A/N I own nothing. Mass Effect is owned by Bioware

Still my first fanfic so please be gentle.

Comments:

OnkelJo – Thank you! I hope that I can keep you interested and do this story justice

Raikaguken – Male. Manuel did call the OC 'Oliver' pretty early on.

Daferrad – Thank you!

Ballistix Gaming – Yes.

Guest – Thank you!

Another note – I was asked about whether or not I am accepting OC suggestions. For this story I will be using quite a few OCs that I already have in mind but that doesn't mean that I can't include new ones that I haven't thought of yet. So, the answer is: I will consider suggested OCs. That doesn't mean I will accept any or all suggestions. They could be the best OCs in existence but if I feel that the character isn't the right fit for the story, or if I can't think of the right way to insert them into the story then I am sorry but the character will not be brought to life here. If anyone wants to put in an OC suggestion they may, BUT it has to be at least a little thought out. It can't just be something as basic as 'drunk turian'.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy!

...

CHAPTER 2 – ARRIVAL

We spend a while setting things up before I make my first entrance into the Mass Effect universe. Manuel spent a little time authenticating my identity. I was adamant about having a silent past.

"You know, having more information at the start will save on awkward questions later on," Manuel said in an attempt to change my mind.

"I don't care," I said. "Just have it basically prove that I grew up on Earth and leave it there."

I knew I was being stubborn but I was still not in a good way. A tiny part of my brain told me I would probably regret that later, but right now that part was being shouted down by the rest of my brain. But then, I would like to see anyone go through nine months of straight torture and think completely logically when it was over.

"Fine," Manuel sighed in exasperation. Who would have thought that an eternal being could have short patience?

"Now, what do you want to do so far as your body goes?" he asked.

I looked down at myself. There didn't seem to be a visible part of my body that wasn't covered in brutal scars, bruises and scabs of varying levels of freshness.

"Well," I said, trying to think it through. Seeing as I am taking the hard drive with me with the videos of my torture I think completely fixing the damage might be counterproductive. "Fix all broken bones and torn muscles and ligaments first. Everything under the surface that needs fixing. And that includes fixing my teeth." Note to self for the ME universe: teeth and a hammer do not mix well.

Manuel nodded and clicked his fingers. Immediately most of my pain left me. I tested standing up and found that my feet were no longer hobbled. I looked at my hands on the fingers were no longer mangled, like I had tried finger punching a wall over and over. Or, in my case, having each joint broken over and over. The relief that back from my back, arms, legs and chest was almost overwhelming. I could finally breathe without pain. My tongue could now slide over my teeth without getting cut up by broken fragments of enamel. Opening my mouth without looking like a crack addict is a big plus to me.

I looked down at my shirtless body to think about what I wanted next. "Maybe, make all my scabs into scars," I suggested. Immediately the dried red blood flaked and fell off me, leaving white scar tissue behind.

"Now, how about you fade out all my scars? Don't get rid of them but maybe make them less pronounced. That way if anyone sees them they will definitely notice them but not so much that people get sick just by looking at me," I continued as I inspected my skin.

The scars start fading. All stab and whip marks become white lines across my skin. The worst stab wounds become slight welts. The massive scar on my shoulder become far less pronounced but is still extremely visible. Seeing it makes me think of another scar I can't see.

"The symbols that are burnt into me. Get rid of the symbol itself but keep them as faded burn marks," I stated more clearly. Now that the injuries are healing I am no longer in pain. Weak from lack of food and thirsty from lack of fluids maybe, but no longer in pain.

"OK, now if you can reattach my ear, fix the damage in my right eye and straight my nose to its proper position that would be great. And take care of the ringing in my ears from the tinnitus."

Manuel did as I asked and for the first time in about maybe six months I could reach up to my left ear and feel like it wasn't missing half of the oratory receptor.

We kept going on a few more things, like fixing any and all damage to my groin and nerves. Manuel told me that even though my nerves were fixed, because of what I went through I would still have a higher than average pain tolerance, which suited me fine.

Finally, my body was at a visual level that I was satisfied with. I looked like I had been tortured but the scars were no longer as pronounced and would in no way affect my abilities or performance. I was then given clothes to help me fit in to the Citadel population without causing a scene. Specifically, a long-sleeved shirt in 'modern' style, and long, loose-fitting pants. Once that was sorted we went back to the important details of my arrival.

"Your name, as requested, will be Brock Neilson," Manuel said. "That is what people will be calling you so I hope you get used to it soon. Otherwise people are going to think you are not mentally all there. If anyone yells out 'Oliver' then try not to react to it. Now, where do you want to go?"

"I want to go to the Citadel," I told him. "That's where I can start getting my resources together. But that means that I will need to have money. Getting the money is my first step, so hopefully you can do what you said and help me out."

Manuel gave me a little smirk. He clicked his fingers again and suddenly we were floating over one of the wards. I couldn't tell from our current position which one but we appeared to be midway along one of the arms. We were hovering outside a warehouse that backed onto an alleyway where there were several creatures lounging around. From my height I couldn't tell exactly but I think it was three batarians and a turian. All the batarians were in some sort of armour but I wasn't all that familiar with the equipment. I hadn't really worried about that so much in the game. I was more into the weapons and the missions, not to mention the abilities.

"Alright," Manuel said looking down at the scene below us. "See these three batarians? They are currently wanted by C-SEC for multiple crimes, including slavery and murder of government officials. The bounty on them is extremely generous. Get all three alive and you have more than a few million. The turian is nothing so just wait till he is gone and I will drop you on top of them. Try spread yourself out in the air and you can knock down all three at once. When they are down bring up your omni-tool, like this, and press this button to call C-SEC. While you are waiting for them to arrive, bring up this program here and hack their omni-tools to take the money out of their accounts." He ran through the programs so that I could see them.

I look up in surprise. "You mean I am allowed to hack and steal other people's money?" I ask incredulously. Considering whom Manuel ran messages for this was a big surprise.

"Well, considering the uniqueness of your situation, as well as the overall goal that you are trying to achieve, you are allowed to appropriate resources from the criminal elements and remove obstacles in whatever form without it being held against you by Him. You will still need to watch out as far as law of the land goes."

Wow. If that wasn't a licence to steal from the criminals and kill whoever got in my way then I didn't know what it was. And I was cleared to do it too.

"Be careful," Manuel warned, as if reading my thoughts. For all I knew he could have been. "Do not abuse the freedom that has been given to you. If there is another solution to solve a problem then you are expected to take it. Taking out everyone that gets in your way by killing them will not be tolerated. You still need to talk people into doing things. Believe it or not, most of the people in this galaxy ae not criminals and should not be treated that way by you. Understood?"

I nod my head, feeling no small sense of relief that I can do that now without sending pain coursing through my body. Besides, even though it wouldn't be the first time I had killed now, I am not a psychopath. I wouldn't kill people just because I felt like it. That simply wasn't who I was.

"Good," Manuel said into my thoughts. "Well, if there is nothing else…"

"Wait!" I exclaim as something else flashes through my mind. "One last thing. Can you give me the ability to resist any forced asari mind melds?"

Manuel cocked his head little. "You don't want just anyone to have access to your head? Understandable. Uh…" He looked over his shoulder again, as if looking at someone. "Tell you what, I am going to go out on a limb here and say yes." He snapped his fingers again. "There. Now if anyone tries to get inside your mind without permission, you will have the ability to resist them completely."

I gave a small sigh of relief. "Thank you, Manuel. For everything."

He smiled back at me with that kind expression on his face. "You are welcome, 'Brock'. Now before I drop you off," he tapped me on the forehead with a finger, "you now know the location of eight high quality eezo asteroids. That should give you plenty to work with so far as credits is concerned. Now good luck, and remember: spread out!"

With that he disappeared in a pulse of light and I fell about one hundred metres.

I did my best not to scream as I made my way down. The whole trip only lasted a few seconds but my stomach was still in my mouth the entire fall. I managed to get mostly spread eagle before I hit the ground.

Except that I didn't hit the ground.

I landed directly on two of the batarians and managed to clip the third one with my foot. Somehow, I don't end up with so much as a scratch, which I am going to attribute to Manuel as a parting gift. The turian was nowhere to be seen so I didn't bother with him. I got back to my feet and looked down at the three criminals. Two were out cold and the third was struggling feebly to get back up. I walk over to him and kick in the head, hard. Instantly he joined his comrades in unconscious oblivion.

I follow Manuel's advice and call up C-SEC on my omni-tool. They tell me that they will be there in a few minutes so I follow Manuel's second instruction, bring up the hacking program and drain their accounts.

Wow, not bad. Straight away I managed to get more than a half million credits, just from hacking the batarian's omni-tools. These guys must have been doing a decent amount of crime. Or maybe not. I don't know enough yet to make a decision either way. I remember Manuel saying that the criminals were slavers. I have no idea how much a slave goes for but I can't say I have any guilt for what I have done here.

About ten minutes later I see three aircars landing just in front of the warehouse, all in C-SEC colours with flashing lights. Seven officers start making their way towards me in the alleyway, weapons drawn. Leading them is a salarian, but he isn't the one I am looking at. A turian, second on the left from my perspective, is none other than Garrus Vakarian.

I did my best to not react. Huh, it's strangely easy. Probably because I still feel empty inside, despite my new interstellar location. It's honestly like the majority of me just doesn't care while a small part of me that hopes for my reward. Not the C-SEC one, the one Manuel promised me.

Or it could be that I was expecting to run into him at some point anyway.

Anyway, Garrus is making his way towards me, pistol not quite pointed in my direction. I make sure that my hands are clearly visible and in as non-threatening position as possible. The leading salarian walks straight up to me, pistol drawn but pointed at the floor.

"I am Senior Officer Largol. I assume you are the one that made the call?" he asked me, typically quick salarian speech patterns from what the games showed me.

I nodded. "Brock Neilson. I saw these guys on a wanted list near C-SEC headquarters and remember seeing them out here so I thought I would do the right thing."

He blinked his large eyes at me and nodded to one of his men. The other officers went over to the unconscious criminals and scanned them."

"He's right," an asari declared. "This one here is Jargoth Devor, wanted for slavery, murder, smuggling, theft and damaging public property."

"This one is Drushak Luksan," another salarian spoke up. "Wanted for extortion and as an accomplice to the murder of a member of the volus ambassadorial staff. Ambassador Din has put an extra bounty on top of what C-SEC is offering."

"Last one is Halak Balaam," Garrus called out, standing over the third one. "Slaver, connected to twenty-eight murders of well-respected asari and turian officials. Primarch Fedorian has offered to match the bounty that C-SEC is giving for his capture if he is caught alive."

Largol stares at me unblinking. I stare straight back. Finally, he holsters his pistol.

"Well, it looks like you have performed a public service here," he said. "Well done. We will need you to come to headquarters to make a statement and then we can give you your reward."

I nodded and followed the lizardman to his aircar. The trip to C-SEC was quick and quiet. I wasn't feeling up to talking much and apparently the cop wasn't either.

C-SEC headquarters wasn't really what I was expecting. We arrived at a landing pad that looked a little similar to the one in Mass Effect 3 but other than that I didn't really recognise any layout. I saw the other two air cars land behind us and watched the C-SEC officers drag out the three now awake, but still groggy, prisoners.

One of them saw me and tried to stumble in my direction. Garrus gave him a quick jab to the gut and the batarian was down. The four-eyed alien sent me a glare and seemed to growl out something that sounded like 'I would regret it' but I might have been mistaken. It was pretty garbled.

Largol took me to an interrogation room. It confused me for a moment when I was asked to sit down but I complied with the instruction. To my slight surprise, it wasn't Largol that sat down. Not a minute after I arrived, the door opened again and Executor Pallin walked in, taking the seat opposite me.

"Mr Neilson," he began, tone all business. "I have some questions about your actions today. How did you come to know that the three criminals, Halak Balaam, Drushak Luksan and Jargoth Devor, would be in that location today?"

Ah, interrogation. Wasn't completely expecting that.

"Completely coincidental," I replied as casually as I could. I think I did a good job, if I do say so myself. "I had walked passed the warehouse earlier and saw those three and a turian talking in the alleyway. Then I vaguely remembered the 'Most Wanted' sign that C-SEC posts on its extranet site so I checked it out. Turns out they were the same. So, I went back to the warehouse and got up on the roof. Saw those three talking in the alley and jumped on them. Literally. Knocked them all down and called your men. That's it."

He looked at me, his mandibles twitching slightly. "Well, let's go back to what you were doing in that area of Kithoi Ward."

The 'conversation' lasted for another forty-five minutes before he finally let me go. A quick stop to the bounty collection desk and the officer there transferred the reward to my omni-tool. Sweet. I now had nearly three million credits in cash. That was more money that I had ever had in all the parts of my life combined. I was also informed that I could expect to receive the Hierachy's take of the bounty within the next two weeks. Neato.

I started heading towards the exit to find move to the next part of my plan.

"Mr Neilson!"

I turn around and see Garrus Vakarian, sniper extraordinaire and all-around best gaming bro, walking towards me.

He stops within arms-reach of me and I can't help but be a little suspicious that I am going back into the interrogation room.

"I just wanted to say thank you," he says, to my pleasant surprise. "These guys deserve to rot the rest of their miserable lives behind bars in a small room on a forgotten moon. And because of you turning them in, the galaxy is a little bit safer." He held out his hand and I shake it. His talons are unexpectedly sharp against my wrist.

"Thanks Detective…" l paused, realising that I am not supposed to know who he is yet.

"Vakarian. Garrus Vakarian."

"Well, thanks for your praise, Detective Vakarian," I reply. "But I didn't do all that much. Except land on them at the right moment, I suppose."

He chuckled. "Yeah, well maybe you got lucky but you still called us so that counts as doing the right thing."

I give him a small smile. It wasn't much more than a twitch of the corner of my mouth. "Well, I guess that I did. If I see you around again, feel free to say hi."

He gave what I assume is the turian equivalent of a smile and nodded, then turned and headed out.

Looks like things are already going my way.

...

A/N Follow/Favourite if you like; up to you. Constructive criticism is appreciated. Trolls are ignored.