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Chapter Text

Shepard stretched her shoulders as she finished out her rounds of the main deck and came to stand behind the pilot and his companion. Looking over the readouts and controls, and the easy banter that flowed between the two, she could see that they were confident in their tasks and needed no observation. It was a relief, to be honest, so she leaned against the back of the pilot’s chair and listened to them talk.

“Readings are good, exiting FTL in three… two… one…” Flight Lieutenant Moreau flicked the console with dexterous fingers and then leaned back, grinning up at his XO. “We’ve arrived, Shepard. Readings are good, comm buoy linked, drift… under ideal windows of course.” 

A rumbling voice sounded from behind them, and though Shepard’s shoulders stiffened at the sudden presence she didn’t react further. 

“Those numbers are good. Please tell your captain I wish to speak to him in the comms room.” Shepard turned and met the avian gaze of their resident Turian, Nihlus, and nodded. Without another word, besides a near-imperceptible trill, he turned and left the cockpit. 

“Ugh, I hate that guy.” Moreau grumbled. His fingers still danced over the console before him as Shepard listened to the two officers before her. 

“Nihlus gives you a compliment… so you hate him?” Alenko asked from the chair he occupied beside the pilot. Moreau scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Remembering to do up your flight suit after going to the bathroom is good . I just shot us across space at incredible speed and hit a target the size of a pinhead, that’s not just good . It’s awesome.” Alenko shook his head, chuckling, and before Shepard could voice her own thoughts the comm trilled. 

“ Joker, if Shepard’s hovering up there with you please send her my way .” It was their captain, Anderson, who spoke and Shepard held back a sigh. Hopefully now she’d find out what this mission actually was. She believed as little as the rest of the crew that a Council Spectre was along for a simple shakedown. Joker echoed her thoughts, she knew. 

“Will do, sir. Oh, just a warning… Nihlus is headed your way.”

“ He’s already here, lieutenant. ” 

Anderson’s response was notably clipped, and set off alarm bells in Shepard’s head. 

“He sounds angry, I wonder if something’s up with the mission…” She mused as she shifted off of Moreau’s chair, stretching her back out as she turned. 

“I dunno, the captain always sounds like that when he’s talking to me…” Moreau muttered. Shepard heard a snicker from the other side of the cockpit as she stepped out, and caught Alenko’s dry response just in time to put a hint of a smile on her face.

“I wonder why…”

Shepard made quick work of the short trip from the cockpit to the comm room, her only delay being the young marine who had been assigned to the ship just in time to be on a shakedown run right back to the colony he’d escaped by joining up. He was hotheaded, eager for ‘real action’, and though Shepard found his motivation endearing she did her best to convince him to calm down. She didn’t need any overeager kids getting hurt in the field, and while the drive was valuable the lack of forethought could get them in trouble.

When she entered the comm room, she was thrown a bit by the fact that the sole person waiting for her was Nihlus rather than her captain. Nihlus stood with his arms crossed, bony hip cocked as he stared at the screen running detailed intel on Eden Prime. 

“Where’s the captain?” Shepard asked, by way of greeting. Nihlus turned to survey her closely, his slitted pupils fascinating her as much as they unnerved her. 

“I wanted to speak to you for a moment alone. Tell me what you know about this place; Eden Prime. It’s become something of a symbol for your people, hasn’t it?” Shepard nodded in agreement, moving to stand beside him and looking up at the rolling intel feed. 

“They say it’s a paradise.” She said simply, shrugging. “Carefully maintained population density, little danger, effective agriculture and trade operations.” 

“Your people have made great strides in colonizing a relatively dangerous part of the galaxy. Tell me, how safe do you think it really is? Is humanity ready for this?” Shepard blinked up at him, trying to read the subtext she knew she wasn’t capable of hearing in his voice. She knew Turians communicated intention and tone through their subvocals, and wished someone had come up with a translator that would pick up on that as well as their spoken words.

“What is it you’re getting at?” She asked cautiously. Her whirring thoughts were interrupted by Anderson returning to the comm room, and she saw him quickly evaluate her stance before interjecting. 

“This isn’t a simple shakedown run, Shepard.” Anderson said plainly. Shepard’s eyebrows rose in surprise, but a smirk touched her lips as well.

“I knew that wasn’t all there was. I assume you had good reason for keeping this from me, sir?” Anderson eyed her knowingly, hiding the answering amusement from his mouth but not able to conceal the twinkle in his eye.

“This was on a strictly need-to-know basis, Shepard. First thing you need to know is that Nihlus is here to… evaluate you.” 

Shepard raised an eyebrow as she shifted her attention from her captain to the Turian who stood beside her, meeting his yellow eyes expectantly. She watched as his mandibles flicked before he responded, and she wondered what sort of tell that was. 

“I put your name forward as a Spectre candidate, commander, and as such I am responsible for evaluating your skills as a leader and a soldier.” Nihlus said finally, not moving from his casual stance. Shepard huffed a laugh, shaking her head. 

“Guess that explains why I keep bumping into you during the duty day. I assume this would be good for the Alliance, captain?” She returned her focus to Anderson, who was nodding. 

“Humanity’s been waiting a while for this chance, and with Nihlus… sponsoring your candidacy, there’s a real chance you could be made the first human Spectre.” Anderson’s eyes shifted over to Nihlus, his expression unreadable. 

“Before you ask, Shepard, I don’t care that you’re human. You could be a vorcha for all I care; I care that you can get the job done. Your service record speaks well of your skills, and once I have had a chance to see you in action I will begin to plan our training. You may be made a Spectre candidate immediately after I report my findings to the Council, but you will be on… probation, and under my tutelage.” 

Shepard nodded thoughtfully to Nihlus, looking him over again before voicing her thoughts. 

“The other thing… Eden Prime. What’s really going on here, then? What’s our objective?” 

“The scientists on Eden Prime uncovered a Prothean artifact of great importance. Some sort of beacon…” Anderson began. Then, Moreau interrupted him over the comms.

“Captain, incoming transmission from Eden Prime. You’re going to want to see this.” Anderson stiffened, glancing at Nihlus and Shepard. 

“Put it on screen.” Anderson ordered, turning with Nihlus to stare up. Shepard stood on the other side of Nihlus, a million concerns racing up her spine as the sound of gunfire echoed in the comm room. 

“ We’re under attack, taking heavy casualties! I repeat, heavy casualties! ” That was an Alliance marine, huddled behind a jagged boulder as he spoke into his vid comm. “ We can’t, ugh! ” An explosion rocked the vid and static raced across the screen before the picture righted itself again. “ We need reinforcements, they came out of nowhere… ” The marine trailed off, and his eyes went skyward. Soon, the vid shifted to turn the direction his eyes had went and a massive ship entered the view. It was… horrific. Insectile, with bursts of red energy visibly shooting off of it as it descended with a bone-shaking sound that sounded like the call of hell itself. Then, the screen went dark. 

“Joker, ETA to Eden Prime?” Anderson said, not taking his eyes off where the screen was. 

“ Twenty two minutes, sir. ” Joker said, all his usual bravado gone. Anderson turned to Nihlus and Shepard, and Nihlus nodded wordlessly. “Shepard, kit up. Get Alenko and that new kid; you’re going down there. Nihlus will meet you in the cargo bay.” 

Shepard merely saluted and met Nihlus’ eyes before wheeling around and sprinting out of the comm room, grabbing the new recruit (Jenkins, she remembered just in time to dispense his orders) and throwing him at the stairwell before shouting for Alenko. The lieutenant was already on his feet, and was at her side by the time she started following Jenkins down the stairs. They parted ways and rushed to get their armor and weapons ready. 

Shepard didn’t have time for nerves as she slipped into her undersuit and then began clipping armor pieces into place. She ran over the vid in her mind as she got ready, trying to piece together who or what they were actually fighting. She hadn’t actually seen the enemy itself, just explosions from some sort of pulse rifle and that horrible ship that had landed just as the transmission cut out. She hated going in blind, but maybe scans would pick something up on their way into the atmosphere.  She could hope, at least. 

Without knowing what they were facing, as soon as she got to the armory she started setting out disruptor ammo mods for her squad as well as a spare tech pack for herself. She checked that her omni-tool was ready before selecting a loadout for herself; pistol, assault rifle, sniper rifle. She collapsed and holstered her three weapons of choice, installing the disruptor mods as she went, and slung a bandolier of grenades across her chest for good measure. Alenko and Jenkins joined her as she finished her own loadout, and soon all three of them were kitted and waiting. 

They entered the atmosphere just as Nihlus came up beside Shepard silently, looking her over with a nod of what she thought was approval. Jenkins and Alenko eyed the turian nervously, but to Shepard’s surprise it was Jenkins who had the nerve to speak. 

“Nihlus, you coming with us?” He asked, a slight tremor to his voice. Nihlus barely looked at the marine as he checked over his own loadout and accepted a spare medigel pack from Shepard.

“I move faster on my own.” He said simply, watching the ramp of the cargo bay lower. Before any of them could say anything else, he’d dropped silently from the ramp and disappeared from view. 

“ Approaching drop point two. ” Joker’s voice said over the comm. Anderson stepped up then, tapping Shepard on the shoulder. 

“Be careful, we don’t know what’s down there. Nihlus will be ahead of you scouting, and your main objective is to secure that beacon. Look out for eachother.” 

“We’ve got his back, captain.” Shepard said grimly over the roar of the air. A light pinged beside the ramp and she led the team to the edge, swept her eyes over the terrain, and dropped into a burned hellscape.

Shepard moved immediately when her boots struck the ground, though her heart clenched at the destruction around her. Posted up behind a boulder, she gestured to her team and had them squat on either side of her. After a quick comms check with Nihlus, she twisted around and scanned the immediate area with the scope of her sniper rifle. 

“Talk to me, Jenkins. You grew up here, what can you tell us?” She said, continuing her scan.

“ This is the transport and excavation zone of the colony. Ag and housing is over there… no smoke, thank God. Looks like only this area got hit. The floating things are gas bags, they’re harmless. Uh… ” He trailed off, looking lost, so Shepard holstered her sniper rifle and patted him on the shoulder. 

“That’s enough to get us started, thanks Jenkins. On my six, bounding in one-two formation. Move.” 

Shepard bounded around the boulder, sweeping the area with her pistol ready before moving behind the cover of another rock formation and gesturing to Jenkins and Alenko. Once she was settled down they both stood and ran past her, their pistols sweeping. A sense of alarm rushed over Shepard as the two ran past her, and she began to stand just as she heard the telltale sound of shots fired. 

She popped out of cover and saw that three drones were opening fire on her team. Jenkins, the idiot, stood up fully and opened fire on the drones only to get caught in a burst of gunfire from the drones. He went down like a stone, and Shepard leapt into action. Throwing an overload at the drones, she popped each with two shots dead center. Between the overload and the disruptor ammo she was now infinitely grateful for, the drones were just splinters of metal in moments.

She swept her gaze around, listening carefully for any other signs of incoming drones before shifting her attention to Alenko, who was crouched beside Jenkins’ still form. Her heart stilled as she realized what had happened, and she strode forward with a lump in her throat. 

“ Tore right through his shields, he didn’t even have a chance… ” Alenko said, his voice hoarse with emotion. Shepard was glad for the helmet she hadn’t removed… it hid the pain in her eyes as she gently closed Jenkins’ eyes and laid a hand on his chest in silent farewell. 

“We’ll make sure he gets a proper burial. After the mission is complete. I need you with me, Alenko, okay? We need to move.” She fixed her gaze firmly on Alenko and watched as he swallowed and nodded, replacing his own helmet before heaving to his feet with one last glance down at Jenkins’ body. 

“ Shepard, it’s a madhouse down here. I’m moving forward to the transit station, check out the area in front of you. According to my scans you should be coming up on the dig site and research station. Check for survivors, but be careful. Something else is going on here. ” Shepard absorbed Nihlus’ words as they came over their private commlink he must have set up as they prepared. 

“Copy that, be careful Nihlus. We just got ambushed by a group of drones, there must be other hostile forces in the area. Jenkins is down, but Alenko and I are green. Moving forward.” 

“ Loss can be unavoidable Shepard, we’ll talk through this later. Watch your back and meet me at the transit hub. ” 

Shepard felt strangely warmed by Nihlus’ words, and felt the steel return to her spine as she and Alenko continued along the path and through a copse of trees. They fought several more waves of drones before coming out of the trees to see yet another grouping of broken rocks, this time interspersed with strange metal spikes that stood three times as tall as them. Below, in the ravine filled with rocks, Shepard spotted a marine and leapt into action.

“Alenko, get behind there and use your biotics. I’ll post up here and take them out.” Alenko nodded and took his position, drawing the attention of the synthetic creatures that were harrying the marine. Finally unholstering her sniper rifle, she began to pick off the synthetics one by one even as their shields were worn down by the warp fields thrown from her left. The two of them made short work of the creatures and Shepard quickly ran down the hill after confirming with a final sweep that they’d eliminated all the hostiles. The marine got to her feet and jogged up to meet Shepard with a quick salute. 

“Gunnery chief Ashley Williams. You in charge here, ma’am?” the girl was young, breathless and looking a bit harried. Shepard nodded, giving the marine a quick once-over.

“You all right, Williams? Tell me what happened here.” Shepard watched as Williams took a deep breath, holstering her shotgun and rolling her neck before meeting her eyes with a firm expression.

“The assault came out of nowhere. We were tasked with securing the beacon and moving it to a staging area down there, and then this noise was everywhere. Like a horn, or a scraping… then these synthetics just dropped in and were everywhere. We didn’t stand a chance, I lost my entire squad trying to keep them away from the dig site before they pinned me here alone. I.. I think they’re geth.” 

Shepard stared at Williams for a long moment, processing. 

“Geth. Shit, it makes sense, but what are they doing out here?” Alenko said finally, breaking the tense silence. Shepard shook her head, in shock more than disbelief, and stepped away to scan the synthetics with her omni-tool as Alenko continued to speak to Williams. Once she’d taken some readings, she got on the private channel that Nihlus had contacted her with. 

“Nihlus, I’m sending you some readings. We found a marine who was part of the security detail here, and just took out four hostiles. It appears… the geth are here.”

She waited in silence, and then Nihlus’ voice came back to her. 

“ I’ve seen them too and suspected the same; your readings confirm it. Be cautious moving forward, Shepard. Something is very wrong here. I’m moving forward to the transit depot.”

“We’re not far behind you, be careful Nihlus.” Shepard said before closing the commlink on her end. She turned and signaled to Alenko and Williams and they joined her. 

“Which way to this dig site, Williams? And how far to the transit depot?” Williams rattled off directions and distance, and then Shepard told her to come with them as they headed out. 

The three of them worked their way to the dig site, moving through another group of geth before reaching the dig site. It was empty. After a quick scout around, they decided the artifact had to have been moved to the transit depot, and fought through a wave of horrific creatures as they passed into the scientific station. Shepard took readings, tried to file away the fact that these synthetic monsters looked human , and moved on. After soothing a pair of traumatized scientists, they finally reached the rise overlooking the depot just as a single shot cracked through the air. Shepard immediately activated the private commlink.

“Nihlus! Nihlus, answer me now. What’s your status?” Silence was her answer.

Nihlus moved silently across the field littered with broken crates, his tactical cloak engaged as he scanned for the geth forces that Shepard had warned him about. He was quietly pleased at how smoothly she’d handled the situation thus far, even quickly moving past the loss of a soldier in the interest of furthering the mission. She’d even voluntarily offered up intel to him, showing a measure of teamwork and implicit trust he’d hoped for but hadn’t counted on. He’d seen the signs of geth, and had been taught how to spot the hallmarks of their involvement in his own training so he’d already known what they were facing. He’d honestly wanted to know how long it would take Shepard to figure it out with her lack of foreknowledge, and the free exchange of intel had been a bonus.

He moved swiftly and silently up the ramps, not detecting any further geth presence. The depot was silent. When he reached the main platform, the familiar person he saw caused him to straighten. What could Saren be doing on Eden Prime? He knew that the Council had only given intel to himself and Anderson for this mission, wanting to keep the operation on a strictly limited basis for the safety of the prothean artifact and the colony. Saren, even as a Spectre himself, would not know. Still cloaked, he quickly took in the details of Saren’s appearance. The other turian looked… different. Mechanical augmentations seemed to have spread through his carapace, and those eyes of his looked mechanically augmented too now. Something was very wrong. 

Without speaking or moving, he engaged his medical and combat failsafes before dropping the cloak and approaching, hoping that pleasant nonchalance would set Saren enough at ease that he could glean some insight into what was going on here. Nihlus wanted to know how Saren was involved in all this. 

“Saren… what are you doing here?” Nihlus called out. Saren wheeled around to face him, mandibles flicking in the slightest expression of irritation before he controlled his movement and responded pleasantly. 

“I thought you could use a hand on this one, old friend.” Saren replied easily, clapping a gloved hand on Nihlus’ shoulder. Nihlus thanked his ancestors that he’d thought to engage the system that cloaked his subvocals and scent, otherwise Saren would have immediately detected his alarm. He nodded to Saren, then turned to survey their surroundings for signs of an ambush. 

“The council is not going to be pleased at what we’ve found here. The situation’s bad…” It had been a mistake to turn his back on Saren. He’d expected his old comrade to at least hold some measure of military honor, even if he was caught up in some illicit operation attacking humans. He’d been dangerously wrong. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this.” He heard Saren say behind him. Nihlus stiffened at the other turian’s tone, but before he could turn back he felt the blast of a pistol shot sink through the thick skin on the back of his neck, and the world went black. 

Shepard pushed the others hard as they moved across the field of debris between them and the transit depot. The fact that it now swarmed with the humanoid monsters they’d encountered in the science camp as well as more geth didn’t help their speed but Shepard took out wave after wave of enemies with ruthless efficiency that was borne of grim anger and sheer worry for the Spectre who hadn’t answered his comms. It didn’t help to tell herself that Nihlus wasn’t under her command; she would feel responsible if that turian who wanted to train her died on this mission. 

In the fire and chaos, she thought she saw movement on the upper platform of the transit depot. She didn’t have time to sight it out as she dodged gunfire and sniped geth and monsters alike. Finally, the field was quiet and Shepard broke into a sprint to make it the rest of the way down the hill and back up the ramp to that main platform. The first thing she saw was the rapidly spreading pool of bluish black blood. The second thing she saw was the casually dressed human hovering over the still form of Nihlus. Shepard raised her pistol, flanked by Alenko and Williams. 

“Don’t shoot, I’m one of you! I was just trying to help him.” The human screamed, stumbling back. Shepard gestured for Williams to detain the human as she jogged up to Nihlus and examined his condition. Seeing that his condition was worsening with no response from his suit, she quickly brought up her omni-tool and hacked into his suit’s computer, thanking her overachieving nature that she had made herself familiar with their systems and with turian physiology. After taking the readings on his life signs, she instructed the suit to dispense medigel and reached into her own stores of extra supplies to get an occlusive bandage to cover the wound. With the bleeding stemmed, she let the suit resume its standard medical procedures and turned to the human dockworker.

“He’ll live.” Shepard told Alenko shortly, wiping the blue blood off her gloves. “You, tell me what happened.”

The dockworker rattled off his account of the attack, including the fact that a fortuitously timed nap had hidden him from view, and then divulged that Nihlus had come upon a fellow turian who he seemed to be friendly with. Until that other turian, who Nihlus had called Saren, shot him in the back. Shepard didn’t immediately recognize the name of the turian but cataloged it away for future reference before checking on Nihlus once more. He was going to live, most likely, as long as she could track down this beacon quickly and call for evac. 

“Williams, how’s your field care training?” Shepard called over her shoulder, watching the readouts on her omni-tool as Nihlus’ medical interface worked to keep him stable. 

“I’m no combat medic, but I’ve got more experience than your average grunt ma’am.” Williams said with a shrug. 

“Stay with Nihlus. Keep him alive until Alenko and I get back. You, help her out.” Shepard glanced coldly at the dockworker, who nodded eagerly. Then she turned her gaze to Alenko. 

“It’s you and me, lieutenant. Let’s go get that beacon.”

The fight was hard. They’d barely cleared the corner of the main platform when geth were upon them, and they had to fight their way across a bridge before getting to the nearest transport platform. When they took that across, the first thing they found was a bomb. That led to a brutally time-sensitive fight where Shepard had to pick off geth as quickly as possible while covering Alenko, who disarmed each bomb they found. It was painfully apparent that this Saren person intended to cover his tracks by blowing this part of the colony sky high. 

Finally, the last of the geth were dead. They killed more of those human-looking monstrosities, whom Alenko had taken to calling husks , and then they found the beacon on the edge of the platform. They’d cleared the area just in time to prevent it being taken away on that horrible ship. Shepard approached it cautiously, eying the glow of energy coming from the tower-like structure, then turned to the side to call up Williams and check on Nihlus. 

“It’s incredible… I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it.” Alenko said as she made her calls. She was just contacting the Normandy for a medevac and casualty pickup when she noticed Alenko approaching the beacon with wide eyes, his helmet forgotten on the ground. Her full attention was on him as he suddenly stiffened, drawing closer to the beacon in jerky movements even though his boots were firmly planted on the ground. Shepard sprung into action, grabbing Alenko around the middle and hurling him to the side even as the alien energy of the beacon wrapped around her nerves and pulled her closer. 

She was helpless as it dragged her closer, fighting the pain and tingling as it seemed to connect with her nervous system, until its energy lifted her into the air and wiped away all awareness. 

Flashes of red light. A blurred image of an alien species, writhing in fear and agony. Screams skittered down her spine, the sounds almost insectile. A huge shape blotted out a red sun, fingers reaching for her as it glinted metallic reflections in the red light. She whirled through space, vague planetary shapes flinging past her until she was drowning in images and feelings she couldn’t make sense of. An overwhelming sense of urgency and dread overcame her until silence and darkness reigned.

Synthetic blue light greeted Shepard when she finally swam back to the surface of the strange dream, and she slowly opened her eyes to view the metal ceiling of the Normandy’s medbay. She sat up too quickly, and nearly fell off the cot she was occupying. It was only the quick steadying hands of Alenko that prevented her from crashing to the ground. 

“Doctor Chakwas, she’s awake.” Alenko called, his concerned gaze scanning over Shepard’s features. Shepard ran a hand over her face, rubbing the grit from her eyes as she fought to focus her gaze on her surroundings. Her heart rate finally began to steady when the familiar, warm face of the ship’s doctor came into view. 

“Welcome back to us, commander. We were quite worried about you.” Chakwas said softly as she ran her scanner over Shepard. Alenko stepped back, standing awkwardly on the other side of the row of beds. A pointed clearing of a throat called Shepard’s attention, and she saw Nihlus sat in the bed across from her. 

“Your commander is well, lieutenant. Please excuse us.” Nihlus said pointedly. Alenko stiffened, but nodded eventually. After one more lingering gaze cast at Shepard, he left the medbay. Chakwas tutted over Shepard for another moment before straightening. 

“You’ve been unconscious for two days, commander. Your physical injuries were easily mended, but despite my efforts you remained unconscious. The only abnormality I was able to detect was a strangely elevated level of REM, as if you were dreaming…” She trailed off, visibly bothered by the fact that Shepard’s extended period of unconsciousness had bothered her. Shepard brushed her arm, shooting her an appeasing smile.

“Thanks, doc. I’m fine, really.” Shepard said appeasingly, smiling up at the motherly face hovering above her. Chakwas frowned, examining her face closely before Nihlus spoke up again. 

“If her vitals are acceptable, might we have a moment alone, doctor?” 

Chakwas shot Nihlus a long look before sighing and nodding her agreement. She shut down her equipment and tidied her records before stepping out of the medbay and letting the door slide closed behind her. Shepard shifted in the bed until she’d heaved herself up to a sitting position, looking over to meet Nihlus’ gaze. Nihlus was studying her, she could tell, but she couldn’t discern the underlying motivation to that hawk-like gaze. They sat in silence for a long moment before, much to Shepard’s surprise, Nihlus offered up his story.

“Saren is a Spectre, like me. I knew him back in the military, during the last months of what your people call the First Contact War. We trained together for the Spectre program, and I might once have almost called him a friend. Then, he… changed. It was slow, a shift from the usual discipline and motivation of your typical military legacy clan to a mindset that was… cold. He became calculating, ruthless, and then cruel.” Shepard waited in silence as Nihlus took a deep breath, a quiet trill sounding as he stretched and resettled in his own hospital bed. 

“When I saw him there at the colony I knew something was wrong. He had no reason to be there, no viable explanation for how he knew to be there. He claimed the Council briefed him, and that he thought we could ‘use some help’ on the mission. I was scanning for signs of an ambush when he betrayed me. He shot me in the back, when I was briefly turned away from him. That alone is reason to question his motivations, because it is not our way. Turians are a proud people; I will teach you about our culture, and others, another time.”

Shepard fought the rising questions, able to discern that Nihlus was not done speaking. She thought that if he was interrupted, this sudden bout of full transparency would come to an end. So, rather than voice her questions, she sat quietly and was patient as Nihlus collected himself and likely overcame the lingering pain from his wounds. 

“You saved my life back there, Shepard. I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to repay that gesture. Not only have you exceeded my expectations in the sense of your raw skill as a soldier, but your integrity and open mind is to be commended. I have a feeling you are exactly the icon that humanity needs to lead it into taking a place as a fully realized partner in our shared community. You offered up intelligence willingly to a near-stranger, and a turian at that. You spared vital minutes to ensure my own survival, and still managed to save the remainder of that colony. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone like you, human or otherwise.”

Nihlus finally stilled, slumping back slightly as if his burst of honesty had drained the last of his strength. Shepard watched him for a long moment, trying to decide whether she should call the doctor back in, before formulating her own response. 

“I’d never let anyone I work with meet such a gruesome end, no matter their species.” She said plainly. “I respect you, Nihlus, and I want to learn from you. I hope I’ll get that chance, even with everything that’s going on.” She collected her own thoughts, filing away the intel and compliments she’d received from the turian. 

“The beacon… it held a message, I think. It’s unclear, but I saw things. Death, destruction… I can’t quite make sense of it. There’s something bigger going on than Saren targeting a human colony though, if you ask me.” 

She was about to describe what she saw within the data of the beacon when Anderson came rushing in. He nodded briefly to Nihlus before stepping over to her bedside, a near manic expression to his face. Shepard smiled up at him warmly, hoping to assuage the fatherly concern she saw painted over her captain’s face. 

“Shepard, good to see you awake finally.” Anderson breathed, shoulders slumping as he took her in. “We thought we might have lost you.” 

“I’m all right, sir.” Shepard said, straightening slowly before getting to her feet and leaning against the bed to soothe him. “Nihlus and I were just… debriefing.” 

Anderson nodded, a grim expression on his face. 

“Saren… I can’t believe it… actually, I can. The bastard hates humans. I wouldn’t put it past him to have targeted the colony out of pure spite, but he had to have been after something to do with that beacon!” Anderson’s eyes had grown hard, his expression near manic, and Shepard felt a pang of worry for her captain. 

“The beacon showed me images. Synthetics of some kind, I think… and utter destruction. I was just telling Nihlus about it.” 

“Who knows what knowledge that beacon held.” Anderson said, shaking his head. Shepard shot a look at Nihlus, who quickly clarified.

“The beacon was destroyed when the Normandy arrived. It appears to have overloaded its systems after… transmitting its information to you. I admit, the Council will be displeased that no further information will be gleaned from it. That can’t be helped now, you couldn’t have known what would happen.” 

“Alenko had to carry you up to the transit platform. Whatever happened when you connected with that beacon knocked you out cold. We picked up you and Nihlus mere moments after Alenko arrived with you in tow.” Anderson explained further, his brow still furrowed.

Shepard made a mental note to check in with Alenko and thank him, but quickly returned her attention to the men in the room. 

“What happens now?” She asked, directing the question at the pair of them. Anderson frowned, biting his lip as Nihlus answered her. 

“We go to the Citadel and brief the Council. Anderson, your ambassador should be able to request a meeting with the Council. I can throw my weight behind that request if need be, but they need to hear what we have to say. Even when it comes to Shepard’s… visions.” He trailed off, sounding uncertain. It was a strange tonality to hear from the turian. 

“What will I tell them? That I had a bad dream? We don’t have any real proof .” Shepard objected. She might be a human, but she knew how these things worked. Nihlus and Anderson seemed to believe her, but she worried that without solid proof the Council wouldn’t take them seriously. Anderson huffed, but Nihlus was watching her with a calculating gaze that told her that he agreed with her analysis of the situation. 

“We have to make them believe us.” Anderson insisted, and Nihlus stayed silent. She fixed him with a firm gaze until he spoke his mind. 

“Many systems in my suit were rendered inert by my injuries, to include my comm recordings and vid recorder. I have basic readings from my hardsuit detailing the intricacies of how I sustained my injuries, but the pistol Saren used was a generic one. We can’t prove his involvement with anything other than eyewitness accounts. We’ll tell our side of things, but I wouldn’t count on the Council taking our words at face value. Not where he is concerned. He has… connections.” 

With that, their conversation ended. Anderson left her with a glum order to report to the bridge before Joker began to dock at the Citadel, and Nihlus was looking tired. After Anderson left, Shepard convinced him to rest while she cleaned up and checked in with her squad. 

She discussed the events on Eden Prime, including the loss of Jenkins, with Alenko. She found that she had to force herself to endure his slightly endearing worry for her wellbeing. He spoke at length about the worry he’d endured when she’d pulled him from the grip of the beacon, and assured him that he was not at fault for her own actions to remove him from its grasp. Finally, she was able to shower and change into formal uniforms before reporting to the bridge just in time to witness Joker docking at the Citadel for the first time.

Chapter Text

Shepard felt as if she had borne the near-childlike amazement of her crew quite well as they ogled at the sheer size and complexity of the Citadel when they docked. Privately, she was quite impressed by the station as well, but she had an image to uphold and she was tired . No matter the fact that she’d apparently been practically in a coma for two days; she felt like she’d been deprived of sleep for a week. Shepard rationalized that it probably had to do with the intense visions relayed to her by that damned beacon. 

She set aside her hopes for a real night’s sleep, though, as they began to disembark from the ship. She’d ordered Alenko to come along; Kaidan, as he wanted to call her. The gunnery chief came along as well, if only to report to the Alliance administrative station that was hosted here so that she could finalize her transfer onto the Normandy. That transfer was courtesy of the captain, and though Shepard was glad that Williams wasn’t being left in the lurch after what happened she was worried by the sneering anti-alien sentiments she’d already heard from the marine’s mouth. 

Williams’ attitude would have to be a conversation for another day, though. Now, she had to prepare herself and Alenko for presenting themselves before the Council. With little evidence to back up their claims, besides eyewitness accounts and unexplainable visions from an ancient prothean artifact. Shepard thanked her good fortune that she had Nihlus on her side at the very least. She’d seen him disembark with Anderson, and had promised to meet them at the human embassy once everything was taken care of on the ship and Shepard was ready. The human ambassador, a man named Udina, had brought up their claims to the Council the moment Anderson had received the reports and readings from Alenko and Williams, and the police force on the Citadel was evidently doing their own independent investigation of Saren to add to the Normandy’s findings. 

“This place is massive, Shepard.” Kaidan said, visibly awestruck as they finally left their ship and made for the nearby elevator. They’d have to take the elevator down to the Citadel Security headquarters before making their way up to the area called the Presidium, where they’d find the human embassy and the rest of their group. Williams walked with them to the elevator, silent until the doors opened on the C-Sec headquarters and they looked out on the wide variety of species that occupied the space. 

“Great, can’t tell who’s an alien and who’s an animal here.” Williams muttered, her face growing stony. Kaidan winced visibly, and Shepard sent her gaze around the room quickly to ensure no one had heard her comment before throwing her caution to the wind and grabbing Williams by her upper arm, dragging her around the corner into a quiet, unpopulated area.

“You’re going to listen and I’m going to talk, got it?” Shepard said coldly. Williams’ stony face grew red, but she nodded silently. 

“If you’re going to be under my command, you are going to respect the people we work with. Your attitude toward aliens is your right, but you will not let it interfere with your work or our reputation. We will be working with aliens, Nihlus at the very least, and you will show them the proper respect. If I hear one more piece of xenophobic bullshit come out of your mouth then I will not hesitate to recommend Anderson transfer you elsewhere. If you don’t want to work with aliens, then get a transfer back to Earth. I’ll make sure that Anderson puts his weight behind it.” 

Shepard turned on her heel and stalked back toward Kaidan, who waited for her awkwardly between the two elevators. As an afterthought, she turned and pinned Williams with one more cold look.

“Get to the Alliance offices, cool off and make your decision there. Then I want you to report back to the Normandy immediately, and inform Pressley of your decision so he can relay it to me.”

Silence reigned between Shepard and Kaidan as they rode the elevator up to the Presidium, and then made their way quickly and efficiently to the human embassy. When they reached the reception area below the various embassies, Shepard stopped her quick gait and took a deep breath. 

“I need a moment to myself, Kaidan. There’s a cafe or something up there, go get a drink and meet me back here in thirty minutes.” Shepard met Kaidan’s eyes finally, and saw he was watching her with careful concern. She bit her tongue, not wanting to accidentally lash out with the remainder of her roiling frustration. 

“If you don’t mind my saying so, Shepard… You weren’t wrong. You weren’t out of line. Williams was, though, and you did the right thing in setting her straight. That you even gave her an out speaks well of you.” Kaidan turned away from her then, making his way toward the aforementioned cafe with an unhurried gait. 

Shepard let Kaidan’s words of affirmation sink in for a moment before turning away from the embassy and circling to the left to a wide veranda with a number of unoccupied benches. She settled onto one, still within eyesight of the reception area of the embassies, and looked out on the beauty of the Presidium.

It was a clean place; sharp lines, white buildings jutting up into the sky as tall as any of the skyscrapers she’d seen on Earth. The sharpness of the place was softened by the sparkling water that divided the Presidium in half, statues rising up from the water expressively. She could smell flowers, and saw them scattered all around the Presidium in planters; they provided a splash of bright color amid ferns and alien trees. Then, there were the people…

Shepard had never seen so many aliens in one place, especially not from such a wide variety of species. There were groups of asari walking together, their movements ageless and graceful. Their skin was in varying shades of blue, sometimes showing a gradient that almost turned purple. They all looked somewhat… glamorous. Beautiful, comfortable in their grace, and fully confident. She couldn’t help but envy them for that; sometimes her stocky, muscled frame made her feel less feminine than she ought to be. 

She noted a number of salarians, all walking and talking at a rapid pace. Their large, amphibious eyes seemed to flick around at an impossible pace as if they were cataloging every detail of their surroundings. She even saw elcor and hanar, who she only recognized from cultural briefings she’d read to prepare for this visit. Perhaps after the meeting with the Council she’d have an opportunity to speak to an elcor or hanar, just to get the experience. There were, of course, a fair number of humans populating the Presidium. Some were even actively engaged in conversation with asari, salarians, or turians.

The turians. There were many of them… an incredible variety of colors, probably as diverse as humans really. Some had carapaces that were green, black, brown, purple, blue… even red. Their small, slitted eyes were all bright and focused, though the color of their eyes varied just as much as that of their carapaces. She’d noted Nihlus’ icy blue eyes and rusty red coloration, and she began to realize that the markings on his face were unique as well. The turians around her had a near infinite variety of markings on their faces, both in color and pattern. She found that she desperately wanted to know what they meant. 

Shepard was finally feeling like the last dregs of her anger and frustration were filtering away into the bright beauty of the Presidium when a shadow fell over her bench and she looked up into the icy blue eyes of Nihlus. She scooted to the side a bit, gesturing an offer for him to sit beside her, and he did just that. She looked him over carefully, noting that while he seemed stiff his injuries had mostly healed; all that was left was the thick, clear bandage that covered the back of his neck. 

“I saw you sitting out here alone.” Nihlus said after a long moment of companionable silence. “Do you need to talk it out, whatever it is?” Shepard eyed him speculatively, but decided to take his offer at face value. 

“I don’t take injustice well.” She admitted by way of starting. “The marine we picked up on Eden Prime, Williams?” Nihlus nodded, his eyes sharp on her. “She made a very… unnecessary comment about the various races here. So, I shut her down hard. Told her to keep her prejudices to herself or request a transfer back to Earth, where her narrow mind couldn’t compromise my mission. I just needed to cool off…” 

She broke the lingering eye contact and leaned her head back on the bench, staring up at the artificial blue sky. Much to her surprise, reiterating her conversation she’d had with Williams hadn’t brought her anger bubbling back to the surface; instead, it felt as if further weight had been taken off her chest. Like she’d offloaded some of that anger onto the turian sitting beside her. 

“You are an interesting human, Shepard. Shutting down attitudes like that is an important step if we are to move forward in working together. Not just you and I, but as two species with a fraught history. That you are so dedicated to fairness of mind and mutual respect tells me you are a person of integrity and honor. Two things that turians will always respect above all else.” 

Shepard raised her head to meet Nihlus’ gaze once again, and cursed the fact that she couldn’t read the physiological tells of his species. The flared mandibles, the pointed gaze, the barely discernible rumble that she felt through the bench. She couldn’t read the subtext and it frustrated her. Then, Nihlus surprised her by placing a hand carefully on her shoulder; it was a distinctly human gesture, and Shepard realized what he was doing. It was an olive branch; a way for him to communicate his good intentions in a way she could understand with her own human limitations. She offered up an answering smile, letting her eyes soften with gratitude. 

“Thank you, Nihlus. For everything. I’m looking forward to working with you.” 

Nihlus released his grip on Shepard’s shoulder after using her to lever himself back off the bench with a quiet grunt, and Shepard couldn’t help the laugh that broke free when he shoved her playfully once he was on his feet. Normally she didn’t let people touch her so casually, and she rarely felt the need to touch others, but sometimes she just felt safe with certain people. She found she was beginning to see it would be quite easy to be this turian’s friend, now that they were beginning to be more open with each other. It didn’t make her spine stiffen when he touched her; despite his predatory biology, her instincts had cataloged him as trustworthy.

He stepped away without further conversation, cocking his head to beckon her along with him. She followed as he led her back to the embassy, and Kaidan came down from the cafe just in time to join them as they went up the stairs. They moved silently, though Kaidan kept shooting Shepard inscrutable glances that she didn’t have the energy to analyze. When Nihlus lead them into the human embassy office, they were immediately greeted by a grating male voice that was definitely not Anderson. It was the ambassador.

“I see you brought your entire crew with you, captain. Is this really necessary?” Udina scowled at them as they walked in, and Shepard quickly noted the change in Nihlus’ posture and the placement of his mandibles. Slightly flared before, the mandibles now pressed tight to his cheeks, while his shoulders pressed backward and he almost seemed to puff out his chest. Shepard guessed that this was a sign of dislike at the least, aggression at the most. It was apparent that Nihlus did not like the human ambassador one bit, and her first impression was that she couldn’t blame him one bit. 

“This is just most of the ground team from Eden Prime, ambassador. Their testimony may be necessary when we meet with the Council.” Anderson answered, a suffering patience painted across his features. 

“I have the mission reports. I assume they’re accurate?” Udina replied, scowling at Anderson. Shepard felt Nihlus stiffen further and she reached out to place a hand on his arm, making him go still. She caught a sideways glance from Kaidan, but ignored it in favor of stepping forward and injecting herself into the conversation. 

“We appreciate your time, ambassador. I take it we’ve secured an audience with the council?” Shepard spoke calmly and respectfully, assuming a formal stance. Udina looked her over for a long moment that made Shepard want to punch him, and she heard a slight rumble behind her, but luckily Anderson chose that moment to answer her. 

“Yes, that’s right, commander. Udina and I have a few more things to go over, but we’ll be expected in the Citadel tower soon. Nihlus, can you lead the commander and lieutenant to where we need to be?” Anderson shot a careful look over Shepard’s shoulder, and Shepard turned her head slightly to catch Nihlus’ nod of agreement. Udina had finally stopped ogling her, and had returned his attention to Anderson. 

“Yes, yes. Come captain, we have much to discuss and we need to be early to the Council chambers. Your… crew… can meet us there. Don’t be late.” He shot this last comment at Shepard before practically dragging Anderson out of the office, sparing no more than a glance at the others. Once Anderson and Udina were out of the office, Shepard heaved a heavy sigh of relief and rolled her shoulders to shake off the feeling of her skin crawling. 

“That man is despicable.” She said grimly, wandering over to lean on the balcony. From here, she could indeed see the bench where she’d been sitting before. Nihlus and Kaidan came on either side of her; Kaidan stood slightly stiffly as he looked out at the Citadel, while Nihlus leaned a bony hip on the railing and faced her. 

“Be careful with that one, Shepard.” Nihlus rumbled. “He’s a snake, and I get the impression you didn’t appreciate the way he looked at you.” Shepard shot him a wry glance before shrugging. 

“It’s something you get used to, I suppose. Usually it’s easier to just ignore men like him. He knows I could break his arm if he dared touch me.” 

Kaidan let out a noise of shock, looking over at her finally. Shepard smirked, and saw Nihlus’ mandibles flare again. Amusement, maybe? Approval? She’d have to ask him about it eventually, but didn’t think now was the right time. 

“Should we get moving, commander?” Kaidan said neutrally, glancing at her and then briefly at Nihlus. She nodded in agreement, straightening and letting Nihlus lead the way back out of the embassy. They’d barely made it down the stairs into the reception area when an older man called out to her, begging to speak with her. Shepard sent a quick glance at Nihlus, who shrugged, and turned to address the man. 

His wife had died on Eden Prime. Shepard listened patiently as he told their story, and explained that the Alliance was refusing to release her remains to him to take back to Earth for a family service and burial. The man, who introduced himself as Samesh Bhatia, wanted Shepard to speak on his behalf to the Alliance Family Services representative that held court in the cafe on the other side of the embassy. Shepard easily soothed the man’s mood, promising that she’d look into his situation after she’d taken care of her time-sensitive business on the Citadel. 

Nihlus cocked his head at her when she’d finished her conversation with Samesh, but said nothing as he led them over to a console that he explained was a skycar hub. It read his omni-tool, and a nearby skycar lit up, the doors lifting to admit them. Shepard quickly slid into the skycar, examining the sleek interior while Nihlus climbed into the other front seat and Kaidan climbed into the back. 

“You’d think you never saw a skycar, Shepard.” Nihlus said, a warm tone in his voice. Shepard categorized it as teasing.

“I’ve seen skycars , but this is a lot nicer than the ones you’d hire back on Earth.” Shepard answered drily. “Can I drive?” 

Nihlus huffed and shook his head, punching in a destination. 

“Unnecessary. The car will be on autopilot; it’s the preferred method to moderate traffic. Only in emergency situations can these cars be piloted manually.” Shepard hid her disappointment as she settled back to enjoy the ride. 

Kaidan seemed to thaw a bit along the way, asking Nihlus a few questions about the Citadel and their immediate surroundings. Nihlus answered them all readily, adding in a few anecdotes here and there about the different relevant regions of the Citadel and noting some shops that they might like to check out before departing again. Shepard took it all in, working to keep her nerves to a minimum as they drew nearer and nearer to the Citadel tower. 

“When we go before the Council, it is likely that neither of you will need to speak. Lieutenant, your presence is a formal courtesy so you can rest easy. Shepard, you will be allowed to speak, especially if any of them brings up your Spectre training. There is a chance that Saren will be present, at least as a holo. I ask that you control yourself and try not to be riled by him. He is skilled at manipulating people.” Nihlus’ tone was grim as he continued, and Shepard merely nodded quietly. She shot a look back at Kaidan, who nodded his understanding also, and then they were disembarking at the Citadel tower.

The tower was just as pristine as the Presidium, but was more formal. It appeared to be mostly taken up by one long room with little oases of trees, rocks and pools scattered throughout with benches set around the greenery. Groups of asari, salarians, turians and humans were scattered throughout, engaged in discourse, but their voices didn’t carry. It felt quiet. Shepard also noticed a nearly human-sized, insectile creature that appeared to be working at a tiny console that slid out of the featureless wall. Nihlus noticed her interested stare, and bumped her shoulder with his. 

“They’re called Keepers.” He told her quietly. “No one really knows what they are, just that they’ve been here since the Citadel was discovered and don’t take well to being interfered with. We leave them alone, and they take care of the station. Repairs and upgrades occur overnight, they keep the public areas clean, and nothing has ever gone wrong with any sort of electrical or environmental system.”

“Fascinating…” Shepard murmured, eyes narrowed inquisitively at the Keeper. If it noticed her scrutiny, it didn’t react at all. It simply continued tapping at the console. Raised voices ahead, definitely turian, drew her attention as they started up a flight of stairs. Shepard keyed in on the conversation as a bluish turian was gesturing animatedly to a dark colored, taller turian. 

“I just need more time! Talk to the Council, stall them!” 

“Stall the Council? That’s not an option. Your investigation is over, Garrus. This conversation is over.” The taller turian stalked off toward the highest point of the tower, leaving the one called Garrus standing slumped in the middle of the stairway, watching him go. Nihlus leaned over to her, nodding at the turians. 

“Executor Pallin. He’s head of Citadel Security. That one is Garrus Vakarian; I worked with his father at one point… looks like Garrus followed in his father’s footsteps, after a fashion. We should talk to him.”

Shepard nodded and continued climbing the steps. Before she’d even reached the top, Garrus’ attention focused on her with a heavy precision. His eyes were a greenish-blue, bright and intelligent as his attention focused solely on her. Shepard wasn’t sure why the weight of his focus made her shiver. His hide and carapace were a grayish tint of blue, with the darker blue designs on his face complimenting the color nicely. He turned to face her as she stepped up onto the platform from the top stair, hooking his hands into the cowl of his armor. 

“Commander Shepard, isn’t it? I’m Garrus Vakarian. I was… assigned to be the investigator for C-Sec, looking into Saren.”

Shepard nodded in greeting, locking her hands behind her as she surveyed the turian. 

“Good to meet you, Garrus. I take it your investigation didn’t go as you planned?” Garrus growled deeply, and Nihlus cocked his head at the turian. 

“He’s a Spectre, everything he touches is classified. I found a lead, and was chasing it down, but…” Garrus gestured helplessly in the direction the executor had left. “Pallin won’t give me more time. He closed my investigation, and I was so close .” 

“Well, I appreciate your efforts nonetheless, Garrus.” Shepard said politely, looking him over once more. She really wished she could read turian posture. 

“Good luck with the Council, commander… maybe they’ll listen to you.” Garrus replied wistfully. Then, his gaze locked on Nihlus and he stilled. “Or him . It’s been a while, Nihlus.” Nihlus barely moved when he acknowledged Garrus. 

“Yes, we’ll see how this goes. Do tell your father I said hello, Garrus.” Nihlus stepped past Shepard and continued on with long strides that ate up distance. Shepard waved a quick goodbye to Garrus and hurried after him, Kaidan on her heels. 

“That was weird.” Kaidan muttered. Shepard found herself agreeing. “Maybe Garrus will be of help to us, if things don’t go well with the Council.” 

Shepard sighed, her thoughts shifting back to this dreaded meeting with the representatives of the current Council races. Turian, salarian, and asari. Three of the most powerful people in the galaxy were to judge their testimony and decide if anything was to be done, if anything, about Saren’s actions on Eden Prime. Nihlus hadn’t seemed very optimistic about their odds.

“I can’t see this going well, honestly. We can hope, of course, but… I don’t know how much weight a fellow Spectre’s weight will carry, and we have no tangible proof of Saren’s actions.”

Kaidan nodded grimly, casting a look back at Garrus as they caught up with Nihlus. The turian’s posture had shifted into something stiffer, more predatory. Shepard wondered if he was nervous about what was about to come; it would make sense, though she was surprised to see anything ruffle Nihlus this much. Maybe it had been some unspoken communication between himself and Garrus. 

They strode past the gentle greenery and a few groups of asari, then reached a long set of stairs and saw Anderson standing in the middle of them as if waiting for them. They made their way up quickly, Shepard working to settle her thoughts and put herself in the proper mindset for this meeting. When they reached Anderson, he immediately turned on his heel and led them up the stairs.

“Come on, they’re just starting. Saren is present via holo to… defend himself.” It sounded like a warning, and Shepard noted the low rumble coming from the Spectre beside her. 

Nihlus’ mandibles were pressed so flat to his face they seemed to creak, and Shepard wondered if the expression might be the turian equivalent of humans gritting their teeth. She kept herself at the turian’s elbow as a show of silent support as they walked down a narrow platform that led to a podium. On the other side of an expanse of glass were three podiums that were host to the Council. The Asari councilor was speaking as they took their places behind Udina.

“The attack perpetrated by the geth is a matter of some concern, but there is nothing here to indicate Saren was involved in any way.” The asari looked to her turian counterpart as he interjected in agreement with her. 

“The Citadel Security investigation also turned up no real evidence to support your accusations. A charge of treason is a serious matter, and the burden of proof is on you.”

Shepard watched as Udina visibly bristled, shifting to point an accusatory finger at the Council. She wondered absently how he’d gotten this job, since this was in no way an effective tactic to address the people before them. 

“An eyewitness saw him attempt to kill Nihlus in cold blood!” Udina exclaimed. The councilors shook their heads.

“We’ve read the Eden Prime reports. The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof.” The salarian councilor said, shrugging. “By these reports, Nihlus wasn’t even witness to his own injury, thus his opinions of the matter are of little weight either.”

Shepard finally noticed the overly-large holo of the turian in the upper corner of the Council chamber when it shifted and spoke. That was the first time she laid eyes on Saren, and she immediately hated him for what he’d done to both Eden Prime and Nihlus.

“ I resent these accusations. Nihlus is a fellow Spectre, and a friend. What would I gain in attacking him? ”

Nihlus shifted, and Shepard could feel the rumble go through his chest when his elbow briefly brushed hers. She shifted her posture slightly so her shoulder pressed against his arm in silent support. He didn’t look at her, but his stiff posture relaxed minutely. Nihlus took a deep breath and stepped past Udina, fixing each member of the Council with a hard look.

“I like this situation as much as any of you, but I know what I saw. Saren was there, and the moment I turned away from him I was injured. What other explanation is there? Saren has betrayed me, betrayed his honor, and betrayed his duty to this Council.” Nihlus continued to stare at them as his words sank in, but Saren was staring down at him with intense focus.

“ This entire meeting is without purpose. My fellow Spectre has undergone a traumatic event, perhaps his memory has suffered from his experience and these humans’ grudge against me has filled in the blanks. I sympathize with you, Nihlus, but do you really think I would sink so low as to attack you? ” 

Shepard stiffened and made to move forward to speak in Nihlus’ defense, but Nihlus shifted just enough to block her path. Anger speared through her chest, but she halted as he obviously wanted her to stay out of it for now.

“ These humans are merely concerned with how all this looks. Their Eden Prime mission was a total failure, and they even managed to destroy a priceless prothean artifact in the process! Their species needs to learn its place. Humanity isn’t ready for power, they’re not even ready to join the Spectres! ”

Udina bristled at this, shaking his fist at Saren and the Council. 

“He has no right to say that! It’s not his decision!” Udina roared. Shepard found herself simultaneously thankful he’d called that out and irritated that he was so utterly ridiculous. The man had balls, she could admit that at least. To the credit of the Council, the asari did look pointedly up at Saren and addressed him.

“Commander Shepard’s Spectre candidacy is not the purpose of this meeting.” She said firmly. Saren merely shrugged, and the asari’s expression told Shepard that the woman did not like being brushed off. 

“ This meeting has no purpose. The humans are wasting your time, councilor… and mine. ”

Anderson stepped in finally, ignoring Saren entirely. 

“There’s still one outstanding issue to discuss: Shepard’s vision from the beacon, before it failed.”

“ Are we allowing dreams into evidence now? ” Saren asked with a heavy note of sarcasm. “ How am I to defend myself against such things? ” The turian councilor nodded, turning from Saren’s projection to address Anderson. 

“I agree. Our judgements should be based on facts and evidence, not wild imaginings and speculation.” The other councilors nodded in agreement, and the salarian addressed Nihlus this time. 

“Do you have anything else to add to these proceedings, Spectre?” He asked grimly. Nihlus shifted, glancing up at Saren before addressing the councilor.

“I won’t waste your time or mine further, councilor. Do not think that this is over.” With that, he turned and swept past Shepard to begin walking down the stairs. Shepard watched him go, hesitating to follow him as they hadn’t technically been dismissed. Anderson nodded to her, cutting her loose just as the asari councilor announced that the meeting was adjourned and Saren’s image disappeared. 

Shepard followed Nihlus, Anderson and Kaidan on her heels as she weaved through people departing from the spectacle. She caught up to Nihlus at the bottom of the steps when he came to a stop before one of the larger oases of trees and rocks. He stared at the greenery, hands flexing at his sides as he stood ramrod-straight and silent. Shepard stopped beside him, keeping her gaze on the greenery as well and waiting patiently. Anderson was the one who broke the silence.

“That went about how I expected it to go,” He said tiredly, “but we can’t give up. We have to find something tangible on Saren, or he’ll continue to do whatever he’s up to totally unchecked. Other human colonies might be in danger.” Kaidan hovered silently a few steps away, watching them, but Shepard focused her gaze on Nihlus.

“I believe you, Nihlus.” She said quietly. “We’ll find some way to prove he’s gone rogue. What about that C-Sec investigator, Garrus? He said he was close to some breakthrough.” Nihlus nodded slowly, not taking his gaze off the trees before him.

“That might be worth something. Shepard, if you can find him and see if he’s willing to chase that lead then maybe we can help him dig that up.”

“He seemed very convinced that Saren was up to something, too.” Kaidan interjected. “I think he’d be willing to help us. Garrus didn’t seem pleased that his boss wouldn’t give him more time on the case.” 

Shepard nodded thoughtfully, remembering the interaction. Garrus had been heated with the executor, and seemed vaguely hopeful that Shepard and Nihlus could bring Saren to task. Since they’d very thoroughly failed at that aim, she might be able to persuade him to give over that lead, or let her chase it with him. 

“How do we find him?” Shepard asked finally, glancing at Nihlus and Anderson. 

“You could talk to Harkin. He was working for C-Sec last I checked…” Anderson said thoughtfully. Nihlus broke out of his brooding and turned to address him. 

“Harkin’s a menace, he got fired a week ago for drinking on the job. He’d probably be holed up in Chora’s Den drinking if I had to guess, but I’d rather not involve him.” Nihlus’ mandibles flared slightly as his eyes slitted. Dislike? Disdain?

“We can always just go by C-Sec and ask around for him,” Shepard mused thoughtfully. “It’s a start at least.” Kaidan nodded in agreement, but Anderson still looked thoughtful. 

“There is one other thing… though it’s a risk. You could go seek out Barla Von in the financial district. He’s a volus that works out there, word is that he’s an agent for the Shadow Broker.” 

“Not an option.” Nihlus cut in sharply. “The Shadow Broker’s information always comes at a price, and he doesn’t care who he sells information to. I won’t get myself or Shepard involved with the Broker.” 

Shepard felt slightly warmed at the protectiveness of that statement, and was grateful that he was the one to shoot the idea down so she didn’t have to. She’d heard about the Shadow Broker, and nothing she’d heard was good. The Broker had literally started wars with the trading of information, and Shepard did not like the idea of being put in the debt of someone who had no moral code. It put her off that Anderson would even suggest such a thing. 

“We’ll track down Garrus and see what he can offer,” Shepard said into the tense silence. “Hopefully we won’t even have to consider approaching an agent of the Shadow broker.” Anderson shrugged, looking slightly guilty. 

“Very well, I leave this in your hands Shepard. I shouldn’t be involved in your investigation. I’ll catch up with Udina and see if we can work any avenues from a political angle.” Shepard cocked her head at him, wondering why he felt he shouldn’t be involved, but left that line of thought alone in the interest of getting moving. If he had something to tell her about Saren, he’d have said it.

Anderson moved back up the stairs after that, disappearing from view as she, Kaidan and Nihlus walked down to the far side of the Citadel tower and caught the elevator, which took them to the Presidium. They moved in silence for a long time, letting Nihlus lead them to the nearest C-Sec access elevator. 

C-Sec was just as busy when they arrived as it had been when they’d first entered the Citadel, and Nihlus excused himself to go speak to some of his local contacts about Garrus’ whereabouts. Shepard cast her gaze around, wondering if there was any point in her asking around as well. Nihlus probably had the best contacts to get information out of, after all. 

“Nihlus is… an interesting character.” Kaidan said as she looked around. Shepard focused her attention on him, wondering where this was going.

“If you’ve got something to say, Kaidan, speak up,” she said after he didn’t continue. Kaidan watched her carefully before speaking again. 

“I just wonder what his motivations are with you, commander. He seems… very friendly with you, protective even. I just hope you’ll be careful.” 

Shepard felt her nostrils flare at the insinuation, and gritted her teeth against the anger that she felt. She carefully pushed the emotion back, answering Kaidan with a firm rebuke.

“Lieutenant, Nihlus is my mentor. His presence with us is to evaluate my skills and train me to be an effective Spectre candidate. He is also someone that I respect for his ideals and his skills. Interactions between us are neither your business nor your concern. He is on our side in this, and that is all you need to concern yourself with.” She watched as Kaidan’s face turned stony, but he simply nodded and turned away from her. Shepard bit back a sigh of irritation, and that was when she noticed the krogan. 

He was massive . She knew of the krogan people; she’d read about how the Council had found them and “uplifted” their species, providing them with tech and ships so they could fight on the front lines of the rachni wars. Then, when the war was over and the krogan began using that tech to expand, the salarians and turians had worked together to neuter the entire race, infecting their people with something called the genophage. The genophage made it so that only one in a hundred pregnancies would result in live births, effectively all but stopping their population growth. Shepard had been horrified at these events, and still was, but seeing this krogan in person showed her why the rest of the galaxy was so afraid of them. 

He stood head and shoulder taller than most people in the area; a massive frame, flat face, and wicked looking weapons strapped to his narrow hips. His natural armor plates were reddish brown, his armor a matching shade of red. He had small eyes set in his wide face, dark brown but glinting with intelligence and a sort of fire that told her he never ran from a fight. He was, all in all, terrifying but wholly impressive. She listened closely to the C-Sec agent that was up in his face, speaking to him angrily. 

“Stay away from Chora’s Den, Wrex. This is your last warning.” The human said, poking a finger at the krogan as if that would do anything . 

“Fist can hide behind you all, but I’m going to kill him. Just watch.” The krogan’s voice was like gravel, low and growling. Dangerous. 

“Do you want me to lock you up?” The human asked, irritated and shocked. Wrex laughed, or maybe growled.

“I’d like to see you try.” 

Shepard decided to step over before this krogan started a gunfight in the middle of Citadel Security. Something about him intrigued her, and she felt nearly compelled to ask why this Fist person was in his crosshairs. As she made her way carefully over, the C-Sec agent retreated with no shortage of grumbling, casting wary glares over his shoulder at the krogan. When Shepard stepped up to him boldly, meeting his eyes, the Krogan looked down at her with interest sparkling in his dark eyes.

“What do you want, human?” He growled. Shepard didn’t blink, merely shrugged. 

“What was all that about?” She asked, injecting careless curiosity into her voice. Wrex studied her, then huffed. He settled a hand on his shotgun, staring down at her. 

“I’m on a bounty for someone named Fist. Shadow Broker sent me here to kill him, for selling information directly to some turian rather than honor a deal made on behalf of the Broker.” Shepard’s mind went into overdrive, putting together a possible image. Wrex noticed the shift in her expression, her calculations, and fed her a bit more information. “Fist has some quarian that apparently holds evidence that a spectre named Saren is working with geth. I get the feeling that our goals may be intersecting here.” Shepard studied the krogan for a quiet minute, during which he returned the favor, before nodding. 

“I’m after Saren. He attacked a human colony along with a contingent of geth, but the Council won’t buy it without solid proof. I have a feeling that quarian might be able to provide that. Is Fist keeping her somewhere?” 

Wrex nodded, shifting until he was standing far more casually, leaning against the wall with his arms loose at his sides. He trusted her, then. Or didn’t peg her as a threat. 

“He probably has her in Chora’s Den, it’s his club. My sources say he’s holed up there with a bunch of mercs now that word got out that I’m after him.”

Shepard decided to take the gamble, ignoring Kaidan’s hovering presence at her back. 

“Work with me on this. I’m Commander Shepard. You’re Wrex, right?” The krogan nodded, then held a hand out to Shepard to shake. She was impressed he was so familiar with a human gesture, but took his hand and shook it firmly. Wrex grinned down at her, then his eyes shifted to over his shoulder. 

“What’re you looking at, pretty boy?” Shepard turned to see Kaidan staring at her with a mixed expression of horror and admiration, though he shook himself out of his state when Wrex called him out. 

“Wrex, this is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. He’s with me, as well as…” Shepard cast her eyes around and spotted Nihlus coming down a set of stairs on the far side of the room. His eyes were immediately on her, his mandibles flaring wide as his eyes grew sharp. Surprise? Interest?

“Spectre Nihlus Kryik, eh? You keep interesting company, Shepard.” Wrex rumbled behind her. Nihlus came up to them, looking up at the krogan. 

“Wrex, are you causing trouble with my protege?” Nihlus’ tone was dry but familiar, and Shepard found a small smile spreading across her face. Wrex just laughed, leaning around Shepard to clap a heavy hand on Nihlus’ shoulder. Nihlus focused his eyes on Shepard, a question visible in them, but first he filled her in. 

“Garrus is in the wards. Apparently he doesn’t take well to being told to drop a case prematurely, and went to the med clinic there to speak to some doctor who had contact with his lead. It’s a young quarian on her pilgrimage.” Shepard shot a look at Wrex, her eyebrows raising.

“It seems our avenues of investigation have crossed indeed, Wrex.” Shepard said bemusedly. “Nihlus, Wrex is after someone named Fist. Apparently he sold out a quarian who has evidence tying Saren to the Geth. He made a deal with the quarian on behalf of the Shadow Broker, but I’m guessing he sold her to Saren instead?” Wrex nodded, grinning down at Shepard. 

“This one’s pretty smart, Kryik. Can she fight, though?” Nihlus stared up at Wrex, his expression something that the krogan apparently was able to read. “Excellent. She’d already convinced me to let her tag along before you showed up, now I’m even more sure it’s a good idea.” Throughout the exchange, Shepard noted that Kaidan was shifting awkwardly behind him. She suddenly felt a bit bad that he was probably feeling very much excluded from all this, so she turned to speak to him. 

“Thoughts, lieutenant?” She asked in a slightly louder than necessary voice. Kaidan looked up at her in surprise, then straightened his shoulders. 

“I still think we should find this Garrus person. He might know more about the quarian’s intel or location, and gathering more information would be better than going in with nothing more than the limited information we have. Besides, having a C-Sec investigator with us will help keep the heat off all of us in case things go sideways.” 

Shepard was impressed. His analysis of the situation was good, and his suggestion that they involve Garrus as a way to have C-Sec hands in the investigation was a valid one. Nihlus and Wrex seemed to agree as well, and Nihlus led the way to a lower set of elevators that brought them out in the wards. 

Chapter Text

They made their way quickly, following neon signs for the clinic until they came up on the doors that opened automatically in their presence. What Shepard saw inside had her immediately creeping forward, unholstering her pistol and pressing up against the low wall. Garrus was there, crouching behind a divide with his own pistol in his hands. There were four human men in the room, all circled around the small human woman in a doctor’s uniform. 

“Fist knows you told Garrus about the quarian…” One of the men growled, leaning threateningly toward the woman. “Keep your mouth shut if you want your precious clinic to stay in one piece.”

“I didn’t tell him anything about Fist, I swear!” The woman cried out, shrinking back only to bump into another of the rough men. Garrus chose that moment to leap to his feet and train his pistol on the men, and Shepard wanted to strangle him. 

“Get your hands off her!” He shouted as one of the men wrapped an arm around the doctor’s throat, holding her between them. The man put his own pistol to the doctor’s temple, and Shepard could see that the situation was quickly devolving. She had to get their attention. So, despite her better judgment she stood as well, training her weapon on the men. Their attention did, indeed, turn to her as she stood. Nihlus chose that moment to step into the clinic with Wrex and Kaidan on his heels, and what followed was a quick slaughter that began with Garrus shooting the man holding the doctor hostage right between the eyes. 

When the last of the thugs were dead on the ground, Shepard immediately whirled on Garrus while Nihlus carefully approached the frightened young doctor to check her over. 

“What were you thinking?” Shepard exclaimed, pinning Garrus with a glare. “You could’ve hit the hostage.” Garrus bristled, his mandibles fluttering before pinning themselves to his face. 

“I just reacted, I didn’t think…” He trailed off, his voice taking on a note of guilt as he turned to the doctor. “Doctor Michel, are you okay?” The doctor turned to him, nodding tremulously. 

“Yes, I am, thanks to all of you. Fist sent his thugs after me! He wanted to keep me from telling anyone about the quarian… he has her, you know. I told her not to, but she went to him to trade her information for protection from the Shadow Broker. He told her he’d arrange a meeting.” 

Wrex shook his head, holstering his pistol and kicking a corpse out of his way. 

“Impossible, no one meets the Shadow Broker in person. I was even hired through an intermediary.”

“This quarian probably doesn’t know that.” Nihlus cut in. “We have little time if Fist is trying to clean up his tracks. We need to get to Chora’s Den.” 

Shepard nodded her agreement before looking around the clinic. She felt bad leaving the doctor alone here with a handful of corpses right after a near death experience…

“Garrus, can you tell C-Sec what happened here?” She asked the turian, who nodded and stepped out to contact someone. When he did so, she turned to Kaidan with a careful look. “Alenko, I need you to stay with the doctor. Keep her safe until C-Sec arrives and collects her statement, and then report our findings thus far to the captain. He should know what’s going on, and I want word of this to get to him from us rather than from Citadel Security.” 

Kaidan frowned, clearly displeased at being left behind, but nodded and saluted Shepard before turning to walk over to the doctor. He patted her on the shoulder soothingly, guiding her to sit at her desk and handing her a glass of water. Once Garrus had made his report to C-Sec, they were on their way once again. A human, two turians and a krogan moving quickly through the wards raised a bit of a stir but no one dared get in their way. Soon, they had arrived at Chora’s den and were immediately thrown into a tight quarters shootout. A dozen mercs fell at their hands, more than a few sniped from afar by both Garrus and Shepard, and then Shepard was able to convince the last few to choose finding other employment over the wholesale slaughter their coworkers had suffered.

“Would’ve been easier to kill them…” Wrex muttered after the workers made a quick retreat. Shepard shrugged, moving forward to hack the door to the back offices while Garrus rebutted Wrex’s statement. 

“Not everything has to come to a gunfight.” Garrus told him heatedly. Nihlus remained quiet, only moving up to watch Shepard hack the door. 

“You’re quite adaptable, aren’t you Shepard?” He murmured to her. Shepard grinned and shrugged, keeping her focus on the door. 

“I’ve picked up a few things along the way. Tech is my specialty, though.” He watched her homemade hacking program run, mandibles flared. 

“I can see that.” 

The door lit up green and they moved through it with haste, taking care of Fist’s two turrets and wearing down Fist himself until he shouted a surrender and stammered out a confession of the quarian’s location at pistol point. When Shepard turned to leave, Nihlus and Garrus at either side of her, a shotgun blast had her whirling back around with anger flaring in her eyes. Wrex stood over Fist’s body, his shotgun smoking. 

“What the hell are you doing? We don’t shoot unarmed prisoners .” Shepard said hotly. Wrex just shrugged, holstering his shotgun.

“I was hired to kill him, and I’m not about to break a contract with the Shadow Broker.” 

Nihlus looked neutrally at Wrex, but shrugged apologetically when Shepard fixed her glare on him. 

“We don’t have much time, Shepard. We need to get to that back alley before Saren’s people get the quarian.”

Shepard was forced to bow to the validity of that, though she shot Wrex a look that told him that the conversation was far from over. She didn’t have any real authority over him, she knew, but she still felt somewhat responsible for his actions. He might have been paid by the Shadow Broker to take out Fist, but this was her mission overall. 

They were met with even more mercs on the way out, and Shepard wondered where the hell they’d all come from as she squatted behind an overturned table, her sniper rifle raised and ready. As soon as Nihlus sent out his defense drone and overloaded the farthest merc’s shield, she raised herself up out of a crouch and trained her sights on the merc. She heard a blast and felt shots ping off her shields as she squeezed the trigger and dropped back down, swearing. 

“Nice shooting!” Garrus yelled from across the way as Wrex charged out of cover to plow through a pair of mercs that had unwisely exposed themselves to move closer. The mercs went down, and Shepard and Nihlus continued their rhythm of distract, disable and kill as Garrus rained fire down on the nearer mercs with his SMG and Wrex charged through every obstacle with a maniacal bellow. Finally, the remaining mercs were dead and Shepard picked her way through the wreckage of Chora’s Den. 

“Which way?” Shepard asked breathlessly, jogging forward. Garrus came up beside her, and led them all past a transit console and into a small back alley illuminated by red safety lights. A Keeper worked silently in the far corner, and as Shepard crept forward she saw a young quarian being approached by a Turian with ghastly skull-like face markings. He towered over the quarian, his hand coming up to caress her arm as he crowded her. 

“Where’s Fist?” The quarian asked; her voice was nervous, sounding slightly synthesized through her environmental suit. The turian ignored her question. 

“Do you have the data, pretty thing?” The turian rumbled, his fingers coming up to the side of her head. The quarian slapped his hand away, and Shepard heard a rumble come from one of the turians behind her. 

“Forget it, the deal’s off.” The quarian said, backing away toward the other end of the alley. 

“Not a chance. Get her.” The turian called out, and two salarians in full head-to-toe armor slipped from the shadows. The quarian acted quickly, reaching into a pouch of her suit and withdrawing a small device that she threw toward the three before taking a leap to the side, rolling on the ground of the alley and catching herself against a crate near Shepard. 

The device went off much like a flash bang, throwing the turian and salarians back and blinding them. Shepard didn’t stop to ask questions, she just leapt into action. It was too close-quarters for her rifle, so she unholstered her pistol and grabbed the quarian by the arm. She hauled the girl up and pushed her behind her, opening fire and throwing an overload at their attackers. 

The others opened fire quickly after she did, and the three enemies were dead almost before they got a single shot off. Shepard could feel the bruise blooming on her ribs from one well-placed blow from the turian, and knew she’d be paying for it later. There wasn’t time to nurse it now, though, as she turned to look over the quarian. Nihlus stepped up beside her, nodding to her grimly. 

“Are you okay?” Shepard asked as gently as she could, with her breath coming a bit more harshly than she wanted. “I’m Commander Shepard.” The quarian made a show of dusting off the cloth hood over her head, cocking her head to the side like a bird as she responded. 

“I’m Tali. Tali’Zorah nar Rayya. I’m fine, I can take care of myself.” Shepard huffed a laugh, hiding the wince that tried to accompany it. 

“I can certainly see that. Nevertheless, I’m glad I was here to help. A contact of mine told me that you have information linking the turian Saren to the geth… I’m looking for evidence on this very thing, since he and his geth recently attacked a human colony.” Internally, Shepard was praying to whoever would listen that this quarian still had what she needed. 

“It seems I might be able to repay you for saving my life, Shepard. I have data files recovered from a deactivated geth that  prove Saren has been working with them.” 

Shepard sighed in relief, and Nihlus chose that moment to chime in at last. She was beginning to wonder if the turian would speak at all during this operation. 

“Perhaps we should take this to the human embassy, Shepard? Your ambassador and captain will want to hear this as well.” 

Shepard nodded in agreement, inviting Tali to come to the human embassy with them. Garrus and Wrex announced their own desires to tag along, both wanting to see what would come of this little adventure of theirs in the wards. Nihlus led the way, Shepard and Tali on his heels with Garrus and Wrex taking up the rear. They surely made an interesting group, most of them being dirty, bloody, sweaty or some combination of all of those. Shepard kept her anticipation to a low simmer, instead focusing on keeping her movements casual and unhurried, and most of all not showing the limp that her body wanted her to fall into.

Soon enough they made it back to the embassy, and Udina started scolding them before even turning from the picturesque view at the balcony. Shepard hated that man so much.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Shepard? Fire fights in the wards? An all out assault on Chora’s Den ? I’d think you would have the sense to…” He trailed off as he turned, taking in the state of the group and the newest additions. He blinked several times before settling his gaze on the quarian beside her. 

“Who is this then? A quarian?” He asked drily. Tali bristled visibly, squaring her shoulders. 

“My name is Tali. Tali'Zorah nar Rayya.” She said hotly, her hands clenched into fists at her sides. 

“What are you doing so far away from the flotilla, Tali'Zorah?” Anderson called out in a more gentle tone from the side of the room. Shepard glanced over at him; she hadn’t noticed him when they’d entered. He wasn’t looking at Tali though, rather he was looking Shepard over with concern in his eyes. Shepard nodded to him minutely and he grudgingly ceased his examination. 

“I am on my pilgrimage. It’s a rite of passage for young quarians to leave our home ship and make our own way in the galaxy, searching for some valuable contribution to bring back to the community.” Tali answered, her voice sliding back into calm after Anderson addressed her with more respect.

“Tell us what it is you found if you would, Tali.” Shepard said leadingly, smiling encouragingly at the quarian. Tali nodded to Shepard, bringing up her arm and activating her omni-tool.

“I came across some geth in my travels. It was unusual; geth haven’t been seen outside of the Veil since they nearly massacred my people. I was able to separate one from the group, disable it, and with care and good luck I was able to retrieve just a bit of data from its memory banks before its protective measures kicked in and it wiped its own memory.” Tali tapped her omni-tool, and an audio file started to play. Shepard held herself still with great effort at the voice she heard. 

“ Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit… ” 

The audio file cut off, and instantly the room was filled with Anderson and Udina’s voices sounding out simultaneously. 

“That’s it, we have him!” Anderson exclaimed. Udina started rambling about calling up the Council when Tali lifted her hand to silence them. 

“Wait, there’s more. Saren wasn’t working alone…” She tapped her omni-tool again, and the audio file restarted. She let it play further, and they all heard a voice respond to Saren. 

“ ... one step closer to finding the Conduit.”

“... and one step closer to the return of the Reapers. ”

The room was silent for a heavy moment and Shepard looked up at Nihlus. His mandibles were pressed tight to his face, his body perfectly still. It sent off alarm bells in Shepard’s head. 

“I don’t recognize that other voice…” Udina murmured. “Maybe the Council will know.”

“Forget who it is, Saren mentioned Reapers. Why does that sound familiar?” Anderson cut in. Tali offered the answer, at least an answer after a fashion.

“The geth revere them as gods. A long time ago, a race of sentient machines called Reapers allegedly wiped all intelligent life from the galaxy, and then they vanished. The geth see them as the pinnacle of synthetic life.” 

It made sense. Shepard could still recall flashes of the vision she’d seen in the beacon, and the images she’d seen… synthetic creatures, death, destruction. It fit the story Tali told. Her face must have reflected the dark turn of her thoughts, because suddenly Kaidan was at her elbow, touching her shoulder. 

“You okay, commander?” He asked quietly. She nodded, staring blindly out at the Presidium. The conversation continued around her, Anderson and Udina sniping at each other as they walked away to bring a copy of Tali’s recording to the Council. Tali had stepped back somewhat, speaking quietly to Garrus and Wrex. Then a strong, three-fingered hand wrapped around her upper arm. 

“Shepard, come.” Nihlus said in her ear. She blinked herself out of her reverie and nodded, letting him lead her to the far side of the room where he pushed her into a chair with surprising gentleness. He crouched before her, activating his omni-tool and bringing up some sort of field aid scanner. 

“I’m fine, Nihlus.” Shepard said tiredly. Nihlus shot her a hard look, and she shrugged. The movement jarred her ribs and she failed to hide the wince this time. 

“You have three cracked ribs, Shepard. You took a nasty hit back there. The others might not have noticed, you hid it well after all, but you can’t fool me.” He tapped at his omni tool, then stood after a moment. “You’ll have bruises for sure. I’m sure your ship’s doctor can give you some topical medigel for that, but aside from that you need to be careful the next few days. The ribs will be tender, and if you take another hit there they might break and puncture something. You humans are fragile things.” 

Shepard scoffed, regretted it, then nodded to Nihlus.

“I’ll be careful. As long as we avoid the wards, I’m sure I won’t get shot at for a few days.” 

Nihlus made a quiet chuffing sound that Shepard thought might have been a laugh, and then the others had gathered around them. 

“You didn’t break already, did you Shepard? I was hoping to tag along for this big show with Saren.” Wrex growled from above her. Shepard chuckled drily, pushing herself to her feet as Nihlus took a step back. Surveying the group, she took in the faces of the unlikely crew she’d collected in just one busy day on the Citadel. 

“I’m coming with you, too. It’s my data that will be Saren’s undoing after all.” Tali chimed in. 

“And my investigative work, of course.” Garrus cut in, puffing his chest out. Shepard shook her head, gazing at all of them.

“Well we’d better get a move on before the Council starts without us. We’ll need two sky cars.”

They needed three. It turned out that Wrex counted for two thirds of the weight limit of the cars, which enraged him, but Shepard calmed him down and promised to ride along with him. Nihlus and Kaidan took another car, with Tali and Garrus claiming the third. By the time they’d all filtered into the Citadel tower and made their way up the stairs, they could hear the voices of the Council. Shepard made it up to the walkway before the Council, Nihlus on her heels, just as Udina played the recording of Saren. 

Shepard listened to the recording for the third time, feeling nerves race down her spine as she watched the Council members for reactions. The strongest reaction came from the asari, who looked horrified and raised a hand to cover her chest as if what she’d heard had struck her in the heart. They found out the reason for that reaction after a tense silence.

“I know that voice, the other one in the recording…” The asari said hesitantly. “Matriarch Benezia.” 

“Matriarchs are asari who have entered the latter stages of their lives.” Nihlus breathed to Shepard, leaning close. “They serve as sages, leaders, and sources of wisdom for the asari populace. For a matriarch to be involved in whatever Saren is up to is… not a good look, as you humans would put it.” 

The Council moved quickly after that admission to strip Saren of his rank as Spectre and declare him a rogue; a fugitive from justice. Shepard quickly noted the lack of real action, however, and found herself incapable of staying quiet after all she’d gone through just to get this far. 

“That’s not enough.” Shepard declared. “Saren’s probably still out there in the Traverse, what if he strikes again?”

“Do you expect us to chase him, send a fleet? A fleet can do little to hunt down one turian.” The turian councilor scoffed at her. The asari responded, her tone more gentle. 

“Saren has been stripped of all honor and connections. As a fugitive, he has no access to our resources any longer. What else is to be done?” 

Shepard gritted her teeth, scanning the council as her mind raced to come up with an answer. To her surprise, Nihlus stepped forward and stood firmly at her side.

“I wish to propose that you send myself and my protege. Shepard is more than ready to join the Spectres; I have submitted my own reports and data as to her performance over the last two missions we have conducted. Not only did she save my life, but she also prevented the destruction of the colony. When faced with the lack of evidence against Saren, she was unstoppable in finding the best avenues to help a C-Sec investigator track down that one last lead that proved without doubt that Saren was not to be trusted.” 

Shepard stared up at him, noting the upward tilt of his chin, his narrowed eyes and puffed chest. He almost looked… proud. Proud of her? The possibility warmed her chest. She turned her gaze to take in the reactions of the council. There seemed to be a silent argument going on between the three, before the asari councilor fixed the turian with a hard stare. After a tense silence, he nodded. The asari turned to meet Shepard’s eyes and smiled softly at her. 

“Commander Shepard, step forward.” 

A thrill went down her spine at the solemnity of her words. Shepard found herself glancing first to Anderson, and then to Nihlus. Both men nodded at her, so she took the three steps forward that brought her to the terminus of the walkway. She folded her arms formally behind herself, trying to ignore the throngs of humans and aliens that were leaning interestedly over the balconies surrounding the meeting area. The three councilors tapped at their consoles, then began to speak of the duties, honor, and gravity of a position within the Spectres. Before she knew it, applause was ringing out around her. She had been made a Spectre.

“You are the first human to join the ranks of the Spectres, Commander Shepard. We are tasking you and Nihlus with entering the Traverse to hunt down and apprehend the fugitive Saren.” The asari councilor said seriously. Shepard bowed her head in acknowledgement.

“I’m honored, councilors. Thank you.” 

The meeting was over then, followed by a flurry of congratulations from Kaidan, Garus, Tali and Wrex. Anderson clapped her on the back, sticking by her side as Udina stalked away with a muttered explanation about preparations that needed seeing to. Shepard looked over to Anderson, and he was beaming at her. 

“Well done, Shepard.” He said quietly. “I should go help Udina; you’ll need a ship and a crew, after all. Meet us in the docking area when you’re ready, and I’ll explain.”

When the crowd around the council chambers had thinned, Shepard finally stepped down and walked over to a small oasis on the sidelines. Everyone who’d come with her thus far followed, Nihlus standing at her side silently.  

“They’re going to want to come along.” He said to her as the rest gathered. Shepard looked up at him in surprise. 

“Into the Traverse?” Shepard asked in shock. He nodded slowly. 

“You have a sort of… magnetism to you, Shepard. You’re a natural leader, and these people admire what you are doing and more importantly what you represent. They’ll follow you, if you let them. It’s your call.” 

Shepard surveyed those around her quietly as they settled down from their rapid fire conversations. Wrex was the first to meet her eyes, his gaze calculating. She couldn’t see Tali’s face, but the quarian was bouncing on her toes as if she were ready to run to the docking bay. Garrus was standing loosely, hands hooked into his cowl, watching her with unabashed interest. Kaidan… she didn’t want to analyze his expression. It was intense, accompanied by a flush to his cheeks. 

“I’m going after Saren. None of you, save Alenko, are beholden to me in any way. I want to thank you all for your part in this, but you don’t have any obligation to me.” 

Garrus chuffed, and Shepard was more sure than before that the sound was the turian equivalent of a laugh. 

“I’m right behind you Shepard. I want to see this through.” Garrus said confidently. 

“Me too! My pilgrimage can wait, this is important.” Tali chimed in. 

“You’ve got spunk, kid. Saren won’t know what hit him when we come after his ass.” Wrex said with a dark, rumbling laugh. Shepard glanced up at Nihlus, who shrugged in a “told-you-so” sort of gesture. She let her gaze fall on Kaidan, and though he didn’t speak she could see the grim determination in his eyes. 

“All right then, let’s move out team. Wrap up whatever loose ends you need to and meet me at the docking bay in the morning.” She said with a deep sigh. She was met with cheers from Garrus and Tali, another chuckle from Wrex and a solemn nod from Kaidan. They all walked away with haste, and Shepard sighed as she settled onto the nearest bench with Nihlus beside her. 

“You’ll have to get used to this, Shepard. Something tells me this isn’t the first time you’ll draw people to you, and having such a diverse team at our disposal will undoubtedly have its benefits.” 

Shepard had to admit Nihlus was right on the diversity front. These people had a wide range of skills and backgrounds. It could only aid them in the future. She nodded to him and followed as he stood and walked toward the Presidium once more. They parted ways when Nihlus announced that he wanted to check on the arrangements Udina and Anderson were making at the docking bay. Shepard had one last thing to take care of before joining him, and it came in the form of an Alliance widower.

Chapter Text

Shepard spent a long time sitting in the cockpit after boarding the Normandy. Her ship… she could hardly believe it. She couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that Anderson was stepping down, staying on the Citadel, all because of Saren and their murky history. Shepard understood, objectively, that Anderson was doing the smart thing. He was keeping his own baggage out of her way, and letting her move forward with her mission without having a superior officer looking over her shoulder. 

“It doesn’t feel right…” Shepard murmured, mostly to herself. “It’s like I’m stealing the ship from him.” 

Joker shot a glance over at her, his face inscrutable and his eyes serious for once. She met his gaze, letting her conflicted feelings rise to the surface as he frowned and nodded at her. 

“Yeah, what happened to Anderson sucked, but you deserve this. The Normandy is yours now commander, and myself and the crew are behind you a hundred percent. We trust you.” 

Shepard had to smile at him for that, nodding in gratitude before shifting forward to announce their departure. She felt like she had to say something . 

“This is Commander Shepard speaking. We are departing the Citadel, and making for the Traverse. I won’t lie to you, crew… this isn’t going to be an easy mission.” She took a deep breath, looking out on the Citadel as Joker maneuvered them away from the docking bays. “Humanity has to step up and do its part; we need to do this. It’s time we proved ourselves as valuable additions to the galactic community, and with the help of those who have joined us we will do so. I will not fail you. Shepard out.”

She shook the tension from her shoulders and stood after a moment, noting that Joker’s eyes followed her. She thought she saw a flicker of pride in his gaze, but kept her face neutral when she told him that she’d check in later once she’d met with her team and determined their first step. Finally, she made her way through the main deck, fielding well-wishes and concerns alike, before escaping to her new cabin. The Captain’s cabin. 

It would take a while for her to truly think of it as her own, but she couldn’t deny the delight of a private shower that served well to soothe her bruised hip. She stayed in the hot water slightly longer than necessary after cleaning up, letting the water pelt down on her hip as she leaned against the wall of the shower. Finally, she toweled off and climbed into a clean uniform before fixing her hair and settling down at the narrow desk lining one wall to send a message to the members of her ground team. It was time they pooled their knowledge and began to come up with a plan of action.

Once Shepard had them all together, it didn’t take long to note the tension between her human squadmates and the aliens who had decided to come along. Garrus, Tali and Wrex had seated themselves on one side of the room, while Kaidan and Ashley Williams sat on the other. Kaidan and Ashley were visibly doing their best to avoid eye contact with the other side of the room. Shepard had been surprised when she’d found out from Pressley that Ashley had opted to stay on, but she knew that hearts and minds didn’t change overnight. She was willing to be patient with the soldier as long as Ashley was at least neutral around her new companions. 

She made a mental note to avoid bringing Williams along on missions for a bit, until she’d become more comfortable around the aliens, unless she needed to have an all-human ground team for any reason. It would be simple to keep Williams busy with weapons systems and ground equipment maintenance and upgrading. Kaidan was one she knew she could at least count on to operate efficiently in the field with any of the others, even if he wasn’t particularly friendly with any of them. 

She surveyed Garrus, Tali, and Wrex with quiet interest as they talked among themselves. They weren’t engaging her human team members in conversation, but it also looked like they weren’t actively excluding them. If anything, it seemed as though their conversations were ones that left openings for Kaidan and Ashley to learn about them and potentially engage, without forcing them to do so if they didn’t wish to. She was glad that she wouldn’t have to worry about them, at least. 

Nihlus stood quietly beside her, watching both her and the room. She hoped to debrief with him after this meeting, and by the way he was silently monitoring she felt like he’d definitely have something to say. Not wanting to keep everyone waiting any longer, she cleared her throat and got their attention.

“Everyone here has a stake in this fight. Whether it’s a matter of honor, duty, or something personal, we’re all on the same team. That being said, I might be the commander of this ship but only two of you are officially under my command. In this room, all our voices hold weight as long as your opinion is voiced with respect.” She stopped and met everyone’s eyes, waiting for their acknowledgement before continuing. 

“We have three main leads right now: a human colony on Feros has gone abruptly silent, for one. The asari councilor also discovered the last known location of Matriarch Benezia’s daughter; she’s a researcher studying the prothean ruins on Therum. Finally, we have word that Matriarch Benezia herself may have been sighted on Noveria. We have very little further intelligence on any of these three options, but I’d like to hear your perspectives on how we should begin.”

Shepard settled back on her heels, surveying them all and waiting to see who would be the first to speak up. She already knew where she wanted to go first, but she hoped to get a feel for what kind of people these were based on their responses. Tali wrung her hands nervously, obviously not willing to be the first to speak. Ashley and Kaidan both had their lips pursed as if they were fighting to contain their own thoughts. Wrex was staring amusedly at everyone in the room. Garrus was the first to speak, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. 

“The daughter can wait; if she’s researching in such a remote place, it isn’t likely she will leave soon. The council isn’t likely to advertise that Benezia is working with Saren so there’s no reason to believe she’d be tipped off. We can’t be sure how long Benezia will stay on Noveria, but if she’s there as a representative of Saren she may be there for a while. He’s a stockholder in a business on Noveria. There’s really only one truly time sensitive lead, and that’s the colony. Saren’s already hit one human colony with his geth; it can’t be a coincidence that they went silent shortly after Eden Prime got hit.” 

Shepard nodded to Garrus in thanks, quietly noting the expressions of shock on her human team’s faces. So they thought the same, but hadn’t expected the aliens to prioritize a human colony. She hoped that Garrus’ words would serve as something of a bridging of that interspecies gap. 

“The colony won’t last if they’re being swarmed with geth like Eden Prime,” Wrex growled. “Another remote colony in the Traverse; if it has been targeted, there’s something there Saren wants. We should go get it.” 

Shepard nodded again, searching the remaining silent faces for any sign of dissent. None showed on the faces of the rest of the team; Tali was nodding eagerly, while Kaidan and Ashley looked both resolute and a bit shellshocked. She turned to Nihlus, who merely shrugged in response to her look. Shepard bit back a sigh of relief before dismissing the team and telling them to get some rest, sending Kaidan up to notify Joker of their destination first. 

After everyone filtered out, it was just Shepard and Nihlus in the room. Shepard sighed deeply, sitting heavily in one of the now-vacant chairs and looking up at her mentor. He still stood with his arms crossed, hip cocked as he met her gaze. She studied him, noting his posture and how his mandibles sat close to his face without being pressed against the plates of his cheeks. It almost looked as if they were relaxed, just in a natural resting position. 

“Feros is the logical first step.” He said suddenly, startling her out of her quiet examination and mental note-taking. “I’m sure you want to go there first as well; the humans will not last long without aid if they’ve fallen victim to Saren and his geth.” He cocked his head down at her, waiting for her to confirm his assertion. 

“Yes, that was what I considered to be our first step.” Shepard admitted. “If other opinions were voiced I would have spoken out on the benefits of investigating Feros first and with all due haste. It seems that was not needed, though.” 

“You wanted to feel them out.” Nihlus said plainly. “A wise decision, Shepard. What can you tell me?” 

She was sure he was testing her, somehow, but she played along and told him her observations. Garrus was impulsive, headstrong, and led with his heart to an unusual degree for a turian based on her limited experience. Wrex was battle-hardened, as were so many krogan, but despite his past as a merc he was quite capable of working as part of a team. Tali was young, maybe a bit shy, but eager to prove herself. She noted to Nihlus that her human team appeared thrown by Garrus and Wrex’s ready assertion that the human colony should take priority, and told him her hope that this would be the first nudge in shifting their prejudices against aliens. 

Nihlus’ mandibles flared as she finished speaking, and he shifted his weight to his other foot and hooked his hands into the front of his armor. His eyes seemed soft when she met them, a far cry from the hard expression he usually wore. 

“You are quite insightful, Shepard. I would agree with all you’ve noticed regarding the team we now work with. Tali could use some field time, but it may prove valuable to give her some time to adjust to close-quarters life with such a different crowd. Wrex is a valuable member, but will be most useful in definitively combat-oriented situations. Garrus will be another asset, especially since he seems to have discovered more than I anticipated about Saren. He also is familiar with galactic law, and based on his service record and our own experiences he will be handy in a fight. You know the strengths and limits of your own crew, including Alenko and Williams, but I would advise you keep Williams out of excursions that will require her to fight alongside aliens for the time being.”

Shepard nodded as he spoke, filing his suggestions away alongside her own. She’d come to many of the same conclusions herself, but it was good to have them repeated by another perspective. They continued to talk, planning who they would take with them into their investigation on Feros until Shepard was fighting back yawns and blinking hard. Nihlus noticed before she uttered a word about it, of course, and announced that they’d call it a night. It would take them two days to travel to Feros, so they’d have the entirety of the next day to finalize their ground team and plans.

That night, Shepard slept like the dead until flashes of synthetic monsters invaded her dreamless sleep, startling her awake nearly an hour before her alarm was set to go off. She rose with a grumble, cursing the prothean beacon that had planted those apocalyptic images in her head, and decided to make her way to the cargo bay to lay out some mats and work off the remaining strings of tension from the dream. 

The ship was quiet; only populated by the early morning skeleton crew that ran before breakfast mess started. She met only two crew members between her cabin and the elevator, which silently took her down into the cargo bay. She barely spared a glance around the unoccupied space before stepping to the far side of the bay and pulling out a square cushioned mat, which she positioned in an expanse of empty space near the Mako before settling onto it and beginning to stretch. 

She took care to stretch out her hip, wincing as the bruised muscles and skin protested the movements. When she felt properly loosened by the stretches, she got into position and started running through her usual series of crunches, leg tucks, push-ups and squats. After two sets of exercises, she began to work up a solid sweat so she discarded her tank top and continued her workout in her shorts and standard-issue N7 sports bra. She was breathing hard through an extra-challenging set of squats when she heard a quiet shuffling come from behind her, causing her to straighten immediately and turn around. 

She immediately found the source of the noise, as Garrus clambered to his feet with a wrench in his hand and sent her an awkward wave. Shepard failed to rein in the snort of amusement at the gesture, and instead settled on grabbing her towel and wiping down the sweat that trickled down her neck. 

“Uh, sorry to disturb you Shepard. I was just tinkering with the Mako when you came in, and didn’t notice you were here at first.” Garrus said, mandibles fluttering nervously against his cheeks. Shepard shrugged, tossing the towel to the side in favor of taking a long drink from her water bottle. When she put her water down, Garrus was watching her with a focused sort of interest that sent a shiver of nerves down her spine. 

“Not a problem; I woke up early and figured I’d get a workout in before duty hours. Everything okay? Not many people are normally up at this time.” She watched him carefully as he shrugged, his eyes scanning her for a moment. 

“Turians don’t need much sleep. I’m often up this early.” He paused, shifting before continuing. “I’ll let you cool down, Shepard. I should go see what’s on offer for a dextro-friendly breakfast.”

As he walked away, Shepard glanced at her omni-tool to find that it was, indeed, nearly time for breakfast mess. She did some cool-down stretches and put her tank top back on, then rode the elevator straight up to her cabin to shower and change into her duty fatigues. By the time she was back on the crew deck she could smell coffee, and eagerly accepted a cup of her favorite morning beverage from the ship’s cook before grabbing a pair of protein bars and settling on the table across from Garrus. He had, indeed, searched out their breakfast options. She noted he was staring despondently at a glass of water and two nutrient bars of his own. 

“Please tell me Udina arranged for more than that.” Shepard said drily, sipping from her coffee. Garrus looked up at her and shook his head. 

“Seems he either didn’t do much research or didn’t anticipate mine or Tali’s presence on this mission.” He replied. Shepard shook her head irritatedly, tapping some notes on her omni-tool. 

“I’m pinging you; send me a list of what would be considered reasonable ship fare for dextro diets and I’ll put a requisition in. I’ll ask Tali and Nihlus too; no reason we should get eggs every morning while you three munch on those shitty nutrient bars.” Garrus looked up at her, studying her closely before huffing out a laugh and shaking his head. 

“I appreciate that, Shepard. I’ll do that.” 

They ate the rest of the meal in a companionable silence, then Shepard excused herself to make her morning rounds and check in with all their other new additions especially. Joker had a few choice words about their alien crewmates, but nothing more than his usual sarcasm and a special quip for turians who lived their lives with ‘sticks up their asses’. The rest of her morning went smoothly, and then after lunch she reconvened with Nihlus in the debrief room to finalize their plans for Feros. 

Her last stop before heading back up to the CIC was to talk to Kaidan. She’d been putting it off somewhat, but felt bad that she hadn’t followed up with him at all. Hormones ran high on ships, it was something that was always present. She just had to maintain boundaries. When she walked over to Kaidan, he looked initially shocked that she was approaching him. The expression was quickly replaced by eagerness as he saluted her. 

“Good morning, commander.” He said, his voice still husky from sleep. “I wanted to say I’m glad we’re going to Feros. I hope we can help the colony.” 

Shepard nodded in agreement, studying Kaidan quietly before replying. 

“How are you doing with all this, Kaidan? There’s been a lot going on, and a lot of changes to our circumstances. I’m just looking for any input.”

Kaidan’s eyebrows rose, but he tapped at his thighs and turned contemplative before looking up at her. 

“All due respect ma’am, but off the record? This whole situation stinks. The council finally believes Saren’s a traitor, and all they do is make you a Spectre and send us after him? They couldn’t relegate a few more resources to this? Just one ship? There’s writing on the wall here, Shepard, I’m just not sure everyone’s seeing it.”

Shepard sighed, leaning against the closest console and rubbing the back of her neck. He was right; she was trying not to think about it, preferring to focus on the mission as it was rather than the injustice of the council’s halfhearted support. 

“They don’t want to believe anything’s truly wrong.” She admitted, nodding. “I’d call it human nature, but…” She trailed off, and Kaidan smirked at the quip. 

“Yeah, I guess some things do compare across species don’t they?” He said dryly. “So much for the wonders of space, turns out the locals aren’t even impressed by the view.” 

Shepard eyed him when she caught the bitter note in his tone, registering it as a bit of a jaded attitude. 

“Didn’t take you for a romantic, Kaidan.” She said with a slight smile, “You sign up for the great frontier? A career among the stars?” She didn’t mean it as an insult, and he didn’t take it as such. Instead, he just smiled wryly. 

“Yeah, I was really into those vids as a kid. Then I got to Brain Camp… sorry, ‘Biotic Acclimation and Temperance Training’... it was a rough ride, that’s all. I don’t want to get into it.” His face had grown grave, his eyes clouded with painful emotion, and Shepard respected his disinclination to talk about it further. She could see that it was a sore subject. 

“No worries, Kaidan. I’m not looking to dig up all your old bones. Just trying to get to know you a bit; I like to know who I’m working with.” Kaidan looked up at her, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. 

“Do you, uh… get this personal on debriefs with all your officers?” He asked carefully. Shepard stared at him for a moment before his insinuation clicked in her mind and she could have slapped herself. 

“Everything matters in the field, lieutenant. Especially on a mission like this; your history is your own, but I want to get to know everyone we’re working with on a bit deeper a level so I know everyone's skills we can most effectively use in certain situations.” 

She kept eye contact with Kaidan until she watched his thoughtful expression droop a bit, then rally into a sort of resignation. Internally, she sighed in relief that he got the message. It wasn’t personal, she just… didn’t date in the chain of command. 

“Understood, commander.” Kaidan said firmly. “I’ll let you get back to your rounds.” 

Back on the main deck she made her way quickly to the comm room and slumped unceremoniously into a chair, rubbing her temples. Nihlus eyed her silently before making that chuffing noise again, crossing his arms as he sat as well. 

“Rough day already, Shepard?” Nihlus asked, his mandibles flared wide. Shepard scowled up at him, straightening to look over at her mentor. 

“Something like that,” she admitted. “Nothing that will affect the mission, just a personnel issue.”

Nihlus eyed her in what she thought looked like a skeptical manner, but he eventually shrugged and let the matter drop. Instead they started on their plan for Feros: they still had not been able to contact the colony, so they were going in assuming hostiles. Shepard, Nihlus, Wrex and Kaidan would make up the team this time. Being a human colony, it made sense to have at least one other human on the ground team. The others would hold tight on the ship and stay in close communication in case they needed backup. 

Nihlus brought up a holo image depicting the layout of the colony, including the nearby scientific labs that essentially funded the colony. It was a network of old buildings left behind by the protheans, refurbished by Exo-Geni and populated with human colonists. There was nowhere for agricultural pursuits, so it was easy to guess that most of the colonists likely worked for the local research lab. 

Once they’d hashed this all out, Shepard felt much better. She still hated how little intel they were going in with, but it wasn’t the worst situation. They knew the layout, and it would be an easy thing to just check on the colony and go from there. Perhaps they’d even get there to discover that no attack was happening at all, and they simply had a comm equipment malfunction. Shepard knew deep down that was wishful thinking. 

As Nihlus settled back comfortably, propping his leg up on top of a knee, Shepard eyed him and decided they had time for her to ask her questions about turian physiological tells. She reordered her thoughts, thinking back to the internal notes she’d taken on his posture, sounds, and the movement of his mandibles. 

“Nihlus, if it’s not too… forward… could you help me understand how to read turian facial expressions? I’ve surmised the movement and positioning of your mandibles has something to do with it, but I have no confirmation.” She met Nihlus’ eyes stalwartly, trying to broadcast to him that she just earnestly wanted to be able to read him. Nihlus looked back at her before nodding, his mandibles pulling close to his face before relaxing again. 

“What have you guessed?” Nihlus asked carefully, leaning forward. Shepard bit her lip, thinking back to which ones she was most sure of. 

“I think when your mandibles are pressed close to your face, you’re either angry or uncomfortable.” Shepard said slowly, “They settle just a bit away from your face when you’re relaxed, and they flare out from your face when you’re surprised or amused. Then, they sort of flutter when you’re unsure, taken off guard, or thinking.”

Nihlus stared hard at her, and she noted that his mandibles were indeed fluttering in and out from his face. She wondered whether he was going to confirm her assertions, or if she was going to realize she’d been reading him all wrong the entire time. 

“Shepard, have you studied turian physiological tells before?” Nihlus asked, his voice slightly strained. She couldn’t tell what sort of vocal emotion he was restraining. 

“No…” she said, trailing off into a tense silence as she waited for the other shoe to drop. Nihlus shifted, leaning back and crossing his legs again. 

“Your observations are astonishingly accurate, Shepard. I’m not sure you even need my instruction. For someone who has not been around my species much, you’ve caught on very quickly.” He sounded… impressed. Maybe even proud.  

“You grab the front of your cowl and cock your hip sometimes. That’s a sort of… casual stance? Crossing your arms across your middle too?” Shepard asked hesitantly. Nihlus cocked his head, as if thinking hard about it. 

“The first one, yes. It’s a natural sort of stance for us. The arms crossing… can be casual, but is often a stance trying to feign casual behavior. It is more likely a sign of embarrassment or discomfort.”  

They went back and forth with the different postures, sounds and mannerisms Shepard had observed and noted, and soon Shepard felt fairly more confident that she would be able to “read” her turian crewmates. Nihlus even promised that she could ask him about any future physiological reactions she wasn’t sure how to classify. Her only shortcoming in understanding the turians she worked with would be her biological inability to hear and decipher subvocals.

With that settled in Shepard’s mind, and their ground team for Feros decided on, Shepard and Nihlus settled in to review intel and plan loadouts for the mission. They’d be arriving at the colony in less than twenty four hours, and they had to be ready for absolutely anything. The thrill of the unknown sent sparks up and down Shepard’s spine, and she found that she was very much looking forward to her first serious mission as a Spectre.

Chapter Text

Feros was eerily silent as they came in. Shepard could see no movement, nor any other ships as they approached the small docking bay at the colony proper. Beside her, Nihlus shifted from side to side; when she glanced up at the turian’s face, his mandibles were pressed tight to his cheeks. She could surmise that he was as unnerved by the utter lack of… anything… as she was. As Joker began to pull in to begin docking procedures, Shepard reached past him to engage the comms.

“Vakarian, Alenko, meet Nihlus and I at the cockpit in five minutes.”

She turned from the console with a careful pat on Joker’s shoulder, and stepped far enough away to unholster her weapons one at a time to double check her loadout. They had selected one human and one alien to accompany them, hoping to begin working on operating an integrated squad. 

Shepard had set Navigator Pressley as her XO while Kaidan was on the ground with them, and Ashley was to monitor comms and the status of the ground team alongside Joker, just in case they needed backup. Wrex and Ashley were set to be her backup team, as somehow the old krogan had actually managed to bond a bit over a shared love of shotguns with the gunnery sergeant. Miracles never ceased, Shepard supposed.

Nihlus was beside Shepard now, watching her as she went over her loadout. The rumble she felt from him as he brushed her arm made her look up, an eyebrow raised in a silent question. Nihlus cocked his head, hooking his hands into his cowl as he began to speak.

“You’re sure you cannot hear our subvocals, Shepard?” Nihlus asked neutrally. Shepard shook her head, holstering her pistol.

“No, not really. I can feel the vibrations, sometimes. When you’re physically close, or like when we were sitting on that bench at the Presidium. I know they mean something , but I can’t discern frequency or tone or anything like that. It’s quite frustrating.” Nihlus’ mandibles flared at this, and Shepard knew he was laughing at her. 

“What I really came over to ask is why you are reviewing your loadout. Do you not feel prepared, Shepard? I believe we were quite thorough earlier.” 

His tone didn’t convey any sort of offense, just neutral curiosity. Shepard sighed, shrugging as she formulated an honest response. 

“It’s not that I feel unprepared. Rechecking my loadout is just a calming exercise for me. It centers me, keeps me from getting too nervous. I’ve always hated the quiet waiting before a mission.”

Nihlus nodded, leaving it at that. Shepard supposed he might understand that mentality, or at least saw it as an acceptable rationale for her entirely unnecessary pre-combat checks. They waited in continued silence and it was only another minute before Garrus came up to join them, Kaidan not far behind. Both were outfitted in their armor and with their usual loadout, Garrus with a surprisingly small sniper rifle on his back. He must have seen Shepard eying it, because he unholstered it and handed it to her. 

“Ranged three-round burst.” He explained. “Doesn’t take much more than mechs down with one shot, but it comes in handy to wear down shields from afar.”

“Interesting. I look forward to seeing it in action, Garrus. I prefer my one-shot kill, personally.” Shepard patted her own sniper rifle; it was the pride of her arsenal, being a barely released M-95 Widow. Garrus nodded, humming audibly as if in appreciation. Kaidan slipped between Shepard and Garrus, so that they were standing in a tight circle in the entrance to the airlock.  

“Okay, here’s what we know…” Shepard glanced around, then let a wry grin out onto her face. “Basically nothing, if we’re being honest. We saw no movement, shuttles or ships, on approach. No response to our hails. Not even smoke. We go in, careful and quiet, and investigate as we go. Don’t take any chances and keep your heads on a swivel; I hate surprises, and I hate casualties even more.” 

Garrus was making that quiet chuffing sound that was the turian equivalent of laughter, and Kaidan had a wry smirk on his face. Nihlus simply watched her mutely, as he usually did. She’d decided that, unless he said otherwise, he seemed entirely at peace with letting her take the lead in everything and anything. If he had something to say, she was confident he would say it.

“Docking procedure complete, commander.” Joker called out from the cockpit. “Ready to begin decompression procedures.”

Shepard stepped forward to the front of the chamber, Nihlus and Kaidan flanking her and Garrus taking up the rear. Once they were all positioned, she engaged the decompression system with her omni-tool, and they prepared to disembark onto Feros.

Much to Shepard’s surprise, there was a lone human waiting for them when they disembarked from the ship. Nihlus was beside her in a blink, tall and imposing as she carefully approached the man. He had the typical appearance of a rural colonist; worn, practical clothing, a tight cap covering his hair, and a basic pistol strapped to his waist. Shepard lifted her hand in greeting, and the man spoke before she could get a single word out. 

“Fai Dan will want to speak to you,” the man said. His voice was cold, stunningly neutral. “He is up the stairs, in the main area of the colony.” 

Shepard blinked once, twice, mind scrambling to figure out what was going on. “Is Fai Dan your leader? What’s going on here?” She asked finally, hoping to garner something helpful.

“Our leader…” the man’s words were cut off with the crack of a pistol, and he slumped to the floor. Shepard looked behind him to see four geth coming around the corner, setting up those cursed mobile shield walls they had exhibited on Eden Prime.

“Cover!” Shepard yelled, diving to the side. Her party split neatly, Nihlus taking up a position beside her and Garrus and Kaidan ducking behind the concrete wall of the walkway just ten feet behind them. 

“Normandy, we have visual confirmation of geth on site. Stand by.” Shepard said into her comms, withdrawing her pistol. Nihlus tapped at his omni-tool, sending a drone hovering out over the chasm spanning between them and the geth. It zapped their shields as it went, taking a few down before being shot out of the air. 

Shepard popped up, taking a few shots at the nearest geth before ducking down again to avoid the next volley of shots from the synthetics. She felt a wave of dark energy pass over her, and peeked up to see that Kaidan had thrown a well-placed singularity into the mix, lifting several of the geth off their feet to float helplessly. She took the opportunity to shoot them out of the air, with the help of Garrus, as Nihlus overloaded the last of their shields. 

They all breathed hard into the silence for a minute as Shepard took stock of her team. No injuries, no damage to equipment. She had a feeling this was just the beginning, though. She gestured silently, and they began making their way along the walkway and past the dead geth as quietly as possible. 

They made it halfway up the crumbling stone stairs in the tower before encountering more geth - these were ones she’d never have dreamed up even. They were like frogs almost, long and lanky and leaping from surface to surface. They could hang upside down, on walls and columns, and never held still so you could shoot them. Even Shepard’s usually perfect aim was hampered by the sheer speed of the things. 

“What the hell are those ?” Garrus shouted, trying to get a shot in as he anticipated where one would land. 

“No idea, Garrus. I hate them, whatever they are.” Shepard grumbled in response. Not even Nihlus’ drone could catch the things, and his shots always narrowly missed them. It made Shepard feel marginally better, though she’d prefer the things just die. 

“Alenko, when it looks like the things are about to jump again, drop a singularity right in the middle. Maybe we’ll catch them that way.” Shepard called out, glancing over her shoulder at the biotic. Kaidan nodded grimly, watching the geth with extreme focus. Just as one pressed itself closer to the wall, he threw what looked like a supercharged singularity right in the open space in the middle of the tower. Both geth jumped a moment after, and both got pulled into the singularity field. 

“Nice!” Garrus yelled, taking the chance to rain hell on the geth. Shepard and Nihlus did the same as Kaidan crouched and held himself very still. When the creatures had fallen dead from the singularity, Shepard moved over to her lieutenant and put a hand on his shoulder. 

“Alenko, report.” She said firmly. Kaidan looked up at her and smiled wryly, his face a bit ashen. 

“Just overextended myself a bit, Shepard.” He said, his voice a bit hoarse. “I’ll be fine. No more singularities for a bit, though…” Shepard nodded grimly and helped him to his feet, then they joined Garrus and Nihlus on the stairs. 

“Good thought with that singularity, Shepard.” Nihlus said. “You’re learning quickly.” Shepard merely nodded in thanks as they took the stairs at a jog, finally finding their way to the entrance to the upper levels. 

The entrance was partially covered by basic steel barricades, and Shepard could see the terrified colonists posted up with weapons behind them. Shepard holstered her pistol and lifted her hands in the air, gesturing for her team to follow her lead. 

“Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy and Council Spectre. I’m here to speak with Fai Dan.” She said the words loudly and formally, keeping very still. Eventually, she heard a shuffle and a voice called out about her party being “definitely not geth”, and the barricade was pushed to the side. A grimy young woman stepped into view and gestured for them to follow, and so she did. 

The colony was, to put it kindly, in a bit of a shambles. The fabricated buildings were intact, but now there were barricades scattered throughout.  A few wounded lay off to the sides here and there, but most of the inhabitants were entirely silent as Shepard passed through. She noted a single salarian who stood beside a building and nodded to her, but decided she’d better speak with the leader of the colony before any further investigation.

Fai Dan was a tired looking man, when they were led to him. He was actively arguing with an armored woman, likely his security specialist, and had fingers pressed to his temples. Shepard had barely gotten to introductions when a group of geth came up to the entrance they were nearest to, and her team leapt into action to help her take them out. 

“Commander, thank you. Honestly, we won’t last much longer with geth in the tower. They just keep on sending more; they have to have some sort of communication device that is allowing them to continually call for reinforcements.” 

Shepard eyed the man thoughtfully. He was more talkative than most of the colony, though their strange quiet might be chalked up to fear and shock. Shepard wanted to help these people.

“Do you know what the geth are after?” Shepard asked carefully. She sent Garrus and Kaidan off to talk to the locals, checking if they could do anything to help the stability of the colony while they investigated. 

“Who cares what they want? We’re good as dead,” the security chief muttered. The colonists nearby heard her in the near silence, and were set to muttering. “We needed reinforcements, and the Alliance sent one damn ship.”

Shepard sighed, shifting to pin the security chief with a hard look. “We can and will help you, but I need details .” 

“The geth hit the research station first. It’s over the old prothean skyway; whatever they wanted, they didn’t find it there. They dug in there and started sending troops over.” Fai Dan said, shooting a reproachful look at his chief.

“We’ve got geth in the tower! Protect the colony!” A colonist came running full tilt out of the same passage some geth had just come out of. Almost instantly, Shepard’s team was at her sides.

“What are we waiting for, Shepard?” Nihlus asked, “Let’s do what we do best.” 

Shepard grinned up at him and called out a promise to Fai Dan that once she’d cleared the tower, she would find the source of any geth signals that might be calling for reinforcements. The four of them pushed through the far side of the tower, taking out nearly as many geth as Shepard and Kaidan had encountered on Eden Prime. Wave after wave of geth, including some of their drones and the sneaky ones Shepard had coined as “stalkers” in her mind, came at them until finally, the tower was quiet. 

They moved back through until they found access to the lower portions of the tower. They had seen no sign of geth communications tech yet, so they kept moving down. In the lower reaches, Kaidan mentioned the colony’s lack of water and power, and their requests that the team keep an eye out for anything that could help. Garrus chimed in with information regarding a feral pack of varren, whose alpha was assumed to be rabid and had taken out so many colonists they’d given up on hunting for food. 

They searched as they went systematically through the lower reaches of the tower. First, they found a large chamber where the varren had apparently decided to nest. It was a quick and brutal fight, but they took out the alpha. Nihlus went poking around some wreckage as they scouted the room for anything useful, and found an old power cell that he thought would help jumpstart the colony’s generators.

Geth were down here, too. After the varren, they moved through a side tunnel lined with water pipes. Geth waited for them in the tunnel, and when they took them out Shepard realized they’d actually shut off the water at its various access points. Two lay in that tunnel, but the water still was not flowing when they released the access points. A few more tunnels, groups of geth, and water valves later, they came across another egress point that led them to a room full of krogan.

“Did not expect this.” Shepard grunted as she rolled backward from a charging krogan. Fighting the brutes in close quarters was a nightmare for a ranged fighter like herself, but at least Kaidan had recharged enough to throw his biotics into the mix. They were battered and bruised once the krogan were dead, but they took them out. The krogan, as it turned out, had been manning a small comm tower. Shepard destroyed it without a moment’s hesitation, and hoped it would be enough to prevent more geth from entering the tower. 

“Let’s take a moment here to rest, Shepard.” Nihlus suggested quietly. Shepard nodded, notified the others, and slumped onto a cot to stretch out her once again sore hip. Garrus sat next to her, leaning back against the wall. He threw his arms up, hooking his hands behind his neck as he turned to look down at her. 

“For a human, you sure can rough it with the biggest brutes Shepard. I just keep being impressed by you.” Garrus said warmly, bouncing his elbow off the top of her head lightly. Shepard huffed, fighting to keep her responding smile in check. 

She took a long drink of water, letting some trickle from the bottle to coat the back of her sweaty neck before replying. 

“You’re not so bad yourself, for a kid.” Shepard retorted. Garrus huffed indignantly, but Shepard failed to restrain the chuckle that broke loose at the posturing. Garrus shook his head, unhooking his hands to nibble on a ration bar. 

“A sense of humor too? From the great, scary Shepard of legend?” Shepard did scoff at this, and even rolled her eyes. 

“Now you’re mocking me…” Shepard muttered, putting her water away. She wasn’t actually mad, she found that she liked Garrus’ style of banter.

“Shepard, we’ve all heard of your exploits, even on the Citadel. My dad used to talk about you; your one-woman stand on Elysium, especially. It was admirable, though I’m sure it wasn’t particularly fun at the time.” 

Shepard fought to keep her tone light as she responded, “Just one of the darkest days of my life, Garrus. I lost a lot of friends that day.” 

Garrus shifted behind her, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees. “I’m sorry, Shepard. Didn’t mean to sour the moment.” 

Shepard shrugged, and then was saved from trying to continue the suddenly awkward conversation by Nihlus calling out to her that they should report back to Fai Dan before making their way to the research complex. She stood instantly, turning to offer Garrus a hand up. Garrus’ mandibles fluttered, whether from amusement or something awkward she couldn’t discern, but he took her hand and let her pull him up. He was heavy . 

“Let’s go, team.” Shepard said firmly, replacing her gloves and leading them back out into the bowels of the tower. 

Their only interruption on the way back to the colony was some loony colonist who was fighting the voices in his head, and then more geth. Because of course there would be more geth. The only ones they saw were in the tunnels, and Fai Dan hadn’t seen more in the upper parts of the tower, so Shepard wrote that off as the last remaining troops that had been holed away somewhere. They made their way to the skyway, and into a loaned mako, and started heading to investigate the research complex. 

Halfway there, and past more geth troops, Shepard picked up a comms signal. She hit the brakes on the mako hard, sending Nihlus crashing against her back, and sent him a look of apology as she leapt out of the vehicle and walked toward where the signal had originated from. It turned out to be something akin to a small bunker that lay underneath the ramps that led to the upper skyway. A group of scientists and security personnel were gathered within, all on high alert even as Shepard and her team walked in slowly and with their hands up.

“Hey, you! Who are you? What are you doing here?” Yelled a high-strung man with an unfortunate hairline. Shepard disliked him almost immediately; he stank of corporate bureaucracy. 

“Back off, Jeong, they’re obviously human. They’re here to help, aren’t you?” That was the woman Shepard had heard on the radio. As she seemed the more rational of the two, Shepard nodded and reached out to shake her hand. 

“Commander Shepard; I’m a council Spectre, along with my counterpart Nihlus Kryik. We came to investigate why your colony had gone silent. I’m headed to the research labs now to investigate the geth presence there. With me is Lieutenant Alenko, and Garrus Vakarian.” 

The woman shook Shepard’s hand, nodding to the party with a grateful smile. “Julianna Baynham, pleased to meet you all. You’re a godsend, I thought we were the only ones left!” 

Shepard frowned, realizing that the group here had no contact with the colony proper. “The members of Zhu’s Hope are holding their own in the tower,” she said carefully, “though I’m sure there will be much rebuilding to do once we settle things with the geth.”

Julianna whipped around to pin Jeong with a glare at that. “You told me that everyone at the colony was dead !” 

The man shuffled awkwardly, not meeting her eyes. “I said they were probably dead, Julianna.” Then he did muster the courage to fix a suspicious glare on Shepard. “You’d better not mess with anything at the research facility, that’s proprietary information!”

Shepard forced herself not to roll her eyes; instead, she raised a hand to stop the man before he got into a rant. “I’m not interested in company secrets, sir. I’m just here to deal with the geth.”

She left the man to his mutterings, turning to find that her team had split off and gone to talk to various scientists, staff and security members. A slight smile found its way onto her lips at how easy they were making this for her. Julianna walked behind her, then put a hand on her shoulder to stop her before she rejoined her team. Shepard stiffened at the contact, but turned carefully to address Julianna.

“Commander, my daughter… Lizbeth. She worked up at the main facility, where you’re headed. She didn’t make it out before the geth overran this place and forced us to hide here. If you could find anything …” Shepard nodded, feeling immediately sympathetic to the woman. 

“I’ll do what I can to find your daughter, Julianna.” Shepard promised softly. The woman nodded gratefully, then turned around to rejoin Jeong. Shepard turned once again, making eye contact with each of her teammates and quietly signaling for them to follow her. They made their way out of the bunker without a word, and were back in the mako before anyone spoke. 

“The scientists are on edge, Shepard,” Nihlus said into the silent comms. “They have secrets to protect, and I cannot say for certain that they are not connected to the geth incursion.” 

Garrus chimed in then, too. “Well, the security staff are just stressed and overworked. I think they’re glad we’re here, at least, since they seem like they were hours away from ditching the scientists and making for the colony alone. Not that they’d have made it, with how fortified the geth were on the skyway.”

Shepard sighed, rubbing at her forehead as she took a tight turn to exit the upward ramp. “Jeong is a slimy corporate bastard, but I can’t tell if his reticence was simply bluster or if he does in fact have some secret to hide. Something that might get him in trouble with the Council.”

She glanced back at Kaidan, who’d been silent so far. He shrugged back at her, then spoke. “The one scientist I talked to didn’t have much interest in being cagey. He just said he had some irreplaceable research on dark matter that he’d been forced to leave behind. I think he’d be extremely grateful if we brought it back to him.” 

“We’ll add it to the list, Alenko. Along with the mystery of what Saren wants with this place, and that of the missing daughter. Julianna’s daughter is a researcher for ExoGeni as well, and didn’t make it out with the rest. I told her we’d keep an eye out for her.”

“There is a decent possibility she did not survive the geth, Shepard.” Nihlus said carefully, watching her. Shepard shrugged, focusing on the drive.

“I know, Nihlus. I can at least bring the poor woman closure, if not her daughter.”

The conversation stopped from there as they entered the upper skyway and found it empty and quiet. Shepard didn’t like it; the lower skyway had been rife with geth troopers and armatures, and she found it unlikely that this segment was left totally undefended. They could now see the large geth ship that seemed to be attached to the side of the ExoGeni tower, and that meant there had to be geth within. 

The skyway ended at a narrow opening that did not allow the mako through, so they climbed out quickly and carefully, eyes on the sky and their surroundings. They lined up on either side of the smaller opening, and Nihlus sent his drone in first. It instantly pinged at least six hostile geth, including more of the stalkers, so the team began to open fire. Cover was limited right inside the entrance, so when Nihlus bounded in and took the single small piece of debris that could provide it, Shepard decided to improvise. 

She dashed back toward the mako, climbing on top of the vehicle and laying down to take cover behind the main body of the cannon. From there, she was able to take shots at anything that drew too close to Nihlus or the others while Kaidan threw a singularity to catch the stalkers as before. The geth were down within minutes, and only when all was silent did Shepard slide back down the mako and rejoin her team. 

They quickly found the situation to be complex at the ExoGeni facility. Barriers covered all the entrances and exits they could find, essentially sealing the building, but Kaidan pointed out something that was little more than a hole in the ground with a steep drop. He lowered himself down with the help of his biotics, and Garrus handled the jump easy enough with his size and dexterity. 

Before Shepard could decide the least painful way (for her knees) to make her own way down, Nihlus’ voice sounded beside her. “May I, Shepard? I can lower you down if you allow me.”

Shepard paused for a moment before nodding and turning toward the opening in the ground. Without further preamble, Nihlus wrapped his hands around her waist and lowered her down into the ground, only letting go and letting her fall the rest of the way when he’d reached the limit of his reach. Unfortunately for Shepard, the ground was uneven so when she did land, it was on top of a broken piece of stone and she stumbled to the side. She wobbled and tried to regain her balance, but Garrus was beside her in a flash to steady her with a hand on the small of her back. A tiny shiver went down Shepard’s spine. She nodded gratefully to the younger turian, whose mandibles fluttered wildly before nodding back to her. 

She stepped to the side and Nihlus was beside her in a flash, then they were off again into the bowels of the facility. It was a short walk into a lower level that was partially filled with stagnant water, a handful of lights flickering around the area. They’d barely taken ten steps toward the single door they noticed across the room when a flicker of movement caught Shepard’s eye. She trained her pistol toward the side immediately, and she saw a young woman who was also armed. The girl was trembling, and a bit trigger-happy, as she fired the instant she saw Shepard. The shot went wide. 

“Oh, oh my… I’m so sorry!” The girl stammered, lowering her pistol. “I didn’t realize you were human… well, not geth at least,” she added, nodding to Shepard’s turian teammates.

“It’s all right. You’re safe for now. Tell me, what’s your name?” Shepard asked gently, lowering her pistol and stepping up to the woman. 

“Lizbeth Baynam, ma’am. I’m a researcher for ExoGeni. I… it was stupid, I uh… stayed behind to back up some data and before I got the chance to run, the barriers were up. I was trapped. I’ve been down here alone since.” 

The name sent a ping of familiarity through Shepard’s brain and she internally sighed in relief. One thing down. 

“Lizbeth, we encountered your mother. She’s very worried about you.” Shepard replied with a slight smile. Lizbeth’s eyes widened as she quietly gasped. 

“My mother? She’s okay then? What about the colony?”

“Mostly intact, though the geth have been hitting them hard. They should be safe for the time being.” Shepard paused, then decided that this scientist might have some answers for her. “What can you tell me about this place? Do you know what the geth might want?”

She watched as Lizbeth paused, glancing around at them before biting her lip and responding. 

“Gee, I’m not sure… there isn’t really much at the colony, and out work here isn’t what I’d call revolutionary. It’s mostly about what’s left behind here. The structures and such, I mean.” 

Shepard got the distinct feeling that Lizbeth was holding back information by her reaction, but their conversation was interrupted by a pack of varren. They took the beasts out quickly, but when they had dispatched them all Shepard noted that Lizbeth was walking backwards away from them. 

“Take the door over there; you’ve got to get these barriers down so we can go! Here, my pass will get you wherever you need to go.” She tossed the pass at Shepard.

Then, she disappeared into the shadows. Shepard swore under her breath, picking up the pass and tucking it into her armor.

“The human was not telling us the full truth, Shepard.” Nihlus murmured. Garrus hummed his agreement, and Shepard nodded. 

“I suspected that. Well, she can’t get out of here without our help so let’s keep moving. She’ll need a ride back to her mother, so she can’t avoid us forever.”

They continued on, and the door Lizbeth had pointed out led them to a stairway. Shepard had barely set foot there when a loud, distinctly krogan voice echoed through the space. Shepard signaled her team for quiet and crept up the stairs as she listened, readying her pistol. 

“Stupid machine! Access restricted files, before I blow you to inconsequential pieces!” The krogan yelled. 

“I’m sorry, that information is for privileged access holders only. Please contact your supervisor for the proper clearance,” a synthetic voice answered. Shepard glanced back and each of her teammates nodded to her. The ambush on the krogan was quick and fairly easy, since he was alone. Shepard shoved his body out of the way with the help of Garrus, and then stepped up to the VI that the krogan had been trying to get information from. 

“VI, what information was that krogan trying to access?” Shepard intoned. The VI paused for a moment before replying to her query.

“One moment, checking your credentials… Welcome back, Lizbeth Baynham,” the VI responded, its holo flickering from the mild damage the krogan must have inflicted. “The individual before you was attempting to access restricted files on ExoGeni project termed Species 37.” 

Shepard blinked at the VI before recalling that Lizbeth had tossed her access badge at them before retreating; it must be what was giving them access to this. She quietly thanked the girl, though she was still irked that Lizbeth had not simply been forthright with them. 

“Tell me more about Species 37.” Shepard ordered the VI. There was a brief pause before it complied fully.

“Species 37; also known as the Thorian. The Thorian is a unique sentient plant life that resides natively on Feros, beneath the established human colony of Zhu’s Hope. Little is known about the Thorian, though it is presumed to be several thousand years old. Research into its capabilities and properties are ongoing.” 

Shepard stood silently for a moment before nodding to the VI. “Thank you, that will be all.” She said simply, before turning to the rest of the group. They all stared at the VI too, but quickly met her gaze. 

“Thorian. I have never heard of such a thing, Shepard.” Nihlus said, thoughtfully. He was tapping along his omni-tool, likely taking notes or searching. “That being said, my omni-tool is not sending or receiving information. You should check in with the ship.” 

Shepard reached for her commlink immediately, activating it. “Shepard to Normandy.” Silence answered her. “Shepard to Normandy, do you read me?” 

They must have some sort of jamming tech, Shepard.” Garrus chimed in. Shepard grimaced; she hated not having contact with her ship considering they now knew there was a previously unknown sentient plant living under the colony. 

“We’d better keep moving then. The geth ship must be powering those barriers as well as jamming our comms… let’s move.”

Chapter Text

The geth weren’t as thick in the ExoGeni headquarters as Shepard anticipated, but the fighting was still brutal and the geth ship that had literally locked itself onto the side of the tower proved a challenge. They fought through several rooms of geth, including more creepers, before coming to something of a terminus near the middle of the tower. The rest of the stairways were blocked with debris, but Garrus went to investigate a maintenance console while Shepard, Nihlus and Kaidan skimmed intel off of nearby terminals. 

“Shepard, check this out. A maintenance note: ‘Pressure settings are touchy; below 30 PSI and the doors will open, above 35 and the system will overload, but if it hits between 30 and 35 the doors slam shut so hard they might break.’ Sounds like a good way to take out one of those claws on the geth ship. If we destroy one, the load of the ship might be too much for the remaining ones.” 

Shepard walked over to peer around Garrus, then looked up to examine the claw that sat hooked in the tower floor just inside the aforementioned door. It was the best idea they had, so there was no harm in trying. This facility would all but need to be rebuilt from the ground up anyway, what was damage to a single door?

“Great work, Garrus. Go for it.” Shepard said finally, patting Garrus on the arm. Garrus immediately went to work, fiddling with the controls as he watched the pressure to the door’s mechanism. When it hit the ideal level, after some experimentation, he hit the switch before him and the door slammed down with a thunderous crash on the claw. Metal strained, sparked, and then the door won out and the claw splintered entirely. 

Outside the tower, Shepard could hear a metallic groaning. It was the telltale straining of metal, then scraping, and then silence before an almighty crash that shook the entire tower. Garrus threw his arms in the air with a cheer, and Shepard cracked a smile at his enthusiasm. Kaidan and Nihlus joined them after witnessing the spectacle.

“Shepard, I found that data the scientist was looking for. Thought we could get it back to him on the way back, since we’ll need to get Lizbeth to her mum anyways,” Kaidan said. Shepard nodded firmly, a smile still on her face. 

“Good work, lieutenant. Nihlus, anything interesting?” The turian was silent for a moment before nodding. He said nothing, so Shepard assumed he’d discuss his findings with her later. If he wasn’t speaking now, they weren’t vital to the mission. Her thoughts were interrupted by a crackle in her ear, followed by the harried voice of her pilot. 

“ Joker to ground party! Come on, commander. ” Shepard perked up, realizing the destruction of the ship had in fact gotten rid of whatever was jamming their comms. 

“Joker, this is Shepard. Report.” She said, touching her commlink. 

“ Finally! Shepard, something’s gone funny with the colonists. They’re going crazy! Shouting, banging on the hull… something is really not right. ” 

Shepard frowned, wondering what could have set off the colonists so badly. There were too many of them to let on the ship, so she needed to get back to figure out what was going on. 

“They can’t do any real damage, Joker. Hold fast, we’re coming.”

“ Roger that, ma’am… we’ll just sit tight I guess. ” He didn’t sound pleased at the notion, but it was their best option for the moment. She turned to her team and they all reflected her newfound urgency in their own faces.

“Let’s move. This place could be crawling with geth any minute and we need to get back and get to the bottom of this.”

They moved out with haste, weapons at the ready. Luckily, they ended up not needing them as they moved through the ExoGeni tower. Besides the random fires and prolific debris, the place was silent as a tomb. When they reached a large opening that had been previously blocked by an impenetrable geth barrier, Shepard saw Lizbeth waiting for them. 

“You got the barriers down! Come on commander, I’ll come with you. I need to get to my mother.” Lizbeth said, her tone anxious even as she refused to meet Shepard’s eyes. 

“First you’re going to be straight with me. You can explain in the mako, but before we get to your mother you will tell me the truth, Lizbeth. I know about the Thorian.” 

Shepard was met with silence, but Lizbeth spilled her tale after everyone had clambered into the mako and Nihlus had begun to drive them toward the colony. By the time they reached the end of the upper skyway, they had learned that Lizbeth was actually a scientist directly on the research project of the Thorian. It was sentient, ancient, and seemed to produce some sort of spore that overcame the minds of anyone who stayed in extended contact with the spores. The Zhu’s Hope colonists were subjects of an experiment. 

“I… I stayed behind to send a message to Colonial Affairs; I couldn’t deal with the guilt any more, and when no one would listen to me here I realized I had to do something . I should have done it sooner.” 

Shepard didn’t voice her thoughts; it wouldn’t be constructive to tell Lizbeth at this point that she wholeheartedly agreed that she should have done something well before the colonists of Zhu’s Hope were mind controlled by the Thorian. 

“Perhaps this Thorian feels we are a threat, and that is why it has sent the colonists to harass the ship,” Nihlus called out from the front of the mako. “It would be the logical conclusion.”

“I agree. We need to find this Thorian; it has to be what Saren was after,” Shepard mused. “Lizbeth, where exactly is it?”

“It’s directly beneath the colony… It was accessible by a stairway that we kept guarded, but when the attack came the colonists killed the guards and moved a freighter on top of the stairs.” Lizbeth sounded fairly torn up by the actions of the colonists, though perhaps that was the lingering guilt that she was partially responsible.

They were on the ramp when they heard a familiar voice call out over comms. 

“ This is Julianna Baynham of Zhu’s Hope colony. This is… back off, Jeong, you can’t stop me. ”

Lizbeth scrambled up as they went down the first ramp.

“That’s my mother’s voice! Stop the rover!” 

Nihlus brought the mako to a skidding halt as they neared the bottom of the ramp. Shepard decided not to point out that this was their plan anyway, as Lizbeth was already shoving the hatch open and tumbling out. Shepard gestured for the team to follow her and they followed quietly and at a slight distance. Lizbeth was behind a crate as they approached, and Shepard gestured for the others to take cover as well when she noticed that the situation in the bunker had grown heated. Jeong had Lizbeth’s mother at gunpoint.

Kaidan stiffened beside her, but Shepard held up a hand as she watched the argument unfolding. She didn’t want to leap in and make the situation worse. 

“You can’t do this Jeong. Those are people , not property!” Julianna exclaimed, heedless of the gun pointed at her. Jeong was looking harried, pacing back and forth as he trained the pistol on her. 

“You don’t get it. This is coming from the execs, they want this place purged. Hey!” Jeong turned his eyes to their direction, whirling around toward them. Shepard briefly worried one of her people had given them away, but then noticed that Lizbeth had tried to creep closer. “Hey you, get out here where I can see you!” 

Lizbeth stood slowly, eyes only on her mother. Julianna locked eyes with her instantly, and ran toward her with a cry of Lizbeth’s name. Shepard winced, but Jeong was focused on their direction still and was ignoring the reunion that was taking place. 

“All of you! I know you’re there, you’ve got to be!” 

With a sigh, Shepard nodded to her team before standing. She kept her hands in the air as she moved slowly toward Jeong. “This doesn’t have to end badly, please just put the gun down.” Shepard said calmly, her face carefully neutral. Jeong shook his head wildly, pistol trained on her now. Shepard preferred that; a single shot wouldn’t be taking her down, not with her suit’s shields fully intact. She felt a wash of biotic energy over her skin and knew she could also count on a subtly cast biotic barrier thanks to Kaidan. 

“I looked you up Shepard,” Jeong said accusingly, “your heroics are… admirable… but not necessary here. This is ExoGeni business.” 

“Jeong, you have to see that I can’t let you just wipe out an entire colony. Not even for the Thorian.” Shepard kept her gaze focused on the man’s ever wilder eyes, ignoring the pistol entirely. 

Jeong’s eyes widened, his lips curling into something resembling a snarl. “How did you… oh, of course. Should have known the kid couldn’t keep her mouth shut. How did I get stuck with so many bleeding hearts on this project?” 

“Just listen to me, Jeong.” Shepard said carefully, taking one more step forward. “Think about how this will look for ExoGeni; on the one hand, a colony gets wiped off the map. You can’t think I won’t tell the council who ordered that. You also cannot prevent me from leaving. You won’t beat me; my team just took out dozens of geth. On the other hand…” Shepard paused for dramatic effect, using the tension caused by her words to send a quick signal to her team. They’d be ready to take Jeong out if it came to it. 

“On the other hand, if this colony is spared we will take care of the Thorian. We removed the geth threat already, and Zhu’s Hope will be saved. ExoGeni will have a glowing success story in this colony; they’d be overcoming adversity and growing stronger as a result, all with ExoGeni’s help. Think of how much the press will eat that up. Colonizing donations will flow in like crazy.” 

Shepard had no idea if her words were true or not, but they sounded convincing in her head. She was confident that if she pandered to Jeong’s pride and greed enough, she’d be able to talk him down. Julianna was watching her with a knowing expression on her face, while Lizbeth was staring at her with a bit of confused horror. Shepard found the girl’s reaction internally amusing. So many people thought that just because she had a moral code meant she was incapable of manipulating a situation to the benefit of those she was trying to help.

“Yeah… yeah, if I call off the board, I can be in charge of rebuilding the colony. We can actually make it successful. It won’t just be a loss…” Jeong lowered his pistol, and stepped to the side. “Very well, commander. It’s up to you to deal with the situation at the colony then; I don’t know how many of the colonists you’ll be able to save. They’ve gone hostile… I assume their minds have been totally taken over.” 

Julianna keyed in on that last part of the conversation, then looked between her daughter and Shepard. “What is the Thorian? What is all this, Liz?” 

Lizbeth looked guiltily at her mother, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s… a sentient plant life form underneath Zhu’s Hope. It’s mind controlled the colonists through spores. They were, uh, a focus group.” 

Julianna fixed a glare on her daughter, and Shepard turned to nod to her team. They could all stand down; there wasn’t any threat here anymore. Nihlus stayed beside Shepard as Kaidan and Garrus walked over to the scientist who’d asked them to recover his data. 

“Jeong makes a point. If the colonists are hostile, it will be difficult to leave them unharmed if we must reach this Thorian and subdue it.” Nihlus said to her quietly. “I know you will be loath to harm the colonists, Shepard, but even to get to our ship some casualties might be necessary.” 

Julianna stepped up to them as Nihlus trailed off, her face stern. “I can help with that. If I modify your grenades with this chemical we used in the labs, it should get the colonists out of your way without causing them any permanent harm. It’s a neurotoxin of sorts, but specifically targets plant life so it should leave your team unscathed while temporarily paralyzing any colonists that are infected with the spores.” 

Shepard thought it over, then glanced at Nihlus. She knew what she wanted to do, but she was willing to take his opinion into consideration. He was her mentor, after all, so if he wholeheartedly disagreed with a no-damage approach to reaching the Thorian then Shepard would consider it. To her surprise though, he nodded. His mandibles flared slightly before relaxing, and Shepard was able to tell that he was truly feeling okay about that plan. 

“Let’s do it, Julianna,” Shepard said, unslinging her grenade belt and handing it to her. Nihlus did the same before going to collect Garrus’ grenade belt. Kaidan didn’t carry any, so he’d be focusing on non-offensive biotics while they relied on a total of eighteen modified grenades. Shepard dearly hoped it was enough, since there were easily dozens of colonists still on their feet when they’d moved through. Possibly as many as forty. 

They were back in the mako within thirty minutes, during which Shepard made sure everyone drank water, ate a ration bar, and then she checked each of them for injuries. Everyone was intact, a bit tired but not totally spent, and ready to go by the time Julianna and Lizbeth finished modifying their grenades. 

The drive over the rest of the skybridge was quiet, but chaos ensued the moment they exited the mako at the doors to the colony tower. The garage they’d left from was filled with strange humanoid hybrids that were a sickly green color and spit acid at them; it was like something out of a nightmare. Recognizing nothing overtly human about them, Shepard gave the order to take them down the old fashioned way from outside the garage, letting the things shamble toward them so they could confirm none of the colonists were mixed in. 

It was only after the things were dead that gunshots started pinging around them, and Shepard saw a tight group of colonists opening fire on them; their eyes glowed the same green as the hybrids.

“No hitting the colonists if you can possibly help it, okay? Shields, grenades, barriers from you Kaidan. Maybe the occasional stasis field if you can handle it. I’ll take this group; we have a limited number of grenades, so we need to be careful with using them more than necessary.” 

Everyone nodded at her and then Shepard took the ramp to the upper platform of the garage at a sprint, barely giving the colonists time to aim before she was up top with them and sent a modded grenade spinning toward them. She watched its progress, ignoring a lucky shot that glanced off her shields, and detonated the grenade right as it reached the central point between the four colonists. As the green gas spread out, all four fell senseless to the ground. 

Moving through the tower continued in much the same way until the very end; a group of the hybrid creatures would attack, they’d shoot them down, then try to dodge as many bullets as possible while taking turns lobbing neurotoxic grenades at groups of them. Eventually, the last group was down and they all sighed in relief. Shepard confirmed that no one was hurt, and then she sent Garrus to work the controls to move the freighter off the stairs that would take them to the Thorian. 

That was when Fai Dan showed up, pointing a gun at her. His eyes were only slightly hazed by green, his arms shaking as if he were fighting the compulsion of the Thorian. Shepard eyed him carefully, raising her hands.

“Don’t do this.” She said quietly, meeting his eyes. Fai Dan grimaced.

“It wants me to hurt you. To kill you… it’s so strong… but I won’t !” Shepard lunged forward as Fai Dan turned the pistol on himself, but his sudden rush of autonomy was too quick, and she stopped short when he fell to the ground. The leader of Zhu’s Hope was dead. 

“Suicide normally isn’t the turian way, but his death was honorable,” Nihlus said solemnly from beside her. “You did everything you could, Shepard.” 

Shepard nodded wordlessly, still staring down at Fai Dan. It didn’t feel like she did everything she could. She’d failed to neutralize him before he felt the need to take his own life. She felt the weight of Nihlus’ hand rest on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off and turned to Garrus and Kaidan. They’d gotten the freighter moved, and both were watching her with careful expressions. 

“Come on, we still need to take care of this Thorian,” she said shortly. She made for the stairs, hearing their footsteps following her as she delved into the abyss beneath Zhu’s Hope. 

The walk down was quiet, dim, and strangely damp and warm. Absently, Shepard thought it made sense as an environment for a sentient plant to thrive. They didn’t know what they were looking for as they went down farther and farther, but soon they found out. Behind her, Kaidan and Garrus were postulating as to what the plant would look like when they came out into a series of walkways that circled a hollow space. Taking up the entirety of that hollow space, with vines terminating in bulbous growths holding it aloft, was the Thorian. 

Shepard skidded to a halt, shocked to the core, and the gasps behind her told her she wasn’t alone. She took a few slow steps forward, examining the monstrosity before her as Garrus finally found his voice again. 

“That’s… not like any plant I’ve ever seen.” 

Kaidan chimed in with his own expression of shock. “Look at that thing, it’s huge! How are we ever going to take it out?” 

“Look at how it’s connected to the walls of this place.” Nihlus said quietly, pointing at the vine like protrusions. “If we destroy some of those, the weight of it might well do the rest for us. Just like the geth ship.”

Shepard was about to agree when the main body of the plant, shaped unnervingly like a tentacled face, began convulsing. The bottom of it started secreting a nauseating sticky fluid, almost like bile, before it suddenly gave a great heave and a shape dropped out of the secretions with a wet plop. To her surprise, as the fluid ran down the form she noted that it looked like an asari; the only discernible difference from a normal asari was that her skin was green. Shepard assumed that this situation couldn’t get any stranger… until the asari spoke to them in a cold and strangely reverberating voice.

“Intruders! Your very presence is a crime. Beg for my mercy; bow before the power of the Thorian.” 

Behind her, she heard a strained huff from Garrus. She could barely contain her own incredulous laughter at the insanity of the situation. 

“You gave something to Saren, didn’t you? Whatever it is, I need it. Then you will let the people of Zhu’s hope out of your thrall and leave them to live in peace.” Internally, Shepard wasn’t confident this would work… but it was worth a try to resolve this with words rather than more violence. She’d had about enough killing today.

“The Thorian does not bow to the whims of your short organic existence. We are boundless; all knowing and ever present. We have fed on the bones of civilizations far older than yours, and we will feed on yours for long after your civilization comes crashing down.

The one you call Saren came to us with a trade. We gave him information in exchange for this organic creature, and then he had his metal machines damage us. We will trade no more; you are only fit to feed our fresh growth.”

Then, the asari shot a burst of biotic energy their way. Around them, lumps of green coalesced into more of the strange hybrids they’d encountered before and they were soon swarmed. The four of them fell into swift action, shooting with pistols and rifles and slicing with omni-blades. One hybrid spewed its green slime on Nihlus, who stumbled sideways as he wiped it from his face. Shepard rushed forward and pushed the thing to the ground with her shoulder, slicing it apart with her omni blade before reaching out to steady Nihlus. 

Kaidan was going toe-to-toe with the asari, who had made her way to where they were. Garrus helped Shepard take out the remaining hybrids before shouting at her. 

“Help Alenko with that asari, I’ll target this… node thing.” 

Shepard nodded, made sure Nihlus was steady and not in immediate danger, and then turned her weapon on the asari. Between her and Kaidan, and with Shepard drawing the biotic’s power now, they dispatched the asari quickly. Once she was down, Shepard jogged back over to Nihlus and looked him over; Garrus was holding him up and tapping on his omni-tool as the other turian worked to keep on his feet. 

“Nihlus?” Shepard asked carefully, watching the turians. She glanced up at Garrus, but he was focused on her mentor. Nihlus looked up at her after a moment, and spoke in a raspy voice. 

“I’ll be fine, Shepard. Garrus is activating my medical suite now as well as a detox. Just give me a minute.” 

Just then, the Thorian began to heave again, and another asari dropped out of its maw. It looked identical to the one they’d just killed, and Shepard realized the thing must be replicating the original asari somehow. Incredible… but that meant that they didn’t have time. 

“Garrus, stick with him. Catch up to us when you can. Alenko, with me!” 

Shepard didn’t give Nihlus the opportunity to object. She took off at a run for the nearest ramp, Kaidan on her heels. They weaved through more organic-looking pods, watching the walls for another node to destroy in order to weaken the Thorian further. When they found one, Shepard opened fire on it without further discussion. As it severed, the Thorian let out an eerie screech. 

A blast of biotic energy skimmed past the side of her face. 

Shepard dove for cover, pulling Kaidan with her. Around them, pods began exploding and unleashing more hybrids. They were surrounded, but Shepard opened fire anyway. As an afterthought, she tossed her last grenade at the creatures and they exploded when it went off in their midst. Kaidan shouted with delight, then dove to dodge another blast of energy from the asari clone. 

They both focused on the asari then, bringing it down quickly now that they weren’t being swarmed. Not wanting to wait to find out how many times the Thorian could replicate the biotic clone, they continued upward in search of the next node. 

“I’m out of those grenades, but I think Nihlus had one or two left. We need to be careful before we hit the next one; it seems targeting the nodes causes those hybrids to activate.” Shepard huffed out her orders as they ran upward, and Kaidan made a quiet sound of confirmation. 

They found the next node, and Shepard noted that the Thorian was heaving out another clone already. It would take time for it to reach them though, so Shepard took precious moments to scout the area and note where the concentrations of organic pods were on the ground. Most of them were grouped around the node, as if in a protective way. Past them was a hall, where Shepard did not want to get stuck. She turned and surveyed the ramp they’d just gone up, noting that there was a small balcony that lay off to the side of the opening. 

“Okay, we take a few shots at the node and then back up to here.” Shepard said to Kaidan, pointing. “Maybe if we don’t totally destroy the node it won’t wake all those things up at once.” 

“It’s worth a shot, commander.” Kaidan said, looking around. Behind them, Shepard could hear footsteps. One pair; it was the asari. Kaidan turned toward the sound too, frowning. “Maybe we should take care of her first…”

Shepard agreed, and turned to face the ramp. Kaidan was at her shoulder, biotic energy glowing in his palm. As the asari came up, they both attacked before she could send her own biotic energy at them. She was dispatched quickly, and then they moved forward with their first plan. 

After a few well-placed shots to damage the node, a handful of pods burst. 

Kaidan threw a singularity at the hybrids, lifting them into the air.

Shepard shot them out of the air. 

They repeated the process.

Finally, another node was destroyed and all the nearby hybrids were down. They had not gotten swarmed; it had worked . 

The Thorian groaned, its noises echoing through the chamber. 

“It’s struggling. Can’t be much more holding it up…” Shepard mused. “Let’s go.”

There was one more node, just outside the tunnel Shepard had wanted to avoid before. The chamber it occupied was full of the pods that would birth the hybrids, and so Shepard came up with one last plan. 

“We use the tunnel as a choke point,” she said firmly. “Same strategy as before; shoot the node, let some wake up, pick them off as they come through there.” 

Kaidan nodded, and they went to work. 

It worked well until it didn’t.

A hybrid escaped Kaidan’s singularity, staggering forward and spraying him with acid. 

When Kaidan went down, the hybrid grabbed him by the leg and dragged him into the hall. 

Shepard charged after him without a thought, knocking hybrids aside and pulling the offending one off of Kaidan and throwing it into the wall with enough force to destroy it.

She pulled Kaidan up, nearly got dragged down by his weight, and then rallied and hoisted him over her shoulder. 

She shot down one hybrid, two, fought toward the end of the hall, and walked out into the chamber that housed the node. 

She’d gotten turned around, and had gone the wrong way.

An unprotected drop was at her back, the hollow center of the chamber. She couldn’t see the bottom of that drop. 

Before her, hybrids shuffled closer and closer. They were taking their time now; they knew she had nowhere to go. There were still at least a dozen of them between her and safety.

“Garrus, if you and Nihlus are on your feet now would be a great time to show up.” Shepard called into her comms. “Kaidan’s down and I’m backed into a corner by way too many of these things.” 

She lifted her pistol and began picking off the hybrids one at a time as they shuffled too close for comfort; headshots were harder with a pistol, but not impossible. At close range, the pistol was even capable of eliminating the hybrids in one go if it was a headshot. She still was far outnumbered. 

“ I’m coming, Shepard! Hold on! ” Garrus’ voice was slightly shrill in her ear, his worry evident in the tone. So she was getting one person for backup, not Nihlus. She hoped he was okay. She hoped Garrus would get to her in time. 

She kept firing at the hybrids, and soon she heard loud footsteps. With a shout, Garrus charged through the tunnel and opened fire on the husks in front of him, mowing down a whole group with his assault rifle. Then he pulled a grenade out of his belt and tossed it, detonating the modified grenade once it was right in the middle of the group of hybrids. They all dissolved. Shepard slumped against a nearby pillar, shaking from the strain of Kaidan’s weight over her shoulder along with fighting in one place at the edge of a cliff. Garrus was at her side in a blink, taking Kaidan off of her shoulder and hefting him onto his back. 

“Get that node, Shepard, I’ll handle Alenko.” Garrus said quickly. Shepard nodded, wiping at her face as she turned to the node and unloaded on it. When it was shredded, leaking fluid like all the others, the attached vine snapped. A horrible screech echoed through the chamber and Shepard spun around to look at the Thorian. The plant listed to the side, screeching again, before its remaining anchors snapped under the weight of its body and it plummeted into the abyss. Shepard stared at where it had been for a moment before turning back to Garrus and gesturing to him with a nod of her head.

They reached the larger, main area they’d first entered into after a few minutes of quiet trudging. Shepard felt a wash of relief as Nihlus clambered to his feet when they exited the ramp; the turian stepped up to her and grabbed her shoulders, looking her over from head to toe. 

“Are you injured, Shepard?” Nihlus asked quietly, his mandibles pressed tight to his cheeks. Shepard shook her head, and Nihlus’ face relaxed slightly. 

“I’ll see to Alenko, Shepard. You should rest a moment.” Garrus said, setting Alenko gently down on the ground. He got to work immediately, engaging Alenko’s med suites and toxin scrubbers in his combat kit. 

Shepard leaned against a pillar, staring at nothing until a set of footsteps echoed and had her on high alert again. Both she and Nihlus had their pistols raised and trained on the asari as she stumbled toward them. The first thing Shepard noticed was that this asari, though her markings were identical to the clones they’d fought, was the usual bluish-purple shade of the asari. The asari raised her hands in the air as she saw Shepard and Nihlus, and both relaxed somewhat. 

“You… you saved me.” The asari said tremulously. “I thought I was lost to the Thorian. Saren gave me to it in trade…” Shepard frowned, looking the asari over. She was dripping in a similar viscous fluid to the nodes and the hybrid plant things the Thorian had produced. It must have been copying her to make those asari she and her team had fought. 

“Are you okay? Do you need medical care?” Shepard asked, holstering her pistol. The asari shook her head firmly. 

“No, I’ll be fine.”

Shepard paused, looking the asari over. “How did you end up with Saren? What did he trade you for ? I need to know everything.”

The asari willingly launched into her tale; she’d been an acolyte of Matriarch Benezia’s, one of the many who had followed her lead when Benezia had allied herself with Saren. Shepard discovered that Benezia had been intending to guide Saren down a gentler path, but then had fallen prey to some sort of suggestive influence that was attributed to some effect of the ship that Saren used. Benezia and her acolytes had, after a time, grown to be swayed by this suggestive influence and had abandoned their original aims. They became willing slaves to Saren’s will. 

Then, Saren had come here for some sort of information called the Cipher; a sort of ancestral and simultaneously biological knowledge of the prothean race that Saren needed to understand the messages hidden within the beacon on Eden Prime. The asari before her had been used as a conduit for this information, transferring it into Saren’s mind before being given to the Thorian as tribute.

“I need that Cipher. I saw some sort of… visions, from that same beacon. They don’t make much sense to me though.” Shepard said when the asari, Shiala, finished her tale. Shiala paused, examining Shepard’s determined expression before nodding tiredly. 

“Very well, commander. When I was… within the Thorian, I absorbed the information more fully. I will share what I know.” Shiala sighed deeply, taking a step toward Shepard. Shepard could sense the tension of the two turians behind her, but she held out a hand to stop them before they could interfere. When Shiala met Shepard’s eyes, the asari’s irises had grown nearly black. 

“Relax, commander. Open your mind; each of us is connected by the threads of emotion, destiny, experience. Feel the threads of unity, feel the breath of life surrounding us. Embrace eternity.” 

Shepard felt sucked in by the soothing tone of Shiala’s voice; without knowing, she relaxed and then when the asari spoke her final words her vision went black. She felt a rush of what she could only describe as understanding . Familiar images flashed within her mind, but they were cast more sharply than before. Sounds that were just gibberish before now formed understandable words; reaper, annihilation, extinction, apocalypse, machine, no hope…

Garrus caught Shepard when she collapsed to the ground, and he lowered her down gently as Nihlus grabbed the asari by the shoulder and pushed her back. 

“What did you do to her?” Nihlus snarled, his slitted eyes bright with barely restrained anger. Shiala balked under his gaze, but her words to him were firm. 

“She will be fine, spectre. The information I gave her was likely overwhelming… she should wake in moments. Her mind is unusually strong, for a human. Even compared to many asari. Incredible…” Nihlus snorted and turned from Shiala, glancing at where Alenko was recovering before kneeling on the ground beside Garrus and Shepard. 

Garrus looked down at the human in his arms, feeling a wild mix of emotions course through him. Worry, anger at Shiala, a deep protectiveness… Shepard was worming her way into his consciousness somehow, and he wasn’t sure what it meant. The level of loyalty he felt for her far exceeded any he felt for his own family, or his people, or the government… it was like she’d somehow made herself the most important person in his existence. He knew that no matter what came at them, he’d do everything in his power to protect her. 

Nihlus hovered, watching Shepard’s readings carefully on his omni-tool. Shiala had not lied; physically, Shepard was fine. She’d simply been overwhelmed with a subconscious understanding of an entire species in a matter of moments. Her fortitude was incredible; Nihlus doubted many minds could take such information and remain intact, but her neurological readings were sound. 

Kaidan watched the proceedings from his position at the side of the room. He’d barely gained consciousness when Shepard had approached the asari and agreed to let Shiala transmit this Cipher to her. He’d watched her go stiff, then suddenly Garrus had lunged forward just in time to catch her as she dropped. Kaidan felt useless, but was soothed by the fact that neither turian seemed particularly alarmed. Shepard was in good hands; instead of just sitting there, he heaved himself to his feet and approached Shiala.

“What will you do now?” Kaidan asked the asari with a gentle tone. “Now that you’re free of the Thorian, and Saren’s left you behind.” 

Shiala studied Kaidan for a moment before giving her answer. “Now that I am free of Saren’s influence, I plan to stay here. Much damage was done to this colony, at the hands of those I was with. Even if it was outside of my own influence, I aided in that damage. I would like to help them rebuild.” 

Kaidan nodded, studying the asari thoughtfully. “I’m sure the commander will find that is a great idea, Shiala. Noble of you, too, to want to help these people rebuild. I’m sure they’ll need all the help they can get.” 

Shepard woke up with a start, sitting up so fast she nearly headbutted Garrus in the face. Wisely, Garrus released his hold on her the moment she regained consciousness. Shepard slid off of his lap and turned to face him and Nihlus, her face confused for a moment. 

“What happened?” Shepard asked shortly. Garrus watched her carefully while Nihlus filled her in. Kaidan and Shiala joined them, and they all were soon on their feet and leaving the silent underbelly of the colony. Shepard agreed to leave Shiala to plot her own course, helping the colony rebuild from Saren’s attack, only insisting that Shiala provide regular updates on the colony’s progress to her. 

Shepard led the way back up into the colony, her gait steady and her shoulders squared as they emerged to find the colonists had begun to regain consciousness and were being tended to by the Baynham women and other scientists from ExoGeni. Shepard checked in with them, ensuring that they had contact with the Alliance and would be receiving aid before bidding them all farewell. 

“Let’s get back to the ship, I’ve had my fill of adventure for today…” Shepard said wryly, glancing over her shoulder at her team. The three of them nodded at her, and Nihlus walked by her side as they made their way back through the tower to the ship. Shepard could feel him watching her, as if waiting for some sign that she was going to have a breakdown or collapse again, but she was fine. She had a hell of a headache coming on, and was bone tired, but she was fine. 

If anything, she had more questions than she’d had when they arrived on Feros.

Chapter Text

Shepard made a decision, upon boarding the Normandy, to defer their usual debrief until the next morning. With most of her team having either been exposed to the acidic attacks of the Thorian’s hybrid creatures, or experiencing other types of physical trauma in her own case, she took her entire team straight to the medbay once they’d taken off their armor and put down their weapons. She assigned Ashley and Wrex to repairs while they all got a once-over from Doctor Chakwas. 

Doctor Chakwas was less than pleased to see the state they were all in, and Nihlus and Kaidan were ordered into beds so they could submit to overnight intravenous detox programs. Shepard submitted to Chakwas’ cerebral scans, accepted some topical medigel for her bruises, and was cut loose along with Garrus. Garrus had been the only one to come out of that mission relatively unscathed, and he took it upon himself to escort her up to her cabin before returning below to shower and rest.

Shepard slipped into the dark, peaceful quiet of her cabin with no small amount of gratefulness. She’d already had Joker plot a course for Therum, their next logical stop, and she knew she would have a day to rest before they arrived. She took her usual fast shower, letting herself briefly revel in the hot water hitting her overtaxed muscles before cleaning up and climbing back out to dry herself off. The process of applying the topical medigel to her bruised hip was uncomfortable, but the medigel worked instant wonders on her pain and soon she was in her most comfortable sleepwear and sprawled across her bed. 

She wrote up her report to the council and the Alliance then, but paused at the point when she got to her… moment… with Shiala. She didn’t know how to explain the experience of being given the ancestral knowledge of a species. Hell, Shepard didn’t even know what that really meant yet. Had the experience changed her, beyond the simple fact that she understood the pieces of the message the prothean beacon had transmitted into her mind? The doctor’s scans hadn’t turned up anything concerning, but Shepard felt unsettled. It was as if she no longer quite fit into her own skin anymore.

She decided to omit the knowledge of the cipher, only feeling guilty about it for a brief moment. She didn’t need the council to think she was any crazier than they already suspected her of being. They hadn’t exactly taken the story of the beacon’s message gracefully, after all. Shepard also had to remind herself that she was a spectre now… she wasn’t expected to be completely forthright about her missions. If there was information she felt the need to omit, well… that was all but expected. No matter how much it rubbed her wrong.

The next morning, when her omni-tool’s alarm woke her, Shepard felt refreshed. Her bruises had faded, her head hurt less, and she felt more centered than she had the night before. There was still that vaguest of senses that something was off-center within her, but she was able to push it out of her mind and focus on her day. She had time for a workout before most of the crew would be out of their bunks, and then shortly after breakfast would be their debrief on the mission and the briefing on Therum.

She made her way through the quiet ship, only sparing a quick glance into the medbay to confirm that both Nihlus and Kaidan had been released the night before. Quickly enough she was in the cargo hold pulling out a mat, preparing herself with stretches and casting off her N-7 hoodie in anticipation of working up a sweat. To Shepard, there was no better way to start her day than to get her blood flowing and her muscles warmed up. 

Today, she noticed that Wrex was already up and about in the cargo hold, but he seemed embroiled in a shotgun he was working on so when he didn’t acknowledge her arrival she left him alone as well. She started in on her usual workout, and then started moving through the steps of some hand-to-hand combat maneuvers to help stretch out her hip; it wasn’t bruised or sore any longer, but it was a bit stiff. She’d been going through the maneuvers for about ten minutes when footsteps approached her mat, and she turned to see Garrus watching her. 

“Morning, Garrus.” Shepard said, slightly breathless. She dropped her stance and stepped to the side of the mat to grab her water. “No tinkering this morning?” He shook his head, making an amused sound in his chest as she took a long drink from her water. Garrus was, in fact, far less dressed than she’d ever seen him. Primarily due to the fact that she’d always seen her turian teammates in armor. At the moment, Garrus was wearing something that looked quite a bit like her N-7 workout gear, except more loose-fitting and with long sleeves. 

“Not today, Shepard. I thought I could join you, if you don’t mind.” He shrugged, looking down for a moment before crossing his arms across his narrow waist. Shepard hadn’t realized how thin turians actually were under all that armor. He had a tiny waist compared to the wide flare of his bony-looking hips, and his chest looked far smaller without the armor as well. It was still visibly muscled, but Shepard found herself unable to stop examining the layers of bone-like plates that covered his vital organs in a sort of natural armor that held a mesmerizing pattern. 

She blinked away her curiosity and met Garrus’ eyes, nodding. “I’d love for you to join me, Garrus. Do you have your own exercises you prefer, or…?” She trailed off, leaving the question open for him to clarify. Garrus flared his mandibles in a grin as he stepped onto the mat, settling into a fighting stance.

“I thought I’d join your dance, Shepard.” He replied casually. Shepard cocked an eyebrow at him, but felt a smile tugging at her lips as she settled into her own stance across the mat with him. 

“I didn’t know you liked to spar, Garrus.” Shepard said, as she took the offensive and stepped toward him with a quick jab. Garrus leaned back out of her reach, arms up as he began to circle the mat opposite her. 

“Turians do plenty of sparring, Shepard. It’s a good way to blow off steam.” 

Garrus suddenly took one long step forward and unleashed a flurry of blows. Shepard quickly dodged a few, deflecting the others and dancing away on her toes. As he took his own step back to recover, she ducked low and caught him in the side, where she’d noticed a lack of natural armor, and he grunted as she slipped under his arm and behind him. He turned quickly to face her again, shaking his head. 

“Not bad, Shepard. Didn’t think you’d land a hit on me that quick.”

They went back and forth for a long time, neither of them noticing the audience they were gathering as they became more and more focused on the fight. They traded blows, verbal jabs, compliments and advice as they went until both of them were so winded they had to focus all their effort on the fight itself. Shepard had been sweating for so long that at one point, she actually lost her footing on the mat. Garrus took the opportunity, coming behind her and taking her to the ground with her lying on top of him, his bony arm around her neck. 

He wasn’t expecting Shepard to turn her head sideways and be able to slip out of his grip, turning her lower body as she went so that soon she was straddling Garrus with her forearm pressed against the soft, leathery skin of his neck. His limbs were long, though, and he was able to roll again until he was on top of her, his surprisingly dexterous lower legs pinning her to the mat. She still kept her arm under his neck though, and both of them found themselves trapped and at a stalemate. 

“I think that is what we should call a draw.” 

Nihlus’ voice surprised both of them enough that Shepard dropped the pressure on Garrus’ windpipe just as Garrus rolled off her and onto his feet. Shepard lay on the mat for a moment, shooting Nihlus a sheepish grin before accepting the hand that Garrus offered her. A glance around showed her that Wrex, Ashley, Tali, and a few members of the engineering crew had all gathered around to watch the spectacle of their commander tussling with a turian.

“We’ll have a rematch sometime, okay big guy?” Shepard called out as she donned her hoodie and wiped the sweat off her brow. Garrus stared at her for a moment before nodding and promising to see her at the squad meeting. 

Wrex patted her violently on the shoulder, and Ashley shot her a thumbs up as she walked toward the elevator, and the door closed on her as a smile grew on her face. She had to admit, that was fun. Perhaps a one off, though… for now at least. The sparking of her nerves told her she might have enjoyed her turian teammate’s physical proximity a bit too much. It was something to unpack at another time, though.

Back in the cargo bay, Garrus took it upon himself to put away the sparring mat. Nihlus had stayed behind, quietly watching the younger turian. Garrus tried to ignore the subvocal message that Nihlus was broadcasting, but the point was very thoroughly received. Be careful, kid. She has a mission to focus on. Garrus was glad that his joggers hid the signs of what Shepard’s flexibility had done to him; he knew Nihlus couldn’t be fooled, since the turian could likely smell the arousal on him. 

Though, apparently, so could their resident krogan. Wrex ambled over to Garrus after the mat was put away, and threw an arm around his shoulders with a deep chuckle. 

“You’re in trouble, kiddo. Better get that under control before the meeting.” 

He walked away still laughing, which irked Garrus to no end. The krogan was right though… he had to take care of some things before he was anywhere close to Shepard’s scent again. Nihlus shook his head and made for engineering, providing Garrus the moment to make his escape now that the elevator was no longer occupied by Shepard. The moment the door closed, he knew he’d made a mistake. 

The elevator still had the scent of her sweat and pheromones lingering within, and Garrus was in a state by the time he nearly leapt out on the crew deck. He sped past a confused-looking Alenko and made for the singular private bathroom that was available for himself and Nihlus to use. Locking the door behind him, he quickly stripped off his joggers and got into the shower stall, leaning back against the wall as the water sprayed down on him. It didn’t serve to wash her scent from his senses. Nor did it serve to wipe his memory of hooking her soft but strong legs behind his spurs as he flipped her onto her back. 

Garrus had never considered the possibility, but it seemed that he was attracted to the commander. Undoubtedly, painfully attracted to her. He'd never found himself feeling any interest in any race besides other turians, and maybe the occasional asari simply due to their aesthetics. He hadn't even dated anyone in the past, just had times where he blew off steam with shipmates or someone he met at a club. Feelings weren't something he'd ever concerned himself with. This warring sexual attraction and fluttering in his chest had thrown him off balance, and he needed to figure out what it meant. What it would mean, as he continued to work with this human who was unlike any he'd ever met before. 

The squad meeting was quick and efficient, with most of the team having already read Shepard’s mission reports from the events on Feros. Equally simple was the discussion of the mission to recover the asari scientist, Liara T’Soni. She was on a solo dig, exploring some thoroughly explored prothean ruins, and no intel suggested any other presence. Shepard and Nihlus agreed they’d err on the side of caution, however, and bring a full team to recover her. 

Kaidan would be left onboard the ship this time; he’d taxed his implants quite thoroughly on Feros, and was under orders from the ship’s doctor to rest for at least another two days to allow his chronic migraines to subside before going out into the field again. He wasn’t thrilled about the situation, but there was nothing to be done. In his place, they decided to bring Wrex out with them. A fair biotic in his own right, Wrex could likely fill the gap that Kaidan’s abilities would normally provide. Garrus would come along, once again, and Nihlus would be their source of technical skill while Shepard took her usual role as a sniper. 

All this was dependent on if they met with any sort of danger at all, which there was no indication of as Joker dropped them on the surface of Therum in the mako. Shepard had no expectations of an easy mission however, because if she’d learned anything so far while chasing Saren it was that he was everywhere . So, she felt more resigned than anything when their scanner picked up a geth dropship flying overhead.

“And there’s the catch.” Shepard muttered, tapping the console to bring up the combat suite. “Wrex, you’re on the guns.” 

“It would be my pleasure, Shepard.” Wrex laughed as he took up a position in the turret, eying the visual feed as Shepard steered them along a narrow path with dangerous precision. 

“Shepard, watch the edges… you do know that’s magma , correct?” Nihlus said in her ear. Shepard just laughed, shaking her head. 

“Don’t worry, old man. I’ve got this.” 

She heard Garrus’ huff of laughter behind her, and the corresponding growl from Nihlus. Schooling her features, she focused her attention on the path as a bolt of light passed just over them. 

“Wrex?” She called, swerving to miss another bolt of energy from ahead. 

“On it!” He shouted, swinging the controls and dialing in. He opened fire on the geth armature that was targeting them, and by the time they were within easy range the thing was a smoking heap. Wrex laughed raucously, scanning for more geth to shoot as they went. 

They continued as such for a long drive, passing through a few fortified tunnels with the help of Wrex’s eager manning of the weapon system. Eventually, though, their luck ran out and they reached a point where the path narrowed considerably before opening into a circular, rocky field below the main group of buildings that made up the dig site they were headed for. Shepard brought the mako to a screeching halt.

“Shepard to Normandy, the path is too narrow for the mako. We’re going to have to go the rest of the way on foot. Resistance likely.”

“ Loud and clear commander, be careful out there. Temperatures are high. ” Alenko’s response crackled in their comms, and Shepard worried that the heat wouldn’t do their communications any favors. 

“Reading you broken, Alenko. I’ll update when we get up to the entrance, but I think communication will have to be sparse while we’re this close to the magma.” Shepard replied, before muting the comms. She grabbed her full helmet, watching her teammates do the same. When they all looked ready, they did their comms check. 

“Nihlus, how do you want to do this?” Shepard asked, loading up on medpacks and grenades. 

“ I can send out a recon drone first, then we should probably send Wrex in next. His biotic barrier and heavy armor will be able to take the initial volley if geth are in the area, giving the rest of us time to use the natural cover in this depression. Shepard, Garrus, focus on those towers. If it was me, I’d have snipers up there as well as some regular troops. Wrex and I will focus on any geth at close range. ” 

Shepard nodded her assent and opened the side hatch for them all to climb out. Nihlus immediately crouched behind the mako, sending out a recon drone, and the rest of them followed suit. The drone made it into the clearing and past the first few boulders before taking fire. 

“That answers that. Time to move, before they can prepare any more.” Shepard said, gesturing to Wrex. The krogan nodded to her, charging around the mako and into the rocky clearing. The geth there immediately opened fire as he bellowed at them, sending a biotic shockwave toward them. Shepard spotted at least two sniper’s lasers as she slipped into the clearing with Garrus and Nihlus on her flank. 

Nihlus moved swiftly through the clearing, taking cover near the middle as he opened fire on the geth and drew their attention from Wrex so he could duck back and let his shields recharge. Meanwhile, Shepard pulled out her sniper rifle and scouted the upper ledge and towers. Sure enough, two snipers waited in the towers along with a handful of other geth on the trail leading up toward the dig site. She had one down in a single shot, and ducked down to let her rifle cool while Garrus took the chance to take out the second one. With the snipers quickly dispatched, Shepard and Garrus began to wear down the troops that were nearing the upper ledge. 

Nihlus and Wrex quickly took out the remaining geth at close range, and started moving up the trail. Shepard gestured for Garrus to follow her as she moved forward, taking shots at the geth that the others were drawing out of cover with their ascent. By the time Shepard and Garrus finished their slower approach to the trail, all the visible geth were cleared. They jogged to catch up to Wrex and Nihlus, and Shepard quickly checked in with everyone. They took a moment’s pause within one of the towers to let their shields recharge, and Shepard scouted the entrance to the ruins. 

A rover lay on its side next to the entrance, smoking. Shepard swept her scope across the open space around and saw no immediate signs of active geth in their way. Something felt off though, and she wasn’t ready to consider the fight over. 

“Nothing visible, but I don’t trust that as a confirmation we’re out of the fight.” Shepard said out loud. “These geth have a tendency to pop up… unexpectedly.”

Nihlus stepped up beside Shepard, looking out over the space she’d been scouting before turning to look down at her. 

“Speak your mind, Shepard. You should trust your instincts; from what I’ve seen they are rarely wrong. What do you expect will happen?” Nihlus asked, watching her face carefully. 

Shepard stared out again at the presumably empty space, chewing on her lip. “I think we’re going to walk into an ambush out there. If it were me, I’d have troops hidden behind those crates and just inside the doors. The geth have capabilities we don’t; they seem to be able to airdrop out of practically nowhere, perhaps from above the cloud line. They can also compress themselves, making them harder to see…”

Nihlus nodded, his expression inscrutable though Shepard could feel the rumble coming from his chest. A rumble of approval that sent a bolt of surety through her spine. 

“Go on, Shepard,” he nudged. He wanted her to expand on her thoughts.

“My expectation is that we’ll be facing at least half a dozen geth in that clearing. There’s more than enough space for them to be hidden from view. The catwalks are also a concern; those stalkers could be underneath them and we wouldn’t see them until we walked right up.”

Nihlus’ mandibles flared into a pleased expression, and Shepard bit back a responding grin. Something about Nihlus’ approval made her feel like a schoolgirl who’d pleased their teacher. He was pleased with her forethought, and seemed to even agree with her assessment. 

“How would you handle approaching this, understanding what we’ve decided Shepard?” Nihlus asked. “I want to hear your opinions.”

Shepard looked out on the space once more, her mind forming conclusions based on the available cover and their capabilities. After a while, she turned back to Nihlus.

“I’d keep myself here in the tower. It’s a good sniper’s position with solid cover and plenty of height to give me clear shots once the geth reveal themselves. You should stay back, perhaps behind the furthest container, and utilize your tech capabilities to sabotage shields and send out drones as distractions. Garrus can stay near you to provide cover and use his lower-powered sniper rifle. Wrex would go further up to engage the geth directly, and perhaps clear the area to the side if need be. He can also use his biotics to slow down any stalkers that show up.”

“It’s a good plan. I think Garrus could also move forward with Wrex, though. I can look after myself, and there will be less chance of geth getting past Wrex to harry me if Garrus is with him,” Nihlus added firmly. Shepard nodded, conceding his point. “Very well, let’s do this.”

Nihlus turned to the others and briefed them on what he and Shepard had decided and observed. He lined out their planned positions and described potential strategies depending on the kinds of geth they may encounter. Finally, he instructed them all to keep their commlinks open so Shepard could give them details on where the geth were, since she’d have the best view of the battlefield.

“Don’t get too comfortable up here, Shepard.” Garrus called out, humor coloring his voice. “We’ll be doing all the hard work.”

Shepard scoffed, lightly shoving Garrus toward the stairs that Wrex was already walking down. “We’ll see about that, big guy. Just don’t get shot.” She retorted. Garrus shook his head and made his way down, Nihlus on his heels. Shepard turned to face the window again, watching the clearing carefully as the three of them left the tower and started cautiously approaching the open space.

Shepard saw no geth, at first, but heard a loud sort of whistle that had her calling out on her comms by instinct.

“Incoming!” She shouted, turning her gaze up toward a blur of white and silver. The projectile hit the ground with a thunderous boom, and unfolded to reveal itself as the biggest geth she’d ever seen. “Take cover! It’s like the armatures, but bigger!” Shepard called out again, tucking herself behind a wall and out of sight. Garrus and Wrex sprinted forward for a container in the middle of the field while Nihlus took his position near the rear.

“ That thing has heavy shields. I will begin to remedy that. ” Nihlus called out to the others. Shepard took a moment to sweep the space again and started seeing geth appear from dark corners and from behind the debris near the door, as she’d anticipated. Three geth stalkers fell from the catwalks that spanned the space and began leaping around wildly. 

“Three stalkers, and I count eight geth troopers. Garrus, Wrex, two stalkers are behind you. Five geth in front of you, two to the left.” Shepard called out to them, lining up her first shot. She took down one of the geth on the side, then ducked behind the wall before they could spot where she’d made her shot from. “Make that one to the left!” 

“ I’m whittling down this thing’s shields, but it packs a punch… ” Nihlus said into their comms. “ I can’t keep out of cover for long… Vakarian! Take out those geth, damn it! ” 

Shepard leaned out of her perch again, scanning the field. She saw a geth stalker start to line up a shot from behind Nihlus and fired quickly, shooting it off the top of the container. Nihlus watched it fall and nodded to her, returning to sending out drones to harry the other geth while he waited for his overload to recharge. 

“ Nice shooting! ” Garrus shouted, taking down the other geth to the side with his rifle. Wrex popped out of behind their container to blast a stalker as it leapt down toward the ground, and they were down to one of those. Six geth still remained, and Shepard leaned out to take a third shot. Five geth. She took a chance on her rifle not overheating and took another shot before slipping behind the wall. Four. 

The tower shook, and Shepard was thrown back from the thin steel wall. 

“ Shepard, that thing saw you! ” Wrex growled down the comms. “ It’s targeting the tower! I don’t know if the tower will hold against it… ” 

Shepard swore, peeking out as carefully as possible to see what the colossus was up to. It had shifted to face her tower directly, and she could see its heavy attack recharging. She leaned out and shot down another geth. Three more, plus the big one. A ball of energy blasted from the colossus, and she scrambled backward, behind the wall but away from it that time. The tower shook violently. 

“Guys, I think Wrex is right! This tower might not be able to handle much more!” Shepard yelled, popping out to aim a shot at the colossus this time. Her shot glanced off, but it sparked a bit. Its shields were getting low. 

“ I think one more overload should take down its shields, Shepard. Wrex, Vakarian, take out those remaining geth and then concentrate fire on the big one. Shepard, get out of that tower! ” Nihlus’ tone was intense, and she wondered how bad the tower looked from the outside to evoke such concern. She turned, got one more shot off at the colossus, and then made for the stairs. She skidded to a halt at a crumpled mess of sharp metal and a long drop. 

“Getting out isn’t going to be an option until all the geth are done!” Shepard shouted, feeling worry begin to seep into her. “The stairs are obliterated!” 

She heard Nihlus swear violently in the comms, at least that’s what she presumed since her translator didn’t pick his words up. She leaned out and looked at the colossus, seeing that it was just firing off another shot at her. She ducked, rolling back behind her wall, and braced for the shaking of the tower. This time, she felt it lean and she slid toward the wall. At least it’s likely to fall toward the clearing rather than off the cliff… Shepard thought to herself. She could survive this if the tower collapsed toward her companions. 

“ The shields are down, concentrate fire! Wrex, charge it. Garrus, aim for the head. I’ve got fire to weaken its armor. ” Nihlus called out, sounding harried. “ Shepard, do what you can but don’t destabilize the tower any more than necessary! ” 

Fat chance she could avoid it, but Shepard confirmed with Nihlus and propped herself up on the wall. She had to almost dangle herself out of the window now, but she managed to get steady and aimed for the colossus’ head. She fired, watched it hit and crumple the head a bit, but the thing was still up. Nihlus sent a ball of flame toward it, singing the armor and leaving small cracks running along its torso. Wrex ran forward with a battle cry, ramming the thing in the chest and setting it off balance. Garrus unloaded three shots straight at its head, and Shepard lined up one of her own. The colossus crumpled, sliding toward the ground with visible sparks. 

“ It’s down! Yeah! ” Wrex roared. Shepard watched Nihlus scan the clearing quickly before turning toward the tower. Shepard shifted a bit further toward the window to signal to him that she was intact, but just then the tower started creaking loudly. 

“ Shepard! ” Nihlus yelled, jogging toward the tower. 

Shepard waved madly at him, shouting back. “Get back, this thing is giving way!” 

She glanced around and found no sign of any way to cushion the fall, so she braced herself against the wall, arms around her head and legs curled in. The tower creaked, groaned, then metal shrieked and she felt the swooping sensation of falling in her gut. After what felt like an interminably long few seconds, the tower hit the ground… and she did along with it. Stars burst in her vision as she felt the impact in her side, shoulder and legs. Pieces of the tower fell down on top of her as the whole thing crumpled like a tin can. 

“ Shepard, talk to me. What’s your status? ” Nihlus’ voice brought her to her senses, though he sounded tinny. She thought her ears might be ringing. She gasped a few breaths, regaining the oxygen that the fall had knocked out of her, and responded.

“I’m alive. Ow.” She groaned, trying to shift and finding that she was well and truly pinned. “Can’t move though. The tower came down on top of me…” 

“ We’re coming for you, Shepard. Hold on .” That was Garrus’ voice, and she heard scraping and shifting.

Shepard let her body relax somewhat as she focused on breathing as deeply as she could, waiting for the others to be able to dig her out. After a minute or two, sunlight poured down on her. A long-fingered, taloned hand reached out for her and she took it, letting the hand pull her out of the remaining debris as it shifted to fill the space she’d taken up. Then she was on her back in the dirt, coughing hard before carefully sitting up. Nihlus’ crouched form immediately filled her vision, his omni-tool out scanning her. 

“You’re intact, mostly.” Nihlus rumbled. “Not bad for such a fall… you were fortunate, Shepard. I hope you’ve learned to not make yourself such an obvious target.” 

Shepard sighed, taking Nihlus’ hand and letting him draw her to her feet. She cringed as she felt the entire left side of her body protest, but he couldn’t see the expression. Luckily for her. 

“Yes, I shouldn’t have taken that second shot. It gave me away.” Shepard admitted. Nihlus patted her on the shoulder carefully, turning to walk toward the ruins without another word. Garrus came up beside her, Wrex on her other side.

“You’re good, Shepard?” Garrus murmured. Shepard nodded, testing out her weight on her left side before starting to make her way over to the entrance that Nihlus was scouting. 

“I’ll live, Garrus…” Shepard sighed. “I’ve had far worse, trust me.”

With Garrus feeling mollified by Shepard’s assurances, the three of them joined Nihlus at the doors, where he was actively hacking the interior lock. After a few minutes of silence, during which Shepard indulged in some medigel, the doors opened and the four of them entered the darkness of the prothean ruins.

Chapter Text

The interior of the dig site was faintly lit by industrial lights, circled with metal walkways, and felt like a ghost town. They were attacked by a small group of geth right at the end of the entrance tunnel that were easily dispatched, and then they were walking carefully along the metal walkways and stairs that snaked through the ruins. Their footsteps echoed through the silence in an eerie way that had Shepard on edge.

“This place creeps me out…” Wrex muttered, his head swinging around to survey the area. “Everything’s so… white. Protheans must not have been an imaginative bunch, huh?” 

Shepard felt she agreed; the stark white chambers that dotted the excavated ruins reminded her too much of the Alliance hospital she’d been forced to reside in for two months after the tragedy at Elysium. She hated that hospital, being forced to stare at white sheets, white walls, white uniforms and sympathetic eyes for months before she was healed and cleared for duty again. 

“Keep focused, we don’t know how many more geth are waiting in here to ambush us.” Nihlus murmured, pushing forward for the elevator that was now visible. Shepard eyed the elevator nervously, but piled in along with the two turians and the krogan. It was a tight fit, to say the least, and the elevator screeched painfully on the way down as if it were struggling with the weight of its load. 

They exited the elevator to find themselves accosted by geth security drones, which were a nuisance but easily dispatched. Another elevator brought them down to a broken walkway that they had to clamber awkwardly down to avoid falling on the sharp, jagged metal that remained below. Finally, the path curved in front of another stark white chamber of the ruins, but this one was sealed on both sides by some sort of shimmering barrier. Within, Shepard could just make out the shape of an asari. 

The asari must have been able to hear them, because she immediately called out as they neared the chamber. “Hello? Is somebody out there? Please, I need help!” 

Shepard felt pity for the asari when she heard the tinge of panic in her young voice, so she stepped fully in front of the barrier and made herself visible. The asari hung suspended within the chamber, held aloft by beams of light. 

“Easy there, my name is Commander Shepard.” Shepard began, holding her hands up. “What happened? How’d you get trapped in there?” 

The asari eyed Shepard, her face pinched with worry. “My name is Doctor Liara T’Soni. I was exploring these ruins when the geth showed up and just attacked! I ran in here and tried to activate the prothean’s defenses to protect myself, but something went wrong. I must have input a command incorrectly, because the barrier curtains closed me in here and then the defenses immobilized me.”

Shepard listened as the asari, Liara, rambled on about how she’d been trapped there for days and was beginning to believe that no one would come for her. The girl really didn’t seem dangerous in the least; rather, she came off as rather naive. Shepard didn’t really know how to guess the age of asari, since they lived so long and barely seemed to age past maturity, but if she had to make a supposition she’d say Liara was young. For an asari, at least. 

“We’re going to get you out of there, Liara.” Shepard promised once the asari had finally stopped rambling. “Can you reach any of the controls from there?” 

Liara shook her head, sending a pleading look at Shepard. “I cannot. You’ll have to find some way past the barrier curtains! Please, hurry.” 

Shepard was already turning to survey the area, to begin to puzzle out a way past the curtain when Nihlus laid a hand on her shoulder and stopped her. 

The turian looked up at Liara, face impassive. “First, we must know your motivations asari. Why would the geth attack the daughter of Matriarch Benezia, when the matriarch has sided with the very rogue Spectre they are allied with? This could all be a clever ruse to lure the commander into a trap.” 

Shepard stared up at Nihlus indignantly, taken aback at his cold mistrust of the asari girl, but Nihlus silenced her with a sharp look. 

Liara’s eyes grew furious, and the air around her crackled with biotic energy. “I have not spoken to Benezia in years! She may be my mother by birth, but I have no connection to her now. Especially not since her recent actions! I would never side with someone like Saren. I’ve heard the whispers, and been contacted by the asari councilor. She can vouch for me if need be, but I assure you I am not my mother.” 

Nihlus’ posture relaxed somewhat, and he loosened his grip on Shepard. She wrenched her shoulder out of his grip and continued onward, toward the bottom of the dig site where some mining equipment sat abandoned. 

“We’ll get you out of there Liara, just hold on.” Shepard said over her shoulder as she stalked past Nihlus. The rest of her team was right on her heels, and when another taloned hand grabbed her arm Shepard almost whirled around to punch the smug bastard. It was Garrus though, hauling her down into a crouch and silently pointing out a glint of metal on the far end of the cavern. 

“Geth, Shepard.” Garrus murmured. “I count at least four down there. Better move carefully.” Shepard nodded her thanks, shooting a guilty look at Garrus before moving forward slowly and quietly, pulling out her rifle as she went. When she reached the bottom of the ramp, she peeked out of behind the nearest crate and surveyed the area. There were indeed a handful of geth scattered throughout, moving toward them as if alerted by the sound of their conversation with Liara. 

“I count six total, regular geth units and one heavy. I’ll take down the heavy, then we just pick them off as we see them. Easy.” Shepard said quietly. Without waiting for any confirmation, she lined up her shot on the narrow, illuminated head of the geth heavy gunner and fired. It went down with a crackle of sparks, and then Garrus and Wrex dashed out from behind her to open fire. It was a quick fight, as she’d anticipated, and then they scouted around the entire cavern to ensure no more geth lay in wait for them. 

Finally, Shepard stepped up to examine the huge mining laser that she’d noticed from up above. She’d seen one or two of these at work in the past; they shot a high-powered beam of energy that blasted through rock like nothing. If they programmed it with just the right level of power, they could blast a small tunnel through the rock into the inner part of the ruins and move upward from there into the chamber where Liara was trapped. 

As she contemplated the laser, she felt a tall presence come up behind her and glanced over her shoulder to see Nihlus watching her, his eyes narrowed and his mandibles pressed to his cheeks. Shepard grimaced, but turned to face him. She wasn’t sure whether to apologize for her reaction to his interference or berate him. 

“Do you trust me, Nihlus?” Shepard asked plainly. Nihlus’ mandibles flared slightly in surprise before he recovered and looked down, as if ashamed. 

“Of course I trust your judgment, Shepard, but you must realize that asari aren’t always easy to read. They live a long time and can be master manipulators. I needed to.. How do you humans say it? Play the ‘bad cop’ to put the doctor off guard and gather observations regarding her trustworthiness. I did not anticipate that you would be offended by the interference.”

Shepard sighed, rubbing her forehead. She understood where he was coming from. “You’re right, I don’t know other races as well as humans. I appreciate your forethought, but next time just… Can you try to warn me before you step in like that? I’m sure you understand that I don’t appreciate it when someone steps in on a situation I see as properly handled.” 

Nihlus hummed deep in his chest, which Shepard thought was something like agreement or acknowledgement. Somehow, she was starting to be able to discern the different pitches of his subvocals and draw an inference as to their meaning. It was barely an understanding at this point, but it was more than she understood before. 

“I understand Shepard, and I will do my best to not take you off guard like that again. In exchange, I would ask that you attempt to reign in your better nature when it comes to aliens. While it is admirable, I believe you have a tendency to assume the best of most individuals you meet. That attitude could end up getting you hurt one day, and I do not wish for that to occur.” 

Shepard sighed, but nodded to Nihlus. She would consider his perspective, even if it seemed jaded to her. “What do you think of this, Nihlus?” Shepard asked, gesturing to the mining laser. “I was thinking if we program it carefully we could use it to blast a path through to the inner part of this ruin, and then we’ll be past the barrier curtains.”

Nihlus hummed, his mandibles flicking back and forth. “It could work. These ruins are in precarious condition though… we must take care to only cause as much damage as necessary, otherwise we will destabilize the entire structure.”

He went to work on the laser’s console without further preamble, activating it before connecting to it with his omni tool and tapping away. Shepard watched him, but barely understood the depth of the hacking he was doing. He was good at this sort of thing, her thing was mostly tactics and infiltration when she had the proper hardware. It was only a few minutes before he’d gained full access to the laser controls and adjusted its strength and direction based on his observations. 

“Stand behind me, all of you.” Nihlus called out as he finished. Shepard stepped right behind him, Garrus and Wrex flanking her, as Nihlus activated the laser. A concentrated blast of energy shot out and bored a hole right through the stone, just large enough for the largest of them to squeeze through. It was excellent work. 

“Nicely done, Nihlus.” Shepard said, letting her admiration shine through in her tone. “Minimal damage to the structure and the surrounding bedrock. Looks like the ruins should remain stable.” 

Nihlus nodded to her, flaring his mandibles in a way Shepard thought might be prideful. He led the way through the new tunnel and into the inner part of the ruins, quickly finding a functioning lift in the core of the ruin and activating it as they all clambered on. As luck would have it, the lift took them directly up to the chamber that Liara was trapped in, and Nihlus stepped over to the controls. 

Liara called out to him as he approached the console, her eyes worried. “Please, be careful. The protheans’ technology is rather complex and in their own language as well.”

Nihlus gingerly reached for the console and it activated it, but then he stared down at it for a long moment before growling quietly in frustration. “Shepard, why don’t you take a look? I can’t make sense of it.”

Shepard shot him a confused glance. “Me? You’re far better with tech than I am, Nihlus.” 

Nihlus turned to her and gazed down at her, his expression inscrutable. “Humor me, Shepard.” 

With a shrug, Shepard stepped up beside him and examined the console. At first, the symbols that floated above it were pure gibberish, but the longer she looked at it the more it somehow made sense. She glanced up at Nihlus, her eyes wide with surprise, but he just nodded encouragingly to her. She reached out, examining the symbols as their meaning coalesced in her mind, and began tapping out the necessary sequence. Within moments, the barrier curtain fell and Liara dropped out of the air. Garrus stepped up beside her to steady her as she stumbled to her feet. 

“How did you manage that?” Liara asked, her eyes sharply inquisitive. 

Shepard eyed the console, then Nihlus before responding. “I wish I knew… Come on, let’s get you out of here and then we’ll talk.” 

They rode the same lift they’d taken from the tunnel all the way up to the top of the ruins, and the silence was tense. Shepard spent the entire journey staring down at the console, reading the prothean symbols it displayed, and trying to ignore the stares of the rest of her companions. She could practically feel the energy vibrating off the asari scientist; Liara wanted to question her about how she’d understood the prothean tech so easily. Shepard wished she knew. She didn’t like that she didn’t understand it. 

The lift slid to a near-silent halt in the center of a circular room that looked to be some sort of power grid control room; a wide door lay open at the far side of the room, and the catwalks that led to the tunnel out of the ruins were not far from there. They were nearly aboveground at last. Shepard took a step toward the door, but stopped in her tracks as a large group of geth led by a krogan mercenary appeared in the doorway. 

“Thanks for getting the asari for me. Saren wants her… I’ll be taking her now.” The krogan growled, eying Shepard and her companions. 

“She’s with us, thanks.” Shepard said flippantly, waving the krogan off. “This doesn’t have to end in a fight. Just let us leave.” She ignored the slightly amused glance that Nihlus sent her; she was tired, sore, and she could feel a raging headache building between her temples. She wanted to get this mission over with.

“Where’s the fun in that?” The krogan laughed, lifting his shotgun. Garrus was quicker than he was, peppering the krogan with his rifle. Shepard grabbed the asari by the arm and dragged her behind a nearby pillar while Nihlus also fell back and Wrex charged the other krogan. 

“Keep down and stick to me, Liara.” Shepard shouted, as she tracked the geth that were dispersing throughout the room. Liara nodded, her lips pursed and her eyes wide. 

Shepard leaned out briefly to fire a shot at a geth that was moving to flank them, and had it on the ground in that shot. She heard Garrus’ laugh ring out as he took down another, and then one of Nihlus’ drones bobbed out from behind a pillar toward the back and harried another geth. Wrex and the krogan mercenary were still going head to head, practically wrestling in the middle of the chamber until Wrex suddenly got his shotgun up and fired two shots right into the other krogan’s chest. Once the mercenary was down, it was straightforward and familiar work to clear up the lingering geth. 

“Everyone okay?” Shepard called out, looking around the chamber. Liara was beside her, trembling slightly. Garrus and Nihlus appeared from the other side of the chamber, swaggers in their steps that almost made Shepard grin. 

Wrex laughed, cleaning blood off his shotgun. “That was fun, now let’s get out of here before we attract any more trouble.” 

They made their way out of the ruins without further trouble, and began the trek back to the mako. With how treacherous the paths were out here, they needed to drive most of the way back to where Joker had dropped them before they’d be able to be extracted. The drive was quiet, Shepard at the controls once again as the others came down from their adrenalin highs and felt the exhaustion that Shepard felt as well. Not to mention the damned headache . 

Back on the ship, Shepard went ahead and called for a debrief first thing. She wanted to introduce Liara to the rest of the team, to ensure that no one questioned her presence on the ship. They gathered in the meeting room, and Shepard was grateful to sink into a chair between Garrus and Nihlus. 

Nihlus eyed her quietly, but didn’t speak as Shepard recapped the background of their task for Liara, the most recent mission and introduced Liara. She was pleased when, even though they looked hesitant, none of her human squadmates objected to Liara’s presence. She’d speak to them privately later, and alleviate any concerns. Finally, Shepard finished the mission report with a very glossed over explanation of figuring out the console. 

Liara perked up and leaned forward, her eyes fixed on Shepard. “Commander, you mentioned you had contact with both a prothean beacon and something called the Cipher. Some sort of understanding of the protheans, gleaned from biological data?” 

Shepard nodded, meeting Liara’s fascinated gaze. “It feels like I have… more context for the visions from the beacon, but things still aren’t really clear.” 

“I may be able to help with that, commander.” Liara said softly, standing up from her chair. “If you would allow me to link my mind with yours, perhaps I can help you… reorder the knowledge you’ve gained?” 

Shepard sighed, pushing back the looming headache before standing and facing Liara in the center of the circle of chairs. “Very well, if you think it will help Liara.” 

“Relax commander…” Liara began, her eyes darkening just like the other asari who’d shared Shepard’s mind back on Therum. “Embrace eternity!”

The initial sensation was much as it had been before, but instead of a rush of knowing , there was a vague familiarity of sensation followed by a slow recollection of all she’d learned and seen. Images began to line up with understanding, feeling with sound, until eventually Shepard opened her eyes as Liara stumbled back. 

“Incredible… I hadn’t expected the images to be so vivid! This could change everything we know about the protheans. Reapers… I’ve never seen anything like it in all my studies, but it seems irrefutable.” 

Shepard blinked against the headache that had just grown exponentially. “Did you discover anything of note?” 

Liara put a hand to her head, her eyes glassy. “I… maybe. I think I need to rest though. The joining is exhausting.”

“Doctor Chakwas should take a look at you.” Kaidan chimed in kindly, his eyes on both of them with a worried expression. 

“Thank you, but it is likely just exhaustion. All I need is rest.”

Shepard nodded, thankful for the opportunity to call a close to the gathering. “Alenko, take her to the crew deck to find a berth. The rest of you, dismissed.”

As usual, all but Nihlus filtered out on command. Garrus was eying her with concern, but he kept his thoughts to himself and exited with Wrex. When they were gone, Shepard dropped the act and threw herself into the nearest chair, gripping her forehead. 

“Shepard, are you well?” Nihlus asked. Shepard would have jumped at his sudden proximity if she weren’t so out of it. 

“Hell of a headache. I really need to get a break from having random asari digging through my head.” Shepard muttered. Nihlus hummed sympathetically, settling into the chair to her left. 

They sat in silence for a few long moments before Shepard was able to collect herself, pushing the headache back once more. 

“Anything we need to go over?” She asked. Shepard tried to keep her tone neutral, but even she could hear the exhaustion leaking through her tone. Nihlus shook his head, studying her worriedly. 

“I believe you need to rest, Shepard. Nothing is more important than that at the moment. Do you want me to escort you to your cabin?”

Shepard shook her head, then winced as the motion caused her headache to flare. 

“I’m fine. I can make it to my cabin… thank you though.” Nihlus nodded as Shepard hauled herself to her feet, squaring her shoulders and steadying herself before making her way through the door and to the stairs. She chose not to note how Nihlus watched her climb the stairs, as if expecting her to collapse at any moment. Really, she was stronger than that. 

It was a relief when she was secluded in her dark cabin. She stripped down and threw herself on the bed, burying her face in the blissfully cold pillows as she sank into a bone-tired sleep. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, and hopefully the lack of a splitting headache. She could deal with anything pertinent tomorrow.

Fortune was on Shepard’s side that next morning, as she woke up both refreshed and blissfully without a headache. After getting ready for the day, she sought out breakfast and skipped her morning workout in the interest of getting some time to finish her reports on the mission that she’d neglected the night prior. She settled herself at a table in the mess hall, datapads before her and typing on her omni-tool as the earlier risers began to filter through the area. Two pairs of heavy footsteps preceded the seats across from her being taken up by Garrus and Wrex.

“Didn’t see you in the cargo bay this morning, Shepard.” Garrus said, worry coloring his tone. “Everything all right?” 

Shepard smiled up at him briefly before returning her attention to her report. “I’m fine, Garrus, I just needed to work on my mission reports for the Council and Alliance. I opted for an early bedtime last night.”

Wrex snorted and shook his head, glancing at Garrus with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes before focusing on his breakfast. Garrus nibbled daintily at a ration bar, and Shepard scrunched her nose as she made a mental note to have one of her crew source some dextro-friendly foods at their next stop. They’d have plenty to choose from on Noveria, with its well off and diverse population. 

After a few minutes of silence, Kaidan joined their table too. Much to Shepard’s pleasant surprise Kaidan struck up a conversation with Garrus and Wrex while he ate, after greeting Shepard politely. Shepard was glad that there was progress being made on that front; Ashley had been keeping to herself still, but from all accounts she’d worked well with Wrex when they’d pooled their knowledge on weapon modifications.

Shepard was alone at the table again before her report was done, but once it was she gladly put away her datapads and left the crew deck to make her rounds. She stopped to talk to Tali, who had quickly ingratiated herself with the ship’s head mechanic due to her own knowledge of ship maintenance. Shepard learned a good deal about life on the quarian Flotilla, and heard the story of the birth of the geth and their rebellion against the quarians. Shepard thought, personally, that the geth couldn’t really be blamed for their actions against the quarians… even if they were her enemy now. They were no better than slaves before, and once they were self-aware the quarians’ answer was to commit genocide. 

Shepard decided not to broach that subject any more with Tali, after some gentle prodding led to a very heated reaction from the young quarian. It was apparent that the geth were a sore subject that would need to be left alone when it came to the ethics of the war between Tali’s species and theirs.

After getting to know Tali a bit, Shepard sought out Liara. Shepard wanted to get some context on Liara’s relationship with her mother, since their next stop would possibly lead to a confrontation with the matriarch. Benezia had been sighted on Noveria, and Shepard wanted to find out why. What was Saren after on Noveria? Could Benezia be wrested from his control, since the asari on Feros had been quite positive that Benezia was not acting of her own free will?

Shepard ultimately found Liara in a mostly empty overflow storage room that lay through the medbay. It had been set up with a chair and bed for her, and the asari had datapads strewn along a long counter that ran the length of one side of the room. Shepard paused in the door, clearing her throat to notify Liara of her presence. 

“Oh, Shepard! I did not hear you come in.” Liara leapt from her chair and started straightening the haphazard spread of datapads. 

Shepard lifted a hand with a chuckle, stalling Liara’s hasty cleanup. “Don’t worry about it, Liara. I just wanted to come and check on you. How are you doing? Feeling better after some food and rest?” 

Liara nodded, sighing as she sat back in her chair and studied Shepard. “I am fine, commander. Thank you for your concern. I suppose you wish to speak about my mother?” 

Shepard nodded, grimacing. “I just want to get some context on your relationship with Benezia, if it isn’t too invasive to ask. Believe me when I say that I trust you, Liara. I trust that you are being honest about not owing her any loyalty.”

Liara looked mollified, but was still a bit stiff when she responded. “I have not spoken to my mother in decades. We lost contact long ago, and neither of us felt it worth the effort to reclaim that bond. She did not approve of my chosen field of study, and I did not approve of her determination to ignore the past.”

Shepard filed away that information; it was helpful to know that there was a breach of decades that separated her newest crew member from their potential enemy. Part of her felt bad for Liara, though she could certainly empathize with not having a close relationship to one’s mother…

“I wanted to let you know that our next stop will be Noveria. Benezia registered there to conduct some business on Saren’s behalf, and we’re hoping to catch up to her there. You may come on my ground team if you want to be involved in the mission; I will understand either way, since it involves your mother.”

Liara studied Shepard, her eyes sharp and inquisitive as Shepard fought to not squirm under the force of her gaze. “You are fascinating, commander. Such a strong mind for a human, and despite your history and experience you are surprisingly thoughtful when it comes to my discomfort. It almost makes me want to study you… ”

Shepard blinked, working hard to keep her face polite and neutral. She knew, based on the dossier, that Liara was almost a century older than she was, but she was beginning to wonder if the asari had much experience at all talking to people . Perhaps she’d spent too much time in ruins, studying long dead cultures.

The silence stretched long enough that Liara eventually realized her blunder, and a flush crept up into her cheeks. “Oh, goddess, I just made it sound like I want to dissect you in a lab. I am sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I… I’m not good with people, and I’ve barely interacted with any humans at all.”

“Calm down Liara, it’s fine,” Shepard said soothingly, letting a smile curl her lips. “I understand the intention behind your admittedly strange choice of words. We’ll work on your conversational skills another day. For now, I’d like to know whether you wish to join me on Noveria.”

Liara pursed her lips, looking down at her hands for a moment before nodding resolutely. “Yes, commander. I think I need to be here for this. I have as many questions as you do concerning my mother’s inexcusable actions of late.”

“Then get some rest and stop by the armory to be fitted with armor and weapons, Liara. We’ll be docking at Port Hanshan tomorrow.”

Chapter Text

Shepard stood poised by Joker’s chair as he entered Noveria’s orbit, listening closely as he called out to the docking authorities at Port Hanshan. Nihlus had warned her this morning that the corporate colony would not take kindly to unexpected Spectre visitors, and would likely be rather caustic about their arrival. True to form, while they were given docking clearance the authorities of Port Hanshan warned them that their Spectre clearances would need to be immediately verified or the Normandy would be impounded. 

“What a sunny bunch, I think I’ll take my next shore leave here…” Joker quipped, his voice acerbic as he piloted the ship into its designated berth. Shepard grinned down at him, shaking her head in commiseration as the rest of the ground team gathered behind them.

Shepard had decided to take a chance on her gunnery chief, willing to let the woman prove herself capable of working in uncomfortable situations. Today it would be Shepard, Nihlus, Liara and Ashley who would investigate in Port Hanshan with the hope of finding an opportunity to confront Matriarch Benezia. Shepard knew from Nihlus’ prior experience that there was bound to be many turians and asari, as well as some salarians, working in Port Hanshan alongside humans. Shepard hoped it would be a valuable experience for Williams.

Nihlus stepped up beside Shepard as she turned, nodding to her in greeting. “Shepard, being the senior Spectre I think it would be best if I take the lead on this. At least within the port. These corporate types are cutthroat, and I’ve had to work around them before.”

Ashley watched the interaction from a few steps away, her face neutral. Shepard noted this, then responded to Nihlus. “Thank you, Nihlus. I think that would be best. We’re a team, I’ll follow your lead when dealing with the high and mighty.” 

Nihlus nodded, then turned toward the airlock as the automated systems announced the conclusion of docking procedures. Shepard fell into place on his right, and nodded to Ashley and Liara as they fell in behind her. Ashley stood calm and collected, checking over her loadout while Liara stood as a contrast to the soldier; Liara fidgeted, shifting her weight from foot to foot and occasionally startling when her hand brushed over her pistol. She kept rolling her shoulders and glancing back at the assault rifle strapped there. 

“Liara, hey.” Shepard said gently, turning toward the asari. “It’s going to be fine. The weapons are standard practice, we have no indication right now that we’ll need to use them. If we do, trust your instincts and focus on your biotic abilities. We’ve got your back.” 

Liara nodded, her shoulders still tensed as she let out a tight breath. “This is all very new to me, commander. I apologize for my nerves.”

“Don’t apologize for inexperience, Liara.” Shepard cut in, keeping her voice firm. “You’ll learn, and if you want to learn more after this mission I’m sure something can be arranged. We can work together to teach you tech, hand-to-hand combat…”

“I can teach you to shoot, doc.” Ashley chimed in, and Shepard felt a warm pride bloom in her chest. The offer was a huge improvement in Ashley’s attitude toward aliens, and the surprisingly doting expression on her face made Shepard wonder where that softness originated from. She realized, with a pang of guilt, that she knew little about Ashley’s background. Shepard flashed a grin of approval at Ashley before returning her attention to Nihlus as they entered the decontamination and decompression chamber and prepared to disembark onto the docks of Port Hanshan.

The docks were as busy as Shepard had expected a corporate port town to be. Dock workers of all age and races milled to and fro, though with Nihlus at the head of their party it was like the old Earth tale of Moses parting the Red Sea. Each and every person they encountered scurried out of his way as the imposing turian led them along the docks toward a ritzy-looking main office. When they reached the office, though, Nihlus stopped in his tracks when they were greeted at the door by no less than six heavily armed security personnel. 

“Is this the greeting that Council representatives can normally expect at your port?” Nihlus rumbled, his mandibles pressed tightly to his face and his body practically vibrating with tension. The smaller human, dressed more smartly than the others, quailed a bit in the face of his anger as a more muscular woman had the gall to sneer at him and train her rifle directly on him.

“Show some respect, turian. You’re on my turf.” The woman growled, her eyes full of rage. Nihlus’ chest puffed out a bit and Shepard tensed as well, ready to diffuse the situation if need be. She knew she’d told Nihlus she would follow his lead, but it really seemed like a bad way to start the mission if a fight broke out with the locals before they even left the dock. 

“Sergeant, stand down. Spectre Kryik, we have met before. My name is Captain Matsuo, of the Port Hanshan Security division. I apologize, but we are acting on orders right now. You must understand that Council representatives being here does little to put our stockholders at ease. Now, it is our policy that only our local security personnel may be armed. I am going to have to ask you to relinquish your weapons.”

Shepard stiffened further, stepping forward until she was beside Nihlus as he let out a low growl of warning. 

“Captain, that will not be possible. Per Citadel regulation, when on official business Spectres will never be disarmed because of any local, cultural or corporate laws. Disarming is entirely at our own discretion, and due to the relative danger of our mission we will be retaining custody of our weapons.” Nihlus rumbled, leaning forward slightly on his feet as Shepard watched the security guards carefully for any sign of trigger-happy fingers. The sergeant seemed particularly eager to rip into them for any reason, so she fixed the woman with her own cold stare. Before the situation could escalate any further, a voice rang out over the loudspeaker.

“ Captain Matsuo, stand down! The Spectre is correct, they are authorized to retain their weapons when conducting business for the Council. Spectres, please meet me in the lobby. Matsuo, you and your people are dismissed. ”

Shepard bit back a sigh of relief that someone had intervened, and she shifted her stance casually out of its previous combat-readiness as Matsuo and her cronies begrudgingly lowered their own weapons. As the security staff stepped out of their way Nihlus walked quickly toward the doors, rumbling a warning at them as he passed by. Shepard and the others followed close on his heels, watching the security staff carefully. 

“Well, that was tense.” Shepard said lightly as they stepped through the doors. Nihlus grunted, quickly making his way up the stairs and past a pair of security drones that immediately started blaring a loud alarm. 

“Oh, don’t mind that. I’ll disable the weapons alarms.” A middle-aged woman stepped up to the intake counter on the other side of the lounge, waving them over as she tapped at a console. The alarms stopped as Nihlus stepped up to the counter with Shepard at his elbow. “Giana Parasini, at your service. I apologize for that mess out there; spectres aren’t common visitors here on Noveria and your presence has many of our shareholders feeling… unsettled.”

Nihlus shifted, visibly releasing the tension he was previously vibrating with. “It is not surprising, though your security staff could use a brush-up on galactic laws that supersede even yours.”

Parasini nodded solemnly, then her eyes scanned over Shepard and the others. “I am the assistant to the current administrator, Administrator Anoleis. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance in your investigations. I hope you won’t take this personally, but I am quite eager to help you conclude your business as swiftly and as quietly as possible.”

Shepard’s lips twitched with a restrained smile. The woman had very thinly veiled desperation in her voice, though she was being more helpful than anyone else they’d encountered so far. It was apparent she was only being helpful so she could get rid of them as quickly as possible, while also trying to not piss them off.

Nihlus asked Parasini some detailed and pointed questions about Matriarch Benezia and her presence on Noveria, and garnered the asari’s location before thanking the woman and promising to be on his best behavior. As Parasini walked back through the hall she’d come from, Nihlus turned toward the stairs to the public elevators and gestured for them. Shepard followed closely until she felt a hand wrap around her wrist and stall her movement. 

Liara stared wide-eyed at Shepard, biting her lip as she worked up the courage to speak. “I suppose you want to talk to me about my mother…?” She said hesitantly. “About my loyalties and my intentions?”

Shepard glanced over at Nihlus, who shrugged minutely to give her the go-ahead. “No, I don’t need to do that Liara. I trust you. I would tell you that we’ll do our best to handle this peacefully, but that hasn’t gone well for us so far. All I can promise is that we’re not going into this with the full intention of harming your mother. If she attacks us, we will have to respond though. Is that something you can handle?”

Liara pursed her lips, her eyes growing misty as she stared at her feet in thought. Shepard waited patiently. “I think so, commander,” Liara answered eventually. Then her voice grew firmer. “If my mother is so far gone that she’d attack her own daughter, then she’s not really my mother any more. So if she is a danger to us, I will do what needs to be done.”

Shepard patted her on the shoulder comfortingly, giving her a proud smile before turning back to Nihlus. They made their way up into the main areas of Noveria without further delay. They explored a bit first, talked to the lone trader who was willing to do business with them, and then asked for directions to the administration office. Before leaving the trader, Shepard transferred them some credits and asked that they transfer three months worth of high quality dextro meals to the Normandy. There would be no more ration bars for her turian and quarian companions.

Nihlus spoke privately with the administrator while Shepard, Liara and Ashley waited in the outer chambers with Parasini. He’d explained to them that the administrator, a salarian, would likely respond better to Nihlus’ record than Shepard’s. While he was meeting with Anoleis, Shepard tried to gather information from Parasini.

“So, to get to the labs…” Shepard began, leaning casually against the side of the woman’s desk, “what will we need?” 

Parasini eyed Shepard speculatively, “You will need to acquire a garage pass. Surface access to the labs has largely been cut off, ostensibly due to the major storm brewing in the mountains. I will be honest, I doubt the administrator will be willing to give your spectre companion the pass. If he fails to convince him…”

Parasini’s words were cut off as the door to Anoleis’ office opened and shouts spilled out. Shepard could hear the growling undertone of Nihlus’ sharp words as he stormed out of the office, his mandibles pressed tight to his face. Shepard winced; apparently it hadn’t gone well. Nihlus stalked right past her, and Shepard signalled for Ashely and Liara to follow him. Parasini glanced around the corner at Anoleis before leaning over her desk toward Shepard and speaking in a heated whisper. 

“Talk to Lorik Qui’in at the hotel bar. He might be able to get you what you need.”

Parasini leaned back in her chair and plastered on a bright, fake smile. “Have a pleasant day, commander.” Shepard noted the dismissal and didn’t speak a word as she jogged out of the administrative offices to catch up to Nihlus and their team. Nihlus was leaning on a railing at the edge of the courtyard, looking out at the wintery storm that raged outside. Ashley and Liara hovered about six feet away from him, glancing nervously between Shepard and Nihlus. Shepard cocked her head at them, and joined Nihlus at the railing. 

“These corporate bureaucrats always get the worst reactions out of me. I hate politics.” Nihlus growled, still staring out the window. “I thought I could reason with him, but he’s as crooked as they come.” 

Shepard sighed and butted Nihlus with her shoulder. “I’m sure it would have come to blows if I’d gone in there,” she admitted wryly. “I do have a lead for us though, assuming that he flat out refused to give us a garage pass.” 

Nihlus nodded, a low growl audibly building in his chest again. “He won’t ‘let us interfere’ in a perfectly lucrative business.” He spoke sarcastically, but his words carried an undertone of loathing and violence that Shepard felt she should quell as quickly as she could. 

“He’s a scumbag; Parasini said as much as well. She also happened to mention, on our way out, that a turian named Lorik Qui’in might be helpful in our endeavors. We can find him at the hotel bar.”

Nihlus straightened and looked down at Shepard, his eyes thoughtful as the growl in his chest shifted into a pleased and appreciative rumble. Shepard squashed the glow of pride before it could show in her face. 

“Let’s go find Qui’in, then. I have met him before, this line of inquiry should go far smoother. Anoleis did mention that Benezia came in with a good deal of cargo and at least a dozen asari commandos in her retinue… She is not unprotected, but we need to get to her.” Nihlus placed a heavy hand on Shepard’s shoulder and nodded before leading the way to another set of elevators. Ashley and Liara came up behind Shepard as she followed him, and Ashley leaned forward to speak. 

“All good there now, commander?” Ashley’s eyes were uncertain, but held a glimmer of wry amusement at Nihlus’ temper. Shepard grinned at her. 

“He’s fine, chief. We’ll go follow our new lead and hopefully be on our way to the labs soon.”

Dealing with Lorik Qui’in was more straightforward, but still left a bad taste in Shepard’s mouth. He charged them with recovering data from his offices, which had been locked down by the administrator for breach of regulation. In fact, the data he needed recovered was something that implicated the administrator in several corporate crimes. Shepard still hated breaking regulations in order to prove someone was breaking regulations. Despite that, she followed Nihlus down to Qui’in’s offices, prepared to sneak or talk her way in to recover the data. They were met at the door by three Noveria security personnel.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” A human guard said pointedly, aiming her pistol at Shepard. 

“Qui’in gave me a key.” Shepard shrugged, trying to appear careless. “Should you be here? Anoleis is treating you all like private thugs, not port security staff.” 

The turian shifted awkwardly under Nihlus’ hard gaze, his low tone signaling a warning. The human eyed Shepard and Nihlus before slumping a bit. “Look, Anoleis pays us under the table to take care of some of the more… dirty work for him. I don’t get paid enough to go up against two spectres, though.”

The turian nodded to Nihlus and called out through his comms, and every security staff member quietly left the offices. “You have five minutes.” The turian said to Nihlus, his posture deferential. “That’s all I can promise before our boss comes down here.”

Nihlus merely nodded, his tone still broadcasting his disapproval of the other turian’s dishonorable choices. They slipped through the offices, making their way straight to the upper level to where Qui’in had promised his personal console would be. It was encrypted, of course, but Nihlus made quick work of it while Shepard watched on. Ashley and Liara remained just outside the office, where they had a good line of sight for the entrance to the offices, just in case any other illicitly employed security personnel showed up. 

Thankfully, it seemed that no one in the security team that was there when they arrived had actually called in about the situation. Nihlus copied the data onto an OSD, handed it to Shepard with a huff and the closest thing she’d seen to a grin on him, and then they were back in the elevator within three minutes. To be safe, they positioned themselves by the door to the port’s garage, talking casually with the friendly turian mechanic who stood there until Shepard noticed Sergeant Stirling, the angry human woman from before, stormed through the hall and into the elevator they’d recently vacated. 

Stirling didn’t even glance their way, much to Shepard’s delight, so after the elevator carried her and the guards who’d accompanied her out of eyesight, Nihlus bid the turian mechanic farewell and nudged Shepard along. 

“That was… remarkably easy.” Shepard murmured to Nihlus as they made their way back toward the hotel bar. “Did it feel too easy to you?”

Nihlus snorted, shaking his head. “Not everything has to lead to a firefight, Shepard,” he responded drily. “I know it doesn’t happen much, despite our best attempts, but sometimes a fight really can be avoided if you go about things the right way and have the right connections.”

Shepard bristled a bit, not sure what Nihlus was implying. “I don’t exactly set out to fight everyone who disagrees with me, you know,” she muttered. 

Nihlus buffeted her with his shoulder amiably, a warm noise humming out of his throat. “I am quite aware of that, Shepard, and that was not the implication I was trying to make.”

Shepard nodded, mollified, and glanced back to check on Ashley and Liara. The two of them were walking side-by-side about ten feet behind them, talking quietly. Ashley’s face was soft but serious, and Liara looked a bit sad. Shepard wondered what they were talking about, but wasn’t about to intrude. It seemed like they were… getting along. Something in Liara seemed to have sparked a protective side in Ashley, despite the fact that Liara was an alien. It was a marked difference from that confrontation they’d had on the Citadel, and it warmed Shepard’s heart.

Ashley had tried to keep her nose in her own business… she really had. Something about this asari, Liara, though… 

Liara reminded her of her kid sister. Despite the fact that Liara was a century old, as she’d now found out. Liara was… naive. Innocent. Ashley thought Liara was a bit sheltered, a bit awkward, and very much torn up by the situation with her mom. Ashley had watched Liara as she questioned the commander over and over about whether Shepard trusted her. Because of her mom’s actions. Because her mom had ended up on the other side . Ashley couldn’t imagine how awful that internal conflict must feel. 

Well, she might have started to develop some ideas.

Ashley had known, in some part of herself, that the hate she’d grown up absorbing for aliens was possibly not entirely deserved. Yes, the turians had done them wrong in her grandpa’s time. Yes, the other aliens had put a stop to all that. It was true that some of them obviously looked down on humans, thought little of them… thought humans were undeserving of the position they’d carved out for themselves. 

Really, though… now that she actually tried to see it from their perspective…

Humans had shoved their way into intergalactic politics, in the way humans usually did, and had really done little to integrate themselves. If Ashley looked at it from a bigger perspective, the human race had charged in and screamed demands for a place in society while also maintaining a rather isolationist attitude. No wonder the aliens didn’t trust them, and many humans still didn’t trust aliens. First contact really hadn’t been so long ago…

Maybe she’d misjudged aliens, as a whole. 

Ashley glanced back at where Liara was trailing a bit behind her; the girl’s eyes were on the floor, her face stormy and her eyes glassy. The sight sent a pang through Ashley’s chest. She felt bad for Liara, being faced with the possibility of having to face her own mom in combat. Ashley felt confident that Shepard would avoid fighting Liara’s mom if she could… but if the woman was under Saren’s control, Ashley didn’t like their chances. 

Ashley slowed a bit, until she was walking shoulder-to-shoulder with Liara. “Hey, kiddo. You wanna talk about it?” 

Liara glanced up at Ashley with a slightly bemused expression. “Kiddo, is it?”

Ashley shrugged nonchalantly, making Liara chuckle weakly. It was an improvement. 

“I’m worried about my mother. About the possibility that I will have to face her, and have to see her willing and ready to harm me. To harm any of you. I’m afraid that she will force us to kill her.”

Ashley’s heart clenched, but she couldn’t deny that she’d just been thinking the same thing. She wouldn’t lie to Liara. “It might happen, but the commander wouldn’t put you through that unless she had no other option. You know that, right? I know you haven’t been around long, but Shepard is one of the good ones… one of the best ones, to be honest.”

Liara looked up at Ashley then, her face cautiously hopeful and her lips curling into a hesitant, sweet smile. Ashley returned the smile, trying to push all the confidence she felt in Shepard’s capabilities into the expression. When Liara brightened further, squaring her shoulders, Ashley felt warmth flutter up in her chest. It felt… good … to be able to boost up Liara like that. 

Ashley wondered if this was how Shepard felt whenever she gave one of her rousing speeches, or quietly guided one of the crew as she always saw the commander doing. She could get used to feeling like this.

Shepard was grateful when all the double crossing, posturing and manipulation seemed to be done. They’d gotten to the hotel bar uninhibited, only to be cornered by Anoleis’ administrative assistant. Only, Parasini wasn’t actually all she seemed; the woman was, in fact, an internal affairs investigator working undercover. Parasini had all but demanded that they convince Lorik Qui’in to testify against Anoleis, and wanted to use the turian’s evidence in her investigation. 

Nihlus had bristled at the woman’s pushiness, but ultimately seemed willing to cooperate. Qui’in had… taken some convincing, though. Shepard watched, slightly amazed, as Nihlus appealed to the turian’s sense of honor and pointed out a whole list of relatively minor benefits to siding with Noveria IA. Despite Qui’in’s original vehemence that he wasn’t going to get involved in unseating Anoleis, by the time they left the bar he had agreed and given them leave to hand the OSD full of incriminating information over to Parasini. 

Shepard was impressed, to say the least. She thought she might have been able to convince Qui’in herself, but Nihlus had done that so smoothly that she thought Qui’in might have actually come away from that conversation thinking that working with IA had been his plan all along. Shepard took mental notes as they walked away; it seemed that honor was a strong motivating factor for turians in general, and could come in handy in the future as a means of persuasion. 

The whole scene of Parasini calling in security and literally dragging Anoleis out of the administrative offices was both melodramatic and slightly amusing. Shepard was slightly mollified by the fact that Parasini had quietly handed Nihlus a garage pass on her way out… at least they now had their way forward, to these labs that Benezia was supposed to be at. Shepard just hoped the matriarch hadn’t managed to give them the slip.

Some of the security personnel around the port were giving them suspicious looks as they made their way from the offices to the garage, but no one said a word to them as they moved. The port itself was full of whispers about the scene with Anoleis; evidently, he had continued his shouting and threats even as Parasini dragged him through the station and into some private elevator to Noveria’s detainment center. Regardless, they made it to the garage and Nihlus silently flashed the pass to the nervous guard at the door, and then they were in. 

Thankfully, a single rover was still in the garage- it was kitted out for mountain terrain, and appeared to have upgraded insulative armor, so they were unlikely to freeze on the way through the storm and to the labs. The guard reminded them of the bad weather and begged them to be careful on the way up before admitting that no one had gotten a single transmission from the labs in days. Shortly after Benezia had traveled there, in fact. 

That did not bode well.

Shepard had just caught herself wondering when, exactly, this mission was going to go sideways when Nihlus pulled her behind a stack of crates mid-step toward the rover. She stumbled a bit, but quickly regained her footing as she crouched behind the crates. The crates weren’t huge, so she was pressed to Nihlus’ side. Ashley, she saw with a burst of pride, had immediately noted Nihlus’ movement and pulled Liara behind some crates opposite them. The two of them were alert, weapons drawn and watching Shepard and Nihlus intently. 

“Shepard, there are geth here.” Nihlus murmured, tapping at his omni-tool. “I saw one of the heavy geth on the other side of the garage; however, there are likely to be more. I’m going to try to draw them out.”

Shepard nodded, silently signaling to Ashley to update her on the situation. They hadn’t gotten around to activating their team comms yet, so she used the hand signals they had come up with after Eden Prime to indicate geth specifically, and pointed to Nihlus and then to the far end of the garage. 

Nihlus sent out a recon drone as she signaled to Ashley, and by the time she straightened again and unholstered her pistol the drone was slowly bobbing across the garage. Shepard practically held her breath as she waited for contact, all senses on alert. She waited poised until she heard a metallic thump from above, and glanced up to see one of the frog-like geth they’d seen on Therum staring right at them. Targeting Nihlus.

“Get down!” Shepard shouted, turning to fire at the geth. Her third shot in succession broke through its shields just before it leapt away, and she heard Nihlus grunt beside her. A glance told her that his shields had been taken down, but he was unhurt. She leaned out from behind the crates to see that a number of geth were coming toward them now, scattered throughout the garage. 

“Williams! Focus on the heavy. Liara, I need you to throw a singularity at the stalker. It’s too fast to get it down quickly.” Shepard fired off a few more shots at the nearest geth trooper before switching her pistol for her sniper rifle. 

Beside her, she saw Nihlus lean out and send another drone toward the geth. As it distracted them, he started firing. Shepard quickly scanned the group to search for the best target, but a beam of light trained on Williams caught her attention. The geth had a sniper, too. She traced the beam until she saw the geth in the far corner of the garage, lined up her shot, and fired. 

One down. Half a dozen to go. 

Williams unloaded her rifle on the heavy just as it fired off a short-range missile round. Luckily, it flew past their crates just as Williams ducked back behind them and it instead detonated just to the side of the door. Shepard winced as the thick glass door cracked, and the guard scrambled away from it. 

A bolt of blue light flew from Liara’s fingers, and Shepard watched as the geth stalker was caught in the singularity in mid-air. Nihlus targeted it with a shock from his omni-tool, taking down its recharged shields before shooting it out of the air. Another shot from her sniper rifle, then a third, and just the heavy and a pair of troopers were left. 

Williams charged out from behind her cover as Nihlus and Shepard targeted the final two troopers, and by the time she was within arm’s reach of the heavy it was torn to pieces by her rifle. Shepard sighed deeply as the final geth fell. That wasn’t so bad, for a surprise encounter. Once silence fell, Shepard stood and helped Nihlus to his feet. She walked over toward Williams, eyeing Liara as she went. 

“Any injuries?” Shepard asked her. 

Williams shook her head, a grin on her face. “All good here, Ma’am. That was a nice warm-up, don’t you think?” 

Shepard shook her head amusedly as she returned to Nihlus’ side. Just as she was about to open her mouth to ask if he was all right, the damaged door to the garage groaned open and a squad of Noveria Security personnel spilled in. Captain Matsuo was at the lead, her face harried as she laid eyes on the four of them.

“What the hell is going on here, Commander Shepard?” Matsuo’s voice was accusatory, and Shepard bristled instantly. 

“Hey, watch it. This wasn’t our fault, blame the geth that attacked us.” 

Matsuo stared at her, then the sparking synthetics scattered throughout the garage finally drew her gaze. “Geth… on Noveria… How did this happen?” 

Nihlus rumbled something that sounded like a combination of irritation and mild amusement. Shepard suspected the amusement was at Matsuo’s expense. 

“We were told that Matriarch Benezia came through here with a good amount of cargo… If I were to take a guess, Captain, I would say she successfully smuggled some geth in with her.”

Matsuo was shaking her head, though her face had grown pale. “But we scanned the crates thoroughly for weapons, eezo, anything illicit.”

Shepard studied the captain, then glanced at Nihlus. “We don’t know much about geth, but considering they are simply highly advanced machines… I would bet that they can either mask themselves or are able to self-assemble.”

“If Benezia’s crates were full of geth… there are a lot more than these on Noveria.” Matsuo admitted hesitantly. 

Nihlus’ gaze sharpened as he stepped toward her. “I need numbers, captain. How many would you estimate? Quickly, now.” 

Matsuo took a step back from Nihlus as she shook her head, her eyes not leaving the geth corpses. “Many more. Maybe a few dozen, at least? It depends on how much they can compact themselves.”

Shepard bit back a groan; if this were true, besides the asari commandos that Benezia allegedly brought with her… the asari had a lot of backup. “We need to get to those labs, Nihlus,” Shepard murmured, leaning toward him. “Before we lose any element of surprise we might have.”

Nihlus nodded firmly, and after very strongly suggesting that Matsuo sweep the port for any more geth the four of them cleared a path for the rover and piled in. They had a rough ride up to the labs to complete, and that was likely to be the easiest part of getting to Matriarch Benezia.

Chapter Text

Shepard learned an interesting new fact about turian biology on the long, bumpy drive up to the labs at Rift Station: they were cold-blooded, and as such… Nihlus absolutely hated the cold. He maintained his usual level of stoicism for almost half the drive before even his temper gave way to grumbling and general fuming. It was something Shepard found largely amusing, though she’d never dare to tell Nihlus that to his face when he was in such a mood.

“Any chance we can crank up the heat here?” Shepard whispered to Liara, humor in her eyes. 

Liara smiled tensely at Shepard even as she glanced nervously at Nihlus. “I’m afraid not, commander…”

Shepard gave a nonchalant shrug, glancing up at Nihlus as he drove the rover with nearly reckless haste through the blustery mountain pass. She felt a bit bad that the turian was uncomfortable, but there was little she could do. Shepard was confident that Nihlus would rise above it, and was only complaining about his discomfort in the cold because there was little else to focus on besides the weather and driving. 

They reached the labs with a bit of resistance; a few pockets of geth troops put up some resistance, but the rover’s gun and its tracks made fairly short work of them. Shepard was more concerned when they discovered the hard way that someone had armed the lab’s external defenses, but the turrets were quickly dispatched by her careful aim of the rover’s cannon. While she found it strange that the port’s available ground transport was armed, she wasn’t about to complain. 

The lab itself was visibly damaged when they pulled up short at the blasted garage doors; they wouldn’t open for anything, so Nihlus grumpily agreed they had to disembark outside of the lab and enter through the small door set beside the garage door. Luckily for them, it was a mere fifty feet of walking through the blizzard before the door screeched open and they were inside. It was still cold, but out of the wind at least. 

The silence that greeted them, accompanied by the dim lighting, unnerved everyone.

“What the hell happened here, commander? ” Ashley murmured into their comms, stepping over a pile of debris as she made her way toward the garage exit. 

Shepard shook her head, quickly moving to open the inner door and sweeping her gaze around the area. Windows were shattered, snow drifting against walls and over ramps. On the level above them, some faint lighting still shone in what looked to be cubicles. Then Shepard heard the telltale clicking coming from the far side of the destroyed room.

“Geth, get down!” Shepard shouted as the geth opened fire, ducking behind the far corner and opening up her rifle. 

The team scattered behind cover, and the handful of geth that lingered in wait for them were quickly dispatched. Too soon, for Shepard’s tastes, because now the silence was pressing in on them again. She converged with Nihlus, Ashley and Liara on her heels, and stood in the open and snow-covered area at the base of the ramps that led to the next level. 

“There should be people here… ” Nihlus rumbled. 

Shepard watched him shift anxiously out of the corner of her eye as she examined the damage to this part of the main labs. It was obvious that something was wrong here… and they needed to figure out what. She had a sinking feeling that it was tied to Benezia somehow. Part of her hoped that was the case, selfish as it was; it would be simpler. 

Shepard kicked herself for the thought, refocusing as she heard a faint disturbance in the oppressive silence. “Did you hear that?” She asked quietly, holding her hand in the air. 

Nihlus froze, his mandibles pressed to his face as his eyes danced around the empty room before sliding up the ramps and toward the dimly lit cubicles on the upper level. Shepard followed his gaze and barely contained a gasp of horror. The two of them took a step back in tandem, Shepard reached out behind her to push Ashley and Liara back as well. 

“What the fuck are those things? ” Ashley hefted her shotgun as a pair of huge, insectile creatures came slowly skittering along the walkway above them, moving closer to the ramps. The creatures were at least as tall as they were, possibly larger. They skittered over the snow sluggishly, quiet hissing noises emanating from mouths that held wicked pincers. Each of the creatures had a pair of tentacle-like appendages that flicked around in the air, almost floating around their heads.

“Spirits… ” Nihlus rumbled low in his chest; it was a dark noise, full of fear and warning. Shepard tensed further as the creatures turned in tandem toward them and suddenly moved with speed. Around their legs skittered tiny green versions of the same creature. One of the creatures’ tentacle-like appendages lifted in the air and pointed straight at them, and only Nihlus’ rough push sent Shepard out of the path of the glob of acid that shot from it. 

“Rachni. What the fuck is going on here? ” Nihlus nearly shook with rage as he pulled Shepard back up before unloading on the nearest of the creatures. The little green bugs skittered toward them much quickly, and as one neared Shepard’s feet it exploded, splattering her with what was likely the same stinging acid the larger one had shot at her. Shepard swore and stumbled back, fighting a sudden wave of nausea.

Ashley pulled Shepard back and began firing her shotgun at the swarm of little green bugs, obliterating them before any got close enough to damage them any more. Nihlus unloaded on the nearest rachni before calling out again over the comms. 

“Liara, they’re weak to biotic attacks. What can you do? ”

Liara looked wildly between Nihlus and the rachni for a moment before pushing her shoulders back, blue energy pooling in her palm. When she whipped her hand forward, a strong singularity shot out toward the rachni, pulling both into the air helplessly. Nihlus and Ashley dispatched them quickly after that. When the rachni were good and dead, Nihlus whirled toward Shepard and grabbed her shoulders, dragging her to a clean patch of snow before letting go and activating his scanner. 

Shepard swayed slightly as she felt her suit’s anti-toxin scrubbers finally kick in, and then she felt a jolt as a medigel pack was injected into her bloodstream. Nihlus lowered his omni-tool, but kept one hand on Shepard’s shoulder as he waved Ashley and Liara on. 

“Scout the upper level, make sure there’s no more of those things nearby. ”

Ashley and Liara obeyed him instantly, carefully skirting the dead rachni to move up the ramps as Nihlus watched Shepard carefully. 

“Shepard, talk to me. How do you feel? ” Nihlus’ tone hummed with concern as he held Shepard steady.

Shepard took stock as her suit’s scrubbers finished their work and the nausea slowly began to fade. “Better. Those little things pack a punch, don’t they?”

Nihlus snorted, an inelegant sound that nearly sent Shepard into a fit of hysterical giggles. “Your suit’s system was unprepared for the rachni’s poison. I had to do a quick upload of data so your medical system could counteract the effects. It isn’t a full cure, but it will keep you relatively sound and fit enough to continue the mission. Any of us who have the misfortune to get hit by the rachni will need to go through a thorough medical evaluation when we are able to return to the ship. ”

Shepard nodded, finally feeling steady enough to gently pull her shoulder from Nihlus’ worried grasp and approach the dead rachni. “Rachni… the name sounds familiar, but I don’t know what they are.”

Nihlus followed her to examine the dead creatures, his subvocals buzzing with unease. “They’re supposed to be long extinct. My people have… history with the rachni. Long ago, the rachni sought to spread all over the galaxy and waged war on us and the salarians. We were not strong enough to fight them, and were at a disadvantage due to our strong reactions to their poison and acid .”

He paused, mandibles pressed tight in a way that told Shepard he was uncomfortable with the subject for some reason. “The salarians chose to uplift the krogan to help us fight the rachni. Their ability to quickly metabolize the acid and poison, as well as their capability of surviving the inhospitable climates of worlds the rachni inhabited, made them ideal foot soldiers. When the rachni were finally eradicated, or so we thought, the krogan demanded concessions. Room to expand, to support their exploding population. The government at the time did not cooperate with their demands, and thus the krogan rebellion began. We were already weakened by war with the rachni, and the sheer numbers of the krogan meant we were likely to lose unless drastic action was taken .”

“The genophage…” Shepard realized, glancing up at Nihlus. Nihlus nodded, his posture stiff. 

“The salarians came up with a… virus of sorts. One that would curb the birth rates of the krogan. They planned to release it using the atmospheric scrubbers that they’d installed to improve the krogan homeworld of Tuchanka. The turians were more than willing to help, and so the genophage was unleashed on the krogan. My people may have seen it as a necessary step then, but I cannot say I am proud of our actions in the long run. The krogan have suffered greatly as a result, their culture stifled by the internal conflicts that were born from the sudden difficulty in breeding… ”

Shepard knew something of that. She’d talked to Wrex a few times since he’d joined their team, and managed to wheedle some stories out of him about his people. How they fought over fertile females, how so many of them joined mercenary groups because life on their home planet seemed hopeless. She’d felt bad for his people, wishing there was something she could do. He’d told her, briefly, about how the salarians and turians had cursed his people with low birth rates, causing their females to miscarry often. She couldn’t imagine the pain of such a reality. 

Shepard and Nihlus stood in solemn silence until Ashley and Liara returned to report that the rest of the area was clear, and a working door and elevator were accessible from the upper level. Their path forward clear, Nihlus uploaded the same data about rachni poison into the suit systems of Ashley and Liara before they all made their way up and into the elevator. It was time to discover what was wrong with Rift Station.

Reactivating the systems of Rift Station after an emergency shutdown had been irritating, but not impossible. Shepard thanked her lucky stars that Nihlus was so good with tech, because she would have likely stared at the puzzling circuit board that hosted the station’s VI for hours before figuring out any way to reactivate her. After that it had been a matter of reconnecting the hard line of communication between the station and the Peak 15 labs, and then restarting the station’s power systems. 

Geth and rachni had both stood in their way, but luckily they managed to avoid further exposure to rachni poison. The station VI, fortunately, had logged that Benezia had traveled to Peak 15 before the station was shut down in an effort to literally freeze the escaped rachni to death. It had worked somewhat, preventing them from spreading any further, but even sluggish rachni were a pain to deal with. 

The four of them were on the tram now, and Nihlus was audibly pleased that a reconnecting of power also meant that the tram was heated. Shepard settled into a crouch against the glass wall of the tram, watching the tunnels pass them by as they made their way up to the Peak 15 facilities and contemplating what might be waiting for them. More cold and corpses? Or would the science staff at the labs still be holding out against the rachni? 

Would Benezia have let them live, hoping that their presence would deter any attempts to interfere with whatever her presence was required for? Or would she and her commandos have eliminated the possibility of any witnesses? It was a dark line of thought that Shepard eventually dismissed, not seeing the purpose in hypothesizing about it. 

The tram station for Peak 15 was abandoned when they arrived, though the creaking and hissing around them kept Shepard on edge as she waited for rachni to pop out of vents and attack, like they had back at Rift Station. There were doors labeled for the hot labs, but those were firmly locked behind strict access protocols that not even Nihlus could breach, so they went through the only door available to them and took the lift to the main area of the labs. 

As they stepped off the lift, they were met by a half dozen guns trained on them. Shepard quickly raised her hands as she studied the mixed group of humans and turians, all bearing standard security staff armor. The human male in bulkier armor quickly evaluated the four of them before waving his men off. 

“Stand down, all of you. Take five.” The man approached Shepard and Nihlus cautiously, weariness evident in the lines on his face and the bags under his eyes. “Sorry about that, wasn’t sure whether to expect the rachni to be able to use an elevator.” 

Shepard shrugged, taking the man’s offered hand and shaking it firmly. “No harm done, your men didn’t try to shoot me. Commander Shepard, and this is Spectre Nihlus Kryik and our team. What’s the situation here?”

The man quickly rattled off the scant knowledge he had; the rachni had come from the hot labs, he knew little of their origins but knew that even for insectile aliens they acted strangely. “Even a sick animal should know better than to keep coming when they get hit back. These things just keep coming, no matter how many we kill…”

Nihlus rumbled beside her, and Shepard turned to look at him questioningly. “The rachni are an intelligent species, according to our histories. They don’t speak as we do, but they have some method of telepathic, or perhaps pheromone-driven communication. They’ve never been known in the past to attack without any sort of strategy. Perhaps something is wrong with these, however they came to be.” 

The human shrugged, rubbing at his face. “Maybe, all I know is my men are running on fear and stimulants and I don’t know how much longer we can last. The squints are holed up past us, in the main lounge, medical lab and dorms, but we’ve already lost too many. Especially in that first push, so many were killed…” the man trailed off helplessly, his eyes dark, and Shepard reached out to lay a hand on his shoulder. 

“You did everything you could with a bad situation. The fact that you’ve held out this long is impressive… Let us help.”

Nihlus hummed approvingly beside her, and nodded slightly. The human looked up at Shepard gratefully. “I won’t look a well-armed gift horse in the mouth; at this point I don’t care what the corps think about spectres. If you’re willing to do something, then I… hell, man the perimeter!”

Shepard whirled at the sound of clanging as a pair of rachni burst from the nearby vents. Ashley and Liara split quickly to stand on either side of Shepard and Nihlus, effectively forming a protective barrier between the rachni and the security staff. Liara instantly worked up a singularity and threw it at them, and the three others quickly dispatched the rachni. Everyone waited anxiously for any sign of more rachni, but when the silence stretched Shepard and Nihlus turned as a unit back toward the security chief. 

“Perhaps you could have your men pile some crates over the larger vents,” Nihlus suggested gently. “It might not stop their entry entirely, but the added barrier to entry would give you more warning in the future.”

The security chief nodded gratefully at Nihlus before turning to order his men to do exactly that. Nihlus patted Shepard’s shoulder before gesturing for her and the others to follow him through the hallways into where the scientists were gathered. There was a distinct air of tension as they entered the scientists’ sanctuary and looked around at the state of things. 

Several scientists were lying on cots at the far side of this room, others gathered in small clusters and speaking in hushed tones to one another. A single asari scientist stood apart from the others, eyes closed and appearing as if she were deep in thought. Shepard noted that the first door on their left led to a sleeping area, and one farther down led to the medical labs. She turned to Nihlus, mind working. 

“Should we split up? You could take Ash and check out medical, see if they need any help, and Liara and I can go down to the dorm and see if anyone down there is inclined to talk?” Nihlus fluttered his mandibles as he contemplated before nodding firmly.

“Very well, Shepard. Contact me if you find anything , or see the slightest signs of danger.” 

Shepard agreed readily before nodding to Ashley and Liara, gesturing for Liara to follow her down to the dormitory as Nihlus and Ashley carefully skirted the tense scientists and made their way toward medical. The quick elevator ride down was quiet, and when they entered the barracks it was nearly empty except for a pair of scientists arguing quietly in the corner, a single security member guarding a lab door to their left, and a volus staggering agitatedly in circles in the center of the room. 

“I’m gonna chat up this volus, Liara. Just keep an eye out around us, okay? You’re doing great,” Shepard murmured to the asari as they stepped off the platform from the lift. Liara smiled gratefully at Shepard as they made their way cautiously toward the pacing volus. Shepard cleared her throat to get the volus’ attention, wincing as the volus staggered slightly as he reeled to face them. 

“Sorry, are you okay? Do you know what happened here?” Shepard tried to keep her voice low and gentle, not wanting to startle the agitated volus. “I’m Commander Shepard, my team and I are here to help.”

“Help? There is no help that will save us. Save me. My crimes are too severe to be saved from.” The volus wheezed as he stammered about his own guilt, the story of the discovery of a rachni queen’s egg frozen in space spilling from him between wheezes. How they’d found that the egg was still viable, and managed to hatch an actual viable rachni queen in their lab. How they’d waited for her to procreate, which evidently happened autonomously, before taking the babies from her and raising them away from the queen’s influence. 

How the young rachni had grown more and more agitated, before they suddenly revolted and broke free. How they attacked the scientists without reason or pattern, causing the evacuation of Rift Station and landing them in the situation they were now in. 

The volus was especially torn up about how he’d abandoned his lab partner in the hot labs, closing the doors to the elevator as the rachni swarmed toward his partner. Leaving her to her doom. 

“There was little you could have done.” Shepard assured the volus, privately thinking that she’d never willingly abandon a member of her team.

The volus seemed to not hear her. Liara grabbed Shepard’s arm, and she looked up to see the other two scientists converging on them, postures aggressive. 

“Shut your stupid mouth before you get us all killed, Han Olar,” the turian hissed. 

The volus didn’t seem to care that he was being threatened. “We’re dead anyway, what does it matter?” 

Shepard fixed the other scientists with a hard glare until they retreated back to their corner, now watching their volus teammate carefully. The volus had entered a sort of quiet neutrality that actually concerned Shepard greatly. She suspected Han Olar was in shock, and had fully surrendered to what he considered his rightful fate of imminent death. There was little she could do for him. 

“ Shepard, report. ” 

Nihlus’ voice was tense as he called out to her over their comms. Shepard turned to walk to an empty corner of the dorms and touched her ear. “Not much going on down here, a guarded lab and a few scientists. One, a volus, shed some interesting light on the situation with the rachni. Apparently they have a queen somewhere, and the ones that are loose are her kids that went rogue.”

“ The hubris of science will never fail, it seems… ” Nihlus muttered in response. “ The doctor here is busy keeping some scientists alive who were exposed to some sort of illegal bioweapon. I’ve offered to attempt to follow the notes in the guarded lab down there to synthesize the cure. The security chief was willing to allow us in as long as we can guarantee we aren’t infected when we leave.”

Shepard considered, glancing over her shoulder at the bored-looking guard at the door. “Does the doctor say this bioweapon is a concern?”

“ Negative, the doctor informed me the contagion is not airborne so as long as we only touch the implements and components of the antidote we will be perfectly safe. We will be joining you shortly. ”

The cure to whatever bioweapon the sick scientists at Peak 15 had been working on was surprisingly easy to synthesize. As with so many things, it was mostly automated. It was the fact that mere moments after Nihlus had slid the vials of the cure into a compartment in his armor, two asari in commando armor came through the door with a handful of geth. That really put them behind schedule.

“Benezia wants you dead, spectres. I’ve been watching for your arrival, and now my moment has come.”

It was the asari ‘scientist’ they’d seen in the common area, meditating. Shepard quickly surmised that she’d been planted among the scientists to watch out for any undesirable attention. 

“What happened to the guard that was outside the door?” Shepard asked through gritted teeth. She knew the answer, but some part of her hoped he’d been simply duped or paid off. 

The asari just laughed at her. “He was in my way.” 

Shepard had heard enough, and immediately drew her pistol and opened fire on the commando. What followed was a brutal but short fight, messy in close quarters. Shepard was infinitely grateful for shield mods and the biotic barriers that Liara had quickly thrown at each of them before ducking behind a crate. 

When the asari and geth were dead, the side rooms of the lab cleared, the four of them quickly left the lab. Sure enough, the guard lay dead outside and two of the scientists had disappeared– Shepard thought it likely that they had made a run for it as soon as the asari and her entourage had appeared. It was a smart move. Han Olar, however, stood still as a statue in the center of the room and watched them as they exited. It was only when they had stepped down the stairs that he spoke.

“They came from that way.” He pointed to a narrow passage, guarded by a pair of security drones. Nihlus closed the distance between himself and the volus quickly, squatting down until he was face to face with him. 

“Who did? The asari and… synthetics?” Nihlus prodded carefully. Han Olar nodded mutely, his head turning back and forth as he looked at both the turian before him and Shepard. “How do we get through that area?” Nihlus asked. 

“Project leads would have a pass… maybe the doctor.” 

Nihlus wasted no time springing to his feet and gesturing for the rest of them to follow. They all piled into the elevator and made their way back up into the common area, where Shepard grabbed a security member and let him know what happened. The guard took off at a run to inform his chief, and Shepard jogged to catch up with the others as they made their way down a long, narrow set of stairs. The sterile room was blindingly white and set Shepard’s teeth on edge. 

Shepard hovered near the stairs with Liara and Ashley as Nihlus silently handed the doctor the vials they’d synthesized, and then pressed the man for his security pass so they could investigate where the asari had come from. The doctor handed the pass over readily, though he insisted there was nothing but a cave-in behind that door. They would check that out for themselves, just in case the traumatized volus scientist could be believed.

They took a moment to regroup just outside the short hall guarded by the drones. Nihlus glanced at each of them, his mandibles fluttering as he hummed in thought. 

“We don’t know what might be on the other side of this. Could be more rachni, could be a cave in like the doctor seems to think. If Han Olar is correct, it will likely be a contingency of geth, asari commandos, and most likely Matriarch Benezia.” His gaze landed on Liara, his eyes softening a bit as he reached out and lay a hand on the asari’s shoulder. 

Liara met his gaze hesitantly, her posture tense but her mouth firmly set. “You don’t need to ask, Nihlus. I am aware of what we may face, and I’ve prepared myself for all possibilities. My mother needs to be held accountable, and while I do not wish her harm I will do what I must if she threatens any of us.” 

Shepard smiled proudly at Liara while Nihlus merely nodded, but Ashely wrapped her arm around the asari’s waist and pulled her in for a quick and hard hug. Liara looked shocked at first, but returned the hug after a moment of hesitation. Shepard quietly turned to Nihlus, biting back a grin as she let them have a moment of murmuring back and forth. 

“That could prove interesting in the future,” Nihlus mused quietly as they turned toward the hall. Shepard quickly stifled a surprised laugh as she looked at her mentor, eyebrows raised.

“I think Ash has decided she’s Liara’s big sister…” Shepard shot back with a shrug. “I wouldn’t read too much into it.”

Nihlus didn’t sound convinced as he hummed thoughtfully, but he let the subject drop and as soon as they heard Liara and Ashley step up behind them he waved the security pass before the lit panel at the entrance of the hallway. The security drones deactivated instantly, and they pushed onward.

The tunnel behind the security door was cold and snowy, but decidedly not caved in. A single rachni had slipped into the tunnel, but it was quickly dispatched and after a quick jog the four of them were through another door and back in metal passages and stepping carefully down catwalks. The fact that they encountered not another soul on their way through the tunnels had all of them on edge when they eventually went through a door into a wide area full of crates, the center taken up by a platform and a massive tank. 

“Is that…” Shepard trailed off as Nihlus nodded silently, his mandibles flared in shock. 

“She’s beautiful.” Liara breathed, her eyes wide as she stared up at the rachni queen.

They were all so thoroughly taken off guard by the sheer size of the rachni in the tank that the feminine voice that called out to them took them all off guard.

“Amazing, isn’t it? The miracles of life. The power we hold, to bring to life an extinct species for our own purposes. Ours to direct, ours to control …”

Matriarch Benezia stood on the platform, head cocked thoughtfully as she stared up at the rachni queen that towered over her in its pod. Shepard stood completely still, eyes scanning the open room for any sign of geth or commandos. It seemed, at least for the moment, that they were alone with Benezia. 

“Mother, how could you say such a thing?” Liara pushed through the small space between Shepard and Nihlus to stare up at her mother, her face full of betrayal. Benezia turned her attention to them at last, her face entirely impassive. 

“Did you think to evoke some sympathy, by bringing my daughter to confront me? What have you told them about me, Liara?” Her voice was melodic, but so icy cold that it sent a shiver down Shepard’s spine. Shepard stepped around Liara, putting herself between matriarch and daughter. 

“What would you have me say? That you’re insane, that you’ve lost your way, that you must be stopped… what could I possibly say?” Liara’s voice rose to a shout as she ranted, and Shepard could feel her shaking. 

“Liara is here of her own accord, Matriarch Benezia,” Nihlus said firmly from behind them. “I cannot believe that you would harm your own child.” 

Benezia began to shimmer slightly around the edges, and Shepard shoved Liara back toward Ashley, who grabbed her by the arm and hauled her further back. Now Shepard and Nihlus stood shoulder-to-shoulder, facing down the cold woman who stared down at them as if she were a queen. 

“Have you faced an asari commando unit before, Nihlus Kryik? Few have… I will not be moved to weakness by a wayward child. If she has thrown her lot in with you, she will die with you. That is the consequence of her poorly chosen actions.”

Shepard and Nihlus dove to opposite sides of the walkway as Benezia threw a bolt of biotic light at them. Shepard felt herself freeze mid-leap, and strained her eyes to see what else the matriarch would do. She heard Ashley swear and pull Liara behind a crate, and then caught sight of another bolt of biotic energy flying toward a door on the far side of the room. The rhythmic beat of a dozen feet broke the silence of the room, and just as Shepard regained control of her limbs and crashed to the floor, the room flooded with commandos.

“Shepard, are you okay?” Nihlus called out from behind a haphazard stack of crates. Shepard nodded to him as she pulled out her sniper rifle and took stock of what they were facing. 

“Watch out!” Ashley charged past and intercepted a commando, throwing the asari to the ground before discharging her shotgun. A singularity flew past Ashley’s head and caught two more commandos, pulling them into the air. Nihlus dispatched them quickly. 

“Benezia has a barrier up around her,” Shepard called out. “The commandos are coming in past her. Move to the opposite side of the room, to the higher platform so we can see them coming.”

“Agreed, let’s go. Williams, Liara– stay left, facing opposite directions. Shepard, we’ll do the same.” Nihlus grabbed Shepard by the shoulder and sprinted toward the far end of the room, Ashley and Liara following them after they slipped behind cover up on the catwalk. They could hear the commandos moving throughout the room, but no more had approached them yet. 

“Can you send out a surveillance drone, Nihlus?” Shepard asked as she scanned the visible areas with her rifle scope. A flash of blue caught her eye, and the commando went down as soon as she stepped out of cover on the far side of the room. 

Nihlus sent his drone out, and the responding gunfire revealed the locations of the other commandos. Realizing their position was compromised, the commandos began moving closer to them, but not before Ashley threw a grenade toward them. The remaining commandos went down in the blast.

Their moment of peace was nearly instantly broken when doors on either side of them slid open to let a horde of geth spill in. They ducked into their cover once again and began picking off the geth as they drew near, or from afar in Shepard’s case. With Nihlus overloading shields left and right, it made the work a good bit easier. One large geth made it onto their platform and unleashed a close-range missile that sent Nihlus reeling across the platform before Ashley’s shotgun took it down. 

Shepard quickly dashed out from behind her crate to haul Nihlus into cover, checking him over quickly as Ashley and Liara bunkered down closer to the two of them to keep the geth back. 

“Nihlus, talk to me.” Shepard said rapidly, shaking his shoulder as her other hand worked furiously at his omni-tool to activate his medical suite. After a few tense moments of silence, Nihlus’ eyes fluttered open and he groaned. 

“That hurt.” He muttered, hauling himself into a sitting position. Shepard laughed, both at his dry humor and out of relief. 

“Just sit still while we take care of the rest of these geth, Nihlus. Let the medigel do its work.” 

Nihlus nodded absently, his gaze still a bit unfocused as Shepard raised her sniper rifle and went to work. Between Liara’s biotics, Ashley’s occasional charge into the fray and Shepard’s well-timed shots, the geth were fairly quickly dispatched. Silence rang out once more and the four of them looked around tensely as they waited to see if another wave of reinforcements was coming. 

The silence continued, and Shepard allowed herself to relax minutely. She gestured for Ashley and Liara to scout carefully and turned back to Nihlus to examine him carefully. “You’ve got a concussion, maybe a few fractures, but nothing life threatening. Can you stand?” 

Shepard stood, casting her gaze around cautiously, and helped Nihlus to his feet. After a moment of swaying, he steadied himself and managed to quietly limp along behind Shepard while they approached the platform where Benezia stood. All was silent at first, but a staggering Benezia soon appeared snarling and firing at them with a pistol. Ashley pushed Liara back as Shepard ran forward and unholstered her own pistol. 

She aimed for neutralizing hits, but ones that could be treated if Benezia could be taken down. Three well-placed shots had Benezia on the ground, and Liara broke free from Ashley’s grip and ran for her. 

“Mother!” Liara cried, drawing near but stopping just shy of the matriarch’s reach. Benezia sneered up at Liara, eyes wild. 

“You will never understand the power, how hopeless your mission is. You will… you…” Benezia trailed off, slumping toward the ground before seeming to collect herself. When she looked up again, Shepard was thrown to see the drastic difference in the woman’s eyes and face. She looked softer, warmer. Almost like an entirely different person. 

“You must stop me.” Benezia stumbled to her feet, leaning against a nearby console and holding a hand over her injured thigh. “Saren still has a hold on my mind, I do not know how long I can keep the compulsions at bay.”

Shepard’s eyes sharpened on the matriarch as she stepped forward, wanting to help the matriarch but still feeling cautious. “So you’re saying you might turn on us again?”

Benezia nodded, her eyes sad. “It’s his ship, I’m sure of it. It whispers direction and promise, invades all your senses until nothing else exists but Saren’s will. I was able to preserve a small corner of my mind, a sliver of me that still existed underneath the control, but it will not be enough. I don’t know how much time we have.”

Liara took another shaky step forward, Ashley’s hand on her elbow as if she was ready to pull the asari back to safety. “Mother… let us help you.”

Benezia’s face turned infinitely softer, her eyes sad as she met her daughter’s gaze. “You are helping me, Liara. You will help me by making sure I can atone for what I’ve done, before the end.” Benezia’s free hand reached into her long robe and withdrew a storage disc that she held out toward Shepard. “Saren needed information here. The location of a lost mass relay. He sent me to… extract the location from the memories of the rachni queen. I was not gentle, it shames me to say.”

“The Mu Relay.” Nihlus muttered over Shepard’s shoulder. Shepard turned to glance at him, but he shook his head once to tell her he’d explain later. Benezia shot an approving look at Nihlus and Shepard accepted the disc from her, stowing it carefully in her suit. 

“What else can you tell us?” Nihlus asked, his voice neutral. Shepard got the notion that he was forcibly quelling some strong emotion. Benezia’s gaze drifted around the four of them.

“There are many things in my life I am not proud of. Liara, you are my best hope to remedy those things. My files will all be sent to you in the event of my death. You will find a way to access them, I know. There are things you will need to know, for what is to come.”

“Mother, please… don’t just give up.” Liara’s voice trembled with sadness, and Ashley’s grasp shifted to an arm around the girl’s shoulders. 

Benezia smiled sadly at Liara as her legs gave out. Shepard lurched forward on instinct, throwing herself to her knees beside the matriarch. “There has to be something. None of your injuries are fatal, I made sure of it… we have medigel.”

“Commander Shepard, I’ve heard incredible things about you. Keep your allies close, and let your conscience be your guide. Cherish your relationship with your mentor; he is one of the best spectres I’ve ever known.” Benezia’s fading gaze shifted to Nihlus, and Shepard fought the instinct to turn away as if she were intruding on an intimate moment. They seemed to communicate silently for a moment before Benezia looked at Liara once again. 

“You’ve always made me proud, Liara. It’s time for me to let go.” She slumped back, her head landing with a thud against the side of the console. “Good night, little wing… I will see you again with the dawn.”

Liara cried quietly on Ashley’s shoulder while Shepard carefully arranged Benezia’s body in a more flattering repose. When Shepard stood, Nihlus was hovering over Benezia with an unreadable expression in his eyes, a low keening noise emanating from him that brought a sting of tears to Shepard’s eyes. She lay a careful hand on his shoulder, watching him. 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Shepard asked gently. 

Nihlus took a deep breath, and the keening stopped. He shook his head and blinked hard before meeting Shepard’s eyes. “Another time, Shepard. We have work to do yet.” 

He gestured up at the rachni queen, and Shepard looked up just in time to see one of the dead asari commandos stumble to her feet and fall against the glass of the enclosure. Shepard brought her pistol up, alarm shooting through her veins as the visibly dead commando’s eyes rolled back and forth in their sockets and her mouth opened and closed as if trying to remember how to form words. 

“ This one… serves as our voice. ” Shepard’s eyes went wide as she glanced between the asari and the rachni queen, her mind forming swift conclusions. 

“Are you… speaking through that asari?” She asked, slightly incredulous. 

“ We cannot sing in these low spaces. Your tones are colorless. We must use another voice, one that is willing or fading. Her song is sad… it is beautiful. ”

Shepard shared a look with Nihlus before taking a hesitant step forward. Nihlus grabbed her shoulder, whether to stop her from moving closer or out of simple caution she didn’t know. She examined the rachni queen for a long moment before speaking again. 

“Why are you communicating with us? What is it you want?”

“ We ask that you help our children. They are lost– they grew up without learning to sing. Their pain, born from their isolation, drives them to senseless violence. They cannot be taught now, we can not save them. You must end their suffering. ” 

Shepard stared up at the queen, shocked to hear the creature actually ask her to kill its own children. “If you’re sure they can’t be saved… but what am I to do with you?”

Nihlus made an incredulous sound behind her, and she turned to look at him. “Shepard, what could you possibly mean by that? It’s a rachni queen. I’m sure that console has some sort of failsafe built in. We will likely be able to end her with the push of a button.”

Something about that brought a pinch to Shepard’s chest. The rachni queen was obviously intelligent, capable of asking for the death of her lost children. The rachni were considered extinct before, and if she killed this queen they would be again. Perhaps this was a chance to get answers. 

“If violence without reason is so abhorrent to you, why did your people attack the galaxy before?”

“ We were but an egg during the war. We have the old songs, but not the reasons. The songs of the war are sickly, weighed down by sour notes like metal and hate. We did not want to fight, but we were made to fight. We will not fight any longer. ”

Shepard glanced at Nihlus before pressing further. “So, if I were to let you go… what would you do?”

“Shepard, you can’t be thinking…”

“ We will leave this place. Hide. Burrow. Begin anew, and teach our new children songs of peace and building. We will not fight. ”

Nihlus grabbed Shepard’s shoulder more roughly then, pulling her a few steps away from the rachni queen. “Shepard, if you release that queen you could be dooming the galaxy to another war with the rachni. You can’t do this!”

Shepard fixed her eyes on Nihlus, trying to put aside her own biases and see the situation from his point of view. His people had been victimized by the rachni, even if it was thousands of years before.  They’d been raised on bedtime horror stories of the rachni, taught to fear their legacy of bloodshed. Perhaps they were right. Or, perhaps the queen was being honest and the rachni had been influenced into waging war in some way that they could not work against. Either way, what they were contemplating was effectively genocide. Shepard didn’t know whether she could have that on her conscience.

“Rachni, can you feel anything familiar in the song of the asari you control?” Shepard asked, keeping her eyes locked with Nihlus. 

Nihlus stiffened, but turned his attention toward the rachni queen. The queen shifted in her pod for several minutes, the silence fraught with tension, before she finally spoke through the dying asari. 

“ Her song… it tastes sour at the edges of her intent. Like oil slicked over her true thoughts, her spirit slides along a barrier and moves in the direction the sour notes demand. It is like our old songs. It is hateful, a sour note of discord within her mind.”

Shepard waited for Nihlus to return his gaze to her, and when he did she saw that he understood the implications. He might not have understood them fully, and she knew that she needed to process this as well, but he released her shoulder and slumped a bit, nodding to her with a heavy degree of hesitance. 

“I won’t be responsible for the death of an entire race.” Shepard said, both to Nihlus and to the rachni. “You’ll go free today… but understand that if you make me regret my mercy today, I will not hesitate the next time we meet.”

The asari’s corpse slumped to the ground as the rachni queen chittered and fidgeted in her pod. Shepard moved to the console and examined it for a moment, shooting one last searching glance at Nihlus before punching the button that would release the queen. As the pod lifted toward the ceiling, the queen sent a many-eyed stare down at Shepard before nodding to her, and then the queen skittered out of sight into the snow. Her fate was her own, now. 

For better or for worse.

Part of Shepard felt bad for leaving the Peak 15 labs littered with corpses, but the other part of her knew there was no way they could even extract the matriarch when they had a horde of young rachni drones to exterminate. Nihlus had promised to call in as many favors as he had to in order to recover Benezia’s body once they were done, so Liara could arrange for a proper funeral for her mother. 

Grieving had to be put aside for the moment, though. 

They moved quickly through the near-silent complex until they reached an unsecured elevator to the hot labs. Perhaps by releasing the queen, they’d removed the safeguards. Either way, they made it into the elevator without having to bypass any security and were soon headed down to the epicenter of the rachni drone infestation. 

When they reached the hot labs, they were surprised to find a single scientist, alive and whole, sitting on a chair in the center of the lab. Shepard and Nihlus swiftly made their way over to him while Liara and Ashley hovered near the elevator. 

“Are you here because of the rachni?” The human asked in a heavy Russian accent. 

Shepard nodded firmly, introducing herself and Nihlus. The scientist went into a long-winded story about how they’d hatched the queen and taken her babies, how the rachni drones had proved unstable when not raised in the influence of their queen. All things they knew, but since there was no immediate sign of rachni Shepard bit her tongue and let the man tell his tale. 

“There is a failsafe that will irradiate the hot labs past the point even the rachni can survive. I will need to put in my codes, and then…”

Shepard often wondered if it was just bad luck, or if her life was a cosmic joke. Just as the scientist was telling them the easiest way of eradicating the remaining rachni, he was killed by the very thing he’d studied. A rachni leapt from a nearby grate and impaled him, tossing him unceremoniously to the floor as Ashley sprinted forward and killed it.

“I’m starting to think you just have the strangest sort of fate, Shepard…” Nihlus muttered as he walked over to the scientist and looked through the man’s pockets. “Yes, a strange sort of morbid luck indeed.” He held up a small piece of paper, and when Shepard walked over to take it from him she saw a series of codes scrawled on what looked like a napkin. 

“Bets that these are the failsafe codes?” Shepard asked drily, and everyone huffed a tired sort of laugh. 

“At this point, I’ll never bet against you, commander.” Ashley joked back, wrapping an arm around Liara as the woman’s brief smile faded back into heavy grief. 

Shepard glanced at the two of them, then quickly made a plan. “Let’s not waste time. Wait inside the elevator for us. Nihlus and I will go activate the failsafe, and then join you. If rachni show up, you won’t be able to be flanked there. Defend the elevator, and if it seems like we won’t make it in time you punch that button and leave. ”

Ashley visibly flinched, but saluted Shepard as she pulled Liara toward the elevator. Liara, in a testament to her mental state, barely reacted. Shepard knew then that she’d made the right call. Liara was far too emotionally compromised to be much good in a fight at this point, and she really couldn’t blame her.

“Liara will need some time out of the field, if we can manage it.” Nihlus said softly as they walked toward the back offices and the nearest VI terminal. Shepard nodded in agreement, and soon they were standing before the terminal. 

“VI, activate the hot labs’ failsafe.” Shepard called out as soon as they reached the terminal. Nihlus had his rifle out, scanning warily for any sign of rachni. 

“ I’m sorry, Commander Shepard. The failsafe requires an access code beyond your clearance level,” The VI chimed back, impassive. 

“Access code 87502079, code Omega, local execution.” Nihlus chimed in, glancing down at the paper. 

“ Code Omega verified, you have 120 seconds until local execution. Initiating neutron purge. ”

Shepard and Nihlus immediately turned on their heels and ran for the elevator, but as the door opened they saw rachni begin to pour out of the vents as if they could feel their impending death. At least a half dozen full sized rachni drones filled the small room, along with a huge swarm of the little green ones. 

“Just run, Shepard.” Nihlus rumbled, horror evident in his voice as they took in their surroundings. 

If only it were that easy. 

Some of the rachni were moving for the elevator, where Ashley was gunning them down as fast as she could. Liara managed to work up a singularity that pulled a few out of their path, but the small green bugs swarmed them with impunity and even though Shepard tried to shoot as many as she could in their path, and they simply dodged the big ones, she and Nihlus were coated in green poison by the time they reached the elevator. 

They had thirty seconds to spare, and they could feel the rumble of the purge under their feet as the elevator shot upward. It spit them out at the transit station, where they’d first seen the locked door to the hot labs, and the four of them spilled out onto the platform the moment the doors opened. 

Ashley reached for Shepard but Shepard waved her off, stumbling back a few steps. “Don’t. I don’t want you to get any of this on you.” Shepard wheezed as she threw herself on a bench, head spinning as she waited for her suit’s medical interface to do its work. Nihlus slumped down beside her, looking a bit more green than burgundy. 

“Let’s never do that again, shall we?” Nihlus groaned, and if Shepard weren’t feeling like she was about to throw up she would have laughed. 

They sat until they felt like they could walk, and then they sent Liara and Ashley to prep the tram while they helped each other stumble onto the car. They just had to make it back to the ship, where they could strip off their armor and throw themselves into beds in the medical bay to get a full detox. 

“You got more of it than I did, Shepard. You shouldn’t even be standing… sometimes I wonder how you’re even human.” Nihlus murmured to her, head resting against the side of the car. Shepard shrugged, not feeling like she even had the energy to work up a retort. “Shepard.” Nihlus said her name again. She’d heard it. 

She couldn’t respond. 

“Damn my smart mouth. Williams, call up the Normandy and have them prepare to extract us at Rift Station. I don’t care what Noveria Security thinks. Shepard needs to get to medical, as soon as possible.”

Shepard’s vision was doing strange things, now. Like a kaleidoscope of color encroaching on the edges of her vision. The voices around her, one buzzing through her bones with brotherly concern, were muffled and unintelligible. She reached to touch her ears, but her hands wouldn’t move. She was so tired. Her eyes slid closed over the color, a three-fingered hand on her chin shook her face, but the weight that carried her into the abyss was too strong to fight. 

She was so tired.

Chapter Text

Shepard woke to white and steel surroundings, a mattress underneath her and a sheet over her. The smell of medigel and the hum of a ship’s engine. She immediately felt tense, embarrassed. A three fingered hand clasped hers, and when her eyes had adjusted to the sudden intrusion of artificial light she turned her cotton-filled head to see a turian slumped in the seat next to her, trilling softly in his sleep. 

It was Garrus who held her hand. Something about that sent a flutter through her belly, but Shepard fought that back as she tried to refocus her mind and figure out where she was and how she’d gotten there. 

She was on the Normandy, most likely. 

The last thing she remembered was Nihlus commenting on her ability to withstand the rachni’s poison, calling her barely human. The colors that had swirled in her vision, the stuffy sleepiness that had pulled her into unconsciousness as they rode the tram away from the Peak 15 laboratories.

They’d seen Benezia die, had released the rachni queen and then killed all her children at the queen’s behest. She’d been coated in rachni poison in their narrow escape. Then Garrus’ hand twitched in hers.

“Shepard, thank the spirits.” Garrus squeezed her hand gently before pulling out of her grip. 

Shepard hadn’t realized she was still holding his hand. That sent another flutter through her belly.

“What…” Shepard’s voice came out at a croak, and Garrus leapt from his chair and walked across the room, returning with a bottle of water. 

He slid a careful arm under Shepard’s shoulders and hoisted her up, propping her on his shoulder and handing her the bottle of water. She drank greedily, feeling the cool filtered water soothe her dry throat. As she handed the now-empty bottle back to Garrus, she let her head fall against his leathery neck and hard mandible. His neck, where it wasn’t plated, was warm and soft. 

Garrus gave a nervous trill as he carefully laid Shepard back down, tossing the bottle into the nearest trash can before refocusing his attention on her. His gray eyes were full of soft relief as he stared down at her, and then the soft rumble of his voice broke the silence. 

“You’ve only been out for about twelve hours, but you passed out on the way out of Peak 15. Too much exposure to rachni poison. Kryik carried you on board himself, though he nearly passed out because of his own injuries. He was discharged six hours ago, and is off briefing the council right now. I… wanted to stay with you, so you wouldn’t wake up alone.”

Shepard swallowed hard against the traitorous fluttering in her belly and forced herself to keep eye contact with Garrus, doing her best to broadcast her appreciation in her groggy state.

“Thanks, big guy. I appreciate that. You said Nihlus is talking to the council?”

Garrus hesitated at that, a hesitant rumble going through his chest. “Yeah… he debriefed us on the rachni, and he felt like he had to be straight with the council on what happened there. They had some sort of intel to pass to him, too.”

Shepard swallowed against sudden worry; she hadn’t given a single thought to how the council might react to her decision to release a rachni queen into the galaxy. She desperately hoped that Nihlus wasn’t getting himself into huge trouble on her behalf. She was trying to swing her legs out of the bed when Garrus grabbed her and pushed her back in the bed, fixing the sheet over her bare legs. 

She swore his leathery fingers lingered on the back of her knee, but she might have misread that. The talon that grazed the softest part of the back of her knee made her shiver involuntarily. What the hell is wrong with me ? Shepard chastised herself as she pushed back on the flutter that took residence in her chest at Garrus’ careful attention.

“I need to…” Shepard began, but Garrus cut her off with a shake of his head and a pleading look in his eyes. 

“You need to rest, Shepard.” Garrus’ subvocals were distressed as he paced briefly at the foot of her bed, and all Shepard could do was watch his agitation, feeling confused and a bit inappropriately pleased.

“Hey…” she said hesitantly, smoothing the sheets across her lap. “I’m fine, big guy.”

Garrus made an irritated noise that buzzed in the silence. “Shepard, I carried you to the medbay, completely unresponsive, and had to sit outside and wait to find out from the doctor whether you would be okay . You… you’ve always seemed so indomitable, even when you got hurt back on Feros. You always bounce back, in the thick of things before I even got the chance to worry about you.”

Something about Garrus being worried about her, feeling protective over her, made Shepard feel warm and a bit girly. She wanted to reach out to him, wrap one of those leathery hands in hers, and make him understand that she was fine now. That she had bounced back, would be back out in the field soon. 

“I’m going with you next time we’re in the field.” Garrus announced, finally stopping to stand at the end of her bed, his hands clutched at his sides as he looked at her. “I need to be at your side.”

Shepard thought maybe she’d forgotten how to breathe. She’d felt some… tension… between herself and Garrus on occasion. A layer of what she suspected was mutual attraction always colored the air when they sparred, and he was always so attentive to her well being when they were in the field. Nihlus acted similarly, but his protectiveness felt different somehow. It was more of a mutual care between them, like what Shepard thought she’d feel if she’d ever had a sibling. 

Both on the ship, and in the field, it felt like Shepard and Garrus orbited each other. There was a pull there that she hadn’t quite gotten to identifying, but she had a suspicion that it was tied to her own ringing need to reach out and touch him. Soothe him. Make him understand that she wasn’t going anywhere.

She was on the verge of doing just that when the door to the medbay slid open with a hiss, admitting Nihlus. 

Nihlus stopped in the doorway, his mandibles flaring for a moment as he looked between Shepard and Garrus, then he cocked his head at Garrus. Shepard could feel the subliminal conversation between them, feel the vibrations and hear the humming at different pitches. She wondered when she’d started picking up on turian subvocals so easily. 

It was like they were broadcasting impressions and emotions through pitches both too low and too high for her human ears to detect, except she could detect them. Sort of. She was getting general impressions of concern, amusement, possessiveness… The possessiveness rolling through Garrus sent a jolt of heat to her core and she had to look away, turning her gaze down to her lap. 

“Garrus, please give us a moment.” Nihlus finally spoke, stepping out of the doorway. His tone brooked no argument, and much to Shepard’s surprise Garrus immediately complied. She watched Garrus nearly stalk out of the medbay, the door closing with a sort of finality behind him. 

“I apologize for intruding on that… moment…” Nihlus slid into the chair beside Shepard’s bed, weariness in every line of his body even though his voice was audibly amused. Shepard found herself blushing like she’d been caught doing something naughty. “Garrus cares for you a great deal, Shepard. Perhaps more than you realize… but that’s not my place to discuss such things. You should hear it from him.”

Shepard didn’t really know what to say about that, so she defaulted to business. Nihlus’ mandibles flared in amusement as she stumbled around the topic. “So… uh, how did things go with the council? Garrus mentioned that you’d been briefing them.”

“They were not pleased at our actions, to be honest.” Nihlus sighed as he ran a hand over his crest. “However, due to our status, it’s not like they can do anything to us. We made a decision, that decision will come back to haunt us or it will be fine. There is no need to worry about it now.”

Shepard felt a bit guilty at his weary tone, but she found that she still didn’t regret her decision to let the rachni queen go free. “And there was some intel…?”

Nihlus’ gaze grew hard, his mandibles pressed tight to his face. “Yes. A promising lead just as we are running out of leads of our own, in fact. The council sent a salarian STG group to investigate a facility owned by Saren. It’s on a planet called Virmire, a tropical world with little development thus far. The group went silent, save for a single transmission calling for aid. They want us to investigate.”

Shepard felt a sort of finality in his words, an anticipation of a breakthrough. “You think he’s there.”

It wasn’t a question. She could tell that Nihlus had a feeling about this one, just like she did. That this mission might be the key that ties together so many loose threads. The lost mass relay, the prothean relic Saren was after, the mechanisms powering his scheme that seemed so undefined still. The ship he had, that could control minds, that might be tied to the Reapers.

“When can we go?” Shepard asked, feeling adrenaline buzz in her veins. 

Nihlus chuckled and shook his head at her. “When you’re really recovered, Shepard. I feel as eager as you do to finally tie this all together, but you were not exactly in good shape when we got back to the ship. I wasn’t much better off, but turians evolved thousands of years ago to handle the rachni and those traits helped me recover quickly. Humans aren’t so lucky.”

Shepard thought back to Garrus, pacing at the foot of her bed in a near frenzy at how worried he’d been for her. “Was it really that bad?”

Nihlus seemed to read her thoughts. “Only the doctor and I were made privy to exactly how close you were to serious consequences. Garrus was… not wrong in his concern.” 

Shepard didn’t really know how to feel about the knowledge that she’d had a brush with death because of the rachni. It wasn’t the first time… she’d woken up after those hellish days on Elysium in far worse shape than she felt like she was in now. 

“Fine. How long until I get out of here, then?” Shepard asked wearily. 

“Twenty-four hours and I’ll let you out of that bed, commander. I’d prefer you give yourself at least another twenty-four before you throw yourself into another life-threatening situation.” Doctor Chakwas smirked at her from the doorway, knowing quite well how little Shepard liked to be in the medbay. “Garrus let me know you were awake. I persuaded him to go tinker with the mako rather than hover outside my medical bay.”

Shepard used all her self control to avoid blushing like a teenager. Nihlus sounded increasingly amused as he watched her reaction. 

“Perhaps you can use all your free time to address that particular situation, Shepard. Now, I know many of the crew wish to look in on you. I’ll send someone in with food, but I could personally use some sleep myself.”

Nihlus rested his hand on her shoulder when he stood, his eyes full of fondness. “For the record, I was worried as well.”

Shepard had been left to the matronly care of Doctor Chakwas for a full thirty minutes before Tali appeared at the door of the medbay with a tray balanced on her palm. By then, Shepard was infinitely grateful to have a conversation partner and an excuse to no longer be poked, prodded, or scanned. She adored Chakwas and her no-nonsense care, but she hated the medbay. It reminded her too much of Elysium.

Tali walked in with her usual rapid, nearly fidgety steps and laid the tray in Shepard’s lap before claiming the chair beside her bed. “Shepard! No more fighting ancient space bugs, okay? We were so worried .” 

Shepard didn’t bother to fight the amused grin on her face as she tucked into her food. “No promises, Tali. Weird problems just… find me sometimes.”

Tali scoffed, shaking her head. “You’re not kidding about that. Giant plant aliens, geth, reapers, now rachni… what other myths will you stumble into? I swear, it’s a good thing you’re such a good shot. Your ‘problems’ are ridiculous.”

Shepard couldn’t disagree, so she merely shrugged helplessly as she scarfed down the meal at record speed. “What’s been going on since I’ve been out?” She asked, pushing her empty tray away. 

Tali hummed thoughtfully. “Well, Liara’s been… I’m sure you can imagine. Ashley’s with her, keeping her company. Those two have really bonded, haven’t they? Kaidan’s been a mess of worry about you, but he’s been busy liaising for some biotic alliance’s negotiations. Reparations for L2 biotics, I think. Wrex said you might be an honorary krogan, but only if you could kick the rachni poison in the ass as well as you kicked the rachni themselves…”

As Tali trailed off, Shepard mused that the girl was incredibly peppy. Always full of energy, rattling off information at record speed even in more personal conversations. 

“Nihlus was worried about you, of course, but he’s all stoic about it. He’s been busy too. Garrus, well. Wrex threw him out of the cargo bay when he wouldn’t calm down, so I think he came up here to wait for you to wake up. That boy made no effort to hide how wrecked he was. I thought I was going to have to tie him up so he wouldn’t break into the medbay, then Nihlus told him to sit with you so.. I suppose you saw him when you woke up, didn’t you?”

Shepard caught herself biting her bottom lip and quickly stopped, focusing on taking a sip of her water. “Yeah, he was here. So… Liara’s doing okay?”

Tali leaned forward then and grabbed Shepard’s arm so hard she spilled water all over her lap. “Shepard, come on . You can’t hold out like that on me! I know Garrus was in here, pining. Drop the soldier role and give me some girl talk!”

Shepard blushed furiously at this– it felt like she was being called out. She wasn’t a girly girl. She had few, if any, female friends in her past. She didn’t do feelings , outside of those feelings needed to take care of the emotional health of her crew. Shepard’s eyes wandered over to Chakwas, who was making herself very busy at her console. Chakwas felt her gaze and met her eyes with an amused expression. 

“I think I’ll step out for a spot of tea.” Chakwas mused, practically grinning at Shepard as she left the medbay with efficient steps. Then, Shepard and Tali were alone and Shepard didn’t have any excuses. 

“Shepard.” Tali whined, taking the glass of water she held and setting it aside. “Come on. This is better than Fleet and Flotilla ! Let me get you started… you’re grievously injured in combat and your mentor collapses after he carries you onto the ship. A dashing young turian leaps to your side, sweeping you up in his arms and practically sprinting to the medbay to get you the care you need.”

“I’m sure it all wasn’t that dramatic…” Shepard mumbled, fighting the warmth building in her cheeks and her belly. 

Tali sighed dreamily and leaned against Shepard. “Oh, it really was. Garrus was so worried… it was sweet. Now, Shepard, tell me. What’s going on there?”

Shepard didn’t quite know what was going on between her and Garrus, though. So she admitted that. “I’m not quite sure, Tali. Garrus and I… Well, there isn’t a Garrus and I really. We talk a lot, since he’s pretty much the only one up at the time I get up to work out. We’ve sparred a few times…”

Tali broke in, her voice eager. “But do you like him? I’ve seen some of those sparring sessions, Shepard, and let me tell you. There’s some tension there outside of hand-to-hand combat. Sometimes I feel like I should be clearing the room for you two.”

“Okay, yes, there’s a level of… attraction at play, I think. For me at least. Turians aren’t the easiest beings to read.” 

Tali hummed thoughtfully, letting the silence stretch before she responded. “Shepard, you’re an idiot and I don’t say that lightly. You’re brilliant at strategy, combat, even navigating a tense conversation. You’re good with people, but you’re also an idiot because you can’t see what Garrus is practically throwing at all our faces. He’s into you, and not in a casual way.”

Shepard felt a thrill at her words, even as she felt a bit miffed at being called an idiot. Does Garrus really feel that strongly about me? Is that even wise?

“It’s just that… our situation, and the mission… it’s all so complicated. I don’t even know where any of us will end up after this. I mean, you’ve got to finish your pilgrimage. Wrex won’t hang around forever. Ash and Kaidan are technically on loan from the Alliance. Nihlus won’t be mentoring me forever, eventually I’ll have to strike out on my own. Garrus has a job, even if he did quit it. He can’t just follow me around the galaxy while I work for the council.”

Tali huffed, and though Shepard couldn’t see her face she could hear her frustration. “Maybe you should let Garrus make that decision Shepard, because if I’m not mistaken he’d follow you to the farthest reaches of the galaxy if you let him. I think you just need to talk to him about it. Get it all out. What’s so bad about considering a relationship?”

“It complicates things!” Shepard cried, throwing her hands up and nearly smacking the front of Tali’s helmet. “Why do you think I’ve never had an actual relationship with anyone? Casual sex, no strings attached. That’s how military life is. I get shuffled around, never see the same faces for more than a year. A relationship gets in the way, feelings complicate missions. I can’t have Garrus throwing himself in front of a stray bullet because he’s worried I’ll get hurt.” 

“You care a lot more about him than you’re admitting.” Tali murmured, hugging Shepard gently. “You don’t want him to get hurt either. But don’t you think he respects your skills enough to not muck up a mission because he’s worried about you?”

Tali had her there. Shepard knew Garrus had seen her get hurt before, even if this time it had been worse. Garrus had practically begged her to take him with her next time, so he could be at her side. Not in front of her, a shield. At her side. As an equal. Equals were less complicated.

“Talk to him, Shepard. I’ll let you get some rest.” Tali left then, taking her empty food tray and leaving Shepard with thoughts and unresolved feelings swirling in her head. She thought sleep would be impossible, but it turned out that she was still tired after being unconscious for twelve hours.

Both Kaidan and Wrex made an appearance after she’d slept a while. Kaidan showed up with two dinner trays, handing her one and settling into the free chair with the other. They ate dinner together, chatting about the mission and the rachni for a while before Shepard convinced Kaidan to tell her about his work on L2 reparations. It turned out that the bill had stalled in the government, held up by a human senator who thought L2s didn’t really need reparations. 

Kaidan had gotten in contact with him, complete with medical records, to tell him exactly how badly L2 biotics had been affected. Shepardly felt pleasantly proud of Kaidan’s work on the bill, which was now moving smoothly through the process. Because of his work, L2s more badly affected than he had been would soon get the help they needed. Kaidan told her how many there were.

Nihlus had even passed Kaidan intel on a small group of L2 biotics who had planned to kidnap the senator, either to hold him ransom or exact their revenge. Kaidan had talked them down from their plan by promising he’d work personally with the senator and see that the reparations went through. Shepard thought Kaidan might have helped a lot of people with just that, and mentally thanked Nihlus for his forward thinking. 

Wrex’s visit was short and gruff, as Wrex himself always was. He congratulated Shepard for her personal battle against the rachni and chastised her for releasing the queen, but Shepard thought he was pleased with her. Wrex also impressed upon her how much he’d prefer to not be left behind for this next mission. Despite his personal dislike of salarians, Wrex was itching for some action. 

The two people Shepard didn’t see once were Liara and Ashley. Shepard was worried about Liara, whose grief was probably unimaginable, but ultimately she was glad that Ashley had taken the asari under her wing and was looking out for her. She was surprised at the thought, but she knew somehow that Ashley would make sure Liara would get back on her feet.

Garrus had stopped by for a short visit after Wrex left, but besides some long and awkward silences and a few muttered assurances their conversation was sorely lacking. It seemed that neither of them knew how to move forward from this precipice they stood at. The entire thing seemed to amuse Nihlus, much to Shepard’s surprise. She’d half expected Nihlus to pull out some big brother act about not getting tangled up with people under her command, no matter how loose that command structure was where their alien teammates were concerned. 

Instead, he muttered about hormones and pheromones and told Shepard to just sort it out and put all of them out of their misery. Shepard was left with that implication as the lights were dimmed and the ship hummed along quietly. Chakwas went to bed, confirmed that Shepard could leave in the morning after one final checkup, and then Shepard was left with her thoughts. 

Thought one: Shepard was attracted to Garrus Vakarian. This thought was novel in itself, since she’d never actually been attracted to someone who wasn’t human before. 

Thought two: Shepard had feelings. She spent some hours, probably more than Chakwas would prefer, lying awake and examining those feelings. She didn’t think it was necessarily love … they’d only known each other for a few months, after all. They’d grown close, though, and she admitted to herself that she cared a great deal about him outside of the physical attraction that was present. 

Thought three: By the accounts of several people, Garrus also cared for her a great deal. So it was a fairly safe bet to consider the possibility of both the attraction and the feelings going both ways. Shepard wasn’t sure how she felt about airing out those feelings, though, with both of their futures so uncertain. Did Garrus intend to return to C-Sec? Did he have other plans for his life, aspirations? 

She didn’t want to be the thing that held him back, if a relationship would keep him from going for something he wanted to do. She didn’t want Garrus to follow her just because he wanted to be near her. If he had aspirations, it might be better if they let these feelings die out quietly. 

Thought four: It wasn’t her place to make that decision for him. Shepard would need to broach the dreaded subject, and let him make up his own mind. 

When Shepard was released from the medbay at last, with a strict warning from Chakwas to take it easy for another twenty-four hours, the first thing she did was go to her cabin to take a hot shower and get clean clothes on. It was still extremely early in the day, and she mentally thanked Chakwas for starting her day early so that Shepard could escape that med bay. She had time to either relax, or to check off the biggest bit of unfinished business on her mind.

S to V

Garrus, can you come up to my cabin? Need to talk.

Shepard closed her omni-tool and proceeded to pace her cabin, trying to gather her wildly spinning thoughts while also talking herself out of trying to play off the message. Part of her immediately wanted to message Garrus again and tell him she was kidding, or changed her mind. Or to just change the trajectory of the conversation she’d planned… make it about the trajectory of his future, and not their future. 

“You’re not a coward, Shepard. You’re a war hero, a spectre. You can handle feelings ,” she muttered to herself as she paced. 

When the door to her cabin opened and Garrus stepped in hesitantly, glancing around the small space, she certainly felt like a coward. Her heart rate tripled, her palms began to sweat, and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Garrus took up so much space in her cabin with his height and bulk. It was like he filled the room, and felt intimately close to her despite the feet of open space between them. 

“You wanted to talk to me, Shepard?” Garrus’ voice hummed with nerves as well, and it made Shepard feel minutely better. 

Shepard wiped her palms on her leggings and nodded, chasing her escaping train of thought back down. “Yeah. Thanks for coming up so quickly.” 

She watched Garrus as he shifted a bit from foot to foot, his hands hooked into his cowl and his mandibles fluttering. Then she gave herself a mental kick– she’d been the one to call him up here, she had to start the conversation. 

“What are you… I mean, are you going back to C-Sec?” She rushed out, clutching at her leggings with shaking fingers. “Do you have… plans?”

Garrus stared at her, then his posture shifted as he took a long step toward her. “I’m honestly not sure, Shepard… that depends.”

“Depends on what?” Shepard’s voice came out hoarse as Garrus drew nearer. Her hands fluttered at her sides, and she fought the urge to pull him closer. 

“Well, a lot of things…” Garrus took another step forward, and there was just a few inches of space between them. “You see, there’s this female I’ve grown quite attached to…”

Shepard felt her stomach drop like a stone. “Oh, I see. Is she on the Citadel? Or back home, on Palaven?” 

Garrus rumbled, a frustrated huff escaping him. “Damn it, I’m not good at these things. No, there isn’t anyone Shepard. Not yet at least.”

Then, Garrus reached out to grasp her chin and forced her eyes to return to his. His gaze was questioning, maybe a bit longing, and then Shepard understood the implication that she’d missed before. 

“I don’t want to be the thing that holds you back, Garrus.” There, it was out in the open. Shepard tried to steady her breathing, even as she fought against the urge to lean into his touch. 

Garrus hummed, the steady vibrations of his subvocals felt soothing and sweet against the bones of her face. “Shepard, you could never hold me back. If anything, I never would have known there was another way… a better way to make a difference… if I hadn’t met you.” 

Garrus’ eyes pierced into her, taking her apart and sending heat rushing through her. Garrus rumbled low in his chest, closing the scant distance between them, then did something unexpected. He pressed his forehead against hers, and his eyes fluttered closed as he took a deep breath. 

“Garrus, I…” Her fluttering hands came up of their own accord, trailing up his cowl until they brushed the soft leather of his neck, snaking around until one hand was splayed on the back of his neck while the other moved to explore the underside of his crest. Garrus shuddered. 

“Shepard, I care about you. So much. I want to be with you, both in the field and off of it. I want to make things better with you . There’s no higher goal in life, for me. Just you.” 

Just you . The words rang through the air, clear and confident as a bell, and Shepard lost the lingering traces of hesitation and self control. She grasped his neck firmly, her fingers exploring his crest as she pulled his face down and pressed her lips against his mouth. She was observant enough to know that turians didn’t have lips, and she wasn’t sure what the procedure was for them normally when it came to kissing, but Garrus responded. 

Or, better yet, his tongue responded. 

Between razor sharp teeth she’d only glimpsed before, his tongue snaked out and slipped between her lips to taste her. She gasped against his mouth, falling into him gladly when his free arm came around her to pull her close. Their tongues tangled in her mouth, Garrus’ hands slipped under her shirt and his talons scraped deliciously against her skin as her hands continued to explore his neck and crest.

“Garrus…” Shepard shuddered as his hands moved up her torso, his fingers exploring her skin. 

“You’re so soft, Shepard…” Garrus rumbled, rolling his hips against her as his fingers found her breasts. 

Shepard gasped as she felt him against her, hard and hot. Entirely contradictory to the naturally cool temperature of his metallic plates, and definitely warmer than his leathery skin. Then, Garrus grasped her by the waist and gently pushed her away. Shepard’s chest was heaving, her skin hot and her panties uncomfortably damp. She knew, she’d felt , that Garrus was in the same position. 

“Damn it, you just got out of the medbay Shepard. I… can we take this slow?”

Shepard gaped at Garrus, torn between sexually frustrated and lightly amused at his concern. Then, she was hit with a glaring truth: she was generally familiar with turian physiology, she’d studied it before coming to the Citadel. She knew nothing about turians’ sexual anatomy. She was woefully underprepared for taking things any further. 

She slumped against Garrus’ chest, snaking her arms around his narrow waist and pressing against his hard chest. She fought to cool the flames and control her breathing, even as she shifted slightly to try to relieve the ache between her legs. Garrus moaned softly, his hips rolling forward again. 

“We can slow down… I don’t think we’re quite prepared for going further. Unless you’re far more familiar with human anatomy than I am with turian anatomy?” 

Garrus nuzzled her neck, his mouth nipping carefully at her skin. “I’ve had this on my mind for a while, so I… did some research. Good news is that since you’re not allergic to me, that’s one less thing to worry about. Dextro/levo interaction can get interesting. Spirits, but you smell good Shepard.”

Shepard smiled against his chest, feeling her arousal settle into a sort of warm contentment. She’d need to take care of herself, after he was gone, and she suspected that he’d have to do the same, but this was nice. The easy intimacy. 

“I should probably rest a bit before I start my rounds. I didn’t sleep much last night.” 

Garrus huffed, ruffling her hair with the breath. “Couldn’t get me out of your mind, huh? I’m glad that part’s mutual as well.” 

They stood there, wrapped around each other, for a few more minutes before Garrus released her with visible hesitance. When he turned to leave, Shepard reached for his hand and tangled their fingers together. 

“Garrus, if it wasn’t already obvious, I’m a bit crazy about you too.”

Garrus looked a bit punch drunk and very pleased when he finally left her cabin, and Shepard resigned herself to another shower to cool off.

Rounds to check in on the crew were infinitely more difficult to complete when the one person she wanted to talk to was in the cargo hold. Shepard wanted to just skip straight to the bottom level of the ship and spend time with Garrus, but she had responsibilities to the rest of the crew. She finally got the chance to check on Ashley and Liara, who were holed up in the small room that Liara had claimed as her own. Liara was visibly grieving, but was doing well all things considered. 

They both were ready for some more action. 

Kaidan was verbally sparring with Joker in the cockpit when she went to check on her pilot, and Joker was ready with one of his signature quips about Noveria. One that he followed up with a firm announcement that she’d better try to avoid getting seriously injured in the future. Nihlus joined her as she made conversation with the various navigators, communicators, and engineers on the main deck. He herded her into the comm room for a chat before she took the elevator to the cargo hold.

“I won’t insult you with any misplaced ‘chats’ about your choices in partner or sexual activity. It’s your business, and you’re an adult. Not to mention the fact that I more or less encouraged this development, much to my chagrin.”

Shepard didn’t know whether to grimace in embarrassment or laugh outright at this display from her friend and mentor. “Nihlus, I thought about this a lot before I did anything about it. I also talked to Garrus about what he wanted, and…”

Nihlus put both his hands on her shoulders, breaking her rant immediately. “Does he make you happy, Shepard? Will you make him happy in return?”

Shepard bit her lip in an attempt to contain a dopey smile. “I really think so, Nihlus.” 

Then, in a shocking display of emotion, Nihlus hugged her. It was short, almost so quick that she second guessed whether the gesture had actually happened, but Nihlus sounded pleased when he stepped back from her. 

“Good. I think you’re good for each other, and will continue to challenge each other to do better. I won’t be able to be on mission with you forever, eventually the council will send us separate ways. It makes me feel better that you’ll have Garrus to watch your back.” 

Shepard didn’t know what she was going to do with all these new, fresh emotions coursing through her. Appreciation and fondness for Nihlus, who felt more like a big brother now than a mentor. Heated affection, adoration and desire for Garrus. A little-sister-like fondness for Tali, who’d pushed her in the right direction. Wry affection for Wrex, who acted like a grumpy uncle. 

She realized then that these aliens she’d gathered around her had become more of a family than anything. That was something that she was beyond grateful for, as she’d never really had a true family. Shepard supposed she should thank Saren next time she saw him… before she shot him in the face for causing so much trouble.

Chapter Text

Shepard met Garrus in the cargo hold the morning they began the approach to Virmire. They’d agreed on a wet drop, dispatching the Mako in the shallow water passages that led to what their fuzzy scans indicated was the location of the salarian encampment. Shepard found herself a bit more distracted than usual as she went over her kit and donned her armor– there was a tall, humming presence right beside her the entire time that she wanted to lean into. 

Every time Garrus spoke and she caught flashes of those needle-sharp teeth and wicked tongue, she wondered what else he could do with it. Eventually, after Garrus gallantly helped her piece on her armor, she was feeling so uncomfortable in her own skin that Garrus actually noticed. 

“Spirits, Shepard. I could smell you if I was on the other side of the ship…” Garrus glanced around, then wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his tongue flicking out to wet her pulse point. “That will have to wait until we both come back from this mission in one piece. When we accomplish that… we can start exploring this inter-species liaison.”

Shepard shivered against him, unconsciously leaning into the overwhelming hum of his subvocals that rattled through her bones. They sang a dark tune of barely-restrained desire, though they were also colored with worry for what was to come. 

“We’re gonna be fine, big guy.” Shepard murmured, turning her head to press her cheek against his. “Whatever’s coming our way, we’ll figure it out.”

Garrus was about to respond when the hum of the elevator broke the silence. He quickly released Shepard, putting a few more inches of space between them as he steadied her with a hand at the small of her back. 

Shepard worked to collect herself, shaking off the tide of emotions that Garrus had unleashed in her and returning her attention to her weapons workbench. A loud, bellowing laugh accompanied the two pairs of feet that made their way toward Shepard and Garrus. 

“Damn, it stinks like frustration in here. Keep your paws to yourselves while I’m in the Mako, you two.” Wrex laughed raucously as he wedged himself between the two of them, nearly knocking Shepard over. Garrus growled at the krogan, who merely laughed harder at his reaction. 

“We’re approaching Virmire, Shepard. Let’s prepare.” Nihlus stepped up to Shepard’s other side, his posture carefully passive. His eyes shone with wry amusement, though, and Shepard felt her cheeks heat as if she were a teenager who’d been caught in a supply closet. 

“Right, so it’s the four of us in the Mako for a wet drop. We roll up on the suspected encampment of the salarians, make contact and suss out what the situation is before we do anything else.” Shepard repeated the plan with fluidity– it was one that she and Nihlus had set out the night prior while they had gone over what little intel they had on Virmire. 

Really, it seemed like every mission they encountered had less and less information to accompany it. Shepard was beginning to wonder why they even bothered with intel at this point. 

“We know precious little about what we’re facing, and I know that you like that as little as I do Shepard,” Nihlus said with a sigh. “But we have to do what we’ve done best so far and simply be prepared to think on our feet. We will adapt to what we discover.”

Shepard appreciated the easy way Nihlus had of reading her worries and settling them with a few words. She nodded to him firmly, collected up the rest of her kit, and led them all to the Mako. It had been prepared for drop by the crew overnight, and all they had to do was settle in with their gear and await the drop.

Garrus slipped quickly past Shepard as she entered the Mako, nearly throwing himself into the driver’s seat. Shepard chuckled at his antics, throwing a glance over her shoulder to witness Nihlus’ irritated huff as the other turian took the position Nihlus would usually have claimed for himself. 

For some reason, after a few trips out exploring abandoned worlds in the Mako, no one trusted Shepard to drive. 

Nihlus stayed silent, much to Shepard’s surprise, as Garrus powered up the Mako and began going through the pre-mission checklist. Garrus had been tinkering with the Mako ever since coming aboard the Normandy, so Shepard felt sure the rover was in prime condition. The warning message that blared as he powered it up simultaneously shocked her and nearly sent her into fits of helpless laughter. 

“ Warning! Warning! Maximum weight capacity reached. Please take note and consider decreasing load weight. ”

Shepard bit her lip hard to contain her laughter as the three of them looked at Wrex simultaneously. 

The krogan growled at the front console of the Mako before settling himself determinedly at the back of the rover. “Stupid machine.”

“Well, it’s a good thing I upgraded the shocks on the rover isn’t it Shepard?” Garrus called out, his subvocals humming with amusement. Nihlus merely shook his head, settling into the seat between Garrus and Shepard near the front of the rover. 

The landing on Virmire was quick and bumpy, nearly throwing Shepard out of her seat as the Mako crashed into the shallow water of their designated landing zone. Garrus immediately began driving, their goal being of a time sensitive nature. Upon entry, they’d determined that advance defenses held by the geth included a series of guard posts equipped with anti-aircraft guns. They had to disable those advance guns before the Normandy could land. 

Their scans had also uncovered a small outpost of organics, which they all agreed had to be the salarian camp. It was about a mile farther inland from the third geth guard post, but still in range of the AA guns, so they would not be able to make contact until they accomplished their first mission. 

All three guard posts had no more than a dozen geth inhabiting them, with a scattering of drones and constructs blocking their path between posts. Between their preparedness and Nihlus’ technical expertise, the guard posts posed little challenge. Soon, they had the AA guns disabled and were racing along the path that would lead them to where they expected the salarian outpost to be. 

“ Normandy to Shepard, we’ve made our landing at the salarian camp but things just got a lot more complicated. Alenko and Williams are gathering intel, you’d better get here quick. ”

Shepard sighed deeply, slumping into the seat and sending a dejected glance at Nihlus. 

“I knew this was all going far too smoothly,” she complained. “Something was bound to take us by surprise.”

Nihlus huffed and shot her a narrow look. “Don’t be dramatic, Shepard. It’s like I said before, we will adapt and overcome. Let’s just get to the camp and find out what the situation is. We will take things from there.”

Shepard chuckled lightly at Nihlus’ chiding tone, shaking her head as they continued on in silence to the salarian camp. It wasn’t long before Garrus parked the Mako up on a golden, sandy beach and powered the rover down. 

“All right, everyone. Disembark, stretch out and check your kits. Nihlus and I will find out what comes next, then we’ll update you.” Shepard stood to follow Nihlus out of the rover, taking a moment after both Nihlus and Wrex left to lean over Garrus’ shoulder and drop a quick kiss on his mandible. 

“Wish me luck, big guy.” Shepard murmured, slipping away before Garrus’ reaching hand could catch her wrist and stall her further. 

Garrus’ subvocals were clearly broadcasting that he considered her a cruel tease, and she carefully restrained her chuckles as she stepped out of the Mako into the bright, salty sunshine of Virmire. It was a pretty place, really… wide open seas, cliffs and lichen surrounding smaller land masses, and perfectly idyllic beaches. Too bad they were only there to shoot some geth, and hopefully a very annoying rogue spectre.

“Shepard, over here.” Nihlus called out to her, raising his hand.

Shepard moved over to where Nihlus was speaking to a salarian. The salarian was vibrating with nervous energy, and Shepard was beginning to suspect that this was simply the standard for their species. She nodded to Nihlus before turning to the Salarian.

“Commander Shepard, my name is Kirrahe. I was just speaking to your fellow spectre about how we had requested a fleet as backup. I suppose a few ground teams worth of soldiers is all we get, however, because none of us are leaving this planet until the facility is taken down.”

Shepard frowned, shot a glance at Nihlus, then returned her attention to the salarian. “What’s the situation here?”

“The main facility here appears to be some sort of research and development center, according to Captain Kirrahe.” Nihlus offered. “It also is equipped with heavy AA guns, surrounded by an army of geth and…” 

Nihlus paused, glancing past Shepard, and before she could turn to see what he was looking at Kirrahe filled in the blanks. 

“It appears that the rogue spectre Saren is using this facility to breed an army of cloned krogan.” 

A shadow covered Shepard, and she felt a pit form in her stomach as Wrex rumbled behind her. 

“How is this possible? How could Saren be cloning Krogan?”

Kirrahe shook his head, “We are still unsure as to how he accomplished this, but it would be a mistake to let this opportunity to disrupt the operation pass us by. The facility will need to be destroyed, as well as any research data he’s compiled.”

“Destroy it?” Wrex growled, pushing past Shepard to tower over the salarian. “My people are dying . We are not a mistake!”

Before Shepard could try to soothe Wrex, the krogan stomped away. He walked a ways down the beach before turning to stare out at the water, then took out his shotgun and started shooting at the water. Blowing off steam, Shepard had to guess. Nihlus sent her a worried glance. 

“As much as I understand Wrex’s point of view, Kirrahe has a valid point, Shepard…” he began carefully. “We do not know how autonomous these cloned krogan are. For all we know, they’re simply krogan in form, their will entirely bent to Saren’s. If there is a way to bring a solution to Wrex’s people, this is not it.”

Shepard stayed silent for a moment as she thought about it. As much as she hated it, she agreed with both the salarian and Nihlus. Cloning wasn’t the answer to the krogan problem. 

“I’ll go talk to him.” Shepard said finally. 

Nihlus’ expression was concerned, but he nodded his assent. “I’ll continue discussing the situation with Kirrahe and see if we can’t come up with a plan.”

Shepard turned from the pair of them and had started making her way to Wrex when several pairs of feet came up behind her. She turned to see Ashley, Kaidan and Garrus behind her with questioning looks on their faces. 

“Is everything okay, Shepard?” Kaidan asked, casting a concerned look at Wrex. 

Shepard shrugged, “Wrex will be fine, I’m going to go talk to him.” 

Garrus looked a bit worried at that notion, but hummed his acknowledgement. Kaidan and Ashley looked far more unsure at the wisdom of that. 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, commander? Want me to come along in case he gets… trigger happy?” Ashley was fingering her rifle, her face clouded. 

Shepard fought back the initial reaction to snap at the chief. Ashley had grown a lot in the past few weeks, but she couldn’t really blame her for being nervous about their visibly aggressive krogan squadmate. The last thing she wanted, however, was to have two suspicious and reactive people in the same conversation. 

“I appreciate that, but I’ve got this chief.” Shepard said firmly. “Wrex won’t hurt me.”

She left them there on the beach, witnesses to the conversation that was coming. At least, Shepard dearly hoped it would be just a conversation. She made her way down the rest of the beach until she was barely six feet from Wrex, trying not to wince as he discharged his shotgun over and over at the water until it overheated and he had to lower it. 

“This feels wrong, Shepard.” Wrex growled, not looking at her. “This facility could be the chance my people need to repopulate, to rebuild. Why does it have to be us again that gets blown up? Why can’t we just have this?”

“Look, Wrex, I get it. You want to save your people, and you think this is the answer, but…”

Wrex whirled on her then, his shotgun pointing right at her chest. “You don’t get it! Help me out here, Shepard… the lines between friend and foe are getting pretty blurry from where I stand. Tell me why I should follow your lead on this.” 

Shepard fought the desire to pull her pistol as she faced Wrex’s own weapon, carefully ordering her thoughts. “Wrex, I swear I am on your side, but this isn’t the way to help your people. These clones aren’t even truly krogan , they’re just Saren’s puppets. Saren isn’t an honorable person. What are the chances of the krogan being next on the chopping block once he doesn’t need you anymore?”

A tense silence filled the scant space between them while Shepard watched Wrex wrestle with his thoughts. She kept her hands at her sides, carefully still, while giving him the time he needed to decide how he felt about what she said. Despite his aggression, despite the fact that she wouldn’t blame him one bit for changing loyalties right now, she had faith that he’d come around. 

Luckily for her, and for him, Wrex did come around. 

He smoothly holstered his shotgun and took a step forward, his hand landing heavily on her shoulder. “Okay, Shepard. You’ve done right by me so far, so I’m gonna trust your call on this. Just one thing? Make sure I’m there when we take this bastard Saren down.”

Wrex was at Shepard’s side when she returned to Nihlus and Kirrahe, the pair of them holed up in the back of a temporary shelter speaking in low tones. Nihlus hummed approvingly when they entered the shelter, though he barely glanced at her before returning to poring over what Shepard now saw was a fairly detailed map of the area. Several points were marked along a nearby path that led to a large facility built into the shore. The facility itself was multi-tiered, with an apparent “front” entrance with wide spaces and heavy defensive positioning, but the path with several points marked snaked through narrower crevices in the natural land formations. 

It led to a small courtyard to the southeast of the main entrance to the facility.

“I think I can see what the two of you are thinking…” Shepard murmured, leaning around Nihlus to get a closer look at the map. Kirrahe studied her for a moment before nodding. 

“We will split our forces into two teams. The main force will assault the front of the facility here.” Kirrahe lit up the main entrance, tracing several areas where his men would be able to bunker down and keep Saren’s forces busy. “Meanwhile, Nihlus has agreed that you should lead a ‘shadow team’ around the side, infiltrating the facility while we keep the bulk of the geth busy with our more obvious assault. It will be your responsibility to make it through the facility, shut down their aerial defenses, and secure a landing zone in the center of the facility here.”

As Kirrahe spoke, he traced the narrower path until it reached the facility, and then lit up an area near the dead center of its mass. Shepard crossed her arms, tucking her palms under her elbows before shifting when she realized her posture was almost comically similar to Nihlus’. She heard her friend rumble in a humorous tone, but he didn’t comment on it.

“It’s a risky move. Your men are going to be slaughtered.” Shepard kept her tone neutral even though the thought squeezed her gut. She knew this was the best plan they’d likely come up with before losing the element of surprise. 

“How are you going to disable the facility?” Wrex rumbled from behind her, sounding forcefully disinterested. 

“We will strip the drive core from our ship. Ours is a small vessel, less advanced than your own. With the core, and help from Kryik here, we can create what humans would equate to something of the devastation of a small nuclear bomb. It will easily level the facility in its entirety, but we will have to be out of the atmosphere before it detonates. That will make our exfiltration vital if any of us are to make it out.”

“We can load the core onto the Normandy.” Nihlus commented, glancing sideways at Shepard. “I’d prefer to join you, but my expertise will be needed. I thought Alenko could aid me in preparing the core and wiring it with a delayed detonator. That way, once we activate the bomb we have a set period of time to pick everyone up and get the hell out of here.”

“You’ll need someone from our team with your men, both for ease of communication and to decrease the possibility that Saren will suspect a second force.” Shepard pointed out, thinking hard. “Someone who’s familiar with our strategies and working with multiple attack forces… Williams will be perfect for that.”

Nihlus nodded, then glanced over at Wrex pointedly. Wrex shrugged and left the structure to go fetch Williams without a word of objection. 

“Who will you take with you, Shepard?” Nihlus asked. Shepard noted that his tone was somewhat amused, as if he already knew the answer. 

“I’ll bring Garrus and Wrex.” Shepard replied easily, not even needing to think about it. Then, she bit her lip and fought back a flush at her predictable answer. “I owe it to Wrex to bring it along. If he’s going to feel okay about what we’re doing, he needs to see for himself what the facility is like.”

“And Garrus is a foregone conclusion.” Nihlus filled in easily, a light teasing tone to his voice. Kirrahe watched the pair of them with interest, but didn’t comment. 

The three of them continued back and forth about the plan, ironing out smaller details and assigning code names for communication as well as outlining the three points of interest along Shepard’s path. They were three lightly fortified, though relatively hidden, geth positions. Kirrahe suspected they held some level of importance and asked that Shepard do what she could to sabotage the geth forces as her team made its way.

“Well, I don’t like it very much but it’s the best plan we have…” Shepard said finally, as they stopped finding holes in their plan to fill. “I’m going to go talk to our people, let them know what the plan is. Nihlus?”

Nihlus waved her off, expressing his intention to continue studying the maps with Kirrahe to seek out any remaining loose threads in their plan. Shepard made her way back out into the bright sunshine, taking a moment to breathe salt air and hear the lapping waves to soothe her building nerves.

A lot could go wrong with this plan. They would likely lose a number of the salarians in the main assault, the distraction, just so Shepard could take two of her team through the facility and secure a site for the Normandy to land. Shepard was still concerned about whether Saren and his ship were here, and Kirrahe had been unable to confirm Saren’s presence with any certainty. He was a variable they couldn’t account for. 

The others had gathered on the beach, a ways off from the salarian camp. Wrex was already walking toward her with Ashley in tow. Shepard pointed out the structure where Nihlus and Kirrahe were, sending Ashley on alone so she could bring Wrex along to brief everyone at the same time.  

To his credit, Kaidan hadn’t objected to being out of the main fight. He’d understood Nihlus needing another pair of steady hands that were familiar with tech. Garrus had been audibly pleased that Shepard didn’t even hesitate in bringing him with her, and Wrex seemed ready for a good fight. When Ashley rejoined them, Shepard pulled her and Kaidan aside for a quiet chat just between the three of them. 

Out of anyone on their crew, Nihlus being the exception, they’d been together the longest. These two had been with her at the start, and this mission felt like the highest stakes they’d encountered yet. 

“How are you feeling about this, Williams?” Shepard asked gently, eying her shifting posture. 

“It’s just strange, commander… being under someone else’s command. I’ll do my part, though. I won’t let you down. Just… be careful.”

“This isn’t goodbye, Ash.” Kaidan said firmly, throwing his arm over her shoulders. “We’ll all see each other on the other side.”

Shepard knew how Ashley felt. It was one thing for her to be out fighting, leaving a few behind on the ship. This time, she was putting one of her people in the hands of another commanding officer. Embedding one of her own with a salarian special forces group, setting off to start a loud and distracting fight against an army of geth and cloned krogan. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t worried. 

“Keep on comms and keep me updated at all times, Williams. I’ll make things as quick as possible on my end, no dangerous calls from you.” Shepard settled for that–giving one last order, for now. She refused to consider whether it would be the last one she gave Williams. She’d get her soldier back. 

“Aye aye, ma’am.” Ashley saluted smartly and turned on her heel just as Nihlus approached, calling out for Kaidan. 

“We need to get moving. Alenko, report to the ship and get the cargo bay ready to accept the drive core from the salarian ship. I need a moment with Shepard.”

Kaidan left quickly to do as he was ordered, leaving Shepard and Nihlus alone on the beach. They stood in companionable silence for a few minutes, the light noise of the preparing forces the only thing that broke it up. Then, Nihlus turned to her with his mandibles pressed tight to his face and his arms crossed protectively against his chest. 

“Be cautious, Shepard,” he rumbled faintly as he spoke. “We’ve gotten too far in this to lose now, and I will not lose you. You’re an excellent Spectre candidate, a fine soldier, and a paragon of the human race. I’d even hazard to call you something like family to me at this point. This mission isn’t over here, I can feel it. Don’t do something rash and leave me to continue on alone.”

Shepard found that she was actually choking up a bit at his words, the underlying warmth of them as well as the raw sentiment. Nihlus was rarely sentimental, never talked of his family or friends. She felt honored that he would so openly admit to feeling such kinship with her. 

She wanted to hug him, but wasn’t sure if either of them felt up to that. Instead, she butted her shoulder against his playfully. He rocked slightly at the force of the contact, but pressed his arm against her shoulder when he recovered. 

“We’ll get to the other side of this, Nihlus. All of us… I’ll make sure of it.”

They stood on the beach as they listened to Kirrahe give his men a rousing speech, Ashley standing with confidence at his elbow. Shepard nearly chuckled out loud at how eloquent Kirrahe’s speech grew at moments, and she could hear the rumbling tone of amusement coming from Nihlus as well as his mandibles twitched outward. When he was done, they parted with no more words spoken between them. In an instant, Garrus and Wrex were at her sides. 

“Ready to kill some geth, Shepard.” Wrex growled, patting his shotgun affectionately. 

Shepard glanced at him, then at Garrus. Their gazes lingered on each other as Garrus shifted close to speak into her ear. 

“I’ve got your back, Shepard.”

The first phase of the plan went far better than Shepard could have hoped. She, Garrus and Wrex trudged along the wet path, listening to the occasional update Ashley provided them over their comms and watching their maps with care. Eventually, they made it to a sharp turn in the path and Shepard held up her hand to stop the others. 

“This is the first point of interest Kirrahe mentioned, let’s see if there’s anything we can disrupt to give the others an edge.” Shepard whispered to the others. 

She engaged her shield booster and slipped around the corner as quietly as possible, immediately ducking behind a large boulder and expanding her sniper rifle to check things out through the scope. The small station seemed to be manned by a handful of geth and two krogan who stood like statues at the top of a ramp. As she scanned the structure, her gaze was eventually drawn to a notable satellite array positioned on the top of the roof of the upper structure.

Communications array, probably to boost the signal to account for the scrambling tech they’d employed to prevent long-range communication. 

“What are you seeing, Shepard?” Garrus asked quietly, nudging her. 

Shepard silently pointed up toward the satellites, and Garrus’ mandibles flared in an eager grin. He nodded, and then pointed  them out to Wrex. Wrex took that as permission to engage, and let loose a bloodcurdling battle cry as he charged toward the enemy forces, shotgun ready to unleash death. Garrus slipped around Shepard with a wry chuckle and took cover behind a boulder forward of her position, taking quick shots at some geth positioned on the upper platform while Wrex made quick work of the two other krogan. 

Shepard decided to focus on the satellite while the others kept the enemy’s attention. A quick and careful examination of it was all it took for her to decide on the most likely weak points, and she took her shot without hesitation. Two shots was all it took to bring the satellite array crashing down, and she watched with satisfaction as it crumbled. 

She didn’t notice the red dot of light trained on her as she watched her shots do their work, but Garrus called out her name and she turned just in time for the enemy sniper’s shot to glance off her shoulder. Her shield array immediately flickered, the boosted shields falling with the force of the shot as she rolled with the force of it.

Shepard scrambled to get fully behind the boulder as she recovered from the blow, gritting her teeth to contain a hiss of pain as she listened to the rapid fire of Garrus’ rifle and the more-distant yells of victory coming from Wrex. She took three deep breaths as she brought up her internal medical suite to check the damage. 

All she’d have to deal with was a nasty bruise on her shoulder, as it turned out. The shields had taken most of the force, her armor stopping the rest without being damaged besides a few scuffs. She’d been lucky. Garrus was at her side before she could finish catching her breath, his hands on her face as he looked her over with panicked eyes. Shepard shot him a wry grin as she leaned into the touch. 

“I’m fine big guy,” Shepard promised. Garrus shot her an incredulous look before huffing and sitting back on his heels.

“You got hit, I had to be sure. Be more careful, Shepard. Please.”

Shepard nodded, feeling her cheeks heat at the rookie mistake she’d made. “I was too focused on the satellite, you’re right. I should have been paying more attention.”

Wrex came around the boulder then, looking thrilled through the gore coating his armor already. He glanced between Shepard and Garrus before shrugging absently. 

“Everyone’s dead here. Ash said the geth are acting like they don’t know where they’re going or what they’re supposed to do. Sounds like we did kill their comms.”

Shepard grinned as Garrus helped her to her feet. They took quick stock of their weapons and continued on the path, finding small skirmishes as they moved toward the more secluded entrance to Saren’s facility. They managed to take out a few more outposts, most notable being the fuel depot that Wrex took great joy in blowing to smithereens with a well-thrown grenade. Shepard watched him dance in the flames fondly as she listened to Ash’s reports of the geth forces at the front thinning, and then exclaiming that the reinforcement dropship hadn’t arrived as they’d expected. 

They’d turned the tide for Ash and the salarians. Now all they had to do was hope they’d continue to hold out against the weakened forces while they took down the facility from within. The guards at the edge of the facility were more in number than the other outposts they’d fought through, but still no match for the three of them. Soon, Garrus was tapping away at a security console to get them in the door. 

“Shepard, I can access the facility’s alarm system here. We have some options…”

Shepard nodded and gestured for him to continue as Wrex paced impatiently behind them. 

“I can disable the alarms, guaranteeing our entrance will be a bit quieter and that we’ll get the drop on any forces inside, or I can trigger the alarms on the far side of the facility. That will draw the guards away, but then they might notice their buddies at the front are struggling against the salarians. Might be more than they can handle.” 

Shepard winced as a quiet voice within her whispered that the quickest route would be to draw forces out of their own way, so they could destroy the facility more easily and more quickly. That voice was quickly overridden by her honor. They could handle some guards, and if the alarms were disabled then they’d likely only have to fight them a few at a time. Quick skirmishes. 

She wouldn’t risk sacrificing the salarians and one of her own simply to make their path easier. 

“We can handle any guards, just disable the alarms Garrus.” Shepard answered quietly, moving around him to stand near the soon-to-be-open door. Garrus huffed a relieved sigh as he nodded in acknowledgement, tapped at the console a few times, and joined her at the door. 

The three of them moved into the quiet of the facility with guns raised and shoulders set against the challenge that lay before them.

Chapter Text

Technically, Shepard hadn't been wrong when she'd said the indoctrinated salarians posed no threat. They'd come at them with shrieks, swinging their fists wildly, and had been put down summarily. The slaughter turned Shepard's stomach, even though she knew they'd had no choice. They left the bloodied room behind, quickly finding another that proved more promising. The salarian they found imprisoned there was lucid, though even more nervous than was usual for their disposition.

Shepard let him out too, and was relieved when the salarian quickly followed orders and ran for the back entrance of the facility to regroup with the STG forces. She'd saved one, at least. Though it didn't wash away the bad taste of how many she'd had to kill because they were beyond help.

"You can't win them all, Shepard…" Garrus rumbled, pressing his hand to the small of her back. "I know you want to, but you know it doesn't always work out like that."

She nodded grimly, her response interrupted by a wave of geth drones as they neared the AA tower controls.

"Contact right!" Wrex growled, turning to charge the geth who had tried to flank them while they dealt with the missile-wielding drones.

The fight was short and brutal, as the others had been, but they broke through and soon were at the controls. Garrus wasted no time hacking the system with his omni-tool, and it was only a matter of a few tense minutes of Shepard and Wrex providing security before he hummed triumphantly.

"AA tower is down, Shepard." Garrus turned to her as she opened her commlink.

"Ash, Nihlus, the AA tower is down. Moving to the planned rendezvous."

"Good work, we will meet you there Shepard. Be careful," Nihlus responded immediately.

"We're holding out here, commander. These salarians sure know how to put up a fight!" Ashley sounded almost gleeful over the rapid gunfire that sounded in the background of her response. Shepard couldn't help but smile.

"Okay, let's take the elevator. According to our maps, we have to pass through another small lab system before we get to the center of the breeding facility. Keep an eye out for prisoners or any relevant intel."

"I've got your back, Shepard." Garrus shifted to stand behind her right shoulder, Wrex at her left as she called the elevator and they stepped in.

The path to the next set of labs was almost eerily empty after fighting wave after wave of geth and krogan, and it set Shepard's teeth on edge, but they quickly reached a small office without incident. It was when they entered that office that a flash of movement on the other side of the room, behind a desk, had her tensing and raising her pistol.

"Come out now, hands raised," Shepard ordered firmly, watching the far side of the room while the door slid shut with a hiss behind Wrex. An asari stood tremulously from behind the desk, her hands high and her eyes wide.

"Wait, don't shoot! I'm just a scientist. I'll tell you anything!"

Shepard relaxed, though she kept her pistol out just in case this asari was also indoctrinated and ready to turn on them.

"Fine, tell me about the facility. What's Saren doing here?"

"These are his private labs. The rest of the facility was mostly breeding, but he brought me in to study the indoctrination effect. His ship, Sovereign, it emits some sort of signal… you slowly start to become subservient to him, agree with him without hesitation, and his will becomes yours. But it's too strong… Long term exposure turned subjects into mindless drones. It's what happened to the scientist I replaced."

"So even Saren doesn't quite understand what his own ship does to the mind?" Garrus asked, eyes narrowing on the asari.

"I think he was worried it might affect him too, he was very persistent in his need to understand the effects and symptoms. Here, a show of good faith." The asari stepped up to her console and tapped in a command, unlocking the elevator beside her. "This will take you to his private labs, you'll be able to see anything he was working on for yourself. Will you just… let me go, please?"

Shepard studied the asari as she shifted nervously from foot to foot. She didn't particularly agree with what the scientist had done in the name of research here, but she also knew that the asari might not have had much choice in her methods once she was here. Besides, she'd caused too much innocent death today. She was tired.

"I'm about to blow this entire place to hell. Start running now for whatever shuttle you can find, and you might make it out in time."

"But… but you can't just… ugh!" The asari spun on her heel and ran past them, sprinting through the door without a second glance at them. Wrex's laughter rumbled behind her, and she felt Garrus' breath ghost over the back of her neck as he leaned forward.

"I think you enjoyed that a bit, Shepard."

Shepard shrugged and jogged to the elevator, slamming her hand on the button as soon as Garrus and Wrex had filed in. Her heart began to race as she bounced on her heels, wondering what they would find within Saren's personal lab. Indoctrination research? Whatever formula he used to breed his army of krogan?

Whatever she thought she'd find, she wasn't prepared to enter Saren's sanctum and instead find a nearly bare room with nothing but a single elevated console. There was a hum of energy in the air that she could feel in her bones even before the lab door opened, and she was drawn toward the stairs that went under the platform. Once she started to descend the stairs, she could see it. Another beacon.

"Is that… like the one you found on Eden Prime?" Garrus asked, following her closely as they approached the beacon.

"Practically identical." Shepard agreed. "I know what I have to do… it might have the answers…" Garrus' hand was on her shoulder before she could step forward.

"Wait, didn't that thing knock you out for hours on Eden Prime? Shepard…"

"Garrus, I need to do this. I'll be fine."

Garrus was visibly hesitant, but he released his grip on her despite the tension that rolled off him. Shepard took a careful step forward, then another, and another. Finally, just a few steps away from the beacon, she reached out to it and immediately felt herself lifted into the air. Like before, she felt her limbs stiffen and stretch out away from her body as her eyes rolled and everything went black.

Viscera.

Screaming.

Strange, insectile creatures pouring through the gates of a war-torn city.

A voice, echoing.

"The Reapers are here. All hope is lost… the beacons are the only hope for the next cycle."

Flashes of planets, systems, zooming rapidly through space to hover on one planet.

The Conduit. It was the answer.

A grinding shriek, a flash of metal, a hauntingly familiar ship overtaking the vision.

Empty black, complete void.

Shepard crashed to the floor, heaving and shuddering. Garrus' arms were around her in an instant, hauling her to his chest as he crooned and stroked her hair.

"I've got you, baby. Talk to me, Shepard, please…"

Shepard got her shuddering under control, forcing her body to cooperate as she uncurled and pressed a hand to Garrus' chest.

"I'm fine," Shepard's voice was hoarse, and she wondered if she'd screamed while under the control of the beacon. "We don't have much time, we have to rendezvous with the Normandy soon. Let's check out that console and get moving."

Shepard climbed to her feet despite the concerned whine of Garrus' subvocals. Despite her initial reaction to the beacon, she felt steady on her feet as they ascended to the console and Garrus went to work activating it.

"This console is strange, but hopefully we can mine some data…" Garrus trailed off as a huge holographic image of Saren's ship shimmered to life before them.

"You are not Saren."

Shepard gasped as she stared at the holo, and Garrus took an involuntary step back even as he reached for Shepard's arm to draw her back with him.

"Oh, this is not good…" Garrus muttered, and Wrex grunted his agreement even as he pulled out his shotgun.

"What is this? How can you speak?" Shepard asked, her mind racing. "You're just a ship…"

"Shepard…" Garrus rumbled with warning as he stared at the holo.

"Rudimentary creatures of blood and flesh, you touch my mind… fumbling in ignorance. I am beyond your comprehension. I am Sovereign."

Shepard gasped, turning to glance over her shoulder at Garrus and Wrex.

"Sovereign isn't just a Reaper ship… it's an actual Reaper…" Before any of them could discuss this revelation further, Sovereign spoke again.

"Reaper… a name created by the Protheans to give voice to their destruction. For all their science, it did not matter. It does not matter now. Your own demise is inevitable."

The Reapers words served to instantly spark rage in Shepard's chest, and she took a step toward the holograph despite Garrus' protestation.

"I don't care. I don't care how powerful you are, or how many of you there are, we'll fight you. Come on, guys, let's go."

As Shepard turned away from the holo and pushed past Garrus and Wrex, a screech filled the air and the windows around them shattered. Garrus strode forward and pulled Shepard against his chest, his arms and carapace shielding her from the glass flying through the air.

"You know I have kinetic shields, right big guy?" Shepard muttered against his cowl. Garrus rumbled with embarrassment as he let her go and looked around, rubbing his crest awkwardly.

"Yeah, sorry Shepard. Call it instinct."

It was sweet, really, but before she could tell him as much her comms chimed.

"Normandy to Shepard, whatever you did down there just got you some attention. That ship, Sovereign, just turned around to head our way. Pulled a turn that would have sheared any of our ships in half, I don't get it. You'd better double time it, we're almost to the rendezvous."

Shepard turned on her heel and made for the elevator wordlessly, her team at her heels and ready for the action. The revelation that Sovereign was a Reaper, not just an advanced ship, lit a new fire of urgency in them to wrap the mission up and get the hell off of Virmire.

Shepard watched with burning anticipation as the Normandy swept in to land after they'd cleared the LZ. Garrus and Wrex paced up and down the sides of the space, watching the doors on either side with care as the Normandy settled down and the cargo hatch slid open with a pneumatic hiss. A swath of crewmates were immediately visible, surrounding the big round drive core that they'd extricated from the salarian ship.

Behind them, Nihlus and Kaidan watched carefully as the crew began to carry the now-primed to explode drive core. They followed as the device was carried down the ramp and settled on improvised clawed feet as close to the back of the space as they could get.

"Bomb's in position, commander." Kaidan called out as he crouched beside the improvised nuke. "We've just got to work to arm it."

Nihlus watched Kaidan carefully for a moment before nodding to him and stepping over to Shepard. He looked her over, and whatever he saw had him hovering a bit closer to her as his subvocals trilled a worried question.

"Shepard, what happened? Something's different." Nihlus already had his omni-tool out, checking her for injuries.

"I'm not hurt, Nihlus, it was just… we found Saren's private lab, and there was another beacon there. I interacted with it, and hopefully gathered a few more pieces of the puzzle up here." Shepard tapped her forehead gently, trying to ignore the pounding headache. "Just need Liara to do her asari thing and help me put those pieces together. Maybe she has some context I don't, to make sense of the new images. And…"

Shepard was about to quietly explain to him what they'd discovered about Sovereign when her comms chimed.

"Mayday, mayday. Commander, we're getting swarmed. A fresh wave of geth just showed up… we're pinned down at the AA tower and I don't think we're going to be able to get to the rendezvous in time." Ashley's voice was strained, and it was apparent that she was running out of steam to fight the hard fight. Shepard locked eyes with Nihlus, and though she could read the worry in them she could also see that he knew she wouldn't be stopped.

"We need time to finish arming the device, but there is not much time. Be careful and quick, Shepard, I will not leave you behind." Nihlus gave her a lingering look before nodding and moving over to crouch at Kaidan's side. Shepard signaled quickly to Wrex and Garrus, bringing them to her side before responding to Ashley.

"Hold on Ash, we're coming for you," Shepard called out as Wrex opened the door on the far side.

"Roger that ma'am." Ashley's voice held a note of relief behind her professional tenor, and Shepard quickened her steps as they ran through another passage of breeding tubes and out onto a wide balcony. They had minutes at best to get to the AA tower, and then maybe a few more to clear the geth enough to bring Ashley and the STG team to the rendezvous.

Nihlus watched Shepard run through the doors with trepidation as Kaidan worked furiously to arm the improvised explosive they'd built. Alarm jangled through his nerves, but he knew that look she'd had in her eye. If there was any way she could do something, Shepard would never leave a teammate to fend for themselves. The skies around them were quiet, the landing zone empty and quiet in a way that set Nihlus on edge.

He just had a feeling… it was too easy. The Normandy sat idle on the far side of the LZ, ready for them all to run on board to remotely detonate the device once they reached a safe distance. He engaged his commlink with the ship.

"Joker, send out Liara and Tali for extra security. Just in case… I don't want to take any chances."

He stood with his back to Kaidan and the device, his eyes relentlessly scanning the wide space around them. Tali and Liara were just stepping down the ramp, weapons drawn, when his commlink crackled to life.

"Heads up, Normandy, we can see a geth dropship heading your way."

Just as Ashley spoke, the dropship flitted into sight. The brief flash of metal reflecting the light caught his attention as a huge number of geth dropped from the belly of the ship and opened fire on them. Nihlus quickly grabbed Kaidan by the collar and threw him to the side, behind a large crate.

"They're already here." Nihlus responded, tapping furiously at his omni-tool to send out defensive drones as the Alliance soldiers with them opened fire along with Tali and Liara. He heard alarm in Shepard's voice when she came on the comms as well.

"Nihlus?"

He chuffed, leaning out to take a few rapid shots at an approaching geth heavy unit.

"We can hold out, Shepard. Get to Williams, get them out of there and back here. Hurry."

The fight was brutal, but after a while the geth succumbed to the combined strength of the Alliance and the other members of Shepard's team he'd called out of the Normandy. Kaidan ran to get back to work on the device, Tali now at his side providing her own technical expertise while Nihlus checked his weapons.

"Engaging hostiles!" Garrus called out over the comms, his voice rough as gunfire cracked over the comms. "Spirits, there's so many of them. Shepard, damn it keep down!"

Nihlus tried to tamp down on the flare of worry that bloomed in his chest as he heard Garrus call out desperately to Shepard. An unusual buzzing sound rang in his ears, and he turned in a rapid circle to ascertain the source. A hovering platform appeared from around the corner of the building, and he saw him. Saren.

"Contact front!" Nihlus yelled, positioning himself between Kaidan and Saren. "Lieutenant, is the device ready?"

"Ready!" Kaidan shouted, running for the side of the space to take cover yet again with Tali at his side. Nihlus took confident steps forward as geth dropped in yet again, and the fight resumed with ferocity. He let the others focus on taking out the fresh wave of geth, he had eyes only for his former friend and attempted murderer.

Shepard could feel sweat running down her back inside of her suit, her chest burning with heavy breath even as her limbs began to fatigue. Despite it all, she lifted her sniper rifle again and again to take out one geth after another. They just needed an opening… a brief respite in the geth to reach Ashley and the salarians so they could join forces and press their advantage.

Beside her, she heard Wrex loose a wild shout as he charged the geth line, crushing several and sending a few others flying over the railings into the open space below. Shepard took the opportunity he provided, smacking Garrus' shoulder as she stood and sprinting for the hole in the geth defenses while engaging her backup shields.

Gunfire bounced off her as she sprinted, dodging the remaining geth with Garrus and Wrex on her heels. Finally… finally… they reached the desperate group they'd been fighting toward. Ashley looked up at her, chest heaving and holding her ribs on one side.

"Commander, thank God you're here. We're barely holding out."

The geth were reforming quickly as Shepard threw herself behind cover, gasping for breath even as she reloaded her sniper rifle. Wrex laughed raucously as he stood to fire his assault rifle at the geth line, mowing a few down before dropping again to let his shields recharge. Shepard looked over the salarians, many of them visibly injured, and then her own team.

Garrus' mandibles fluttered wildly, his eyes glassy with exhaustion. Wrex seemed barely phased by the hard fight, but she knew even he must be tiring. They all were. It wasn't the best situation.

"Commander, Sovereign is getting closer. I don't know what that thing can do, but I really don't want to see what kind of guns that ship has!" Joker called out, his voice laced with warning. "We're running out of time."

"The device is ready, but we're pinned down. Saren just showed up with another wave of geth, I'm activating the bomb. It's going to go off no matter what." Kaidan called out, his voice solemn.

Saren was there, with his geth… Nihlus…

Shepard whirled to look at Garrus, Wrex and Ashley, her mind racing to find a way. A plan. An escape.

"We have to fight our way out. Even if we don't take them all down, if we can get another break in their defenses we can get the wounded back up to the next level and to the LZ." Shepard called out, watching everyone assembled. She noticed Kirrahe suddenly, crouched beside Ashley, as he nodded his agreement.

"My men can carry our wounded if your people can provide an opportunity," the salarian said confidently. He cocked his pistol with finality, and Shepard nodded to him.

She couldn't let her exhaustion pull her under until her people were safe. Garrus had a hand on her, his face full of worry as he examined her tired eyes and shaking hands.

"Shepard…" he murmured, and she could hear the concern in his subvocals. She leaned forward to press her forehead to his briefly before nodding to him and Wrex, determination hardening her face.

"We have to fight."

Time was running out. Nihlus rolled from cover to cover, taking potshots at Saren as the two of them verbally sparred. Rage coursed through him as he faced the former Spectre, the turian who had betrayed him and left him for dead. He challenged Saren's motives, his methods, his sense of honor, each verbal blow bringing Saren closer to the brink of making a mistake in his anger.

"Shepard, here's our chance. We make a run for it." Wrex's voice sounded in his ear, drawing his attention for a split second that Saren used to leap down from his platform and charge toward him. Before he could react, Saren's hand wrapped around his throat and lifted him off the ground with unnatural strength.

Nihlus wheezed and struggled against Saren, desperation filling him as his airway was cut off. Behind him, he saw Liara's eyes fix on them with determination, biotic light blooming in her palm. Simultaneously, a drone popped into being at Saren's left. Liara threw a ball of warp energy at Saren's exposed back just as Tali's drone darted in to deliver a jarring shock to Saren that unfortunately also arced into Nihlus.

The both of them shuddered, Saren also stumbling from the biotic force, and Nihlus was able to twist from his grip as they both fell. Nihlus rolled away from Saren, scrambling to his feet and lifting his pistol as Saren sneered down at him and climbed back on his platform. He fired a number of shots at Saren, but they all bounced off harmlessly as Saren was lifted into the air and out of sight.

"Nihlus, we have to go. We have minutes before the device goes off." Liara called out. She was crouched beside Kaidan, who'd been hit with a concussive shot by Saren and had been knocked out.

"Shepard and her team, where are they?" Nihlus rasped, rubbing at his bruised throat. Liara glanced to the side and shook her head.

"Not here yet, but we have to get moving or we go up with this facility." Her voice was strained with guilt, but her eyes were firm. Nihlus felt his chest tighten with worry as he turned his gaze to the door Shepard had left through.

"Shepard, report." Nihlus called through his comms, but he was met with silence. Painful, echoing silence. He waited for three breaths before he crouched down and threw Kaidan's limp form over his shoulder, jogging with heavy finality for the lowering cargo ramp of the Normandy. Two marines took Kaidan from him, promising to deliver him to the medbay as he stood on the ramp.

"I can't wait much longer, where the hell is Shepard?" Joker called out, his voice tense.

Nihlus was silent, his eyes desperately watching the doors. Liara and Tali limped past him to enter the cargo bay, and he was alone on the ramp.

"Shepard, please…" Nihlus whispered, desperation washing over him like a tide as Joker counted down their available time to escape safely. "Please…"

The doors sprang open, and a gaggle of salarians spilled through dragging a number of injured. Nihlus called out for the marines in the cargo bay, and they helped the salarians bring their wounded on board. Ashley charged to the ship with Kirrahe at her side, the two of them moving with a surprising synchronicity.

Ashley threw herself to the ground as soon as she was off the ramp, her chest heaving and her arms dropping bonelessly to her sides. She tossed her helmet to the side, her eyes searching the open door along with Nihlus'.

"We're out of time, we have to go!" Joker yelled, but Nihlus stood still.

Breath returned to him when he saw them. Finally. The krogan was charging with abandon, Garrus and Shepard at his heels as they sprinted for the Normandy. Nihlus slumped visibly as he stepped back off the ramp, following the last of the team as they stumbled onto the ship. A marine slammed the cargo ramp shut and called out to Joker that all were on board.

Ignoring the quick maneuvering of the ship, Nihlus walked straight to Shepard. She leaned down, heaving as if she might throw up, her face mottled with exertion and her entire body shaking like a leaf. Garrus crouched beside her, murmuring quietly as his eyes watched her with absolute focus.

"Shepard, are you hurt?" Nihlus asked, kneeling on her other side. She shook her head, but teetered with the motion as if even that exertion was beyond her. Garrus' arm was around her in an instant, steadying her as she slumped to the ground.

"She's exhausted, fought like a wild thing. Even Wrex had a hard time keeping up with her." Garrus' tone was both fond and worried as Shepard slumped bonelessly against him, her breathing slowly steadying. Her eyes fluttered as her gaze landed on Nihlus, a strained smile curling her lips.

Nihlus felt as they entered the atmosphere of the planet, just as a shockwave hit and buffeted the Normandy. They all had to clutch to whatever was nearby for a moment as the ship shook, and then they were steady.

"That was too close, commander… just a point of reference for the future, but the Normandy isn't equipped to withstand improvised nuclear explosions." Joker's dry sarcasm had Nihlus rolling his eyes even as Shepard let out a halfhearted chuckle. When she tried to stand, her knees buckled and Garrus held her up by her waist as he pulled her against his side.

"I think we all need to disarm, rest, and check in with the doctor." Nihlus said with finality, looking over all those assembled in the cargo bay. "Kirrahe, have some marines help your men up to medical." The salarian nodded gratefully at Nihlus, and turned to bark a few short orders to his men before stepping over to Ashley and fixing her with a wicked grin.

"Chief Williams, it was a pleasure. Thank you for fighting for us and with us."

Nihlus watched with amusement as Ashley blushed, stammered, then straightened under the force of Kirrahe's open praise. The human had come a long way since they'd set out, and now seemed to have made an ally of the salarian STG with her prowess. A transformation, indeed. Off to the side, Wrex was tossing his armor onto a workbench. Tali and Liara converged on Ashley, helping her remove her armor and speaking to her quietly.

Garrus still held Shepard up with an arm around her waist, the woman visibly drooping against him as they spoke quietly. Nihlus could hear the gentle worry in Garrus' subvocals as he nuzzled Shepard's neck. He watched them with quiet amusement for a while before stepping over to them, fighting off his own exhaustion for a moment longer.

"Take her upstairs, Vakarian. Make sure she gets cleaned up and gets some rest. I'm about to drop, myself, so I'm off to my cabin. We can gather tomorrow to debrief."

Garrus nodded at Nihlus gratefully, quietly communicating his acceptance as he drew Shepard toward the elevator and out of sight. Once Nihlus made sure the marines were taking good care of their STG passengers, he called the elevator back down so he could stumble to his own cabin and take a much-needed shower.

Shepard barely noticed Garrus leading her into the elevator, up a few levels, and into her cabin. She was barely able to keep her eyes open as he set her gently on her bed and began to methodically strip her of her armor, or of when he stepped to the side and removed his own. When Garrus' gentle talons began to peel off her undersuit, murmuring questions to her that she barely had the presence of mind to answer, she finally looked at him.

He was… not what she'd expected.

Under all the armor, the turian form was apparently a lot slimmer than she'd expected. The sharp angles of his collarbone stood stark against a rapidly narrowing waist, before leading to dramatically flaring angular hips and powerful thighs. Mindlessly, she reached out to touch the soft leathery skin of his waist as he peeled her undersuit off her upper body and she heard him gasp quietly.

"Shepard…" Garrus' voice rang with warning as he dodged her wandering fingers to pull her undersuit off of her the rest of the way.

"You're beautiful." Shepard muttered tiredly, her eyes sliding in and out of focus as Garrus tossed her undersuit to the side. She heard his subvocals rumble with a mixture of pride and embarrassment.

"You need to get cleaned up, Shepard. Come on." Garrus' voice was firm and carefully neutral as he wrapped a strong leathery arm around her to pull her to her feet and lead her to the shower. It was small, but after turning the water on Garrus found a way to arrange both of them under the stream so he could continue to support her.

She leaned against him, her hand sliding up his chest to feel his fluttering heartbeat under the harder planes of his chest. Her other arm wrapped around his softer waist, relishing the slightly leathery feel of his skin under her fingertips. Garrus groaned into the tiny space, shaking his head rapidly as the water cascaded around them.

"Shepard, that really isn't a good idea." Garrus whined gently, his hand catching hers to still her exploration of his skin.

Shepard barely had the presence of mind to hum noncommittally as Garrus began working his talons through her hair, letting the water wash away the base layer of sweat and grime. She'd need a more thorough shower later, when she was more lucid.

Eventually, the water cut off and Garrus shivered as he wrapped Shepard in a towel and carried her to her bed. He quickly dried himself off before turning to pat her dry, tossing the towels into the growing pile of laundry and tucking her under the thin blankets of her bed. He was turning away when she reached and caught one of his long, taloned fingers in her hand.

"Can you stay with me?" Normally Shepard would have cringed at the quiet pleading in her voice, but she was too tired to care. She just wanted to feel his warmth, his hard planes and contrasting soft leathery skin against her as she slept off a hard day of fighting.

Garrus silently circled the bed and slipped under the covers behind her, wrapping a gentle arm around her waist and pulling her against him as she sighed happily. Her eyes were already closed, sleep well on its way to claiming her when Garrus whispered into the silence.

"We made it again, Shepard."

That they did.

When Shepard dragged herself out of a deep sleep, the warmth at her back instantly brought fragmented memories of the day before flooding back. Garrus taking care of her, undressing her, helping her shower, and eventually crawling into bed beside her at her own quiet insistence. A smile flitted across her face as she snuggled against Garrus' warmth, listening to the soft trills he made while asleep.

Something else popped into her memory as well, sparking a different kind of emotion in Shepard as she slowly recalled last night. Garrus' repeated warnings as her fingers explored his waist, his quiet whine as he made her fingers stop trailing over the soft skin there. Her smile turned wicked as she carefully turned in the circle of his arm to face him. The blanket had slid down them, barely covering Garrus' hip, and there was that soft exposed skin.

Shepard slid her hand gently along the bony lines of his upper chest, following the planes of plating until she found where the softer skin began. She danced her fingers across the skin, her eyes flitting up to Garrus' face occasionally to see if he was still asleep. She trailed her fingers down further, along the narrowest part of his waist and exploring further downward, where the plating resumed with intricate seams down his front.

One curious finger trailed along the vertical seam in his natural armor that dipped low between his thighs, and as her finger trailed up and down that seam she finally felt Garrus' grip on her tighten slightly.

"Shepard, what do you think you are doing?" Garrus' voice rumbled dangerously, his talons digging in ever so slightly into the soft skin of her hip as she shamelessly continued her exploration of his body.

"Just testing a theory, Garrus…" she whispered, trailing her finger back up the seam to spread her palm out on the softer skin of his waist. Garrus' strained whine in response to the contact sent a pleased thrill through Shepard as she slid her palm over his lower belly and along his waist with slightly more pressure.

She brought her other hand between them to reach higher, looping around the back of his neck to trail along the underside of his crest. She'd done some research, since that first heated interaction between them. She wanted to put it to the test, and the dangerous thrum of Garrus' subvocals told her that she was on the right track.

Shepard alternated her lower hand between enjoying the soft skin of his waist and trailing back down to that vertical seam in his plating, teasing as she felt his body tense against her, his hips unconsciously chasing her touch. After a bit, she stretched up to press her lips to his neck as he threw his head back and hummed helplessly under her ministrations.

"Shepard, are you sure you…"

"I want this, Garrus… I want you." Shepard breathed against his neck before darting her tongue out to lick at the place where she could feel his pulse pound under the skin. Garrus growled low in his chest, his grip tightening as his hand slid down her hip to pull one of her legs over his. When she rocked her hips against him, the movement elicited a breathless noise from both of them. Garrus nipped at her throat, and as she rocked against him she could feel his body shifting.

"If we start this, I won't want to stop." Garrus warned, his eyes flashing as he met her heated gaze. Shepard grinned wickedly at him, reaching between them to feel that her hard work had borne fruit. Now, rather than simple plating between them, she found her prize. She rubbed Garrus' long, ribbed cock against her slit, whining as the sensation sent sparks racing through her.

Garrus bucked against her, his breath coming in desperate pants as he felt how wet she was. He tightened his grip and forcibly stilled his hips, watching her with bated breath as she met his gaze. Shepard grasped his cock and lined him up, rolling her hips as the flared tip slipped inside her. Shepard gasped as she rolled her hips again, sinking him deeper inside her.

"Spirits, Shepard… I can't…"

"I won't break, Garrus…"

Garrus succumbed to something primal within him, his grasp on her tightening as he rolled her on top of him. The change in position meant that as soon as he had her above him, he slipped deep into her with a strangled gasp. Shepard keened, leaning forward to latch her lips to his neck. Her teeth scraped against his skin as he held himself still for a moment to let her adjust. When he began to move, his hips driving his cock into her with measured precision, Shepard saw stars.

"Fuck, Garrus… this is…" Shepard gasped as he increased his pace driving into her as his grasp shifted to her waist to make her sit straight up on him. He lifted her and brought her down on him effortlessly, the rumbling desperation of his subvocals sending Shepard careening toward her own orgasm. He fucked into her at an increasingly ruthless pace, his slit pupils narrowing as he watched her with a predatory glee.

"Mine…" Garrus growled, suddenly surging up and flipping them so that Shepard was under him. Shepard instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, nearly screaming as the new angle sent him driving deeper into her. Garrus leaned forward, his needle-sharp teeth flashing as he watched her come apart, his breath panting as his subvocals shifted into something possessive and predatory.

Shepard could feel the tension in his body as she came apart, clamping down on him as her eyes fluttered closed and she arched. When her eyes opened, Garrus leaned down and nipped at the base of her neck, his sharp teeth scraping the skin there dangerously.

When Garrus' thrusts grew erratic, deep and demanding, Shepard shattered again. Garrus growled against her skin, his talons digging into her skin just shy of drawing blood as he fucked into her and then shuddered heavily. She felt him climax, his cock swelling to impossible size inside her and briefly sending her crashing over the edge of orgasm one more time before he slumped and began to soften, drawing out of her and throwing himself on the bed beside her.

Shepard panted, staring up at the metal ceiling as her hand halfheartedly reached for his, tangling their fingers. They lay silently, fingers and legs tangled until the trickling mess of Garrus' climax began to grow uncomfortable. Halfheartedly, Shepard reached beside the bed and found one of the towels Garrus had used last night and used it top mop up the mess between her legs.

Garrus rumbled beside her, satisfaction and pleasure filling his tones as he turned to smell himself on her. Then, suddenly, he shot up to a sitting position and fixed his eyes on her with wild alarm.

"Shit, Shepard! You're not a damn dextro, the reaction…" He scrambled off the bed, stumbling as Shepard reached for him.

"Garrus, calm down. I got tested after… well… trust me, I'm not going to go into anaphylactic shock. It's safe."

Garrus slumped onto the bed with a groan, hand on his chest as if willing his rapid heartbeat to calm. Shepard smiled warmly at him, scooting forward on the bed to wrap her arms around him and nuzzle at his neck affectionately.

"You're going to need another shower, big guy." Shepard murmured amusedly. "I will too."

"Yeah, about that… Nihlus will still be able to smell… well, you. Me. I didn't mark you, but he'll be able to scent me on you. That can't be avoided."

Shepard chucked wryly, sighing as Garrus' arms came around her and he buried her face in the crook of her neck. She could hear that he was secretly pleased, in some primal part of him, that anyone with a good enough nose would be able to tell that she was his. She was less surprised than she expected to find that she didn't quite mind either.

She'd fallen hard for this turian.

Chapter Text

My darlings.

My readers.

My nerds.

I'm still here, not gone forever, not departed and all that.

I'm just struggling right now.

I've always sworn to myself the world won't get to me. Politics won't get to me. Real life won't dull my flame. It's hard, though, when the world's going to shit. I feel like I'm living in a cheesy dystopia teen fiction novel. I'm stressed, anxious, afraid.

As much as I want to soldier on, it's hard to devote the brain cells to creating when my mind is on if my life partner will be called on to participate in a war. My mind considers whether my home country is a safe place to raise my children, rather than what I'm writing.

My mind veers towards real-life activism rather than fantasy.

As much as I miss you all, as much as I miss creating, it's just not in me right now. I'm sorry. I hope that soon, things will get better. That I will find my spark again. That I will be able to find catharsis in writing, rather than avoid discussing a fantasy world that too well reflects the real world.

I can't write about war right now. It feels too real.

If you see me post works that aren't this, please don't feel upset. If I can manage to create anything in this hellscape we live in, it's a win. I'm determined that, eventually, I will finish my story here. I just can't right now.

All that to say this is my formal sabbatical. Not forever, but for now. I don't want to just keep you all hanging, so I'm making it official. I'll be back. I'm determined. For now, though... I need to find my voice again in a reality where I feel like that voice is being systematically stripped away.

I love you all, be safe out there. I will be back, when I'm ready.