A /N: Jesus fucking Christ. This story is three years old, can you guys believe that? I was 17 when I first started work on it, now I'm 20 years old. Time flies by so quickly. And it really pains me that it isn't done yet. I have tried, but between rewriting old chapters and all the real world stuff, I have been stretched thin. However, I want to thank each and every one of you! All of you who have stuck by me through thick and thin. All of you who supported me at every turn. A huge thank you to all of you!

I know it has been a while since last, but I hope you guys like this one. It isn't a major one, just clears up the two headaches you have to overcome before you can take on the main mission. Don't expect anything grand.

Remember, I sometimes updated old chapters with a rewritten version. Last update was chapter 22: Stone Cold.

Remember to check out my deviantart page (KanisRussell). The new cover as well as other artworks are on there.

Hope you guys like the chapter!

19/4/2186

SSV Normandy.

They had escaped the Geth Dreadnought with their lives, but only barely. They could thank Legion for the quick thinking, if it hadn't pointed them to the Geth fighter, then they would all be ringing God's doorbell right about now. But, there were underlying tension in his squad mates. Tali was pissed at Han'Gerrel, and planned to show him just what she thought. Legion stayed back, mostly due to Mads not wanting multiple conflicts playing out all at once, it's all about picking your battles.

There was a tense feeling on the Normandy. Almost like they realized the scale of what was happening here. This war had been 300 years in the making, and now the Quarians stood at the gates of reclaiming what was once theirs. Their own home world. But, things were not exactly ideal either… Admiral Koris was missing in action, maybe even dead if they didn't do something soon. That left only the other admirals standing… And Mads knew that Han'Gerrel would now be almost untouchable by the other admirals… His way was reckless, he had shown as much… But maybe Mads couldn't blame him too much… What wasn't he willing to do in order to get Earth back?

Admiral Raan was already chewing his ear off by the time they entered the war room. Yelling at him for his reckless behavior, and how he is putting the fleet in jeopardy. "And what of Tali and Romanov? You almost killed them? I should have you court martialed!" She threatened.

"What were you thinking? Do our opinions and input mean nothing to you?!" Tali angrily demanded to know.

"Our mission is too important for any distractions. You both know this! So when I saw the opportunity to destroy the dreadnought, I took it! I don't sit around while my fleet is being destroyed." Han'Gerrel tried to explain. "Romanov, you're a military man. You know the score, right?" He turned to Mads and asked. As if he was looking for support in his argument.

"I understand the thought behind it… But please Han'Gerrel, we had it under control. The Dreadnought was neutralized by our hand. Next time, I would appreciate you listening to us." Mads replied, trying to keep a civil tone. Tali shot him an almost angry look for even saying something like that. Mads sighed, this was going to be a hard back and forth. "Anyhow. What's the situation?" Mads then asked.

"Well… Admiral Koris' ship has been shot down over Rannoch. Our ships can't go anywhere near it, due to the heavy Anti Air turrets they have in the area… Maybe you can pick him up?" Raan suggested.

"Whether I like it or not… Koris is about the only thing that's keeping the civilian fleet united and in this war. Without the Civilian fleet, we'll all be killed." Han'Gerrel admitted. Xen seemed more or less disinterested with the whole ordeal… But that was nothing new.

"Then I guess we have to save admiral asshat…" Mads remarked. And it was probably for the best. If Han'Gerrel remained unchecked, then this would end badly. Mads muttered an almost silent prayer… Turning off the signal has turned the war in the Quarians' favor… But what did that mean for Legion and the Geth? Sometimes Mads couldn't believe that he was actually on sort of good terms with the Geth… If you had told him that just a few years ago… He would have probably laughed.

"Romanov-Captain. We are reporting for duty." Legion said as he entered the war room, and it was enough to turn everyone's heads.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" Raan yelled in clear surprise.

"Is that a Geth platform? Oh Keelah..." Han'Gerrel agreed with Raan. Mads had hoped Legion could have stayed put just a bit longer… But he supposed that there was no use in putting it off any longer.

"Fascinating!" Xen proclaimed as she studied it extensively with her eyes, as were it a prime specimen for her to study in great detail. Do she did not share the same surprise as the others admirals.

"Everyone calm down!" Mads ordered, and his commanding voice was enough to make people stay off the trigger. Legion probably didn't even realize how close it was to getting its head blown from here to Rannoch. "This is Legion. He helped me defeat the collectors… He is one of the good guys, and I would really appreciate it if you guys did NOT recreate the morning war on my ship!" Mads tried to explain, and it seemed to hit the spot.

"Captain… Would you please explain to us why a Geth is currently standing in front of us?" Raan desperately requested. She trusted Mads enough, but he was walking a very thin line here. Mads understood her hesitation to jump on the tolerance train. Mads sighed as he took out his pack of cigarette and fished one out. He needed some nicotine if he was to deal with this.

"We found Legion on the Dreadnought. He was strung up in the core and used as a broadcast for the Reaper updates. I know how you guys feel about… The Geth… I used to share that sentiment. But Legion here proved me wrong, because I was willing to go out on a limb and trust him." Mads tried to explain, but they remained silent and looked at him. "Look… I'm not asking you to spend the weekend with Legion and take him out for drinks. All I'm asking is that you trust him for just a little while longer." Mads tried to pitch them. They looked at each other for some sort of agreement between them. Han'Gerrel seemed the most against the idea, Xen was fascinated beyond belief. Tali looked at him with that very distinct 'Are you sure about this?' look that only she could pull off.

"Well… I suppose there is no reason for another firefight on the Normandy… So… Legion… What can you tell us? How will the Geth react after we have deactivated their signal?" Raan asked carefully. Like she was traversing a minefield with words.

"This is a false assumption. While Romanov-Captain and Creator Zorah managed to stop the broadcast signal from the dreadnought, this is only temporary. The Geth have a larger broadcasting station on Rannoch that will take over soon." Legion explained.

"You mean it isn't over? Keelah..." Raan remarked.

"Wait… They are still broadcasting it?" Mads asked concerned. This would mean that their little adventure had been for nothing.

"Correct. Though we have not been able to locate the new source yet. This will be our main task. Until then we can offer assistance. We know of a Geth fighter squadron server location. Disabling it will help the Migrant fleet." Legion offered while looking straight at Mads.

"Might be useful enough. Send me the location and I'll check it out as soon as I get Admiral Koris back." Mads replied and Legion quickly transferred the location to Mads' omni-tool. Raan and the others seemed to back off. They weren't likely to trust Legion anytime soon. Tali had served with Legion, and she wasn't even fully trusting of him in nature. It was better than when they first met, sure, but it wasn't entirely on good terms just yet.

According to the data Legion had sent Mads, the Server was also on Rannoch, just in a completely different place. They would rescue Koris first and then take the server down. Legion insisted that he should come along for it, and it was probably for the best as well.

"Fascinating specimen! How did you get it to work for you?" Admiral Xen asked as she all but took it apart with her eyes. Mads could see how her fingers were itching to get study the Geth in detail. Mads looked over at her like she was insane. Which she probably was.

"He asked to join me." Mads answered truthfully. And it was God's honest truth. He never asked Legion to be on his team. Legion all but insisted on it. Though you could argue that Tali had chewed his ear off in that regard. He had never seen her as mad as she was that day. Which made Mads fear what might laid ahead for them.

"Asked to join you? Don't make me laugh!" Xen remarked and laughed, as if it was the most absurd thing to ever happen to say… Well, ever. Irony was not lost in that moment.

"Yes. He did. And I won't let you laid a goddamn finger on him, and if any of you even think about trying something, I'll put you down. I won't allow it on my ship!" Mads replied, perhaps more harshly than he needed to. But Legion had proved to be a valuable and loyal crew member back in the collector days. It seemed only fair he would defend him now, in these rather troublesome times.

"Don't be stupid, Captain. This is but a mere machine. But it is indeed a more advanced one. The scientific benefits more than make up for morality and ethics." Xen tried to argue, as if she could sway his opinion one way or the other.

"I don't fucking care what you think you can do with Legion's body. You're not touching it! Or I will personally throw you out the airlock." He had started to use that expression after taking with Javik a lot, who seemed to favor it quite a lot. Anyhow, his threat seemed to be enough to get Xen on better thoughts, or at least to let sleeping dogs lie. So, she backed off. Mads took a second to catch his breath. "I suppose we'd better go get Koris while we still have daylight. No telling how long he will survive down there." Mads ordered. "In the meantime. All of you admirals are welcome to stay on the Normandy if you please. It makes for a good command center… And we're not leaving until this conflict is dealt with." Mads promised. All the other admirals nodded, and said thank you. Mads gestured to Tali and Garrus. With those two at his side, they stood a good chance of getting it done in time.

"Are we really okay with them almost shooting down the ship you were on?" Joker asked while he continued his usual operation of the controls.

"No, we are not. But for the sake of keeping the peace, I'd say we have to accept it for now. Ain't much we can do about it." Mads replied. He let out a sigh, Admiral Hackett had told him that Han'Gerrel was known for causing trouble along the Turian border in the past. "Edi, what do you think our chances are of winning the conflict with the Geth?" Mads turned to Joker's robot co-pilot and asked.

"17,43%. Rough estimate based off the evidence gathered so far." Edi replied.

"Jesus… Guess I'd better start praying." Mads remarked. Those numbers didn't look good… Then again, there were lower chances of getting to Ilos, or surviving the Collector base… And yet he did that.

"Who are you waiting on?" Joker asked as he shifted around in his seat a little.

"Garrus. Said he needed 10 minutes or so to finish his latest rifle build." Mads replied.

"Hold on-… I thought he had already made 'the best sniper build in existence'."Joker said, while mocking a Turian accent, or rather a poor attempt at sounding like Garrus.

"He keeps bringing the builds to me as well, calming they are 'his best work yet' and I keep pointing out the flaws with each one. Then he throws a fit, like he always does, and after an hour or so, he realizes that I was right." Mads laughed, Joker chuckled as well.

Then, both Tali and Garrus came up to the cockpit. "We good?" Mads asked. They both nodded.

"We better get this done. Never much liked Koris… But he is quite important if we are to have any chance at winning this." Tali remarked.

"Agreed. Besides, we'll finally get to see Rannoch. I'll be the first Turian to step foot there in… Like 300 years or something like that." Garrus agreed.

"Yeah, they'll probably make a statue or something of you. Hell, I'll be the first human…. Well, ever to set foot there." Mads replied with a slight chuckle as they began to walk back down towards the elevator. "You guys think this will be tough?" Mads asked, but they knew as little as he did about what they were walking into.

"We've fought Geth before. Only thing I'm worried about is that this is their home turf. They know everything we don't about the area." Garrus replied.

"You're wrong. It's our turf. It's our home planet." Tali corrected him, as if he didn't know that. It was clear that Tali still had conflicting thoughts on the whole matter. The remains of her father's ideology still locked away deep within her, and her own experiences with Legion. If she were to be the one to decide what would happen, she needed to pick a side, and rather sooner than later.

"Then let us get Admiral Koris before the Geth crucify him or something." Mads suggested. They both nodded in agreement and walked together down towards the cargo bay. Cortez had already informed him that he was ready to fly them whenever they were ready.

"What do we know Xen?" Mads asked as he did one last check of his FAL. These weapons needed constant checkups if they were to be kept in working order. Well, maybe not a must, but certainly a nice thing to do regularly.

"Koris' ship crashed somewhere in this valley-" Xen brought up a map of the region on the digital interface. "It's a heavily fortified place, crawling with Geth platforms. Though it does have good defenses positions, which is the only thing speaking for his survival, however-" The signal began to fade out a bit, making it harder and harder to hear what she was saying.

"Xen? Please repeat. I didn't catch that, I'm getting interference." Mads replied, he managed to catch that there was a jamming tower somewhere in the region. "Shit… Guess we have to disable that if we are to locate Koris… Do you have a location Cortez?" Mads asked as he moved up to the front of the shuttle.

"Affirmative. It should be just up ahead." Steve replied as he kept flying towards the drop off zone. He opened the visual sensors, and they could see the tower ahead.

"Keep it on course and blast that fucking thing off the face of Rannoch." Mads ordered him.

"Copy that Captain." Steve said as he began to load up the guns, but before they were even within rnake to make any meaningful shots, they were the one to take fire. The shuttle bounced and shook a bit as exlosions popped off around them from the Anti-air rounds they were firing at them.

"Who the fuck is shooting at us?" Mads asked.

"The Geth, obviously." Garus replied, probably some attempt to be funny. Mads shot him an 'is this really the time' look that Tali had mastered so perfected only an hour before.

"AA towers! I can't get close!" Steve quickly replied as he got his visual bearings.

"Fuck…. Then drop off us. We'll take them out from the ground!" Mads made a rush decision. They were sitting ducks in the shuttle, and wouldn't be able to do anything but dodge shots. Steve was a master pilot, but this was just hopeless. Lucky for them, Steve found a good spot just nearby to drop them off. In the meantime, he would be trying to avoid getting shot down.

There were some cons to this though; they wouldn't be able to contact anyone while that comm tower was online, so they were actually stuck here until they finished the mission. Which could be one hell of a motivator.

"Expect ground troops. They know we are in the area." Mads warned them. They both nodded to show they understood. Mads realized he was, in fact, standing on Rannoch soil. His very boots touched the ground that no human had ever touched. But his amazement was nothing compared to what Tali must have been feeling in that moment. Standing on the very planet her father had talked about since her birth. "Let's get going." Mads shook Tali out of her thoughts, she nodded again.

They walked along the path in the rocks. It was a short hike to the AA towers. Though on this night all seemed relatively quiet. To be brutally honest, Mads had expected to encounter a lot more Geth resistance along the way, but they hadn't seen a single Geth trooper yet.

"You feeling alright?" Mads turned and asked Tali, who was walking right beside him. Garrus was walking a few feet in front of them, keeping his eyes peeled.

"I still can't believe I'm here… Never in my life did I ever expect to actually be here." Her eyes held that amazement that a child would have coming to Disneyland, or something like that. Mads could only imagine how she must have been feeling. Suddenly she turned to him and looked him straight in the eyes. "Mads, you have to promise me something… If it comes down to choosing between us and the Geth…." She didn't finish her request before Mads jumped to ensure her.

"Of course… I love you Tali, and I will always stand by you and the Quarians… Even if it must come at the cost of the Geth." Mads reassured her.

"Thank you..." She said sincerely. Just as they looked at each other for a moment longer, a very unwelcome noise was heard. Mads had only heard it on Alliance training videos, but it was unmistakable. He quickly looked forward to see Garrus standing as still as he bloody well could.

"STAND FUCKING STILL!" Mads quickly ordered as he made his way towards Garrus as carefully as he could. That sound was, without a single doubt, a landmine. Probably placed by a Geth patrol earlier on the day. "You should count your lucky stars it hasn't already activated." Mads remarked as he crouched down next to Garrus' foot, which was placed firmly on top of the landmine. Mads studied it quick. "Do the Geth use pressure release mines?" Mads asked Tali.

"I believe so. Our marines say that the mine doesn't explode unless pressure is released again. Meaning… Erh… You're stuck there Garrus." Tali explained.

"How fucking joyful for me." Garrus sarcastically replied, though he was clearly sweating like pig. No wonder he was nervous, a slight movement of his foot might be all that stood between him and death. Mads pondered on the issue for a little bit, he knew of only one way to get him off… But it was something he had never really tested.

"This is an old Spetsnaz trick I learned long ago… You see, the mujahideen in Afghanistan used similar mines, and the old veterans learned that if you slowly but surely forced a metal sheet between your foot and the pressure mine, you could in theory jump off the mine." Mads told them, but Garrus didn't look so impressed.

"In theory?" Garrus asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Look Garrus, I would love to send a distress signal to the Normandy and request professional assistance, but as it so happens, there is a jamming tower preventing us from doing that. And given that we don't know what stands between us and that jamming tower, I would very much like to have you with me. So trust me on this." Mads explained.

"Spirits! Fine! We'll do it your way!" Garrus gave in. "I swear, if I die from a Geth mine on Rannoch… I don't think I'll be accepted into Turian heaven…." Garrus mumbled as Mads went scouting ahead for a piece of metal. Tali stayed by Garrus' side. They both watched as Mads went off into the distance.

"I'm sure he will back soon. So just… Hang in there." Tali tried to reassure Garrus. He simply rolled his eyes. His legs were beginning to cramp up a bit, since he had been standing in a rather awkward position when he stepped on the mine, and since Mads had ordered him to not move a muscle, he was stuck like that.

"So, since I'm stuck like this… Mind filling me in on you and Mads' relationship? You still together?" He asked, since he had nothing better to do.

"We're… We're kind of together… It's complicated…" She answered as she looked off into the distance, trying to see if she could spot him somewhere.

"Complicated how?" He asked, but he received no real answer from Tali. "He loves you, you know? He has been chewing my ear off for the past month or so about how much he misses you, how he has dreams about you… Are you getting cold feet?" He asked.

"No! Not at all! It's just… I love him… I love him more than anything in this galaxy… But I have a duty to my people… To the Fleet. I mean… I'm an Admiral! I have to stand with the fleet all the time." Tali replied.

"You can still do that while staying together with him… I mean, he has been so out of focus without you at this side, but when you're here it's like… It's like he can think, it's like he has a reason to live, a reason to fight." Garrus tried to persuade her.

"I can't come with you on the Normandy… I will be needed here… No matter how much I want to be by his side." She said, and it hurt her very soul to say that.

"Well we can always-" before Garrus could say anymore, they both say Mads coming back their way, dragging along a Geth trooper. They looked at each other confused as to why he was doing that. As he came up to them, Garrus asked. "Who is your new friend?"

"Actually, this is your new best friend." Mads remarked as he dropped the heavy trooper on the ground. "These platforms' armor front armor plating is mostly made of aluminum. Meaning I can bend it quite easily." Mads explained as he began to strip the front plate off the trooper. "And in turn, create a make shift metal plate sheet. Won't be the strongest, but I have an idea for a solution." Mads said as he began to flatten the plate of aluminum.

"I'm not sure I like this idea..." Garrus remarked uncomfortable from his still position.

"It's the only one on the table… and besides, if this doesn't work, we'll both die. So I'm just as eager as you to get out of here." Mads tried to comfort him, albeit poorly. Slowly, but surely, he began to force the plate between Garrus' foot and the pressure pad, making sure that enough pressure was there to not make it go off. After sweating for over a minute and a half of doing it, it was firmly in place, now it came to the most important matter.

"So what was your ide-" Before Garurs could finish his question, Mads ran and threw himself into Garrus, making them both fly off a few feet away from it, just as they landed, the mine went off. It must have been a miracle that they both made it unharmed, and Mads sent out a silent prayer and a big thanks to God for saving his bacon one more time.

Garrus wasn't as pleased. "You utter pig of a man!" He proclaimed. "You could have fucking warned me!" He ranted on. Mads laughed as he slowly sat up and lit up a cigarette, he figured he deserved a small break after that.

"Keelah! You nearly died! Stop being so stupid and gambling with your life!" Tali was mad as well, she had been out of harm's way, but was no less pleased with how he put both his own and Garrus' life on the line.

"But I didn't die. That's the important thing to take away from this." Mads lectured them as he took a drag of his cigarette. "There was a small patrol down the road, I put them out of commission, but I doubt they were the only ones in the area." Mads said as he puffed out some smoke. "So we have to be extra careful going forward. Best to watch our steps." Mads recommend. They both agreed to that.

They made good progress forward. They were extra mindful of what might be waiting for them, especially mines. Mads suspected that Garrus had a new found respect, or maybe fear, of them. They fought their way through the Geth encampments along the way. It was a brutal fight, the Geth were really in this region in numbers. They were probably trying to get Koris, since they knew that his death would ensure the fleet was even more divided than before.

They met a dying Quarian along the way. His name was Dorn'Hazt, and he told them of what had happened. He was in a bad way, and while Mads wanted to help him, both Garrus and Dorn himself pointed out that it was too late. He begged them to save Koris, and to tell his son that he loved him… And that his father made it to the home world. Mads promised him he would do as much.

Tali took care of the AA towers, and Mads and Garrus had to cover her. The Geth were even throwing their primes at them. Big tall Geth, built like a brick house. They were the toughest to face, so they had to be smart. Mads and Garrus made wonderful teamwork in disposing of them.

As Tali brought the final AA tower down, Steve flew in at high speed and destroyed the jamming tower, blew it up like it was the fourth of July. It was wonderful sight, nothing as sweet as seeing that. That opened up the second part of their mission: Locating Admiral Koris and his crew. Cortez flew the shuttle around to pick them up again, and Mads quickly got himself and his team mates on the shuttle quickly.

"This is Captain Romanov of the SSV Normandy. Hailing Admiral Koris. Repeat, hailing Admiral Koris." Mads spoke into the comm system of the shuttle, he was greeted with silence for a few seconds before he tried again. "This is Captain Romanov of the SSV Normandy. Calling Admiral Koris. Repeat: Calling Admiral Koris." Mads all but demanded of the silent comm screen. A few more seconds passed, but just before would try again, his signal came through.

"Captain Romanov… Good timing… I'm pinned down, but if you're here that means you can still save my crew!" Koris answered, Mads could clearly hear gunfire in the background as the Admiral spoke.

"We have come to get you out of here, Koris. Send us your location so we can come and pick you up." Mads requested.

"Negative Captain. I'm not leaving my crew behind… They did not ask for this, they don't deserve to die." Koris denied, and Mads should have expected it.

"You have to see the larger picture here, Koris. If you die, there is a good chance the rest of the Civilian fleet will attempt to escape, if this happens… then they will die. Please, think of the people of the fleet." Mads tried to persuade him.

"My men are dying here, Romanov! I can't live with myself if I leave them behind! If the Civilian fleet wants to leave, I say let them! They deserve to escape this crazy war." Koris fired back.

"They will be killed, Koris. They Geth will detect them leaving and will destroy them! Is this what you want? Your crew may die, but the fleet will continue to live! Fucking think for just one second Koris!" Mads all but yelled at the Admiral, and in turn he got silence. It lasted a few seconds once more. "Koris, we really don't have the time to argue. I am begging you to give me your location." He was greeted with more silence.

After another few seconds, the silence was finally broken. "Uploading my location now." Koris finally gave in, but he couldn't have sounded more defeated, even if he tried. Mads gave a nod to Steve, gesturing for him to get them there as soon as possible.

"We're coming for you." Mads promised, but it didn't seem to be what Koris wanted to hear. Steve hauled ass, and flew almost as recklessly as he possibly could. Even though they had Koris' location, time was not on their side. Every second wasted was a second off the Admiral's life. "Can't believe I'm risking life and limb for a guy who wanted to exile Tali." Mads muttered to himself as he prepared the minigun for use.

It didn't take long for the Shuttle to reach Admiral Koris. And oh boy, was he pinned down by fire. Geth were swarming his position like bugs, eager to claim the kill. Mads wasn't sure if they knew who they were attacking, of if they were just this aggressive with anyone who crossed their path. Mads opened the door of the shuttle and readied the minigun. Koris really was in need of their help, and they needed Koris.

The minigun unleashed it's fury upon the unsuspecting Geth attackers. The sound alone was enough to make any man shit their pants right then and there. The roaring sound of over 2000 rounds per minute being unleashed. Koris got the message 'Keep your head down or lose it.'. The Geth however, were not as fortunate. Mads realized that they needed to redesign the placement of the minigun within the shuttle, since all these bullet casing were scattered around the ground, and it was going to be annoying to clean later.

"KEEP MOVING! I'LL COVER YOU!" Mads ordered, and it felt a bit weird to giving orders like this to a full blown Admiral. But Koris didn't seem to be in the mood for a discussion about ranks, so he simply did as told. More Geth were moving in on Koris, and Mads continued his hellfire to keep Koris alive.

The Geth weren't giving up, not by a long shot. They sent in their biggest wave yet, and Koris was truly pinned down. Armed with only a pistol and the willingness to survive. Mads fired up the minigun once more in an attempt to keep Koris with his, well, ungrateful attitude, alive. As the Geth fell like flies, Mads saw an opportunity for them to get out of there. "Cortez! Keep this course!" Mads turned and yelled to Steve, who responded with a 'yes sir'.

"KORIS!" Mads yelled out. "GET OVER HERE!" Mads ordered, and Koris could see that this was as good a chance as any to get his ass out of the fire. He ran like hell through the barren battlefield in the hope of getting to the shuttle before a stray bullet would end his life. Mads continued to cover the Admiral, which was manageable with the current amount of Geth troops firing at them.

Some Geth broke out his rocket launcher to try and force them down with a well-placed Rocket, but luckily for them, Koris managed to take down the Geth trooper with a well-placed shot before it fired it's explosive package and ruined their day. Koris jumped for his dear life into the Shuttle, and Mads fired a few more shots before they flew off.

"Hold on! Maybe some of my crew is still alive!" Koris said as he pushed his way over to the comm panel. "This is Admiral Koris speaking! Is any of my crew alive?!" He was greeted with silence. "I repeat! Is any of my crew still alive! Please respond!" He all but begged at the screen. He wasn't treated to silence this time, but rather to Geth chatter. Judging from his body language, silence would have been preferable.

He stumbled backwards until he fell on the seat and planted himself there. "I pray they found comfort… In their homeworld's sky." He muttered.

"Hey." Mads said as he crouched down in front of the Admiral. "I doubt I need to tell you this, but even if we went for them instead of you, there is still a good chance they would die as well. You are much more valuable alive than you are dead. We need you, Admiral." Mads tried to explain.

"We'll see." Koris replied with a sad undertone. "We'll see."

Few hours later…

SSV Normandy

They had flown the Admiral back to the Civilian fleet, and Mads was just hanging out in the comm room, waiting for an update. If Koris didn't convince the captains to stay, then it would all have been for nothing, and he knew that Koris would never forgive him. But there was no use in thinking how different things might have been if they had gone down a different path. They were here now, and it was just a matter of hoping for the best.

Finally, the call came. Koris appeared in front of him. "Captain Romanov… You were right." He said, with a very uncertain tone to his voice. "The situation was much worse than what I originally thought. I have managed to convince the other captains to stay and fight with us… It's the only way we will survive…." He informed Mads.

"That's good news… If they had tried to cut and run, they would have been dead. The Geth have patrols all over the relay. There is no use in trying until the war is over." Mads replied. The Normandy could slip past the Geth if need be, but the fleet was stuck here until they could solve this issue. So Mads made the decision to stick around and help as much as he could.

"Also… I'm not sure if I'm at peace with leaving my brothers and sisters down there… But after seeing the dire situation up here-… Well, thank you for saving me, Captain." Koris said as a final note.

"Think nothing of it, Admiral." Mads replied. The connection disconnected and the hologram of Koris disappeared. Mads wandered out into the war room, where both Legion and Raan stood ready to speak with him. "Alright… What's up?" Mads asked.

"We have located the broadcasting facility, Romanov-Captain. We are ready to assist in helping with deactivating it." Legion informed him.

"That so? How are the fleets looking?" Mads turned to Raan and asked.

"It would really help if you bring down that Geth fighter server. Otherwise, we will suffer heavy losses… But this is your decision, Captain. If you wish to go for the signal now, we can do it." Raan answered. Mads thought about it for a second.

"Then let's hit that server first, give ourselves the best fighting chance we can. Legion, I assume you will be coming with us?" Mads asked.

"Affirmative, Romanov-Captain. Our presence is needed for full mission success." Legion assured Mads.

"Then we better do it now. It's best not to delay. I'll gather up the rest of the team. Meet me down by the shuttle." Mads ordered.

" Affirmative, Romanov-Captain" Legion said again, and he went right away.

"Are you sure that you trust it?" Raan turned to Mads and asked.

"With my life." Mads nodded. "Right now, he is our best bet for ending this." Mads reassured her. "For now, I need you to draw up plans for how we can destroy the signal. Compare notes with Edi and some of the officers on the Normandy." Mads ordered her.

"Of course, Captain. Stay safe… For Tali's sake." She requested as she walked away, and that made Mads look at her confused. He didn't think she knew about their relationship. Then again, she was pretty much the only family Tali had left at this point; it seemed obvious that Raan, of all people, would know.

Mads decided not to ponder on that issue, since there were more pressing concerns. He quickly went to get both Garrus and Tali. Although Garrus complained that they had only been back a few hours, but reminded him that this conflict didn't stop just because they wished to rest. They met Legion at the shuttle down in the cargo bay. He was eagerly waiting for them. Steve was back at the helm as well; he quickly finished his coffee and signaled that he was good to go.

"Let's get this over with." Mads said as an order to begin the mission. They had only really left the Cargo bay and were on their course to Rannoch when the Shuttle's comm system sprang to life. It was Raan.

"Captain… It's already happening. Geth Fighters squadrons in formation have begun massing on an intercept course with our live ships. You need to be quick." She informed him.

"Understood. We'll be at the server shortly. Not to worry. Keep in contact and feed us updates" Mads reassured her and requested. "Okay Legion… What's the situation?" Mads turned and asked his metal friend.

"We remain undetected on encrypted Geth channels. Resistance is likely only within the server." Legion replied.

"How big is this server complex? I hope I'm not walking into a full scale battle." Mads asked.

"You misunderstand, Romanov-Captain. Direct virtual interface is necessary to extract Geth from the server. You must enter our consensus." Legion explained.

"Hold the phone… Is that even possible?" Mads asked.

"Cerberus conducted research on Geth-human interface. They called it Project Overlord. We monitored their transmissions-"

"Yeah, and I remember how that ended." Mads could never forget that day… That poor soul.

"We have refined the interface they created and have equipment from the Normandy to facilitate safe contact… We request your trust." Legion required. Mads wasn't sure, but he had never mistrusted Legion before.

"You got my trust alright… Even though your explanation makes my head spin." Mads admitted.

"You are an unknown. This is an advantage. Geth Security is not adept to targeting organic thought processes. While we occupy the system's intrusion countermeasures, you will disable the squadrons by removing Geth from the server." Legion explained, and it made Mads remember how hard it could be to keep up with Legion sometimes.

"If it saves the live ships, then I'm willing to give it a shot." Mads reassured both Legion and Tali.

"Telemetry data predicts this operation has a high chance of success…" Legion informed them as he walked towards the door of the shuttle. "There is little time. We will bypass security while you secure safe landing." Legion said as he turned around to face them again.

"Hold on, you're not gonna-" And legion did just that. The mad lad just fell off the shuttle to secure his own landing. Mads had to admit that he was actually a bit nervous when he saw that, he ended when to the edge to see if Legion made the landing. Of course he did. "Put us down by the cliff." Mads ordered and Steve did just that. "Let's get this over with." Mads said as he jumped off the shuttle and unto the hard rocks of Rannoch.

"So what's gonna happen?" Garrus asked as they began to make their way towards the server complex.

"Not entirely sure. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Legion says there should be no resistance from here to the server, but inside the server is apparently a different matter." Mads replied.

"Are you sure about this?" Tali asked.

"About as sure as I am about anything else I do… Look, our hands are tied here. If Legion says this will work, then I trust him." Mads tried to reassure her. He wasn't sure if it was working or not though. She didn't say anything after that; none of them did as they entered the building in front of them. They were quick to discover Geth bodies lying around, which meant that Legion had done the groundwork for them.

They went further into the depths of the server complex looking for Legion. Finally, after a bit of searching, they found Legion working on a console. He appeared to bring forward some sort of pod… It looked awfully familiar to the one that he had been frozen in so many years ago. It brought a bad taste to Mads' mouth, but he endured. He had to.

"So, is this it?" Mads asked as he walked towards Legion.

"Correct. Hostile Geth fighter squadrons are networked to this server… Due to restricted resources, it is best that you connect alone." Legion explained. Mads looked over at the other two, who gave him a rather concerned look in return.

"Then I guess there is no use in putting it off any longer." Mads remarked as he removed his AK from its position on his back and handed it to Garrus, who eagerly took it. Mads went up to the pod, or docking port as it was called. Legion would guide him through it all. It wasn't comfortable to step into what was, effectively, a small prison. This was some real matrix shit. Legion reminded him not to move while an upload was happening, but all Mads could focus on was how nervous he was. A few seconds later, he arrived in the Geth consensus, and he had never seen anything like it.

"Romanov-Captain, we acknowledge your integration into this server. We welcome you to our consensus." Legion said, with an almost happy tone.

"What is this? Minecraft?" Mads asked as he stepped out of the pod. Everything was made out of blocks. Was this really how the Geth build their servers?

"Searching extranet for minecraft, please stand by… Error: No connection found..." Legion replied, and Mads mentally slapped himself.

"Forget it… Is this really how your servers look?" Mads asked.

"Negative. We have installed filters to allow you to make visual sense of this server's raw data. Your mind perceives our world as something familiar." Legion explained.

"If you had asked me in 2011, sure, this would have been familiar." Mads chuckled.

"We do not understand." Legion, once again, replied a bit confused.

"Just-… Never mind. Where are you?" Mads asked, and lo and behold, Legion appeared in hologram form before him.

"Here." Legion answered as he walked to Mads' mind.

"Good. What about Geth in here?" Mads inquired as he looked out over the landscape, or whatever you could call it, before him.

"You will perceive Geth as Surveillance footage, audio logs, sensor records. We do not require bodies as our software communes. Our hardware is merely a tool. This is our true world. As we remove Geth, it will grow dark." Legion informed him.

"Some could say that about every living being." Mads remarked. "Anyhow, let us not stall this any longer." Mads began to move forward. Legion informed him that he had to stay behind and guard the exit. With nothing else to do, Mads began to make his way deeper into the server.

Mads made good headway in the server. Legion was there always, like a voice in his head… Not that he really needed more of those. But of all Mads was seeing in there, his view kept changing by the minute. A new collection of old footage would be shown, like the first Geth being switched on, or the start of the morning war, or how the morning war really ended… Or how some Quarians fought against their own government.

"Hey, how come these Quarians have suits and helmets on? Isn't this footage from like 300 years ago?" Mads had asked after the first presentation of footage. Legion had responded by saying that all their footage was perceived with your own memories. Mads had told Legion that he had in fact, seen a Quarian without her helmet before… But that wasn't really a can of worms they should be opening up now.

Reapers code was all over the server, and it was clear as to why the Geth had sought refuge with the Reapers. That deal must have sounded sweet to them, serving the reaper in exchange for being saved by them. Maybe he couldn't really blame them… How desperate had humanity not been in the past?

Now, the really interesting thing he saw was a rather new memory that had been added to the Geth consensus. The time that Mads and Legion had first shook hands with each other.

"Hold on a minute…. Is that you and me?" Mads had asked.

"Correct. You were the first organic to openly and officially cooperate with the Geth following the morning war. We wished to archive this memory for future reference. We wish to ensure you are not the last." Legion explained to him.

"Well… I'm glad you're cherishing it… Though getting friendly with the organics is not going to be a walk in the park." Mads remarked.

"The prospect remains. If the Reaper presence is removed, there is a chance of reunification with Geth- And perhaps creators." Legion added.

"That would be nice… But do you think it's possible?" Mads asked.

"Hope sustains organics during periods of difficulty. We… Admire the concept." Those words sounded so sincere. Legion really hoped for a good outcome, one where everyone could be friends. Mads wished he could do more than nod his head. He had already promised Tali that if the choice came down to it… He would choose the Quarians… Mads wasn't sure if Legion would understand.

As he walked out of the Geth server, the remaining Geth Squadrons fell down, lifeless. This had to be a good outcome for the fleet, and would help them in the final push. Mads finally came back out, and it took some time for him to get back into reality, at least mentally.

"Are you alright, Captain?" Garrus asked as he handed Mads back his AK.

"I got a light headache… But otherwise I'm fine… Big question though: Did it work?" Mads turned to his teammates and asked.

"Raan just called us a few minutes ago. She said the fighters have been disabled. Han'Gerrel is driving them back.. The live ships are safe." Tali reassured him, and he smiled. At least it wasn't for nothing. Legion came back just after Tali had finished speaking. But he didn't come alone.

Several Geth primes stepped out of the pods. With red eyes, looking less than friendly. Mads was quick to have his rifle training on them. "Legion, what the fuck is going on?" Mads demanded to know.

"We have transferred Geth programs from the server into these platforms." Legion informed him.

"But why?" Mads asked confused. They hadn't attacked yet, but that didn't mean Mads was about lay down his gun.

Suddenly, their eyes… Or whatever the proper term for it was, turned green. Perhaps to signal that they were friendly. "They wish to join us."

"What?" Tali asked confused, still pointed her pistol at them.

"While Romanov-Captain removed the reaper infection, we judged we could persuade hostile Geth programs to reunite with ours. We were correct. These Geth have renounced the Old Machines, and will oppose the Reapers. They are now us." Legion explained.

"Well… I guess that works." Mads remarked.

"You accept our actions?" Legion asked.

"Look, the live ships are safe and we have some big angry looking Geth on our side. I'd call this a win." Mads said, trying to be at least a bit diplomatic.

"We judged you would understand. Prime units will be available once the Reaper signal has been destroyed." Legion said.

"Can't wait until Hackett hears about this." Mads chuckled. "Anyhow, let's get back to the Normandy. We still have stuff to do." And with those final words, they followed him out. Tomorrow, they would launch their push. Tomorrow, history would either be rewritten, or forgotten.