Spectre B. 01

A/N - Due to this being quite an important part of the Mass Effect story regarding more than one revelation, this will be the second chapter where I am using dialogue taken from the game. It just makes sense to use it as although this is not following every strand of the plot, the main plot regarding the Reaper invasion will follow along as per the game for the most part. Except for the ending.

Australian / British standard English. There is a good chance of reading the following: lots of profanity, characters drinking, typos, and bad grammar at times.

Proofreading and editing suggestions provided by OhDave1. Any mistakes are still mine.

Comments are appreciated as always.

Feedback by email is always welcome. Enjoy chatting with anyone who likes my work.

*****

Shepard tracks Saren to Virmire.

*****

I was lying back with Liara as she was snoozing against me. We were still on our way to Virmire, at least another day or two away from arriving, and the reports coming in did not make for good reading. There was hope that Saren was still there and that maybe, just maybe, I would be able to corner him. But the fact that the STG team on the ground had gone silent did not bode well.

Liara stirred when my omni-tool played a tune that told me a call was incoming. It was Jane and I answered it as Liara opened her eyes.

"Hey, Jane."

"Shepard... Are you trying to make every woman and asari in the galaxy fall in love with you or something? The stories about Terra Nova are flying about!"

"Ah, well... Hackett sent me to stop an asteroid and, well, the people of Terra Nova were quite happy that I did just that."

"I've seen pictures and video of the celebrations. Looked like one woman in particular was rather infatuated."

"Yeah, that was probably Kate. She was the one who kept everyone alive on the asteroid."

"Fuck her?"

That's when Liara laughed.

"I'm guessing that you're not alone?"

"Good morning, Jane," Liara stated.

"Hey, Liara. You naked in bed with him?"

"I am. I love being naked in bed with Shepard. He's incredibly warm."

"Shepard, next time you're headed towards the Citadel, let me know and I'll do my best to get there."

"It will depend on what happens on Virmire. If I can catch Saren, it will hopefully mean the end of the mission. If not, then I don't know the next step. But I'll definitely keep you up to date with my progress."

"Good. Now, one thing, Liara. Make sure you get that dick inside you soon as you're going to love it. And as Shepard already knows, I'd love to have fun with both of you one night."

"I think we'll take you up on that offer, Jane," Liara replied.

I disconnected the line and turned to kiss Liara. She pressed against me as always as my hands moved down to her arse. She rolled me onto my back and I felt her pussy resting on my hard cock, and when she started to run herself along my length, she smiled shyly at me. I knew that she was almost close to giving in though it would always remain her decision.

"Want to have a little fun?" I asked. Giving me a curious look, I added, "Want to be my little model? I think Jane would like to receive some photos of my hot little asari doctor."

"I'd love to."

I sat on my knees as Liara laid on her side to start and I snapped my first picture. She moved to sit on her knees in front of me, folding her arms underneath her breasts while gazing at me. The look in her eyes was one of pure lust. She had me chuckling as the next photo was of her blue hand grasping my cock. She let it go and laid back, keeping her legs closed as I snapped another photo. I heard a ding that told me that Jane had no doubt sent a message as Liara slowly spread her legs to show me her pussy. It glistened with her excitement as I snapped more than one photo, getting in closer to her pussy.

Glancing at my omni-tool, I chuckled before stating, "Jane's loving them. She thinks you're hot."

"This is so naughty, Shepard. Maybe you should record me masturbating?"

And that's exactly what we did, Liara happy to slowly bring herself to orgasm. When she did, she offered me her fingers to finally taste her pussy even if it was only a glimpse of what I'd get to taste later. I wasn't surprised that Jane called me, a video call that I opened so that Liara could also see. Jane was at her desk in her office, and she was returning the favour, barely able to get a word out as she jilled herself silly through more than one orgasm.

"I can't wait to meet you in person, Jane," Liara said softly, "And I can see why Shepard is eager to see you again soon."

We finally dressed and walked out to join the rest of the crew for breakfast. Everyone was used to me walking out with Liara, Ashley or both of them so it was no longer mentioned. I think Wrex had stopped taking bets at the same time. Joining Joker on the flight deck after I finished eating, he said we were still half a day out from Virmire. I was keeping him up to date with the situation, both of us concerned about the reception that we'd receive.

I could sense the tension among the crew as we closed on Virmire as I had briefed everyone on the mission and that there was a good chance that Saren was on the planet. I worked off any nerves by heading down the cargo bay and working out, building up a good sweat. Ashley joined me to provide some company though all we did was exercise.

"You going to kill him?" she asked when we'd finished, sitting side by side on the bench as we sipped at water.

"If I get the shot, absolutely. The Council might want me to bring him in alive to face charges, but if I get my chance, I'm going to put down that turian bastard. He'll pay for what he did on Eden Prime and elsewhere."

I felt her hand take mine, interlacing our fingers together. I met her eyes and she smiled softly. "You know how I feel, but the one thing that I feel beyond anything is my belief in you, Shepard," she said, "You're not perfect, no one is. But what you've done so far, I know you'll do everything possible to make sure that we win and that we stop that bastard."

"What

we've

done, Ash. I haven't done any of this alone."

"While that might be true, you are our leader. And the absolute confidence I have in your leadership... I know there is always the chance that I will die wearing this uniform. It's something you understand when you sign up for service. But I also know that you're someone who will do everything in their power to make sure everyone does come home."

We were preparing for our arrival when Joker reported that we were approaching the orbit of Virmire. I was making my way up to the flight deck when I heard the first transmission from the ground. It was a message from the STG team and the situation was as bad as we feared. Kaidan picked up signatures that suggested considerable aerial defences that meant we couldn't approach the facility that was highlighted as a major base of operations.

"I'll have to drop you in the Mako, Commander," Joker reported, "And you'll have to drive the rest of the way. Those defences will tear this ship to pieces if we get too close."

"All ground crew to the cargo bay. We're dropping in the Mako."

"This is going to be a bitch of a mission, Commander," Joker muttered, "If Saren already has all of this built, what the hell else are you going to find there?"

"I don't know just yet, but I'm thinking that we're going to need to destroy it eventually."

The good news was that my squad was ready and raring to go. During our journey to Virmire, I'd been deep in conversation with my squad as a few of them had requests that I could help them with in my role as a Spectre. Tali was still looking for a Pilgrimage gift and wondered if we could get something that would help her people about the geth. Garrus was still tracking a criminal that he'd been trying to find for months, the usual red tape from C-Sec having allowed him to escape. As for Wrex, I'd given my word that we'd head to a planet nearby in an attempt to retrieve some lost armour from his clan. But they all knew that catching Saren was the most important thing but that I would help them as soon as the mission was over.

"The last report that the Council received from the ground is that Saren has a facility. We're not sure what it's for, but no doubt it's something fucked up. We know what we found on Noveria and Feros suggested that Saren is not going to stop until he's helped the Reapers invade. So we're here to stop him."

We loaded up into the Mako, everyone in their usual positions, and we waited for the green light. I felt the

Normandy

enter the atmosphere of Virmire. There was the usual sense of weightlessness for a few seconds as the Mako free-fell towards the ground, landing with the usual crunch. I reported to Joker that the drop was successful, and he was to remain in orbit until I called him back. The last thing we needed was the loss of the ship and no way off the planet.

Geth. They knew we were coming and they were dug in. It was worse than what we'd run into on Feros almost immediately. Saren must have brought an entire geth army with him. It had me worrying about the status of the STG team. What was the size of their team? How many were dead or alive? Would they be able to provide effective support against Saren?

Saren had built his facility with a series of defensive lines. It meant needing to open gatehouses before we could move on. In addition to the geth, their drones were constantly harassing us, Ashley focusing on their ground forces, Kaidan focusing his fire on the drones. Wrex eventually suggested that Tali should get out and provide ground support and he would support her.

"Garrus, take over the shields as well. Wrex, keep her alive."

"I will, Shepard. Come on, little one. I can't wait to see you cause havoc."

"Tali, if it gets too difficult out there, you are to return to the Mako. Okay?"

"Yes, Shepard. But Wrex will keep me safe."

What I didn't fail to miss was the fact that Virmire was an utterly gorgeous world. The water looked pristine. There was certainly plenty of greenery. And if there was enough land mass, I wondered why there had been no major colonisation efforts made. When I raised that question, Garrus had a rather quick answer.

"We're far too close to the Terminus Systems, Commander," he explained, "Although this does look perfect, the fact is that this would be ripe for pirate attacks. Think of Elysium but attacks like that happening constantly. The Alliance would have to spend billions of credits to make this planet safe enough for colonisation."

"And that explains why Saren has built his base here," I muttered, "Because no one is watching the planet."

"And from the defences in place, he's been planning this for years," Ashley added.

The geth started to jam our radar, Garrus muttering to himself before focusing on the shields. I just concentrated on what I could see in front of us. Wrex and Tali used the Mako for cover when walking forward though there was plenty of cover that they could use when I brought the Mako to a halt. I knew Tali was running riot with all her technical skills.

Getting through the gatehouse meant clambering out of the Mako to get it open. The geth were waiting for us and just making it all over one hundred metres was a bitch. And we took wounds. Nothing major, but it was a sign of the ferocity and intensity of the fighting. As for Tali, her omni-tool must have been running red hot and she caused carnage in the geth lines. I opened the gate with a simple command, and I was left wondering if Saren knew that I was coming to get him.

Larger geth machines waited for us. Tali had explained that the quarians had names for some of them although she was thankful that she had never encountered them before joining up with me. The smaller four-legged machines were called Armatures. They were shielded though could normally be taken out by a couple of well-placed shots by the cannon. But then there were the four-legged behemoths though they were called a Colossus.

It's not an understatement when I suggest that a Colossus was an absolute bitch to take down.

I called Wrex and Tali into the Mako when it came to dealing with the four-legged geth. Once we had them put down, they were back out as I drove slowly forward towards the next gatehouse. A few of the much larger bi-pedal units were waiting for us, the sort that could withstand a barrage of gunfire before they finally hit the ground. We made it to the console and managed to open the gate, glancing over my squad after I'd done so.

They were feeling the strain but there was determination in every pair of eyes that I met. Another console was activated, and Garrus checked it over and confirmed that it was for the anti-aircraft guns. He shut it down and a synthetic voice announced that the AA guns were now offline.

"Commander, I'm reading the AA guns are now offline. Can you confirm?"

"That's affirmative, Joker."

"Copy that, Commander. Heading to the salarian base now. I'll update you if I manage to speak to anyone on the ground."

The

Normandy

swooped low over our heads as we readied to enter the Mako once again. It didn't take long until we made contact with the geth again. They were throwing the proverbial kitchen sink at us. Massive machines were lined up to take us down. What felt like a flood of bipedal units. Tali and Wrex remained inside as it was simply safer, and I needed Tali on shields while Garrus was calling out contacts constantly.

I made a quip about the pile of geth that we would be leaving behind and wondered what would happen to all the parts. Tali managed to joke about the Migrant Fleet and that they always needed parts though they had to be careful about geth programming.

"This is madness!" Ashley shouted as the cannon fired over and over again. Geth were sent flying from each explosion.

The Mako was almost faultless. Tali kept the shields up. Garrus was constantly picking out new targets. Ashley and Kaidan rarely missed. Wrex eventually got out simply so he could contribute. I kept the Mako constantly moving, doing all that I could to make sure that any rockets fired at us didn't hit. The gunfire the shields could handle. The inside of the Mako turned into a sweatbox as Tali was having to pull any residual power into shields. As long as I could drive and Ashley could shoot, I didn't care how hot it got.

"That's everything," Garrus finally reported as I heard the cannon and machine gun finally fall silent, "No more energy signatures, Commander. We're good."

I'm sure that it was only my ears ringing. I heard Ashley slump against the side of the Mako behind me, glancing to see my two gunners dripping with sweat. I felt rather damp myself. Once everyone had taken a moment to calm down and Wrex was back inside the Mako, we passed through the last gatehouse and approached the salarian camp in the distance.

The

Normandy

had landed nearby, and I could see a few crew members were making ready a camp as I didn't know how long we would remain on the planet. I had to check my omni-tool for the time, realising that the time was late in the day. I didn't want to think about a night-time attack on the facility. We had no idea of the layout nor of how many enemies lay ahead. I knew we'd have to bunk down for the evening and attack at dawn.

After parking up the Mako, we all clambered out and I didn't miss that most of us headed straight for the cold water to calm down. I wasn't the only one to start taking off armour though I left on the bottom half but I was bare-chested rather quickly. Liara and Ashley did the same thing, leaving themselves in sports bras that they wore underneath.

"I'm heading onto the ship first to see if I can make contact with the Council or Alliance. Lieutenant, see what you can learn from the salarians for the time being," I instructed, "Chief, we'll probably camp here for the evening and head out at first light. Make sure all our armour and weapons are ready."

"Aye, Commander," they both replied.

Up in the communications room, I managed to get a connection to the Council. It wasn't a great line as there was still plenty of interference, but I was able to let them know that I'd made it to the ground and would now be linking up with the salarians. I confirmed that the aerial defences had been taken down and that if it was possible, for reinforcements to be sent. If not that, at least a clean-up crew for when we blew up the facility.

As no matter what we found, I was going to blow it to smithereens.

Wandering back outside, I walked into a bit of an argument. The leader of the STG team, Major Kirrahe, had been hoping that the Council had sent reinforcements. Major reinforcements. I had to explain to him that the Council hadn't received any such message due to the communications blackout and the only reinforcements that he'd be receiving would be those from my ship.

"But I am a Council Spectre," I added, "The most important question is your status and the location of Saren?"

"To be honest, Commander, we were barely holding on before your arrival. We heard your progress here and we used that time to try and rescue some of our captured men, but that was futile. We're down to half of what we arrived with though that won't mean we'll give up. Saren must be stopped and what he's up to sends shivers down my spine."

"What do you mean?"

"He's breeding an army of krogan."

"What?" Wrex shouted, striding over and looming over us, "What do you mean breeding an army?"

Kirrahe looked between the pair of us before he replied. "It appears Saren may have found a cure for the genophage. Naturally such a thing cannot be allowed to exist and therefore must be destroyed immediately."

"It cannot be destroyed if it gives hope to my people," Wrex retorted.

Kirrahe blinked before he stated, "You were a mistake and the genophage cannot be cured."

I think Wrex considered killing him. I really did. "Easy, big guy," I murmured, "We're going to need them for this mission."

The krogan stepped forward and jammed a thick finger into the chest of the salarian. "Choose your next words very wisely, salarian. The krogan are not a mistake. You needed us when the galaxy was under attack. It was your decision."

"I'm not getting into an argument with you, krogan."

Wrex turned and walked away. "Great," I muttered, "Now he's pissed off and I need him with a clear mind for this."

"We'll start putting a plan in place for a dawn attack, Commander."

"I'll be up before dawn to join you. Send me anything you have, and I'll review. What are your immediate thoughts?"

"Two teams. One will be a distraction to hopefully draw the bulk of the forces away. The second team will infiltrate the facility. I'm thinking that we're going to need one hell of a bomb to blow up this facility."

"Sounds like a good plan. There's no chance that I'm leaving this planet without making sure that this place is a crater."

"We'll continue our preparations as well, Commander. Luckily, we don't need as much sleep as everyone else."

"Yeah, I'd rather get at least a couple of hours sack time before we attack."

Wrex had wandered off and was firing his shotgun occasionally at some nearby rocks. I approached cautiously as I knew he was angry, and I didn't particularly want him turning his weapon on me. Ashley, Kaidan and Liara hovered nearby. I waved them away as I wanted to speak to Wrex alone. We stood in silence for more than a few minutes as he continued to blast his shotgun before he looked at me.

"This isn't right, Shepard. I know it's Saren and he's doing it for his own reasons, but if it's possible he has found a way to cure my people."