"Off to bootcamp! I figured since I'm an adult now I should update my journal keeping since I now have an Omni. I'm so nervous. Jorvan assures me it's not that bad. I find that hard to believe based on what happened to Sol...

No one's heard from him since the incident. I got a short message after he disappeared from Blackwatch academy saying he was ok and that he would strike out on his own. After that, nothing. I feel a tremendous hole in my heart since he deserted. Mother and father refuse to even acknowledge his existence. They even took down all the family pictures with him in it.

As if he never existed! Would they do that to me? What if I can't handle the training?"

Dhals Folly, Digeris, 17:50 Digerian Local Time April 19th 2186

There was a point that everything had blacked out; The senselessness of what she was witnessing making her vision fade. What followed was a sense of motion accompanied by urgent whispers. Alarees was only subliminally aware of any of it for the sickly gurgle coming from the human and a masked troopers leg rising and falling swiftly seemed to override all other thought.

Something soft pressed against her back and she could smell the sharp tang of antiseptics. More motion. This time an orange glow as something was passed over her. Alarees stared with unseeing eyes at the flourescent lighting of the hospital ceiling as she was carted to urgent care. A face peering into her eyes, turian, male. A medic, eyes confused and searching over a bone white sneeze guard as they shined a light into Ree's.

"Hang on, toxicology report is coming. Yea, its the same for her as Cabalite Vikar. Respiratory system is functional, if only barely. I just don't get it doctor, there's nothing like this in our files." Came a muffled voice as the medic stood and looked over Ree.

"At least the other is responding to stimuli, this one seems catatonic. Did the troopers who dropped them off say anything about the circumstances of their discovery?" A new white masked face appeared in Ree's field of vision, this one inspecting an injector and shaking his head.

"No, they left as soon as we had them in a gurney. The Base Commander is being notified. If we knew the source of this paralysis or had a sample we could find a way to counteract it." The medic replied as he sanitized a injection site.

Ree could feel the alcohol soaked gauze on an unplated portion of her inner arm. The cool sensation was replaced by pressure and then a sting as the injector bit. She didn't so much as blink.

"Anti inflammatories administered. At this point I just don't know what else we can do." The Doctor said with a nervous lilt to his subvocals.

A chime sounded and then a voice over the hospital's PA system. It was distorted and muffled, but the Medic looked up at the Doctor as they stood in Ree's field of view. "Related?"

"No way of knowing."

Ree's rigid features remained unchanged, her usually vivid electric blue eyes were dull but watery.

Sighra Bau walked urgently across the courtyard from his research building towards the direction the the troopers had come from with a medkit slung over a shoulder and a Predator pistol in hand. He had no idea what to expect, so he mentally prepared for one of two scenarios he came up with;

Either the human had planned ahead and had blocked his Omni from remote tracking, which would solidify his suspicions that he was a Cerberus sleeper agent.

Or something had happened to him and he was now either dead or in a state resembling it.

The exponentially divergent factors what could have lead to either possible outcome was immaterial at the moment. What was important was establishing which of the two predicted outcomes was legitimate and act, fast. Sighra gripped his pistol a little tighter as he neared the trailers. His wide salarian eyes searched the area out for movement almost frantically. Lights burned in most of the other trailers given the early evening hour, but one trailer in particular was dark. Its door was ajar and a faint plume of smoke was curling from the doorway.

Bau hastened his pace and brought the gun up to eye level as he closed with the trailer. When he rounded on the doorway he froze mid step. The pastel colored walls were smeared with something that looked black under the orange glow of the table lamps. He peered over the parapet wall that separated the small bed/couch and could see noone lurking, so he pressed into the small residence, swatting at the main lighting switch.

It was then that he spotted the source of the smoke, an incense holder had been knocked over near the dresser and had sprayed ash on the carpet, leaving it to smolder and crackle as acrid wisps of smoke curled up into the ceiling. Bau blinked as his eyes adjusted to the brighter fluorescent lights when they flickered on and realized the spatter and smears on the walls weren't black, they were red. Bau got sidetracked briefly as he analyzed the spatter, his pistol dipping as he took in the angles and locations of the red dots.

Back spray, from a tool, object, blunt. Overhead swing.. He traced the fan of red up until he was staring at the ceiling and following the line of dots painted on it. Origin by dining room table, oh my.

Bau's already large orange eyes widened as they fell on the still form heaped in the center of the dining room.

"Its blood. It's all blood." He breathed as the scene before him registered.

The pistol bounced to the floor as Bau rushed forward, unslinging his medkit as he did so. Max appeared to be laying on his side, an arm folded over his head as he had tried to protect himself. Bone jutted out from the arm as whatever he had been attacked with had smashed it. His uniform was dark from head to toe from blood soaking into it. A leg was folded in the wrong direction, broken in several spots.

Bau hovered over the still form, unsure of where to start for a second. The coppery tang of blood was thick in the air and mingled with the stink of the burning carpet, making the salarian nauseous.

Heart, start his heart first.

The thought spurred him into action, he gently rolled the large human on his back. The wet pop of his smashed hip joint echoed in the otherwise silent room. He cut open the humans blouse, exposing a multitude of deep lacerations, and placed a defib pad on his bloodied chest. It had a hard time adhering to the slick surface, but Bau managed it.

The body jerked as current pulsed through it. Bau glanced up at the human's face and regretted it. It was unrecognizable, spots appeared sunken where cheekbones had been smashed and teeth peeked through his lower lip as the skin had been beaten through it by the heel of a boot. Black and red orbs filled the spot where emerald green eyes had once burned so brightly.

The body jerked again as the defib pad passed another current. Bau pulled out a medigel injector and placed in against his neck, hoping to curtail swelling of the brain as well as provide some temporary relief as the medigel slipped into the bloodstream and exchanged carbon for oxygen. He could save him, if he could get his heart started.

Another jolt, to no effect. Bau began administering medigel elsewhere and tourniquetting limbs to staunch the flow of blood that pulsed with each jolt. His hands grew slick, making him fumble and panic as he worked.

He took a moment to call for help, leaving the channel open as he worked.

"Send help to Gunnery Chief Barretts trailer at once, require shock trauma kit. Human Levo blood and oxygenator should be primed and ready to go. I've got no pulse." He said as soon as the clerk at the Hospital front desk answered.

"..What?!" came a confused voice.

Bau paused and took a calming breath, fighting the upwelling of panic in his chest.

"Send. Aid. To. My. Location. Shock trauma kit. NOW!" He said urgently and went back to work.

Max let out a rasping breath as his body jolted again. Bau looked down at his omni and felt a small measure of relief wash over him as the human's heart beat irregularly. It wasn't the best, but it was a start.

Prefect Ferkan groggily swatted at his Omni as it sat on his nightstand charging dock and beeped angrily at him. The veteran commanders onyx plating glinted dully under the weak floodlamp light that formed a halo around the drawn curtains of his bedroom. He lifted his head from his pillow and blinked at the message flashing on the projected display. He fought to focus on it and motioned for the lights to come on.

A red band scrolled by, followed up with large capital turian script.

ALERT, CATEGORY 1 MEDICAL EMERGENCY REPORTED, TWO HOSPITALIZED.

Ferkan sat up quickly and snatched up the Omni. His mind raced as he called the front desk and got a busy signal.

Students? The human was having them stay in pairs at all times for his odd little experiment.

He hurriedly catapulted from bed and threw on a robe and some sweat pants, not even bothering to slide his spurs through the holes in the calf as he ran barefoot from his house to the Hospital. The Omni continued to chirp as busy as he trotted towards the large structure. The brisk Digerian air bit into his exposed face and neck, making his eyes water.

By now the message would have spread to the rest of his command staff. Already he could see lights flick on as daytime medical staff were roused to respond as well. Ferkan blundered into the lobby and shuffled to the reception desk, tugging at his bathrobe to keep it shut as a harried looking receptionist stood and gave a hasty salute. He told whoever was on the line to hold as he reported to the Prefect.

"Sir, patients are stabilized, the cause for their injury isn't readily apparent however." He said apologetically as a small voice yelled angrily from his communicator.

Ferkan eyed the device. "Who's that, and who are the patients."

The receptionist looked deeply embarrassed for a moment, chiding himself internally for not getting that information out first. "Uh, Cabalites Vikar and Jorst. And I think it's Sighra Bau on the line, he's talking too fast for me. But we may have a third patient, I'm sending a med team to his location."

Ferkan frowned and glanced over the reception desk to the lifts. "Very well, carry on. Report directly to me if something changes with Bau." He said tersely as he pushed by the desk and made his way to urgent care.

His mind was still processing all that was going on, the last vestiges of sleep making his thoughts murky and jumbled. He found himself ignoring staffers as they stopped and saluted along the hallways and was briefly annoyed with himself for forgetting formalities. He glanced down at his rather unfashionable ensemble.

As well as some decency. He thought as he came to a halt at the ward housing two of his troopers. He steeled himself, unsure of what he would find, and pushed in. Ferkan eyed a Nurse who was on the verge of protesting, but froze as he recognized who it was.

"Uh Sir. This isn't the best time…" He said cautiously. Ferkan shook his head and glanced down at the two Cabalites as they lay beside each other in hospital beds. "Are they or are they not stable?" He demanded in an icy tone as his gaze went back to the nurse.

"Y-Yes Sir, though we are still trying to rule out contagion." He tried but was met with a cool stare. "I'll just see myself out." The nurse added and cautiously slipped by the Prefect as he slowly approached the two females.

Jorst seemed to be staring right at him, her facial plates streaked with tears while Vikar stared at the ceiling. Their expressions were somewhere between fear and anger. Ferkan pulled up a stool between the two hospital beds and sat heavily, sighing as he reached out and grasped a hand each. They felt cold and rigid, as if undergoing rigor mortis. But they were alive.

"I didn't pull your asses from that Cerberus death trap, only to see you both get taken out by some exotic sickness. We'll get Bau in here and we'll figure this out." He said in a low tone as he looked at each of them in turn. He spied their torn clothes and felt a disquiet come over him as many, many, questions came up. He stood and bent over each, pressing his fringe to theirs before regarding them both silently for a moment. "Come back to us, that's an order." He said with a hint of sadness to his subvocals.

He stepped out and was almost flattened by another gurney barreling down the hall. He only glimpsed the red… mass heaped onto it as it was rushed by. He looked up to see Bau rushing after it. "Dr. Bau, I need-"

Bau waved Ferkan off, his large eyes flitting over the Prefects disheveled appearance briefly. "Urgent surgery required for Gunnery Chief. Know of Cabalites, will be ok. Have Idea on origin of sickness. Please excuse." He fired off without breaking stride.

Gunnery Chief? Ferkan thought as he watched the flurry of movement disappear around a corner.

Ree saw the Prefects face, heard his words but couldn't quite understand them. She felt his presence grow close and caught his scent briefly before he was gone just as suddenly. She felt a buzzing sensation spread through her body as the IV dosed her. The closest sensation that was relatable to what she felt was akin to a limb falling asleep, only the numbness persisted after the tingle abated. Her vision grew darker and darker until she was unconscious, but couldn't be sure.

"Ree, we know this is hard, but you have to go with your uncle. We'll be back, we promise." A brown plated hand rested on her shoulder. Ree tried to look at the source of the disembodied voice but could only see darkness.

"Mother?"

Her voice sounded frail and reedy, even to her. She reached up with phantom limbs to touch the hand on her shoulder but only felt the throb of numbness with each effort.

"Kantose… We have to tell her. It's not fair to lead her on like this." Ree grew confused as her voice echoed in her mind. She tried to conjure the male turians face from the lucid dream she was trapped in, but only felt the blackness press into her eyes. They watered and tingled in the face of nothingness.

"Denae, this isn't mere chance. We have an opportunity to start anew again, to pledge our love for one another." Jaa's sickly sweet voice echoed in her mind.

"But what of Max? I.."

"-Don't you dare say it" Jaa interrupted. This time her amber eyes burned brightly in the dark, predatory in their glint. "He did this, search your feelings. Humans are a disease. Look at what they have taken from me, from YOU. From us!" Ree felt a sigh through the darkness, the waters around her calmed and she found that she could breath. "What did my brother find? Hmm? Stop hiding from the truth."

Ree wept from eyes that were not her own. She recoiled from the little girl cowering at her feet. She felt her stare and looked back up to see Max with glowing ember eyes. He turned and walked away into the darkness. Ree raised an arm, as if to reach out to stop him but found a pistol in her hand. It clicked empty as her Uncle laughed, bodiless and omnipresent.

"You are stronger than this. That is the Jorst pillar." Her uncle lectured.

Ree could feel her hand being squeezed through the darkness and squeezed back, Jaa's scent was comforting, familiar, safe.

"But Dr. Bau, we've never done a graft of this scale before, his body could reject all of it." The surgical mask flexed as the Surgeons mandibles twitched with unease. Bau nodded as he finished donning surgical gloves and joined the other Doctor at the surgical table.

"Concerns warranted. Procedure unprecedented until recently. Omni gel infusion will serve to integrate grafts with nerves. Medigel will reduce swelling and control immune response. Will need some cybernetic control modules to be installed as well to keep things in check. Suggest we start with cranium and work our way down." Bau rattled off as he fussed with the order of the surgical tools laid out beside him.

The turian doctor eyed the salarian, concern etching his masked gaze. "Dr. Bau, I advise we take a less invasive approach, what you are proposing will drastically alter his physiology to a degree we can't even comprehend." He persisted.

"Not enough time. Any further delay nets a high probability that neurological damage will become irreparable. Recovery could take years." Bau paused and took a warmer tone as he rested a gloved hand on the turian doctor's shoulder. The sterilized plastic garb crinkled as he squeezed in an effort to reassure the Surgeon. "I have weighed the risks. And like I have said; technique has been used to great success once before. We have the advantage of the patient not being totally deceased and damaged by vacuum over an extended period."

The turian doctor shook his head fractionally but relented. "Okay Dr. Bau. Let's get started then."

Bau gave one final squeeze before turning to the jumble of human and tubes laid out before him. He wondered briefly if "human" would be a valid term after the last suture had been tied.

Ferkan stood at a long viewing window, eyes searching out every little white garbed movement for meaning as he tried to make sense of what was happening and what had happened. He turned as the sounds of footsteps approached and nodded at a timid and equally tousled looking group of staffers as they approached.

They stared in silence at one another for a moment as the young officers waited for guidance from the senior commander. Ferkan turned back to the view of bright surgical lamps and suited figures, the long intake of a sigh making his shoulders raise as he shook his head.

"I want a full report on my desk by 0800 tomorrow. I want all surveillance cameras scrutinized. I want answers for this." He said as his gaze remained fixed on the measured motions occurring mere feet away from him. There was a small chorus of "Aye Ayes" before the sound of footsteps receded. He stayed for a bit longer, eventually snorting in disgust as he turned on heel and went back to his domicile.

Sleep came and went in a vicious cycle as each tentative dip into the dream world netted new and disturbing possibilities. His last memory before "waking" for the final time was the image of a crazed human attacking a guard as he and other captured crewmen were being moved from the damaged human frigate to the Hierarchy one. His eyes had burned with a green vengeance as he struck, grabbing a shard of broken glass and driving into the throat of the Trooper. Ferkan had managed to subdue the human, and the trooper had survived, but there was just something about the human that seemed familiar now. A subconscious connection was made as memories of Shanxi entered the fray of dreams.

Ferkan rose from his bed feeling as though he had had only just lay to rest. The halo of light around his drawn curtains refuted the notion. He sat on the edge of his bed for a long while, his disquiet persisting. His expression was both dour and sad as he finally stood and freshened up. He dressed with deft ease as his mind wandered elsewhere. The war veteran started to grow annoyed at his state of mind and took it out on his cooking unit as its door mechanism stuck and wouldn't close all the way.

"Fucking-" he snarled as he opened and slammed the device shut. Its contents, a bowl of dextro oat analog and water, sloshed from the violent action and spilled some of its contents on the revolving pedestal. The door shut and Ferkan stood glaring at the bowl as it revolved insolently inside the unit.

He choked down the piping hot contents a few minutes later, not bothering to dress it up with his customary mixture of syrup and chopped fruit. When he finally entered the Headquarters building he was greeted by a tense atmosphere as underlings were careful to avoid eye contact. Sighra Bau stood by his office door, datapad in hand. He was still clad in surgical scrubs, though his gloves were gone now.

"Operative Bau, what do you have for me." He said with strained subvocals as he eyed the dark crimson stains on the doctor's garbs and motioned the salarian ahead of him.

Never one to forget formalities Bau opened the door and let the turian commander in before sliding into the office himself and closing the faux wood door behind himself. He waited for the onyx plated male to settle into his high backed chair before approaching the desk and speaking. His large eyes flitted over the large display of small arms behind the Commander before fixing on Ferkan.

"Prefect, of immediate import are the conditions of the three inducted into the infirmary last night. The Cabalites are stable and are showing signs of recovery after I administered an antidote. Gunnery Chief Barrett is in grave condition but is stable, I am due for another session of surgery to close him up after this Sir." Bau said with his usual clipped staccato.

Ferkan accepted the proffered datapad and offered the salarian a seat, which was politely declined.

"I'm afraid I'm pressed for time. -Also..." He motioned to the stains on his clothes almost demurely.

"Very well... Did you sleep at all last night?" Ferkan said with a concerned lilt. "And what of this antidote? I take it you found the cause of their incapacitation?"

Bau took a deep breath, he knew this would be tough going in, but he still felt ill prepared.

"I am fine sir, Salarian circadian rhythm much shorter than other species. -Any way." He said and swallowed. "-Source of illness tied to a Collector paralyzing agent. An agent contained in my labs. Was researching possible use as a crowd control agent. -Origens not important.-" At this a single browplate arched inquisitively but Ferkan refrained from interrupting.

"-What is a cause for concern is the fact is that my lab was accessed without my consent. Security was bypassed, camera footage was deleted. However." He pointed to the datapad Ferkan now cradled in his lap, ignored as he absorbed every word the salarian spoke. He now glanced down at it as Bau pressed on.

"Forensic data recovered on my terminal, DNA from epithelial -skin cells." He resumed by way of explanation. "Profile and report contained on datapad.'

"Do you have a match?" Ferkan asked as he turned on the pad and accessed the file.

"Y-yes Sir, Gunnery Chief Barrett."

Ferkan stopped and looked up, his expression hardening. He waited for more and felt something freeze deep in his gut.

Bau swallowed again and dived into it, going on to explain his suspicions about Max's history and the link to Cerberus he had found. The suspicious timing of the CSEC officer's death and the DNA evidence found there as well. When he finished he waited for a reaction. But the turian Commander sat in silence, his piercing gaze never wavering.

"I want a Tribunal. I want all evidence. We will do our due diligence, and we will get to the bottom of this." He said finally and read through the report, breezing through it as his mind became even more muddled.

Bau nodded and fidgeted with his hands.

"Yes Sir. As you may or may not know, the nature of the Joint Species Coalition framework does place you as the convening authority. Complete authority. To include capital punishments. The current state of the agreement places all personnel under the current Commanders home law. In this case, Chief Barrett would fall under Hierarchy military courts martial."

Ferkan sighed.

"I know Operative Bau. Despite that fact there will be a lot of outside scrutiny. This will be the first test of that aspect of this Joint agreement. Let's be thorough and fair."

"Understood sir. If you don't have anything else for me?..." Bau trailed.

Ferkan nodded and motioned to the door. "See yourself out."

When the door had closed completely Ferkan stewed in silence before suddenly slamming his fist on his desk, making the datapad rattle and bounce. A part of him was still in disbelief, it felt as though this was a nightmare happening outside of his realm; An intangible series of terrible circumstances that was just beyond his comprehension. Another part of him thirsted for blood. He entertained the notion of telling the hospital to just pull the human's life support, but he brushed the thought aside as being both impulsive and grossly unfitting someone of his position and stature. But still...

He stood slowly and brooded in front of the floor to ceiling window for a long moment, watching as troopers from various species migrated to and from various classrooms and simulators. There seemed to be a nervous edge to their movements. Word of the night's events would have undoubtedly made its rounds by now.

And what of the assailants? He thought with mixed emotions. Even if everything were true and the human was a Cerberus agent, they had bypassed the law, be it unwittingly or on purpose. He wondered what event would have caused such attentions. Jaa's torn clothes came to mind and Ferkans mind darkened. He had an idea as to what, and was instantly nauseated by the implications. He could recall only one such instance in the past. Interestingly enough it had also involved another species, Asari that time. She had made unwanted advances on a male trooper, to the point that he had been biotically assaulted.

They found her beaten to within an inch of her life the next day. The troopers who served with the one that had been assaulted strangely suffering from biotic attacks, yet somehow all having an alibi that placed them elsewhere. The investigation had stalled and was buried. Blood ran thick between Kin, and an outsider could easily be viewed as a threat to a units sanctity and spirit.

Ferkan tried to remind himself that he would soon have to act as an impartial Arbiter on the Tribunal. But this was Kin, a Cabalite who had served under him before and had almost died then, to Cerberus no less. He felt his talons bite into his palm as he clenched a fist behind his back. The feeling of warmth ran down his knuckles, he visibly shook with rage as the thought took hold, became more and more real with each repetition.

He stilled, a chill of resolution passing over him like an an icy breaker sweeping ashore.

"I want guards posted at the humans med bay. I want to know the moment he is able to be awakened." Ferkan almost whispered into his Omni as he turned away from the window and resumed his seat.