A/N

Hi everyone! Another chapter ready for your viewing pleasure, unless you went on to my pat-re-on where it has been available for a little while already. There are six chapters still on there for those that want to ready ahead. Bored Peasant's Written Works is what you need to look up.

When I started the movie reviews, I mostly just wanted to have something extra that people would enjoy that would come up from time to time as a nice little treat. I had no idea that it would become as big as it has. It's really gained its own life. Now they are on most chapters and I always get comments saying how people want more. I had been afraid that by having them too often, people would get bored of them. Apparently, that has not been the case. I'm just happy that I could do something else that brings you back to read my stories.

Special thanks to Andrew Houghton, Arrimar26, Austin, Ben wanless, BuzzGrave, Doglore63, Ezoz, FallenMetalGod, Freeman, Jermaine Key, joshua scruggins, KO. Dragon, Kushtacah, liam Darrell, liquidpotato, Patiflops, Paul Fischer, r4p16, Sith_Paladin, sonic, SpaceMechaDragon and Wraith9139 for your patronage. Your support means so much to me. Thank you all.

Anyway, on with the story!

CHAPTER 41 – MULTIPLE EXPLANATIONS

(SHEPARD POV)

Jane looked down with a careful frown on her face. She had no idea what to do with the minion that Nielson and his group had dragged out of hole below the colony of Zhu's Hope. Whatever had happened, the asari had been left behind by Saren for some reason that she wasn't yet sure of and the only way to find out would be to ask either her or Benezia.

Given the choice between the two of them, Jane was going to have to go with the new one, Shiala, as Liara named her. While she was a trained commando, there was a massive difference in scale between her and the more powerful matriarch. Jane had been able to feel the power that Benezia had been radiating back on Noveria. And while Nielson had apparently figured out some way to use the thorian to bring Benezia's brain scans back to a normal level, even if she had no idea how that worked, there were still enough unknowns about the situation that she was happy to wait until they had Benezia back on the Citadel before they woke her up.

Which meant that if she wanted any more information on what Saren had been doing on Feros, she needed to wake up Shiala.

Not alone though, and certainly not without some safety measures.

"You are sure that biotic damper is going to hold?" she asked Doctor Chakwas, who was supervising the unconscious prisoners.

"As sure as I can be, Spectre," the good doctor replied. "It is a well-known piece of technology though, so we shouldn't have any issues."

"Good," she replied. She looked over to Alenko who was standing guard, armed with his pistol. "Be ready, just in case."

He nodded in confirmation, his expression stern as he focussed on the asari on the bed.

Jane gave a small sigh and looked down at the asari herself. "Alright," she said stiffly. "Wake her up."

Doctor Chakwas tapped away at the console for a moment. Then, less than a minute later, the asari Shiala opened her eyes.

Immediately she tensed against her restraints, struggling to move as she looked around wildly. Her body started to glow blue before the biotic restraint shut it off, leaving her looking alarmed.

"That's enough!" Jane barked, making Shiala's eyes fly to her. Still, she immediately calmed down.

"Good," Jane said, taking over as Doctor Chakwas took a step back to let Jane ask her questions. "Now, what is your name?" While Liara had given her the asari's name, it was a useful question to ask to see if there were any problems with her memory.

"My name is Shiala," the asari replied. "I am a commando in the service of Matriarch Benezia."

"Very good," Jane said evenly. "Can you tell me why you were found with the thorian on Feros?"

The asari blinked a few times. "I was with Matriarch Benezia on Saren's ship. She offered me to him for some mission. We went to Feros and spoke with the thorian. A deal was made, and I was to be payment. I was to meld with the thorian and get the Cipher, then give it to Saren. Then I was given to the thorian as meat. So, I suppose I should thank you for releasing me."

Jane couldn't help frowning. "You gave yourself to be a sacrifice?" she asked incredulously. This whole situation just kept getting weirder.

The asari nodded from her bed. "That's correct," she said. "My Lady offered me to Saren and I went willingly.

Jane just shook her head, wondering about the fanaticism that Benezia had managed to inspire in her followers. She briefly wondered if it was worth getting a brain scan on Shiala but figured that Doctor Chakwas had probably already done that.

"What is the Cipher?" she asked next. "And why would Saren need it?"

"The Cipher was the very essence of what it meant to be a prothean," Shiala replied. "The thorian was extremely old. It has been around since at least the time of the protheans. It has the ability to absorb the bodies of other races and in so doing was able to take on to itself attributes of those races. It had taken on a unique ability of the protheans to interact with prothean technology through their biochemistry. The price Saren paid to the thorian allowed me to meld with the thorian to get the cipher, which I then gave to him through a meld. I was then given to the thorian as payment."

Jane rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache forming. If Saren had a greater access to the prothean beacon because of this Cipher, it meant he was likely to understand the confusing images better and would allow him to gain an advantage over her.

"Why did Benezia follow Saren?" she asked.

"Benezia saw the path that Saren was walking and foresaw the influence he would have," Shiala explained. "She tried to guide him to a gentler path. But Saren is compelling and Benezia lost her way."

"He tricked her?" Jane asked sceptically. "Or are you saying that Saren can control minds?"

"Benezia underestimated Saren, as I did," Shiala rebutted. "When you are on his ship, he had a way of making you believe his cause. The strength of his influence is troubling.

"Asari matriarchs are among the most intelligent and powerful beings in the galaxy," Jane said cautiously. "How could one fall under Saren's control?"

Shiala hesitated for a moment. "Saren has a vessel, unlike anything I have ever seen," she said. "He calls it Sovereign. It seems to dominate the minds of his followers. They become indoctrinated to his will. It's subtle and can take days to work on a normal person, and Benezia was there for weeks. It was… like a voice that whispered calm things in your head and guided your thoughts into whatever he wanted you to believe. I was a willing slave by the time Saren brough me to Feros. But now that I am free and here, it feels like… my mind has been cleansed. Like a weight has been removed from it that I had not realised was there. I think more clearly and can see that there were things that were wrong which I had not been able to perceive before I was given to the thorian."

Jane shared a brief look with Doctor Chakwas. Maybe this was what was causing the irregular brain activity that Nielson had noticed. And that the thorian had fixed in Benezia. Something on Saren's ship was subtly altering minds. It was a very troubling to think that Saren had something like that on his ship.

A stray thought went through her mind. What if it isn't Saren's machine causing this… indoctrination? What if Saren is indoctrinated?

It wasn't a happy thought, but it would explain a lot of the reason behind Saren going rogue in the first place. But even if it was true, there was no thorian anymore to fix his brain back to normal.

"So, what happened between Saren and the thorian?" Jane asked, moving on for now, seeing as there wasn't much she could do in that area.

"Saren got what he wanted, then ordered the geth to attack the thorian," Shiala continued. "He wanted to destroy all evidence of its existence. I could… hear it in my pod. Saren knows you are looking for the Conduit, that you are following his steps. He attacked the thorian so you couldn't get the Cipher. It would help you understand the visions you received from the prothean beacon."

That was troubling. "Is the Cipher truly that important?"

"It is the very essence of being a prothean," Shiala explained. "In effect, it gives you the ability to think like a prothean. It cannot really be understood by those who don't have it. The Cipher gives access to endemic ancestral memory; a viewpoint spanning a thousand prothean generations. I sensed this ancestral memory when I melded with the thorian. Such knowledge cannot be taught; it simply exists."

Dammit.

Jane couldn't help sighing. "I need that knowledge to stop Saren," she realised. "And now the thorian is gone."

Shiala blinked. "There is a way," she said slowly. "I could give it to you as I gave it to Saren. But I would have to be able to use my biotics to meld with you to do so."

Jane hated the fact that she was considering this. This asari had just confessed to being a puppet for Saren but had also been very forthcoming about Saren's plans. It tied in with what Nielson had explained with what he knew about the thorian. She rubbed her forehead in exasperation.

Ah to hell with it. She had been worried about the vision she received from the beacon ever since she had it and this was a chance for her to get more clarification on what the images were saying. She needed this if she was going to stop Saren. But hell if she wasn't going to take precautions first.

"Fine," she growled. "You will give me the Cipher. But if you do anything else, I will have one of my soldiers put a bullet through Benezia's skull over there. Understand?" She pointed to the bed where Benezia was laying.

Shiala jerked and looked around wildly, finally seeing Benezia on the bed at the far end of the Med Bay. "Benezia?" she gasped. "You caught her? Alive?"

"Yep," Jane replied snippily. "Even got the thorian to fix her brain while we were on Feros. We are keeping her under until we know for sure that she isn't a threat. But now it means that if you are a threat, I am going to end her in front of you. Do, you, understand?"

The asari commando looked back at her. "Yes, I understand!" she said frantically. "Please, don't hurt her!"

"Well now, that depends on you. Before we begin, Doctor Chakwas is going to do a quick examination of your brain patterns to make sure that you are not going through any negative effects from your issue with Saren or the thorian." Jane walked to the door as Chakwas stepped up to the restrained asari and opened it to the mess hall. Williams was sitting there eating a sandwich of some sort. When she looked up Jane gestured for her to come into the Med Bay, which she did instantly.

"Williams," Jane said once the door closed. "Shiala here is going to initiate a mind meld with me to give me a genetic ancestral memory system of the protheans. Don't ask, I'll explain later," she cut off the question Williams was clearly going to ask. "But because I don't fully trust her, due to her prior association with Saren, you are going to stand next to Benezia with a pistol aimed at her head. If Shiala does something other than what she said she was going to do, if she attacks any of us or does something to my mind, you are to put a bullet in Benezia's skull. Understood?" She made sure that she spoke loudly enough that Shiala heard her instructions.

She could tell immediately that Williams didn't like the idea of that but thankfully she didn't object in front of the asari. She merely pulled her pistol and walked over to stand by the sedated Benezia.

Jane looked up as Chakwas finished her examination of Shiala's brain activity and nodded at her. Taking a deep breath, Jane stepped forward and undid the restraints and deactivated the biotic restraint collar, though she left it on so that she could turn it on again when she was done.

Shiala sat up slowly. "I understand your precautions, Shepard," Shiala said softly as she looked over to Benezia's still form. "I assure you that they are not necessary. My loyalty is solely to my Lady. I no longer hold any loyalty for Saren or his mission."

"Well, let's use this as an opportunity for you to gain some trust," Jane replied.

Shiala nodded then stood and turned to face jane directly. "Then please listen. Every action sends ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit. We are all connected. Every living being united in a single glorious existence. Open yourself to the universe, Shepard. Embrace eternity!"

The meld began and the images from the prothean beacon instantly filled her mind. But this time, there was a cohesion that had been lacking, a clarity that had been missing from when she first received them. It was like an image that had been blurry that had been adjusted to be less blurry but not fully in focus. There was something not completely right in what she was seeing that meant that she still couldn't fully comprehend what was being seen.

All of a sudden it was over and Shiala took a couple of steps back, watching Jane as she came out of the meld.

"There," the asari said. "I have given you the Cipher as I gave it to Saren. The ancestral memories of the protheans are now a part of you. You have been given a great gift: the experience of an entire people. I believe it will take time for your mind to process that information."

"The visions are… clearer," Jane said slowly. "But there is still something not fully right, like an out of image picture."

"I can help!" an excited voice cut in from behind Williams. Jane looked over and saw Liara standing in the open doorway leading to the alcove that she had claimed for herself behind the Med Bay. "With my knowledge and experience on protheans, I might be able to provide some assistance in clearing up what you saw in the beacon."

"Liara?" Shiala asked, dumbfounded. "What are you doing here?"

Liara looked at her fellow asari. "Hello Shiala," she replied evenly, not sounding excited at all to see her. Clearly there was a history there that Jane didn't know about. "Spectre Shepard asked for my help in her mission to stop my mother and Saren. Seeing as we managed to get my mother, we are about halfway done."

Liara turned back to Jane. "If you would like, Shepard, I can perform a meld that might help you gain some clarity."

Jane blinked and nodded. "Fine, but not until Shiala is secured again first." She turned to face the commando. "You have bought yourself some goodwill, but I still don't trust you enough to walk around my ship. You will have your biotic dampener turned back on and be restrained in your bed, but you will not be sedated again so you can continue to monitor Benezia."

Shiala nodded and lay back down on her bed. "I understand," she said. "Thank you for allowing me that much, Shepard."

A few seconds later, Shiala was fully secured back on her bed and Liara was standing right in front of Jane.

"Relax, Shepard," Liara said, closing her eyes. A second later they opened, looking pitch black. "Embrace eternity!"

Instantly, the vision was back in front of Shepard, only this time, they were crystal clear. She could see everything that the images showed, with no fuzziness, but also no context. The images were disjointed in that whatever message that was intended to pass on to her was lost, but the last image of an odd-looking spaceship that moved as if it were alive, remained clear in her mind.

Once that last image passed, the Med Bay came back into focus and Liara stood in front of her shaking her head.

"That was incredible!" she uttered. "The images were so vivid. I'd never dreamed…" she shook her head again. "Sorry, Shepard. You must have been remarkably strong willed to have seen all of that. But it is incomplete."

"What do you mean?" Jane asked.

"The beacon that gave you these images on Eden Prime was damaged and so part of its message is missing. Saren must have access to another beacon. If we can find it, you should be able to get the full mess… woah." She wobbled slightly. "I'm sorry, that was exhausting for me. I believe that I will sit down."

"Are you all right, Liara?" Shiala asked.

Liara stiffened slightly. "I am fine, Shiala," she replied neutrally. "Nothing for you to worry about. Especially not when you were one of those who argued for my banishment from my mother."

Shiala flinched and went quiet, lying back down fully on her bed.

"If you have a moment, Doctor Chakwas," Liara said, looking at the human standing quietly at her terminal, "I would appreciate if you were able to see me in my room if I need it. I would rather not be in here while Shiala and my mother are here."

"Very well, Doctor T'soni," Doctor Chakwas agreed.

"I think I will head back to my room too, Doc," Shepard said. "I need to let all this stuff sink in so I can understand what was going on."

"As you say, Spectre," the doctor replied. "I will be here if you need me."

Jane left, with Williams trailing behind her.

"Ma'am," Williams spoke up once the door to the Med Bay closed behind them. Jane stopped and looked at the gunny. "You wouldn't really have ordered me to shoot them, right? That breaks a lot of prisoners of war laws."

Jane gave her a reassuring smile. "No," she replied. "But Benezia's minion doesn't need to know that. All she knows is that as a Spectre, I actually can order it without punishment if I think it is required for my mission. But I would not expect you to follow that order. I would expect you to have fired at the commando if she tried anything."

Williams nearly wilted in obvious relief. "That's… that's good to know, Ma'am."

With that, Williams headed back to her meal, which someone had thoughtfully wrapped while she was gone. As Jane watched her go, she reflected again on what type of Spectre she wanted to be. Saren, she knew, would have killed Benezia without question. But killing unarmed and unconscious prisoners of war… that wasn't who Shepard wanted to be. And clearly, it impacted the people around her negatively if they thought she was.

Rubbing her forehead, she headed back to her room, knowing that there was still another headache inducing conversation that she needed to have with a certain rich tagalong.

(BROCK POV)

We were probably halfway back to the Citadel, and I was getting both more relieved and more anxious the closer we got there. I was holding on to the hope of seeing my daughter and wanted to give her a massive hug. At the same time, we had already completed the phase one missions and were heading back to the Citadel to resupply and rearm. I kept just wanting this ship to fly faster, even if it was already faster than every ship I had in my own fleet.

Maybe I could bribe Joker to do more? He was asking me about a leather chair earlier…

But having gone more than halfway back to the reaper trap that is the Citadel, I had been able to see that Shepard had already gone and interviewed Benezia's minion and probably got the Cipher. From my own experience it took about ten minutes for the headache to die down.

And now I was being called to her quarters yet again.

A less virtuous mind might get ideas.

Sadly, the whole conversation was not going to be about the joys of carnal activities or anything fun. It was likely where I would be hounded by a woman with a vendetta against a terrorist organisation. A terrorist organisation that I happened to have an understanding with, even if that understanding was likely to be ended very soon.

Luckily for me, I knew that the Illusive Man was a pragmatic person, never moving if he wasn't sure that he was going to have the advantage. It allowed a lot of leeway for me to move while I knew he was still building his resources. More than that, I knew enough to be able to deny him a lot of information and personnel in this galaxy. I could take away some of his best agents with a simple conversation.

Not that I was going to. Not yet anyway. I had no idea how things were going to go in the middle of the geth attack on the Citadel, which was going to happen eventually and in fact needed to, to ensure that they put more money towards military spending. And if Shepard going down while she was taking on the Collectors was a moment concreted in the timeline, then it would be better if those people were going to be in the right place when they were needed.

After all, while I had a lot of resources and capabilities, why would I use my own resources when I could make Cerberus use them instead? All I had to do was nothing and if the worst should happen to Shepard, then I sincerely doubted that old Jack Harper was going to risk losing a potential figurehead that he could have in humanity's first Spectre.

I shook those thoughts off as I approached the door leading to Shepard's quarters. I knocked and waited for the door to open. It took far longer than I was expecting to, making me think Shepard was either angry and trying to control herself, or pulling a power move. Eventually, the door hissed open, allowing me access inside.

Immediately, I could see it was the angry Shepard. Her face was set in stone, and she was clearly suspicious. I didn't know exactly what was going through her mind, but I could probably guess that it wasn't exactly charitable towards myself. Not that I had anything to worry about.

"Sit," she commanded.

I narrowed my eyes at her and stayed standing. I would not be ordered like a dog. "Manners first, Spectre," I said firmly. "I am not one of your lackies that you have leashed like Alenko."

Her jaw clenched and I could swear that I could hear her teeth grinding together for a moment. "Please sit," she bit out.

"Better," I said, sitting down at the small table in her room. She remained standing, but at least wasn't standing close to try looming over me.

"You can probably guess why I asked you here," she said.

I nodded. "Probably," I replied evenly. "But I don't have the patience to play 'guess what's in my head' today, so why don't we just skip to the part where we talk about what we want to talk about."

Her face twisted into a snarl. "Cerberus!" she barked. "How do you know that they were involved in Akuze? And how do you even know about Akuze in the first place?"

I raised an eyebrow. It was probably a reasonable question for someone that wasn't from another universe and had a working knowledge on a lot of background information like I did. "I didn't realise that the events on Akuze were supposed to be classified," I said flatly, not really answering the question. "Seeing as they used it as part of your assessment into the Spectres, I assumed that they were happy for people to know about it. Alliance command had no particular qualms about sharing the details with me when I was negotiating for some orbital defence platforms."

A lie, but it was clearly enough to convince Shepard as she nodded but continued looking at me expectantly.

"As for Cerberus' involvement," I continued, "that is a little harder to explain. I have been able to come across some information from them over the last couple of years. Some of it has literally fallen into my lap, other pieces I have had to pay good money for. Believe it or not, they first came to my attention as a weapons manufacturer."

She looked at me incredulously for a moment.

"No, I'm serious," I said before she could interrupt. "When I was creating my weapons company, I looked into all of my competition. There is a company called Skunkworks that is actually a subsidiary of Cerberus. It's a legitimate business, registered through the Citadel Business Directorate.

"After that, I went digging. I had my people dig up a bunch of their confirmed actions and we were able to find a lot of information about them. Very well-hidden information too. In fact, I don't know if there is anyone not part of Cerberus that knows more about Cerberus than I do."

Her hands clenched. "I want that information," she declared. "The Alliance could use it to wipe out Cerberus for their actions."

I shook my head. "No," I said, causing her to blink and frown furiously at me. "You don't get it Shepard…"

"Yes, I do!" she shouted in frustration, cutting me off. "They are terrorists fronting as a humanity first movement but they do things like kill my team on Akuze, proving to the galaxy that they are nothing more than liars and murderers!"

I gave a heavy sigh. "No, you really don't get it, Shepard," I said a little more forcefully. "You seem to think that this is as simple as 'they are bad guys; I kill bad guys'. But you are either ignorant of their origins or the true depth of their support."

Shepard pursed her lips and clenched her jaw again for an instant. "Stop talking around in circles and say it straight then!" she demanded.

I frowned at her, finding myself disappointed in how forcefully obstinate she was being. "Cerberus isn't just your run of the mill gang that started up and went about committing crimes," I explained slowly, as if she as a particularly slow child. "In keeping with the worst of humanity's terrorist organisations, it was started by the government."

That seemed to break through her anger. "What do you mean?" she asked, confused and frustrated.

"It's not a commonly known fact, but Cerberus started after the First Contact War with the turians," I said, speaking more normally now. "It was started as an Alliance black-ops outfit, with an overarching goal of information gathering, espionage and sabotage. For a couple of years their mandate stayed the same, but then something happened that went against them and their role."

"We made peace with the Citadel," Shepard spoke up, clearly connecting the dots. Good to know that she wasn't completely driven by idiotic assumptions, I guess.

"Exactly," I replied with a nod. "Now you have a bunch of people who are dedicated to looking out for what they believe is in the best interests of humanity, but suddenly, they are no longer considered necessary by the very government who created them. And why? Because the Alliance had now signed a bunch of Treaties that would highlight that humanity was really a small fry in the galaxy that would have to take a bunch of treats that their galactic masters would hand out from time to time. Combine that with a leader that was willing to drink the cool-aid and lead humanity to join the new galactic community at the bottom of the totem pole and what does that make?"

Her expression turned pained. "A group of people who are skilled, trained and against the new policies being put out," she replied.

I nodded. "Yes, but that's not all," I continued. "Now you also have the bean counters asking why they are funding a group that doesn't need to exist, seeing as their mission is no longer a requirement? So, they pulled all government funding, leaving some very dangerous pro-humans in the lurch. Everyone just expected them to call it a day and leave it at that. But what happens when the leader of this group actually fought at Shanxi? And what happens when they can still see a clear bias against humanity from the Citadel races?"

Shepard groaned and shook her head. "They break away and continue what they were doing, only now they see it as fighting for humanity."

"Exactly," I confirmed. "And with that as a rallying call, it isn't hard to find people who are sympathetic to the cause. And I am not talking about your everyday Billy Joe who lives in a slum and has to fight for every scrap they can get. The investors they have are the rich and powerful, who want a bigger slice of the galaxy to play with. It's the military leaders, an admiral in charge of a committee somewhere that can justify an extra shipment of supplies that go missing. It's a politician that can make loopholes in a law that would negatively impact them. That is the sort of investor or friend that Cerberus targets. That is the supporter that you are fighting against alongside Cerberus. They are a very wealthy group now, with billions of credits in capital to play with and training and experience in operating in the dark. That is the Cerberus that you are wanting to take on. They are backed by some serious parties here, Shepard. Even I haven't taken them on directly." Though I probably could, seeing as I remember where the main space station that Ol' Jack hangs out is. I just wouldn't know where all the hidden bases were, or who would be ballsy enough to pick up where he left off.

Shepard looked down, her jaw clenching in frustration. "Dammit all," she growled. "It was so much easier when I just thought of them as a bunch of thugs and butchers. If I go too directly against them, I could get pushback from some of the Alliance brass or politicians. That is just going to make my job harder."

I let her stew on that for a long moment. Theoretically it was true, but there were some things that would work in her favour.

"Just throwing this out there," I said slowly, "you realise that you don't work for the Alliance anymore, right?"

She looked up, staring at me in confusion. "What?"

"I mean, you realise that you are not beholden to the Alliance for your work anymore, right?" I pressed. "You are not obligated to use their crew, equipment or ship. You don't work under their jurisdiction, and you don't operate under their command structure. You are answerable to a higher authority: the Citadel Council. As long as you can justify your actions to them, you can do whatever the hell you want."

Her eyes cleared up a little as she processed that thought, looking up to the ceiling as she considered it. Her frown returned after a few seconds though as the idea probably didn't give her the reassurance that she was after.

"I'm not saying that you need to cut off the Alliance or anything so drastic," I continued, cutting off her thoughts. "By all means take jobs from them but get paid to do it now at a higher rate. If someone tries to go against you, see their hand and raise your authority as a Spectre against it. None of them have any real authority over you if you don't give it to them. You are essentially mercenaries under the command of the Citadel Council. You could go against Cerberus directly and none of the Alliance powers could touch you legally."

It was one of the things that had always bugged me about the ME3 beginning, with that whole mission that had been about the reaper base in the asteroid and Shepard managed to slow down the reapers a little more by destroying the Relay with an asteroid. Afterwards, the Alliance arrested her to appease the batarians. I could understand why they did but not why she went along with it. As a Council agent, she should have been basically untouchable, unless the Council threw her to the wolves and rescinded her authority. Though knowing the Council, they probably would do that to avoid a conflict somewhere.

She actually looked thoughtful for a moment. "I would just have to worry about them fighting against me politically or through financial means. Or to have them set me up in an ambush somewhere." She sighed. "Seems like a way to die young or live a very paranoid life."

I nodded in agreement. "True, though to be fair, that happens in our line of work anyway."

She gave an amused grunt and nodded. "Fair point." She grew serious again. "So why do you know so much about Cerberus?"

I relaxed back in my seat. "Because they tried to recruit me," I replied, very matter-of-factly.

Her eyes widened and her hand twitched towards her hip where her pistol normally sat. "What?" she hissed.

I nodded, not threatened at all. "Yeah," I continued. "It was about a year and a half ago. I had a mechanic called Carlos who got stupid and thought that he could make some extra money by selling out our plans and navigational data to some Cerberus agent on Omega. Not long after that, my crew and I were at a bar on the Citadel and we were approached by a woman claiming to be a member of Cerberus and wanting me to start donating for the cause by blackmailing me."

"And did you?"

I gave her a disappointed look that took some of the heat out of her frown. "Of course not," I said flatly. "More than half my crew and company is made up of aliens. Do you think that is an accident? Not at all. Hell, I have Torrin on this ship to watch my back."

She gave a slight wince. "Sorry," she muttered.

"It's fine," I replied, waving her off. "But as it turns out, there was a retrieval team sent with the agent that had been hiding around the corner of the bar where they met us. It appeared that they didn't like hearing 'no' and were going to try force the issue. Thankfully, it just so happens that I was enjoying some down time with my ground crew and we had made them before we even arrived at the bar so when the agent was about to leave, I told her that I knew the ground team was there and it would be a horrible idea to try anything."

Shepard nodded. "That's all?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No. Because I didn't want to have to live looking over my shoulder, and because I wasn't ready to take on a heavily supported and well-funded terrorist group, I made a deal of non-interference. I wouldn't give them any money or do anything for them, but if some of the work I was doing was likely to interfere with their operations, then they would send me a note and I would adjust my plans to not negatively impact them."

She glared at me, but it lacked the fire of her earlier glares. "And does that happen often?"

I shook my head. "It has only happened twice that I have had a message in the last year and a half. They don't tend to get involved in anti-slavery actions and I don't tend to get too involved in the galactic business and political community, which is their focus right now. The first time was when I was going to raid a particular mercenary supply station in batarian space that was for Blue Suns, which has been allowing humans to join their ranks and they let me know that they had someone on the inside and asked me to not hit the base. The second time was when I was on Omega and we were looking at acquiring some property and they had already established a base of sort inside the place we were looking to buy, so we went with another option. It's not collaboration, but it is more like not making an enemy I am not ready to face yet. Though I do believe that the day is coming soon where I will be in open conflict with them."

"Oh?" she asked, tilting her head. "Why is that?"

I shrugged. "Because I am here with you, and you are notoriously anti-Cerberus? Or because I don't want to look like I am in cahoots with a terrorist organisation? Or because they are doing heinous acts that need to be stopped? Take your pick."

She sat back and took a deep breath in, letting it out slowly, like a tyre deflating. "I don't like it," she declared. "But I can understand why you are doing what you are doing. As long as you don't support them and don't prevent me taking actions against them if we find them, then I won't interfere with your business."

I nodded.

"But that doesn't explain how you know so much about them unless…," she trailed off as she looked at me intensely. "You have someone on the inside."

I shrugged. "I don't tend to like when a terrorist organisation has information on me and my company's activities without levelling the field. But as it stands, at this moment, no, I don't have anyone on the inside. Not anymore."

Not that it was entirely accurate. I didn't have anyone on the inside in Cerberus, but I did remember their whole overarching plan, plus plenty of other details that I had picked up from games and wiki and such. Shepard didn't need to know that though, so if she continued to think that I had had someone there before now, who was I to say anything against that?

Still, she nodded. "Any chance that you can get someone in or get a raid sorted?"

I snorted and shook my head. "Not yet," I replied. "But if something comes up that doesn't threaten my people, I will let you know."

She nodded. "That will have to do for now. I'm not going to lie and say that I am happy about all of this, but you have given me a lot to think on. If there is anything else, I will come find you later."

I nodded, recognising the dismissal and stood up. "Sure thing, Spectre. You know where to find me."

1 film, 4 reviews

300

Thessian Suns Publication

By Helia Mis'audis

This felt more like a vanity project, if I am being honest. While I was interested in discovering that the mythology around spartans is based on a real story of a real battle from a few thousand years ago, before the Citadel had been discovered, this story has been sufficiently twisted to overly dramatize it.

Still, there is sufficient politicking to be of interest and some rather good quotes that can come from it. But I would classify this more enjoyable if you can just turn your analytical mind off and enjoy the action. And the abs.

Sur'kesh Leaf Script

By Silarn Moduk

While there are many quotable scenes, as well as captivating action, I do wonder at the odd fascination the director has for using slow motion throughout the film. I even checked. Without the slow motion, the length of the film would barely be enough to qualify it as a proper vid.

Despite a number of flaws, it was still curiously enjoyable, and a good inclusion as a romanticized version of history in one of humanity's most famous battles, the story of which has survived thousands of years and stands out among their countless conflicts even today. Well done.

Palaven Daily Call

By Cassias Messua

While I generally enjoy human cinema, and believe me when I say that this vid is indeed enjoyable, I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the flaws. The declaration of united fighting, followed with the intense solo fight scenes shows a contradiction that almost justifies the ending. The continuous sepia tone can be problematic for non-human eyes, and the director's odd choices for set design can make it seem that it is all done in a sound stage.

Still, the fight scenes were enjoyable and there was plenty of background information that would give anyone unfamiliar with the battle of Thermopylae enough context to understand what was going on. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good action vid.

The Krogan Word

By Ognut Grax

This vid rocks! This is the dream of krogan everywhere; to fight against a more powerful enemy and show them that they are nothing compared to your power! And so many good one liners and comebacks! That king guy could have beena krogan. In fact, I am going to see if I can convince the clans to do a re-enactment with all krogan actors and see if there is any change in how it feels. That way we can "share our culture with you all morning"! Ha!

A/N Please Review and Follow/Favourite as you please.

The Feros mission is all wrapped up now and we can move on. No thorian and Shepard now understands that one of her personal nemesis' is more embedded than she is happy with. Not a good way to be.

As always, if you wish to read ahead, the next six chapters are already available for reading on my pat-re-on, Bored Peasant's Written Works. All updates for every story will be available there early too.

Until next time!