"Cortez, what's the status of the probe we launched?" Kacey asked.

"Tracking it now, Commander." Cortez replied, "I've confirmed that Leviathan's signal originates from this planet. Heard how Ann helped us locate it. It's pretty spooky stuff."

"Makes you wonder what we're going to find down there." Garrus mused.

"Bryson's team called it a Reaper killer." Kaidan mused, "Gotta be something big and powerful to manage that."

"And it also doesn't want to be found." Garrus added.

"Thanks for the recap, you two." Kacey said in a snarky tone, "Either way, it doesn't much of a choice. We're here."

"Right but then what?" Garrus replied, "It plays pretty rough and if it is a Reaper, I don't know that's the kind of help we want."

"Not to mention, there's a risk of it taking control of all of us." Kaidan added, "I mean, we've done some crazy stuff before, but this is a whole new level of crazy."

"I know. Look, nobody says we have to friends with it, but if this thing has the rest of the Reapers worried, then we need its help. Like it or not." Kacey replied.

Kaidan wasn't as reassured by Kacey's words than she may have intended. Garrus looked at Kaidan and gave the biotic a look of unease that matched how Kaidan was feeling about this whole thing. He knew that they were desperate for a way to stop the Reapers, but this? This may be going too far.

"Commander." Cortez caught Kacey's attention, "New readings from the probe. It's narrowed down Leviathan's location. You're not going to like it."

"Let's hear it." Kacey replied.

"There's nothing but ocean." Cortez replied.

"If you're trying to get me to swim, there are better ways of doing it." Garrus quipped, "Although I still can't swim."

"You can't?" Kaidan asked.

"Turians in general can't."

"I show a concentration of structures floating on the surface, but the probe's giving us a signal below that." Cortez continued, "Way below."

"Underwater?" Kacey questioned.

"Looks like you're going have to learn somehow, Garrus." Kaidan smirked.

"Oh ha ha." Garrus replied.

"Looks that way, Commander. The shuttle should still be able to reach it."

"That's possible?" Kacey asked.

"The Kodiak is specced to nearly a thousand atmospheres…though I've never actually tested that."

"Guess we're going to have to find ou—"

The shuttle suddenly shook violently; like it had been hit with several missiles. Alarms began to ring out from the control console as Cortez tried to figure out what happened.

"Status!" Kacey demanded.

"Some kind of pulse hit us!" Cortez said quickly, "Systems are shutting down! Brace for impact!"

The shuttle crashed into something hard; Kaidan was sent tumbling forward while Kacey was flown backwards from the impact. Garrus also ended up on the floor, his back against the wall opposite the entrance. Something hit the Kodiak in the rear, sending Kacey tumbling in Kaidan's direction as it skidded upwards, before moving even faster downwards in the opposite direction. By the time the shuttle had skidded to a halt, Kacey was on top of Kaidan's lap, while Garrus remained on the floor, with his feet on the seats.

"Oh, hi Kaidan." Kacey smirked as she looked forward to see Kaidan. Kaidan laughed a bit at the now upside-down commander.

"You certainly make falling into my arms a habit, don't you?" Kaidan teased. Kacey laughed in response.

"Get a room, you two." Garrus replied, "Oh, wait."

"Garrus, shhh." Kacey said, "We are having a moment."

"Called it!" Cortez shouted, "I can't believe James and I were right!"

"I'm convinced everybody knows about us now." Kaidan said.

"Except Liara, Joker, and EDI. And we kinda need to confirm it with James but I'm pretty sure Cortez will tell him."

"Definitely will!" Cortez shouted, "And that is Joker and Donnelly who now owes us 60 credits."

"I fucking knew there was a betting pool." Kacey said, starting to sit up, "Why is everyone so invested in our relationship?"

"Why not?" Garrus replied smirking, "Gives us all something nice to focus on rather than talking about depressing things."

"Or you're all bored." Kaidan added.

"That too." Garrus replied.

"Thought so." Kacey replied, now on her feet, "Anyway, we better head out and figure out what the hell is going on."

"Yeah, and hopefully, that doesn't require swimming." Garrus said.

…

It was raining badly outside and the rusted, old frigate they were standing on top of didn't leave Kaidan with much confidence. The waves the crashed rhythmically into the ruined vessel did not alleviate his concerns. The stormy weather, coupled with the weird pulse that had sent them crashing into the wreckage was not the most reassuring of circumstances. Garrus was right; Leviathan did not want to be found.

But as he expected, Kacey did not back down from this. She is a very stubborn and determined person when she wants to be. While he understood why she was determined to find Leviathan, it did not explain her rash attitude towards the situation. They needed to be careful.

As Kaidan looked around, a signal fact was made clear out of the gate; they were not the first to crash here. Looking around, the area was full of rusted and broken starships that had crash landed here. Small shelters were dotted about the wreck, presumably from the last people to have crashed down here. This was an uncharted world; maybe that pulse was the reason for it.

"Kacey, we got one of those artifacts here." Kaidan heard Garrus say.

"More here too." Kacey mused, "Explains why no one gets of here."

As Kaidan circled back around towards where Kacey and Garrus were, he noticed what looked to be skeletons hidden inside the makeshift shelters.

"Any idea how old these are?" Kacey asked no one in particular.

"At C-Sec, they always said the key to decomposition was scavengers." Garrus said, "Without them, it's quite a while."

"You must be a bright bundle of positivity, huh?" Kacey smirked, "Kaidan's rubbing off on you."

"Come on, I'm not that bleak." Kaidan replied.

"Great. I'm catching paranoia with Kacey and depression with Kaidan." Garrus mused in a joking manner.

"I am not paranoid." Kacey retorted.

"And I am not depressed." Kaidan added.

"That's because you passed it on to me." Garrus mused, "Maybe if I spend a bit more time around Vega, it'll stick to him."

"Maybe. If we can get out of here." Kacey said, looking through several datapads.

"What's all this?" Kaidan asked.

"Record logs from the crew of the ship we're standing on." Kacey replied, "They were eezo prospectors who came here looking for eezo but the pulse knocked them out of the sky. They managed to fix the ship, but every time they flew up into the air, the pulse knocked them out of the sky. Running low on rations and finding out that they plant life underwater isn't edible, the captain sent a small team to the other wrecks, where they came back with one of those artifacts. After that, it seems the crew went crazy."

"How so?" Garrus asked.

"One of the crew threw one of the artifacts back into the water, then was swiftly beaten to death by the others. This last log…it seems as though Leviathan took control of them. Completely. Look."

'Datapad Log: Encarna Camacho

The captain gets it now. He tried to lock himself in the ship, screaming that he had to fix it.

We were gentle. One person for each limb. We let him rest on the sphere. Sometime in the middle of the night, he came around, and now he agrees. We won't leave. Why would we?

I think this will be my last entry. Everyone here understands me. If anyone finds us, they might feel differently, but that can be fixed with time.

Its so good not being hungry anymore.'

Kaidan skimmed through the log, disturbed by what he had just read. Even Garrus looked a bit concerned and Kacey looked worried.

"So, we all agree we need to go, ASAP, right?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah." Kacey said.

"Definitely." Kaidan added.

"Hey look." Kacey said, pointing towards a mech, "Looks like a damaged Atlas. Different though, and not flying Cerberus colours."

"And its not taking shots at us, which is nice." Garrus mused, "Doesn't look salvageable though."

While Kacey and Garrus debated about the mech, Kaidan continued to look around. Nothing around was salvageable. And they needed to find a way to shut of the pulse and return to the Normandy. Kaidan looked up, in a vain hope to see if it could possibly have something to do with the atmosphere. As the rain continued to fall, he saw something through the clouds. Something that looked strangely like a…

"Oh shit." Kaidan mused, "Guys! We've got a problem!"

"What?" Kacey turned and looked up, "Are you fucking kidding me? Reapers? Now?"

"Looks like they followed us." Kaidan said.

"We need to protect the shuttle, no matter what." Kacey said as the trio bolted it back to the shuttle.