When everything is wrong, you are right chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect, this belongs to Bioware. Please enjoy.

Chapter 17: Sneaky Doctors.

Chakwas smiled as she watched Garrus walked past the med-bay window with Shepard slung over his shoulder. She was happy to see the Commander happy, truly happy, after so long. She remembered as she watched Shepard rise through the ranks of the Alliance that even though Shepard wore a smile, there was a dark sadness in her eyes that seem to shadow that smile. For a while Chakwas didn't think that anything would take away that shadow but as she observed Shepard's interaction with Garrus aboard the SR1 all those years ago, Chakwas started to see a light in Shepard's eyes. To see them now, as people who loved each other, was enough to warm her old bones.

Chakwas turned her attention back to the data of Shepard's scan. After transferring the data to a data pad for easy use, the information scrolled slowly across her screen while diagrams spun slowly in place. Before she read deeply into the report the medical bay doors opened, when Chakwas looked up to see who wanted to see her she was greeted by her new assistant. Sidonis walked in rubbing his neck as a medical back hung from his arm. At first Chakwas was surprised when Sidonis timidly walked into her room in his battered armour and slightly cracked plates and announced that Shepard had told him to report to her. Over the next few days, Sidonis proved himself to be not only knowledgeable about the different species on the ship but he also proved to be a great help. Without his help in picking out all of the shredded metal that lay embedded in James' leg after that particular Cerberus mission, Chakwas was sure James would have lost his leg. Chakwas smiled as Sidonis placed his bag, full of medical supplies, on the nearest bench with a heavy sigh.

"Engineer Donnelly giving you a hard time?" Chakwas asked as Sidonis rubbed his tired looking eyes.

"I've never heard so much complaining since Monteague got a broken leg. And all Donnelly had was a jarred elbow…" Sidonis growled lightly but his mandibles spread into a smile. Chakwas chuckled softly as she stood up and started to help Sidonis put away the medical supplies. Sidonis nodded in thanks before putting away medi-gel wraps. Sidonis sniffed the air and Chakwas' lips crinkled into a smile.

"The Commander has just left; she had some slight burning on her legs from the last mission, nothing serious" Chakwas explained. She knew what Shepard had done for Sidonis in terms of saving his life and letting Garrus give him a second chance. Sidonis nodded and set about making his report on Ken, really that man had a low pain tolerance for most things. Chakwas sat back down at her desk picking up the data pad that held Shepard's scan results while pulling up some of Mordin's files he had on Shepard. Sidonis noticed and chirped in question. Chakwas was glad that she had been round Garrus for years or else she wouldn't have been able to understand.

"Lantar, I'd prefer if you didn't chirp…my translator is good but not that good" Chakwas told him. Sidonis bit his tongue in an attempt to berate himself but soon stopped once Chakwas gave him the look of 'you-dare-do-that-and-I-will-rip-out-your-tongue'.

"Sorry Doctor…erm…what are you doing?" Sidonis asked as he shifted about on his feet as he approached. Chakwas gave him a reassured smile before turning back to the screen.

""That's quiet alright. Right now I'm looking at some scan results I took of Shepard." Chakwas turned to screen letting Sidonis read over the results.

"You see…Shepard is different. I hope you have been looking into the crew's medicals" Chakwas looked at Sidonis out of the corner of her eye, seeing him nod while his eyes scanned the diagrams and flowing information.

"Good. Well you see Shepard has been taking daily…or when she remembers…doses of a special serum that is designed to help her with dextro-amino acids" Chakwas explained as she pointed out the dextro level in Shepard's system, noticing that it was higher than usual. "The serum was designed by Mordin, a Salarian scientist that was on the Normandy a while ago. Shepard's serum works by adding female Turian DNA into her system"

"I remember an old report saying that Shepard was highly allergic to Dextro-amino proteins…" Sidonis interjected as he read further into the information.

"Indeed, she was. As I said the female Turian DNA counters that or more precisely the serum replaces some Levo proteins with Dextro. The Turian DNA is to anchor the dextro proteins. But I have to keep a check on it because I have notices some slight mutations to Shepard's body that I'm sure she's not telling me about." Chakwas pulled up a diagram of Shepard's overall body. The wire framed Shepard shone with a faint orange light while other lines that showed the blood system shone with a faint blue and red light. Sidonis looked over the diagram while Chakwas pointed on the various places Shepard's body had mutated. Mainly pointing out Shepard's slimming waist and jutting hips, she even pointed out mutations Shepard's didn't even know about. For example the small spurs on her calves that were still hidden under her skin, her muscular structure had also adapted in ways that looked Turian while still adhering to the Human body.

"A new development I have been keeping an eye on is this. Shepard has been gradually growing plates under her skin, not hard enough to be noticed or hinder her movements but hard enough to protect her body from sudden impacts…just like Turian plates." Chakwas told Sidonis. Sidonis chirped in response as his eyes widened, taking in the information.

"And the Commander has no idea. I already knew that she could communicate like a Turian but I thought it was an implant…this is far beyond what I thought. I'm guessing this all came about because of Garrus?" Sidonis put forward. Chakwas smiled, Sidonis was not as stupid as he put on.

"Yes…I won't get into details but yes it was because of Garrus." Chakwas looked back at the diagram. Just as her thoughts of how Garrus had changed Shepard's life for the better she noticed something on the diagram, something that would explain Shepard's high levels of dextro in her system.

"Oh my…Sidonis, we might have to keep an eye on Shepard for the next few months" Chakwas pointed out her discovery and Sidonis' pale mandibles clamped against his mouth as a squeak erupted from his throat as if he had choked on his own tongue.

"I hope you have a book for something like this because I have no idea on what to do besides panic…" Sidonis rumbled out as his hands scrunched together.

"Don't worry, we still have a few months to prepare but right now I think I need a brandy. Would you care to join me?" Chakwas walked over to her cupboard and pulled out a bottle of brandy. Sidonis walked over and huffed.

"I wouldn't mind but I don't have anything" Sidonis' mandible flicked before he looked back at Shepard's diagram and closed it down just in case anyone walked into the med-bay. Chakwas smiled and pulled out another bottle was the cleverly hidden behind folders and data pads. When Chakwas handed him the bottle Sidonis realised that it was a high end type of Turian brandy that he had rarely saw on Omega. Sidonis gave Chakwas a look.

"Garrus hid it here from Primarch Victus while he was on board the Normandy…I promised him I would hide it from Victus, not you. And if what the diagram shows us is true, then Garrus will not be needing it" Chakwas told him before pouring herself some of her own brandy into a glass and tapping it against the bottle of Turian brandy that Sidonis clutched. Sidonis smiled at Chakwas' trickery and took a sip straight from the bottle, letting the burning feeling sliver down his throat.

"Then I must advise that we watch and Garrus' behaviour to other males aboard the ship…especially Alenko or else everyone on this ship will be dead or injured before this war has truly started." Sidonis told Chakwas as they both sat down. The next few months would be…interesting.

)_)

Shepard snuggled into Garrus' side as he wrapped his arm round her shoulders. Her nose filled with the scent of gun oil and odd spice as she buried her face into the side of his chest, while feeling the contented purr that ran through his body. Garrus' hand fell to her stomach as he started drawing faint circles in weird patterns. The bed sheets lay in tattered ruins once again from Garrus' talons as they tangled round their feet like white ribbons. Clothing and armour lay round the room, trailing from the door to the bed like a map leading the blind. New smudges decorated the glass of the fish tank while its eerie blue light enveloped the room casting strange shadows throughout.

Garrus' chest rumbled as he purred and pulled Shepard closer to him making Shepard smile and let out a purr of her own.

"So, what did Chakwas want?" Garrus rasped he was still trying to catch his breath, while he reached up with his other hand and rubbed his eyes. Shepard realised that the last mission must have worn him out more than he let on. The Geth had really come down on them hard when they were running through the Dreadnought and with the Geth hunters coming at them in all directions it was defiantly one of the toughest missions she had ever been on. Only the derelict Reaper could compare to the Dreadnought.

"I got some burns on my legs from the dreadnought; Chakwas was just having a look at them" Shepard told him as she stretched her leg, hissing in pain when she stretched too far. Garrus sat up, making Shepard fall and bounce off the bed; Garrus took her calves into his hands and smoothed over the medi-gel wrapping while his sum-harmonics chimed with worry.

"When did this happen?" Garrus almost growled. Shepard smiled as she pulled her legs away from his hands before moving herself so that she was kneeling in front of him. She raised her hand to caress his scarred mandible while a reassuring purr.

"I can't really remember, it might have been when the Geth tried to blow up that elevator platform…or when we were running to get of a dreadnought that was blowing up" Shepard smirked as she traced his clan markings over his nose. Garrus huffed as his nose twitched slightly before his hands captured her shoulders and Shepard soon found herself with her back against the bed while her blue eyed Turian mate loomed over her with a predatory gaze in his eyes. Shepard breath caught in her throat as she felt her molten hot core start to rage again, she rubbed her thighs together as she tried to arch her body into his. Garrus growled softly as he leant forward and started nipping at her neck making Shepard gasp, leaning back to expose more of her tender flesh to him.

"You should have told me soon Shepard or gone to Chakwas sooner, instead of avoiding it as long as possible" Garrus scolded her but Shepard's mind was already into so much of a haze all she managed to get out was mumbled 'uh huh'. Garrus chuckled as he nipped her neck hard while his hand grazed down her shoulders to her breast, cupping it and rolling the soft flesh. Shepard arched into his touch as she tried to stifle a moan without success.

"Commander, Legion has requested your presence in the war room…I believe he has found something" EDI spoke over the intercom. Shepard and Garrus let a half-hearted growl; Garrus gave one last nip to Shepard's neck before he rolled off her. Shepard got up from her bed as she stretched her scratched up arms.

"Tell him I'm on my way down EDI, I just need to get s shower" Shepard told the invisible entity.

"Legion has been notified Commander, although you might want to hurry Admiral Xen Is interrogating Legion on the Geth." EDI spoke again. Shepard growled as she bit her lips, seriously that Quarian was asking to be slapped. Shepard walked towards her shower room weighing up her options of whether she should take a shower or not. Deciding on it better not to smell like arousal, sweat and Garrus she stepped into the small room and turned on the water. The heat pulsed down her skin shifting the grime and dirt off her skin. As she scrubbed her hair and skin she gave a hiss of pain. As she pulled her fingers away from her head she noticed specks of blood coating her nails.

"Everything alright, Zo?" Garrus' voice came from the door. Shepard nodded as she washed away the blood on her hands before he could smell it and hoped that the scent of her hair would cover the smell of blood on her head.

"Yeah, just pulled a knot out of my hair…you know this mess that you love to run your fingers through almost daily" Shepard smiled as she shook her head making the wet tendrils of her hair fall in front of her face. Garrus growled slightly as he stormed over until his chest pressed against her back. Shepard gave a small gasp as his warm plates pressed into her flesh.

"Garrus I need to get…OUCH!" Shepard cried as Garrus started to pick through her hair while his growl grew louder.

"Zola, your head is bleeding" Garrus growled. Shepard sighed as she leant against him, there was no hiding anything from him but then again that was what she loved about him.

"I guess I need to cut my nails…I didn't know they were that long" Shepard looked at her nails, they were getting long again and she didn't fancy tearing them off with her teeth.

"They don't look too deep…" Garrus growled as he started to brush her soaking wet curls through his talons. Shepard purred she was surprised at how well she had taken to her new Turian way of communicating and even though she was asking Garrus endlessly about every new sound she made and what they meant in Turian she still loved it. Garrus' talons moves through her hair like water and for a moment she forgot what she was meant to be doing but suddenly her Omni-tool buzzed and Tali's voice came screaming out of it.

"Shepard! Xen is about to pull a gun out on Legion! I don't know what's going on but you better get down here!" Tali spoke. Shepard growled before looking down at the orange glowing devise.

"On my way Tali" Shepard growled. Garrus purred and nuzzled her temple.

"I swear I prefer having Victus and Wrex crammed into that room" Shepard told him. Garrus chuckled before turning off the water and giving her a towel. Shepard smiled as she took it and wrapped up her body in the soft linen.

"I'd better get down there too" Garrus rumbled as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, no telling what Legion has done to your calibrating of the Normandy's weapons" Shepard teased almost snorting at the wide eyed shocked expression that was now plastered across Garrus' face.

"If that Geth has touched anything, I'll be the one pointing the gun in his flashlight!" Garrus nearly roared as he stormed out of the bathroom to get dressed. Shepard chuckled as she watched her mate scurry about looking for his armour like a pyjack while her hand rested on her stomach as her thumb trace slow circles along her damp skin. Spirits she loved that Turian.

)_)

"Alright, what in the Spirits name is going on?" Shepard roared as she stormed into the war room. As soon as Shepard's eyes met the scene, she could have blown up the whole room, Raan was trying to hold back Xen as she paused momentarily from waving her pistol about like an idiot. Tali was shielding Legion as Legion just stood there like he was trying to analyse the scene before him, trying to figure out what went wrong. Shepard let out a growl of frustration as she descended the steps, down into the chaos that seemed to calm. Tali relaxed as she nodded towards Shepard, Shepard looked round to the others in the room who were having a quiet discussion about what had just gone on. Shepard turned back to Tali and Legion.

"Everything alright?" Shepard asked quietly. Tali sighed and nodded while Legion shifted from foot to foot.

"I think everything will be alright now, Shepard. Xen was asking Legion about Geth upgrades and their weaknesses but Legion wouldn't answer…Xen's temper flared up. I'm sorry Shepard…" Tali was cut off by Shepard's hand on her shoulder. Shepard gave a quick glare to the arguing admirals, feeling her stomach churn slightly. Spirits give her strength.

"It's alright Tali, I shouldn't been away for as long as I was…I'm sorry" Shepard shifted on her feet as the feeling of Garrus' talons along her waist ghosted over her body once again. Tali gave a light chuckle as she shook her head in understanding. Legion's facial plates flicked as he kept glancing towards Admiral Xen who had now resumed coordinating attacks with Gerrel and the Heavy fleet. Shepard asked Legion what he had found; he informed her that he had found a base that was currently controlling Geth fighters to attack the Quarians Live ships. Shepard quickly informed Raan to try and evacuate the live ships to a safer area if there was indeed one, Raan quickly set to work with her fingers flying over the controls and radios as she connected to each ship. Shepard bit her lip, if the Quarians Live ships went down then Gerrel would us it to try and get full control over the entire fleet.

"Tali, you and Legion meet me in the shuttle bay." Shepard ordered. Tali and Legion nodded in unison as Shepard began to walk off to get ready. Shepard began to think, if Garrus knew that she wasn't going to take him then he would fly of the proverbial handle about the whole thing especially after the Dreadnought blowing up. On top of that, her legs were still healing from the burns that they had received. She needed someone to cover her but Garrus needed a rest after the last few missions plus he would be busy with making sure all his calibrations were still correct for the next few hours. She thought of the others on her team. James was still healing from the mission in the Cerberus base. She didn't trust Kaidan with her life at the moment. And Javik…well he was being Javik. Only one person remained and she needed to get away from the monitors in her room.

"EDI, connect me to Liara" Shepard ordered as she pasted through the DNA scanner and on towards the CIC. Traynor nodded to her making Shepard wave but she didn't have time as she pasted and stormed into the elevator.

"Connecting you now Shepard" EDI responded. The radio crackled and Shepard heard the faint clicking and beeping of Liara's monitors.

"Liara?" Shepard asked to make sure she was listening.

"What is it Shepard?" Liara spat. She sounded annoyed which wasn't a good sign.

"Have I radioed in at a bad time?" Shepard asked as she pressed the button for the elevator to move towards the shuttle bay. Liara sighed and Shepard imagined her pressing her palm into her forehead as she closed her perfect blue eyes.

"No. No, I'm sorry Shepard…I have just had an argument with Javik…again" Liara sighed. Shepard let out a growl, she couldn't figure out this Prothean. One minute he was caring and doting on Liara like she was the only woman in the world and then like the flip of a switch, he was shouting and treating Liara like she had offended him in the most appalling way possible…Shepard did tell Liara not to show him her books.

"Want me to talk to him?" Shepard asked. Liara went quiet for a moment, the type of silence she always held when she was thinking. Then she heard Liara put down a data pad before sighing again.

"No, it's alright Shepard…what did you want? Do you need some more research?" Liara asked. It didn't stop Shepard noting that she needed to talk to Javik about this.

"Time to suit up. You, me, Tali and Legion are all going on a mission to take out some Geth fighters" Shepard spoke as the elevator doors opened to the cargo bay. James was looking over some weapons while Cortez was working on the shuttle engines again.

"On my way Shepard" Liara's voice came before the radio cut out. Shepard smiled as she went towards her locker and pulled out her armour. Hopefully this mission didn't warrant shooting of any kind.

)_)

Shepard, Liara and Tali walked through the empty Geth station; Shepard was surprised that her chill wasn't spinning out of control as they walked through the empty halls, the sounds of her boots echoing in the air. Shepard thought back to the conversation back on the shuttle. First the prospect of actually going into the Geth consensus was interesting yet bone chilling, she had always wondered what Legion meant by the Geth having a consensus where by which they could all communicate. Plus being organic she wondered how Legion was going to place her into the virtual world, although Legion said that some programmes the Geth had 'acquired' would allow her to go into the world without harm while also asking her to trust him. She trusted Legion with her life after the Collector base but this was in a different league. Although at the end of the conversation, she did like Legion's skydive out of the shuttle…show-off.
Still the fact that she didn't have to fight to get to the server was a bonus. Tali stuck close to Shepard and was silently protesting the fact that it had to be Shepard to enter the world; Shepard didn't know whether it was because she was jealous or worried. But Shepard just smiled and patted the young Admiral on her slim shoulder and continued ahead.

Soon they opened a door to the main server area and were surprised to say the least at all the inactive Geth that lay on the ground in slouched positions. Shepard examined the bullet holes in the chest and headlights of the dead Geth, quickly determining that it was done by a sniper rifle. Shepard nodded towards the others to keep moving; as they did the structure of the space took Shepard's breath away, the way the metal curved round the space and the faint glow of the consoles gave the area an alien feel that only the Geth could achieve. As they approached a wide console area, Legion appeared from the gloom and set to work in opening up the channels needed. A pod from the wall came to life and slowly moved towards the path, Shepard gave a glance at the rest of the pods that lined the wall and as soon as her eyes met with the ominous pods her breath hitched in her throat. Geth Primes stood silently in the pods like statues waiting to be awakened.

"Yes, hostile Geth fighters are networked to this server" Legion spoke. Shepard nodded as she tore her eyes away from the Geth primes that seemed to be 'sleeping', if you could call it that. Shepard looked at the empty pod that Legion had brought forward.

"Due to restricted resources, you must connect alone." Legion spoke up. Shepard felt her heart flutter. Going into the virtual world was one thing but going in alone was another. But she knew Legion wouldn't risk her life…unless it was completely necessary. Shepard spared a look towards Tali and Liara and made a silent command to protect Legion while she did this. Tali nodded and reached for her shotgun while Liara went into cover.

"Alright…let's do it" Shepard spoke as she stepped towards the pod. Legion spoke about activating programs and overriding networks so fast, Shepard didn't have a chance to pick up what he said. The pod door opened up allowing Shepard to step inside. The first thing that struck Shepard was how small she felt in this giant chamber, she wondered if the program would be able to detect her in her huge chamber as the door slowly came down to a close. The outside world became nothing but swirls of colours and flashing light as the glass like material finally encased her within the pod. For a moment she wondered if this was what the colonists felt like when the Collectors forced them into those pods ready for the Collector base all those months ago. The space was confining and she wished she had one of the seeker swarms on hand just to paralyze her for the experience but no such luck.

"Mapping to Consensus. Please remain still." Legion's voice ordered from the speakers. Before Shepard had chance to let the words settle lights started to flash across her face as if it was mapping her being. She turned to try and see where the lights were coming from as her head began to feel fuzzy. She swore she started to see cubes in front of her face.

"Shepard-Commander, excess movement during upload is discouraged." Legion's voice ordered again. Shepard bit her tongue to remain still but it didn't stop her eyes from flicking about, following the flashing light and small blue cubes that appeared before her eyes. Then as if she fell asleep without knowing, the world outside suddenly became very bright. She shone with a faint blue mesh light glow while she cubes flew from her fingers as she moved. She felt…odd. It was like nothing she had ever felt before; it was like she really was in two places at once, she could still feel the hard material against her back and she could still feel the heavy weight of her limp arms at her sides but she could move freely. When the pod door opened up what she saw was not what she expected. Everywhere she looked were white cubes piled high, it looks like a small city structure made out of thousands upon millions of white cubes. If she was honest with herself she had excepted holograms of Geth units walking up and down path ways whilst going into little booths to exchange information…maybe she had an overactive imagination.

"Shepard-Commander we now confirm you are fully integrated with the server. Welcome to our Consensus." Legion's voice sounded round her as she stepped out of the pod and took in more of the cubed world.

"What the hell is this?" Shepard asked allowed.

"We have installed filters so that your mind can process the RAW data and make visual sense of it. Your mind perceives this world as something familiar" Legion told her. Shepard gave the world another look. 'Something Familiar' wasn't how she would have put it more like totally strange and even more alien looking than a naked Volus.

"If you say so Legion" Shepard whispered to herself as she started to walk on into the world before her.

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To say she came out that experience without a scratch was a mild understatement. Her brain would never feel the same again, it wouldn't stop tingling and she had a ringing in her ear that wouldn't go away so it was driving her crazy. The Live ships were saved but the fact that she just destroyed the equivalent to a small city it made her stomach churn in the most unnatural way known to man. She was glad Legion managed to save most of the programs in the Geth Primes and that they were now helping Raan and Tali with the fleet. But as she looked out of the window in the lounge watching the stars slowly slip by, she couldn't help but think about the new information that the server had given to her. For three hundred years the Quarians spoke of the Geth being out of control and driving them off Rannoch like mindless beasts but it wasn't like that. The Geth…they only started to learn and ask questions but because the ancient Quarians had become too scared and…killed them. The Geth only learnt to fight back but they never meant to drive the Quarians from their home planet. Plus the fact that some Quarians wanted to help the Geth and even tried to hide them, it hurt Shepard to know that over the years history had been distorted to benefit one side and it only drove the passion of hopefully uniting both races might put an end to with stupid feud.

As Shepard took a breath, the scent of alcohol and cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air making Shepard decide that she might want to cut the stargazing a bit short as the smells started to churn her stomach something awful. James had obviously held another poker night while she was busy or slept, not that she minded of course it was good for the crew to relax. Turning round to head out the room she spotted something under the couch, when she bent down to pick it up she immediately threw it back down to the ground. There in front of her lay very large pair of boxer shorts that she could only determine were not Garrus'. She needed to talk to James about the rules of strip poker in the lounge. Shepard moved the boxer shorts back under the couch with her foot before striding out of the door, whoever they belong to could find them no problem and she didn't have to embarrass the crew by shouting over the radio 'who the hell left boxer shorts in the lounge'. As she left the foul smelling lounge she remembered she still had to talk to Javik about Liara's books and she still had to do a bunch of other things for Hackett, again the endless flood of tasks and meets was just overwhelming her but she had to go to Traynor to ask about an update on something personal.

Shepard reached the CIC in what would have been elevator record time if she wasn't only one floor down. The CIC was abuzz with people running about trying to get information about various Geth ships while others were trying to locate the Reaper signal, at least she knew that they hadn't found it yet. Shepard looked over towards Traynor who was focused on her work so much her face held a firm scowl that reminded her of Saren. Shepard chuckled to herself at the stupid thought but still walked up to the focused communication's officer.

"Traynor" Shepard addressed. Traynor nearly jumped out of her skin with a high pitched squeak. Shepard chuckled again when Traynor looked at her with eyes so big she could have rivalled a deer.

"Oh, Sorry Commander I didn't see you…you needed me for something" Traynor asked as she gathered herself together. Shepard leant against the metal railing that led to the Galaxy map and took a glance at Traynor's communications.

"Any news on what I asked?" Shepard asked quietly. Traynor's eyes lit up as she began to sift through the piles of data pads that lay about on her desk. How people could work like that was a mystery to Shepard.

"There has been some news. They are currently awaiting transport but it's difficult. They seem to be evacuating woman and children mainly while the men are staying to fight. But according to the reports the Vakarians should be awaiting the next shuttle to the Citadel." Traynor informed her. Shepard felt a huge weight being pulled off her shoulders, ever since she heard that Garrus hadn't heard from his family she had Traynor look out for the name Vakarian on any reports coming in and out of Palaven. It wasn't much but at least they were still alive.

"Thank you Traynor. Alert me when their shuttle gets to the Citadel, I think Garrus might like to see his family safe…while we're there feel free to buy yourself that toothbrush you talk about" Shepard patted Traynor's shoulder before going off towards the War room, missing the huge smile that was now spread across Traynor's face.

Walking into the war room Shepard was glad to see that all parties were finally working together and not trying to tear each other apart for some science experiment or more. She descended the step, seeing the Tali and Raan had pulled up a full holographic wire map of the planet Rannoch with several pinpoints faintly glowing. Shepard looked at the pin points and examined the surrounding area. Most of it was well fortified with mountains or high cliffs; even so it would be difficult to get to the areas indicated. Shepard also noticed a slight blur in the map, usually that meant a jamming tower in the area where scans weren't as accurate…unless scanning had changed in the last two years she was dead. Raan and Tali walked up behind Shepard who turned towards them and nodded towards the map of Rannoch.

"What news have you got?" Shepard asked. Tali started to fiddle with her fingers while Raan shifted on her feet.

"We have been able to find both Admiral Koris' escape pod and the source of the Reaper signal" Raan told her. Shepard nodded and looked towards the map again. If they went to take out the Reaper signal now then her plan of uniting the two races would go a lot quicker and she could rush off to the Citadel to get the vital supplies the Quarians and Geth, along with the entire crew of the Normandy, needed. But Koris was the only other Admiral who really had a voice in this mess and even though she hated him during Tali's trail she could see his passion for his cause and the civilians of the Fleet. Shepard sighed as she brushed her sweat ridden hair out of her face while the buzzing in her ears slowly rang on.

"We'll rescue the Admiral first, the civilians need him to be their voice" Shepard spoke. Raan gave a sigh of relief as she started to pull up a map of the surrounding area. After a few minutes of trying to find the best way to rescue the Admiral and any survivors, Shepard radioed Garrus to tell him to suit up and told Tali to head to the shuttle bay and gear up. Tali nodded and ran off as Shepard took one last look at the map, walking was going to be fun.

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Rannoch was beautiful at night; she imagined Earth was like this before the tall shining cities and flying cars. The stars shone against the clear water while the cliffs and rocks were bathed in a veil of darkness. Plant leaves rustled in the clean wind giving the whole area a floral scent. Shepard was thankful that the air on Rannoch was breathable; the wind in her hair was just what she needed. Her time in the Geth consensus she needed a touch of reality and the feel of the ground beneath her feet and the wind in her hair, just everything was just want she needed. The only downside were the AA guns that nearly shot Cortez out of the sky while in flight…that hadn't been a good experience. Shepard made her way through the maze of rocks as she checked the scanner for a read out but as she expected everything was fusing out and the radio to the Normandy was still no good.

"Jamming towers. Clever" Garrus strode up with his sniper in hand. Shepard nodded but carried on still trying to figure out how to shut down the jamming towers.

"But, if we toed in some asteroids…" Garrus spoke again making Shepard stop in her tracks and snap round to him. Tali did the same and seemed to glare at her mate.

"You want to drop Meters on Rannoch! You'd make it unliveable!" Tali nearly screamed. Garrus' mandibles flicked into a smirk as he looked right back at the glaring Quarian and adjusted his sniper.

"The dust would settle and you already have the suits" Garrus countered. Shepard had to bite her lip to hold back the smile. Tali on the other hand didn't find it as funny as she pushed the barrel of her shotgun against his chest armour.

"I still have the shotgun" Tali warned. Shepard shook her head and as she was about to tell them to break it up but then she heard something in the distance. Her sensitive ears picking up the sounds of rocks hitting metal as feet shuffled about the dirt and soil. Soon the smell of smoke and burning plant life hit her nose like a tidal wave. Shepard glanced at her team, they looked at her, she pressed her finger to her lips to silence them before pointing towards the barrier of rocks. As they approached a faint glow shone against the surface of the rocks while slowly the smell of burning bodies invaded her senses, she peered over the edge of the rocks to see the burning remains of the Quarian escape pod. Geth moved about the dead with Omni-tools glowing, mathematic gurgles covered the air area as they scanned the lifeless bodies and wreckage. Shepard motioned to Garrus to use his Sniper while Tali used her drone, Shepard pulled out her own sniper before taking aim on one the nearest Geth unit. As soon as Shepard ordered it the actions were in play, Garrus pulled out his black widow and took aim while Tali booted up the drone right in the centre of the Geth zone. The Geth seemed to swarm as soon as the drone popped up inspecting the pink glowing ball but the Geth didn't have time or a chance to discover the orbs secrets as Garrus and Shepard both fired at all the Geth units. Once fallen Shepard gave the area a once over, checking the area for more, before leaping over the barrier of rocks and started to check round the bodies of Geth and Quarian alike.

"Keelah, did they die from the crash or did they die from the Geth?" Tali spoke up as Shepard started to look over the bodies of the dead male Quarian. His beautiful red and blue suit was covered in soot and burns but Shepard noted no bullet wounds but it did look like he was dragged from the wreckage. Shepard narrowed her eyes for a moment and followed the path of the drag marks.

"No, he died from the crash but…" Shepard told her as she looked down to the ground and noticed the disturbances in the earth. Footprints were scattered round the area, some held blood within the prints while others looked like they were dug further into the ground.

"I think the Geth tried to save some of the Quarians" Shepard determined. Garrus rumbled as he recovered some records from the broken terminal, at least they might have been able to get some names; Shepard slowly got up and looked round the area for the next path.

"We need to radio Koris if we have a hope of rescuing him, let's get to those jamming towers. Move out!" Shepard ordered and soon everyone was on their way.

To say getting to jamming towers was easy or a walk in Rannoch countryside was a complete and utter lie. Mines were littered about the place and Shepard was glad her shields were at full strength, the amount of times she nearly or actually did step on one was terrible but she couldn't determine where the next mine was located. Tali and Garrus even had a few close calls with the ones she missed. Then the Geth seemed to breed in large numbers as they came across more Geth. Out of nowhere Geth seemed to be popping out the rocks with rocket launchers…more bloody rocket launchers. Shepard and Garrus fell into action with their snipers, taking out one Geth unit at a time. Tali struggled to use her drone or any technical abilities and Shepard's Biotics weren't good at a distance. At one point a Geth sniper managed to hit Shepard and the bullet ripped clean through the side of her neck, blood poured down the corners of her mouth as she pressed the palm of her hand to the burning wound. It took everything Tali had and a whispering plea from Shepard to stop Garrus from turning primal and running down the cliff to tear the Geth apart. Tali applied a heavy amount of medi-gel to the wound but it was only a temporary fix as the blood wouldn't stop running, Shepard was worried that the Geth might have caught the jugular but she didn't voice her concern Garrus was already on edge and they still had to find Koris.

When they made their way to the jamming towers their path was blocked by more Geth who guarded the towers. Tali was able to get her drone in to take out their shields for Garrus to place his famous headshot into the headlights of the Geth while Shepard strained to use her biotics on the ones that dared to close in on Garrus. But soon the area fell into silence expected for the powerful bangs of the AA gun over their head as some of the fleet still tried to rescue the Admiral themselves.

"Tali…get on that and shut…those damn guns off!" Shepard coughed; the sweet iron taste invaded her mouth again. Garrus came over and wiped away the blood from her mouth as his concerned eyes gazed over Shepard's neck at still seeped heavily with purple blood. Tali rushed off to the panel and started to hack into the system; Shepard looked to Garrus and gave him the silent order to get ready because she knew more Geth would be incoming. Garrus nodded and placed her behind one of the barriers and loaded his Widow with new thermal clips, sure enough the Geth forces started to coming in heavy from the far side. Garrus growled as he started to place his well-aimed shots as Shepard applied a singularity to try and keep the majority of the Geth forces back.

"Shepard, we're going to get flanked at the left" Garrus growled. Shepard nodded despite the pain in her throbbing neck as she powered up her biotics. Looking over the barrier, she saw the incoming Geth units. Biting her lip she quickly stood and started to charge from cover to cover, her biotics covering her like layer of electric blue acting like a shield as the bullets bounced off her harmlessly. Using her biotics along with her rarely used pistol she managed to plough through the horde of machines that wanted to stop her. Then out of nowhere a Prime grabbed her by the neck, pain shot through her body as her feet left the ground beneath her. Somewhere in the distance she heard her name but all she could see was the red glow of the Prime's lights and it ever crushing grip on her wounded neck. Shepard struggled against its grip, her legs slamming harmlessly against its chest while her hands clawed at its metal wrists. Soon blood was roaring through her ears…wait that wasn't blood roaring…that was…
the next thing he knew the Prime's cables were being ripped out of its neck and back, sparks flying about as if they were dancing. The Prime started to stutter and jolt about, its grip loosening on her neck, as suddenly a taloned hand ripped through the Prime's chest as if it was tissue paper. Garrus roared louder as he sliced through the cables and when he locked eyes with Shepard still in the Prime's loosening hold his eyes narrowed and the growling hiss became like thunder before the lightening. Shepard whimpered in pain as some of the metal dug into her wound but she reached out for her mate, Garrus reached for her but the Prime between them holding Shepard at arm's length only made the situation look like something out of a bad romance movie. Garrus growled as the Prime started to stir again, it's inside heating up as its mathematical gurgles became disjointed. Garrus spun round the Prime before loosening the Prime's hold on Shepard before carrying her and hiding behind a small amount of cover as the Prime blew into hundreds of super-heated metal shards. Garrus rumbled as he checked the Prime had truly blown up and that was the last of the Geth in the area. Tali came running up shouting that the AA guns were offline as Garrus quickly check Shepard over, Shepard knew she would have a huge bruise round her neck from where the Prime held her and she could feel the amount of sticky blood that had seeped out of her neck. Garrus and Tali applied more medi-gel to the wound on her neck and after they made sure was fit they pushed forward. One gun down…two more to go.

)_)

After disabling the jamming tower and radioing the Admiral for his location, Shepard and her team sat in the shuttle. Shepard thought back to the Quarian she had met before she disabled the tower, his was just a civilian and yet he (just like all the others) was being pushed into a war they didn't want. Shepard did her best to try and save him so that he could tell his son that he made it to the home world, she practically screamed at him to hold on, but it was as he said he had lost too much blood and after he spoke the name of his son he passed. Shepard keened and whined at the Quarians passing, another one lost to a war that no one but Gerrel wanted.

Koris hadn't been much fun either. He had forced her to choose between him or the possibility that there might be more survivors at another crash sight. Shepard managed to convince him that the other live ship and other civilians that were still alive and fighting needed his help more than anything. Plus she needed his voice to help end this stupid war. Koris eventually gave in and uploaded his coordinates to the shuttle which was where they were heading now.

"Commander, he's surrounded by Geth. It'd be suicide for him to run through that" Cortez reported. Shepard growled but looked to Garrus.

"Garrus get your sexy Turian ass on that gun and help me clear out the Geth" Shepard struggled to her feet as she pulled out her sniper. Garrus nodded and jumped on the turret as the door opened up to the beautiful starlit skyline of Rannoch. Shepard pushed the butt of the sniper into her shoulder and took aim at the swarming about of Geth.

"Now Garrus!" Shepard shouted over the roar of wind buffeting the shuttle. Garrus opened fire at the horde and soon the Geth started to fall under the barrage of bullets, Shepard added insult to injury (if Geth could be insulted) by picking off the ones that managed to escape the turrets onslaught. Koris started to move as the path in front of him cleared and soon he was on the shuttle. Cortez closed the door and quickly started to head back to the safety of the Normandy.

"Shepard, my crew…perhaps there still time" Koris offered hopefully as he jogged over to the terminal and quickly punched in the code for his crew.

"Hello…Hello, this is Koris…Hello…"He was only met with static and silence. Shepard bit the inside of her cheek as she watched the Admiral try again and again to contact his crew but each time failing. Shepard walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, she knew that it was a risk and she took the bigger card in play. She needed him to stay alive for the other civilian Quarians that were still fighting, his crew may have died but the fleet was still alive. Koris turned his visor towards her and nodded before slipping out of her soft grasp and sitting down next to Tali.

"I'm sorry…" Shepard choked out, the pain in her neck really kicking in now. Garrus pushed her into a chair and took a look at the wound. Shepard kept her eyes on Koris who folded his hands and rested his elbows on his knees.

"I hope they found comfort under the stars of the home world" Koris spoke softly and with that Shepard fell into the incoming darkness that wanted to claim her.

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