OMG! It lives! I've kept this in my favorites folder, never expecting it to be finished, and suddenly, MORE CHAPTERS! So excited!
I first followed this because you had Saren's characterization down perfect in the first five chapters. I personally think he's a little OOC in this chapter, especially considering who he's dealing with. I think Ash's negative reaction to Saren would be strong enough he would pick up on it, and that he would react accordingly to it. Saren is a hard character to write, though, so I want to give you kudos for trying to attempt to write him as the main character.
I like Smehur's Saren, who is both a stone-cold killer and a regal gentleman. Smehur's Saren oozes condescension and superiority, never taking action unless he absolutely has to, needling and taunting those he perceives as beneath him and only yielding to authority because it gets him the resources he needs to accomplish what he wants.
I know I might have mentioned this before, but if you are having trouble with characters, re-read and/or re-watch some of the clips/ material featuring Saren to get a better grasp of his mentality, dialogue, ect.
Good luck, and I'll be watching in the future.
SB

I had given up on seeing this story continued. Glad I was wrong

I love this story, it's so interesting and I had always hoped it would make a comeback! Please keep writing, I think you're great!

This is good

I really like this story. I've always enjoyed Saren-he was the guy everyone loved to hate. (I suppose it doesn't help that I sort of have a thing for turians) I'm glad he hasn't changed a bit since you "adopted" him, like characters are so apt to. Hoping for more. :) Turians are awesome.
SheegothBait

Saren is the 'good' guy, while Shepard is the 'bad'. So far this is very well written and very compelling. Though I still seem to find myself rooting for Shepard, sort of. Indoctrination has to have an Achilles heel somewhere, right? If you can alter someones thoughts using some sort of electronic signal then surly there's got to be a way to reverse the effect, right? I think the crew of the Normandy especially would be willing to try almost anything to get back one of their own. Doubly so once they figure out that Shepard isn't a traitor, not really. I know I would. That's probably why Indoctrination is such a horrible and effective weapon in the first place. In their place I'm not sure I could pull the trigger at all. Even given the givens, and I've already proven I'm generally one of the 'shoot first ask questions never' type of guys.

A bit of a silver lining is ,ironically, Saren himself. Saren being much more prepared and knowing what he's fighting against in the first place would seem much more able to make some serious changes to the overall story arch. Maybe even a way to block or undo the effects of Indoctrination. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. All that said I still have trouble seeing him as anything other than the villain. In my head he's still the bad guy since he seems to have figured out a way to steal the hero role away from Shepard. Cheating bastard.

Regardless of where this goes I think this story of yours has incredible potential, and I can't wait to see where you take it. Thank you for writing and sharing.

Bastard by birth, U.S. Cavalry by the grace of god. RB23G out.

This was a really good chapter.

I really liked how we have Valern stepping up and playing a more important role in this.

I can't wait to see how the Saren-Anderson tension will go from here.

First of all, good point regarding Saren's biotics. I bow to your reasoning.

Second, I've always enjoyed intrigue, and this has been written with pure excellence, nice job.

Thirdly, from what little we do know of Saren as a non-indoctrinated being, your characterisation makes a great deal of sense, and I particularly like what you've done with Valern.

All in all, keep up the good work. Please.

Saren and Anderson.. together... on the same ship... well... this is going to get interesting :)

Forced to work together..The Ultimate Irony.

Nice chapter.:)

Wow this one of the most exciting and interesting in the mass effect section I love how you characterize Saren and Shepard as well as the other characters well except for ashley I mean she doesnt trust aliens but not to the point where the first one she sees is immediate lynching a bit nitpicky But other than that its a great fic

Fight was excellently written, and well balanced, but isn't Saren a biotic too?

Looking forward to seeing Arterius' character come to the fore in a more antiheroic than villainous capacity.

This was an excellent chapter.

The way you captured Kaidan's confusion as he tried to come to terms with the fact that Shepard attacked them felt real and honest. At the same time Saren's pulling a heroic rescue was awesome because it was unexpected and yet makes perfect sense.

I can't wait to see what happens next.

Okay. I am LOVING this premise. Role-reversal of Saren and Shepard is just brilliant. Saren and Shepard's starting chapters were both well-written, and the fight between them this chapter was very nicely done.

Not quite the way I'd have handled Eden Prime though - I was hoping we'd have a period of the plot where the rest of the characters aren't sure who to trust between Saren and Shepard... And now I've just realised that Kaidan is the only one with solid evidence to trust Saren... (assuming Ash&Jacob didn't actually see Shepard's initial attack)

I don't mind you taking liberties with how things originally happened - in fact, I enjoy and encourage it. Extra minor differences keeps things interesting, and we're already majorly AU.