mako's systems made a small sound of an alert with Shepard gazing over it.

"We just lost another signal." Jane informed the team in a sharp tone.

"There could still be survivors."

Soon enough the ground began to pulse, causing the group to go into high alert. The movement of the terrain instantly stopped when a large amount of dirt opened up and a worm of giant proportions shot out of the hole that just formed.

"What is that thing?!"

"Thresher Maw!" Wrex bellowed. "Get away from flat ground."

The newly identified Thresher Maw towered over the area where the beacon was broadcasting. The long insectoid-like beast opened up its mandibles to reveal it's blue mouth with its brightly lit neon blue tongue. And it's tongue matched the color of its four large eyes. The rest of its body flowed into the ground with spindly legs attached to the sides of its length.

It soon gave out a loud shrieking noise as it dove right towards them.

The team made a break for it back to the Mako. Luckily, it wasn't far, but they needed some assistance.

Whipping out his Keyblade, Roxas casted several Fira spells directly at the giant insect. It shrieked from the burns it received. As it shook off the pain, the Thresher Maw saw the Normandy squad had gotten to their land vehicle.

Driving off, Shepard had to maneuver around the sandy area as the large insectoid-monster was chasing after them. Before long, it slammed down into the ground in the attempt of halting their movement.

Though it missed its prey, the Maw simply burrowed down into the ground.

"Crap, what the hell do we do?!" Kaidan asked aloud in a panic

"Kill it, what else!" Wrex bellowed out.

"Oh real original, Wrex." Tali said snippily.

"Kaidan, get to the gun now!"

"On it commander!"

The lieutenant marine got into position and started firing onto the chasing Thresher Maw. Some of the shots were missing while the rest had landed their mark. At some point, the large insectoid buried back underground in order to avoid any more fire upon itself.

After several seconds, it popped out of the ground some distance away from where the Mako was driving towards.

The entire team nearly fell out of their seats from the sharp ninety degree turn Shepard pulled off in order to avoid the body slam it delivered. Though it missed once more, the Thresher Maw reared its head up with its head aimed at them.

A moment later, a stream of yellowy-green liquid shot out from its mouth in their direction.

"Look out for its acid!"

Though Shepard successfully avoided the acid lobbed at them for the most part, the Mako didn't go unscathed unfortunately.

"Shit!" Kaidan hissed aloud. " The gun won't work!"

Checking the system, Shepard was able to get a reading that the gun was malfunctioning.

Either Garrus didn't do a good job on his maintenance or the Thresher Maw's acid ended up wrecking it.

"Garrus is not gonna be happy about that." Roxas plainly stated. "Keeps calibrating this thing quite a lot."

"What are we gonna do?" Tali asked, panicking now.

"Should we call in Joker?"

They were in a bind. A serious one at that.

One that would need to get remedied soon lest they suffer a painful death.

Holding a determined face, Roxas moved forward to the top hatch of the Mako and pushed the door open.

"Roxas? What are you doing?!" Shepard roared out in alarm.

No. XIII simply called out his Keyblade. "Taking care of it."

"What the hell is that-"

Roxas didn't hear the last part of that shout/question, getting on top of the Mako with the wind whipping through his hair and cloak billowing as the vehicle was driving at full speed.

Staring right at the Thresher Maw, Roxas pointed his weapon right at it and focused. Magic gathered at its tip as he kept his concentration. At its peak, he unleashed his Ragnarok Shotlock attack, delivering the volley of light particles directly at the mad monster.

"That seems to be working." Shepard stated as she swerved the Mako around. "You doing alright out there!"

Roxas kept himself steady as much as possible, occasionally firing off several Blizzard and Fire spells at the Thresher Maw.

"Just keep driving, Shepard!" Roxas shouted, the Mako making another circle of the Maw. They had driven near the Maw's body, with Roxas striking the body with his weapon.

With Shepard doing her best to stay close, she was forced to move away once Roxas delivered a number of blows onto its body. Blue blood spilled out of its length as its owner shrieked into the sandy skies above.

From his seat in the back, Kaidan tried not to get queasy. "Don't know if I should actually admit this, but Shepard's driving might prove useful this time."

"...I'm ignoring that this one time, lieutenant."

"Oh I quite like it."

"Of course you would, Wrex."

The Thresher Maw was growing tired of the assault on its person. It dove right back into the ground, hoping it could cut off the Mako once more.

Seeing this happen, Roxas prepared himself for what will happen next.

In mere moments, the sandy ground exploded as the Thresher Maw roared. It reared its head back and spat out another round of acid.

Shepard was able to swerve out of the way, yet in the process, it's resident Nobody didn't hang on this time.

For he was sent flying.

Channeling magic into his Keyblade, blue-white light encompassed the blade. As he drew close, he reared his weapon back before whipping it forward.

From within the Mako, it's occupants saw a streak of light run right through the sandy environment. When they focused a bit more, they saw Roxas landing some distance away with the Thresher Maw shrieking once more.

To their surprise, it's head soon collapsed as it slid off its long body. The ground shook slightly from the impact as it's blue blood started staining the surrounding sand.

Eventually, the Mako skidded to a halt before driving back to where Roxas had landed, which was nearby the planted distress beacon. After some moments, the land vehicle finally approached the black cloaked teen.

The group quickly piled out with relieved and happy looks underneath their helmets.

It was Wrex who approached Roxas first, releasing a loud bellow of a laugh. "Ha! That was amazing, runt! Do you realize what you just did?!"

Roxas perplexedly looked at the Krogan. "I just helped kill a Thresher Maw, Wrex."

Wrex was practically smiling widely underneath his helmet. "That you did! The last time I did that was during my rite of passage."

"Rite of passage?" Tali said quizzically.

"The transition and trial of a Krogan becoming a full adult." Wrex elaborated.

"Like my pilgrimage?"

"More or less."

Kaidan then jumped in. "You mean to tell us that killing a thresher maw is how Krogan are accepted by others?"

Wrex merely laughed. "Surviving the rite is gaining acceptance. Killing the maw on foot gives a Krogan respect among its people." He then placed his hand on Roxas' shoulder. "You would've been revered among our people despite not being one of us."

Roxas had to steady himself from the force his Krogan teammate placed on him. Soon a question rolled out of his mouth. "Is there something more to your rite of passage, Wrex?" The Krogan let go of the Nobody as the sandy blonde elaborated. "I mean Tali's people do it to show they can contribute to the Migrant Fleet. What is yours?"

Wrex nodded in understanding and explained. "I did say it dealt with acceptance in my people, but the general gist of it dealt with expecting the unexpected and improvising when conventional combat is thrown out of the airlock. Survival has been the backbone of my race for generations."

"Hey, don't forget that each of us survived this, Wrex."

"Not to mention they dealt with that giant Heartless back on the Citadel. That's gotta count for something."

"In a manner of speaking."

"Guy's." Shepard called out, drawing in their attention. "I think I found them."

The others walked over to where the commander knelt and saw her whipping away the sand. Upon drawing closer, they started seeing a number of dead bodies sprawled about.

"Where were they?"

"Buried here, obviously."

"Should've taken to account the sand burying them."

"Look at their bodies." Shepard ordered.

Upon closer inspection, they saw the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. Even their armors were melted.

"Keelah… what happened to them?"

"Since seeing the Thresher Maw, it doesn't take much guess work." Wrex informed.

"You mean… my god..." Kaidan muttered out.

"Maw's acid is so strong; it can burn right through most armor and kill a person."

Standing by the Alliance distress beacon, Tali went through the system and was able to discover something.

"I might've found something wrong with the beacon." Tali brought up her Omni-tool and reported her findings. "There was a program placed in the distress beacon, sending out an extra signal when it's being looked into."

"Which is what exactly?"

"A frequency in luring a Thresher Maw here."

Kaidan then spoke a question. "Are you saying this beacon was planted and activated deliberately? But why?"

"I'm guessing it's designed to lure any of you Alliance folks here to end up coming across some Thresher Maw nest nearby." Wrex informed. "By who, no clue."

"I'm the foggiest, Wrex." Said the Quarian, looking more into her findings. "But one thing's for sure, I was able to find that there were activation logs on the beacon and it was done once before. Even registered who did it last."

Shepard nodded in understanding. "Send those readings to me, Tali. I'll inform Admiral Kahoku and ask him if he might know some details once he sees that." She then activates her comms. "Joker, we're done here. We're ready for pick-up."

"Copy that, Commander." Joker responded.

"What should we do with the beacon?" Kaidan questioned.

Shepard soon looked at the device nearby. "Not going to let anyone else deal with this." She then looked at Roxas. "Would you do the honors?"

Understanding what she meant, Roxas summoned his Keyblade and with a quick swipe, he cleaved the planted beacon in half.

-Scene Cut-

The Normandy had already exited the Mass Relay heading straight towards the Horsehead Nebula as they were now heading towards the Pax System.

Their destination: Noveria.

From what they had learned from Council Intelligence, Matriarch Benezia supposedly showed up on Noveria recently, thus they had to quickly make their way there pronto.

If they were able to corner or even capture Benezia, there would be a chance that they could learn more as to what Saren's endgame is as a whole. They knew it would be a difficult task no less.

A Matriarch is no laughing matter.

They represent the pinnacle of the Asari race, the culmination of a thousand years of knowledge and experiences.

And this was someone they were targeting.

Right now, however, that wasn't what was on Roxas's mind.

Presently in the cockpit, Roxas was chatting with Joker in order to pass the time until their arrival.

"-Yeah, my sister was always a pain in the ass." Joker said in a fond manner.

"She can't be that bad, right?"

"Just yanking you around, Roxas." Jeff remarked. "If it wasn't for her, I don't think I'd get to where I am today. Helped me out of bed the minute she was able to. Always pushed me forward."

"That's good to hear, Joker. And what's she doing now?"

"School, obviously. Hilary wants to become a doctor one day."

"Really? What for?"

"I think me being her older brother became the excuse. Her helping me out all the time somewhat clicked with her." Joker said, bringing up an image of her for Roxas to see. "See that little angel? She's gonna be the greatest doctor one day. Has to be with her brother being the best pilot in the galaxy."

Roxas gazed upon the young girl with intrigue.

So this was Joker's sister.

He wondered what it was like to have a sibling. What did that mean to have a brother and a sister?

Joker sighed aloud, a reminiscent look in his eyes. "Wish I was home right about now. Could go for a night on the haystack, looking up at the stars."

"And where's that?"

"Our home back on Tiptree, a colony world in the ass end of nowhere." He said with a small smile. "Our family have been farmers for some generations and my family were happy to see me making a name for myself as a pilot. And when hearing my sister wants to be a doctor, we were proud and encouraged her."

Roxas only nodded, his mind deep in thought on the small conversation he and Joker exchanged.

It's something he had noticed about everyone here on the Normandy, whenever he spoke to them and they got more personal with them.

How they always spoke of their families in one way shape or form.

He wondered what that meant. To have a family.

Shepard had spoken of her mother to him at one point and Tali talked of her father.

Garrus brought up his strict and by-the-books father whom he always clashed with and Ashley mentioned her sisters. Kaidan even talked about his parents, who still live on Earth.

Everyone in this team had someone to call family.

Even Wrex.

Everyone…

But him.

He had no one...

Seeing Noveria through the window, Joker soon turned on the comms. "Attention to all hands, we are now approaching Noveria." Joker then turned to the sandy blonde teen. "Best get going, Roxas."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Roxas gave a slight nod. "Right."

Walking out of the cockpit, the Nobody stood nearby in order to wait for the others.

As he waited, he thought over a few things.

From what he had learned on their way over to Noveria, Shepard contacted Admiral Kahoku and reported on what happened. When sending the data over, the Alliance admiral quickly recognized the name on the activation log. It didn't take long for the two to figure out what happened.

Kahoku's men were lured into a trap and were killed.

The Alliance admiral was in a bit of distress when he soon thought of who planted the emergency beacon. Kahoku theorized it had to be Cerberus due to how similar the situation was on Akuze. The colonists disappeared and then a group of marines followed suit. There was a pattern behind it and it all pointed to Cerberus as before they severed ties with the Alliance, they were last reported on studying Thresher Maws.

After that, Kahoku said he will have to go into hiding once informing the families of his deceased men for his own safety before ending the transmission.

Coming out of his thoughts, he saw the whole ground team were assembled and double checking their gear and weapons.

Looks like Shepard wasn't taking any chances on this mission.

Just like what she did on Feros.

Garrus and Kaidan were comparing weapons with each other, Tali was busy working on her Omni-Tool and Ash was conversing with Wrex with him proudly resting a brand new toy that he had gotten from the Moogle aboard the ship.

The team is still trying to come up with a proper name for the little fella.

No. XIII realized a moment later that someone was missing from the group.

Looking around, he knew Shepard was getting ready in her own manner, so that left only…

'Liara' Roxas internally thought, spotting the lone Asari seated on a crate nearby in a slightly prim and proper pose with her head inclined down and left foot tapping about a bit jittery.

Seeing Liara there with her present state, Roxas came up to her.

"Are you alright, Liara?" He asked.

The Asari looked over at Roxas, giving him a slightly strained smile.

"I'm fine, Roxas. Just nervous, that's all."

"About what?"

"About what we will find on Noveria."

At first, Roxas didn't understand what Liara was talking about when…

"It's more about your mother, isn't it?"

"Yes." Confirmed the asari doctor. She looked down at the ground, her eyes downcast and her shoulders slumping a little. "Despite hearing from Shiala on my mother's intentions, I still don't know why she's still with Saren."

Overhearing this, Shepard came up to her. "You know, you don't have to come with us, Liara. If you're worried about-"

"No, it's alright." Liara looked at both Shepard and Roxas. "If nothing else, I can at least get some answers. I haven't spoken to her in years, and I guess that… well…" The asari swallowed a lump of air. "Even if it's not the best of circumstances, I'll at least be able to see her again."

"Hopefully, you could find some closure."

Ashley soon joined in on the conversation. "Don't know if she's still on Noveria. But if she's still there… you do realize we might have to take her down if she resists being apprehended, right?"

Instead of the floor, Liara gazed at the ceiling with an uncertain look gracing her features. "I know." She exhaled with her voice straining. "I know that she may be a threat to the galaxy, but… if it comes down to that…"

"I'll try everything I can to not kill her, Liara." Shepard then tried to make things lighthearted. "As a possibility, we could use Roxas' Keyblade to knock her out. I mean, no matter how much it cuts, it still looks really blunted."

Liara chuckled slightly, but only so much.

Shepard smiled slightly. "I should go. Just be ready for docking."

The others nodded as the commander headed towards the cockpit.

When she got there, Joker acknowledged her before he made the connection to Noveria.

"Approach Control, this is the SSV Normandy. Requesting a vector and a berth." Joker said over the comms.

Soon enough he got a response back. "Normandy, this is Noveria Approach Control. Your arrival was not scheduled. Our defense grid is armed and tracking you. State your business."

"Citadel business." Joker said in an 'as-a-matter-of-fact' tone. "We've got a council Spectre aboard."

The approach control knew they couldn't argue much after that.

"Landing access granted, Normandy."

Joker was about to end the connection when he heard them speak up once more.

"Be advised, we will be confirming identification on arrival. If confirmation cannot be established, your vessel will be impounded."

"What a fun bunch." Joker said sarcastically. "I think I'll take my next leave here."

Jane could only smirk at her pilot in agreement, the Commander leaving to rejoin the others who were waiting for her.

"So we all know what we need to do, right people?" Jane asked rhetorically. "Go in, find and apprehend Benezia and get out."

"And deal with whatever else shows up on the way." Garrus added with the red-head nodding at him.

The Normandy was now docked, the ships VI announced the shore teams departure from the ship and XO Pressley being in command now.

Stepping out of the airlock, the cold was quickly noticeable for Roxas.

He was glad that his coat was able to ward off most of the cold, all except for his head. This made him draw it up so only his lower face could feel the slight chill in the air.

Roxas didn't know if the rest of the team were doing fine with their heads exposed to the elements. It's probably with their suits that is able to keep them warm in the first place.

They had wanted Stitch to join but… he was sleeping.

And he slept like a rock.

So that left him out of the mission.

Might be for the best.

He might as well do something else to preoccupy his time while still on the ship, like finishing up repairs on his red cruiser or something.

Rounding about the corner of the port the group of eight saw a trio of guards awaiting their arrival.

Two female humans and one Turian.

"That's far enough." Said the woman with short black hair.

The others with her soon held their weapons at the ready in case of anything going south.

"Hey now." Jane said calmly. "Let's not do anything either of us will regret."

The woman was unmoved by Shepard, getting straight to business. "This is an unscheduled arrival. I need to see credentials."

Shepard was the complying type but wasn't a pushover. "You first." She said.

Suddenly the blonde woman jumped in with a bulldozing attitude. "We're the law here. Show some respect."

"Stand down." Said short black haired woman. "I'm Captain Maeko Matsuo, Elanus Risk Control Services."

"My name is Jane Shepard. I'm a council Spectre." Jane stated. "You know what that means?"

"Impossible, there's no human Spectre." Spoke the Turian security guard.

"Unless you've been out of the loop for a while, there is." Garrus remarked.

"We will need to confirm that. Also, I must advise you that firearms are not permitted in Noveria." The Captain declared before turning to the blonde woman beside her. "Sergeant Stirling, secure their weapons."

In an instant, the Normandy had their weapons up at the guards with the trio before them having their attention taken by the flash of light and appearance of a large key-shaped weapon in the hand of the one wearing a black hood that completely obscured his face.

"You do realize you're outnumbered right now." Shepard stated.

"Don't test us." Wrex said, reaching for his new weapon on his back.

"We don't have to do this." Liara implored though she kept her rifle leveled on them.

Soon enough a woman's voice echoed across the docking bay. "Captain Matsuo! Stand down. We confirmed her identity. Spectres are authorized to carry weapons here, Captain."

Matsuo didn't look pleased, but she complied with the order. "You may proceed, Spectre. I hope that you and your people will enjoy your time here."

"Thank you."

"But I believe Parasini-san will want to meet with you upstairs."

"Okay then."

The captain, Turian and sergeant soon left the ground team, but not after Stirling spoke up one last time. "Behave yourselves or else we will be forced to apprehend you all."

The team didn't respond save for Wrex who snorted, giving her a challenging look that conveyed 'try something, I dare you'.

"That was quite lovely." Ashley said sarcastically as they moved on ahead to meet with this Parasini person.

"So Wrex, what do you think of this place?" Roxas asked. "Heard it was mostly inhabited by scoundrels or something."

In preparation for coming here, Roxas looked up the Codex entries about this place. It was privately charged by the Noveria Development Corporation, who leased out labs to other companies out in the galaxy in order to perform research on anything too dangerous and controversial to be performed elsewhere. And said labs are scattered throughout most of the planet's surface.

Yet with Noveria's unique situation, there have been many theories that blossomed as a result.

"You wouldn't be wrong on that, runt. Used to do some work here as a guard for a few weeks. Couldn't really stand the place. Whole lotta greedy bastards."

"Wouldn't surprise me." Kaidan added in with a shake of his head. "Heard all sorts of things about this place."

"Oh like what?" Garrus interjected. "Skirting the law for profit?"

"Among other things."

Upon climbing up some stairs, they arrived at the front desk. This time, the team was greeted much more cordially by the lady behind the counter.

"Parasini-san, I presume?" Shepard asked.

"Just Gianna Parasini." The lady introduced herself with a polite smile. "That's just Captain Mastuo's way of calling me; honorifics and all that." She then went onto business. "And do forgive the captain, she was just doing her job so please forgive her on that."

"I understand. But I do have some questions."

"Of course and I'll be happy to help out on what I can."

"What's up with the heavy security at the port?"

"The Executive Board does everything in its power to protect the privacy of our client corporations."

"Right… So mind telling me if anyone unusual passed here recently?" Asked the commander.

"Unusual?" Gianna briefly pondered. "An Asari Matriarch passed through a few days ago. Lady Benezia, I believe."

"Mother." Liara whispered below her breath, something the crewmates closest to her heard. "She's here?"

Liara was silent, eyes staring at the ground. She felt a hand upon her shoulder and she looked up to see that it was Tali.

Though her face was obscured for the most part, Liara could still see the understanding eyes that she was giving her.

Returning the gesture with a small appreciative smile of her own, Liara turned back to Parasini who was still speaking with Shepard.

"Can I perhaps speak with her?"

"Sorry, but Benezia left for the Peak 15 research complex shortly after her arrival." Parasini informed. "To the best of my knowledge, she's still there."

"Then could you tell me how to get there?"

"You'll need to ask Administrator Anoleis for clearance to leave this port." Gianna explained.

"And where can we find him?"

"His office is on the main level." Gianna then gave the directions. "Left at the top of the elevator."

"Understood." Said Shepard. "Can we go now?"

Giana reciprocated. "Of course. If you need any further help, you can find me at the Administrator desk upstairs."

"Thank you." Shepard said in response with Parasini nodding back before she walked into the back area.

The large group soon entered an elevator with a message being heard over the intercom.

"Welcome to Port Hanshan, the galaxy's most respected site for independent scientific research and development. For your own safety, and to protect the privacy of others, you are required to obey any directions given by our security personnel."

"Sure… Sure… We'll do that." Wrex said sarcastically.

"Don't go breaking anything." Shepard warned jokingly. "...yet."

Wrex huffed in amusement, a sentiment shared by several other members of the crew.

It wasn't long before they exited the elevator and began spreading out into a large open area with multiple levels that lead to higher and lower floors.

"Yeesh." Kaidan remarked. "Place is a lot bigger than I thought it'd be."

"What now, Skipper?" Ashley asked.

"Would be a bit much if everyone were to come with me to see the Administrator." Shepard mused. "Liara, Kaidan, you two are with me. The rest of you, spread out and see what you can learn about Benezia being here."

"Will do, Shepard." Garrus simply said as Jane, Liara and Kaidan moved on out.

With the five of them left to themselves, they decided to split up once more in order to cover more ground.

With the odd number between them, Roxas and Tali went on their own while Ashley, Garrus and Wrex moved elsewhere.

As Roxas and Tali were walking around, the latter of the two began to notice the many looks she was receiving.

At first, she believed that they were directed at her when she noticed that several Turian guards were eyeing Roxas specifically.

Looking at him, she realized that Roxas was still wearing his hood that completely hid his face which in turn made him a suspicious character.

"Roxas." Tali nudged him, the hood shifting in her direction. She could barely make out his eyes.

She silently made the gesture of her hand going over where her ear was and down to the back of her neck.

At first he didn't understand it but realized what she meant when she tapped on her own hood.

He pulled his hood back in time for a large jellyfish to float over to them both.

"Honored newcomers, a moment of your time."

The two gazed up slightly at the floating Hanar with Tali looking at him in suspicion.

"How did you know we just got here?" Tali questioned.

"News travels fast." Roxas murmured.

"Indeed it does, young ones." The Hanar said. "Your arrival with the Spectre was not greeted with joy by the other companies. This one's name is Opold. This one believes you may be able to ease a burden that must be dealt with. If arrangements can be made, compensation can be arranged."

"Why should we help you with anything?" Tali questioned. "We're not Spectres, you know."

"Be that as it may but your association with the Spectre may help you in this endeavor." The Hanar went on. "This one has procured a special item for a customer that is not permitted in the station. But this one believes you may have a better chance of getting it through customs."

"So you basically want us to smuggle something in for you?" Tali asked, a bit peeved at such a request.

"That is not inaccurate." Opold admitted.

"Wouldn't that be considered illegal?" Roxas asked, having heard only negative things about smuggling.

"What are you even asking us to smuggle?" Tali interrogated. "For all we know, it could be a dangerous weapon or tool."

"This one must be discreet." Opold answered. "Rest assured, the contents within the package holds no danger to anyone in this port."

"Who is this package for?" Asked Roxas.

"This one's customer prefers to remain anonymous."

"How are we supposed to deliver this "package" if we don't even know who it is?" Tali shot back. "For all we know, we can be assisting an enemy that we have yet to deal with. We've been meeting a lot of those since going with our Spectre."

"The customer is not known for his patience."

Tali then took charge of the situation. "And this one's client would probably want to have his package delivered immediately. Tell us who it's for or else we're leaving. It would save you the trouble on not getting caught and be sent to jail for a long time."

"...Your words are not unreasonable. This one's customer is a Krogan named Inamorda, a bounty hunter of some repute and quick to anger."

"Thank you for letting us know, Opold." Roxas said.

"This one requires you to haste. Inamorda is rather impatient." Opold said. "You can find him over in Port Hanshan Mezzanine, the next port over."

The pair soon left the hanar before seemingly making their way to the elevator.

"Are you sure about helping him Roxas?" Tali asked.

He shrugged in response. "So long as no one gets hurt."

"I guess." Tali said, still unsure as she thought about the many conditions they'd have to take into account if they were going to deliver this.

There were a lot of options to consider.

It was unfortunate that they couldn't just…

…

…

Wait a minute.

"Roxas."

"Yes, Tali?"

"Perhaps you could use that Corridor of yours to help speed things up along."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

"If you say so."

Leaving his Quarian friend behind, Roxas found a nearby restroom and opened up a Dark Corridor. Stepping through, he made it back to the docking area and searched the area for the Krogan's package.

Sure enough, he found it near the Normandy for some reason as he clearly saw it wasn't there earlier. Not bothering to question it, he went through the Corridor once more to end back up into the main area.

Following the directions given to him, he traversed through the other side of the space before entering another elevator. Upon reaching the next area, Roxas searched for the Krogan the package is for.

It didn't take long to find him as he was sitting at a lone table on the next level up.

"Inamorda?"

"What do you want?" The Krogan growled out.

"I heard Opold has something for you."

"Like I care what you know? You his courier or something?"

"In a way." Roxas answered. "I have it right here for you."

Inamorda hummed a little. "Sit down a minute. I have a business proposal."

Roxas complied with the request and heard the Krogan out.

"I'm paying the hanar more than I want. I'll bet he's paying you less than you want. Sell it to me directly."

"Why?"

"Cause you can get some credits for yourself and I get what I want."

"And how much of it does this worth anyways?"

"500 credits."

Roxas looked at the Krogan and then back at the package. The package that apparently wasn't put through customs. One that he had to deliver via the Corridor.

"...I'm getting the feeling this package is worth a whole lot more than that."

Inamorda growled lowly under his breath. "Kids these days, they don't know what a good weapon is worth. Fine, I'll give you 750."

"Sounds good." Roxas pulled out the package and handed it over as the Krogan handed over a credit chit worth the amount. "Pleasure doing business with you."

"Likewise. Now go away. The guards wonder about people who trade packages for cash."

Nodding, Roxas went to the nearby room and opened up a Corridor. Passing on through, he ended up back in the same restroom he entered earlier. Exiting it, he greeted Tali who was waiting for him outside.

"You got it taken care of?"

Roxas nodded before handing her the credit chit.

"You don't have to give it to me, Roxas."

"I know but thought you should have it."

Tali smiled underneath her helmet.

"You're sweet Roxas, you know that?"

It was strange to hear such a compliment and it was clear to Tali that it affected Roxas with the boy gaining a small tint on his cheeks. She blinked, having never seen such a response from him.

It was rather endearing.

And extremely vindicating.

"Thanks." Roxas said in a soft voice that made Tali now gain a much more prominent hue.

Thank God that she had a helmet on.

"Where do you want to go now?" Tali asked after a moment of silence.

"Probably somewhere to rest and perhaps get something to drink."

Roxas hummed a little. "I remember there's a bar over at the next port over. We can head over there."

"Hmmm, I am feeling a bit peckish right now." Tali stated, the two going off in the direction of said bar.

With the others, Garrus, Ashley and Wrex were having a light conversation while they did this one little task for an asari named Mallene Calis.

"Been noticing Roxas and Tali were getting chummy lately." Wrex brought up.

"It's a bit obvious but I fear Roxas isn't exactly responsive to whatever it is Tali does to get his attention." Garrus commented.

"Oh come off it." Ashley said. "They're doing none of that. Whatever they have, it's happening naturally. It'll come in due time."

"Though I do wonder if Liara might get the chance to go after him."

"Why bring that up?"

"Just thought she considered him rather interesting."

"And?"

"Tali could have some competition with her."

"Doubt it. From what I've seen, Liara is more interested in Shepard."

"Who knows." Garrus shrugged. "I remember hearing about this urban legend that the asari use their biotics to make themselves look more similar and attractive to other species. Even Salarians claim that asari look like them, which is definitely not true."

Wrex laughed a little. "I definitely don't think any of them looks like a Krogan, if that's what you might imply." He then hummed for a bit. "Though if we're going on the looks department, Tali might have Liara beat."

This drew some confusing looks from the human and Turian, respectively.

"Really? How?"

"I still remember what Quarians look like underneath their suits. And I remember they were considered very attractive, rivaling the asari by a long margin."

This drew astonished looks from Garrus and Ashley until they remembered a particularly important detail.

Wrex was seven hundred years old.

The Geth had been unleashed on the Galaxy 300 years ago. Meaning Wrex was alive and well at the time of the Quarians becoming the nomadic people they are today.

"Do you think Roxas has seen underneath Tali's mask?" Garrus asked curiously, causing Ashely to wonder the same thing.

"From what I remember Tali telling me, it's a huge sign of respect for her people to show someone else their face. And if that happens, a Quarian gets really sick afterwards, even on the simplest of things. We would've realized if she were sick sooner than later."

"Hmm, guess she doesn't fully respect him yet." Wrex quipped.

"Oh come of it, Wrex." Ashley griped. "It's not that simple and you know it. Roxas barley understands most things and he asks us about everything. Just give him some time."

"Or a push." Wrex suggested.

"I'm staying out of this one." Garrus stated. "Romance isn't my forte."

"And here I thought with all your smooth talking that you have the ladies all over you."

"Oh, ha ha, Ashley. I have you know I suck at picking up women. Stumble almost all the time when I'm at a bar for a possible hook up."

"That's something I'd like to see."

Garrus rolled his eyes. "Come on. Let's finish things up for that asari and find more info on Benezia."

Eventually coming across the Hotel Bar to find this Vargas person, they briefly saw Tali and Roxas were sitting at a far off table as they seemed to enjoy themselves.

Paying them no mind, they eventually found the man they were looking for some tables away from their two squadmates.

"Rafael Vargas?"

The human was startled when he saw the group approach him. "Er… Can I help you?"

Ashley spoke up. "Hello, I'm Gunnery Chief Williams. These are my compatriots Detective Vakarian and Wrex. We work alongside Commander Shepard. We understand you work for Binary Helix?"

"Yes, you're correct." Rafael confirmed. "I work in sales. Were you interested in our services?"

"Actually we're here to warn you." Garrus jumped in. "An agent of the Aramali Council named Mallene Calis hired us to break into your network." He then pulled out a device from his person and handed it over. "She gave us this."

The Helix sales rep looked it over and recognized what it was. "A cracking device. I appreciate your forthrightness." He pocketed the device into his jacket. "Now that we know what to look for, our IT people can have a little fun with the asari. We'll isolate their viruses and feed them false data." Rafael got up from his seat. "Thank you for your time. I best take care of this immediately."

Seeing the man left, the squad of three looked over at each other.

"Alright… that was quick." Garrus stated.

"So who wants to lie to the asari?"

Garrus only chortled, raising his hand.

"I thought you Turians were all about abiding by the rules." Wrex commented.

Vakarian only snorted. "Do I act like most Turians to you?"

"Yes."

"That's not what I-"

"I know, Vakarian."

"We'll leave ya to it, Garrus." Ash said, patting the C-sec detective on the shoulder.

The Normandy member went off while the rest walked over to join Roxas and Tali nearby.

Once Garrus returned with the payment he received for their little task, the group chatted things up as they waited for Shepard, Kaidan and Liara to meet up with them.

It honestly wasn't long before they saw them walk up to them.

"Seems you guys are having a nice time." Shepard plainly stated.

"Well we've been busy doing our own things." Ashley said with a shrug, taking a sip of her drink. "We're a busy bunch, Skipper."

"Clearly." Shepard said in an amused tone.

"So what'd you find, Shepard?" Wrex inquired. "Anything to shoot at, I hope."

"Just a whole lot of mess on our end. But to sum it up, we got our pass to get to Peak 15."

"And suffice to say, glad some corruption's been cleaned up." Kaidan informed the others.

"It was better to resolve the source of the problem." Liara added in.

"We've all been busy it seems." Garrus commented.

"This whole place feels dirty." Tali said with a slight shudder. "There's so much corruption wafting in the air here my filters can't keep up with it."

"At least you got some protection." Kaidan joked. "We have to breath it in raw."

"It's best we get going. Sooner we get to Peak 15, the better." Shepard declared, earning no arguments from the team.

The large team left the bar, heading straight for the garage they now had access to.

Coming up to an ERCS guard guarding the garage, she spoke up. "Access to the garage is restricted." Shepard soon produced the pass she acquired to the guard. "Ah, yes that's genuine. Drive safely. The weather is supposed to be pretty bad out in the Aleutsk Valley."

"Appreciate the warning." Jane said, everyone walking past the guard and into the garage.

Soon as they walked in, their senses went on high alert.

They heard movement and a familiar set of sounds correlated to one specific enemy they had been facing since this whole ordeal in chasing Saren began.

Instantly, Roxas had his Keyblade out with the others pulling out their weapons as a horde of Geth descended upon them.

The team began firing upon them with Roxas jumping forward to bash a Geth Trooper and Stalker that had gotten close.

No sooner did Roxas take out those two Geth did a new enemy join in the fray.

"Heartless." Roxas said aloud, cleaving through an icy themed Heartless.

They appeared by the dozens, instantly moving to engage both them and the Geth.

It was now a three-way fight.

"Would it be too much to ask for us to at least have ONE hour at least where we're not getting attacked by anyone on a mission?" Tali asked aloud, firing her Geth Pulse rifle at some incoming Hoppers.

"I have to agree with Tali on this one." Kaidan responded, throwing a Biotic Warp at several Geth and Heartless. "The consistency is starting to get annoying."

"We have to deal with these kinds of things, Kaidan." Garrus shouted out, firing his sniper rifle at the floating Geth drones and Heartless.

"Are you kidding me?" Wrex pulled out his newest weapon with a large grin. "I was hoping for this."

Roxas' eyes darted about the area, taking note of three variants of the Heartless.

There were Blue Rhapsody's floating about, casting their own versions of Blizzard.

Blizzard Plants also appeared to have sprouted on the ground and walls.

Rounding out the trio were Winterhorns that were headbutting several of the Geth that were using Rocket Troopers to effectively take down the Heartless.

It was pandemonium with three separate factions and so many enemies fighting one another.

Thankfully, the Normandy crew had the wherewithal to work together rather than the erratic, uncoordinated mess that the Geth and the Heartless found themselves in.

Wrex had charged forward, brandishing his large new hammer that their resident Moogle had crafted for him.

It was only a "prototype" but it utilized some of the more high end types of synthesis items such as several Lucid gems, Power shards and a wellspring crystal. Even requiring some pure Element Zero from some asteroids.

At least the Moogle was a good sport in providing some other items, due to them being rarely found in this galaxy. One of which was something along the lines of being called Forerunner metal or some shit. They really didn't know. Half the stuff… ok, 80 percent of the stuff the Moogle talked about went over their heads.

Also, at long last, they had settled on a name for the Moogle.

After much deliberation, they had settled on Mosh the Moogle.

Don't ask why they had settled upon Mosh. Just that it flows well with the name of said species.

Mosh the Moogle.

And currently, one Krogan Battlemaster was using Mosh's newest creation to the best of his abilities.

Wrex smashed his hammer over a Geth's head, the force in which crumpled and caved it in.

And he wasn't even using its advanced function.

Turning the hammer on, the insides glowed a faint blue light. Swinging the hammer, his weapon struck a Geth Shock trooper right at its chest.

What happened next almost ceased the fighting within the garage.

Almost...

"HOLY SHIT!"

In a mere second, the Geth soared right across the room and impacted the concrete wall, shattering upon impact.

"...I think I love this now."

To think, this... gravity hammer of his can get upgraded a whole lot more than its present condition.

"Course he gets something like that." Ashley murmured though there was a large grin present on her face.

"Hey, at least I got a really cool sniper rifle and you don't see me complaining about your stuff."

"It's because yours fits you extremely well, Garrus."

"Less talking, more shooting." Shepard barked, managing to bash a Winterhorn in the face with the butt of her rifle. She unloaded her enhanced gun on its head, destroying it a moment later.

Tali, Liara and Kaidan fought together, the trio interchanging the means in which they disposed of the Geth and Heartless.

It was either Liara who disabled the movement of Geth and Heartless alike that gave Kaidan and Tali the chance to take them out.

Or Kaidan and Liara utilizing their Biotics to ensnare the two enemy types, Tali taking them out with what she now called Omni-bolts.

Wrex for the most part was by Roxas's side, the two practically brute forcing their way across the garage, taking out any and all that got in their way.

Eventually, the garage was cleared of enemies, Roxas slaying one last Winterhorn.

The group however didn't have long in catching their breath.

"What the- What are these things?" Spoke the familiar voice of Captain Matsuo. "Fan out and secure the area! No one gets in or out!" She then looked over and demanded an explanation. "What the hell happened here, Commander?"

"The Geth ambushed us. We fought back. That's it."

"Geth? You expect me to-"

"Captain!" The Turian security guard called out. "You won't believe this!"

"There's fucking Geth corpses here!" Called out the human sergeant.

Matsuo paled a little as she looked over and saw her fellow security team members were right. "W-Where'd they come from?"

"There were crates here, ma'am." Ashley pointed out, as if the answer was quite obvious.

"But… But those are Benezia-Sama's crates."

Tali picked it up from there. "If I were to guess, the Matriarch packed the Geth in the shipping containers she arrived with."

"I don't believe that. We did thorough scans of those. There were no power sources, no element zero masses…" Matsuo tried to rationalize things but saw there was no point now. "If Benezia-Sama's containers were packed with these things, there are many more out there."

Shepard didn't like hearing that, making her voice the obvious question. "How many are we talking, a dozen? A hundred?

"Dozens, no doubt." Matsuo said grimly. "But… Commander. What were those other things in here? Those creatures with the yellow eyes."

"That's a bit more complicated in explaining." Shepard said. "For now, all I can tell you is that it's classified for the time being, ma'am."

Matsuo exhaled a sigh. "I must report to the Executive Board. If word gets out about loose get… there may be an investor panic."

Once Matsuo and her security team left, Shepard spoke up to her team.

"Is there anyone hurt?"

"We're good." Kaidan stated with the others all nodding or voicing their agreement.

"Alright then." Shepard looked over and saw the Mako parked nearby. And by the model, it was much larger than the one back on the Normandy, allowing everyone on her team to perfectly sit in nicely. "Okay, people, pile in. Time to head over to Peak 15."

Once the Normandy ground team drove out of the garage, the ERCS guard stationed outside of the garage made sure nobody else was present in the area. Pulling up her Omni-tool, she dialed a number. It was answered, but the line was silent.

"This is Agent Karen, calling Cerberus command. Requesting a secured line."

Soon a voice was spoken on the other end. "This line is secured. Go ahead, agent. What do you need to report."

"Commander Shepard and her team are on their way to Peak 15 as we speak." She said. "They had recently fought against the Geth and some dark creatures in the one garage I'm stationed by. I'll be sending footage I pulled from the security system very soon."

The voice on the other end acknowledged her little report. "Thank you for your time, agent. We will await the footage when possible. Cerberus command, out."

Well this was a fucking walk through the park.

Jebest4781: Boy we breezed through this rather quickly.

FMW: Yup, love it when a plan is laid out so clearly and easily written out. And we're gonna get to crazy stuff really damn soon people. So batten down the hatches. And it's official, closing the poll.

Commander Shepard has won the vote, people, Axel's in for a ride.

Jeb: So far there won't be any other polls for this story until further notice. Reason being we already thought of other details to be used in the story. But there might be one other pairing vote later on, depending on the flow of this story.

FMW: Yes and they are to be determined as of right now however J and I have several ideas in mind that we believe would work well with the trajectory of the story overall. I think many of you will be very surprised with what he and I have in mind.

So for quick reminders of the poll results from the last 9 chapters overall

Roxas with Xion and Tali.

Axel with Commander Shepard.

It has been decided.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.