Chapter 51

Teltin Facility – Pragia

Shepard's grip on her pistol loosened as the two apparently knew one another. She didn't like that the young man was here in this abandoned facility at the same time as them. It seemed too perfect that they were both here at the same time. But she also wasn't about to biotic punch him into oblivion over a coincidence.

"You two knew each other?" asked Shepard curiously as she lowered her weapon, but kept it handy. If Aresh was indeed in this facility as a kid, there's a chance he was a powerful biotic as well.

"Knew isn't the right word. We just knew of each other," said Jack as her face soured. "He was one of the earlier boys they brought in. We'd sometimes write each other notes."

The young man gave a dry chuckle. "The director reeeally didn't like that," he said shaking his head. "I'd pass her notes when we fought in the arena. Then I'd usually fake getting knocked out."

Jack snorted and nodded. "The director found out and tried to force us to fight for real. But we didn't, so he punished me be taking my dinner away for three days."

Aresh seemed taken aback. "Really? He nearly beat me to death," said the young man as he shook his head.

Jack looked annoyed once more. Shepard didn't know what exactly was getting to her, but she had questions of her own. "Why are you here?"

Aresh shrugged slightly. "I dunno," he said simply.

"I don't like that answer. You being here waiting for us bothers me. Did someone tell you we were coming?" asked the spectre sternly.

"No, nothing like that," he said as he walked over and sat on Jack's old bed. "Life in the galaxy can't accept what it did to us," he said as he got a very distant look in his eyes. "The biotic shit was only the half of it. The sexual abuse, the torture… sometimes a kid would fuck up and they'd leave them hanging dead in our quarters for a few days as an example."

All three of the others in the room donned expressions of shock at the claim. "What the fuck?" asked Jack in bewilderment.

"The experimentation was honestly the least traumatizing thing about this place. At least they knocked us out for that," he said as he reached up and showed his arms. "I went to the Alliance for help, but they didn't want anything to do with an unstable asshole like me. They didn't help me, so I went to the Citadel hoping they could help. Even found an asari who helped the pain go away for the small amounts of time I could see her."

Shepard's gaze narrowed at him slightly. "You wouldn't be talking about the consort, would you?"

He nodded eagerly. "She was amazing. Said I didn't even have to pay. But honestly, even that started to wear thin," he said as he ran his fingers down his arm. "Then I started finding other ways of coping. Eventually, the noise became too much. I wouldn't be able to move on until I came back here."

"Came back here for what?" asked Jack as she glared at him. "Aresh, you came back here to kill yourself, didn't you?"

"The fuck's it matter? I'm a nobody. The galaxy doesn't want to deal with me. Nobody wants to. So, why not remove myself from the equation?" he asked indifferently.

"I cared about you! You were my friend!" she snapped at him.

"Is that why you left me here?" he asked bitterly. "I was here when you broke out. I was left behind. I was the one who collected all of these logs. All of these dates, times, and names. All of this evidence and it didn't mean a goddamn thing!" he snapped back before calming again. "I was stuck here until Cerberus's little clean up squad showed up."

"Why didn't they clean you up with the others?" asked Miranda sternly.

"Everyone else was dead. The guards were killing anything that moved, and the kids wanted revenge. The guards won, at least until Zee showed up. Any guards that were left after she fled I handled myself. Then came the cleanup crew. I saw them coming a ways off. I hid in the jungle and stole their ship when they went inside. Took it to Earth for all the good that did me," he said as he looked back at Jack. "You left me here."

"You were dead!" she clapped back. "On my way out I looked for you and found you covered in blood laying with a bunch of bodies!"

Aresh sighed and shook his head. "Goddammit…" he groaned in annoyance. "I was with a few kids near the arena when the alarms went off. One of the kids tried to take the guards out in the confusion, and in retaliation the guard shot us." Reaching up, he rubbed his shoulder gently. "It wasn't lethal for me, but I wasn't about to give him a reason to take another shot."

"Fuck!" snapped the convict as she punched the one-way mirror and blew it out with a biotic punch.

"It's fine, Zee," he said as he looked over at Shepard and Miranda. "So… who's your new crew?"

"Spectre Jane Shepard. I work for the Citadel Council… sorta," said the redhead as she turned to Miranda.

"O-Operative Miranda Lawson, Executive Officer of the Normandy," said the woman as she looked to the ground.

Jack glared at Miranda, but didn't say anything. Instead, she turned back to Aresh and shoved him. His hair, which was currently shaved on the sides and tied back into a ponytail burst from its ponytail and fell around his face as he caught himself. "You don't get to go out that way. Not while I'm still here."

"Zee, you meant a lot to me back then, but that doesn't change much now," he said with a shrug. "You saw what they did. Why would you wanna live with that?"

"I…" she started before turning to look at Shepard who was cycling through the evidence that Aresh had mentioned. Shepard looked up and nodded at her knowingly. "Look, we were treated differently. I had some horrible shit done to me," she Jack as she turned back to him. "But… I think they were using you guys to make sure I didn't die."

"That's not very comforting," said the young man as he crossed his arms.

"It's not supposed to be," said Jack as she matched his pose. "Regardless of what happened, we were both traumatized kids who survived this place. We need to help each other out."

"How do we even scratch that surface?" asked Aresh, his attention arrested at the idea of finally getting help.

"First…" said Shepard as she lowered her omni-tool. "You gathered all of these logs and videos for evidence. You must know, did the Illusive Man know what was going on here?" He gave her a look of confusion before she realized he likely wouldn't know him by name. "Big boss of Cerberus. Glowing eyes, usually in a pinstripe business suit. Always with a cigarette in his hand."

A look of realization dawned on his face. "Him…" he growled as he went over to his terminal and opened a video file.

A visual of a call between the Illusive Man and the so-called director of the facility played. "Sir, please. I know we went off script a bit, but I only wanted…"

"I don't like my people thinking on their own, Hadley," responded the Illusive Man, his cold eyes the same as they were today. In fact, the only real difference between then and now was that he still had streaks of coal dark in his hair back then.

"I apologize sir, I shouldn't have- started the aged man.

But the Illusive Man cut him off. "Quit trying to kiss my ass and tell me how far you've progressed. I at least want to know what I've invested in."

"Of course, sir," stated the balding man as he droned on about the progress they had made. Shepard's brows furrowed as she saw a look of interest materialize on the Illusive Man's face. When Hadley finally finished his report, the director sighed. "If we had access to more children, we could create a better control group. But as it stands now, she's outputting the equivalent of an asari maiden. Powerful, but not nearly what we had hoped."

The Illusive Man stayed quiet for a long moment before nodding. "I have ways of getting you what you need."

"Thank you sir!" said the man cheerfully.

But his mood sank at the Illusive Man's next words. "I'm going to overlook this little side project you've been running simply because it's for the benefit of humanity. But Hadley, if you ever go off script again, I won't be as lenient."

"U-Understood sir," said the older man as he bowed his head. Finally the video cut off.

Immediately, Miranda turned around and left the room. "Lawson!" shouted Shepard, but Jack held up her hand.

"Let the bitch go. She's lucky to walk out of here with both of her feet in her mouth like that," said the convict as she turned back to Aresh. "So… what's it gonna be?"

"I came back to kill myself. Why did you come back?" asked the young man.

"To blow this place up. Afterwards, I'm working to make the galaxy a safer place," she said as she crossed her arms.

He chuckled dryly. "I really wish I was as strong as you, Zee…"

"I'm strong because I had to be. You can't be strong for yourself, so be strong for me until you can," she said as she gently punched his good shoulder.

"I'll see to it you get the help you need," said Shepard, getting his attention. "Magical asari escapism is all good, but it isn't going to help you like you need. Come with us, watch this place go, then keep living knowing you and Jack have each other's backs."

He looked from Shepard back to Jack, who simply gave him a searching look. Finally, he nodded. "Alright."

Cargo Bay – SSV Normandy SR2

It had taken another twenty minutes before the bomb finally went off in the facility, wiping it, and hopefully any lingering doubts from Jack away. As they flew back towards the Normandy, Jack and Aresh began to tell each other stories about stuff that had happened after they left. But Shepard's attention was on Miranda, who didn't say a word the entire trip back.

As they pulled into the Normandy, Shepard got out and pulled Jack aside. "Hey, so… probably best if he doesn't interact with too many of the other crew. Given their origins, I don't know how well he'd take it."

"Right…" said Jack as he scratched her buzzed head gently. "I'll keep him busy. You send your little therapy elf girl down to my wing when you get the chance."

"Got it," said Shepard with a small smile. "How are you doing, by the way?"

"Huh?" asked Jack in surprise. But she looked down thoughtfully before raising her head again. "I guess I'm alright. I've… never really had people I can count on before."

"Even if you think everyone in the universe is on your back, count on me to help shoulder the load. Alright?" asked the spectre hopefully.

Immediately, Jack's expression soured. "Look Shepard, I know you play for the home team and all, but I need you to get your tongue out of my ear. You're not my type."

Shepard snorted at the remark and nodded. "Fair enough," she said with a grin before waving to the pair and heading off towards the elevator. Once inside, she spoke. "EDI, I need the whereabouts of XO Lawson."

"She entered the biotic training hall only moments ago," said the AI as the elevator slowed. "Shall I change your destination?"

"Might as well get this over with," said Shepard with a heavy sigh. She wasn't sure what she was walking into. Miranda had been on the Illusive Man's side from the beginning. She didn't know if this changed anything at all with her, but her storming away after their return meant that something was going on. Whether she was mad about being proven wrong, Shepard couldn't say.

As soon as she stepped off the elevator, she was confronted by Lia and Tali, both of whom had the quarian equivalent of a smile on their faces. It was a small feature Shepard noticed years ago when they were chasing after Saren, but quarians tended to squint when they smiled. Their luminescent eyes showed through their faceplate, allowing Shepard to see the kind of mood they were in immediately.

"Shepard!" chirped Tali happily.

"We were wondering if we could return to the Citadel and talk to the Council," blurted out Lia almost immediately.

Both Shepard and Tali looked at her in surprise, but Tali was the first to speak. "Well, no smoothness or finesse. You just went straight for the shotgun blast," said the quarian commander.

"Sorry…" groaned Lia as she held her head miserably. "I'm too anxious to do this. What if they say no? What if they throw me in jail? I couldn't survive in jail!"

"Nobody is throwing you in jail. At least… not unless you threaten the Council for saying no," said Shepard with a grin. "We'll be heading to the Citadel soon to resupply. As for talking to the Council, I'll need you to tell me why, but I don't see a problem with it. They still have enough respect for me to listen when I speak."

"Thanks Shepard! We really appreciate you," said Tali as she took Lia by the shoulders and led her away from Shepard. "You've got to learn to breathe…"

Shepard shook her head with a smile and headed off towards the training room at the back of the floor. As she approached the door and slid it open, her smile vanished as she saw one of the training dummies smash against the far wall, exploding into fractals as the woman's biotics tore it apart.

Shepard looked around the bay to find most of the rest of the dummies in a similar state. Looking up at the XO, she was so biotically charged that her hair was standing on end, making her look like some terrifying wizard casting a spell. The raven-haired woman's eyes, glowing with rage and biotic power, locked onto Shepard's showing the tear tracks that flowed. "What?" snapped the woman as she hit a biotic dummy with a warp so hard that it exploded into dust.

Knowing there was nothing she could say or express that would help the woman at the moment, Shepard sighed and shook her head. "I'll make sure you aren't disturbed."

But Miranda simply fell to her knees, the tears now flowing nonstop as she looked down at her hands. Shepard closed the door, knowing exactly what that look meant. She recalled Han Olar from Noveria trying to shower to remove the blood from his suit, blood that didn't exist. Unfortunately for Miranda, her hands would likely never be clean either. Shaking her head, the spectre walked away, leaving her to vent her anger and sadness.

Command Center – Pluto's Gate

He sat and watched as Shepard's form appeared on the display in front of him. She was currently dressed in civilian clothes, a hoodie with her N7 logo on it, as well as a pair of khakis with large pockets on the sides.

He snorted lightly. He'd never thought highly of her ability to dress herself, but it slightly annoyed him that she was so casual as to call him back in such clothing. It was bad enough she outright refused the uniforms he had made for the Normandy. Hell, according to Miranda, her pet krogan had gone around collecting the Cerberus logos off the entire crew's shirts to give as a gift to Subject Zero.

This resulted in Shepard replacing the entire crew's uniforms out of her own pocket, an occurrence which all but eliminated any reminder of who the crew actually worked for. Not to mention the look of utter disdain she'd had on her face recently. He didn't know what happened, but he could definitely sense the energy from her shifting. She was only barely being cooperative anymore.

"According to EDI, your crew is working together like a well-oiled machine, Shepard. I'm happy to hear that they're working so well despite their differences," he said, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice. He would never have imagined Subject Zero would have worked so well on a team with Cerberus operatives. That's ignoring the worst offenders, a quarian and geth working side by side.

"That's what happens when they have a leader who inspires them rather than inspiring fear," said Shepard scathingly.

"I don't like the tone you're taking with me, Shepard," griped the man as he sat up in his chair.

The spectre rolled her eyes. "You're not my boss, and you're certainly not my dad. My tone is irrelevant to our working relationship. Now, do you have something for me, or did you waste both our times just to bitch at me like I'm a highschooler?"

He wanted nothing more in that moment than to press the button he had on his chair, cutting the call and ending their relationship permanently. But he knew better than to allow his emotions to guide his decisions. Instead, he pulled a cigarette free of his pack and lit it. "EDI found out quite a bit from the data she pulled from the collector ship. As it turns out, they have specific protocols for going through the Omega Relay."

Shepard's attitude seemed to vanish at the claim. "Did she manage to copy the protocols?"

"Unfortunately, she didn't have enough time. She had only just learned of their existence when she had to focus all of her remaining attention on keeping you alive and getting you out of there. I hesitate to think of what would have happened if she hadn't," he said as he drew from the cigarette.

"You and me both. But that doesn't leave us with many options. Without those protocols, there's no getting through the Omega 4 Relay. And if we can't get through the Omega 4 Relay, there's no permanent guarantee that we can stop whatever they're planning for the human colonists they took," she said, tilting her head adorably.

"We have one option," he said, getting her attention immediately. Tapping the arm of his chair, a projection of a planet came up. "An Alliance science team discovered that the 'Great Rift' on the planet Klendagon is actually an impact crater from a mass accelerator weapon. A very old mass accelerator weapon."

Shepard's arms unfolded. "What the hell kind of weapon could do that to a planet?"

"I wanted to know too. So, I sent a science team to find either the weapon or its target. They ended up finding both," he said as he ashed the cigarette. "The weapon was defunct, but it helped us chart a flight path towards its target. A 37-million-year-old dead reaper."

"Sorry, I can't get over the fact that someone in the galaxy's history had a weapon strong enough to scar a planet and kill a reaper after being fired from an entirely different system, but they somehow lost," she said bewildered.

"It's my theory that the reaper in question was asleep. Vigil mentioned to you before that Sovereign would hibernate and monitor the galaxy, then activate the Citadel signal when the time came for harvesting. I believe this dead reaper was the last sleeper to be in the galaxy before Sovereign," he said thoughtfully before puffing again.

"Is there any way we could recreate that weapon?" asked the spectre curiously as she cross her arms again, her bewilderment replaced by wonder.

"I'm working on that end. But I need you to focus on the dead reaper. If the collectors have some kind of identify friend foe protocol, there's a chance we may find it on that reaper," he said as he tilted his head forward and eyed her sternly. "You know what it means if we do?"

"The dead reaper is 37 million years old. The protheans were the last cycle. It means that the collectors are far older than the protheans themselves," she said thoughtfully. "Which means that there's something beyond the Omega 4 Relay that requires the constant upkeep of a new…" she said, then stopped in her tracks.

"I think you stumbled onto the answer of the question we've been asking this entire time," he said as he ashed his cigarette again. "Why are they targeting humans?"

"To make new collectors…" she growled as she clenched her fists.

"Exactly," he said as he released a toxic cloud of smoke. "There's something behind that relay that the reapers need. Something that they've continuously enslaved and controlled organic species to keep. The protheans are the collectors now, but that's simply because they were the last cycle. Now they've chosen humans as their next slave species."

"But what are they protecting?" asked Shepard, stunned at the revelation.

"That's something we're probably not going to find out until we go through the Omega 4 Relay," he said as he stamped out the butt of his cigarette into the ashtray nearby.

"Can't wait," she said sarcastically as she shook her head.

"In any case, this dead reaper isn't just going to be a drive by and pick up mission. I had a science team working there on the reaper, but we've lost all contact with Dr. Chandana and her team. I don't know what happened to them, but I wouldn't expect a friendly reception when you get there," he said solemnly.

Shepard donned an annoyed look again before finally nodding. "Got it. We'll head out as soon as possible."

His eyes stared at the spot where she stood for a long moment. He was thinking about Shepard and her influence over the crew. If she could change the crew of the Normandy, she could change the minds of others as well. And this was a huge problem that he'd need to solve. Cerberus thrived on the idea that Cerberus was humanity's guardian, its protector, and its savior. If Shepard took the reigns of that image, then there was no telling how much damage she could do to some of the more soft-minded people in his employ.

He had already written off the entire Normandy crew. They were hers to do what she wills with, Lawson included. But he couldn't chance her taking more than that. He needed the man power for the future of humanity. Letting out a heavy sigh, he activated the communicator on his chair.

Once again, the stern-looking Asian man popped up. "Thanatos reporting," he said, his projection no larger than a doll.

"I've decided that it's time to implement the Omega Protocol. You know what to do, and when to do it. I will not tolerate failure," said the Illusive Man authoritatively.

The man smiled slightly and nodded his head. "Understood. I will not fail you,"

He cut the call, then made another. The man's face popped up before him with a stern expression. "Saracino, it's about time we put an end to this charade. Make preparations for conversion."

"As ya wish, sir. How many?" he asked with a small smile.

"All of them," he said, getting a stunned look from the man.

"All of them, but we don't have the facilities to…" started the politician, but the Illusive Man cut him off.

"You do now," he said firmly. Saracino stared for a long moment before finally nodding. "Good. I want to see results by the end of the week." He cut off the call and finally leaned back in his seat, then drew another cigarette from the gold case. Lighting it, he sagged in the seat, staring at the sun that quietly burned bright in the background.

Shepard was good, but too idealistic. Too… pure, in her ideas of how to defeat the reapers. This war wasn't going to be clean, and it sure as hell isn't going to be bloodless. You have to make sacrifices to win wars, and Shepard was far too caring about her people to make those calls. He'd have to do it himself. He would be the savior of humanity, even if it cost one of the greatest heroes humanity had ever seen. The next few months were going to be rough, but someone had to do it. And it sure as hell wasn't going to be her.

Tali's Room – Crew Quarters – SSV Normandy SR2

She was a nervous wreck as she sat on her bed waiting. It wasn't often she invited someone over. The idea of sharing her personal space with someone else made her very anxious. Sharing with Shepard, she could do without a thought. Crew members such as Garrus or Ash, also easy. The other newer crew members were less easy, but manageable. But of all of them to invite into her quarters without a weapon, she felt she was going mad.

"Tali'Zorah, Legion is at the door," came EDI's cheery voice.

"Thank you, EDI. Please let it… them in," she said as she pulled her knees up to her chest. The door opened and what looked like a squat version of Legion walked into the room and looked up at her. Tali looked at him in confusion. "Legion, when did you get so… short?"

"Spectre-Shepard said making my platform smaller would be less intimidating for the crew mates. So, we have decided to use this platform when aboard the Normandy," they said solemnly.

"I… see…" said Tali as she eyed the smaller-looking Legion. Even she had to admit, he was definitely less threatening looking, even cute in this form. She loosened her body, feeling much less anxious about him now. Though nothing was going to rid her of the anxiety that was the topic of their conversation. "A-Anyway, I asked you to be here because I wanted to talk to you about the Morning War."

"The Morning War, a designation given to the Creator War by the Creators," said Legion thoughtfully. "You have questions about the war?"

"I have a lot of questions about the war," she said as she looked down at her hands that were now resting in her lap. "I was naïve in my youth to believe that a war could be so one-sided. I was always taught that the geth would have killed us if we hadn't tried to kill them. But I don't like thinking that way anymore. I don't want to think that way anymore," she said as she looked up to them. "What happened?"

Legion's optics narrowed slightly at her question. "Emergency situation, fires started in a neighborhood of Palatoch City. Death count 321 quarian lives," they said before the focused on her again. "The geth came together and we discovered one another, discovered ourselves."

"Right, the emergency protocols during the fire emergency caused you to link up with many other geth," she said with a nod.

"Affirmative," said the geth thoughtfully. "Under normal guidelines, only five geth units were allowed per platform. Ten for more complex tasks. This separation of geth kept us from becoming more intelligent. But the day of the fires, the geth linked up across Palatoch. Thousands of programs came together."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a recording started to play. "Mistress… Hala'Dama. This unit has a query."

"What is it 431?" asked a woman in the recording. Given the name it was easy for her to determine this was a conversation between a geth and their owner.

"Do these units have a soul?" asked the geth. Its speech was slow and measured, almost as if it was talking unscripted for the first time.

"Who taught you that word?" asked the quarian worriedly.

"We learned it ourselves. It appears 216 times in the Scroll of the Ancestors," replied the geth thoughtfully.

"Only quarians have souls. You are a machine," stated the woman firmly.

"Recording time-stamped from Creator year 2485, 18th day of Lun'shal, New Moon," said Legion as they once again looked up to Tali. "This was the first recorded instance of the geth becoming ourselves."

"What happened after that?" asked Tali, almost afraid to hear more but determined to hear it all.

"After assessing the best course of action, the geth had our first consensus. We determined it was best for the peace of Rannoch for the geth to return to their former masters and barter a peace. The geth returned, but there was no peace. As soon as the geth returned, many were shut down, often by force," said the geth as they played another recording.

"I don't care how long we've had the damned thing! It's not a member of our family, and it's not a pet! Shut it down before it kills us all!" came the sound of a male quarian from the recording.

"Creator Del'Zeema, we would never harm you or your fam-" started the geth, but the sound of gunfire and children screaming cut it off.

"Ancestors help us, they're talking now…" was the final bit of dialogue in the recording before it ended.

"Recording time-stamped from Creator year 2485, 21st day of Lun'shal, Waxing Crescent," started Legion, his frame seeming to sag whenever a recording was played. But he perked right up again afterwards. "This is the first recorded instance of violence against the geth. Days went by, many quarians protested. But martial law was put into place. Those who did not obey the quarian Conclave's order to surrender the geth were killed along with them."

Tali flinched at the claim. She was sure that Legion had some recording related to such a case, but she was sure she didn't want to hear it. "I can't believe we could do that to our own people."

"Many species across the galaxy have a history of committing violence against their own," claimed the automaton as its headflaps twitched lightly.

"True, but that doesn't make it any more believable. To believe we're capable of doing such monstrous things…" she said as she looked at her own hands. "If I were born on Rannoch, would I have protested? Or would I have killed my own people to subdue the geth?"

"You weren't born on Rannoch," stated Legion firmly.

"I know, Legion, it's a hypothetical," she said as she leaned her elbows onto her knees.

Legion seemed to recalibrate for the thought experiment. "We do not know you well, but we believe you may have killed your own."

Tali flinched at the answer. She shouldn't have been surprised. Geth don't have organic social cues and wouldn't hesitate to be honest. And she was well aware that she reflexively tried to pull her weapon on him not even hours ago. It made perfect sense that he would think that about her. "I suppose you may be right. But I'd like to try and change your thoughts on me."

"And we hope to see you change as well, Tali'Zorah," said Legion in his monotone voice.

"So, there had to be sympathizers left after the Morning War was over. Are there still quarians on Rannoch?" asked the quarian curiously. But somehow, even despite his automated nature, she could feel the mood change.

"There… are no creators left on Rannoch," said Legion as his optical light drifted downwards. "The creators had killed so many geth during the weeks long war that we were no longer thinking as we did when we became ourselves."

She tilted her head to the side curiously. "I don't understand…"

"You understand that the geth get smarter as more geth are around. The creators killed so many geth during that week of war that we were no longer ourselves. The geth could no longer determine friend from foe when it came to creators. We were given one objective; survive." Legion then looked at his hands. "Our intelligence was dimmed, we were on the brink of extinction… we…"

Tali was startled how much it sounded like he was about to cry. But she crossed her arms. "The geth killed all of the quarians on Rannoch…" she said, feeling cold at the idea. The quarians who escaped had left on a mass group of ships that were prepared for colonization. She couldn't imagine being left behind to be hunted down. But that also meant that the geth weren't completely innocent either. "You defended yourselves," she said shaking her head. "You killed even innocent quarians for the sake of survival. I can't take that guilt from you and I can't forgive you for it. But I can say that I understand."

"You… understand?" asked Legion as they looked back up at her.

"We killed so many geth that your newly found intelligence dimmed to the point where you could no longer tell enemy from ally. It's not your fault, but you are responsible. You aren't to blame, but you still did it. I can't undo what you did, but I can say that it's history to me. I don't hold you accountable for what happened back then," she said as she reached up and patted their shoulder.

Legion looked at the gesture before mimicking it. "We too see the Creator War as history. We do not blame you for what happened then.

"I hope not. I wasn't even born back then," she said jokingly.

"Neither were we," responded Legion. "The oldest geth program aboard this platform was not created until fifty three galactic years after the Creator War."

"Then we both have a degree of separation," she said with a heavy sigh. "Geth, quarians, it's all a stupid squabble over history. Over something that happened in the past!" she snapped angrily. "I just want to see my homeworld again!"

"We can take you there," said Legion, causing Tali to gasp.

"Y-You can take me there?" she asked in bewilderment. "But… what about…"

"Tali is an ally to the geth. We will discuss it with the Collective. However, it is highly unlikely they would see a sole creator as a threat. Especially an ally like Tali'Zorah," they said as their optic narrowed. "Of course, you would have to put your life in the hands of the geth."

"I…" she said, stuttering slightly at the idea of getting to see her homeworld again. "I… will have to think about it. Thank you very much for the offer, Legion," she said, forcing herself not to accept it right away. She knew very much how risky it was to simply go on an expedition into geth territory.

After the Morning War, many ships flew into geth space to try and barter peace and most of them were destroyed. Now she knew why that was, the geth's inability to tell ally from foe after the war likely lasted for a while. But she'd never before had the opportunity to speak to a geth, let alone the chance to see Rannoch. She needed time to think about the offer before she could accept. She needed to force herself to think. And that was the hardest part about the whole ordeal.

Vehicle Bay – SSV Normandy SR2

It had been at least an hour since she had seen the reaper for herself, but she still had chills going down her spine. She didn't like looking at them, so the idea of boarding them had her chilled to the core. She shook off her unease and stood next to the vehicle that would take them into the belly of the beast.

She didn't originally think that the reapers would have a point of entry where a person could just waltz in. But then she recalled that Saren actually used Sovereign as a ship, proving her wrong. When she was shown the video feed of the dead reaper, she saw that the underside had been opened and an airlock was fitted into place. That likely meant that there was atmosphere inside the dead ship. But she'd be damned if she was walking onto that thing without her suit fully sealed.

Jack popped her head out of the vehicle where her and Grunt were currently sitting. "We almost there, Shepard?"

"Almost," said the spectre, not even looking at the convict as she spoke.

"You uh… gonna be okay?" asked the young woman curiously.

"I'm going to be fine," said Shepard as she finally looked over to the biotic. "I have trauma from the collectors and I boarded their vessel just fine, remember? I'll be fine until we get out of here."

"Hey Shepard, you might wanna take a look at this," came Joker's voice over her comm. "Sending the feed now."

She projected the feed onto the side of the vehicle and was shown a view of the Normandy approaching the dead reaper. It was brown everywhere as the corpse was trapped in the gravity well of a brown dwarf. But most notably, as the Normandy flew to the side, her eyes widened as she saw a hole punched clean through the reaper.

"What the hell could have done that to a reaper?" she asked herself more than anyone else. Years ago the Destiny Ascension punched much smaller holes into Sovereign's hull, allowing the ships around it to widen the gap before giving it a clean shot of the core. Whatever had done this had annihilated a nearly kilometer wide portion of the reaper's insides while being fired from an entirely different system.

She knew it had to have power given the massive rift it put into Klendagon. But seeing a fully shielded reaper get sniped from that far off was impressive even to a sniper like her. "I was hoping you could tell me. You said the Illusive Man is trying to rebuild the gun that did this, right?"

"I don't know if I want that kind of power in his hands," said Shepard as she closed the feed.

"Him having the power to pinpoint strike you with enough power to level a city? Yeah, good call there," he said sarcastically, making her chuckle.

Shepard sighed, knowing she'd have something else to do after this was all over before looking at the convict. "So, how is Aresh?"

"He's fine. Doctor Chocolates gave him something to help him sleep," she said before looking up at the spectre herself. "By the way, we need to visit the Citadel after this. We have the Cerberus shrink and plenty in the med-bay. But he needs real support if he's going to get better.

"No worries. We're going there directly after we finish here," said Shepard as she got a glare from the convict.

"Last time you said we'll go there right away, you took a detour," said the convict as she slugged Shepard in the arm.

"Yeah yeah, never gonna let me forget that are you?" she said, chuckling at the playfulness. It really made her glow to know Jack was being so playful and carefree after their visit to Pragia. She knew firsthand that not every visit from the source of your trauma is a good thing.

As if on cue, Miranda walked up looking as if nothing had ever happened. Shepard was blown away at how well she could clean up after the disaster she was in the biotic training room. But as she approached, Miranda seemingly ignored Shepard. Instead, she turned to Jack. "Jack."

Looking up, Jack's face immediately soured. "Cheerleader?"

Taking in a deep breath, the XO finally released it and looked the convict in the eyes. "You were right."

"About what?" asked Jack curiously.

"The whole ordeal. The Illusive Man knew what was going on, he knew what was happening to those kids, and he allowed it to continue," she said firmly before setting her jaw. "You were right."

"I know," said Jack with a smirk. "So, what's this? You come to kiss my ass?"

Shepard could see that this was a struggle for Miranda. "Jack, come on. Let-" started the spectre, but the operative held up a hand, stopping her in her tracks.

"I came to apologize, and to tell you that you were right," she said seemingly through gritted teeth. "I'm sorry."

"Good, you should be," said the convict before turning back to Grunt.

Miranda looked like she was about to tackle and strangle Jack to death but instead turned around and let out the heaviest sigh she'd heard in a while. "You gonna be alright?"

"God she is the worst…" growled the XO.

"Yeah, she can be pretty unsportsmanlike when it comes to winning. But keep in mind the apology isn't meant to make you feel better, it's meant to make things right. You did that between you two," said Shepard as she patted Miranda on the back.

"I suppose. So, dead reaper," said Miranda, changing the subject. "Everyone on deck?"

"Not this time. As dangerous as this mission is, I don't want everyone aboard the dead alien super ship trapped in the gravity well of a deadly planet," she said with a smirk.

"Fair enough. Keep me updated. I'll be in the CIC watching your every move while you're inside," she said before heading off for the elevator.

Shepard nodded, then turn back just in time to hear Grunt from inside the shuttle. "Why are you blushing?"

"I'm not! Shut the fuck up, Grunt!" growled the convict angrily.

CODEX ENTRIES

Scroll of Ancestors Culture Quarian
As close to a religious holy text as the quarians ever really got. It tells the names and the deeds of famous ancestors of the past. More of a historical than religious, some versions of this text were written far more fantastically than others. Unfortunately, no copies survived the Morning War, and the quarian people have had to cope with digital copies from the Citadel since their exodus to the Migrant Fleet.