ME1: World Without End
Chapter 20: Time is of the Essence

"Joker, set a course to the Voyager Cluster." I ordered as I downloaded the intel Admiral Kahoku had sent me. "On the double!"

"Aye, Commander."

I ordered my team to the comm room for a briefing. I was hoping we wouldn't be too late to rescue Admiral Kahoku from Cerberus. I guess when people say 'time is of the essence', they weren't joking.

About fifteen minutes later, everyone was sitting in their chairs. I gave myself a few minutes before I began to play the message Kahoku sent me. After my crew heard it, I began to pace.

"Do you think he's still alive?" Tali asked.

"Why would Cerberus kidnap a human? I thought they were an anti-alien group?" asked Liara

"If they're part of the military and have gone rogue, that means they're traitors. We must find them, capture them, and save the Admiral." Ashley exclaimed.

"Agreed." I nodded to Ash. "From the information Kahoku has obtained, Binthu is a good planet to do illegal experiments. It's in the unpopulated system of Yangtze in the Voyager cluster.

"Cerberus bastards," Ashley growled. "What the hell do they want the Admiral for anyways? Hell, what were they doing with this whole 'Banes' thing? It just doesn't make sense."

"I know, and I'm hoping that when we get there, we're going to find out all the answers.”

"Who you taking with you, Shepard?" Wrex asked.

I folded my arms and let out a sigh. "We don't have time to explore the entire planet with just one squad. If Cerberus knows we landed, they could kill the Admiral, if they haven’t already." I turned to Ashley. "Ash, you’re leading the second team. Take Tali, Wrex, and Liara with you. Garrus and Kaidan, you're with me."

"Aye, Commander." Ashley nodded.

"Dismissed." I said as I sat down in my chair, looking over the report.

"Hey Commander, got an incoming call from the Fifth Fleet." Joker said over the Comm.

"I'll take it in here, Joker." I said as I stood up from my chair and hit the 'on' button on the console. "Admiral."

"Commander, thank you for dealing with the hostage situation. Chairman Burns was quite impressed by the way you resolved the situation peacefully. Your assistance has been above and beyond and will be noted."

"Thank you, Sir. Did Burns give a full statement that he will help the L2's?"

"I think so. Lieutenant Alenko sent me his report as well. I will make sure the L2s get the proper help they need."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Also something else has come up." The admiral sighed. "In the First Contact War, we fired a lot of espionage probes into turian space. We've just received a 'mission complete' burst from one of them."

"That's quite a delay, where's it been in the meantime?"

"No idea, lost in transit. These probes were built in a hurry after first contact."

"What makes this 'uncomfortable', Sir?"

"When these probes were launched, we didn't have any idea who we were fighting. We didn't want to risk aliens examining our technology. The probe has a demo nuke built in. A 20-kiloton tactical fusion warhead. About equal to the bomb dropped on Hiroshima back in the 20th."

I frowned. "Damn."

"Damn is right, Commander. If somebody finds that probe, tampers with it... you don't need me to finish."

"I understand this must be handled, but I don't have anyone trained to deal with this sort of thing, Sir. Also, I am heading to the Voyager cluster right now in hopes to save Admiral Kahoku from human terrorists."

There was silence for a moment. "That is where the probe is, Commander."

"It's in the Voyager Cluster? That's the opposite side of the Alliance from turian space. How did it get there?"

"I don't know. It's possible someone recovered it safely and brought it there. It's also possible it got badly lost. It could have been wandering the relay network since the war." The Admiral sighed. "Saving Admiral Kahoku is your primary, Commander. But I would like it if you could deal with this probe after. These probes have been classified for 26 years. The Council would call fusion-bomb booby traps 'dangerous and irresponsible'. The Alliance would face censure if they find this probe." Another sigh from the Admiral, he must be having a bad day too. "I'm asking you because Normandy can get on site quickly and quietly. If you can't I understand, and I will send in the MSV Roddenberry to deal with it."

"No, Sir." I shook my head. "As soon as we save the Admiral I will head to the Amazon sector to see if I can find the probe, and we'll be discreet."

"Thank you, Commander. Good luck on finding the Admiral, Fifth fleet out."




"Commander, we just entered the Voyager cluster. We should reach the Yangtze system in two hours." Joker announced.

I opened my eyes to the sound of his voice. I had been running on six hours of sleep in the last 48 hours. I sat up in my bed and ran my hands over my face. "Thank you, Jeff."

I crawled out of bed and looked into my mirror, running my hands over my face and my hair. I sighed as I grabbed my bathroom accessories and headed for the showers.

After taking a quick 10 minute shower, I got dressed and headed to the mess hall to grab a quick bite to eat before heading to the lower deck to help with any preparations. As the doors to the elevator door opened, I noticed Garrus and Wrex standing next to the Mako with their Omni tools out.

"Alright, I programed your OT and mine to do a body count. At the end of the mission, we will see who really is the best shot."

Wrex laughed at Garrus. "I don't know why you would want a counter, Garrus. Don't you trust me?"

"No, you'll probably cheat."

Wrex grinned. "There is no such thing as cheating unless you get caught. Besides, I don't need to cheat when playing against you, Sewage Bird."

"Listen, Bridge Troll- let's make a bet."

"You're on."

"If I win, you have to give Williams a big smooch on the lips."

Wrex turned to look at Ashley who was yelling at one of her officers. "I do like angry women. Alright, and if I win you get to kiss Shepard."

Wait, what?

Garrus's eyes widened. "No way, Wrex. I-"

"Are you scared? Surely Garrus Vakarian is not scared of Commander Shepard."

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, Garrus... are you scared of me?"

I had to admit, the idea of a kissing a turian sounded intriguing. And it wasn't just some random turian that was going to do it, it was Garrus. Wrex and Garrus turned to me and I couldn't help but flash a bright smile.

"Are you seriously supporting this, Shepard?” My silence was his answer. “Spirits, alright-" Garrus sighed as he shook Wrex's hand. "It's a bet."


After spending about an hour and a half going over the Mako's systems, getting medical supplies, and other necessary necessities, we were 10 minutes out from drop point one.

"Have you figured out a name for your team, Ash?" I asked as she put on her helmet.

"Aye, Skipper. We are the 'Adas' team. Tali mentioned it as being one of the quarian worlds that was lost to the geth. It sounded nice."

"Adas, I like that." I smiled. "We're going to be 'Liberation', I know it's not fancy, but it will get the job done."

As Liara, Tali, and Wrex stood next to Ash, I couldn't help but give them a speech of confidence.

"You guys are to go down there and kick some ass. Be careful of booby-traps and heaven forbid, Thresher Maws. Since we know that Kahoku's team was ambushed, you are to watch your sensors at all times. Binthu has a habit for having acid rain, but your suits should protect you. Make sure you bring your portable tents just in case something goes wrong. Stay on radios at all times. And if all possible, try to keep one Cerberus prisoner alive. We might need him or her for interrogation."

"Aye, Commander."

"Good luck."

"Aye, Skipper. You too."




Two minutes after team Adas was dropped, it was our turn.

"All systems are a go." Kaidan confirmed as I drove the Mako off the ramps and turned on full thrusters. We landed somewhat softly onto the sulfur surface.

Binthu:
Orbital Distance: N/A
Orbital Period: 5 Earth Years
Keplerian Ratio: N/A
Radius: 5,935 km
Day Length: 53.2 Earth Hours
Atm. Pressure: 0.91 atm
Surface Temp: 94 C
Surface Gravity: 0.94
Mass: 0.808 Earth Masses
Satellites: 1

"Shepard, reading at least three facilities in the nearby area." Garrus reported.

"Liberation to Adas, do you copy?" I hailed over the comm.

"Loud and clear, Skipper."

"We got three facilities on the map. Are your OTs sensors picking them up?"

"Not all three, but we are on the march to the closest one to us. It's a couple clicks away."

"Alright, you're most likely heading to the north west of our position. We are heading to the facility that is just south of us. Stay in contact."

As we began our approach to the south Cerberus facility, I couldn't help but look at Binthu's moon. "Hey Kaidan, what does that moon remind you of?" I asked.

It took him a few minutes before turning to me. "That's no moon."

I laughed as he got the reference. After a few seconds, Garrus spoke. "I don’t get it. Of course it's a moon."

I turned to my turian who was sitting in the back next to the weapon controls. "You really do need to watch Star Wars, Garrus."

"Obviously." He stated.

"Commander, we got enemy readings on sensors. Looks like two turrets." Kaidan pointed out.

"Did you hear that, Williams? Be careful when you approach, there might be a few presents waiting for you."

"Roger that, Commander."

"Don't worry, Shepard. I can hack them so they won't be firing on us all at once." Tali's voice echoed.

"Good girl." I smiled. "Garrus, shoot those damn turrets."

"I'm on it." Garrus smirked as we went up and over a hill, seeing the two turrets from a distance.

It didn't take to terribly long for Garrus to destroy the turrets before we stopped the Mako at the front door of the facility.

"Let's get in here quick and quietly. I don't want them to execute the Admiral if he is in there."

"Aye, Commander." Kaidan said as we entered the base with guns drawn.

The front entrance was filled with boxes, mods, and equipment. I lifted a brow as I noticed grade 10 gear lying all over the floor.

"Alliance grade, Shepard." Kaidan said. "I can't believe Cerberus is part of the Alliance."

"They're not-" I corrected. "From what the Admiral said, they went rogue. Let's stay focus until we know the Admiral is safe."

We walked into the other room and Garrus whispered. "Sensors are picking up a half dozen human life signs and-" Garrus stopped in mid-sentence and looked at me with shocking eyes.

"And what, Garrus?" I asked.

"Half dozen rachni."

"Rachni? What the hell is Cerberus doing with rachni?" Kaidan asked.

"Nothing good most likely." I said as the doors to the main room opened. I peeked around to see that the rachni were encased in some sort of force field. "Kaidan, Garrus and I will distract Cerberus. You unlock that force field. Hopefully the rachni won't care who they attack."

"Aye, Commander."

I counted to three softly and then Garrus and I began to shoot as Kaidan ducked and headed for the force field console. It didn't take long for Kaidan to take down the field.

"INTRUDORS!" yelled one Cerberus soldiers. "The Rachni have escaped! Reapply the force-"

Garrus shot the guy before he finished his order. "Hey Bridge Troll, my count so far is 4, what's your count?"

I heard Wrex grumble over the comm. "2! Williams is taking all my kills!"

"Keep it up, Chief!" Garrus laughed.

"Shepard, watch out!" Kaidan said as I turned to see a rachni scuttle towards me. Just as I was about to duck, the rachni was lifted into the air by one of Kaidan's biotic lifts. I quickly used my only biotic power and threw the rachni into the wall causing it to fall dead to the floor. The battle was over.

"Any survivors?" I asked.

"Sorry, Commander." Garrus said.

I let out a sigh. "Look around for intel about this base, I want all possible info about-"

"Commander," It was Tali. "We got green rachni bugs here! No sign of Kahoku!"

I could tell that Adas team was still under fire. I heard yells from Wrex, telling Cerberus they stood no chance against a krogan. I heard Ash giving orders to Liara telling her to use her biotics in anyway shape or form.

I let out a deep breath that I didn't realize I was holding when Ashley said that the coast was clear.

"No survivors, Commander." Ash confirmed.

"I don't know about the rest of you, but this is my kind of mission!" Wrex laughed.

"I wonder what kind of genetic mutants Cerberus has been cooking up in the next base." Garrus thought out loud.

"Download any intel that you find over there, Ash, and then head to the next facility. We'll meet you there."

"Aye, Skipper."

"Wrex, what's your count?" Garrus asked as we made our way to the door.

"5." Was Wrex pouting?

"Ooooo, I have 8. I think I'm going to win this bet."

"What are you two betting on?" Ash had asked.

"If the bird brain wins, I have to kiss you." Wrex sounded grumpy.

"WHAT?" gasped Ashley.

"Ash, don't you dare let him-"

"And what happens if you win, Wrex?" Liara interrupted Garrus.

"Garrus gets to kiss Shepard."

"WHAT?" this time it was Kaidan.

"Guys, let's focus on trying to find the admiral," I pointed out. "We can find out who is kissing who later!"

"Aye, Commander."



The quick three minute drive to the eastern facility seemed like an hour.

"There is no way you are kissing Shepard, Vakarian." Kaidan said with a growl.

"Look, if by some odd chance Wrex does win, I don't plan on lip sucking Shepard, alright?"

“It’s lip locking, Garrus.” I corrected.

“Whatever.” Garrus shrugged.

“As long as we are clear on that, Vakarian.” Growled Kaidan. “Turrets, 1:00."

I drove the Mako around the facility a few times, allowing Garrus to get some clear shots. When the turrets exploded and began to burn, I stopped the Mako at the front door.

"Adas, what's your ETA?"

"We're at least five minutes out, Commander." Ashley yelled. "We're running as fast as we can."

"How come we couldn't take the Mako?" Wrex complained.

I ignored my krogan and looked at Garrus and Kaidan. "Stay sharp." I ordered as we entered the facility. After spending a few minutes looking at the supplies in the first room, I squatted next to the door to the main room. I peeked in, noticing another large force field. It was holding some sort of creatures that looked very familiar to husks, but weren't.

"What are those things?" I whispered to Garrus.

"Unknown, but they seemed to be radiating some sort of toxin. I would advise caution."

"Scanners are picking up at least fifteen Cerberus personal." Kaidan said. "Should we release the husk like creatures?"

"Yes, use them as a-"

"Hey, did we miss anything?" Ash said as she ducked next to me.

"We got unidentified creatures in the containment field, along with at least a dozen Cerberus."

"Goddess," Liara gasped. "Is that a human body in the field?"

"Keelah, is it Admiral Kahoku?"

I looked harder and then noticed a body lying on the floor. My stomach turned, afraid to admit that Tali was right. "Let's concentrate on Cerberus. Tali, you and Kaidan head to the containment console and deactivate the field. The rest of us, let's do some damage."

"Aye, Commander."

Tali and Kaidan slowly made their way to the console without being seeing. I nodded, giving the word, and the containment field went down. The creatures made weird screeching sounds as they began to scurry the room.

"INTRUDORS! YOU WILL DIE!" yelled one of the Cerberus soldiers who caught a glimpse of Wrex.

"You first!" yelled my krogan as he shot his gun, killing the Cerberus agent instantly.

I ran across the room with Ash right behind me. We quickly ducked behind boxes and began to take out Cerberus one at a time. It was only a matter of minutes before I heard a cry.

"LIARA, look-"

"AHHHH!" Cried the asari.

"LIARA!" Screamed Tali.

I quickly turned to see that Liara had been shot. She lay motionless on the cold floor.

"Shit! Garrus!" I called out.

"I'm on it. Wrex, cover me!"

"You bet!" Wrex yelled.

Garrus ran over to Liara, quickly applying medigel as the rest of us continued their attack.

As soon as the fire fight was done, I quickly went to Liara. "How is she?" I asked the turian who had quite a bit of purple blood on his armor.

"She's hurt, not as bad as it looks, but we need to get her to Normandy."

"Joker, Liara has been hit, we need emergency transport." Ash called on the Comm.

As Ash was making arrangements for Normandy to land, Wrex walked over to Garrus and knelt down. "Can she be moved? I can carry her if you need me too."

"She's fine to transport to Normandy." Garrus nodded.

"I'll go with you, Wrex." Ash said as Wrex carefully picked up the unconscious asari in his arms.

"Hang in there, Bluebird..." He said as he carried Liara to the door with Ash in tow.


I placed my hand on Garrus's shoulders, frowning at all the purple blood around us.

Liara will be okay. Chakwas is the best damn doctor in the fleet. I whispered to myself.

"Shepard, over here." Tali's voice broke my trance and I carefully got up from the floor and walked to her. When I approached her, my heart sunk. "It's Admiral Kahoku."

I knelt down next to the body and examined it. "There are no markings indicating that he was killed by the strange creatures." I ran my hand over the dead admiral's arm. "Wait, take a look at this."

Garrus knelt down. "Looks like some sort of needle marks. Most likely a lethal injection."

"Shepard, we got alive one!" called out Kaidan.

I got up and headed to Kaidan who had a gun pointed to a man's head. I knelt down next to the bleeding man.

"Who are you?"

"Go to hell."

"Who runs Cerberus?"

"Again-go-to-hell."

I was getting annoyed. "What is Cerberus up too? What is your goal for killing Banes, killing Kahoku, and attacking people with Thresher Maws?!"

The man laughed. "You-have-no idea who-you're mess-messing with. You-will-"

"We're losing him, Commander." Kaidan called out, applying Medigel to the man.

"Damn it, what is Cerberus after!?"

The man just laughed. "You're a-traitor, Shepard. Aliens are n-not our allies..." The man was gasping for breath. "Hu-humanity will prev...."

"He's dead." Kaidan said.

"DAMN IT!" I growled.

"Commander, take a look at this." Tali said as she was at a computer console in the back area of the room. "It looks like some sort of coordinates to a bigger Cerberus facility. Looks like it's in the Columbia system."

"We owe Kahoku that much." Kaidan said as he stood.

I let out a sigh and then nodded. "Let's go find out what Cerberus is really up too. Kaidan, you and Garrus carry Kahoku's body to Normandy. Tali and I will stay here to do a full sweep."

"Aye, Commander."

As Garrus and Kaidan made their way out of the facility with the Admiral's body, I couldn't help but sit down in a chair that managed not to be destroyed in the firefight. My hands went immediately to my face. It wasn't even a minute before I heard a soft voice ask "Are you okay, Commander?"

I looked up at Tali and nodded. "Yeah, just tired. Did you find anything?"

"Nothing except for some data logs. Might take a couple of years to fully decrypt though."

"Years?"

"They use some sort of hacking prevention system. It's actually quite genius; I have never seen anything like it."

I stood up from the chair and looked around at the dead bodies of Cerberus. "Come on, let’s get the hell out of here and go see Liara."

"Aye, Commander."


As soon as everyone was onboard and the Mako was properly in her place, I ordered Joker to the Columbia sector. After spending a few minutes getting my armor off, I grabbed my hoodie and then headed to the medbay with Tali in tow.



When we entered the medbay, Doctor Chakwas was standing over Liara on biobed number 2, the one I was on when I got hurt on Eden Prime. Wrex was there, sitting on a chair that probably wasn't made for a krogan.

"Doc, your seats aren't comfortable."

"That's because they're not designed for your fat ass." Garrus said as he stood next to Wrex, purple blood still on his hands.

"Oh, very funny." Wrex said in a low tone.

"How is she, Doc?" I asked.

"She will be fine. She was shot with tungsten rounds. With the rounds being a lot smaller, they went through her, not causing too much damage. She'll be okay in a few weeks."

I ran my hand over my asari's head as Chakwas looked at Garrus. "Garrus, have you been wounded?"

"No, most of this is Liara's blood. I wanted to make sure she was okay before I hit the showers."

"She'll be fine," Chakwas reassured us. "I'll message you all if anything changes."

“Is it okay if I stay with her for a little bit?” Tali asked, rubbing her hands together nervously.

“Of course.” Chakwas nodded.

"Thank you, Doc." I smiled as I walked out of the medbay with Garrus and Wrex.

"Soooooo, Garrus. What's your final count?" Wrex asked as he looked at his OT kill counter. "I got a total of 13."

Garrus sighed. "11, but that's because I was saving Liara."

Wrex laughed. "You're the hero...and you get to kiss Shepard."

As Wrex walked away laughing I couldn't help but see Garrus shake his head as we headed to the showers. “Spirits."

"How do turians kiss anyways?" I asked him, probably making him feel even more uncomfortable. "You don't have any lips." Garrus didn't even answer as he quickly turned and walked into the men's bathroom.


Just as we were about to head out of the system, Joker detected a faint signal coming from an escape pod that was trapped in orbit around the planet Alrumter.  We spent about twenty minutes recovering the probe only to find a dead turian, personal belongings, and a Prothean data disc inside. Garrus had informed me that the turian was most likely a soldier in the military, and his escape pod was damage due to whatever caused his ship to be destroyed.

After spending two hours taking a shower, getting something to eat, a quick 15 minute nap, checking on Liara, and a half hour briefing with my crew, I was back in the Mako checking systems as Normandy's bay doors opened. I had decided to take Tali and Ash with me, due to the fact that Garrus was still intrigued by the dead turian soldier and really wanted to figure out who he was.


"Commander, you're clear for landing. Kick some Cerberus butt." Joker said.

"Acknowledge." I drove the Mako off of Normandy.

Nepheron
Orbital Distance: N/A
Orbital Period: 0.8 Earth Years
Keplerian Ratio: N/A
Radius: 6,865
Day Length: 56.2 Earth Hours
Atm. Pressure: 0.73 atm
Surface Temp: 37 C
Surface Gravity: 0.88g
Mass: 1.012 Earth Masses
Satellites: 1


After spending a few minutes checking over systems, I drove the Mako over the rocky texture of planet Nepheron. Nepheron, a barren, volcanic terrestrial world with an atmosphere for carbon dioxide and krypton. I honestly had no idea why Cerberus would want facilities on these types of worlds, but I was going to find out. This anti-alien group had something up their sleeve, and I was going to find out what.

"Commander, sensors picking up a small building about four clicks from here. Also, looks like a crashed probe just east of it." Tali reported.

"Alright, let's go check it out and see what we can find."

What did we find? A fucking thresher maw, that's what! I was happy Ash was with me, because she quickly put her hand on my shoulder. "You can do this, Skipper! We're not afraid of it, it's afraid of us!"

I could feel my stomach begin to turn. My eyes began to water as the screaming of the maw rang in my ears.

"Commander!" Tali cried out, causing me to come back into this reality nightmare. I punched the gas on the Mako and I quickly drove around in a large circle, Ashley on the guns.

"It's almost dead!" Ashley called out a few minutes later. I had to admit, half of the time I was closing my eyes, wishing and praying that the fucking thing would just die. "It's dead."

I quickly parked the Mako and rested my head on the console. Damn. It was bad enough Ash and Garrus knew about my fear, now Tali did too.

"Shepard, are you okay?" Tali asked.

I didn't answer, my body was still shaking.

"She'll be okay. She has a fear of maws, Tali." Ash said in a low tone.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, it was Tali's. "It's okay, Shepard. Everyone is afraid of something. I'm afraid of the rachni."

I turned to her, looking at her oddly. "Yo-you’re afraid of the rachni?"

She nodded. "Yeah, not the green ones, but the big ones, the scouts."

"I-I didn't know this."

"An advantage of having a mask to hide your face." Tali sat back in her chair. "They make me freeze up. When I heard you saw rachni in that Cerberus facility I-"

"Is that why you were clinging to Wrex when Shepard gave her report?" Asked Ash. Tali nodded. "I knew something was wrong."

I took a deep breath. "Tali, please don't tell anyone about my fear. I know everyone looks up to me and if they find out that I'm afraid of an oversized worm-"

"My lips are sealed, as long as you don't tell anyone about the rachni."

Ash laughed. "Thresher maws, rachni, and lightning. We really are a bunch of girls."

"Lightning?" Tali asked as I took a deep breath and drove the Mako to the small shack.

"It's a long story." Ash said.

After spending a few minutes in the empty shack and finding nothing that would help us learn more about Cerberus, we headed to the main facility. When the last turret on the facility blew up, Ash jumped out of the Mako. "Looks like they were expecting us. A lot more firepower was outside this time."

"Keep your eyes peeled and weapons drawn." I ordered as Tali hacked the door. As it slid open, I went in first, followed by Ash.

"I'm reading at least two dozen life signs in there, Shepard." Tali said as we all knelt down next to the closed door that lead into the main room of the facility.

"Alright, let's do some damage. Tali, see if you can bring down the ones that have shields. Ash, do what you do best."

They both nodded as I took a breath before entering the main room. I took out least three guards before Cerberus knew we were there.

"INDRUDORS!"

"Here they come!" Ash yelled.

"Hold them back!" I ordered. "Don't let them get a clear shot at you."

"Ashley, the one on the left has their shields down!" Tali called out. Ash quickly turned to her left shooting the Cerberus soldier in the head.

"Ash, throw me a grenade!" I called out. Ash tossed me one and I quickly threw hers and mine at the same time, causing an inferno/cryo explosion.

After about fifteen minutes of gun fighting, the last Cerberus operative fell dead to the floor.

"Looks like we got them." Ashley said as she put her gun away.

"Search the facility, see if there is anything here that can shine a light on what the hell Cerberus was up too."

"Aye, Commander."

Tali and Ashley went into the back area of the facility as I continued to scan the front. I noticed boxes and crates filled with mods, tech, armor, and weapons.

"Commander, we found something." Tali's voice echoed over the comm channel.

I made my way to the back left room where Tali and Ash were at. "What do you got?"

"I tried to access this console, but the optical database was rigged. I quickly copied as many files as I could to my OT and internal computer, but... the memory is completely wiped. The files, as expected, are encrypted and it will most likely take years to decrypt."

"Well, we can't do anything with it now. I'll have Joker send it to the fleet and hopefully it won’t take that long to figure out what the hell Cerberus is up too."

"If you want, I can send a copy to the Flotilla. We have excellent hacking experts."

"I would greatly appreciate it, thank you Tali. Now, I am sure we can all agree, let's get the hell out of here.


As soon as we boarded Normandy and the Mako was secured, I contacted Joker.

"Joker, set a course for the Amazon system."

"Aye, Commander. ETA about two hours."

"Have my crew in the comm room in 45 minutes for a briefing."

"Aye, Commander."


I sat down in my chair 45 minutes later with my data pad in hand. "We're not sure what is going on with this probe. All I know is that if we don't stop it, a lot of people could get hurt. Tali, I want you to come down with me. I'm going to need a hacking expert and you're the best one I got."

Tali nodded. "Of course."

Then I looked at Garrus. "The Alliance doesn't want anyone to know about this probe, but I am not going to hide it from anyone onboard this ship. Hackett might not like it, but I think you should know what we did after First Contact."

Garrus shrugged. "Commander, I wasn't apart of First Contact. I really would careless of what-"

"That's not the point, Garrus." I said.

"Shepard is right." Ashley pointed out. "This probe was meant to protect Earth in case the Turians or other alien life wasn't going to play nice. This could help bring further peace for humans and all other aliens."

"So involving me because I am turian would help in what way? Shepard, humans are already at peace with turians, krogan, asari, and salarians."

"Garrus, you know that humanity will always be 2nd rate when it comes to the council. And you damn well know that half of the turians out there aren't quite fond of humans. This could really help bond our species together.”

Garrus sighed. "If you want me to come down with you and Tali, I'll come."

I nodded. "Thank you."

"Hey Commander, sorry to interrupt, but there is a message coming through. I think you're going to want to hear this one."

"Put it through, Joker."

"Greetings, Commander Shepard. I represent a party interested in obtaining information on Cerberus activities."

I mouth dismissed to my crew and then stood up from my chair. "Who are you, and who do you represent?" I asked, noticing Garrus was staying behind.

"Who I am is inconsequential. Suffice to say, I am an agent for the Shadow Broker. You see, Admiral Kahoku contacted my employer looking for information on the location of any Cerberus facilities. We provided that information on the promise that he would turn over copies of all files gathered from the Cerberus systems to us.

I leaned on the console railing, glaring at the wall, pretending it was the bastard on the other line. "Did you have anything to do with the Admiral Kahoku ending up dead?"

There was a moment of silence. "We had no reason to harm him. He was going to provide us with information about Cerberus. Information that is now in your possession."

I snorted. "You must have connection to Cerberus. How else could you tell Kahoku where to find them?"

"Information is our business, Commander. Through our contacts, we are able to determine that the Cerberus group was active in the Voyager cluster. Unfortunately, that was all we were able to find out. That is why we are so interested in acquiring copies of the files from you."

I folded my arms across my chest as I glanced at Garrus, who was leaning on one of the chairs. "Do you think I am stupid? These are classified Alliance files. I'm not handing them over to you."

"Be reasonable, Commander. Cerberus was operating outside Alliance jurisdiction. You don't owe them any loyalty." There was a pause. "Look, the Alliance is just going to file this information in some archive. But no secret stays hidden forever. Eventually, someone somewhere will deliver it into our hands. Might as well be you, right? Besides, the Shadow Broker gave you information on Saren for free, can't you return the favor?"

I stayed silent for a moment, thinking about the consequences if I did or did not give the intel to the Shadow Broker. "If I give you these files, what are you going to do with the information?"

"Information is commodity. It can be bought, sold, or traded. Why my employer desires this information is not my concern. I am only the buyer."

"Shepard," I turned to look at Garrus. "I might not like the idea, but we should send a copy of the information to the Broker. He did help us get intel on Saren, and perhaps down the road he can help us again. We want to be on good terms with him or her."

I sighed. "Alright, I will make a copy and transmit the files."

"I knew you were a reasonable woman, Commander. My employer will remember this the next time you need something from us."

The communication terminated and I let out a sigh as I leaned on the console. Garrus walked up to me and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You did the right thing, Commander."

I stood up straight and sighed. "I hope so."



Agebinium
Orbital Distance: N/A
Orbital Period: 1.8 Earth Years
Keplerian Ratio: N/A
Radius: 4,910 km
Day Length: 42.1 Earth Hours
Atm. Pressure: 0.17 atm
Surface Temp: -72 C
Surface Gravity: 0.79 g
Mass: 0.465 Earth Masses
Satellites: N/A

The Mako landed on the carbon dioxide/krypton planet with ease.

"Look at how red the sun is." Tali said.

I peeked outside the small window and smiled. Even though Agebinium had an extremely thin atmosphere and it really wasn't the best vacation spot. The amazon sun illuminated beautifully off the rocky surface.

"Shepard, getting the probe's reading just north west of us." Garrus said. "But it's faint."

"Alright, let's go get this probe and see if we can figure out what is going on." I said as I drove the Mako across the rocky terrain.

After a few minutes of driving, we came across a mining shaft surrounded with crates. I jumped out of the Mako first and looked around curiously. After a few minutes, I walked up to Garrus.

"The crates appear to be empty." Garrus said as he scanned one with his Omni tool.

"Check anyways," I said. "Remember what happened on Noveria. Geth could be in these damn containers and this could be a trap." Garrus nodded and then I walked up to Tali who was standing just outside the shaft's entrance. "What do you got, Tali?"

"The signal is coming from inside the mine. The probe didn't crash, someone moved it here."

Garrus walked up behind us. "Crates are empty."

I lifted a brow. "Something’s off."

"Do you think they know they have something so powerful?" Tali asked.

"I don't know. Let's find it before they set it off. Stay on guard."

"Affirmative." Garrus said.

I took lead and entered the mining shaft. We carefully made our way down the main entrance. I half expected an ambush of some kind, but there was nothing in the mining area except for more empty crates.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked mostly to myself.

"The signal is coming from the tunnel to the left." Tali reported.

We carefully made our way down the tunnel. "There's the probe." Garrus said.

"Alright, let's get to-"

Just then a loud explosion echoed all around us. The ground shook from underneath my feet and I quickly grabbed ahold of a box to steady myself as Tali clung to Garrus.

"What the hell was that?" I called out.

"That was a detonator." Garrus coughed as dust began to settle around us.

"Shepard," a voice from behind me called and I quickly turned around with my pistol in hand. "At last."

I lifted my brow as a holographic image of a turian stood before me. He was almost as tall as Garrus, with markings of yellow and black.

"I'm sorry, you have me at a disadvantage, Mr..."

"My name is Elanos Haliat, I doubt you know it."

I turned to Garrus. "Do you know him?"

"No," Garrus said as he stood next to me. "I don't recognize the clan markings."

"Who do you think runs the Terminus Clans, Shepard? Hm? Thousands of pirates, slaves, criminals of every stripe?"

I looked at him with a glare. "You assume I give a damn. That's cute." I felt Tali grab ahold of my sleeve. I knew I was making her nervous.

"The strongest leads, Shepard. The one who kills the most men, seizes the most ships, pillages the most colonies." Then he hit one of my nerves. "Just like Mindoir."

"Watch yourself, Haliat." I warned him.

"You don't get it do you, Shepard? Three years ago, I was the strongest. I used my influence to assemble a fleet. We would drive your kind out of the Verge."

My eyes grew big. "You're the one behind the attack on Elysium!"

The turian growled. "I was the motivator, the instigator. I was the one who promised glory and riches for sacking the largest human colony in the cluster. Then I was blamed when it failed!" I could see his mandibles twitch, his eyes glaring at me as if it was a personal vendetta. "I was ruined when your kind held against the Blitz. I was mocked and spit upon by batarian leaders and soldiers." Haliat smiled. "I heard you had a run in with Balak, and you let him go. I am glad you did, Shepard. Because when I tell him that I beat you when he didn't, I will recover my reputation. He might be running the Terminus clans now, but he won't be for much longer."

My eyes grew big. "Balak? Was it your idea to attack Terra Nova too?!"

He laughed. “No, I don’t use pebbles as weapons. He failed and soon I will reclaim my leadership over the Terminus.”

"When I find a way out of here, you're dead." I growled.

Haliat laughed. "I rather doubt that. Goodbye, Shepard." His image disappeared.

"What now?" Garrus asked. "Communications are jammed."

"We find a way out." I spat. "Someone up there needs my boot up his ass. See if there is-"

"SHEPARD!" Tali cried out. "The probe...it's counting down!"

My eyes widened as I saw three detonators on the probe. "Tali, hack it... quick"

10...9...8...7...

"Tali...."

"I'm trying- I just-"

5...4...3...

"Got it!"

I went limp for a second as the timer stopped its countdown. "I think we need to retire." I said.

"We’re soldiers, we don’t get to retire." Garrus pointed out.

"Thanks for reminding me." I said sarcastically.

"Shepard, if I can take one of the charges from the probe, I can set up a small bomb that can blast through the rock to get us out of here." Tali said. "But I will need your help, Garrus."

As Tali and Garrus worked on making a “Tali-nuke”, I started to download the memory core from the probe. Hopefully with this intel, Hackett could tell us where this probe has been for this long.

"Okay, stand back." Tali said as she pushed a few buttons on her OT. There was a small explosion, causing the rocks that were blocking the path to break into smaller pieces. It was only a matter of minutes before we finally made our way out of the smaller room.

"Another blockade, Shepard." Garrus pointed to all the boulders. "We're not going back out the way we came in."

"I am reading an exit here, I just need to-there!" Tali said as she hacked the right tunnel door.

“We got communications back.” Garrus said.

"Shepard to Normandy."

"Normandy here, are you guys okay? We lost contact."

"We're fine, just a little mishap. Will meet you at the rendezvous point as soon as we can."

"Aye, Normandy out."

"Shepard," Garrus whispered as he was laying on the ground next to a cliff. "Come take a look at this."

I got onto my hands and knees and carefully made my way over to the edge. I glared as I saw the Mako sitting in a pirate camp along with a dozen pirates. Garrus handed me his rifle so I could scope in to see.

"He stole my Mako. Oh, he dies…and he dies right now.” I hissed.

Garrus grabbed his sniper rifle and looked into the scope. “Two salarians, a krogan, three turians, and five humans, and Haliat."

"How are we going to get the Mako back?" Tali asked.

I thought for a moment. "We will make our way down the mountain and-"

"How about we just snipe them. They can't see us, we have an advantage."

"Garrus, you're the only one with a sniper rifle. I am-"

"It will be good practice for you." Garrus said. "You're going to have to learn sooner or later, right?"

“Wrong.”

Tali looked at me. "Shepard, if you and Garrus can distract them, I can make my way down the mountain and sneak into the Mako. I can help by using the cannon.”

I couldn't help but shake my head. "Wrex must be rubbing off on you.” I let out a sigh and then nodded. “Alright, go ahead. But be careful.”

"I will wait for your signal." Tali said as she carefully scooted back from the cliff and headed west a little bit before working her way down the mountain.

Garrus crawled over me, his hand holding the rifle with me. "Let's take out one of the humans," He said. "This rifle kicks a little bit, so you want to aim for his chest."

"Garrus, I don't think-"

"Come on, you can do this. Remember what I taught you. Focus on your target, relax, deep breath, balance, aim…”

I sucked in a breath and pulled the trigger. The human fell dead to the ground. Head Shot.

"Good shot, Shepard." Garrus said as he held me closer. Now, let’s take out the salarian that’s by the Mako.

"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!" yelled one of the Krogan mercs.

I could hear the pirates shouting, but I wasn't sure what they were saying except an occasional 'damn' and 'attack'. Garrus stayed with me the whole time, giving me confidence about using the sniper rifle. Even though I appreciate his help, I hated hiding up here, not showing my enemy who was killing them.

Tali made it into the Mako and quickly was blasting the enemies with the cannon. After about three minutes of the siege, all of them were dead except for Haliat. I ordered Tali not to shoot him, that he was mine.

“I know you’re up there somewhere, Shepard!” Haliat called out. “I don’t know how you survived, but come out here and face me!”

I looked at Garrus for a moment and then handed him back his rifle. We made our way down the mountain. “If he starts to shoot, take out his legs.” I told Garrus.

Haliat must have seen me, because he nicked my shields with a bullet. Garrus didn’t give Haliat another chance to shoot as he pulled the trigger on his rifle, putting two bullets in each of the turian pirate’s legs, forcing him onto the ground.

"Damn you, Shepard! You're supposed to be dead!" he screamed as I walked up to him.

"What can I say, I have many lives.” I smirked as I pointed my pistol at him.

"You're not getting anything out of me, you bitch!"

"Why would I want to get anything out of you? You're nothing but a sleazy pirate who...what was it? Kills the most men, seizes the most ships, pillages the most colonies. You might have not been 100% responsible for Mindoir, but I bet you were responsible for others. So, on behalf of my mother, my father, my sister, my friends, and all the people you've killed and tortured... go to hell."

The sound of my gunshot echoed across Agebinium.