MASS EFFECT II: RECKONING

Two years after Commander Y. SHEPARD first uncovered the threat of the Reapers--cybernetic machines who exterminate all life in the galaxy every 50,000 years--she has been sent on a full-scale mission to locate and destroy them. Accompanying her is a small fleet of fighters, while she herself retains command of the NORMANDY VI as its illustrious Admiral.

The formidable (and very large) Krogan Battlemaster URDNOT WREX has left her company, preferring to go back to bounty hunting since the death of Saren Arterius aboard his own flagship. ASHLEY WILLIAMS returned to her family after suffering numerous injuries in the final (or so the whole crew thought) climactic battle against Saren's forces. KAIDAN ALENKO, an L2 biotic, perished upon the world of Virmire, to Shepard's immense regret and sadness. TALI, the brave Quarian female who first collected tangible evidence that Saren had betrayed the Citadel Council, joined up with her flotilla once again in the Migrant Fleet, bringing back many valuable gifts to the ship she quickly joined. The Turian GARRUS VAKARIAN left to pursue his dream of becoming a Spectre, as his good friend Nihlus (and not so good friend Saren) had been.

Only Dr. LIARA T'SONI remained at the Commander's side, watching and waiting for the moment when she would once again risk her life to save the whole of the galaxy. Little did she or Shepard know how soon it would be...

"Commander Shepard?" asked Ambassador Udina. "Er--pardon me--Admiral?"

The red-haired Shock Trooper smiled and brushed back a swath of red hair. "Yes, Ambassador?" She had grown rather used to the tall and spindly old man's bluntness, though she far preferred Captain Anderson's warmth.

"Are you prepared to take on this mission?" Udina pursed his lips, running pale fingers across his chin. "You did remarkably well on the last one, surviving what no other human could, but I fear for your safety. You're a soldier, Shepard, one of the best we've got. Some would say the best. We can't afford to lose you, not when the stakes are so high. The galaxy's in the balance once again, and this time if the mission fails--all of us perish..."

"I know that, sir." Shepard nodded gravely. "That's why I should go."

After a few moments, Ambassador Udina turned toward the Admiral and spoke again. "Do you have a new crew?" He paused. "I can't believe the others left you." He meant Wrex, Ashley, Kaidan, Tali, Garrus--people (and aliens) that Shepard still missed. It was hard not to think of them every day and their various fates. Hopefully, all was well with the former squad mates of the NORMANDY VI, but knowing them (Wrex and Kaidan especially, being fellow fighters), Shepard knew that a few of them might have met their Maker. Where were they now? Had they succeeded in their future plans?

"No, I don't," Shepard replied, "but Dr. Liara T'Soni is still with me."

"That one, hmm? The asari? Well, I suppose you'll need a Prothean expert with you if you're going to continue to investigate Prothean ruins and artifacts." The tone of his voice implied that Liara was not his favorite pick for a first mate of Shepard's, but that was her decision to make, not his. Liara had proven herself trustworthy, knowledgeable, and compassionate. Udina had no right to dismiss the NORMANDY's resident scholar.

"You might want to look down at C-Sec or at the Citadel Tower for more recruits." Shepard nodded, and then felt a bit uneasy at the Ambassador's next suggestion. "Shepard? You've proven yourself a champion of humanity in these uncertain times. Perhaps it's time to give some more of your fellows a try." After clearing his throat, he added, "The other species have certainly had their chance." Udina looked uncomfortable and stared at his shoes.

Shepard squared her shoulders, which were rather broad for a woman's. "I'll select whomever I see fit, and whomever volunteers for the mission. No one will go unconsidered when I make my final choices for crewmembers."

"Fair enough. I'll see you later, at the docking bay with Captain Anderson."

The Admiral turned to leave, gladly certain she would pick some aliens if they came her way and offered to become part of the NORMANDY's next crew. She decided her first stop would be C-Sec, Citadel Security, in partial deference to Udina. Besides, some officers were certainly bored with patrol...

((Um, Tysy, didn't you say it was two years after the events of the first Mass Effect, not two months? And not to burst your bubble so early on in the RP, but either Ashley, or Kaiden should be smoldering ashes on Virmire, because one of them has to die on the planet, right? Just thought I'd point that out, hope there's no harm done! :) ))

Captain Kallic, of the 3rd Infiltration Regiment STG, under command of Admiral Kirrahe, stood in the C-Sec Academy Foyer, waiting for further orders from his higher-ups. He was on leave, or at least, nearing the end of it, and it showed, as he was fidgeting and squirming around in the stool that had been provided for him to wait in. He sat directly to the right/left of the exit/entrance to the docking bay elevator ((he's pretty much sitting where Wrex stood to talk to Shepard after Shepard takes down Fist in the game)). Kallic was militarily trained to be patient, and sit still, but he'd been off duty for quite some time, and wanted to get back to his duties as an STG Operative.

Kallic looked around the relatively busy Academy Foyer and cleared his throat at the sight of so many people; he wasn't too happy being around crowds. As he was looking around he caught something coming towards him from the corner of his eye, which made him freeze.

"Excuse me sir, here's your drink," came a feminine voice. Turning his head, Kallic could see it was one of the C-Sec secretaries that had gotten him the stool he was sitting on. Kallic relaxed, taking the drink she offered him with a smile and a nod, which in turn made the woman smile back and then turn and walk away, causing Kallic to relax further.

Kallic stared at the drink he was holding, it looked harmless enough, but with his minor paranoia, it took him quite some time of simply staring at the drink before he actually took a sip. Realizing he wasn't keeling over and dying from the beverage, he took another sip, and then let out a sigh.

Kallic was about to take a third sip when something yet again caught his eye, only this time, it was something that excited him that he saw, not something that got him 'jumpy'. Lowering his drink, Kallic turned his head in the direction that he saw this thing of excitement. Was it? Yes! It was! Former Commander Shepard had come down the Embassy elevator into the C-Sec Academy Foyer. Kallic got wide eyed, Shepard was one of the few people Kallic was not 'jumpy' around, she'd been the reason he'd survived Virmire after all, without her, and her crew, to work as Shadow Company, Captain Kirrahe's men, including himself, would've most likely died on Virmire. He had only the utmost respect for Shepard.

Setting his glass down next to his stool, Kallic got up and approached the hero at a jogging pace. "Commander Shepard--Excuse me, Intel says you were promoted to Admiral; Admiral Shepard, it's an honor to see you once again!" The Salarian said with jittery excitement welled up in his voice; he paused, realizing he'd forgotten protocol, he stood quickly to attention and saluted the Admiral.

"Captain Kallic of the 3rd Infiltration Regiment STG, I was under Captain Kirrahe and Commander Rentola's command on Virmire, I was one of the few surviving STG Operatives, including the Captain and Commander themselves. I never worked with you, or under your command during the Insurgence on Saren's Base, I was with the crew member you chose to help us on the frontal assault....I was one of the few who survived the attack from the Geth on the AA Tower," Kallic iterated to the Admiral very fast and excitedly.

"I know you don't really know me, but I know you, without you we would have died back on Virmire. I must say, it's great to see you again! All of us who survived the Virmire assault sent our greatest wishes to you, for you to track down and stop Saren. It was of great relief to hear that you did in fact stop Saren, and that Reaper thing, Sovereign I think I heard it was called from the Intel feeds. Nasty business to learn about some machine race. Oh yeah, you're probably wondering how I know all this, well I am an STG Operative, I learn about a lot of things in a short period of time, on top of that I wanted to learn everything I could about your exploits after the whole Citadel Attack incident with Saren, so I dug up all I could, a little bit too much I might say, for instance, that time you dated some Chad fellow, nasty business there, but interesting! Following up on your exploits is better than reading a novel! Oh, sorry, I'm getting carried away....um, I'll shut up now and let you talk, heh heh, I have been a bit too enthusiastic talking to you, sorry," Kallic finally finished, ringing his hands from nervousness from the fact that he had said too much. His whole speach had only been spoken in a matter of minutes, considering the more he talked to Admiral Shepard the more excited he got, and the more excited he was, the faster he talked, and the faster he talked, the more unnecessary things he said and spit out.

Admiral Shepard smiled, which, for her, was as natural as breathing. Still, she was no giddy teenage girl. She addressed the salarian formally, according to official protocol.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain. It's good to know that you survived Virmire, what with the untimely deaths of--some of the closest members of my crew." She took a deep breath through her nose and began again. "Did you happen to know Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko? He was a Sentinel, one of the 'old school' or L2 biotics." After a brief pause, Shepard continued dryly, "As for 'that Chad fellow', he's--ancient history, as he should be."

She cleared her throat. "Excuse me. I'm a little hung up on old times. The past is over now, and it's the now that matters. The Council has sent me on a mission to locate and destroy the Reapers--cybernetic machines that wipe the galaxy clean of all organic life every 50,000 years. Most people still believe that the Reapers are a myth, but we all know better. I'm looking for a new crew, and I could certainly use an intelligence officer." Shepard cocked an eyebrow at the salarian. "Would you like to join me?" Something in the back of her mind told her to watch out--what species ever fully trusts a salarian anyway?--but she knew that if anyone, human or not, were on the side of the geth or the Reapers, they were bona-fide C-R-A-Z-Y.

That was why, against her better judgment, she'd extended the invitation...

A tall turian stood menacingly over a group of Geth Shock Troopers. He aproached one with the ID Number: 343117. He looked it straight into its one eye and gave it orders for it to tell the others and all Geth soldiers.

"Set the charges. Destroy the entire colony. Leave no evidence that we were here."

With that the turian approached the beacon and vanished. 343117 told the others what it had been told but did not set up a charge himself. "He" felt doing that was a waste of his time and instead waited for the group of soldiers to come to the beacon. He listened as he heard the group of soldiers approaching. They had finished off everyone, everyone except for him. With that 343117 jumped from his hiding place.

Initiating scan... Scan complete 3 humans identified

Requesting permission of termination... Permission Granted

The Geth soldier fired at the three humans forcing all three to hide for cover. He had not seen the one human move to cover far from them. The other two popped up from their spots and shot at him forcing his shielding to go down. The geth soldier himself actually took cover. One soldier tossed a gernade at him but he kicked it away. He then stood up and began shooting again, this time getting closer. The human that hid from him before fired at his back. 343117 turned to face his attacker, looking at her face. the geth soldier then fell to the ground nearly dead.

Deactivation code in progress

Deactivation initiated

Override deactivation

Overriding... deactivation cancelled

Death does not compute must have revenge

Scan on human... Scan complete on human Shepard

Show primary goal... To serve the Geth

Deleting primary goal

Replace primary goal... Kill human Shepard

The Geth soldier rose it his feet and looked around, the humans were long gone. The soldier did a quick check on where he was and how long he had almost been deactivated for.

Deactivation time estimate 2 years
"Deactivation time estimate 2 years."

343117 realized he could actually speak words and no longer had to use his brain program on speaking.

"Must escape from planet Eden Prime"

343117 erased his number from the Geth and decided to name himself Rogue. Rogue decided to use his advanced brain to create a program for himself. he created the program CHAOS to boost his fighting ability. Rogue looked an spotted a ship that could only seat one. Rogue killed the pilot and threw two guns into the ship before climbing in. He turned the ship on and took off leaving Eden Prime.

"Escape Eden Prime complete, next mission... Kill Shepard."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain. It's good to know that you survived Virmire, what with the untimely deaths of--some of the closest members of my crew." Admiral Shepard took a deep breath through her nostrils, causing Kallic to cock his head to the side a bit. "Did you happen to know Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko? He was a Sentinel, one of the 'old school' or L2 biotics." After a brief pause, Shepard continued dryly, "As for 'that Chad fellow', he's--ancient history, as he should be." She told him with a smile.

"I thought Admiral Kirrahe, well, he was Captain at the time; I thought he'd talked to you about Lieutenant Alenko's death, and that the whole STG Team, including myself, sent their regards and condolences," Kallic said with a questioning look on his face.

'Admiral Shepard must have memory loss...hm, how odd.? Must have been all the blows to the head,' Kallic thought to himself.

The Admiral cleared her throat. "Excuse me. I'm a little hung up on old times. The past is over now, and it's the now that matters. The Council has sent me on a mission to locate and destroy the Reapers--cybernetic machines that wipe the galaxy clean of all organic life every 50,000 years. Most people still believe that the Reapers are a myth, but we all know better. I'm looking for a new crew, and I could certainly use an intelligence officer." Shepard cocked an eyebrow at Kallic, who smiled in turn. "Would you like to join me?"

It was a strange offer, and it was very soon, but Kallic was elated at the offer, none-the-less. "Admiral Shepard I would gladly join you," he told her, but pausing as he noticed something. She seemed...nervous, like he usually did - or more specifically, how he had been earlier - around crowds.

"Admiral, you--don't like me do you? I'm sorry, I must have brought up some bad subjects, like you said, the past is the past, but you must also remember Admiral, if I may say so, the past should never be forgotten, or you never learn from it," Kallic told Shepard with sincere apology written all over his face.

"Besides, I'm just a little Salarian STG Operative, not a Batarian Slaver-Pirate, you can trust me to do the best job an Intel Officer could ever do...that is, if I'm allowed to join you on your mission by the Council, I am an Infiltration Regiment Captain, not some bystander in the street, just as you Spectres are the right hand, we STG Operatives are the left, only the Council has permission to pull me into your mission....BUT! If I get Admiral Kirrahe to vouch for me to join you, then maybe they'll listen!" Kallic said excitedly.

"I'll send out a call immediately, if that's alright with you?" Captain Kallic asked, an innocent and inquisitive look on his face as he was about ready to go running off to make the call.

"Certainly," Admiral Shepard answered, becoming more confident by the minute in her choice of a first squadmate. Second squadmate, she reminded herself, quickly remembering Liara. Dr. T'soni was up in the Citadel Tower, taking advantage of one of the many computer consoles to do some research. Dedicated and passionate, Liara was, in work as well as play. Shepard grinned, fondly remembering the time when the normally-reserved Doctor had entertained the whole squad aboard the NORMANDY by pantomiming one of the asari dancers down in Chora's Den here on the Citadel. Sudden laughter burst out of her, attracting the attention of bystanders. Shepard blushed and coughed. Stupid soldiers' protocol!

She stood up straighter, squaring her shoulders once more, and used the Citadel Rapid Transit system to reach the Tower. Not only would she find Liara there, but Shepard figured she'd also locate a few future members of her vessel's new crew. When she emerged from the CRT tram car, she spotted Dr. T'soni, who was absorbed in a brightly-lit computer screen readout. When she approached the asari, she gently touched her on the shoulder. Liara jumped, startled, but soon smiled as she recognized the Admiral. "Don't do that, Shepard!" she giggled, and then stood up.

The Admiral winked. "Listen, Liara. I've found a salarian STG officer, Captain Kallic, who wants to join us on our mission. He seems more than trustworthy, although I've heard what almost everybody says about those of his species. I'd like a chance to test his skills. He's gone off to make a call to his superior officer, Admiral Kirrahe, to see if he will vouch for him. I'm sure Kirrahe will, by the way. Let's find someplace to hide--conceal ourselves--and if Kallic finds us, we'll know he's top-notch. Does that sound too much like manipulation?" Liara shook her head, though her eyes contained a trace of doubt. "Don't worry. We won't crawl into the air ventilation shaft or anything. We'll 'hide in plain sight', so to speak. Let's go!" Grinning and snickering like schoolgirls (which Shepard had disavowed herself of being not too long ago), Liara and Admiral Shepard chose a spot right behind one of the tall decorative plants on the lower floor of the Tower. They made nary a sound, waiting...

The small ship was now miles away from Eden Prime. The ex geth shock trooper sat in the pilot's seat and was now confused on what his next move should be. The human female Shepard could be anywhere... revenge would take a long time.

"Activate program CHAOS... CHAOS online."

"Greetings master Rogue," said a small voice inside his head, "How may I be of assistance to you."

"Locate human Shepard."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that master, however I can locate where her ship is currently."

"Shepard has a ship?"

"Yes master, please hold... ah I've found her she's on the Citadel."

"Citadel does not compute."

"It's a space station master, not too far from here, I'll add the coordinates to the ship and throw it into autopilot."

"Understood."

"If I may make a suggestion master I think we should fix your speech."

"Elaborate."

"Well you are basically a rogue killer at this point I believe we should make you sound like one. Your robotic speech is not very threatening, I can create a voice for you so that you sound just as dangerous as you are. Not only will it change how you speak but it will chane the style of your voice. I can give you a personallity or at least make you sound like you have on."

"This ex unit would like the voice upgrade."

"Excellent, I'm beginning the process now, is there a certain voice type you're looking for?"

"Something that is dark, metallic, and strikes fear when spoken."

"Alright... this may take a while."

As CHAOS began to change the way Rogue spoke, Rogue began to recap what had happened to him. He was always different from the other Geth. He never liked to follow and order he did like and would therefore not follow it. It may have been the reason he was alive now. He did not care though all he wanted to do was kill Shepard. He would kill anyone that got in his way even Geth soldiers. Without realizing he had been thinkng for three hours now which shocked him.

"I'm all finished master why don't you give your new voice a try now."

"Is my voice working... excellent, CHAOS how far are we from the Citadel?"

"Actually master while you were "out cold" I switched of course to get there quicker."

"How long was I out for?"

"You were out for about 1 week master."

"One week!?!?"

"Relax master because if you look out you can see the Citadel, were here."

"Excellent, but how will we get in?"

"Thats been taken care of, they think you're a pilot doing some drills."

The ship finally touched down on the Citadel. Rogue got up and picked up his two Pulse Rifles and placed them on his back. He exited the ship forgetting who he was. An officer was walking by when he saw Rogue and pulled out his pistol.

"A Geth... My god it's a Geth, hey somebody..."

Rogue had kicked the man in the face cauing him to fall the the ground. Rogue stepped on the hand that hand the pistol. With his free foot he crushed the man's face killing him instantly. He picked up the body and tossed it into space watching it float away. He looked at the pistol and decided to place it at his side. Rogue walked back into the ship and found a long brown cloak. He placed it on himself so he would not be as noticable. He exited the ship once more and approached the door. He entered through the door and looked around. Somewhere in this Citadel was the human who took his life, Rogue was going to return the favor.

WALL·E was strolling along in the Citadel on his normal run, swerving in and out the way of people. Not that there was much to do: the advanced technology the Citadel provided made cleaning almost obsolete. There was still need to water plants though, which is why he was carrying around the extremely primitive late twentieth century watering pail, something he had collected in his travels. Not much use anymore, but it was still something. He was at his last plant now before he would be required to retire for that day(A precaution after the first incident). It would have been normal: water the plant and roll away. The thing that made this particular routine different was the fact that a human and an asari female were hiding behind this plant. This made him curious. What were they doing?

He went around it and straight up to the human female, his binocular-like eyes staring at her in curiosity. WALL·E made a few short and long beeping noises and motioned his arms from the plant to his watering pail and the direction of the open lobby.

"Oh! A little plant-watering droid," Shepard mused, trying not to speak too loudly. According to the flow of human and alien traffic in the Citadel Tower, the salarian Captain Kallic had not proceeded to find them yet. Feeling that perhaps "Shepard" would be a little too taxing for the droid, which appeared to be a twentieth-century model, the Admiral gestured to herself and pronounced her first name slowly: "Yery".

"Shouldn't that last 'y' be a subtle cross between 'ih, uh, ee' instead of just 'ee'?" Dr. Liara T'Soni asked, being the only member of the NORMANDY'S former crew who could pronounce it this way--the proper way.

"That might be a little too difficult for this droid," said Shepard, and then, turning back to the plant-watering droid, she held up a finger to her lips. "Shhh. We are hi-ding."

"Yeeerrreee," WALL·E said pronouncing her name in his roboticly simple voice, tilting his head curiously as to why the human was hiding. He wasn't a plant-watering droid at any rate, and tried to prove this; firstly by motioning to his rusted 'stomach', which had the label WALL·E and saying "Waaalleeee."

Then WALL·E, emptying the watering pail first into the plant, opened his 'stomach' and placed it inside. He shut it, and for a moment he shoot a little as the mechanisms inside him compressed the pail. When it was finished, he opened his stomach again and rolled out a cube of crushed metal that was once a watering pail. Closing his stomach, he looked at the Yeree and the asari expectantly, saying something that sounded like "Ta-Da!"

"It seems to be some sort of portable trash compactor," mused Liara with a delighted smile, "albeit a sentient one. Would you like to go on our ship with us?" She turned toward Admiral Shepard, the "Yerrreee" whom the robot had addressed. "He could be extremely useful aboard the NORMANDY as a waste-disposal unit." After Admiral Shepard nodded emphatically, Liara addressed the droid once more. "Ship? We go on big ship soon." Liara extended her blue hand. "Lee-ah-rah," Dr. T'soni pronounced her name phonetically. "Yerree and I go on ship to-ge-ther. Want to come along...Wall-eee?"

WALL·E clapped his hands together excitedly and grabbed the asari's hand, shaking it excitedly as he was pronouncing her name "Leearaa."

The little robot had no qualms about leaving this place, and the Citadel would probably be rejoicing when he left. WALL·E would just need to dig up all his possessions (Literal or non literal depending on the object) to take with him and he would be set. He let go of Leeara's hand and motioned to the plant before sticking his hand into the dirt and pulling out an original Gameboy. He tossed it into his stomach, not to crush but keep, and grabbed Leeara and Yeree's hands and started to pull them to the next pot.

"Certainly," the Admiral acknowledged, which brought a smile to Kallic's face.

"Excellent, I'll go do that right away," Kallic told her, jogging off in the direction of the nearest communication terminal. He was moving quickly across the foyer when he heard the Admiral laugh a ways behind him. He stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her, she was laughing at something she was thinking of, he could tell that much, but the Admiral was only like that for a moment, as she straightened up and began walking towards the rapid transit. Kallic only raised a curious eyebrow at the Admiral's strange behavior, but he had no time to think it over, he had to call Admiral Kirrahe.

Captain Kallic kept moving forward, eventually reaching the communication terminal. He punched in a few "top priority" sequences, which allowed him to speak to Admiral Kirrahe immediately.

"Yes, what is it?" Came the familiar, and passively inspiring voice of Admiral Kirrahe.

"Admiral, it's me, Captain Kallic," he said standing to attention at the sound of Kirrahe's voice out of pure instinct.

"Ah, yes, how are you my trusted second-in-command?" The Admiral asked.

"I'm fine Admiral, thank you for asking, but I didn't call to chat, pardon my forwardness, but I have something urgent to ask you," Kallic told Kirrahe, his voice not hiding his anxiousness one bit.

"Well what is it Kallic, I'm listening"

"Could you contact the Council and request that I be put on the mission with Admiral Shepard"

"What!? Well, that's a new one, are you even sure Admiral Shepard even wants you on the mission?"

Yes Admiral Kirrahe, I spoke to her only a couple moments ago, she practically shoved the offer in my pocket it was so sudden!" Kallic told his superior excitedly.

"Well that's good news, and surprising too, but seeing as she did offer it to you, and I do owe her for Virmire, I think I should definitely take it up to the Council," Kirrahe told Kallic, enthusiasm in his voice because he was finally able to help Shepard in some way. "Give me some time and I'll have you on Shepard's mission A.S.A.P."

"Thank you Admiral, you never let anyone down"

"I try Captain, I try," Kirrahe said with a chuckle. "I'll get off the line with you so I can contact the Council, give me a bit," and with that the Admiral hung up the line, leaving Kallic to ponder over what was taking place.
******
After waiting for at least fifteen minutes, Captain Kallic got a call, "yes? What'd they say?"

"You are permitted to join Admiral Shepard on her mission. But there are some conditions," Admiral Kirrahe said with a neutral tone.

"Name them, and they're done," Kallic told Kirrahe in a calm voice.

"One: You must contact the council on a regular basis to tell them of yours, and Shepard's progress, like she herself is supposed to do. Two: You are to aid Shepard in choosing the correct candidates for this mission..." But Kirrahe was cut short.

"Um, what candidates? Isn't she choosing from experienced officers, such as myself?" Kallic asked, a little confused.

"Yes, but she must also choose from an array of less...savory individuals. Alliance prisoners, who have been given a choose of serving their term, or serving the military; quite a few are taking up the offer," Kirrahe told Kallic, rather crestfallen. "You are to make sure she chooses well. Three: If there is any sign of distention amongst the "crew" you are to either contact the Council for instruction, or take care of the matter in less civil terms," Kirrahe finished, sounding a bit sad at the terms he'd layed out for Kallic.

"I...uh, accept," Kallic told Kirrahe.

"Good, but remember, Shepard can't know"

"Understood," Kallic told Kirrahe, hanging up the line and turning away, not too pleased with the situation at hand.

'Where is Shepard?' Kallic thought to himself, looking around and not seeing her anywhere.

((Hope everything is okay))

Tell me master do you have a plan on how you're going to do this

"I'm going to find her and then I'm going to blow her brains out."

May I recommend a different course of action?

"Let's hear it CHAOS."

Perhaps request a priavte meeting with her and then kill her, or join her crew and kill her when the time is right.

"I'll think about."

Rogue recieved some awkward glances at creatures that passed by him. He did not like wearing the cloak but glances were better than getting shot at. He continued walking around realizing he had no idea where he was going.

Might I suggest finding someone who knows where they're going.

"Excuse me but I'm looking for Shepard have you seen her?"

"What's it to you?" the man questioned

Rogue spoke his next words carefully, "I'm here to join her crew"

"Ah you're one of those people, well in that case I just saw her leave for the Tower," the man responded.

"I don't know where the Tower is"

"You're gonna wanna take a take a transport, it'll take you there"

"uh thanks I guess"

"No need to thank me, you'll be dead within a week," the man answered and then walked away.

Well wasn't he nice

Rogue approached a transport and hopped in. It moved faster than he expected causing him to almost fall out of his seat. It was almost time, he had to pick a plan and stick to it. The transport came to a stop and he exited it. He began walking a few feet when he heard a very loud and strange sound.

"Leearaa." It was some kind of small robot. However it had been useful to him. He looked into the face of the human, it was her. He began to move towards her, he felt his hand go for his pistol but stopped himself. He moved passed the small robot not noticing it moving on his cloak.

"Ah I've finally found you miss Shepard."

As he spoke these words the cloak had fallen to the ground... he was exposed. Rogue looked down and realized what had happened. It looked like he had one option out of this or he was about be shot to death again. He had to choose his words very carefully.

"I assure you this isn't what it looks like, I mean you no harm. I heard you were looking for some crew members and I'd like to join. If you could just hear me out, I promise this is no trick."

Rogue prayed this would work otherwise he was pulling out his dual Pulse Rifles taking her out before he was shot.

"What's this?" asked Shepard. "A geth? Wanting to join my crew?" Her breathing came fast and heavy, and Liara tentatively took Shepard's pale white hand in her own blue one. "That's insane. Smells like a trap if I ever smelled one. What do you think, Liara?"

Dr. T'soni took one glance at the tall geth soldier with the glowing aqua eye and pronounced four cold words: "I agree, Shepard. Blitz."

Immediately, Shepard dove into a forward roll, almost knocking over the plant nearest her, and began firing rapid shots at the geth with her assault rifle, using her Overkill ability. The word that Liara had mentioned, 'Blitz', was a unique talent that Shepard possessed--the ability to regenerate health and weapon accuracy at the expense of eventual heat exhaustion. As for Liara, she pummeled the geth with sudden blasts of Biotic Throw and Warp. The geth itself fought for its life, and the trash-compacting robot, WALL-E, ducked and hid himself behind another plant. Shepard was sure only one kind of being, either organic or synthetic, would "come out alive" here.

The humans and aliens passing by in the Tower started screaming, running and dashing for cover. Chaos ensued as Admiral Shepard, Liara, and the geth traded shots and damaging biotic powers back and forth. Not even C-Sec was able to handle this mess!

"That's insane. Smells like a trap if I ever smelled one. What do you think, Liara?"

"I agree, Shepard. Blitz."

"Oh son of a..."

Shots came flying out of her rifle forcing him to take cover. He was then hit with a throw from the one called Liara. He dove back into cover that he was at. He watched as the small robot hid behind a plant as well. He would have loved to finish them off but this was not the time nor place. He had to think of something or he was going to die.

"Just hear me out, Why would it be a trap when I'm the only one here. No being would try to take on two at once not even the geth."

Shots continued to fire on his position. He decided enough was enough.

Rogue what are you doing think about this

Rogue pulled out his two pules rifles and returned fire on them. He then put CHAOS into battle mode. He looked at Liara and stood up firing at her and then quickly crouched down. This was not going to end well for him at all. The out of the corner of his eye he spotted some figure with a sniper rifle aiming at him. He then watched as he looked at Shepard instead.

"This is my chance, there's no way this guys taking my kill," Rogue thought to himself.

If he called her name out the man would shoot, so he had to make a move quick. He lifted the table and threw it at Liara to distract her He turned his shielding and ran straight at Shepard. His shields were now gone but he made his move.

"Shepard look out!" Rouge screamed as he pushed her out of the way, just in time to take a shot to the chest. "GAH" He turned pulling out his pistol and took aim at the sniper, blowing his head clean off. The sniper fell to the ground and just so happened to be a Geth Sniper. He looked and saw Shepard looking right at him. His fate was now in her hands... again.

Shepard couldn't believe what had just happened. Apparently some geth, including the one that had just saved her life, had infiltrated Citadel Station! Granted, there were only two of them that she and Liara had spotted so far, but who was to say there weren't more? The Admiral stood up, dusting herself off (though, thanks to the Citadel Tower's gleaming floors, there wasn't much dust to be had) and helped the geth itself to rise.

"I--I didn't think you were actually sincere. Thank you. You just saved both our lives." Shepard humbly addressed the synthetic creature, which was far more than she would have done on her previous mission to annihilate Saren Arterius. "Ah!--you're wounded!" Damaged would have been a better word, being that the geth was made out of metal and not flesh, but Shepard knew she had unconsciously thought of the creature as human, or at least organic. She shuddered at the exposure of the geth's inner parts.

"Liara?" asked the Admiral. "You're more than good with electronics. Would you please help me repair this geth? He's badly--damaged, and he wants to join our crew." The asari nodded and stepped forward, falling to work with the finely-honed tools that she kept holstered in the utility belt she wore. Within the span of five minutes, Dr. T'soni closed the large opening in the geth's frame, and Shepard polished and oiled its joints with quality lubricant.

"There," Shepard mused after a moment. WALL-E, noticing that the fracas was finally over and people and aliens were starting to return to their usual business, emerged from behind the tall plant he had been using for cover. "I hope that's a good-enough repair job, although I confess I don't know much about the inner workings of geth." She extended her hand, as she had to WALL-E. "Admiral Yery Shepard of the NORMANDY VI. The asari is my first mate, Dr. Liara T'soni, and this little fellow"--she gestured toward WALL-E--"is called WALL-E. He seems to be some sort of sentient waste disposal unit."

The geth swiveled his one-eyed head from side to side, surveying the three-member (so far) crew. Shepard supposed that he might be sizing them up.

Suddenly, several uniformed and heavily-armed C-Sec troops swarmed onto the scene, quickly surrounding Admiral Shepard, Liara, WALL-E, and the geth.

"You're all under arrest," pronounced one, and then added hastily, "or at least coming in for questioning. Eyewitnesses say that you were the cause of the life-endangering disturbance here in the Citadel Tower. We're taking you--oh, no, a geth!" The C-Sec trooper drew his pistol, but Shepard stopped him just in time by throwing herself in front of it. The officer, puzzled, held his fire.

"It wants to join us," said Shepard, "on our mission to stop the Reapers."

Another officer shook his head, as if trying to clear cobwebs out of his brain. "Now you're definitely coming in for questioning," he said, pointing his weapon at the motley crew. "Come with us. It wouldn't be wise to resist arrest." Nodding meekly, Shepard motioned for the others to follow.

"What's the meaning of this?" Came a sharp and precise question from behind the group as they were being herded away for questioning by C-Sec officers. One of the officers turned around and addressed the speaker.

"We're taking them in for questioning," the officer replied.

"I don't think so. This is, if you had payed attention, Admiral Shepard of the Alliance Military, and she is a Spectre after all," the speaker said; the speaker being Captain Kallic, as he had finally tracked down the Admiral. The C-Sec officer turned and sized up Shepard, and then turned back to Kallic.

"She's the Commander..." the officer was cut short.

"Admiral!" Kallic said indignantly.

"Admiral, fine. So you expect me to believe she's the famed Spectre that stopped Saren?" The officer asked.

"Well if you don't believe me we could always go ask the Council, or maybe I should get Ambassador Udina, no, maybe Shepard's good friend Captain Anderson. No? How about you take it up with me, Captain Kallic of the 3rd Infiltration Regiment STG, I only answer to the Council itself, or my superior, Admiral Kirrahe. Would you like me to contact him too?" Kallic threatened, the C-Sec officer cowering at the verbal assault, and the threats of being taken up to higher authority figures, some of them well known heroes, even to C-Sec.

"I, uh, I, don't know," the officer muttered.

"Speak up Lieutenant," Kallic said.

"W-what about the Geth?"

Kallic turned to see the Geth Shock Trooper, which only caused Kallic to flinch in disgust. "Leave it be, it seems Admiral Shepard doesn't mind it, so neither should you," Kallic told the officer.

"I'm supposed to bring them in for..." but he was cut short once again.

"I don't care, weren't you listening, this is a Spectre, she has full jurisdiction to do whatever she wants!! As long as it pertains to her mission, or even if it doesn't, she can pretty much do whatever she wants, unless told otherwise by the Council! Do you want me to go over that again!?" Kallic asked, practically shouting at the man, who was just not used to the berrating and verbal abuse he was getting.

"I-I'll let them go sir, right away, I don't want to get in trouble with a Spectre," the officer said, finally caving in under the pressure. The C-Sec officers dispersed, leaving the group to their own business. Kallic turned to Admiral Shepard, saluting.

"I'm sorry for that display, but you were practically just letting them do whatever they wanted Admiral, they're C-Sec, and you're a Spectre, as long as the Council doesn't say otherwise, you have the full right to do just about anything you want, even resist arrest. I thought you knew that Admiral?" Kallic questioned, tilting his head questioningly.

"Well, on to happier matters. I've been given full permission from the Council to join you on your mission," the Captain told Shepard, but his attention was diverted as he noticed the Asari and little robot nearby. "And who might these two be, Admiral?" Kallic asked with a smile, as he tried his best to ignore the Geth that was standing not too far away, which was causing Kallic some problems, as he desired nothing more than to get away from it....or kill it.

"In the heat of the moment, sometimes I forget my rank," Admiral Shepard replied rather sheepishly. She cleared her throat and introduced her companions--two synthetic, one organic. "This is my first mate, an asari scientist by the name of Dr. Liara T'soni. And these," she continued, gesturing to WALL-E and the geth, "are two synthetics that I met while scouting for new recruits here at the Tower. The square-bodied one with the metal-tread feet is called WALL-E, and he compacts trash very neatly and efficiently. As for the geth--" and here Shepard paused, not sure what to make of the situation in which she found it--"it seems to be a rogue, one that has split off from its counterparts and wants to join the crew."

Shepard noticed Kallic's cocked eyebrow and disapproving glance. Knowing that he'd either hear the full story of their exploits from her or from startled bystanders, the Admiral decided to come clean. "While you went to contact Admiral Kirrahe about joining up with me on this mission, I decided to find Liara and look for more possible crewmates in this section of the Citadel." She paused and folded her hands in front of her, coughing slightly. "That was when I had the not-so-bright idea to hide with Liara behind one of the plants in order to see if you could find us. That way we'd--test your skills. I know it's unprofessional and rather manipulative, but I promise you that wasn't my real intent. Anyway, then we met WALL-E here, who was watering the very plant behind which we'd concealed ourselves, and this rogue geth who saved us from a sniper who suddenly arrived on the scene. It turned out that the sniper was also geth, so we should definitely keep our eye out for more."

The silence was so thick in the Citadel Tower's recirculated air that you could have heard a pin drop. Noticing that the salarian not only had not moved, but had not changed his expression one iota, Shepard dropped to the floor and performed twenty quick push-ups. Normally, that was the punishment for insubordinate or incompetent military soldiers, and Shepard felt she'd been both of these things in the past hour. She stood up once again and bowed her head, ashamed of herself (and not for the first time before an officer).

"If you'd like to decline to accompany me on this mission, I'll understand."

She waited, welcoming Liara's gentle grip on her hand for moral support.

"I--I didn't think you were actually sincere. Thank you. You just saved both our lives."

"It was no trouble at all Shepard"

That was quite heroic of you sir

"Liara?" asked the Admiral. "You're more than good with electronics. Would you please help me repair this geth? He's badly--damaged, and he wants to join our crew."

Rogue watched as Liara repaired him. She was very quick in her work which suprised him, repairs usually lasted for hours. Within 5 minutes Liara had fixed him and was closing the gap where he had been shot. He was about to speak when he felt oil. He turned and spotted Shepard oiling his joints, usually this was given for a good job but here she was doing it for a reason unknown to him. What really took him by suprise was when she began to polish him. He had to admit it felt nice and enjoyed the polishing.

"I hope that's a good-enough repair job, although I confess I don't know much about the inner workings of geth." She extended her hand, as she had to WALL-E. "Admiral Yery Shepard of the NORMANDY VI. The asari is my first mate, Dr. Liara T'soni, and this little fellow"--she gestured toward WALL-E--"is called WALL-E. He seems to be some sort of sentient waste disposal unit."

Rogue hesitated for a moment and then took her hand shaking it. He was about to speak when they were surrounded by several uniformed and heavily-armed C-Sec troops. They seemed to be calm that was until one of the officers spotted him. The man was about to shoot when to Rogue's suprise Shepard stood in front of him; she had just saved his life. They were still going to take them in until a salarian had called them off. Shepard began speaking to the salarian calling him Kallic. She then went on the ground and pushed herself up and down twenty times, Rogue was unsure of what she was doing but he assumed it was some type of order. He went on the ground as she did and pushed himself up and down twenty times before standing.

"um excuse me Shepard but you can call me Rogue, and I know I'm a geth but I was wondering if we could lay off calling me "it". I mean no disrespect it just makes me feel out of place."

Rogue then turned and walked to the geth sniper's body. He placed his hand on the back of its neck. He then punched through its next pulling out the "brain". He brought it up to his eye and scaned it.

"As for your geth issue Shepard this is the only one. He was given orders to assassinate you, I'm not sure who but he was the only one sent here."

Rogue then walked back to the group and stood right next to Shepard, waiting for something to happen.

"So you have gone rogue," answered the Admiral, explaining this as much for Liara's and WALL-E's benefit as for her own. "That would explain why you saved us from the sniper, who was one of your compatriots. I'm sorry if I offended you by referring to you as an 'it'. Would you prefer it if I called you 'Rogue' instead? After a robotic murmur of assent from the geth, Shepard and Liara stepped forward to examinethe sniper's newly-removed 'brain'. The NORMANDY's leader had always wanted to ask questions of a geth, but she knew almost all of them had the philosophy 'Shoot first; ask questions later.'

"As you probably know, most geth revere the Reapers as gods," Shepard began. "What about you? My crew and I are going on a mission to locate and destroy the Reapers once and for all. We won't have all organic life in the galaxy exterminated this time. Are you sure you'll agree to this?"

WALL·E was in a state of panic this whole time. Between the unveiling of the rouge Geth trooper to the chaos that reigned afterward, he had literally went back into his most compact form: a metal cube with his binocular-like eyes peeking out. In addition to that, his entire chassis was shaking. Well, at least until the Salarian came. Then the creature, called Kaalee, sorted everything out and the C-Sect people left, but not before giving WALL·E some annoyed glances. They knew him well, judging from the fact that one or two of them had casts on them. Still, since WALL·E had accidentally managed to eject an entire Geth regiment out the airlock (Still some speculation on that), it was another reason to leave him in commission.

When the C-Sect left WALL·E exited his boxed form, still shaking a tad, and looked curiously at the Geth. Most of the times when he saw them, he had normally screamed and ran, but now he had a moment to look at them without being shot at, and it was... different. It wasn't alive, but it wasn't dead. And it certainly wasn't pretty like the plants he watered.

"As you probably know, most geth revere the Reapers as gods," Shepard began. "What about you? My crew and I are going on a mission to locate and destroy the Reapers once and for all. We won't have all organic life in the galaxy exterminated this time. Are you sure you'll agree to this?"

The funny part was Rogue never actually cared for the Reapers, all he liked to do was kill. He decided to answer her in a way to please her seeing that he truthfully didn't care what happened to the Reapers.

"Why should I worship something that will destroy millions of life. After I had seen a small demonstration if you will of the Reapers I knew I had to quit the Geth. I don't hate humans and other creatures, in fact I don't understand why were fighting but I'm guessing its something my people did. All I want to do is fight along side you and show my people the light. I want to join you Admiral Shepard on your mission and end this once and for all."

He knelt down on one knee in front of Shepard as was custom for any geth.

"You are the warrior who can stop this insanity and I am your weapon, use me however you see fit and I will obey without question."

Shepard smiled. "Welcome aboard, Rogue. As for questions, ask as many as you want. Back on my previous mission to find and bring down Saren Arterius, the former Spectre, everyone got annoyed if I asked too many questions, even Captain Anderson. However, in the end it was our questions that saved us, because they allowed us to find out more about what was really going on. They helped us find Saren, and find out about the Reapers too."

The Admiral turned to WALL-E, who was still shaking like one of the leaves on the plants he watered. "It's all right. This geth is not like the others. He's not going to hurt us, and if he tries, we've got more than enough firepower between the two of us to prevent any 'security breaches.' Okay?" WALL-E nodded, still rather uncertain of his mechanical companion with the glowing eye that seemed to see through everything--walls, metal, humans...

"Excuse me--Shepard?" asked Liara in her ever soft and gentle voice. "There is still one more stop we must make. The C-Sec holding cells. Remember how Captain Anderson said that certain jail and prison inmates signed up for the military, and this mission, instead of choosing to serve out their terms?" The Admiral nodded, although not without some trepidation. "It turns out that some of them are here on this station. We should go and interrogate them."

Even though Shepard certainly agreed, she was rather unsure of how to proceed. She had never dealt with the penal--er, excuse me, correctional--system before, whether with administrators, guards or prisoners. Perhaps Kallic, the salarian STG officer, would have some advice for the group.

"Welcome aboard, Rogue. As for questions, ask as many as you want."

The last time I saw you Shepard you were with a male soldier and a female soldier named Ashley. where exatcly are they? Are they back on the ship? How exactly were the three of you able to defeat Saren?

Rogue actually was curious how she killed Saren, in fact Rogue thought Saren was still alive. He looked around at the new crew. the small robot was basically useless, and Liara didn't look like a fighter. It was him, her, and Kallic that would have to do the killing though Rogue had never actually seen Kallic in action.

Shepard, Liara, WALL-E, Kallic and the geth soldier, now known officially as Rogue, promptly left the Citadel Tower and headed for the Lower Wards, where C-Sec housed its prisoners in the basement of its Academy. Inmates such as these, which the group was all but enthusiastic about visiting, were either waiting to be transferred to another, more permanent prison or were on the brink of release. Mostly, they were the former. Housed in consecutive cells in a gleaming white corridor, the prisoners gawked as the squad went by. Was this to be their chance at redemption, or another false alarm?

"Shepard?" asked Liara tentatively. "I don't quite feel safe down here."

"Relax," the Admiral gently told the anxious asari biotic. "This isn't maximum security, and besides, have you noticed how many official C-Sec personnel are wandering around? If we run into trouble, we'll have plenty of backup." Liara nodded, although her blue eyes still contained a trace of doubt.

Suddenly, the squad heard a loud, brusque voice. "All right, you thresher maw larvae! Line up! It's time to get out of your cells. Someone wants to see you." A buzzer sounded, and the prisoners' cell doors slid open. Uh-oh! Not to worry, however, for each inmate stood in front of his or her cell door, stiff at attention, saluting the Admiral and her companions as they passed. Truly, this was going to be an interesting part of the mission, but did C-Sec have to present the future crew members of the NORMANDY via cattle call?

Rogue was right behind Liara as they walked down the halls. He watched all the prisoners staring at them, him in particular.

"Hey one eye what are you looking at?" a prisoner said and then the rest laughed. He felt like he was back in training when the geth use to laugh at him. He proved them wrong however he became on of the best and with CHAOS he was even better. He was not about to let some criminal punk push him around.Rogue walked right up to the man and lifted him by the throat.

"You got something to say to me"

"N N No" the prisoner responed gasping for air and cowering in fear.

Rogue threw the prisoner back into a wall and continued to follow the group. He could not understand why she would want criminals on her team, then again he was considered the enemy. For now though Shepard trusted him but we felt the rest of the crew didn't. He then looked at Liara and decided to try to gain her favor as well. With

"Dr. Liara, I think I have something you might want." He pulled out a small metallic orb he had taken from the geth sniper. "It's our shielding technology, I figured you might want it."

Kallic walked behind Admiral Shepard, closely surveying the prisoners lined up in neat orderly form; some of them would be future crew members aboard the SSV Normandy, or Normandy VI as the Admiral dubbed it. None of them looked to be the best of choices, but the Admiral needed a crew, and this was what she was getting, Kallic would just have to make sure each one was at least semi-capable.

"None of them look too good," Kallic commented, standing with his hands behind his back in a military fashion, though, in his mind he was not too happy...or completely stable. Kallic snapped out of his hesitation as he heard and saw the Geth throw a prisoner into a wall, Kallic felt like stopping the Geth, but he restrained himself from doing so, seeing as the Geth wasn't going to kill the man.

"I-I don't know which ones would be best Admiral, they all look so...rough," Kallic continued, trying to advice the Admiral as best he could. Kallic looked up and down the line at the prisoners, they were all the same...except one. This one prisoner was quite tame looking, or at least to his eyes, the prisoner seemed capable enough, and a bit reserved compared to the others, in fact, the prisoner was quite the opposite of what he had said about the prisoners only just a few seconds ago. Kallic approached the prisoner and stood in front of the said prisoner.

"You, state your name, purpose for being in prison, and reason for wanting to join our crew, besides the obvious 'get-out-of-jail-if-I-survive' bit, that is," Kallic stated in a rather neutral tone, as not to cause any unwanted behavior out of the prisoner.

((B.T.W: The prisoner Kallic is talking to is your prisoner character Tysy, just thought I'd let you know.))

The prisoner, her head almost completely shaved in a military-style buzz cut (even Shepard herself had more hair) stood at attention, saluted, and answered Kallic:

"Lux Ixlee, sir. I was finally caught and brought to a previous prison to serve an eight-to-twenty-year sentence at hard labor, being part of a gang in the Terminus Systems called the Risa de Muerte--'Smile of Death'. I originally got started with them after I offed my two landlords, who were exploiting me and my family in the slums. As for why I want to join your crew, I've got one word for you: redemption. I've been a thug all my life, and I want to do something good for humanity and this galaxy before I do die." Lux relaxed a bit, seeing that the soldiers would not harm her, but all the same she did not expect any one of them to believe her. After all, she was a multiple murderer, although for Lux, it had all been in her line of work.

"Tell me, Ixlee," said Shepard after surveying the wiry, hard-bitten woman a little. "Do you know that you could very possibly die before your redemption comes?" The prisoner nodded, not one trace of fear or self-pity in her eyes.

"Do you have any special talents or abilities?" asked Liara tentatively, taking her eyes off of the geth shielding prototype, but only with difficulty. "Any skills that would assist us in a combat situation, or even in the event of ship failure?" Dr. T'soni knew it was always helpful to have another scientist or engineer aboard, and she hoped this 'Lux Ixlee' might be able to help her.

Lux nodded gravely. "It's called Overclock. I got it from sampling one too many performance-enhancing drugs at my previous prison. I can throw myself at will into a berserker frenzy, firing bullets or punches with equal speed. I have to be careful, though, because if I leave myself in my Overclock state for too long, I might die." After pausing for full effect, Lux saluted again.

Then she noticed the tall synthetic among the members of the group. There was a human female, an asari, a salarian, a robot and--a geth? "Hey, what's with the geth?" Lux said anxiously, her body and left eye developing a slight nervous tic. "Do you want me to shoot it for you, ma'am?" Shepard shook her head, and the prisoner stood down, waiting for the synthetic to respond.

"The geth's with us, and his name is Rogue. He's not like all the others, being separated from his neural network. "If you'll follow behind me and Liara, Ixlee, you can have the honor of helping us choose more recruits from the inmates here." Lux smiled slightly, and her eyes beamed. She had always been a very tough cookie, but that didn't mean she was spared victimization and bullying by bigger, older, and stronger prisoners. Besides, she was a 'new fish', at least here. Helping the soldiers pick 'fresh meat' was a dream come true!

As the group kept moving down the line of prisoners, Kallic noticed the Geth lagging behind a bit.

"Hurry up cyclops, we have prisoners to question," Kallic said as he slowed down so that he would be walking next to the Geth. Kallic suddenly got a very stern and severe look on his face as he spoke to the Geth in a low tone, "I don't like you Geth, how you tracked down Shepard, your irrelevant story of redeeming your people, it all makes little sense, and seems all too suspicious to me. Just realize this 'Rogue', I'm watching you, and I'll be looking for any signs of danger from you, so watch how you tread synthetic, because I'm no easy opponent in a fight," Kallic menaced, and then his regular demeanor returned and he sped up so that he would be walking up near Admiral Shepard.
******
Bastion - Defined as: A projection from a fortification, arranged to give a wider firing range; Or, any fortified place; strong defense or bulwark: often used figuratively.

Bastion Kahne - Defined as: A moron, lover of women, and lover of games: most pertaining to women. Svelte, comely, handsome, lovely, cultured, flamboyant, smug, smooth, ignoramus: most of these pertaining to his attitude, and regular appearance. Platinum blonde hair: shoulder length, braided up into hair knot, most commonly seen in asian culture; bright captivating eyes: pale blue in appearance; lightly tanned skin: silky, soft, but scarred in various places; Asian and French in decent: famed trait is seductive smile. In short, a sleeze.

Bastion stood near the end of the line, nonchalant and uncaring for the 'red carpet' treatment the soldiers who had come to recruit them were receiving. As the group of soldiers approached he began to smile, maybe the whole thing wasn't such a bad deal after all, because what Bastion saw made him quite happy, women. As they passed him he let out a wolf whistle, "well now, who do we have here? Three beautiful gems: a ruby, a sapphire, and an emerald. My, my, I am impressed, I always heard the Navy was full of brusque but feminine men, and butt ugly women, but I have been proven wrong yet again, because before me are some definite beauties," he chided in his silky voice.

"And how are you lovely ladies this fine day?" He asked in the most sincere way he could, which was quite sincere sounding (since he'd had lots of practice in the past with women before, asking the same thing). Bastion looked from one woman to the next, examining each one in...fine detail. First and foremost was what appeared to be the commanding officer, a human, red headed, the 'ruby', as he'd called her; she was quite different than most women he dealt with...perfect. next was an Asari, she was quite young looking, her face showed it, but that didn't take away from her inherent beauty. She was the 'sapphire' he mentioned. She seemed quite the timid one, but yet again, quite perfect. And then there was Lux! Well that was a new one.

"Lux, I didn't see you behind that cute face of yours, how'd you get picked?" Bastion asked, wasting no time examining her either. She was a different one, a bit slim and supple, and she looked a bit toughened from her hard life, but that didn't stop her from having any femininity of her own, and Bastion's comment of a 'cute face' was not necessarily a condescension; she was the 'emerald'.

Bastion knew Lux from prison life, and he'd even heard of her and the Risa de Muerte group she'd worked under when he'd been in the Terminus Systems as a Pirate Merc, even had some confrontations with them, though none that he remembered ever seeing Lux in. He had "examined" her before, but when he was around women, regardless of how many times he'd seen them, well, let's just say he never wasted any time.

"So Lux, you think you can get me aboard the beautiful soldier's ship? You know you owe me for that cafeteria incident, and I know you know I'm no fool when it comes to ships, I'm a seasoned spacer after all, pirates always are. I'm no fool in combat either. So what do you say babe, put in a good word for me?" He asked, shining his famous seductive smile, showing off his beautiful pearly white teeth (something quite rare for pirates, even those with the tech or ability to have good teeth).

The female prisoner already asked if she could shoot Rogue. He was getting tired of the insults and regretted trying to join, he should have killed Shepard back in that fire fight. He began thinking of other things when he started to fall behind. Kallic approached him and then did what alomst everyone else had done, openly attack him.Rogue was taken back when Kallic confronted him like that, as if he knew of his goal. Not only had this sad excuse for a soldier confronted him but he actually though he could stop him, Rogue was about to school the officer. He walked right up to Kallic and faced him causing the others to go ahead.

"Thank you for the advice Kallic, I appreciate it," Rogue responded then lowered his voice. "Now you listen to me, you think you're high and mighty don't you judging me because of who I am. Let me tell you something just because I'm synthetic doesn't make your people better than mine. I am going to redeem my people for what we've been force to do, I grow tired of this fighting, of this slaughter of all kind. So if you want to live in your little world where you judge people than lets judge. Your people made far better slaves than they did officers anyway." Rogue then raised his voice, "I'll be looking forward to working beside you Kallic."

Rogue then walked ahead moving behind Shepard. He watched as they approached a male prisoner. He was unsure of what he was doing, then again most organics were confusing. Rogue was unsure of what the man was doing, perhaps trying to mate with them but that was none of his concern. He did however listen back in when the man mentioned he was pirate. Taking so much abuse for one day he looked at the man.

"I've been threatened, insulted, and shot at by about everyone here except Wall-e, though I bet he's probably thought about it. Is there any insults you want to crack, perhaps throw a punch at me, or maybe point a pistol to my head and ask if you can pull the trigger. Really I've been attacked by everyone let's hear what you got before you realize I'm on the crew, I insist. Hey I'll start you off... I've got one eye"

Rogue had actually gotten mad without realizing. He was actually caring a little bit. He was spending too much time with organics.

"Hey, hey, hey, hold up!" barked Yery Shepard, again positioning herself slightly between the golden-haired Wonderboy (as she had immediately dubbed him) and Rogue, the geth. "Nobody's going to shoot anybody, at least not on my watch. Got that?" After Liara and Wall-E nodded meekly (the others not-so-meekly, but still nodding), Admiral Shepard turned to the female prisoner. "Ixlee? What do you think of taking this inmate along? He seems awfully charming. Suave. A little too suave, if you ask me." She had met men of his type before. "Chad", whom Kallic had mentioned earlier, had been one of them. That's why she'd broken it off--hurt him before he hurts you. Of course, Shepard wondered if men like Chad could be hurt...

"I do owe him for saving my face in a rather brutal food fight in the prison cafeteria," answered Lux. In response to the others' curious glances, she continued, "We didn't just throw food. We threw silverware, too, and several inmates got eye injuries. That's why I can't see too well in my left one, but I'll do okay. A corrective shielding visor on my battle helmet always does me good." Lux squared her shoulders. "He can come with us, Admiral. So say I."

"And the rest of you?" asked Shepard. She was curious as to what the others thought. Of course, she suspected that he and Rogue probably wouldn't get along well, but part of being a team was learning to do that. Not everyone was born good at cooperation, but, well, that was just something the new crew would have to do if the mission to destroy the Reapers would succeed.

Liara turned to her immediate superior. "I think he might be a zhigol'," she said softly, her voice being barely a whisper. That was an asari slang term for a man who made his living giving women physical pleasure. "He has the rugged looks of a pirate, but the manners of a cultivated male prostitute."

Hearing this (her sense of hearing was extra-keen to compensate for her near-blindness in her left eye), Lux whooped with laughter. "You got that right! Say, how did you come to serve with Admiral Shepard, anyway?"

"We'll have time for stories later," Yery answered. "Right now, we'd better move on down this cell block before the C-Sec guards get too impatient." She addressed the remaining members of the crew--Kallic, Rogue, and WALL-E. "What do you say? Shall we take our golden-haired prodigy along with us?"

"I've been threatened, insulted, and shot at by about everyone here except Wall-e, though I bet he's probably thought about it. Is there any insults you want to crack, perhaps throw a punch at me, or maybe point a pistol to my head and ask if you can pull the trigger. Really I've been attacked by everyone let's hear what you got before you realize I'm on the crew, I insist. Hey I'll start you off... I've got one eye" a Geth said, rather upset for little known reason other than that he just was.

"Hey, hey, hey, hold up!" barked the 'Ruby', who positioned herself slightly between Bastion and the Geth. "Nobody's going to shoot anybody, at least not on my watch. Got that?"

Everyone one complied to that, except Bastion, who only grinned at the rather comical events taking place that he had no relevant position in. "I say ol' pal, rather upset are we? Well, no problems there, I can understand feeling like an outsider, feeling like you're left out. Tell you what my synthetic friend, I will offer you my loyalty as a fellow outsider, and I hope you accept my offer to be my ship mate - if I'm accepted onto the crew, that is - or matey as we pirates call them, though you folks may understand the word, friend better," Bastion said, bowing honorably to the Geth, and then straightening up and putting his hand on the Geth's shoulder.

"I'll tell you pal, I've worked with my fair share of scum and slimeballs in my life: Batarians, slavers, pirates, mercenaries, bounty hunters, crime bosses, warlords, and other unsavory sorts, so to say I've got something against you for being a Geth, or synthetic would be a lie, so I'll tell ya, I've got nothing demeaning or cruel, or verbally abusive to say my friend. And as for the one eye, I've got nothing against that either, seeing as I've worked with plenty of one eyed fellows, it's nothing new to me," Bastion told the Geth, reassuring him that he (Bastion) was on the Geth's side, and willing to work with him, even to the point of being his, 'matey', as he'd called him.

Bastion turned back to the others at hand, looking from one to another with a toothy grin on his face.

"Certainly optimistic, isn't he," Kallic stated, rather than asked. "Admiral, if you have nothing against taking him on board, than far be it from me to deny him from becoming apart of the crew," Kallic told Shepard, looking rather scornfully at the pirate for being so friendly towards the Geth. "But I need to ask you, pirate, what is your reason for being in prison, your name, and reason for wanting to join?" Kallic asked, raising an eyebrow.

"My reason for being in prison is that I was found for smuggling contraband, and for piracy, go figure. My name is Bastion Kahne; begins with 'K', and has an 'h' in between the 'a' and the 'n'. My reason for wanting to join the crew, well, besides the obvious, is tha I desire nothing more than to be free, but what prisoner doesn't? Well, I value my freedom at a higher price than most people, I'm a pirate after all, feedom is what I love, above all else," Bastion told Kallic in a very honest manner, his grin was gone, replaced with a placid, and truly sincere look.

Bastion smiled affably at the remaining crew members who were to say whether he came aboard, or stayed in prison, he was already back to normal after being questioned by Kallic.

"I say ol' pal, rather upset are we? Well, no problems there, I can understand feeling like an outsider, feeling like you're left out. Tell you what my synthetic friend, I will offer you my loyalty as a fellow outsider, and I hope you accept my offer to be my ship mate - if I'm accepted onto the crew, that is - or matey as we pirates call them, though you folks may understand the word, friend better," Bastion said, bowing honorably to the Geth, and then straightening up and putting his hand on the Geth's shoulder.

Rogue was completely taken back by the man's response. He switched back to his character and prepared to answer.

I'll tell you pal, I've worked with my fair share of scum and slimeballs in my life: Batarians, slavers, pirates, mercenaries, bounty hunters, crime bosses, warlords, and other unsavory sorts, so to say I've got something against you for being a Geth, or synthetic would be a lie, so I'll tell ya, I've got nothing demeaning or cruel, or verbally abusive to say my friend. And as for the one eye, I've got nothing against that either, seeing as I've worked with plenty of one eyed fellows, it's nothing new to me,"

Just like Shepard did when she did wrong, Rogue did twenty push-ups.

"Shepard I'd like to appologize for my actions, and I think you should bring him along. Not only that I'd like to be paired up with him if we ever split into groups. I appologize for my actions friend is there any chance you can forgive me?"

Shepard smiled. "Looks like we've found a new ally," she commented. "Kahne, welcome to the newest crew of the NORMANDY VI." She was pleased with the way things were going--more than pleased. So far, both Lux Ixlee and Bastion Kahne, the two prisoners, had been cooperative and eager to go on what was, more than likely, a kamikaze mission. She couldn't believe her luck.

As for Liara T'soni, she had returned to examining the shield prototype that Rogue had offered to her. "This is incredible!", she mused, turning the artifact around in her delicate blue hands to view it from all possible angles. "Would you mind if I try to replicate this within our armored bodysuits on the ship? That way if we run into any hostile geth, which I'm sure we will, then we'll have better defenses." She carefully listened to a mechanical response from Rogue, which seemed to have a pitch and tone that indicated he agreed. Satisfied, Liara slipped the shield into a compartment of her utility belt.

Suddenly the group was interrupted by another one of the guards from C-Sec. "Excuse me," she said, "but the natives are getting restless. It's almost time for lunch. Are you done selecting possible crew members, or can I take these monkeys down to the cafeteria for their daily dose of petroleum-based fodder?" She didn't seem to think much of the prisoners, which was natural, but there was a hard edge to her voice that suggested her aversion to them ran deeper than the simple fact that they had committed a crime. Shepard wondered what had brought her to this section of the C-Sec Academy...

"Just a few more minutes," Shepard replied, "and we should be done." She was glad to move away from the guard and further on down the cell block.

Rogue had grown tired of being where they were, grant it he made another ally which was good but at the same time he had to watch out for Kallic. He looked at Liara when she began speaking to him about the geth shielding technology. She was quite interested in it however he was not, he considered it a little out of date.

"Would you mind if I try to replicate this within our armored bodysuits on the ship? That way if we run into any hostile geth, which I'm sure we will, then we'll have better defenses."

"By all means Dr. Liara I insist you do and it would be an honor to work with you on it. That is if you'll allow me to assist you on it"

They had continued walking down the hall when they were stopped by a guard but only for a moment. Shepard seemed happy when the guard had left, but perhaps it was because they were almost done in here. Rogue began looking at her from head to toe. From what he could see she had a well built body. Her face was calming which was suprising for a soldier and she had a very soothing voice to match. He shook whatever that image was and kept walking. His mind began to wonder again now remembering when she oiled and polished him. He remembered how warm and calming her touch was against his metal exterior.

"Gah, damn organic thoughts," Rogue said accidentally, hoping no one heard that or no one saw he was right behind Shepard when he said that. He quickly moved away from Shepard and moved next to Bastion. Bastion looked like the type of guy that would know what Rogue was doing; that is if he had heard what Rogue had said.

Bastion had heard what the Geth had said, and seen what he was doing, it was interesting that a creature that had little emotional processes would even emulate such reactions and thoughts, this new friend of his was a definite odd ball, but then again, being a woman obsessed pirate mercenary/outlaw meant Bastion was no different.

"My friend, you are one strange fella, but that's not to say I don't have sympathy for ya, so here's what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna give you some advice, now you take it, and consider it, and most of all, take your time, and think about it," Bastion told the Geth, grinning at him.

"You take things slow, and evaluate every situation, you're taking things too quickly; the fastest way to get what you want, is to wait for it...but, that's not always the case, as you can tell from me, but that's another story, just keep your thoughts in your head, and be polite, and you'll get what you want, trust me," Bastion told the Geth with a wink. All-in-all Bastion was telling the Geth how he should take the situation at hand, and deal with it, whether the Geth got that hint was entirely up to the synthetic's intuition and relative common sense. Bastion looked the Geth up and down and then smiled, "boy, you are certainly different, but that's not the point. So, tell me, you got a name, or do you want me calling you 'Sparky' the entire mission?"
******
Kallic approached the Admiral and spoke to her in a low tone, "Shepard, I don't mean to impose, but, don't you think we're done here, I mean, we've pretty much run out of walkway and the prisoner line is already being herded to the cafeteria. I believe we've found all the crew we're going to find for now Admiral, with all respect, might I suggest we get going, like maybe to the ship to get all of the crew briefed, that is, if we have nowhere else to go, do we?"

"Agreed," replied Shepard, and she motioned for the group to follow her and leave the holding-cell section of the C-Sec Academy. Once she and her new fellow squadmates had reached the Citadel Station Docking Bay (which took a very short time indeed), the Admiral boarded the NORMANDY VI and prepared to brief the crew. Not only were the others she had most recently collected a vital part of this mission, but so were returning veterans such as Joker, the NORMANDY's pilot, and Doctor Chakwas, the skilled and loyal medic aboard the Systems Alliance's most well-known and celebrated vessel.

She made her way toward the pilot's intercom as Rogue, WALL-E, and the others settled into their places for takeoff. "All right, crew," she said without a trace of deception or omission, "this is your Admiral speaking. We have all been assigned by the Citadel Council, and our human ally Captain Anderson, to locate and destroy a synthetic threat known only as 'the Reapers'. Most people still believe that these machines are a myth, possibly one that the hostile geth invented, but we all know that's not true. The Reapers are xenocidal machines that exterminate all organic life in the galaxy every 50,000 years. Why? We can only guess, but our main theory is that the Reapers are possibly searching for organic life that won't push itself to the brink of extinction in that short of a biological time frame. That said, we may not come back alive. I need all of your help and assistance, all you've got, in order to combat this possible eradicator of our very galaxy. Are you up to the challenge? I picked you because not only do I think you are, but I know you are. Shepard out." She clicked the comlink to the 'off' position and waited.

"Nice speech, Shepard," smiled Liara, and she gave the Admiral a hug.

"Thanks. I know that pretty speeches aren't going to get us off the ground very fast, however. Do you have any idea where to start looking for the Reapers?" Shepard furrowed an eyebrow. "I don't think they'll come blasting onto Earth like the geth did, with trumpets heralding the end of the world."

"I don't, either. The Reapers are highly advanced AI's, and that means they probably wouldn't make any stupid human--er, organic--mistakes. The only lead I've uncovered so far, in the two months before we were officially assigned this mission, was the discovery of another type of Prothean artifact besides the beacons we have previously encountered. Let's brief everyone."

Once Kallic, Shepard, WALL-E, Rogue, Bastion, and Lux were all seated in the Comm Room aboard the NORMANDY, Liara stood up and began her omni-tool presentation. She displayed something through it, holographically, which appeared to be a tall, thin metal rod sticking up into the air. Kind of like a lightning rod--or a Prothean beacon, Shepard mused, smiling to herself.

"This," began Liara, "is not a Prothean beacon--not like the ones we've seen before on our previous mission when we found out about the Reapers. This is a much more delicate and rare artifact, which makes it that much more valuable. It's called a znamya, plural znam'yi, which is Prothean for 'standard' or 'large flag.' The thing about these flags is--they're not flags. They're recording devices, and unlike the Prothean Cipher, which only could be transmitted to Admiral Shepard's mind, I believe all species who encounter a znamya and be safely imprinted with its message." Liara pressed a button, and the tall, thin rod grew a bit taller, unfurling a long, electrical mesh screen. Images flashed on the ribbon of glowing particles, and the whole crew gasped in astonishment. The screen showed the Protheans' annihilation, or at least a portion of it, and the full "faces" of the Reapers!

"Where did you find this?" asked Shepard, digging her fingernails into the leather of her executive seat. "Did you download it off a computer at one of the Citadel Station consoles?" Liara nodded. "Show us more, please, Liara."

Dr. T'soni's omni-tool clicked off. "That's all there was of the download, because it's a very high-bandwidth communication. It almost completely overloaded my omni-tool! My guess is if we find these flags, then we find the Reapers. The difference between the znamya and the beacon is that unlike the beacon, the flags are fragile, and also unlike the beacon, the [I]znam'yi will be even more difficult to find. Their images are clearer and sharper. Shepard, you could barely discern what was going on in your visions. Now, it's crystal-clear what the Reapers are, what they're doing, and what they look like." Liara sat down in another of the seats, waiting for comment.

"So it's just going to be like our old childhood game of 'capture the flag'?" Liara nodded, and the rest of the crew involuntarily found themselves cracking up. "Where are we going to find these znam'yi, anyway?"

The asari beamed. "My research shows that one of them may be located on a damaged world that will bring us full circle when we return to it: Eden Prime."

"You take things slow, and evaluate every situation, you're taking things too quickly; the fastest way to get what you want, is to wait for it...but, that's not always the case, as you can tell from me, but that's another story, just keep your thoughts in your head, and be polite, and you'll get what you want, trust me,"

It had taken a minute for Rouge to realize what Bastion was talking about. There was no way a synthetic could express feelings, espically for a human organic. The again he was different from other Geth, he had been told he had a personallity to him and it was true. He was trying to kill Shepard not like her but for some reason she seemed different like she wasn't a cold blooded killer as he pictured. He was interupted from his day dreaming by Bastion.

"boy, you are certainly different, but that's not the point. So, tell me, you got a name, or do you want me calling you 'Sparky' the entire mission?"

"You can call me Rogue, I thank you for your advice Bastion."

The crew had finally made it back to the ship. He took a seat and listened in as Shepard gave a long speech. That speech was then followed by a presentation from Dr. Liara. They were looking for a Prothean structure, it somehow would lead them to the Reapers. He then heard Shepard mention some game called capture the flag and everyone began laughing. Rogue was unsure why they were all laughing, perhaps it was a training game organics played. Rogue remembered "playing" exterminate the organic when he started out but it probably wasn't the same game. He then heard of their destination, Eden Prime. He had came all the way here from Eden Prime and now he was heading back there.

"umm Shepard I have a question for you. if we know about this beacon the geth probably do as well, would you like me to send them a message stating the beacon is else where?"

Shepard winked. "Excellent idea, Rogue," she said. "If it turns out that there are hostile geth, humanoids, aliens, or hostile anything on any planet, shoot first and ask questions later. That does not mean, however, that you should continue firing if your opponent surrenders. Renegade soldiers do that, and I daresay that was how some of my more ruthless squadmates in my days as Commander survived. We should hold ourselves to a standard that values life, even an opponent's life, more than that. Any questions?"

Lux Ixlee, the female C-Sec prisoner, raised her hand. "Is that why you didn't let me shoot the geth?" She was trying for a few more laughs, but no one thought her funny. Liara and WALL-E were even staring at her, goggle-eyed.

"Drop and give me twenty," hissed Shepard between gritted teeth. "No, make it fifty. You are a prisoner after all, and that little 'joke' of yours just cost you some serious points with me. Also, apologize to Rogue after you're done."

Lux immediately dropped to the floor and began doing frantic push-ups, unsure how she could have screwed up this early in the mission, when it hadn't even truly started yet! As for the rest of the crew, they didn't seem to have much to say, so Shepard turned on the viewscreen for a panorama of deep space. It calmed her, to say the least, and it brought back a few memories of home. She'd been raised on starships most of her life, so the thought of empty blackness and a few billion stars didn't scare her a bit.

"Uh, sorry, Commander," mumbled Lux when she finally stood up. "Uh--I mean, Admiral." Shepard put her hands on her hips and jerked her head toward Rogue. "Uh--yeah, I'm sorry for how I acted toward you, Rogue."

"Quite an impressive performance," mused the Admiral coolly. "I'd give it a D-. Next time, please leave out the 'uh's', and try to sound sincere." She squared her shoulders and informed the rest of the slightly snickering crew, "We should land on Eden Prime within the hour. Be prepared for anything, all right?"

It felt nice to get noticed for doing something right... too bad that moment was short lived. The female prisoner made another remark about him but was met with a punishment this time. Instead of the the normal twenty push-ups Shepard made it fifty. Rogue watched and enjoyed what the prisoner had to do. When she was done Shepard forced her to appologize to him which was nice of Shepard.

"Uh--yeah, I'm sorry for how I acted toward you, Rogue."

"and I'm sorry the admiral is so generous in her punishments," Rogue responded coldy.

On the thought of Shepard again she had not only saved him but stuck up for him. Rogue decided it was time to do something kind back

"Shepard I noticed your skills back in the fire fight. That rifle you had seemed to slow you down a bit. We do have an hour and within that time I could modify that rifle of yours to shoot faster and mroe powerful shots. Its the least I can do for you."

As Rogue waited for an answer he contacted his brothers and sent them a message

"000101010101010101000001111101010101010101010101" translated to "Prothean articfact located near Parag, send troops for extraction now"

"That would be absolutely fabulous," replied Shepard. "I may have missed you during my little 'Blitz' in the Citadel Tower because of my rifle, but when hostile entities come our way, I don't want my shot to be off." She unsheathed her Teravolt VI pistol from the weapon pack that she always carried slung across her back and handed it over to the geth. Rogue gave a nod of acknowledgment and headed toward the machine lab.

Even more quickly than she had expected (or had she just been dozing off?), the Admiral heard Joker speaking through the NORMANDY intercom: "We should touch down on Eden Prime very soon. I'm picking up some strange readings, though: thick clouds of smog and pollution in the atmosphere, most likely industrial. Hmm...Seems like this planet isn't quite the paradise it used to be, even before Saren and the geth he commandeered landed."

"Liara?" asked Shepard, beckoning to her first mate. "Have you heard about anything strange going on in regards to Eden Prime?" The asari shook her head. "If it was being used for recently-discovered natural resources, the Citadel computer consoles should have mentioned something about it. Every holonews channel prides itself on being up-to-the-second, so if something that could impact Citadel Space economics was happening...I don't like it."

"Neither do I," said Liara, and then she jerked her head toward the left. Lux Ixlee was approaching the both of them, and she took a step backward. Being a diplomat, she normally would not have been so hesitant and so eager to get away from anyone, but this prisoner was an entirely different matter.

"Admiral?" asked Lux. "I--wanted to personally apologize to you, more fully than I did last time, for my rude remarks. I've always been quick to shoot off at the mouth, which is more like an automatic revolver than a slowly-firing cannon. I've been thinking about what I said at the prison compared to what I've said now, and I'm sure not doing a good job of redeeming myself, am I?"

"It's okay, Lux," replied Shepard, patting the tall prisoner on the shoulder lightly, "but if I were you, the next time Rogue needs oiling or polishing after a skirmish, I'd make it up to him." She smiled. "Dismissed, Ixlee. Thank you."

"Why would anyone anyone be interested in this godforsaken rock?" Snake asked to Garrus "The geth tore the fertile land to pieces during the attack in the whole ordeal with the reapers."

"Well apperently, ExoGeni and other companies see something in this planet so to them, staking a claim on this planet is like... how would you say it...?" Garrus replied back.

"Christmas?"

"Yes... between you and me Dave, I think whoever gets full rights to this planet is going to send their company straight to hell."

"Yup..." said Snake as he sat down and pulled out a pack of cigarrettes. He stuck one in his mouth and offered one to Garrus.

"I hear those are bad for your health..."

"Build ups of flem in the throat, tar in your lungs followed by a bad cough" Snake said as he lit up the one in his mouth. "My favourite brand." He finished his cigarrette and put it out. "Why don't you recommend me to the spectres?" Snake asked as he got back on his feet.

"Because I don't think you're good enough." Garrus replied.

"Sneaking into a base the size of a city, single handedly destroying a battle tank that can nuke a planet and you don't think that's good enough?" boasted Snake.

"Okay, I think you're good enough, but I don't know that you're good enough. We've only been together for some small time missions. Lets just finish this one, okay?"

"Pfft, I'd make a great spectre."

"Says you. Let's get back the spaceport, we're done here."

Aboard the NORMANDY VI, Joker smoothly adjusted the autopilot controls to facilitate a safe arrival at the Eden Prime spaceport. He had no illusions about what this planet held--he'd seen and heard of dozens of marines dying here in the first Sarenite geth attack, and who knew what hazards were lurking in the industrial fog at present? For now, however, the pilot settled for telling the Admiral and her crew they had landed.

"Roger that. Thank you, Joker. We'll see you later, and please have Executive Officer Pressly stand guard and commandeer the ship while we're gone. Something's wrong around here on Eden Prime, as you've rightly guessed, and we're going to find out what it is." The pilot saluted, and Shepard and her squadmates exited the ship: the Admiral first, then Liara, then Kallic and Rogue, and the prisoners, Lux Ixlee and Bastion Kahne, bringing up the rear. WALL-E, the dutiful waste disposal droid, was taking care of the remnants of the crew's rations packaging after the light lunch they'd had onboard.

"Say, Admiral?" asked Lux. "My old gang, the Risa de Muerte, used to take luxurious tropical vacations here when the planet was still beautiful. If any of them are still hanging around, though for what reason I can't possibly guess, let me take care of them. I'm not on their side anymore. Not since I betrayed them and ratted out one of our ringleaders to the authorities."

Shepard halted, causing the rest of the squad to bump up abruptly behind her. "Really?" She turned and lowered her voice. "I appreciate that, Ixlee. Though I must wonder--why did you turn against them? I can't imagine any seasoned henchwoman such as yourself doing such a dastardly deed." Noticing that her crewmates were staring at her in surprise, Shepard mumbled, "Sorry. Didn't mean to give you a head-on collision with my rump."

Liara giggled, and Shepard turned fifteen shades of red. Holy geth! I'm always embarrassing myself at the most inopportune moments. She cleared her throat and straightened up, marching toward the VI receptionist kiosk (that hadn't been there before!) at the entrance to the Eden Prime port. She looked and sounded like Avina, though her expression this time was a bit disapproving. "My name is Ona," she said, "your VI liaison. Might I suggest a thorough decontamination for the front two of you, with plenty of hot water and potent cleansing lather?" Apparently, Liara and Shepard had been sweating over the course of their journey to Eden Prime...

"I'll handle that," Shepard snapped, and this time Liara "blushed" as much as an asari could. "I mean--we'll handle that. For now, though, I'm a Spectre. Could you tell me what's going on on this dump of a planet?"

"I'm sorry; I am not privy to such information. For now, could you please have someone less odiferous address me? My organic life-form sensors are overloading." Was that a touch of disdain in this synthetic 'Ona's' voice?

"I'll overload you," mumbled Shepard, who turned to Rogue. "Your honor."

"Well I'll be damned..." Garrus said to himself as Snake and him were looking at the view screens inside the spaceport.

"What for?" asked Snake.

"That ship is the Normandy. I used to serve on that ship with Commander Shepard."

"Ah, the one who put an end to the whole Reaper crisis?"

"Yes... Why don't we pay them a little visit?"

Garrus and Snake followed the hallways and waited for them beyond the door of the reception room. Snake lit a cigarrette, but Garrus snatched it from his hands and threw it in a waste basket. "Not in front of my friend."

"Geez, one smoke wouldn't hurt."

After landing on Eden Prime, the crew of the [b]'Normandy'[b] left the ship and entered the reception area of the port. They were proceeding quickly, and were only halted when Lux spoke to the Admiral about her old gang, and the Admiral herself stopped so abruptly as to cause everyone to bump into and clog up behind her.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to give you a head-on collision with my rump." Admiral Shepard said, causing the Asari, Liara to blush, well, whatever came close to blushing for an Asari.

"I don't mind bumping into your rump Ms. Shepard," Bastion said with a seductive smile, as he slowly reached his hand out, only to have it crushed in a vice grip by Kallic.

"I wouldn't recommend that, Mr. Kahne," Kallic told the prisoner, who rubbed his hurting hand in response.

"I'm sorry; I am not privy to such information. For now, could you please have someone less odoriferous address me? My organic life-form sensors are overloading." Came the rather snood remark from a nearby VI that the Admiral was talking to.

"I'll overload you," mumbled Shepard, who turned to Rogue. "Your honor."

"Um, Shepard, if you don't mind, I think my skills would be best suited here," Kallic addressed the Admiral respectfully, stepping up next to Shepard with his Omnitool active, which was different in appearance and capabilities, compared to most Omnitools; for example, his Omnitool was blue with florescent hints of violet, which would remind most of Avina's coloring scheme.

"I can easily...'question' the VI and get answers far faster and with less retort, Kallic informed Shepard, waiting to see if she agreed.

Rogue quickly moved to the machine lab and began fixing up Shepard's assault rifle. It took him a matter of thirty minutes to make it shoot faster and much more accurately. He still had another thirty minutes to kill so he created a shielding device similar to his own but was different in its own way. This device could be attached to any sort of armor and would sense when the armor's shielding as down; at that point this shielding type would go off.

"Shepard will be proud of this," said a voice in his head that sounded like him.

"She's nothing more than a human, get over it," said another voice in his head.

Up until now he realized CHAOS had not spoken in a long time, he must have fused with the program somehow giving him this ability of feeling.

"However," the second voice continued, "we need shepard alive for now so I agree in giving it to her."

After finishing with the battle in his head he returned back to the group at the right time. They exited the ship and were stopped by the human prisoner. After another short walk they approached an VI, perhaps for information. The VI would not speak or could not speak to organics, Rogue couldn't tell.

"I'll overload you," mumbled Shepard, who turned to Rogue. "Your honor."

"Um, Shepard, if you don't mind, I think my skills would be best suited here,I can easily...'question' the VI and get answers far fast and with less retort." replied Kallic.

"This VI is not the best out there Shepard, I can get you whatever information you want, without upsetting th VI like our friend Kallic plans to do." Rogue placed a hand on her shoulder and put the device on her back very gently. "I can do this Shepard, just tell me exactly what you want and I can get it for you."

Shepard knew that she wanted to give both Rogue and Kallic a chance to show off their skills--Kallic's with diplomacy, and Rogue's with VI technology. So, she turned to both of them and requested, "Ask 'Ona' if she knows anything about any Prothean artifacts or technology that might be down on the surface of Eden Prime. If it seems to you like she's lying, then open up her console, but discreetly, and see if there's any data that might help us. I am a Spectre, after all, and espionage has become one of my biggest specialties." She waited to see what Rogue and Kallic would do, and what Ona'd say.

"Ask 'Ona' if she knows anything about any Prothean artifacts or technology that might be down on the surface of Eden Prime.

Rogue was quick to make a move and faced the VI that stood infront of him. He began to speak to the VI through binary code; to organics it would sound like he was making weird chirping like noises.

"01010101011111010101010101010101010101010101010111 00010101010101010101010101000101010101010101010100 000111010101010100111000010101010101010101" (Translation)

"My name is unit 343117 aka Rogue, and I am allying myself with these organics. We seek a certain Prothean artifact and require your help. Would you know if any Prothean artifact or perhaps technology that would be present here on Eden Prime?"

Rogue flicked a small device in his head that allowed him to detect vocal patterns. He set it to the VI setting waiting for her response. If she was lying to him, he would know.

"Prothean artifacts?" responded Ona, her mechanical voice containing more than a twinge of doubt. "Let me search my informational database and see what I can find." After a few moments of processing, the VI blinked her eyes and turned her electronic body towards Admiral Shepard. "I am sorry, ma'am, but the only Prothean artifacts of which I have ever heard upon Eden Prime was one beacon, which was subsequently destroyed in the first Sarenite geth attack. Perhaps I can be of more help presenting a directory to the offices of the many industries here on Eden Prime, or fine restaurants if you are interested in dining." She paused. "Though I suggest you wash beforehand."

Shepard leaned in close to Rogue. "Is she lying?" the Admiral whispered anxiously.