It's hot.

It's incredibly hot.

I'm sitting in the shade, making as efficient movements as possible, and my environmental suit's peltier chips are working overtime.

And it's still so...unbearable.

Of course, it's exactly at this time, in the middle of the day when it is the absolute hottest, that all of our drills abruptly stop working.

A bit of a sidenote; one remarkably peculiar tendency about humans I discovered while working on the Normandy is their tendency to anthropomorphize machinery. When a perfectly random event would cause a fluctuation in the readings from the zero core, Adams might say something the lines of "She's feeling a bit nervous today." A bit nervous?

Machines don't have feelings, or souls, or anything like that. There's probably some human specific biological basis behind this irrationality, since we quarians certainly don't share it. The Normandy was a beautiful ship, an unparalleled masterpiece of engineering, but it certainly couldn't feel anything.

That being said...

I am now confident that these drills hate us with every fiber of their mechanical beings.

And the one I'm working on?

This one hates me in particular.

"Come on..." I mutter as I try to force a fitting onto the pipe.

"Need any help ma'am?" Kal'reegar asks, walking towards me, stepping carefully around a pair of mechanics stripping a broken excavator for extra parts.

I shake my head. "Thanks...but I should be able to handle this," I say, throwing my weight behind the wrench. It finally gives just a bit, and I sigh in relief.

A small snap sounds, just barely audible.

Oh no. It did not just...

Metal comes apart in my fingers. The extra small coaxial pipe containing maybe a dozen rigid internal fibers has just snapped. The one for which, of course, we don't have any replacements.

Before I can stop myself, I find myself hurling the wrench at the wall.

*Clang*

"The repairs still aren't going well I take it," Kal'reegar says mildly, kneeling to put the wrench away properly.

"It's all these temperature extremes. These materials just aren't meant to handle this stress." I rap the machine in front of me with the broken pipe. A worrisome set of soft rattles follows. "It doesn't help that most of these drills predate even the Flotilla."

"Certainly seems to have put a damper on your mood."

"Is it that noticeable?"

He shrugs. "The other technicians have certainly noticed enough to talk about the past few days."

I look around at the surrounding engineers. They're studiously focusing on their own work. Moreso than they were just a minute ago. I let out yet another sigh, unconsciously scratching my faceplate.

Kal'Reegar looks at me for a few moments before he speaks. "I'm guessing recent events with your old commander are still bothering you?" he asks in a quiet tone.

Ah...

Well, maybe it'll help.

I take a seat on the machine, and lean against the wall behind it. The relative coolness calms me a bit.

"It's been on my mind," I admit. Something of an understatement if I'm completely honest. "And it's really only a possibility it's Shepard." I add. Which is what bothers me the most.

Maybe it is him. But until I open him up, poke around a bit with the wiring, I can't know. And to hope...I shouldn't. What if it is just a trick?

"Not sure what I'd do if my old commander suddenly showed up." Kal'Reegar sighs, leaning against the same wall next to me, arms crossed over his chest. A chuckle escapes. "Heh, I'd try to put that old bastard back into space."

I remember hearing stories when I was younger about Reegar's commander. Apparently he had been shot over fifteen times in a particularly intense firefight. The squad's sealant had been all used up after a long time in the field, and they were sure he was done for then and there. He fired off a dozen rounds, popped out the still smoking cartridges (yes, he still used a cartridge weapon back then), and used them to cauterize his wounds and suit, sealing off all the openings in both suit and flesh, before proceeding to leap out of cover and shooting the remaining geth in the face.

He died a few hours later, of course. But that story and others much like it lead me to reply skeptically, "Oh? I'd think you'd be on the losing end if you tried."

"I've learned a few tricks since then..." He protests.

Unconvincingly I might add.

A loud beep sounds from the radio at his belt interrupts his tenuous defense.

"We've got an incoming vessel vectoring towards sector A4, ETA 3 minutes," a voice reports.

"Geth?" Kal'Reegar asks sharply, turning slightly away.

"No, it's a regular shuttle." The voice is silent for a few moments. "I think the markings are Cerberus."

Cerberus? The only reason I can think of for them to be here...

"Secure the landing zone, but do not fire unless fired upon. Boss won't like it if we get a bit trigger happy," he orders, turning to back towards me. "Well, looks like you'll be resolving your little issue sooner than you think."

"That'd be nice." I say somewhat numbly, getting up.

Come to think of it, I think I rather like being called Boss. Has a nice ring to it. Much better than ma'am.

"I'm sorry to hear that ma'am," he says blandly.

I give him a glare. Yet another habit picked up from Normandy. "Come on, let's go before one of your marines gives in to temptation."

When Tali and Kal'reegar arrived at the shuttle landing pad, they found the two Cerberus operatives leaning casually against the front of the shuttle, deliberately appearing unthreatened by the surrounding quarian marines.

"Miss Zorah," Miranda says, greeting her calmly.

"Just the two of you? Why, did Shepard finally come to his senses?" Tali asked archly.

"Nah, he's still in the back," Jacob responded as he moved to the rear of the shuttle. "We just wanted to be a bit cautious. Not sure how these marines would react if Shepard suddenly popped out, heavy firepower and all." He grinned. "The guy on the right's looking particularly twitchy."

The marine hoisted his rifle to shoulder with one hand, freeing up his other to make a universally obscene gesture. Jacob laughed as he popped the shuttle latch. A loud bang sounded from the shuttle as the mech limped out, arm wedged against the side for support. It gingerly placed its bad leg on the concrete, before sliding all the way out.

"Your leg!" Tali exclaimed in surprise, running over to inspect the damaged mech as it carefully maneuvered itself. "What happened?"

"He got shot up by a gunship after it took him by surprise."

Shepard nodded in response. A few quiet beeps sounded from Tali's omnitool as it displayed the internal structure of the limb. "High caliber shots...they really shredded the internal mechanisms," she murmured, absently poking a finger through one of the larger holes.

"OUCH"

She jerked back, looking up at it in surprise.

The mech looked down at her, as usual no expression visible on its mount.

"A JOKE"

It said after a moment.

"I thought it might be, but..." she started, her voice somewhat embarrassed.

"Think you could fix him?" Miranda interrupted, approaching her from behind.

Tali stiffened upon hearing Miranda's voice, straightening to face her. "I believe we've already discussed this," she said, her voice disapproving. "Don't tell me Cerberus has suddenly run out of mechanics?"

"Actually, yes," Miranda admitted. She held out a hand to forestall Tali's reply. "But that's not the only reason we're here. We've come to see if there's any way we could help with your mission."

Tali crossed her arms, looking at her skeptically.

"It would be in both of our best interests if we could expedite your recruitment for our own."

"And what makes you think you can help?"

"Your current mission is to study the sun's unusual behavior. Part of the mission parameters are to obtain core samples from the planet, most likely to be the most difficult and time consuming step."

Tali remained silent.

Miranda continued, "We've brought some of the latest mining equipment, designed for work in high radiation environments. Two of our crew members are extensively trained in their usage, and will be able to bring your team up to speed regarding the operation of the new machines."

Tali sighed deeply. "I don't suppose it'd do any good to ask how you managed to find out about what was supposed to be a highly classified mission."

"You can hardly expect otherwise," Miranda said reasonably.

"We could try interrogating them," the marine from before volunteered eagerly. Jacob tensed, hand twitching towards the weapons at his waist as Kal'Reegar moved into action.

*Whack*

The marine's head jerked forward from the impact.

"Thanks Reegar."

"No problem ma'am. He should have known better than to voice our plans," Kal'Reegar replied.

"Reegar!"

"Sorry, sorry," he chuckled unrepentantly. Jacob cautiously relaxed at the exchange

"I need a few moments of silence to think," She ordered.

A minute passed in quiet. An enormous crash drew everyone's attention, as several tons of ceramic slid into the concrete next to the shuttle. Shepard ignored the looks, shifting its legs out from under it.

"Fetch one of the flatbeds from the repair team for Cerberus' use; we should still have several extra," Tali told a technician standing behind her before turning to Miranda. "How soon can your people and equipment arrive?"

"They're still in low orbit, but they're ready to take a shuttle down as soon as we give the signal."

"In orbit? You're keeping your ship in orbit around a geth planet?" Reegar interrupted, disbelief in his voice.

"A stealth ship," Tali said, her voice neutral. "Cerberus must have had access to at least part of the Normandy's designs."

"All of them actually," Miranda said modestly. "The ship's design is very close to the original, barring some increases in both functionality and size."

"It's also a lot more efficient," Jacob said cheerfully, "The onboard AI allows for a relatively reduced crew size, so it was easy enough to..." Jacob suddenly stopped speaking, aware of the suddenly tense atmosphere.

Tali broke the uncomfortable silence. "An AI? You're inviting me onto a floating death trap Shepard."

"EDI's not that bad...right Shepard?" Jacob asked, turning to the mech, who looked away quickly. "Besides, the ship's pretty amazing even ignoring the AI. It has a bar on one of the decks!"

"A bar," Tali repeated dryly, crossing her arms.

"Er...Miranda, help me out here," Jacob asked, only to receive a raised eyebrow from the other operative in response.

Jacob was saved when a small alarm on Tali's arm started flashing. She checked her omnitool in response. "I need to get back to work. When the engineers arrive from orbit, send them over so I can brief them on what needs to be done. Reegar, if you could assign a detail?"

She turned back to the mech, as if about to say something more, only to be cut off by a more insistent beep from her omnitool. "We'll talk more later," she said before hurrying off.

They watched her retreating back silently.

"Was that as warm a reception as you were hoping for Shepard?" Miranda asked neutrally.

The mech remained silent.

"Well, at least we didn't get shot at." Jacob answered.

"CHECKMATE"

"Damn it," Jacob swore, looking at the board. "How the hell did I walk into that?"

The two made an mismatched pair as they sat on the floor of the flatbed in the shade of a stone building, a large chessboard placed between them.

"VICTORY"

The mech reached out carefully, tipping the white king over. "He started setting that trap up three turns ago," Miranda observed. "If you had been playing more aggressively, instead of those futile defensive moves you always do, you could have disrupted that sequence."

"Is she right this time too?" Jacob asked in irritation.

"UNFORTUNATELY"

"Damn."

Miranda frowned at the exchange. "Jacob, move over." Jacob obliged, and Miranda sat cross-legged in his earlier position. The two reset the board to its initial state, barring one white pawn near the center.

Shepard carefully reached out and shifted a black pawn forward. Miranda immediately followed, moving a knight with a loud clack.

Jacob leaned back as Miranda and Shepard played out their game.

*click*

*shuff*

*click*

An hour passed.

"I'm getting bored here."

"Check." Miranda moved her bishop forward.

"How much longer do you think we're going to have to wait?"

"Jacob," she said in a carefully controlled tone, turning to look at him. "How many times have you asked that question today?"

He frowned contemplatively. "Fourth time today?"

"Fifth."

"No kidding?"

"Fifth time," Miranda enunciated.

A series of tinkles from falling pieces sounded from behind her.

"OOPS"

The mech froze, its arm above the large pieces scattered over the table.

Miranda sighed. "That's alright Shepard." She began to reset the board to the beginning, piece by piece. Suddenly she paused, her hand hovering above a fallen knight. "Shepard."

The mech cocked its head inquisitively.

"You were trying to change the board while my back was turned weren't you?"

Shepard remained silent.

Her eyes narrowed. "I can tell from the angle and position at which they fell. You were trying to move both the knight and pawn to the left to free up your queen to move."

"IMPRESSIVE DEDUCTION"

"Flattery Shepard? Really?"

The mech shrugged before tilting his head to the other side.

"ANOTHER GAME"

"With you?" Miranda asked frostily. "I'll pass."

"Rematch Shepard!" Jacob said, getting up. "Move over Miranda," he said, taking her place at the board as she got up.

"VICTORY WILL BE MINE"

"You wish, now that I know what to look out for..." Jacob said, finishing replacing the pieces.

"Shepard moving the pieces while your back's turned?" Miranda asked, her voice still cold as she sat down on the edge of the trailer.

"Relax Miranda, it's all just part of the game." Shepard nodded in agreement behind him.

Her eyebrow rose. "And where exactly did you learn how to play chess Jacob?"

"Alliance training actually. Same for you, right Shepard?"

"EXTRA LESSONS IN N7 TRAINING"

"And did they teach you that moving multiple pieces in a turn was allowed?"

Jacob looked at Shepard and grinned. "Only if you get away with it." The mech nodded, raising its arm.

Miranda ignored the two and turned back to her reports as Jacob leaned over and met the autocannon with his fist.

*click*

*shuff*

*click*

Another hour passed.

"Are you sure that was a good move?" Miranda asked from behind Jacob.

"CHECK"

"See, if you had moved the bishop here instead of..." Miranda said, finger hovering over a square behind Shepard's knight.

"Did you want to play Miranda?" said Jacob, slamming the piece in his hand down in exasperation.

"Depends. Is the other option is to watch the two of you fumble at it?" Miranda answered. "Bad move by the way."

"CHECK"

"Goddamn it," Jacob said, frowning at the board. He looked up, eyes focusing on a point behind Shepard. "Tali'Zorah! Please tell me you're almost done here."

The mech remained stationary.

"NICE TRY JACOB"

"I'm serious. Turn around Shepard."

"HELL NO"

"Is this is a game of vital importance I shouldn't be interrupting?" Tali asked as she approached the trailer.

Shepard's optical mount swiveled to face her.

"CAN WE LEAVE YET"

"Shepard," she said disapprovingly. "Are you going to ask me that every time I manage to catch a small break?"

"YES"

He replied immediately.

She sighed. "Could you at least have given that answer a little thought?"

The optics flickered for a few moments before its head turned from side to side.

"I suppose it's good to see that you're still just as incapable at feeling shame." She glanced at the board behind him. "I thought this was the game where only one piece could be moved?"

The mech's head whirled back to the board.

"Gah!" Jacob said, dropping the knight and rook in resignation. "Tali, why would you do that?"

Shepard chuffed.

"NICE TRY JACOB"

The mech started moving pieces back.

"Whoa, whoa, I only moved the knight and rook!"

Shepard paused briefly, looking up.

"PENALTY STRIKE"

"...Fine." Jacob grumbled, sitting back with his arms crossed.

"CHECK"

Suddenly Jacob grinned. "Handicap! A handicap for the previous winner is in order. The loser gets to move one extra piece," he said, grabbing and slamming down his queen adjacent to the opposing king in a decidedly non regulation move.

"Checkmate."

Shepard considered the board carefully.

"I CONCEDE"

"Sweet, sweet victory," Jacob crowed in satisfaction.

"Compared to quarian games, human board games seem to be considerably more flexible." Tali remarked, looking at the board.

Jacob nodded. "We're taught how to play in Alliance training in order to help with lateral strategic thinking, as well as with negotiation skills."

"That is not how the game is played!" Miranda said, a trace of irritation seeping through her voice.

Jacob unsuccessfully hid a grin. "Don't be getting angry just because you're not as good at the other half of the game Miranda."

"Alright. You and me, one more game," Miranda said, moving her work to the side. "And I'll even allow you to use that handicap Jacob. We all know you'll need it," she added mockingly.

"See? My negotiation skills have already paid off!"

Shepard turned towards Tali as Miranda visibly attempted to calm herself.

"SO HOW IS WORK"

The mech shuffled to the side of the flatbed, tapping the edge besides him. Tali obliged, hopping up to sit. "Slow. The second layer of bedrock's seems even harder than the first. It's taking much longer than planned to drill through and obtain the samples."

The mech cocked its head.

"HAVE YOU TRIED A GIANT LASER"

"Mm. Because that worked so well last time."

"ENORMOUS HOLE"

The mech raised its arms high.

"SUCCESS"

She chuckled. "You almost got us all killed Shepard. If that seismic event occurred just a bit earlier...I distinctly remember barely making it to the entrance."

"GOOD TIMES THOUGH"

"Yes," she said gazing up at his headmount. "They were, weren't they?" The two sat comfortably in the following silence ignoring the increasingly loud clicks and swears behind them.

"It wouldn't work by the way," Tali said suddenly, breaking the silence between the two. "It's a very different type of work blasting an opening between two hollow spaces and drilling a hole into bedrock."

"I SEE"

Shepard nodded again before asking.

"IS CERBERUS ANY USE"

"We're always useful." Jacob said distractedly.

"The engineers came surprisingly well prepared, and their equipment is certainly of better quality than ours." Tali's voice showed noticeable irritation. "I'd even say that Cerberus has been preparing for this mission longer than I have."

"Shouldn't have left that bishop exposed Jacob." Miranda said, flicking the piece across the board. "How are those negotiation skills doing now?"

"How can you stand working with these people Shepard?" Tali asked bluntly.

"CERBERUS OR THESE TWO"

"That's because he understands..." Miranda began to answer, turning towards them before she whirled back towards Jacob. "I saw that!"

"And what are you going to do about it?" Jacob asked mockingly, his hands spread apart.

Miranda's hand glowed blue in response as she lunged at the surprised operative.

*crack*

"My nose! Damn it Miranda, I think you broke it!" Jacob cried out, clutching his nose as drops of blood splattered on the board.

Miranda's face was unsympathetic. "A fitting punishment for trying to move a piece while my back was turned!"

"That's because it was my damn turn!" He responded indignantly.

"Ah..." Miranda's expression showed a brief and rare moment of chagrin. She looked down at the board and up again. "My mistake."

"I'm going to head back to the shuttle for some more medigel." Jacob got up, his head tilted back.

"For a broken nose? Since when have you needed so much coddling. Just set that thing back in place," Miranda said, no trace of her earlier remorse remaining as she reached out with her hand towards his nose.

"Hell no!" Jacob backed up quickly. "You aren't putting those hands any where near this face again. I'm numbing it before I set it."

Miranda raised an eyebrow.

"Besides, I don't want to hear that from the person who quarantined an entire subsection of the space station because she was completely convinced she caught dengue fever," Jacob said.

"That was an entirely different situation. And I'll have you know the symptoms were textbook. Quarantine was necessary to prevent risk while the project was in its vulnerable phase." Miranda responded coolly.

"You had a common cold."

"My immune system was engineered to be highly resistant to such things. It's only natural that I expected the virus capable of infecting me to be far worse."

"I'm sorry, but all I heard was wah, wah, genetic engineering." Miranda's eyes narrowed before she suddenly lunged forward hand once again reaching for his nose. Narrowly avoiding her strike, Jacob broke into a run.

"Shepard, did that woman just break her subordinate's nose over a board game?"

"LOOKS LIKE IT"

"Then both."

"AFTER YOU GET TO KNOW THEM"

The mech paused.

"They're not that bad?" Tali finished questioningly.

"THEY ARE WORSE"

Tali gave him a level look, crossing her arms.

Shepard shrugged.

"I STILL DO NOT KNOW THEM"

"It hasn't been that long since you woke up."

He nodded in confirmation.

"AS FOR CERBERUS"

Shepard went silent. Tali waited patiently for him, slowly swinging her legs back and forth under the trailer.

"WE DO WHAT WE MUST"

"Duty weighs upon us all," she said, as if quoting a mantra from childhood.

"PERHAPS"

"BUT IT IS NOT JUST A BURDEN"

She tilted her head in response, curious as to what he would say.

"IT IS THE STEEL THAT SUPPORTS US"

"OUR LIGHT THROUGH UNCERTAINTY"

"THE FUEL FOR OUR ZEAL"

The mech intoned those words solemnly, its gaze fixed on the bright horizon before it.

Tali regarded him carefully in silence, before finally asking. "So which holovid did that come from?"

The mech chuffed, air hissing out of the joints in its neck.

"NOT TELLING"

AN: Whoa, it's been a while hasn't it. But voila, a new chapter. And the next chapter is going to be substantially more amazing. Expect explosions, violence, and dwwaama, in a substantially shorter amount of time.