Author's Note: I'm sorry this is late. I have no excuse, except to say that addictive videogames are the bane to my creative process!

Please except this chapter as a way of apology!

For the next couple of chapters, the song "Broken Crown" by Mumford and Sons is the theme.

Don't forget to review!

After crash landing and finding themselves stranded on Omega, they were quick to realise the urgency of their situation. Aria's forces were taking heavy losses, they had no base of operations on the station, and Cerberus had much bigger teeth than they'd anticipated. Garrus struggled to hold in his 'I-told-you-so' smirk. Shepard was inclined to agree.

They had to take down the station's defences so that Aria's fleet could land, but they were scattered. Aria said she had a bunker that was virtually inpenetrable and could let them access most of the station. At least it would serve as a command centre. Liara already had a map of the station for them to get there. Garrus pointed out quickly that General Petrovsky likely already knew of their plan – there were cameras all over the station that he'd seen so far. Aria surmised that the best route, in that case, was to take a route of secret tunnels only she knew of.

It wasn't ideal, and as they traversed the tunnels, Shepard began t have that creeping suspicion down his spine that he was being watched. At one point the tunnel forked, and Garrus volunteered to check it out to be sure no one was hiding in wait to catch them in the back. Shepard studied the shadows of the tunnels, not liking how he felt like a trapped rat.

A shadow shifted, the whisper of a footstep. Shepard, Liara and Aria all had their weapons drawn simultaneously. Seems Garrus wasn't so paranoid after all.

"Who's there?" Aria called. "Show yourself!"

The shadow moved from behind the crates where it had hid, and into the light. By the two-taloned feet, the spurs on the legs and the general lean and muscular body structure, Shepard knew it to be a turian. A female, as the turian wore a hood to cover its face in shadow – an act that could not be possible if it had been male with a fringe. The only part of her that Shepard could see, was the white plates of her chin, a single red stripe for a tattoo.

From what Shepard could see of her mandibles, they were quirked in a slightly-amused smile. "Spirits, look who's back: Aria T'oak."

Aria lowered her gun, seeming to recognise the turian by her smooth voice alone. "Nyreen. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Playing cat and mouse, mostly." Nyreen shrugged. "Just trying to stay alive. If it wasn't for these tunnels…"

"My tunnels." Aria corrected testily. "I'm sure glad I showed them to you."

"If you hadn't, I'd be dead or locked up by now."

Shepard looked between the two of them, trying to guess at how they knew each other. Once friends? Unlikely. Aria didn't have friends. He threw the asari crime-queen a hard stare. "Looks like you pass out your secrets to anybody."

"You're mistaken, Commander." Nyreen surprised him by seeming to not only recognise who he was, but address him formerly. And was it his imagination, or did her back straighten a fraction when talking to him? "Aria keeps secrets better than anyone I know."

"Okay Shepard," called Garrus as he jogged up to join them, "the fork's clear. We can–" he trailed off as he caught sight of the other turian with them, his eyes narrowing.

"Well." Nyreen seemed just as surprised to see him. "This day just keeps getting better and better."

Garrus was jolted by her voice. "N-Nyreen? What the hell are you doing out here?"

"And where else should I be?" unlike when she spoke to Shepard with respect, now she was purposefully being confrontational.

Aria's scowl was growing as she looked between them. "I take it you two have a history? Something you'd like to share with the class?"

"Shepard," said Garrus, "this is Nyreen Kandros. She and I both served in the turian military. But she left a few–"

"Didn't have much of a choice, Vakarian. They were going to put me in a cabal!"

Liara leaned in to Shepard to explain quietly: "Turians are rather… odd, when it comes to their attitudes to biotics. When they manifest–"

"We're dumped into special units and segregated." Nyreen muttered bitterly.

"I understand why you left, Nyreen." Garrus attempted to be sympathetic. "But did you have to come all the way out here? To this spirits-forsaken place?"

The turian female narrowed her eyes. "I seem to remember you also wound up here… Before going on a killing spree."

Garrus' mandibles twitched with growing ire. "Mercs and criminals."

"That makes it sooooo much better."

"Always so argumentative." He growled.

"You didn't seem to mind it back in the day."

A little bell went off in the back of Shepard's head. He looked between the two of them. Nyreen was open and confrontational. But Garrus, whilst also getting angry, was closed off as if he wanted no part of her touching him. Only people who had slept together had that kind of body-language, in Shepard's opinion. "Wait… is Nyreen…?"

"Yeah." Mumbled Garrus.

Shepard felt like laughing at how small the galaxy felt right now. Wow! The famous 'reach-and-flexibility' girl was Nyreen Kandros. This was going to be interesting. And then another occurred to him. Better not let Elaine hear about this…

"If you two are done squabbling…" Aria strutted between the two turians, her eyes always on Nyreen. "Are you coming? We're heading to my bunker. We'll get you to safety."

Not much was said, and Garrus and Nyreen stayed clear of each other. As all five of them ran through the tunnels, Shepard took point. From behind him, he could hear Aria try to have a hushed conversation with their new turian companion.

"Nyreen, you left Omega fairly angry with me. I wasn't aware that you'd returned. Explain yourself."

"The truth is I never left," said Nyreen. "A fact I went to great lengths to keep from you."

"I'm not easily duped. Well done. But why?"

A pause. "I just… couldn't leave. Considering all this, I wish I had."

"Well, you always said I'd be the death of you."

"Nyreen has military training," piped up Liara. "We could put her to good use."

Aria huffed. "Nyreen never approved of… what was it you called it? 'Omega's moral brankrupcy'. Are you willing to defend it now?"

"You'll find me very willing to liberate this station." Shepard could hear the rueful smile in her voice.

The Council chamber was deserted aside from the six of them. The Council stared down at Elaine from their high podiums. Behind her, she could feel Grunt bristling as the oppressive silence held on. Tali was at the back of the room, observing and supportive in her own silent way. Elaine waited patiently for them to get to the point. Unfortunately, that didn't seem likely, as the Councillors went from looking at her, to whispering amongst each other. The eerie silence of the chamber was slightly unnerving. The gigantic ceiling and circular formation allowed sound to carry easily, and with no other living souls in sight, it made every shuffle or step echo dreadfully.

Elaine cleared her throat, ignoring the way the Turian Councillor looked at her sharply. "You summoned me, Councillors?"

They all turned to fully face her. As always, the Asari Councillor started the proceedings. "First Warden Cousland, thank you for coming. Though I hear it is Warden Vakarian now? Congratulations."

"Grey Warden," said Valern. "We summoned you because an urgent matter came up that you have led us to believe you would be well informed on."

"We thought we ordered you to give us all information you had on the Darkspawn." Councillor Sparatus said in an almost accusing tone.

Elaine frowned. "With all due respect, Councillor, this council does not order me to do anything. The Grey Wardens are above politics and belong to no singular party." After a moment to reconsider the wisdom in antagonising them, she added: "And furthermore, I did give you all the knowledge I have on the Darkspawn."

"Then do you care to explain…" Tevos pressed a button on her podium, "this?"

In the space between their two platforms, a hologram appeared. At first, Elaine didn't recognise what she was supposed to be looking at. Then, she recognised one of the images. It was one of the Asari broodmothers. And then the other images began to make sense. All vaguely humanoid, with eyes and mouths in the right places. They each had skin that looked decayed and corrupted, spikes jutting from shoulders and between armour plates. The moment Elaine realised what they were, she gasped in horror.

They were Darkspawn versions of the council races.

"Maker's breath…"

"It seems the Darkspawn have done what you suggested," Valern sighed in sympathy for her revulsion. "They're breeding."

"Those who made first contact with these monsters," said Tevos, "have already given them designations. Our spies and other operatives have managed to observe these creatures' behaviour in the field."

"This one," Sparatus pressed a button and one of the images magnified, "is called a Toothlock. I'm sure you can imagine why."

Indeed. The Toothlock looked a monstrous amalgamation of a turian and a dragon. Its back was hunched, its centre of gravity and body structure more like that of a bird. The talons were exaggerated, spikes protruding from the wrists all the way up to the elbows. Most of the plates usually adorning turians seemed thicker, more ridged and acting like armour. The mandibles were completely gone, and the teeth inside the jaw were three times as long as normal, cutting into its own mouth to drip foul blood over itself.

"They are descended from my people, turians. Toothlocks, as we've observed, form packs that mostly stay separated from the rest of the horde. They slaughter prey with overwhelming force and precision strikes. We're told their teeth have a form of venom to disoriantate and agonise their prey. These things leave no survivors. The only way we've managed to get even this information is from recordings recovered in body suits from their victims."

"Next, we have the Marlocks." Valern magnified the next image. It looked like a grotesque frog on lanky legs. The eyes were huge, almost encompassing the entire face. The mouth, already small, appeared to be sown shut. "They come from Salarians, and we believe this is how they're piloting the ships they steal. Marlocks are excellent spies. Able to move silently and camouflage themselves with their environment… their, um, lips, we believe, are sown shut by other Darkspawn to prevent them from making noise. A Marlock only needs to watch an action once in order to be able to perfectly replicate it. This is why the Darkspawn ships can set a course and use relays and such, but cannot pilot a ship as effectively as an organic."

"Gnashers are from Vorcha." Sparatus showed her an image of a humanoid that walked on all fours, with arms and legs stuck out at the side like an insect. Its mouth was huge with rotating teeth lining all the way to the back of the throat. "Disgusting things, carrying disease and plague. They act like your earth piranahs – eating everything, bones, uniform, materials, everything."

"And you've already encountered the asari version, the Spawners." Tevos' voice was dripping with disdain as she showed Elaine the image of the tainted asari. "They have life cycles that defies the usual rules of Broodmothers. Newborns burst from the womb – killing the mother – and devour everything in their path. Then, much in a mockery of their asari ancestors, they select prey to 'bond with', stripping them of genetic material to create their own offspring. Then, in their final stage, during their pregnancy, they became more powerful, destructive; before cacooning themselves into the usual Broodmother state and await their offspring to be born and kill them in the process."

Elaine took a moment to fit all that information into her brain. She could feel Grunt's eyes shifting from the Council to her, awaiting her response. Finally, she asked: "What about other races? Quarians, Krogan, Batarian, Volus, etc. Do we not have anything from them?"

"The Batarians are so few since the majority of their race was destroyed by the first wave of Reaper attacks – we haven't seen anything of them at all." Explained Sparatus. "Krogan females are so heavily guarded (especially with the genophage now made redundant) that the Darkspawn have luckily been unable to get to them. Thank the spirits. I don't know how we would survive a Krogan-version of one of these beasts."

"One of those beasts is right here…" Grunt growled menacingly.

"Volus and Quarians have been attacked," said Tevos, "but from what we can gather, their conventional weakness has saved them from this fate. When the darkspawn attempt to remove their suits, the Quarians' immune system cannot handle the exposure, let alone the taint, and very quickly sicken and die. The Volus cannot live in an unpressurised atmosphere – they die almost instantly."

"Keelah…" Tali murmured in horror. "I need to find out how many we lost. All those pods we thought to be missing…"

"Elcor have not been attacked yet, so far as we know." Valern's voice interrupted Elaine's instinctive response to comfort her friend. "And the Hanar are protected in their oceans – it seems the Darkspawn, for all their tenacity, cannot swim."

The Warden's thoughts were drowning in the flood of information she was receiving. It now occurred to her just how real it was that the Darkspawn horde was growing, advancing beyond her previous knowledge. It was daunting, terrifying. The thought of all those poor women, trapped underground, raped, violated, forced to bear into the world abominations this galaxy had truly never seen before.

"Um…" she swallowed, attempting to compose her shock. "Well, this is uncharted territory for all of us, Councillors. Hands on experience with these monsters will be the only way to learn their weaknesses. For now, I suggest keeping these ships at bay from worlds. If they cannot pilot them more than simply setting a course, then that means they should be easy targets out in space. Let us focus on tracking down those ships. It won't solve the Reapers transporting them, but…"

The Councillors all gave each other looks. The atmosphere in the chamber quickly turned from weary, to uneasy. Elaine looked to Grunt and Tali, they shrugged but kept their eyes on the Councillors. So they felt it too?

Slowly, Tevos cleared her throat. "There is more, Warden Vakarian."

Valern tapped his fingers on his terminal, a nervous tick. "We're noticing a pattern emerge…"

"Do you know what this substance is?"

An image appeared before her. The hologram showed her a crystal-like substance. It glowed red and orange, as if it contained a fire inside of it. Thin trails of orange lightning floated about it like an ominous aura. All around the crystal, plant life had withered and turned black. A tickle of recognition whispered at the edges of Elaine's mind, and it took her a moment to place it.

"I remember this… We found it on my homeworld. A form of Lyrium…"

"On worlds where the Archdemon has stepped," for once, SParatus didn't sound mildly aggressive or condescending. He sounded genuinely concerned. "We see this. Do you have any idea what it is or what it means?"

"No, Councillor. This is new to me."

"We've discovered that this is a new type of Element Zero works similarly to Red Sand." Said Tevos. "Enhancing biotic abilities to unprecedented levels, but causes neurological breakdowns. As well as being highly addictive, we noticed it causes tumerous growths and deformities."

"For now, we've ordered that no one is to come into contact with it. But we suggest you find answers to this conundrum, Warden. Immediately."

With Aria short on manpower, that meant she needed numbers to boost her chances of taking back Omega. It seemed, as a personal insult to Aria, General Petrovsky had set up his base of commands in Afterlife, her old nightclub-turned-throneroom. In order to get to him, they needed cannon fodder. And the only resources available were local gangs and mercs. That meant Garrus and Aria clashed. Hard.

"You can't trust those scum!" he objected. Loudly.

"I trust them to look after their own self interest." Argued Aria. "Cerberus has hit their business rather hard. They'll help us so long as our goals help them."

Apparently, the only merc group available was a new one, called the Talons. Aria very bluntly explained that Garrus' (and later Shepard's) little war against the Bloodpack, Blue Suns and Eclipse gangs had thinned their numbers and created a void in the balance of power. The Talons and their leader, Darius, saw it as an opportunity to get a foothold in the local drugtrade. Liara lamented that if they were still working with any of the three former merc groups, she could easily sway them with her knowledge on them. But the Talons? She had little information to use.

Garrus' was unapologetic. His only comment being: "If I'd had six more months, they would've been next."

Shepard wasn't particularly enjoying watching his best friend slowly slide into a more aggressive and hateful demeanor. It was almost like this station was casting a spell on the turian, bringing back to the forefront those terrible years where he was spent fighting everyday a hopeless battle against crime in a haven for the lawless. The commander decided to not interfere for now, as Garrus' anger was useful so long as it didn't distract him. But should it escalate any further, he was ready to intervene.

Nyreen went missing just before the group could leave for Talon territory. Considering that soon after, they heard comm chatter that Cerberus was moving in to kill the Talon-leader, Shepard's first instinct was to assume betrayal once again. He had to push the others to double time it. No way was he letting Cerberus take this one from him.

About an hour later, they managed to get to Talon territory. It was already under siege. Their main base had nearly a dozen Cerberus at the doors, trying to blast them open, just as many laying dead on the floor. A few of the Talon soldiers – all armoured in red – were either gravely wounded or dying. Two were being tortured to either tell Cerberus where their leader was, or to open the doors.

Shepard and the others came in, guns ready – but it turns out they didn't need them.

From the rafters above, a shadow dropped amidst the Cerberus soldiers. A gun shot, two. A slap with the barrel of an assault rifle into the head of one Cerberus soldier, flattening him. the air hummed a nano-second before blue energy erupted amidst those coming to help their comrades. The Biotic forcefield flung them back, snapping their spines against debris behind them. All it took was a few seconds, and then it was over. When the dust settled, a Turian female stood tall and proud. Her plates were bone-white, her neck long and thin, her tattoos a red diamond shape across her face. Green cat-like eyes studied them suspiciously.

It was only by the shape of her chin, the matching colour of her face-paint, the angle of her mandibles, that Shepard recognised her. Nyreen. Her hood gone, her identity revealed. She was the Talon leader that Cerberus had been hunting. Well, at least now the Commander could rule out betrayal for why she'd vanished.

Didn't mean he approved of said vanishing-act.

Nyreen helped one of her soldiers to their feet. "Take care of the wounded, and scavenge what you can."

"You heard the boss." The Turian male said sternly to other talons that came sprinting in from around the corner – too late for the party. "Move it!"

"Boss?" Liara and Garrus said simultaneously.

"My, my…" Aria purred as she sauntered up towards her former friend. By the tension in her shoulders, Shepard knew the purr was a lie. "Nyreen, aren't you just full of surprises?"

"Aria." Her greeting was formal, blunt, almost cool. "The deception was necessary. I needed to figure out what your plans were."

"So you're a merc now?" asked Garrus, flabbergasted. "Trafficking drugs? Weapons? Really, Nyreen?"

"You misunderstand." Shepard expected her tone to be confrontational again, but instead she was much more mellow. "That was Darius' operation. When Cerberus took over the station, he was killed. A lot of the Talon leadership was, along with a lot of other gangs in the area. I brought new direction. Stability. The people of Omega depend on us. We help to try and make them safe. The General's been hunting us ever since."

She marched with purpose into her base, and Shepard and the others were quick to follow. Talon soldiers consisted mostly of Turians and Krogans, Shepard observed. Each one they passed, they would salute Nyreen by standing to attention, dropping their gun to one hand before raising it into the air. They were militaristic in their form, alert and ready for anything. He could not hear one argument in the base, no squabbling over spoils of war the way any other gang might behave. Stretchers were littered across the floor, civilians stretched out and being treated as best as the soldiers could afford. Shepard had to admit, it was impressive.

"We'll be evacuating this location as soon as possible." Nyreen told them over her shoulder. "Try not to interfere with my people's work."

Another turian male came jogging up to Nyreen. "Intel just reported in. The group of civilians we managed to evac arrived safely at the other outpost. Also, routine sweeps report nothing new on the Adjutant presence."

That made Shepard curious. "Adjutants?"

"Creatures created by Cerberus." Nyreen said gravely, she took the datapad from her soldier and handed it to Shepard. What he saw on the screen looked like some Cthulu monster, with a elongated head and a mass of tentacles for a mouth. "They eviscerate their victims' DNA, converting them into more Adjutants."

Aria sneered. "Some kind of Reaper-Darkspawn hybrid. I've fought them before. They're a nightmare."

Nyreen looked to Aria, and for the first time, Shepard saw genuine fear on those green eyes. "It got worse after you left. They turned on Cerberus and then tore apart the gangs. Now they kill anyone on sight. If Cerberus hadn't found a way to contain them, the entire station would be overrun by now."

The commander rounded on Aria, thoroughly displeased on her lack of forthcoming information. "You could've told me about this before now, Aria!"

"So you could bring along that plucky Warden 'expert'?" she snorted derisively. "No thank you. Her sweetness would rot my teeth."

Nyreen shuddered. "What I saw will haunt me for the rest of my days. If you did too… you'd run the other way. But it won't stop me from fighting." To distract herself, she turned back to her turian soldier. "Cerberus is backing off for now. Make sure the scouts keep an eye out for the next attack."

"You've done an excellent job, Nyreen," said Aria, rolling her hips as she strutted forward towards the Talon command centre; a mess of computer terminals and massive screens. "But I'll be taking over now. You know what happens to people who argue with me."

Shepard was just as alarmed as Nyreen was outraged. "And if I say no? You'll just kill me and take over? My people won't stand for that."

"Yes, they do seem… nauseatingly loyal. Either way, I'll get what I want."

"Not this time. The people of Omega are my priority."

Aria actually laughed. "You take over one gang, and you think you're ready to decide what's best for Omega? Nyreen, watch and learn."

Pulling up her omnitool, Aria opened a channel. A holographic drone similar to Tali's flew from her omnitool and floated in the air before her face. Somehow, suddenly, every screen and terminal in the vicinity was showing Aria on display in real time. Like she was broadcasting. Shepard doubted it was isolated to this base. Whatever she was doing, it was probably being broadcasted to the entire station.

He leaned in to Liara. "How is she doing this?"

"Ahz can hack into anything," Aria smirked at him. "Including your little broker's network."

Liara hissed in outrage. "Why you–!"

"People of Omega: I have returned!" Aria proclaimed loudly, raising her arms like a triumphant empress addressing her subjects. "Cerberus believes they have beaten you. They believe they have you under control. They are gravely mistaken. You are the lawless of the galaxy. You cannot be beaten, and you will never be controlled. Be ready! Your chance to strike out against your oppressors is coming. Together, we will take Omega back!"

Cheers could be heard on all channels, and even some of those in the base, both civilian and Talon, made noises of their approval. Nyreen, however, didn't share their excitement. "That's your plan?! Throw civilians at Cerberus?!"

Garrus was right beside her. "Use them as cannon fodder? It'll work, but that's nasty – even for you!"

Aria scowled at both of them. "Anything is better than being locked up like mindless animals waiting for slaughter."

"You haven't changed a bit." Nyreen looked like she wanted to say more, but closed her eyes and shook her head. Her shoulders drooped, utterly dejected. Glaring, she hurriedly moved away. "I have civilians to evacuate. I'll deal with your mess later."

Watching her go, Shepard contemplated what had happened. He was all in favour of using whatever advantage they had. He had no love for the people of Omega, they were the lawless of the galaxy, exactly as Aria described. Each one a thief, or conman, or drug runner. In Aria's position, he would likely have done the same – offer a distraction for Cerberus to deal with whilst he had his A-Team go in through the back.

But still, the way Aria was going, she was burning bridges with potential allies faster than they could make them. "What are you trying to do?"

"The people of Omega – my people – love a good street fight. When it breaks loose, they'll be ready." Aria said. Her eyes slid to Nyreen at her command centre as she directed her soldiers. Those eyes lingered perhaps a little longer than was necessary. "Nyreen's code of ethics won't let her sit by if civilians are exposed. It's what makes her utterly predictable and easy to manipulate."

"Considering everything you two were for each other…" Liara's quiet voice made Shepard jump. He'd almost forgotten she was standing there, listening the entire time. His girlfriend's eyes were blazing wih fury and disdain for the former crime-queen. "I thought you better than that."

Aria's eyes widened with alarm. "How do you know that?!"

"I'm a good information broker." Liara growled menacingly. "Don't you ever forget that."

The sound of static abruptly abruptly shouted in their ears. Everyone's attention was drawn back to the screen as the static cleared, and the image of General Petrovsky came into focus. His busy brows were drawn down, his mouth pressed into a hard line.

Garrus snorted. "Looks like Nyreen and I aren't the only ones who didn't like your little speech, Aria."

"Citizens of Omega." Said the General, his eyes never once wavering from the camera. Where Aria had commanded attention through her stage-presence and energy, Petrovsky demanded it with his hard stare alone. "I understand that Aria T'Loak seems to have you convinced she's rallying you to throw off the shackles of subjugation. This could not be further from the truth. Miss T'Loak is an old and worn out thug who cannot let go of the illusion of control; over this station, over you. Her plan is to use you as cannon fodder, nothing more. You are all aware of Cerberus' rules. Don't get in the way of our operations, and you will be protected. That assurance is more than Aria ever gave you. Murder on every street. Plagues killing you off. Gangs blackmailing you. All of that is gone, and Aria wants to return it – I ask you, who is the real oppressor here?"

"Bastard…" Aria seethed.

"And to make matters worse, Aria seems to believe that she can intimidate all of you into obedience by showing off her latest pets." The feed of the general cut away to a picture of Shepard, Garrus and Liara following Aria through the station. The Commander felt his insides clench in sudden dread. "I'm sure Commander Shepard needs no introduction, the murderer of 300,000 batarians six months ago, allowed to walk free. But perhaps you are unfamiliar with his companions?"

"Oh shit…" Garrus breathed.

"This turian stalked your streets for almost two years. He killed your brothers, your friends, indiscriminately. Some of you might know him better as 'Archangel'." Everyone sucked in a breath. All eyes in the room focused on the small party in front of the command centre. But Petrovsky wasn't done. "And Shepard's Asari mistress has been known to Cerberus for some time. As hard as it might be to believe, Liara T'Soni, daughter of Matriarch Benezia that threatened the galaxy only three years ago, is none other than the Shadow Broker."

The hate in the room was palpable. Garrus, Liara and Shepard all exchanged worried glances. All around them, people were looking at them with growing anger, some were even reaching for their guns. Shepard instinctively moved to hide his friends behind him.

"These are the murderers and opressors that Aria has formed around her to join her little cult. I'll leave it to you, the true people of Omega, to decide if it is a cult worthy of loyalty… or destruction."

The feed was cut, and there was a tense moment of silence. Shepard could guess all of their thoughts. They probably either wanted to murder them or turn them in. It didn't take long for the crowd to make up their mind. All it took was one angry shout, and then the lot of them were screaming, clawing over each other in a bid to get to their prey.

"Archangel killed my brother!"

"Tear them apart!"

"Talons, stand down!" Nyreen shouted, her voice carrying over the entire room, even over the cacophony of hate and murder. Whether it was out of respect for her, or their inborn militaristic training, the Talon soldiers did as bid, and slowly the crowd followed their example as the mob-mentality was robbed from them. Nyreen was quick to show her ire. "Are you seriously gonna fall for the manipulations of that son of a bitch? It doesn't matter, even if what he said was true – which I doubt – it does not distract us from our mission. We still have a station to defend."

The soldiers had to play around with the idea. And it was clear that they only listened to their leader begrudgingly. They still all cast murderous glares at Shepard and his crew as they slowly withdrew to return to their business. Shepard himself did his best to not let his relief be too easy to notice.

"Well," Aria whispered to him. "I'd hate to tell you I told you so, Shepard. But…"

"Let's just get moving," he grumbled. "Before we overstay our welcome even more."

"Well, that definitely got weird." Grunt murmured.

Elaine was almost marching through the station, her distracted mind making her almost stomp her way towards the nearest cab depot to return to the Normandy. "Why can't things just be simple? Just once, I would prefer this war to be as uncomplicated as possible."

"So, we going out and finding these new Darkspawn?" Grunt was nearly bouncing with excitement.

"I'm already trying to find out how to find their ships," Tali declared fiercely. Before they'd even left the Council tower, she had gotten in contact with the other Quarian Admirals to have them do a count of all their missing pods or small ships. She was now determined to punish the Darkspawn for taking away her beloved people. "I'll need to talk with EDI, but maybe there's a way we can ping these ships to reveal their position…"

She continued to talk, but Elaine slowly tuned her out. Finally, an insistent buzzing under her skin was making itself known to her. Her mind whispered that she needed to look up, her sixth sense whispered of something faint but most definitely there. Trying to be inconspicuous, she turned just enough to look behind her from the corner of her eye. The streets were busy, filled with people drifting from shop to shop on the Presidium. At first she could see nothing, but then her blood burned slightly, driving her eyes in a certain direction. Then she noticed a face paused in the crowd, a human face watching her, and trying to make it look like he wasn't. As soon as she saw him, she saw other human faces in the crowd watching her from various positions. Turning her head forward again, she did her best to walk as if she had noticed nothing.

"Don't look," she mumbled quietly to her companions. "Someone's following us."

Tali startled. "What–?!"

"I said don't look." Elaine hissed, clamping her hand on her friend's arm to keep her still. "Grunt, can you sense them?"

She could see he really wanted to turn around, to find the faces following them, but was restraining himself. "I've been feeling a tickle… but I just thought I was hungry."

"I might've not noticed them, except one of them is definitely tainted. Only the early stages, but enough still to faintly pick up." She then realised that Grunt had probably been wrestling with this for a while, and she had been oblivious. "I'm sorry I didn't pay attention sooner."

"W-w-what do we do?" Tali whispered. "It has to be Cerberus. They're the only ones with the taint just walking around…"

"Can't we just call C-SEC, or the Normandy?" Grunt suggested.

Tali shook her head. "No. They're probably already monitoring our omni-tools, if not outright jamming us."

"And there are too many civilians here to draw attention to." Elaine agreed. Damn them! Cerberus had planned this perfectly. "We must do this quietly."

"So what now?"

"We're splitting up." Making it look like they still hadn't noticed, Elaine laughed loudly, elbowing Grunt in the ribs to cover her leaning in close to whisper, "Grunt: give it five minutes and then break off from us. Make it look casual. They'll more than likely engage. But whatever happens, you need to get back to the Normandy and have EDI or Joker get a message out to Shepard. We'll meet you there when we can."

Grunt didn't even bother to hide his grin. "Alright! Some action!"

"See you on the other side, Grunt." She thumped a fist on his shoulder, trying to not let her thundering heart show on her sleeve. "Make me proud."

They all pretended to browse through the market for a few more moments, keeping to public spaces with C-SEC on guard at the edges so that Cerberus couldn't make a move. Two could play at that game, after all. All the while, Cerberus followed them every step, never letting the group out of their sight. After exactly five minutes, Grunt made a show of saying goodbye before heading off. Elaine sent a prayer to the Maker that he made it unscathed, that Cerberus would ignore him. And also that they didn't notice his atrocious acting skills.

Tali held up a pretty purple cloth of fabric, to obscure them from view for a few precious seconds as she asked: "Okay, now what do we do?"

"See that noodle shop?" Elaine pointed across the street. "We'll head there. Let them think we still haven't seen them."

"And then what?"

"Then… you're going to let them take me."