Chapter 27

Zakera Wards Marketplace – Citadel

Jacob couldn't get the nagging thought from his mind. He found himself wondering if someone was screwing with him or if the message he got was legitimate. The only thing he knew for sure was that there was only one person who could help him find out. He had been trying to take his mind off the situation by roaming the Citadel. He knew Shepard had grounded them until they had taken care of something important, but she was being kind of vague about the whole thing making him wonder what was going on.

But he wasn't one to question orders. Or… he used to not be one to question orders. His time aboard the Normandy made him question a lot of things recently. But one thing was certain, he wasn't about the question her orders after everything she had accomplished. It made that task ever harder, however, whenever he'd walk into a shop and there was a picture of Shepard grinning awkwardly with the shop owner in almost every store he visited in the marketplace. He didn't know if the spectre was just too nice to tell people no or if she was getting some benefit from all the publicity, but every time he saw her face, the matter arose in his mind again.

Finally, he decided to send her a message and see if she'd even entertain him. He found himself in a small video game store checking out the latest fighting games on display, wondering whether Shepard would have any issue with a console on the Normandy. He heard his omni-tool ping and looked down to see that Shepard had answered him almost immediately. He just smirked and shook his head. "Does this woman even sleep?"

He read the message and immediately set off for her location at the nearby aquarium. The giant tanks of fish inside the Citadel always weirded him out. The claustrophobia and dark rooms made him uncomfortable, but he'd be fine if it wasn't an extended stay. When he arrived at the aquarium, he was surprised to see Samara arriving there as well. He looked her up and down, noticing that it was the first time he'd seen her outside her armor. Instead, she wore long robes and an intricate matching scarlet hood over her crest.

"Mister Taylor, I believe it is beyond coincidence that we should be here at the same time," said the justicar with the smallest of smiles.

"Shot in the dark," he said holding his hands up. "You need to speak to Shepard?"

She chuckled dryly. "The obvious answer."

"Feel free to go first," he said as he held the door open for her.

"Your chivalry is appreciated, Mister Taylor," she said with a bow of her head and entered the building.

He followed her inside the darkened building and into a room with a massive wall devoted to a huge tank. The blue water within flourished with so many kinds of different fish that he couldn't hope to count them all as they moved through the water like a shifting mosaic of metallic colors. Sitting in front of the large tank was Shepard, her blue eyes staring up into the glass at the magnificent display that even impressed Jacob.

The justicar approached the spectre and bowed her head as she had done to him. "Pardon, Spectre. You instructed me to come see you here."

Shepard tore her gaze away from the large fish tank and nodded to the asari. "You said you were having trouble on Omega?"

"I have several informants on Omega that I've used in my days as a justicar," started the asari as she sat down next to Shepard and stared up at the tank as well. "I've asked them for information on my target after her arrival on Omega, but they've come up with almost nothing."

"Have you tried Aria?" asked Shepard curiously as she crossed her legs.

"I've fought with Aria before. She is powerful for her age. I doubt she would help me," said the justicar as she closed her eyes. "I would not put it past her to tip the target off to get back at me and I do not have the funds to buy my way around her pettiness."

Shepard thought for a long moment before letting out a sigh. "Have your contacts get ahold of Hermes."

Samara tilted her head and looked at Shepard oddly. "Aria's second? Are you sure?"

"Tell him it's a favor for Torch," said the spectre. "Don't worry, he's not what you think he is."

"I shall trust your words," said Samara dutifully as she stood up again. "Thank you, Shepard. I find myself relying on you more than I'd like."

"We made a deal, Samara. I don't intend to back out until your mind is clear for the mission ahead," said the spectre with a grin. "Just make sure your informant doesn't know the message is coming from me. Aria might not like her second in command being too chummy with former Alliance, current spectre."

"I will advise my informant to be very cautious when dealing with him," said the justicar as she bowed her head. "I appreciate your time, spectre."

Samara lifted her head and turned to leave, allowing Jacob to take her spot. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied with a grin. "What's up?"

He sighed, feeling like he was just piling more onto her plate. "You remember two years ago when the Alliance had you running all over the galaxy?"

"Hard to forget," she said with a shrug. "It actually became a running joke on the original Normandy that the Alliance threw me to the Spectres so that they could retire and let me solve all their problems."

Jacob snorted and nodded. "I get it. Then again, when your mother and father are some of the most powerful people in the Alliance, I guess doing favors for the Alliance just seems like doing them for family."

"You're not wrong," she said as she turned to him and eyed him curiously. "Why do you ask."

"I know you already have a lot on your plate. I don't wanna add more to it," he said as he prejustified her telling him to hit the road.

Instead, she just shook her head. "Jacob, I've never had any issues doing favors for the crew. I need you all to help me, and I'll help you. If anything, you asking me for help is a relief. It makes me feel less guilty when I have to ask you to do stuff later."

"Yeah, I get your point," said the man with a smile.

"You all having concerns outside of our mission is a good thing. It gives you something to fight for. And helping with those problems means you'll be more ready for the mission ahead. So, don't be afraid to ask me if you need something," she said as she elbowed his arm gently.

He nodded and looked down for a moment. "You remember my old mentor I told you about, Ronald Taylor?"

"No relation?" she asked with a grin.

He chuckled and nodded. "I told you he went into the civilian sector because in his own words, 'I'm tired of bureaucrats in uniforms telling me how to do my goddamn job,'" he said using air quotes. "What I didn't tell you was that the civilian ship he was posted on was called the Hugo Gernsback after the famous scifi magazine creator. I also didn't tell you was that shortly after his ship went touring out into the Traverse, it went dark."

Her brows furrowed deeply. "No message, no nothing?"

"Silent as a mouse," he said as he shook his head. "No SOS, no ship, no bodies, no nothing. It went through a relay and didn't come back."

"Unfortunately, that can happen in the Traverse," she said as she rested her elbows on her legs. "So, has that changed?"

"I got a ping last night in my urgent channels from an anonymous source," he said as he looked over at her. "The Hugo Gernsback's SOS beacon is currently going off."

"You don't know who sent it?" asked Shepard quizzically.

"Fraid not. But someone saw it happening and knew to send it to me, so it has to be someone who knows me and my history," he said with a sigh. "Either way, I've tracked the beacon to an uncharted system in the Rosetta Nebula. I was wondering if we had the time to go check it out."

"Ten years is a long time. Do you think you'll find him alive?" asked Shepard as she turned to him.

"Honestly, I'm probably just going to confirm his death, but I'd like that closure. He was important to me, and the only thing I've never buried is a body," he said as he looked at her solemnly. "I'm not getting my hopes up. If he's dead, he's dead. I've already mourned him. But I'd like to check just in case."

"We were waiting til the end of the week for something on Bekenstein, but we have a few days. We should have plenty of time to go check the beacon," she said as she stood up and gave one last longing look at the fish tank. "Be ready to go by the end of the day."

"You got it, Shepard," he said as he stood up. He stayed silent for a long few seconds before holding his fist up for her. "Thanks." She clenched her own fist and bumped his. "Just one more question for you," he said as he eyed her seriously. "Did you work with my father?"

Her brow rose as she put her hands in her hoodie pockets. "Why do you ask?"

"Years ago, I decided to join my mother and father for the holidays. We didn't talk much business, but he did wanna see how capable I was in hand to hand. So, we went a few rounds. We put each other down a few times with lots of bumps and bruises. But when we were sitting and getting our wind back, he smiled at me, " said the soldier as he crossed his arms. "He said I reminded him of a puppy he knew named Torch."

"A puppy?!" growled Shepard as she glared. "Tell me where he's at and I'll put him on his ass a few times too!"

Jacob laughed at her words. "He's an advisor with the Alliance, so Anderson would probably know more than I would," said Jacob before raising his arms defensively. "So, I take that as a yes?"

"Yeah," she said with a sheepish grin. "I didn't know if it was the best idea to tell you after you had explained to me that he was all business at home. I felt like it would have been awkward to tell you that I had spent more time with your dad than you did."

"I mean, I was pretty salty at the time being compared to a labrador. But after hearing you bring up your code name, I feel a lot better about his words. A lot less demeaning," he said before giving her a shining grin. "And it helps to know you were bossing around Alliance even back then."

"I did run a tight ship for being the lowest ranking on the team," she said with a chuckle. "Go get ready and we'll see about that distress beacon."

"You got it, Shepard," he said as he turned and left the building, a new fire burning inside him.

Afterlife – Omega Station

Zeek was confused by the request. He had been an information broker on Omega for a while. In all his time there he had never seen Hermes as a source of information. Aria, absolutely. The woman traded anything and everything for information on her enemies, her allies, and even keeping tabs on her daughter. But he had never had cause to talk to Aria's own second in command. And he was intrigued to see how the interaction went.

The human arrived at the club and as he approached the stairs up to the holy throne of the queen of Omega, the turian guard held up his hand. "Sorry, but unless you have an appointment, you're not getting up there."

"Actually, I need to see Hermes. Can you tell him his friend Torch needs a favor?" he asked, wondering if the guard would even entertain him without some kind of bribe. But when the human's name came up, he seemed to stand a bit straighter.

"Stay here," growled the turian as he turned and stepped up the stairs. Zeek sighed and looked out over the bar, wondering whether he'd come out of this with a new contact or if the justicar who sent him here had bad intel. He waited a few minutes longer before someone finally descended the stairs. Looking up, the agent was startled to see someone he'd never met before staring at him.

Instead of the intended target, a young woman stood before him. Her hair was practically glowing pink and bundled up into two giant pigtails that looked like they were electrical to the touch. She wore a black jacket and skirt with heeled boots to match her human gothic attire. The man reached up and scratched his head nervously, wondering if this was a hooker sent to him to make him go away. "I asked for Hermes. Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Hermes," said the young woman, causing the man's skin to crawl. The voice was a perfect match. "Come with me," ordered the gothic young woman as she walked past him and headed out of the club. The mesmerized agent followed, still trying to figure out how the man he had seen at Aria's side multiple times before had now utterly transformed. He had apparently been pondering the mystery so intensely that he had missed the entire walk to the diner that they were now standing in front of. Hermes opened the door and held it for him.

Once inside, they sat at a small booth in the crowded diner. Looking around, Zeek noticed that the bar was mostly full. For an Omega restaurant to be this busy they had to either be insanely cheap or have really good food. There was an assortment of humans, asari, turians, and even a volus in the back likely using the free wifi as they typed on their terminal. His eyes shifted back to the target in front of him. "How are you… why?"

Hermes cocked her brow curiously. "How am I what?"

"You… you weren't like this before…" he said as he motioned towards her outfit and hair.

Hermes smirked and nodded. "I go through phases where I like to change my style. I'll probably change again in another six months," said the agent with a shrug. "Now, focus. Torch, favor."

"Oh… right," said the agent as he tossed the odd thoughts from his head. "A-Anyway, the Justicar Samara is hunting a criminal here on Omega named Morinth. I searched for the criminal with my own resources and turned up almost nothing. All my contacts refused to say anything once I said their name. They seemed… afraid."

"An understandable reaction," said Hermes as she nodded. "I have the info you're looking for."

"You do?" asked the agent, much less interested in the justicar's quarry at this point. The asari warrior was paying him far less than the other potential tidbit of information she had access to now. "So, who is this Torch person?"

"If you don't know, you don't need to know," said Hermes as the smile vanished from her face.

An asari stepped up to their booth. "What would you like?"

Interlacing her fingers, Hermes stretched her hands above her head. "Example platter."

Nodding, the asari walked away leaving Zeek perplexed. "Don't you mean sample platter?"

"No," said Hermes firmly with a dead serious stare.

Zeek knew he might be biting off more than he could chew, but if his hunch was right then that could lead to the payoff of a lifetime. "Right…" said the agent as he leaned in close to the goth girl again. "So, you know Samara was seen on Illium on Spectre Shepard's team, right? Made the news all over because of the Eclipse stock crashing." Immediately, the agent knew he had hit paydirt as any and all expressions had disappeared. "I'm right, aren't I? Torch is Shepard!" he said excitedly.

Hermes smiled again, which sent chills down his spine. Instead of saying anything, the young gothic woman stayed silent. But Zeek knew he had her right where he wanted her. Suddenly, the waitress came back with a small cup of coffee and set it in front of Hermes. The agent looked down at it in confusion. "That's not a platter…"

Without making a sound, Hermes reached up and pulled something free from her jacket. Twirling it in her fingers, she spun it until a blade freed itself from the confines of the handle. Zeek screamed in agony is the blade was immediately buried in his hand and through the table, pinning the appendage to the diner's furniture. "You're kind of an idiot, aren't you?"

"What the hell are you doing?!" snapped the panicked and pained man as he reached back for his gun. Grabbing the handle, he aimed directly at the smiling, electric-haired woman. But the heatsink immediately flew out and his hand seared in pain, causing him to drop it on the table. With no options left, he reached down for the knife, but Hermes still had her hand on it.

"Touch it and you won't get your hand back," barked the young woman. Zeek's body was shaking, one hand burned, the other was bleeding profusely, and he wasn't sure what to do now. "Look around you." Doing as he was told, the agent looked at the customers of the bar, not a single of them paying any mind to what was going on with him. Then he looked outside at the hundred or so people walking by on the crowded street. "You see these people?"

"I... I see them... please..." he begged as he gripped the table painfully with his burned hand. Hermes snapped her fingers with a grin and a chill immediately went down Zeek's spine as every voice silenced and every movement stopped. Looking around in the bar, every customer was now glaring heatedly at him. One look outside the restaurant showed something similar. Everyone walking before had stopped and was now staring through the diner window at him. It was as if Hermes had taken control over the population of Omega with a snap of her fingers. "H-How...?" he asked as if he were in a horror movie of some kind.

"Don't worry about how," said Hermes as she picked her coffee cup up and sipped from it. "The question you should be asking is why you thought it was a good idea to try and extort someone you believe is friends with both the Queen of Omega and the human spectre who killed a sentient starship literally named after death."

"I... I dunno..." said Zeek as his expression began to grow pale.

"I didn't figure," said the goth girl as she twirled a long strand of her pink hair between her fingers. "I assume you understand the consequences if you try and do anything with this little conspiracy theory of yours."

"I... do..." he said as he looked down at the blade penetrating his hand again.

"Good," said Hermes with a grin. "Every time you look over your shoulder, I'm going to be there. Every time you take a piss, I'm going to be washing my hands. Any time you go to the movies, I'm going to be at the concessions stand." Finally, the smile vanished. "If you try and bring up your little fairy tail to anyone, you'll be on the missing person's board within an hour. Do I make myself clear?"

"U-Understood," said the man gasping shallow breaths now.

"Good!" said Hermes as she ripped the blade clean from his hand. Zeek shouted and grabbed his hand as the asari waitress set down a small med kit next to him. "You've only lived on Omega for a few months, so I'll consider this a neighborly warning. Tell your justicar that her assassin hangs out at the VIP area of the club Heat Death. And if you wish to continue working in your industry, I'd advise you to stick your nose where it isn't invited," she said as she twirled the blade until it was safely back inside the casing.

2175 Aeia – Alpha Draconis System

The trip was longer than she would have liked. The Alpha Draconis system was the farthest known system from the closest relay in the cluster, and as such it had taken nearly half a day just getting there from the relay system. But as they flew in the shuttle down to the world where they could already see the silhouette of the massive, crashed freighter, she found herself a bit more relaxed.

The planet was a jungle world. It was mainly green with crystal blue oceans which meant that it would be ripe for colonization if she ever revealed its presence to the Council. But that she would have to worry about later as Ralixia kicked her boot to get her attention. "What's down here?"

"That ship," said Shepard as she nodded towards the freighter that nature had reclaimed. "It's been missing for ten years. We're mostly here to check for survivors."

"After ten years?" asked the turian as she eyed Jacob who was simply staring at the crashed starship. "Well, I hope we find something."

"Your spectre exam is almost done, by the way. One or two more missions counting this one and you'll have your answer," said Shepard with a grin as she eyed the turian woman.

"Oh?" asked the legate with a playful glare. "No big explosions? No wiping out galaxy-wide security companies? Just a survivor count and potential rescue mission?"

"You've proven yourself in combat. I don't need you to survive another explosion or take someone out at a hundred meters with your rifle to know you can fight," said the spectre with a shrug. "I just need to make sure you have the headspace now."

"What does that mean?" asked the turian as her mandibles twitched.

"Most other spectres probably would have already approved you. But for me to give you the power that comes with being a spectre, I need to know if you're also mentally prepared for what comes with that," said Shepard as she turned and looked out the window.

"You're afraid I can't handle the stress?" asked the legate as Lia set the shuttle down outside a yawning opening in the side of the dilapidated ship.

"You're an Imperium Marine. I know you can handle stress," said Shepard as she eyed her firmly and opened the door to the shuttle. "You'll get the criteria when you get my answer."

"Fair enough," said the turian woman with as she spun her hand in exasperation.

As all three exited the shuttle, Shepard noticed Lia get out as well. "What are you up to?"

"Well…" said the quarian nervously. "I know I'm not on your ground crew, but I was hoping to go with you this time. You said that this was mostly a rescue mission so there wouldn't be much fighting."

"It's up to you. If shots are fired make sure to take precautions though," she said as she turned to Jacob. He was staring up at the massive ship with a hand covering his eyes from the sun. "Is that it?" she asked, noticing that ten years' worth of exposure had likely wiped out any name that had been painted on the hull.

"I haven't seen it myself. But the transponder has its name, so it's gotta be," he said as he looked down at his omni-tool. "According to this, the beacon is just a short ride down the beach."

Shepard looked over the cliffside he was aiming towards and nodded. There was a long coastline with forest pushing all the way up to the sand. "Beachfront property. If the SOS is coming from there then that's already a good sign that people survived. Let's get the shuttle and head over there."

They left the doors open as Lia lifted the vehicle off the ground again and gently flew the machine towards the blinking indicator on her radar. Shepard stared down at the foliage and beaches below, trying to spot anyone or anything in the brush. But they all stopped when they heard the sound of gunfire. "The hell is that?" asked Jacob worriedly as he stared down into the jungle.

"Didn't think we'd actually need to use our weapons," said Ralixia as she pulled her rifle free.

"The people are likely malnourished and exposed. Use force appropriately," ordered Shepard as she looked at the turian woman who nodded back. "Lia, the shots clipped a few of the trees in that area so take us over there and keep the shuttle secure. It's resistant to small arms fire."

"You got it, Captain!" said the quarian excitedly as she zoomed the craft down and into the trees.

When they finally broke through the canopy, Shepard's eyes widened as she saw a group of nearly naked men fighting off a small army of mechs with some ancient looking guns. The mechs themselves also looked rusted and battered from the march of time and potentially the salt in the air from the sea eroding away at their metal frames. If she didn't know better, it almost looked like a battle between a primitive civilization and their first attempt at AI.

"Lia, swing us close to the mechs so we can take them out!" shouted Shepard over the sounds of battle. Looking back, the men who wore little more than loincloths made from the pants they used to wear hid behind trees and took potshots at the creaky mechanoid soldiers. As the shuttle swerved into the battle, the mechs turned to it and began to fire.

But Ralixia's battle rifle, Shepard's pistol, and Jacob's biotics tore them all to shreds before they even made a scratch on the craft. After the attack ended all of the automatons, the shuttle hovered just above the ground. "They still don't look too friendly," said Jacob as he eyed them warily. He raised his hands and put up a barrier around the entire shuttle.

"Take us closer," said Shepard as she put her helmet on. "Take every precaution." The shuttle slowly drifted in the men's direction as Shepard hanged out the side. "We are here to help you!" she shouted at the men who were still taking shots at Jacob's shield. If they heard, they didn't care. Growling, Shepard jumped out of the shuttle and Jacob let her out of the bubble as she donned her own barrier, walking straight up to one of the men that was trying to be sneaky behind a bush. As soon as he jumped up to shoot, she slashed the gun in half with one of her blades. "I said we're here to help you!"

But the man just continued to glare at her armored figure. Suddenly, someone else shouted from the trees to the east. "Yes! You! Help!" came the shout of a woman whose shirt was similarly tattered and worn. Shepard looked up, and she immediately noticed every single male she could see raise their weapons to fire. The familiar feeling of adrenaline surged through her, clearing her vision and making her faster as her biotics warped her across the forest. She popped up in front of the woman with her arms spread wide, creating a biotic shield.

The woman squeaked in surprise at her arrival and bullets began to pepper her protective aura. "Non-lethal, take them out!" shouted Shepard as she glared at all of the men who just tried to kill the woman. "What the hell did I just drop into?!"

Ralixia hurled herself from the shuttle and swept one of the naked men's legs out from under him before giving him an unceremonious crack to the skull with her rifle butt. Jacob straight clocked several into unconsciousness using his boxer's stance. And even Lia managed to take one down with a flying dropkick from her shuttle, sending the man crashing into a tree before he thudded against the ground unconscious. In total there were fifteen of them now laying stunned on the ground.

Sighing to herself, Shepard turned back to the woman. "What were you doing running onto a battlefield like that? You could have gotten killed."

"You!" said the woman whose expression was one of awe. "You come from the sky!"

Shepard had no idea what to say. She sounded like a primitive woman who had just made first contact, but she was clearly human. "What are you asking me?"

"The leader! She said you would come from the sky! She promised! And you're here!" said the woman as she almost burst into tears.

"What the hell is wrong with her?" asked Jacob as he approached as well. But immediately the woman saw him and began backpedaling. He raised his hands defensively at her action. "Woah, I'm not gonna hurt you…"

"Back hunter! You are like them!" snapped the woman fearfully.

Jacob looked at the others, then looked at Shepard who shrugged at him. "I'm sorry if I scared you."

"You terrible! Stay away!" snapped the woman as she rushed to Shepard's side and hid behind her.

Shepard looked at the woman, then looked to Jacob, then looked back at the unconscious militia men. Jacob sighed and reached up to rub his head. "Is this as bad as it looks?"

"I certainly hope not…" said Shepard as she tucked her pistol away.

Ralixia approached with one of the weapons the men were using, showing that it was barely functioning. "I'm surprised they were able to hit anything with these."

"They still have ammunition after 10 years, so whatever is going on with the mechs is a recent occurrence," said Shepard as she examined the shaved block inside the chamber.

"My guess is the beacon going off and this new war between survivors are related," said Jacob as he crossed his arms.

Shepard nodded, then turned to the woman. "Can you take us to your leader?" asked the spectre, unamused that she had to use that line unironically.

Survivor Camp – 2175 Aeia

After finally managing to get the woman inside the craft, a process that included Jacob hanging securely onto the roof, they flew towards the survivor camp. Shepard tried to get more information out of the woman, but she was uncooperative as her excitement in being inside a flying vehicle. "Please, take us back to the sky!"

Ralixia shook her head. "I'm assuming she's asking to be rescued and taken back to galactic society?"

Jacob spoke from his spot on top. "But why does she sound as if she barely made it out of grade school? Ten years isn't long enough for that kind of language degradation."

"Hopefully we'll find out from this place," said Shepard as the shuttle broke the tree line and they saw a small settlement in the clearing. Immediately, everyone in the settlement rushed over to the hovering vehicle and raised their hands up in praise.

"I can't land with them that close!" snapped Lia as she swung the vehicle away from the chasing crowd. When she finally managed to plant it on the ground, the crowd rushed up again and tried to push their way inside. But Shepard forced them all away from the craft with a light biotic push.

"Do not touch this shuttle until I have given you permission!" she said, slightly annoyed at the confusion that this situation had brought on. She knew these people were eager to be rescued, but she also needed to follow protocol. Something was off about this place and these people and she couldn't allow her crew to be endangered because she was careless. Turning to the woman inside the craft, she pointed at the crowd. "Leader?"

Nodding, the excited woman leapt out of the shuttle and began running for the middle of the camp. "Leader Sophia! This way!"

"Lia, make sure to lock down the shuttle if you're coming with. I don't want them joyriding it into a cliffside," said the spectre as she hopped out as well and looked at all the faces. Immediately, she felt her skin crawl as she recognized that the entire crowd was nothing but women.

"Shepard," said Jacob from on top. "If you could check things out and fill me in. It's probably best if I stay here."

"Maybe, but you're the reason we're here. Come down and just give them a wide birth. Don't do anything too threatening," ordered the spectre as she sighed heavily.

Doing as he was asked, Jacob jumped down and crossed his arms so that he didn't look too threatening or imposing. The women of the colony, like their tour guide, gave Jacob a wide berth. "This is exactly what it looks like, isn't it."

"We'll find out soon enough," said Ralixia as she tailed them.

The entire camp looked like a set of makeshift and ramshackle huts made of stripped parts from the torn up Hugo Gernsback. Solar panels were set up along the outside of the settlement with survival heating lamps planted in each small hut area. The crowd of women had followed them to the largest makeshift tent in the area. Shepard noted that there were around twenty women here. Finally, the eager one from the ship grabbed Shepard's wrist and pulled her inside one of the tent flaps. As she was pulled inside, Shepard's eyes locked onto those of an older woman. She had dark hair that exposure had bleached and her brown eyes were tired.

"Who are you?" asked Shepard curiously as the young woman who brought her here sat on a nearby cushion on her knees.

The tired woman sighed. "Sophia."

"Alright Sophia," said Shepard as the others waited outside. "Can you tell me what's going on here?"

"I can't… use words. Here," said the woman as she pulled a datapad out from under one of her cushions and handed it over.

Shepard eyed the device but noted that it was dead. Sitting down on a small makeshift stool and linked the datapad to her omni-tool, allowing the power source to share its load. Once the connection was established, Shepard hit the power button and turned the device back on. After the startup process ended, she noticed that this was essentially a logbook that started only months after the crash of the ship.

Looking up at the woman, this Sophia simply looked down at the ground with little to no expressiveness on her face at all. Shepard knew she wasn't going to be the same after what she was about to read. Biting her lip, she looked back to the datapad and began to read from the very beginning what had happened since the crash.

Survivor Camp – 2175 Aeia

She emerged from the tent, her expression dead as she nodded to the others. They joined her and she began to immediately beeline it for their next location.

"Shepard! Everything alright?" asked Jacob as he jogged up next to her. "What is it? What happened?"

But she stayed silent until they were well away from the ears of those in the camp. Once they reached the shuttle again, she drew her fist back and punched the vehicle so hard that it rocked lightly, stunning the others into silence. "Lia, call the Normandy and have a second squad come down and apprehend the men we decommissioned earlier. Tell them the bring their own weapons and arrest them."

"Understood Captain," said the quarian as she turned away and activated the comm.

Once the young quarian did as she was bid, Shepard turned back to the other two. "Ten years ago the ship crashed here. The beacon was damaged, and the first mate was in a coma. That's who I met just a minute ago."

"Sophia was the first mate?" asked the soldier as his brow rose curiously.

Shepard nodded and continued. "With the captain dead and first mate out of commission, second mate Ronald Taylor took over. They spent the first few weeks testing the flora in the area to see if it was edible and they found that it was. But they figured out that the local flora cause some kind of degradation in the consumer, resulting in lower brain functionality."

Ralixia leaned against the vehicle as she listened. "That explains the speech and potentially the aggression in the men."

"Taylor ordered that the surviving food from the ship be saved for the officers to make sure they were capable of fixing the SOS beacon," said the spectre as she pulled her pistol free from her belt and checked to make sure it was functioning. "Shortly after that order, Sophia woke up. She was an engineer as well as the first mate, which meant that she could take over beacon repairs. But Taylor delegated her to the lower crew instead and kept the food for himself and his chosen crew."

"Goddammit…" growled Jacob as he clenched his fist. "The initial decision makes sense, but he never had any intention of letting them leave."

"At least not once he found out the food had the effect of mental degradation," said Ralixia as she crossed her arms with a look of disgust on her face.

"Since he was an officer, he had permission to access the mechs on board in case of pirate attacks. Almost immediately he began to use them on the crew when they caught on to what was happening. The men and women who rebelled were killed and their bodies were put up on display to dissuade any dissenters," said Shepard as she pointed to a stake sticking out of the ground not far from where they stood. She wasn't sure if ten years of exposure ate away the remains or if the remaining survivors had taken them down at some point. But she knew if she hadn't read Sophia's log, she'd have never been able to tell it apart from a regular tree.

"But… why? He said he hated assholes in the Alliance telling him how to do his job. So, he joins a civilian ship for a shot at getting away from that. Then the first chance command falls into his hands he turns into a goddamn tyrant?!" roared Jacob angrily, causing some of the survivors nearby to flee. He looked up at the terrified women and buried his face in his hands. "He's a goddamn monster."

"He's held command so far using the mechs. Eventually he began to through his own coconspirators to the beasts. He's killed some, exiled others. But the mechs are starting to fall apart because of the climate and lack of repairs," said Shepard as she activated her omni-tool. "The men we took out before were the exiles. I don't know how long they've had to eat the local flora, but before all that they were just as guilty."

"So, where is he then?" asked Jacob as he began to clench and unclench his fist. "Did they manage to get to him?"

"There's a small cave in the cliffside over there that leads to an open air cavern that's been called 'the chambers.' According to Sophia, he's locked himself up in there since the exiles started attacking," said Shepard as she pointed to a nearby cave built into the cliff.

"Good, then we can put an end to this ourselves," he growled as she began marching towards the opening.

Shepard turned and activated her comm. "EDI, we need some lifeboats down here. Make sure Chakwas comes with and only have women members of the crew helping her to rescue these people."

"Understood, Spectre," responded EDI from the Normandy above.

Shepard headed up after Jacob with Ralixia in tow and together they arrived to find Jacob standing over the smoking body of an ancient BLDR class mech that haven't been available for years. Tossing the robot aside with his biotics, they continued until they stepped into the open air cave. Instead of having a back wall, the cavern opened up to a cliffside with an incredible view of the forested inner continent. A handrail was embedded into the rock to make sure nobody rolled out of the cave.

Shepard looked over and noticed a flashing beacon sitting on a makeshift table made out of crudely carved wood. Jacob nodded towards the two people sleeping in the bed. Shepard acknowledged them before reaching down and picking up an ancient pistol that lay nearby. Jacob tapped Shepard's shoulder then pointed to the woman in the bed, then to the exit.

The bed was in the center of the cavern floor and Shepard nodded as she stepped over to the woman's side and gently tugged at her hand. The woman's eyes snapped open and she looked shocked for a moment, but Shepard put a finger to her own lips and shushed her. Looking around the room at the others, Shepard simply motioned for the woman to get up and follow her. Silently the woman nodded and pulled the blanket up around her naked form.

"You, follow her," said Shepard silently as she patted Ralixia on the shoulder. The woman understood and left Shepard alone with Jacob and his mentor. Jacob looked to her for confirmation before being given an approving nod.

Whipping a pistol off his belt, Jacob aimed at the beacon next to the bed and fired five rounds into it, causing it and the table it was on to explode. Ronald jumped out of his sleep and stared up at them wide-eyed before the soldier grabbed him by the hair and dragged him unceremoniously towards the railing and the cliff. 'W-What's happening!? Who are you!?" shouted the second mate as he struggled against Jacob. But despite saving the pre-crash food for himself, he was still too malnourished to do anything about it.

"Time to wake up 'acting captain,'" snapped Jacob as he slammed the man harshly against the railing.

Coughing, Ronald shook his head to clear his vision. He had a beard, fairly long but not as long as his hair which now reached down to his shoulders. He raised his hands up in the air. "Please! Don't harm me!"

"Stand up!" ordered Jacob as he aimed his own gun between the man's eyes. The man was shaking in fear as he stared down the barrel. "How could you have done this?" asked Jacob as Shepard stepped forward into the light as well.

"Acting Captain Ronald Taylor. I'm Spectre Jane Shepard and I've got more than a few questions for you," she said as she glared at him angrily.

"Spectre? A human?" asked the man as he looked between them. "H-Have you come to rescue us?"

"In a manner of speaking," said Shepard as Ralixia entered the room again, blocking the doorway in case the man got any funny ideas. "Care to tell me what happened here?"

"Uh… sure," said the man nervously as he looked between them all. "I… uh… we… that is to say our ship, it crashed. Don't know the reason why, but we descended to the planet's surface too fast. When we managed to crawl out of the wreckage, the beacon was broken and most of the bridge staff had died. So, command fell to me."

"What did you do with that command?" asked Jacob as he crossed his arms, his helmet visor apparently blocking his face just enough that the man didn't recognize him yet.

"I had to make some hard decisions," said the groggy man as his hands fidgeted wildly. "The food on this world is edible, but it comes at the cost of your mind slipping away. I had to order that the ship food be saved for me and the remaining bridge crew so that we were able to fix the beacon. Many didn't like the idea of losing themselves and hoping it was treatable later. They got violent."

Shepard knew Jacob wanted to make the man swallow his teeth for the lie, but she planted her hand on his shoulder both as a comfort and a deterrent. "Go on."

Nodding, Ronald sighed and looked out over the cliff. "There was a big fight over the order and I had to use the mechs keep them in line. But one of the bastards got the beacon before I could stop him and broke it," he said as he shook his head. "I only recently managed to salvage enough parts from the ship to build a new one."

"That's a long time. What took you?" asked Shepard as she crossed her own arms.

"Between trying to keep my people fed and fighting off the ones that took the guns and ran off, I haven't had free access to the ship for a while. Any time I stepped out of this camp I had either them or the wildlife in this place trying to kill me," he said as he rubbed his heavily sun-tanned collar bone where a lighter colored scar remained.

"So, let me see if I got your plan straight," began Shepard as she scratched her chin thoughtfully. "Your ship crashed, you used your access to the mechs to kill the people you couldn't control, and once the beacon was complete, you decided you didn't feel like activating it until your mechs started malfunctioning from a decade of exposure," said Shepard as she looked up at him. "How'd I do?"

The man had a look of incredulity on his face. "I didn't say any of that! Did you hear a word I said?"

"You can drop the bullshit, Ron," snapped Jacob as he reached up and pulled his helmet off.

It took a long moment for the man to recognize his former comrade, but when he finally did his eyes widened. "Jacob?"

"Jacob Taylor, your brother from another world," he said as he dropped his helmet and immediately smashed Ron across the face with a right hook that looked like it'd shatter concrete. Ron gasped in pain as he slammed into the ground, groaning loudly as Jacob cracked his knuckles. "How about we start over from the beginning, Ron. And every time you tell a bullshit lie to cover your ass, I start breaking shit?"

"Please…" gasped the man as he crawled backwards with his hands up defensively. "I… I won't lie… so please…"

"What the hell were you thinking, Taylor? Were you really planning to live the rest of your life here playing king?" asked Shepard as she picked Jacob's helmet up for him. "The food, as long as you could stretch it for a single person, would not last the rest of your life."

The man heavily sighed and reached up to rub his aching face. "Had everything gone peacefully I could think of worse retirement plans than just eating the local food and hanging out with the droolers."

"Call them that again and you won't get up from the next hit," said Jacob as he knelt down and death glared the man. "We were brothers. We looked out for each other. We promised to always have each other's back."

"I know!" snapped Ronald as he looked back up at Jacob. "I'm sorry I'm not the man you thought I was, Jacob. I wish you hadn't been here to see me like this."

"You wish you hadn't gotten caught," said Jacob as he pulled his pistol up and aimed at at the man again. "You're goddamn lucky I don't even think you're worth the bullet I'd use to end your miserable life. The way you treated these people, and then when questioned you have the gall to talk down to them," said the soldier as he grabbed Ronald by the hair again and jerked his head back, staring sheer hatred into his eyes. "I should give each and every one of them out there a knife and let them take you apart piece by piece. And even then you wouldn't get what you deserved."

"Let's go, Jacob," said Shepard as she nodded towards the door.

"Go… what do you mean go? Where are you going?" asked Ronald as he stood up in surprise.

"We're leaving with all of the survivors. The men we found out there, we'll see if we can save what's left of their minds and then they can pay for their crimes," said Shepard as she activated her omni-tool and stepped over to the large containers of rations that were left. Raising her arm, she planted multiple explosives on the crate before using her biotics to lift the entire thing. With the force of a battering ram, she slammed the crate through the handrail and sent it soaring over the forest below before blowing the entire thing up in a flash of light.

"What the hell was that?" asked Ronald incredulously as he looked between them all. "You're taking me with you! You have to! I deserve a fair-"

Before he finished his statement, Jacob knocked him senseless again. "I told you what you deserve. What you're going to get is a hell of a lot more lenient."

"You're going to stay in the little kingdom you've created. No rations to keep your mind, no victims to keep you entertained. Just you and this uninhabited planet," said Shepard as she nodded to the others, ordering them to head back. "And if it's ever too much for you, then do the galaxy a favor," she said with a look of disgust on her face before she tossed his own gun back at his feet.

Stepping back outside she looked to Jacob and saw the look of hurt devastation on his face. "How could I ever have looked up to a monster like him?"

Shepard sighed to herself and threw her arm over Jacob's shoulders. "People can hide who they are even from those they're closest to, Jacob."

"I guess…" he said as Shepard looked over at Ralixia. The turian woman's face was hard to read, but her eyes said that she was thinking as well. Looking to Shepard, the legate let a sigh out of her nostrils before nodding and heading back to help get the survivors on board the Normandy.