Finally, it seems that the Shadowbroker found information that could have something to do with the whereabouts of Dani...

Taitus – The subject

It was now six weeks after the battle for the Citadel and Garrus started to feel a bit more turian again. Not quite himself, but the pain of losing what was and what might have been slowly became a part of his everyday life on the Normandy. It became so ingrained, so instilled in the very core of his being that it kind of numbed him. The pain was there, it just didn't hurt so damn much.

Plus, shooting geth helped. The Normandy felt a bit empty though, with Kaidan KIA, Ashley gone, Wrex back on Tuchanka and Tali back to the Migrant Fleet. He spent more time with Shepard and though they had been on friendly terms before, they really bonded over the long conversations flowing between them or just the companionable silence.

Garrus found an odd sense of comfort in the current cadence of his life. Though they were still waiting for a break in their search for Dani, every day brought with it new hope and new possibilities. He waited patiently until one day he was finally rewarded with that much coveted break.

"Garrus, read this," Shepard approached him and Garrus' quick reflexes made him catch the object Shepard threw his way. A datapad. Garrus skimmed his eyes over it.

"I don't understand, Shepard. Investigate Taitus, Talava System in the Caleston Rift?"

"Read on."

"Reports of turian patrols gone missing. A turian patrol that made it back, casualties. Requesting investigation. Well that's not really unusual. Turian patrols often fly through the area looking to pre-empt jailbreak attempts on Maitrum's prisons. Some of those patrols are bound to get attacked."

"Read on."

"Okay, oh it says here the survivors of that patrol encountered hostile action on the surface of the planet. Subdued the attackers and confiscated a few datapads implicating the involvement of . . . wait, ExoGeni? Isn't that . . . ?"

"Yeah. Read on."

"Um, the information on the confiscated datapads referred to a successful extraction of their Primary – Primary? – on the second planet in the Pax System, Horse Head Nebula. To maintain their anonymous identity they got rid of their salarian associates. Mission was a success. Now searching for a suitable facility to start up . . . hmm, seems like the file was corrupted. The info stops there. Shepard, where are you going with this?"

"Second planet in the Pax System, Horse Head Nebula. Otherwise known as. . . Noveria. And look at the date of that final report. This happened shortly after – you know – we were on Noveria."

The datapad crashed to the floor. Garrus shot Shepard a piercing look.

"Are you telling me . . . ?" His sub-harmonics caught hard on the words and nearly drowned their perspicuity. "Are you telling me we've found a lead on Dani?"

"It would appear so, yes."

"Then what the Spirits are we waiting for?"

"Well, you – actually."

It was only then that Garrus noticed Shepard was wearing his full body armor. Shepard shot him a grin.

"Are we ready to go, Commander?" Liara appeared from behind Shepard, all suited up.

"Not yet Liara, I was just bringing Garrus up to speed. Well, suit up buddy. Let's see if we can dig up something more."

Garrus suited up so damn quick, he figured he must have broken some kind of record, twice over.


Taitus turned out to be not much more than a frozen desert. Its dunes were rising and falling as if the planet were a living creature, breathing and alive, each inhale and exhale frozen in time. The landscape was hued with alabaster potassium salts and rubescent iron oxides. The wide plains, speckled with abandoned mining camps, just added to the feel of desolation. The scanner results that promised rich Palladium veins meant nothing. They were here for one reason and one reason only. Garrus just hoped that the outcome of this visit wouldn't prove to be as unyielding as the rest of this forsaken planet.

They carefully scouted the closest base in range. There was some Eclipse gang activity and Shepard decided to ignore them for now. Not their priority.

The second base the computer had marked on the map was a good six hour drive from the Eclipse base. By the time they reached it, Garrus felt high on a hormone that coursed through a turian's body in time of fight and danger. Humans had it too, just a bit different. He was ready to just charge in and Shepard had to hold him back. It was hard to scout the place as discreetly as the Eclipse one.

"No activity, Shepard," he said tersely. "Looks abandoned."

The hope that had fueled him, dispersed from his veins like sweat on skin. The place was abandoned. He wouldn't find Dani.

"Garrus, we can still find something useful," Shepard said in a gentle tone. So he was that transparent huh?

Their guns trained, they breached the facility with caution. The place was dark and void of any sign of activity. Expensive equipment was gathering dust in the large areas they crossed. In the cafeteria they found half empty plates, the remains left there to rot, and drinks, also only partially consumed.

It seemed like the entire place was left in a hurry. In a small office they found the log of one of the scientists. Shepard activated the first entry while they ransacked the place for clues.

"Work progress is too slow," a hoarse raspy voice said. "We can feed the computer our algorithms and it can calculate the outcome but it can't come up with a solution when the algorithms fail to hold. We've got the best scientists working together but we're running out of ideas."

"What the hell were they doing up here?" Shepard muttered. He activated the second entry.

"Gene specific bio warfare with a quick incubation time and high fatality rate, it seems an illusion by now. We've succeeded in a few prototypes targeting turians and a few targeting batarians. Unfortunately they work slowly and fatality rate is under 40%. That means a one-kill-all solution is inconceivable at best."

"They were trying to manufacture biological toxins or infectious agents that target only certain species? Why would – that's horrible!" Liara choked out.

"I think it's worse, Liara," Garrus countered. "That's what they got stuck with. They are looking for something that can wipe out everything. Quickly."

Shepard activated the third entry.

"A one-kill-all solution that leaves out humans. With human biology so vastly different from all other species, you'd think the scientists can come up with something. So far, all they managed to do was create a bio toxin that is able to wipe out an entire pod crab population in under ten minutes."

"Well, there you have it guys," Shepard said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Humanities finest accomplishment . . . Finding a way to kill pod crabs while trying to invent a toxin that can wipe out all sentient life, except for humans. I feel so proud. Is it a wonder that most species don't trust us?"

"It's just a small faction Shepard," Garrus countered. "This small faction is no more a representation for humans than Saren was for turians."

"Saren was indoctrinated by a Reaper. What excuse do they have?" Shepard asked furiously and almost violently smashed the button to activate the final entry.

"It appears we may have found a break. We are in desperate need of fresh views and our corporate spy Ethan Jeong supplied us with information on a promising subject. Jeong has been called back from his infiltrating position in ExoGeni. Investigation has commenced."

"Ethan Jeong? Isn't that?" Shepard looked around to Garrus.

"We encountered him on Feros, yes Shepard."

"How does this Jeong come into play and what does this have to do with Dani? Did we even come to the right place?" Liara wondered.

"Fuck!" Shepard suddenly exclaimed. "Fuck, fuck, fucking fungle rimjob horse-cock sucking sumbitch sack of shit!"

"Done?" Liara asked a bemused look on her face.

"Colorful words, Shepard. Care to explain?" Garrus smirked.

"Blame Anderson," Shepard sighed. "Garrus, you remember meeting Ethan Jeong after saving the colonists?"

"Sure, he was singing a very different tune after we cleaned out the geth and destroyed the Thorian."

"Remember the questions he asked about your sniper rifle?"

"He – did seem very interested in the phasing bullets."

"Yes, and we were so pumped up about it ourselves we told him all about the mastermind behind it."

"We did? Oh, crap. We did! We told him that the upgrade was invented and installed by one of our own. Did we mention her by name?"

"Yeah," Shepard muttered softly, avoiding Garrus' direct gaze. And then it hit him.

"Spirits!" Garrus breathed. "I did!"

"Come on, let's see if can find something else. See if we can find a lead on where they took Dani."

They turned the entire facility upside down and eventually found a larger office. It was all cleared out, except for a datapad forgotten under the desk.

Shepard picked it up, read the contents and handed it over to Garrus.

Belfont:

Subject panned out. Were able to establish contact with a known associate and devised a ploy to extract subject. Subject proved to be uncooperative. Dr. Gavin Archer came up with an unorthodox solution. It circumvents any further need for subject's cooperation. Suggested action: relocate to Binthu. Cerberus was taken out of commission there. Taitus proven not safe, lost a recon group. The needed equipment is available at facility on Binthu. We can move right in.

Dagmar

It took Garrus three tries to comprehend the words. When he finally did, the datapad exploded in a spray of flying glass particles. Datapads didn't blend too well with bullets.

"We took care of them, Shepard." Garrus' voice croaked with emotion. "We took the bastards down and put a stop to those experiments. And now I find out that someone else just picked up where Cerberus left? With Dani? What do those monsters want with her?"

"I don't know Garrus. I do know we're gonna take the bastards down! We are getting Dani back even if I have to tear the place apart brick by brick. You with me?"

"You know I am, Shepard!"

"Liara?"

"Always, you know that."

"Then let's go back to Binthu!