Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Mass Effect. All rights belong to their respective authors/publishers/studios.

Chapter 4 - Truth will out

The Citadel - Embassy of the Systems Alliance

David Anderson considered himself a reasonable man. He'd seen his fair share of crap around the galaxy, and accepted that all races had both good and bad people. Saren Arterius was a perfect example of the worst a species could produce, whereas Nihlus had seemed to be a genuinely decent Turian. Where Saren reinforced the institutional distrust of Turians that Anderson had carried with him since the First Contact War, Nihlus had defused it.

His distrust of magicals was even more deeply seated than his distrust of Turians. He could understand, from an outsider's perspective, why the Turians had attacked humanity. Humans had unknowingly broken the law, and the Turians had overreacted, using force where diplomacy would have been effective. Seeing humans and Turians working together had dulled the ill will between both species, though it had not solved it completely.

Magicals, on the other hand, had coexisted with humans for centuries, probably millennia, without major incident, although it had become clear after the war that there had been incidents which had been hushed up on both sides. That relatively peaceful coexistence had erupted into open warfare in a matter of years, apparently for no other reason than that the magicals had deemed themselves superior to the rest of humanity.

The war had been brutal and long, far longer than the war with the Turians. Anderson had grown up while the terror was very real, hearing the news reports of attacks. Magicals didn't stand and fight like soldiers, they struck like terrorists, dealing massive damage before withdrawing to attack hundreds of miles away, using their ability to teleport to run rings around a military desperately trying to contain the situation.

There had been some successes but they were few and far between until the discovery of the Prothean ruins on Mars and the subsequent development of reliable, effective space flight and weaponry. Orbital mass drivers could engage almost instantly with lethal accuracy, allowing the non-magical humans to finally push back, and in a matter of less than a decade the threat had been exterminated. By the time humanity was coming to grips with the Turians there were few magicals left, mostly in hiding after the vicious campaign by humanity against their population centers, strongholds and hiding places.

The fact that magicals had basically gone to war against their own kind, for no other reason than an apparent genetic quirk, was what horrified Anderson and the rest of humanity. The war had been unprovoked, and the tactics used really were acts of terrorism not true war.

The whole affair had left a bitter taste on his tongue, as he had joined the Alliance after it was mostly over, and just in time to fight the Turians. Plenty of other officers, and older ones, had the same experiences or worse, and he knew that the stigma surrounding the words "Witch" and "Sorcerer" would not wear off anytime soon. The witch hunts this time had been justified, if no less brutal.

He wondered if, had he met any magicals who had not fought, who had been trying to work towards peace, he wouldn't feel the same way about them as he did about Turians, but that thought was set aside immediately. The only one left now that he knew about was Potter, and he had managed to get himself involved in Anderson's, and now Shepard's, mission. He granted the man the benefit of the doubt, as he'd saved Shepard's life and had apparently gone out of his way to try to help the colony.

As an Alliance N7 and as Captain of an Alliance vessel he had learned long ago to assess a situation in its entirety before deciding how to proceed. That was why he had allowed Shepard to keep Potter on a leash all the way back from Eden Prime to the Citadel, and having him around had seemed at first to be a good idea. He'd read the politics of the situation with Saren perfectly, and Shepard had seemed to take his points to heart in a way that surprised Anderson.

Despite that, or perhaps because of it, something seemed off to David Anderson. How was a forty year old archaeologist who'd spent twenty years on a colony digging up ruins of a dead civilization supposed to have acquired the political acumen to accurately divine the decisions of the Citadel council. As far as he knew the man had never even seen an alien, apart from any that might have visited Eden Prime over the years. In light of that his knowledge was inexplicable.

On top of that, based on the data his people had collected from Eden Prime, Potter had fought his way to the spaceport through multiple Geth patrols, something that would have been difficult for any Alliance marine save for the few who were accepted at the Villa. Again, he had knowledge or skills that simply didn't fit with his identity.

And the final nail in the coffin, something that Shepard seemed to have forgotten was Chakwas' report. As far as the doctor was concerned, he couldn't be much more than twenty years old, let alone forty. The whole situation set off alarm bells in Anderson's mind. Something was completely off with the profile. His actions and knowledge were those of a man far beyond his apparent age, and that suggested that he'd been involved in the war. That could mean any number of things to Anderson and most of them were not good.

This was balanced against Shepard's apparent trust in the man, which seemed misplaced unless she knew something he didn't. It was possible of course, she had spent more time around him and was as adept at both uncovering and keeping secrets as he was.

He wondered again if he shouldn't go down to the Normandy and confront Shepard and Potter, demand to know the truth and make his mind up, but to do so might cost him Shepard's trust, and he genuinely liked the younger officer.

Drinking from a mug of real coffee, a rare treat even on the Citadel, he tried to figure out the best course of action. Sighing, he closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead briefly with his forefinger and thumb. Whether he liked it or not Shepard had decided to take Potter with her, and he had to respect that, since she was a Spectre and could pull rank on him if she insisted. That didn't mean he couldn't do some sniffing around however, and he quickly set up a search query in the Alliance military and intelligence database looking for any information on one Harry Potter. The least he could do was to make sure the guy wasn't on some damn wanted list for a crime committed twenty plus years ago.

At the sound of the embassy door opening, he turned and smiled as Shepard walked in. "Jane" he called out as he strode over to meet her. "It's good to see you. I hope you're settling in on the Normandy, crew giving you any trouble?"

She smiled, and shook his hand. "No problems at all sir. The crew know me, and while they're not happy to see you railroaded out they at least haven't been saddled with some stranger as their new CO. The continuity seems to be helping."

He turned and led her to the side of the room where a more relaxed area, for personal meetings, had been set aside. He sat down in a comfortable armchair and turned to face her as she sat in the next one over. "I'm glad. It's never easy leaving a ship and the Normandy is one hell of a ship. One hell of a crew too. However, I'm sure you aren't here just to say hello after a whole couple of hours has gone by. What can I help you with?"

She leaned back and crossed her left leg over her right. "Well, the Council said they'd forward any intel they had on Saren to the ambassador, but he hasn't gotten anything yet. I don't think they're stalling, not yet anyway, but they still have a history with Saren and I want to make sure I'm not missing anything that could be important, or anything they deem to be not linked to Saren."

He mirrored her posture, and rubbed his jaw absently. "I see your point. I know Udina hasn't been given anything by the council yet but it's not been long. In the meantime, as much as I hesitate to suggest it, you could try going through an independent broker for the information. The shadow broker has a bad reputation but he knows everything there is to know, and he has an agent right here on the Presidium. He's a Volus banker by the name of Barla Von and you can find him on the other side of the lake, opposite the relay monument."

She nodded, and brought up her omnitool which showed a map of the Presidium Commons. A quick search located the Volus' office, with a flashing marker roughly where it was. "Sounds like a good start to me. I'll go look him up and see what the shadow broker has, if anything."

They both stood, and Shepard offered her hand first this time. "If you think of anything else sir, I'd appreciate it." she said as she shook his hand firmly.

"I will" he replied. "Oh and Shepard, good luck with your mission. Saren has to be stopped but I think you're the right person for the job. Just be careful with some of your newest crew members. Saren has plenty of influence and money, it wouldn't be hard for him to recruit people you might never suspect."

She looked at him for a moment with a serious look in her eyes, which softened. "I know, and I'll be careful." and with that she turned and left, leaving Anderson to his thoughts as he sat back down with his mug halfway to his lips.

The Citadel - Presidium Commons

Shepard left the embassy ten minutes later, having been delayed by a request from the husband of one of the marines killed on Eden Prime. She could understand, logically speaking, why the Alliance wanted to gather what intel they could, after all any hints on how to defend against Geth weapons would probably save lives in the future, but to prevent a marine's body from being treated with the honor it deserved was something she could never condone.

It was hardly any better that, when she pushed the issue with the Alliance rep, it became obvious that the marine's corpse wasn't the only one being kept for testing, as a number of civilians had been killed by the same weapons and their bodies were also being kept. The whole situation stank and she blamed Alliance Intelligence for it. Any time Intel got involved morality and honor seemed to take a back seat to logic and pragmatism. She knew it was how the system operated, but hated it all the same.

Having reassured the dead marine's husband that her body would be returned to him for burial she took a walk down the side of the lake, enjoying the relatively common greenery of this most prestigious part of the Citadel. She chuckled when she saw a C-Sec officer apparently arguing with a Hanar, and shook her head as she crossed the walkway past the relay monument towards the office of Barla Von, the shadow broker's agent here on the Presidium.

Entering the banker's office, she noted the spartan furnishings, the only furniture being the large desk and the chair behind it in which the short, squat figure of the Volus was sitting.

"Ah, greetings Earth-clan" the stubby alien said, before taking an apparently labored breath through his environment filters. "How can I help you today? Some investments perhaps." he said with an almost mocking tone that had her narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

"I'm Commander Shepard and I need information." she said before he interrupted.

"I know who you are Shepard. The Shadow Broker has seen fit to inform me of your mission, this request was expected."

She leaned on the desk, towering over him and attempting to intimidate him. "I don't like the implications of that. If the Shadow Broker knows about my mission why would he help me, or is he working with Saren now?"

The Volus leaned back and took another breath. "Saren recently betrayed the Shadow Broker. My employer does not take betrayal kindly… Thus I have been granted certain information that may be of use to you."

She leaned back and folded her arms. "And what will this information cost me?"

The Volus actually chuckled at that, a rare sound from his species. "The information is free Shepard. Irritating Saren is sufficient payment in this case, and as you have recruited a mercenary who has worked for the Shadow Broker before, he is confident that he will receive useful information from you regardless. Information is sometimes its own reward."

He took a breath and reached for a data pad on his desk. He read it for a minute and then returned his attention to Shepard. "The Shadow Broker is aware of the support the Asari Matriarch Benezia is providing to Saren. It would be in your interest to locate the Matriarch's daughter, a Doctor Liara T'Soni, before Saren does. She is an expert in Prothean archaeology and would be valuable to him in his search for the mysterious Conduit. You may find her on the planet Therum in the Knossos System of the Artemis Tau cluster."

Shepard nodded. "That's useful. I'm not particularly happy that your boss is openly spying on me but having Wrex along is worth too much to plug one leak when you can undoubtedly find others. Rest assured I won't be pleased if I find out the Broker is openly handing out my secrets, and I'm not a nice person when I'm displeased."

He nodded. "Noted. The Shadow Broker does not support Saren. Rest assured that nothing he discovers from you will find its way to your enemy's hands. As for other hands, my employer makes no promises."

She turned to leave, and was halfway to the door when the Volus spoke up again. "Oh, one last thing Earth-clan." She turned to look at him over her shoulder and he placed his palms together, staring at her across his bridged fingers. "Ask Mister Potter about his age, and please pass on the Shadow Broker's regards."

That statement caught her off guard, but she didn't give any outward sign, and simply turned back towards the door before walking out. As the door closed behind her she wondered what Potter would make of the Broker knowing about him, which was the obvious message within the Volus' request. The bit about Potter's age confused her until she recalled something Chakwas had said, and her own observations about his apparent age when she had first met him on Eden Prime. She groaned as she added it to the ever growing list of questions she had for her most mysterious team member.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts as she walked along the lake opposite to the embassy offices, that it wasn't until the Asari who had been calling her tried for a third time that she realized she was being hailed.

What followed was one of the more bizarre experiences she had had upon the Citadel. The Consort, a rather famous Asari who "listened" to people, this taking the form of several different options, but was famous rather than infamous for her talents, had asked to see her immediately, as opposed to after four months like most visitors.

Upon being shown into the Consort's chamber, Shepard had immediately felt that this was a very unusual Asari. Sha'ira, as the Consort was named, had asked for her assistance settling a matter with a Turian general who had apparently wanted more than she could give. Shepard had sighed, agreed to help, and then called the Normandy.

"Joker, get Garrus on the line would you?" she had asked the pilot when he had picked up her call. A minute's delay later the requested Turian had spoken over the channel.

"Shepard. What's up?"

"Well" she started, "this is probably going to sound a little strange…" she had gone on to explain the situation.

Thankfully, Garrus had delivered the goods, although it had almost taken a fist (Talon?) fight in Fluxx to get Septimus to agree to meet with Sha'ira to settle matters between them. Shepard had had to restrain herself from laughing when she found out that Septimus had even gotten an Elcor diplomat in on the act, implicating the Consort in the release of several confidential files.

Having resolved the Consort's problems, and wondering why the Asari hadn't simply taken care of the matter herself, she had returned to Sha'ira's chamber and informed her of the successful resolution of her nonexistent love triangle. The Asari had then offered her a so-called gift of words, which was reassuring in a way but didn't really tell Shepard anything about herself that she didn't already know. She'd absently wondered what the Consort would make of Harry if she ever met him, and resolved to engineer a meeting the next time she was at liberty on the Citadel.

For now, she had wasted enough time fixing other people's problems, and she wondered if all Spectres went through this or if it was some sort of cosmic joke at her expense. As she left the Consort's establishment she quickly made her way to the rapid transit terminal nearby, electing to avoid even the possibility of more well-meaning bystanders asking for her assistance.

After all, given the choice between resolving an Asari's confusing love triangle with an Elcor and a Turian, or saving another Asari from likely kidnapping by her own mother and her apparently evil ex-spectre boss, it was clear which had the higher priority. Back to the Normandy it was.

Taking the opportunity on the long elevator ride to the Normandy's dock, she made sure everyone was aboard and informed Joker that they'd be leaving as soon as she was through the airlock. As she passed through the outer hull of the Normandy she heard her name being called for, she hoped, the last time on the Citadel. Turning, she saw Anderson walking quickly towards her, stopping at the threshold of the airlock, clearly having rushed to catch her.

"Shepard. I have one last thing for you before you go. This just came up on a search through the Alliance Intelligence database. I haven't had time to read it all the way through but you need to see it. I couldn't risk sending it over normal channels." He held out his omnitool and transferred a file to hers via a short range direct communication that would not pass through any intermediary servers. "I won't hold you up any further Jane but trust me, you want to read that file." He saluted, which she returned promptly, and stepped clear of the airlock which closed after a short word from Shepard to Joker.

Practically the second she had exited the airlock into the CIC the ship shuddered as Joker released the docking clamps, powering up the ship's drivers and the mass effect field generator before pulling slowly away from the docking arm.

Walking up behind him, she watched as the docking bay receded, finally vanishing as he turned the ship away and started to accelerate towards the mass relay. Glad to finally be away from the political machinations of the council and the intrigues of the various species represented on the station she decided it was time for a pep talk for the crew, something to get them focused back on the job and less on the details of their last shore leave.

SSV Normandy - Widow Nebula

Harry looked up from the terminal at his temporary duty station - all of personnel Shepard had recruited for her mission had been given some kind of job to do, although in Wrex's case this job consisted of standing in the cargo bay looking mean. Williams had been immediately placed in charge of the weapons for the ground team, as she had handled armory duties on Eden Prime from time to time.

Tali, savant with all things electronic, had been assigned to engineering to take some of the load off the chief engineer. Garrus had been assigned to maintain the Mako, a wheeled APC that would apparently be used for ground missions where additional mobility or firepower was required.

The Normandy's new XO, Pressly, had some trouble figuring out what to do with Harry. He wasn't a mechanic or an engineer. He couldn't be placed working on any of the ship's core systems as he wasn't trained for the job, and thus the question came up of what they could do with him. He did have a fairly good grasp of tech however so Pressly assigned him to helping out around the ship with any odd jobs that needed doing, mainly for the engineering crew but with a fair degree of flexibility to move from task to task.

As the Normandy had been docked for some time the ship was running smoothly, and while docked there wasn't much work to be done. As a result, Harry was standing at a workbench dismantling and servicing his weapons when the speaker in the cargo bay came to life.

"Attention all hands" came Shepard's voice. Her tone was serious, slightly deeper than normal, and everyone immediately stopped what they were doing to listen.

"We have our orders. The man responsible for the destruction of Eden Prime is out there somewhere in the galaxy, and we're going to find him. I won't lie to you, the trail is cold and the chase will be long, but I promise you we will follow every lead, chase down every trace of him until we find him."

"It's time for us to step up to the plate and do our bit for the galaxy. Saren has hidden behind the council for too long, now they're supporting us and they expect us to deliver. It's time to show the galaxy what humanity is capable of. This is the best ship we have, with the best crew, and with this crew and this ship on his trail, Saren doesn't stand a chance. That is all."

Harry took a breath, noting the others in the large bay doing the same. He could feel the fire in Shepard's words, the confidence that she would win, no matter what it took, and couldn't help but be infused with the same spirit, the same drive. He recognized true charisma when he encountered it and Shepard had it in spades. The proud looks on the faces of the human members of the crew were enough to make that clear. As far as the non-humans went: Wrex was clearly not moved either way, Garrus seemed to be impressed, and Tali's face was as always concealed by her visor.

The ship shuddered slightly and the bay reverberated as the ship's drivers were brought to full thrust, before the dampers kicked in and the room became quiet again. The silence did not last long however as Shepard's voice rang out again.

"Ground team to the comms room for a mission briefing."

-Scene Break-

Harry looked at the display at the end of the comms room, where a large scale image of a largely red planet, slightly reminiscent of Mars, was revolving slowly. The surface of the planet was mottled with greys indicating areas of rock, and the red was brighter than the dull sandy red of Mars.

Shepard stood at the front and allowed the image to rotate once fully before she spoke. "This is Therum in the Artemis Tau cluster, we are heading there now and will arrive in approximately four days." Harry briefly went over his rough knowledge of the galactic layout. The Artemis Tau cluster was two jumps further than Exodus, so it made sense that the transit would be longer than from Eden Prime to the Citadel.

"We are heading to Therum based on intel acquired on the Citadel that a Doctor Liara T'Soni, an Asari archaeologist specializing in the Prothean extinction, is engaged on a dig on this planet."

Kaiden spoke up. "Excuse me Commander, but do we need a second archaeologist on the team? Surely Potter should be able to answer most questions we have about the Protheans."

There were a few nods around the room before Shepard answered. "With all due respect to Mister Potter, he's been studying the Protheans mostly through research, and only been involved in one dig. Doctor T'Soni has been involved in several and likely has more practical knowledge." She looked at Harry and he nodded, confirming her assertion. "Doctor T'Soni's academic knowledge is only part of the reason we are headed to Therum to recover her. She is also the daughter of the Asari Matriarch Benezia, who we know is in league with Saren."

That raised several eyebrows, and Williams spoke up next. "Are we sure she isn't already working with Saren? If her mother is it seems likely she'd already have been approached."

Surprisingly Garrus backed her up. "Williams is right Commander. It's a major risk bringing someone on board who may be in league with the enemy."

Shepard nodded. "That's why we're having this briefing. If she is in league with Saren she's a potentially useful source of intel, and if she isn't she may have expertise that we can use to locate this Conduit before him. If we can beat him there we can wait for him to come to us. What I want is ideas as to how to handle the situation."

She paused for a second before continuing. "First, ground intel. Therum is larger than Earth, so its gravity is slightly greater than Earth standard and that on the Normandy. Movement on the ground will be impeded as a result. Atmospheric pressure is low and consists of a mix of unbreathable elements. The planet is home to one colony, Nova Yekaterinburg and apparently a number of possible dig sites. T'Soni could be located anywhere on the planet."

She looked around the room. "First task, locating the good Doctor. Any ideas?"

Harry waited to see if any of the more experienced soldiers had any ideas before he spoke up. "Dig sites are usually a hub of activity for a large area. You saw how much infrastructure we had to establish for the dig on Eden Prime. That level of support is probably not uncommon, although if the dig site is far from the colony you may be looking for a small dedicated landing zone, rather than a rail facility."

"That's a pretty good idea" Kaiden backed him up. "We can scan the planet from orbit and look for signs of a dig site. If they are in regular contact with anyone we might even be able to find their communications and use those to triangulate their position."

"And once we have a rough idea of where she might be we can take the Mako down, avoid the atmospheric issue entirely if we can" Ashley followed up.

Shepard looked thoughtful, considering the idea. "Alright, sounds like a start. Now, if we are looking for T'Soni it's possible that Saren is too. If that's the case we'll probably be up against more Geth. Tali, do you have any ideas for how we should handle any Geth we encounter? What tactics have worked for the Quarians against them in the past?"

Tali sat up a little straighter before talking rapidly, obviously familiar with the topic. "The environmental conditions won't affect the Geth. Their sensors are electronic so they will still be able to detect us, and their platforms are highly resistant to atmospheric hazards."

She brought up a data packet on her omni tool, quickly consulting it. "Once we engage any Geth platform, the rest of the platforms in the area will become aware of our presence immediately. The Geth operate as a networked intelligence, acting once the available programs reach a consensus. The performance of the network is dependent on its size."

"So every time we kill a Geth platform, the rest become less efficient" Garrus summed up. Tali nodded before continuing.

"That's correct. Larger units have greater processing power making them both more intelligent, and key to the performance of the network. If we focus our fire on the larger units we should see a rapid deterioration in their ability to act, as it will take longer for them to reach consensus and to process data."

"What kind of platforms are we likely to encounter Tali?" Shepard asked.

"Depending on the terrain, there are a number of original designs and others that we have seen in the past. There may be newer platforms out there but I know that they have troopers, lightly armed and protected, rocket troopers and snipers. Of those, snipers are probably the most dangerous as they have a large processing core to allow for more programs to assist with targeting. In terms of larger platforms there are destroyer and prime platforms, which are both extremely large and dangerous, but still bipedal so we could encounter them anywhere. The final types are the two four legged variants, the armature and the colossus, Both of those are extremely dangerous and pose a threat to most ground vehicles. I would not recommend engaging either on foot."

"There's a new type out then" said Kaiden. "We encountered Geth on Eden Prime that were capable of deploying a hexagonal kinetic barrier as cover for other Geth."

Tali nodded. "That's expected. Geth adapt their platforms constantly, they are extremely intelligent and manufacture new designs quickly. A deployable barrier sounds like an attempt to provide their weaker platforms with additional protection."

"OK" Shepard took control again. "So we have a rough idea for how to find the dig site, and we know a way to handle the Geth if we encounter them. That leaves the trickiest part to last. How do we handle T'Soni, whether she is cooperative or not?"

Wrex cracked his knuckles. "If she gives you any trouble Shepard just treat her like any other target." He grinned viciously.

"Asari are frequently strong biotics" Kaiden said. "I don't know how we'd go about restraining her if she doesn't come willingly."

"If necessary, and if she's in league with Saren, we'll keep her sedated" Shepard said confidently. "If she does fight us we'll need to be careful about he we take her. I want her alive, preferably mostly unharmed. She's useless if she can't answer questions, willingly or not."

"We'll re-evaluate the plans once we reach the planet, but for now I think we have enough to be going with" she said, leaning against the communications panel. "Once we locate the dig site we'll take the Mako down and then take things as they come. I'll let you know who the ground team will be once we're there, as that will depend on the opposition and situation."

She looked at everyone in the room. "Until we get there I want everyone to get in whatever training you need. Given the likely opposition I'd like it if everyone was at least able to throw a weak overload, as tech attacks are highly effective against the weaker Geth from what we've seen. Those of us with biotics should focus on debilitating attacks rather than lethal ones. And everyone ought to brush up on their marksmanship. Speaking of which, Potter, Tali, can you stay behind for a minute. Everyone else, dismissed."

Harry and Tali remained seated whilst the rest of the ground team left, leaving them alone with Shepard, who leaned back against the console and addressed them both.

"I'd like to go over a few things when we have some time, and schedule in some training for the two of you. I know you've both seen some combat but if we encounter heavy resistance on Therum or elsewhere I need to know you can hold your own and support the rest of the squad." She held up a hand to silence any protest before carrying on. "I'm not saying this to the others because both Alenko and Williams are Alliance and I know what they can do. Vakarian is an ex cop and a Turian so he's had military training at the very least, and Wrex is a merc and has survived this long so I don't doubt his ability. I'm not singling you two out because I think you can't handle it, but because I don't know what training you've had and want to make sure we fill any gaps in your skill sets."

Harry looked aside to Tali, who was nodding slowly. "That makes sense" he said. "Do you want to do this now or later?"

"If neither of you has any other duties to perform right now I'd like to get it out of the way, so we have the most time possible to go over anything that needs to be covered." When they both nodded in acquiescence she continued. "OK, we'll start with weapons skills and then move on from there. Tali, I saw you using your shotgun on the Citadel so I assume you're trained with that weapon. How about the others we typically use?"

The Quarian engineer tilted her head to one side before answering. "Before we leave the fleet on pilgrimage we have some basic training, enough to at least know how to operate most types of weapons. I had a little more training than is normal so I covered the shotgun in more detail, it seemed to make sense as Quarians generally are alone on the pilgrimage. I'm not too bad with a pistol, but while I can operate a rifle I'm really not a great shot at long range. Our marines use a lot of additional equipment to enable accurate long range shooting, since our face-plates generally get in the way of weapon optics." She seemed to have finished so Harry took his turn.

"I can most weapons Shepard but my performance on Eden Prime was as much luck as judgement. I'm certainly no trained marine but I'm fast on my feet and good at taking advantage of my environment. I guess I prefer the assault rifle for keeping enemies at range, but I'm ok with a shotgun since the close ranges make up for poor aim."

Shepard nodded, remembering him saving her life with his shotgun. "OK, so it would be good to get some time on a simulated range to get your marksmanship up. Tali, is there any chance of getting our hands on something to help you with rifles?"

Tali considered the matter for a minute. "I'm not sure. Pretty much the only place the hardware is made is on the fleet, and then only for the marines. I might be able to get my father to arrange one for me but it will take time. Or we could try to rig something up, I noticed that detective Vakarian uses a visor optic, so we might be able to use something like that."

"OK, we'll see if we can get hold of something for you. If you need me to contact the migrant fleet on your behalf just let me know Tali." Shepard turned her attention back to the two of them again. "So we know we need to get some time on weapons training. How about unarmed competencies. I saw you with that tech mine Tali, what else can you do?"

"If it's electronic I can usually do something with it. I can overload kinetic barriers, sabotage weapons, hack computer-controlled hardware and so on."

"That's useful. Does hacking include the Geth Tali?" Shepard interjected.

"To an extent." she answered. "Their networked intelligence makes it hard to hack into their systems but short term overrides are possible. It's easier the fewer platforms there are or the more busy their processors are with other tasks."

"If we can find the time before we get to Therum, I'd like to try to train everyone up on at least overloading kinetic barriers. I get the feeling we're going to be seeing a lot of Geth hunting down Saren and electronic attacks are going to be useful. If we can all at least drop their barriers we can make them easy pickings for our biotics."

She stood up from the console and walked toward them both. "I'll talk to Williams about some weapons training for you both, and we'll see if Vakarian can think of any way to integrate something like his visor into your face-plate Tali. For now, feel free to get back to your duties and I'll let you know, or get someone to let you know, when we have something sorted. Tali, if you can think about ways to get our people up to speed quickly with some tech attacks I'd be grateful. Harry, work with Tali on some tech attacks if you can and see about getting some time on the simulated range. Vakarian is good with a sniper but Williams is the only rifleman we have. Wrex, Alenko and myself are all close range specialists, as is Tali, and I'm not comfortable with that balance, so I'd like you to be able to work from medium range with Williams. I'll talk to you both again once I've had time to assess your capabilities.

"Of course Shepard" Tali said as she turned to leave. Harry nodded at Shepard before turning to leave. She waited until he had left the conference room before bringing up her omnitool and looking at the title of the file Anderson had sent her. The origin organisation didn't seem to be Alliance Intel, which caught her out until she realized that the date on the file predated the establishment of the Alliance, and the file was clearly an old intelligence file from one of the pre-Alliance national agencies. She opened it to the first page and started to read through the summary. As she read, her eyes widened slowly and a look of dawning realization crossed her face as several things clicked into place. "No wonder he told me to ask him about his age" she muttered as she flipped through page after page of reports and intel assessments.

Closing the file, she walked rapidly out of the conference room and headed for the CO's cabin where she sealed the door and continued to read, trying to learn everything she could about her mysterious colleague.

-Scene Break-

Harry walked down the stairs from the CIC to the crew deck, squeezing to one side when the XO, Pressly, passed him heading upward with a mug of what smelled vaguely like coffee in hand. He nodded at the man as he passed, and was rewarded with a nod and a slight smile in return.

Reaching the crew deck he headed over to the terminal he had been assigned and checked his task list. At the moment there wasn't much for him to do to help around the ship. Having just left the Citadel, the ship's systems were running fine and their inventory had been checked over by the quartermaster already. He decided to ask around to see if there were any small jobs that needed doing. Failing that, he decided, he could head down to his equipment locker in the cargo bay and check over his armor and weapons.

His first stop was just on the other side of the small mess area, where Lieutenant Alenko was working at his own terminal. Harry walked over and waited while Alenko typed out a few lines on the terminal before looking up.

"Hello Lieutenant" he said as the young man looked up at him. "I was just wondering if there's anything I can do to help you out. My task list is pretty bare at the moment so I thought I'd ask around."

Alenko nodded approvingly. "Glad to see you're trying to keep busy. It can get pretty boring sitting around doing nothing. Oh and you can call me Alenko, or Kaiden. Lieutenant gets to be a bit of a mouthful over time and we don't expect too much formality from a civilian."

Harry smiled. "Very well Kaiden." It was nice to be addressing someone by their first name. He hadn't progressed past 'Shepard' with the spectre herself after all, despite having spoken with her far more. Alenko's more relaxed attitude made him somehow more approachable, and he was glad that the young man wasn't hung up on military formality. "Please feel free to call me Harry. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Kaiden thought about it for a moment. "Nothing for me right now, but thanks for asking. I might need to ask you to man my station or get me some pills from the med-bay later though."

"Headache?" Harry asked.

"Migraine." replied the marine. "It's a side effect of my biotic amplifier unfortunately, although I certainly haven't got it as bad as some others with the same amp."

Harry winced. "You've got an L2 amp?"

Kaiden nodded, slightly caught out by his knowledge. "I'm surprised you guessed that actually."

"I had a friend on Eden Prime who was exposed to Eezo while pregnant. Her daughter would probably have been a biotic, but we never got to find out."

"I'm sorry" Kaiden said sympathetically. "Was she killed in the attack?"

Harry closed his eyes, remembering sparkling eyes in a kind face, and a child's hand holding his. He could almost hear the young voice calling for her uncle Harry. As his eyes moistened slightly he spoke. "Alice, the mother, was killed in the attack. She'd married another colonist, her previous partner had run out on her after her Eezo exposure. Jennifer, her daughter, was killed when she was five, years ago now. She'd be in her late teens now if she was still here, probably getting her first amp about now."

Kaiden reached out a hand and patted him on the shoulder compassionately. "I'm sorry to hear that. Life's not easy for a biotic, although it's getting better all the time. The first biotics had it hardest, people used to think they were witches or wizards, those people who kicked off a civil war decades ago. The biotics back then were treated pretty harshly until the scientific explanation for their abilities became widespread."

Harry nodded, blinking a couple of times to clear his eyes. He felt a surge of grief that his own people had been responsible, yet again, for the pain of innocents. He held back the apology he so wanted to make to the younger man, and simply nodded once more. "Thank you Kaiden. I'm truly glad that things are improving for biotics, and I'm glad that your side effect from the L2 is at least manageable. If you need anything anytime, just let me know and I'll sort it out for you." Kaiden nodded and shot him a smile, which he returned. "I think I'll head down to the cargo bay and see if anyone needs any help down there. I'll see you later Kaiden."

"See you later Harry." the marine replied.

As Harry waited for the elevator to take him down to the cargo bay, he reflected on what he had learned from the Lieutenant. He was surprised to find an L2 biotic in the Alliance, especially as a marine. The publicly available reports implied that L2s generally suffered from side effects severe enough to rule them out for front line combat, but Kaiden's seemed to be under control, although the implications of the marine suffering a migraine during a firefight were probably severe enough to warrant medication during missions, which was easily handled by hard-suit subsystems.

Still, Kaiden's words and behavior had confirmed his belief that the young man was generally easygoing, and he had seemed genuinely enthusiastic to have someone more or less sharing his work area. Harry reflected that being essentially stuck on the crew deck, rather than the busier CIC would probably have felt a little bit like an exile of sorts.

As he thought over this he realized something rather disturbing. He had been lost in his own thoughts for some time now but the elevator still hadn't arrived in the cargo bay. He looked to the side and saw the paneled wall of the shaft passing by slowly, and realized for the first time just how slow the contraption was moving. Sighing, he closed his eyes and waited for the dratted thing to finally arrive. If it was meant to be this slow, he reflected, he'd have to stick to sending messages to people down here, since a quick trip down to the cargo bay was likely to take far longer than it needed to.

The door finally opened to reveal the cluttered space that was the cargo bay. Crates were positioned throughout the space, attached to the floor by magnetic clamps to prevent movement. To the right as he looked out of the elevator was a wheeled vehicle that had to be the ship's M35 Mako, an infantry fighting vehicle designed to support marine ground teams. He was vaguely familiar with it thanks to a report that had been published when the need for an AFV for the marines was first identified. The Mako had at the time been on the drawing board, and the marines had been issued the heavier, less mobile grizzly in the meantime.

Working on the vehicle, he could just make out the blue armor cowl and the avian features of the Turian, Vakarian, as his head bobbed in and out of view behind a crate, presumably he was working on one of the vehicle's wheels.

At the far left of the bay he could make out a line of standard equipment lockers, one of which was his own. He wondered now how he had missed the slow elevator when he first came down here to dump his gear, but figured that he had been distracted by the aliens who had been with him at the time. Next to the lockers was a workbench where Gunnery Chief Williams was working.

To his immediate left was Wrex. The Krogan was a threatening presence despite his relaxed posture, leaning back against a crate by the side of the bay. He appeared to be asleep, as his eyes were closed, but Harry figured that he could be in some kind of meditative state. Krogan physiology was not one of his areas of expertise so he had no idea how Krogan slept.

Finally to his right stood the quartermaster. The man had one of the most vital non-combat jobs on the ship, ensuring that the vessel was adequately provisioned and that the ground team had the right equipment to get their jobs done. Harry and the others had been introduced to him earlier, and told that if they needed anything at all they should speak to him first, as he could procure Alliance standard kit, as well as some equipment from other manufacturers, below the standard retail prices available in stores. Garrus and Tali had been particularly grateful when he informed them that he had procured a supply of rations for the dextro-DNA based aliens as soon as he had been informed of their arrival. He hadn't been able to get anything lavish as they had been rushed, but it was enough to last them until their next likely stop at the citadel. Tali of course had the food tubes Harry had insisted on purchasing during their shopping trip.

He decided not to disturb Wrex, and moved over to Williams who was working on a dismantled assault rifle. The curved upper body was lying at the side of the table, the lower part of the weapon open for inspection. Williams appeared to be checking over the ammunition block housing, which included a mechanism which Harry knew was responsible for shaving the individual projectiles from the ammo block.

As he watched Williams' deft fingers moving over the delicate but robust hardware, he remembered his first attempt at dismantling such a weapon. He had come very close to testing whether he could grow part of his finger back when the shaver assembly had slipped while he was removing the ammo block. The assembly used an incredibly fine cutting edge and would have easily caused permanent damage if he had not been quick enough withdrawing his finger. The cut had bled like mad however, before it had healed.

"Anything I can help you with Potter?" Williams didn't even pause as she spoke, having presumably identified him in her peripheral vision.

"Not as far as I know Chief" he said quietly, still watching her expertly manipulating the inner workings of the weapon. "I came down here to ask that question myself in fact."

She stopped working for a moment, glancing at him appraisingly. "You could get started stripping down that pistol over there." she gestured to the end of the workbench where a standard Alliance pistol was laid. "It just needs a check over. I'll take care of that part if you can remove the outer casing and expose the firing assembly."

He nodded, and moved over to the weapon in question. He checked the outside of the weapon, identifying the various clips that and pins that would have to be removed to expose the inner workings. After a few minutes he was satisfied that he knew what he was doing and started work after ensuring that the weapon was safe.

Williams kept half an eye on him as he started working. He seemed to know what he was doing, although he was not as fast as a marine would have been. She chalked it down to inexperience and decided to see how he handled a distraction.

"You handled yourself well on the Citadel Potter." she said as she continued working, although she was now dividing her attention equally between her own work and his. "That grenade was damn lucky, for us at least, but you did well nevertheless."

"Thanks" he said, slowing down slightly as he switched his attention between her and the pistol. "Honestly though, Eden Prime was worse."

She shuddered at the memory of her dead comrades. "Yeah, I can't disagree with you there. How did you manage to get to the spaceport anyway, I heard some of the reports and from the sound of it you didn't have an easy time of it."

"It wasn't easy. I wasn't actually heading for the spaceport at first. One of my closest friends lived in the core of the colony and I wanted to help her if I could."

"What was her name?" Williams asked softly.

"Alice Summer." he said equally softly. "It's kind of funny. When I first met her she was Alice Winter. She married David Summer a few years after arriving on the colony." He sighed. "I wasn't in time to save her, but once I got there I heard the gunfire from your team and realized where you'd be headed so I headed for the spaceport." He tried to avoid thinking about Alice any more than he had to, the pain was still too fresh and his conversation with Alenko had brought all of his memories of her flooding back. It had been so long since he'd seen a friend killed so violently

Williams seemed to pick up on this and changed the subject. "It was a good thing you got there when you did. That Geth had the Commander blindsided when you took it out."

He shrugged, and she appreciated him not boasting about it. "I'm glad I was there to help."

She looked down and saw that he had finished, and had laid the various parts of the weapon out neatly on the worktable, making the job of reassembly easier once the weapon was checked over. "Nice" she commented. "Thanks for the help. I'd best get back to work."

He nodded and stepped back. "It was nice talking to you chief." he said before turning to head towards the Mako. Ashley watched him for a second before turning back to the bench and finishing up her maintenance of the dismantled assault rifle.

He made the short trip to the Mako in a few seconds and walked slowly around the vehicle, examining it closely.

"Not a bad piece of hardware" came the flanged voice as Garrus stood up and turned to face him. "The suspension needs some work and I want to have a look at the drop thrusters but it's in pretty good condition."

Harry nodded. "Have you ever been in an armored vehicle before detective?" he asked, having a look at one of the external camera arrays.

"Please, call me Garrus." the Turian responded. "I've been in our equivalent, obviously not the same as this but broadly similar. The basic concept is quite old and still sound. Support the infantry with a big gun, mount big gun on vehicle, put infantry inside vehicle. I believe you humans have had these kinds of vehicles for a while now."

"A couple of centuries" Harry replied absently as he worked his way to the rear of the vehicle where the crew hatch was located. "I've never been in one though."

He tapped a holographic control and the hatch opened, rotating upward on its hinges until it was elevated high enough to not impede boarding. Looking inside, he noted that the vehicle was apparently laid out for six personnel. "Six man crew…" he pondered.

"Given the way the Alliance marines fight, it makes sense" Garrus replied. "They fight in teams of three. A crew of six means they have two full teams on board, one to fight the vehicle and one to dismount and take care of bunkers and so on. Or they can dismount both teams if necessary and improve tactical flexibility."

The crew compartment of the Mako was cramped but efficient. Two seats at the front housed the driver and systems operator, who operated the sensors, repair systems and kinetic barriers. Behind them was the gunner's seat, which faced to the right of the vehicle, where a control system was mounted. To the right of the gunner, towards the rear hatch, was a row of three seats all mounted on the left of the vehicle, the other side of the cabin filled with racks of computers and support electronics, above which was a space for a stretcher in case of a casualty evacuation.

It was clearly designed for efficiency over comfort, as the seats were compact and bolted securely to the bottom and side of the cabin, with five point harnesses for each seat.

Turning away from the hatch he looked at the Turian who was still standing next to him. "Is there anything I can do to be helpful?" he asked.

Garrus shook his head before replying. "Not right now. I'm calibrating the suspension and dampers for the gravity levels on Therum. That means connecting to the controls for each wheel and… well, it's not a job for someone who's never worked on vehicles like this before." he finished, trying to avoid insulting his new crew-mate.

He needn't have worried, as Harry wasn't offended, and brushed off his concerns immediately. "No worries Garrus, I know when I'm out of my depth. I'll leave you to your calibrations."

He checked his omnitool and noted the time. Unlike the non-humans on the ship, who had folding cots to sleep on, he was on the hot bunking rota, with an allotted time in a sleeper pod. It wasn't as bad as it could have been however, as the Normandy was operating with a light crew since this was technically her shakedown, and the Alliance had not yet filled any of the open slots on board. Noting that he had an hour or so before his pod time he decided to head back up to the crew deck to check his terminal and grab something to drink before then.

After a long journey back up in the elevator, picking up some pills for Kaiden, and doing a little research on Therum at his terminal, he finally settled in for the 'night' and was lulled to sleep by the simulated low gravity environment of the sleeper pod and some music from his omnitool.

-Scene Break-

Shepard finished reading the file, leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. It had been a long day and she hadn't had much time to just sit and process She'd started out the day as the XO of the Normandy, a simple marine with a job to do, albeit that job involved trying to prove the duplicity of a spectre. She'd ended the day a spectre herself, CO of the Normandy, and given carte blanche to hunt Saren down and bring him in by any means necessary.

And then there was her team. She still wasn't sure what to make of the menagerie she'd managed to collect. She was a marine, she'd trained in a standard set of tactics based around the capabilities of herself and other marines. Put her on a battlefield with Alenko and WIlliams and she'd know exactly what she could expect them both to do.

Now she had to figure out how to use a Krogan who'd spent probably the better part of three quarters of a millennium fighting, a Turian who'd had a mix of military and police training, and two specialists who had little real experience but some training, although she now questioned that assessment given what she had read.

It was enough to set her mind spinning, and not for the first time that day she wished she had a private stash on board like the doctor, whose brandy was well hidden but somehow always available when needed.

She knew she could figure out Garrus and Wrex, and how they'd fit into the squad dynamic, fairly easily. Garrus seemed to favour his sniper rifle and was halfway decent with tech attacks, and she had worked with marines who had a similar skill set. Wrex was a blunt but heavy tool, using his biotics to enhance his already impressive staying power rather than mobility as Shepard did, but still focused on getting in close to the enemy.

She decided she'd have to handle Tali like a rookie tech specialist, not great with weapons but devastating against electronics. She probably needed little training despite Shepard's insistence on it, but would need careful handling on the battlefield until she found her pace and gained the much needed experience and instinct to be truly effective.

Potter was going to be a headache, she suspected, until she could let the rest of the ground team know what he could do. Given what she had read of his background she thought she now had a better understanding of his motives, and felt vindicated in her trust of the man. He had fought in the war after all, but not on the side anyone would have expected. Some of the reports suggested he'd actually single-handedly turned the tide of several battles in favour of the non-magicals. She still had no idea of why he had chosen to act as he had, or why he had chosen to act in such a limited manner, and the Intel analyses hadn't particularly helped although some of the extracted information from captures magicals had been revealing.

What she really wanted to do now was to confront him about this in front of the rest of the ground crew and simply have it all out. She was confident that her people would be able to work with him, especially given some of his history, even if there was some friction until an understanding was built. The main problem with confronting him was that she would be poking what might literally be a sleeping dragon with a stick whilst confined with said dragon inside the Normandy.

Likewise she was almost afraid to talk to him about it privately. She'd read up on known capabilities of magicals and some of it terrified her, and yet Potter himself had worked against the people who had been more than willing to use those techniques. The question remained, would he use them himself if he felt cornered?

Noting the time, she decided she'd have to sleep on it before making up her mind. If nothing else, getting to know the man a little better might help her with her decision.

Author's Notes:

Apologies for the slow update. This chapter has been mostly written for a while but I couldn't decide how to handle the revelation of Harry's secrets - would he tell Shepard himself or would she discover them on her own, and how would she handle it once she knew?

Nothing major of note in this chapter. A few of the more notable side missions, but I'm not going to go into detail on how they were handled as they're basically as they are in-game. I moved Septimus to Fluxx since Chora's Den was thoroughly trashed in the previous chapter. More Citadel side missions may happen in later chapters.

Regarding the revelation of Harry's secrets, it won't take too much longer, I promise. I could drag it out for chapter after chapter, building needless tension between characters and writing lots of angst-filled internal monologue for Shepard but it just doesn't fit the story. Shepard's no pansy and she's not going to be afraid to confront him on the matter once she's convinced herself it's the right action to take, and Harry's hardly going to explode and whine about it when the Reapers are a far bigger problem. Yes it's inconvenient for his long-term goals but the second the military got interested in his file it was always going to happen so there's no point angsting over it after the fact,.

Anyway, apologies to those who reviewed to whom I haven't responded, and thanks to all of those who've hit the follow or favourite button. I really appreciate your interest and I promise to do my best to keep the chapters coming faster than they have been.