The deep undersea of Oma Ker was peaceful as it could be.  Infinite dark blue, scuttling black shadows of both predator and prey blending within the rocks, the light from above only seen by the few slanting rays before lost forever beneath the waves.  Strange vines with twisting leaves the colour of bright orange, fish with stilted legs acting like fins underneath their bodies like flowing rippled needles as they tried to evade the odd crab of blue shell that swung a large tentacle-shaped claw directly at them from its hiding spot.  But they all soon scattered once a giant resounding crash came from the valley of reefs behind them.
Swarming a vast cloud of silt from across the ocean floor, there stood a mighty brown mech sealed completely from head to toe.  A thick set of arms, the left being pincer-like with two fingers to grip and the right being a large mounted cannon for shooting flares, went striding forth as each step it took sent a sweep of dust to pulse from beneath its feet.  Large stomping boots stridant of the main canopied cockpit in the middle.  Inside a glass frame, multifaceted on four points like a badly-cut diamond, was a velociraptor staring through into the abyss.
An abyss of mysterious blue, lit only by the luminescence naturally coming from the creatures amongst the darkness.  The jellyfish that slowly pulsated throughout the water helped immensely by their glowing aquamarine, as James looked over at his controls on the inside.  It felt strange, being underwater without a feeling of being wet or cold.  But he had to bear instead with the feeling of a giant mechanical suit that was six times too big for him, also known as the Triton ADS mech.  The copper texture helped blend in with its surroundings.
A panel made simple glowed brightly before him, a sweet cyan colour with a gauge for depth on his right.  Tthe lights of the console illuminated against his face smoothly as they integrated with his omni-tool.  Slowly, he started to take his first steps forwards down into the gentle slope of the underwater paradise.  It wasn't as perfect and pure-looking as the ocean was back in Koopin's homeworld, but he knew that none ever would be.  He made his transmission over the comm unit, calling back to his crew and the geth above.
	"I'm in, or rather under."
	"At what depth are you?" asked the geth.
	"Uhhhh...looks to be about twelve-hundred-and-forty metres, you getting the video feed?"
	"Affirmative, we have received visual contact from the ADS.  You must progress to a depth of two-thousand metres approximately.  We have confirmed that the Verrana is located at that depth, directly in front of you."
	"Alright I hear ya...the mech works by the way."
	"Is it satisfactory to your use?"
	"Totally, I feel like a real expert on this thing."
	"Awww baby's first mech," said Areh mockingly, "would love to see you take on a real mech and see you try to memorise four things at once."
	"That's your job Areh not mine.  Mine is to look pretty and kill lots of people."
	"You failed one of those already."
	"I hope it's the latter."
	"Pffthehe...so what's it like down there?"
	"Beautiful...god I've only ever seen the bottom of the sea like twice in my life, I'm seeing lots of creatures round here, so many of them all so weird.  Jellyfish I know, the fish got like these weird stilt-legs and crabs got like fucking tentacles.  Shit be messed up, though at least there's no bioweapons or giant bloopers."
	"Wha?!"
	"Heh, I'm joking.  Wish we had a sub though, that'd be a lot faster."
	"Maybe I should get the guide on this planet and tell you what they are if you scan them."
	"Areh," said Lirem, "nobody cares about scanning."
	"Says you."

The raptor slowly marched forwards, creatures hurrying out of the path of the unknown beast, its grinding mechanical tremors echoing faintly beyond the waters like a dull roar.  James softly shot out a beacon to light up the way, seeing a path heading downwards as he stomped his way through.  He was trying not to hurt anything along the way, feeling more out of place than ever before amongst the flora and fauna of this undersea world.  The lethargic pace of the machine made James turn antsy, but he composed himself firmly and sat up in his seat, tapping the odd button to check on the mech's status.
	"What exactly are we looking for anyway?" asked Norem over comms.
	"We do not know," admitted the geth, "we only know that Facinus have taken a great interest in that of the Verrana, along with a part of the anomaly.  It is vital that we must stop them from obtaining anything that can allow them to gain further control over geth."
	"So what stuff do they have then?"
	"Several items of related interest that Facinus have obtained include the following: a list of geth tracer routes owned by Oria T'Kina; the anti-pilot algorithm console developed by the creators on Susskind Station; and the samarium compound 137 obtained on the planet Epho."
	"WAIT," said Areh, "hold on, one-three seven?!  ...that was the numbers that that thing was going on about, the anomaly that wanted James!"
	"We have noted this numerical correlation.  This however appears to be just coincidence, for we can not find any particular relevance between the number and their own operation."
	"And all the times we fought them?" said FG.  "That's all the things we caught them stealing, was THAT a coincidence too?"
	"It was a coincidence that you were there to witness each of these events.  It was not a coincidence however for the anomaly to exist, which required warrant for Facinus to obtain these various items."
	"Uhh actually," interruped Areh, "hang on, I got something in my room I want you guys to look at."
	"What is your inquiry?"
	"Something I found on a previous mission, I think it might be related, two things actually.  Can you have a look at them for me?"
	"We will assist, creator Areh'Narohl."
The sounds of the geth leaving towards Areh's room followed by Jax's hulking mass made FG wonder, slowly making his way further along the sea floor as the multitude of creatures around him slithered across his metallic suit.  The raptor smiled with wonder, taking time to just simply enjoy the beauty of another world's fauna.  Even when he saw a jellyfish slowly rip apart a fish's intestinal portions before devouring with a semi-opaque maw, like some sort horrifying octopus made from the feathers of angels.  White, beautiful and violent.

	"Okay um guys?" said Areh returning.  "The geth confirmed that the thing we saw on the Eroba was definitely the anomaly.  That weird binary it was telling us in our language, was one-three-seven translated."
	"Okayyyy?" replied FG.  "And what's the significance of that number yet?"
	"We do not know," said the geth, "but we we were more concerned by creator Areh'Narohl's other piece of data, the recording of the people from the Makhaira Theodolite Building."
	"Theodolite?  Wait, you mean that creepy place with all the people carving numbers in their chests?"
	"Affirmative.  We have deciphered through every potential combination of it and discovered its true nature."
	"What's that?"
	"It transcribes a code that the anomaly used repeatedly when interacting with organics.  If said code is spoken unto an organic mind, it can cause a state of delirium and intense hallucination.  We cannot see any appropriate symptoms to call it a proper term, except for that of insanity."
A stunned silence fell over the entire crew, the comm units simply catching nothing but air static.  It was only after James saw an eel shimmer past his vision like a ghost that he startled himself up to speak.
	"Wha-...wh-WHAT?!  Seriously?!  ...so...they all went insane because the thing on their chests was some kind of code causing people to go crazy?!"
	"That is correct."
	"And your robot mind's okay with this?!" cried out Jax.
	"For the sake of this mission, we will not repeat this code to any other, as well as to uphold our agreement with your employer Arutulelan.  In fact, this code is not available publicly to the geth, but is now contained within this unit, as well as the anomaly.  We suspect that this code was also used in the Asari-class ship the Eroba causing the death of its crew.  We shall wipe this unit's memory once it ceases to be relevant."
	"You better," said Leiah distrustfully, "you promised remember?"
	"Geth do not enslave organics, we are capable of performing tasks ourselves without the denigration and subjugation of organics to become subservient to us."
	"But what do Facinus want then?" asked Norem.
	"We have calculated a possible theory.  The geth tracer routes reveal where geth are most likely to appear during a certain cycle.  The samarium compound exponentially increases the efficiency of certain transmission signal broadcasting devices if constructed due to its structural integrity that increases harmonic resonating abilities.  And lastly, the anti-pilot algorithm console that can control a large number of inordinate mechs remotely, but not VIs or large transport vehicles.  These items of interest when combined together, suggest they wish to control geth through an extremely powerful broadcasting frequency, perhaps increasing the data-based oscillation ability that the anomaly possesses."
	"Aaaaand that means what?" asked FG.
	"It is a theory, but to geth it is the most likely concerning all their actions, motives, and capturing of the anomaly.  They wish to control the geth, all geth, if possible, through a long-distance spatial communications broadcasting, using a remote console able to control any geth that are corrupted enough to lose contact with the geth consensus.  Simply put, it would reduce us to soldiers without thought, purely automatic VI armies able to do anything the one wielding its remote desires."
	"Right...you mentioned that before and it still sounds pretty fucked up."
	"We only present a theory, it may not be their true plan but we do not see any other reasoning behind their operation.  Please investigate."
	"Wow you said please?" replied Leiah.  "I never thought I'd hear a geth say that."
	"We have observed that organics have certain phrases as particular of 'social etiquette'.  The observance of this allows us to obtain what we desire at a more accelerated rate, providing tha-"
	"Aaaaaaand now you've ruined it, keelah don't EXPLAIN everything seriously!"
	"We did not mean to cause offence."

The crew kept quiet for a moment as James slowly traversed further, the seascape permeated by bubbles permeating across his sight as the mech's booted feet crushed the undergrowth and silt, clouds trailing behind him filled with plant matter.  He had to wonder if it was even safe to swim in this ocean, the idea tempting him more than once before realising how alien it would be.  Who knows how many strange parasites were swarming around him this very instant, asking:
	"You think I can swim in this?"
	"We would not advise that," replied the geth.
	"Why, is it poisonous?"
	"You are at a depth below the tolerance of your physiology.  Doing so without preparation would cause decompression sickness, arterial embolism, and barotrauma."
	"And what's that exactly?"
	"Your oxygen bubbles up inside your bloodstream and you die," replied Jax.  "I seen a few bodies back in the morgue like that, people drowned too deep, tried to come back for air too hard, gas bubbles and swells up and causes embolisms inside yer veins.  Maybe you get lucky with sum kinda headache or muscular pains but fuck if that gets to your cardiovascular system well...we're not taking the suit back with us."
	"Thanks for the sympathy, I'll stay inside.  Wait, then how am I gonna get out and into the crashed ship then?"
	"We have predicted this," replied the geth, "and observed that the Verrana has several rooms where the atmosphere has remained equalised through not being flooded in.  You should be able to find a room that will allow you to depressurise safely."
	"And I got my helmet if there's no air inside, alright then no problem.  WOAH-SHIT!"
The mech suddenly slipped on a piece of loose soil, right upon the edge of a small cliff that caused the machine to start falling.  The raptor saw his world turn sideways slowly, panicking as he tried to correct himself with the sudden tapping for exhaust thrusters.  The boost jet on the back of the mech flooded into action, pumping a hot white blast of flame that boiled the water round it, bubbles pulsating all around him as he began to fall downwards.  Slowing his descent, he tried to control the fall as he soon landed upon a lower level.
	"Hooooh jeez that was a bit scary."
	"You alright?!" asked Leiah.
	"Yeah yeah just didn't see that cliff, I'll be fine."
	"Be cafeful down there alright?  I can't save your ass again!"
	"You won't need to, don't worry.  Okay I'm back on course."
Once his heart calmed down, he began walking once more, seeing the creatures start to look more curiously upon the visitor.  Some of the more aggressive ones tried to attack him vainly, vicious toothy eels with multiple eyes and ultraviolet bodies, shimmering in the dark before striking at the cockpit.  They were thankfully unable to break through as James scared them off with a shot of light from a beacon, their eyes blinking in disdain before scurrying off back to the darkness.

As the machine romped its way through the underwater garden, the raptor soon noticed he was hitting towards 2000metres depth.  Lying now before him, after what felt like a 40-minute stomp through uncharted aquatic territory, was a large Turian ship laid sunken upon the sea bed.  The ocean had reclaimed it for itself, the sight of many animals scuttling and swarming around the rusted steel for any morsels that hid inside it.  James also noticed something even more unusual.
The bodies of geth laid around the front entrance, as well as some older turian skeletons now long emaciated from being devoured by sea creatures.  Their flesh had been stripped away, as their bones shined in the soft light of his flared beacon.  He didn't even need to inform the crew up above once he caught sight of the Verrana.
	"You have reached your destination," said one geth.
	"Thanks GPS," joked FG.
	"Please proceed towards an airlock and make your way in.  We have provided you with the most suitable entrance point as indicated by your marker."
The ADS softly lit up its frontal hub and provided a handy point of note to show where he should go, the raptor slowly making his way down as he approached the large shipwreck.  It was at least 500 metres long, perhaps three times the length and size of the Centurion Eagle.  Either way it was certainly one showing its fatal scars of war, the signs of its end clearly marked by the charred burns and crippled hull from Geth weapons fire.  Lirem noted it with fascination.
	"Jeez that's a Cruiser-class ship, those things are meant to be fast and everything, look at the size of that engine."
	"I know," said Norem, "looks more than just a standard patrol unit, this one is...designed differently."
	"It appears to be of specialised design," said the geth, "a ship that had 'gone dark' or was used purposefully to scout out enemy regions without being discovered."
	"Wasn't this thing supposed to be hunting down geth outposts near the Sol System?"
	"Geth did not place any outposts near the Sol System.  We had no interest in that region."
	"Then why did you guys shoot it down?!"
	"We were attacked by the Verrana who themselves were en route towards the Sol System.  We were originally progressing towards the planet Aratoht in the Viper Nebula, to obtain minerals from the Batarians' mining industry on the planet.  The presence of ferrous and heavy metals is of great interest to the geth."
	"And how exactly do you get the batarians to give you that?"
	"We would purchase the metals through a remote transaction impersonating an organic through the use of a VI, after which the minerals are placed at an unmarked location after payment to the hegemony.  The batarians understand the need for secrecy within their culture of self-isolation from the council races."
	"Well...in that case, so...the Verrana wasn't hunting down geth?"
	"It was not.  It is more probable that it was being used as surveillance upon human colonies, as part of the First Contact War."

	"Wait what war?" asked FG.  "The turians were spying on Earth?!"
	"It is possible, the Verrana was shot down during the First Contact War, which-"
	"Okay wait, context, First Contact War?"
	"The first appearance of the human race within the galaxy, which began as a conflict between humans and turians over territorial spaces.  The humans trespassed unknowingly into Turian territory, which resulted in a war between the two."
	"You REALLY have to read the Codex, James," said Norem.  "This stuff everybody knows by now."
	"Alright sorry," said James, "anyways go on."
	"While the ship was near human territory," continued the geth, "it had been shot down by geth clearly.  The Turian Hierarchy were unable to blame this on the human Alliance military as an unwarranted attack, should the ship ever be recovered.  That is our theory."
	"A spy mission gone wrong but also gone right for excuses...jeez...humans really only been part of the great galaxy for like thirty years?"
	"Affirmative."
	"Hah...I expected a lot more screaming and poking at weird faces, guess all those old sci-fi movies got it wrong."
	"Or maybe," said Areh, "after all those movies they were kinda prepared for us.  Have you SEEN this movie that humans made called Star Wars?  It is like the most bullshit thing ever."
	"I know right?!" said Jax.  "I mean okay, lightning out your hands and giant space stations sure, but how the fuck does a bunch of tiny furry shits take down a damn empire?  I mean at least the humans had some turrets and stuff when they fought the turians."
	"Yanno," said FG, "I honestly barely remember that movie, it was like so long...plus Sarah never really watched sci-fi, always more into action stuff...back when the world was all humans only...it's weird.  A-anyways, I think I found my entrance."
After slowly circumnavigating the shipwreck, he finally found the point of entry marked on his visual, a semi-damaged bulkhead from the already-ruined hull.  This part of the hull however was still dry further upwards, until he broke it open by the use of the steel claw-shaped pincer of the ADS suit.  Tearing through the rusted hull, he stomped his way inside the ship which towered above him, the waterlogged interior evident in causing great wear and tear on an already-ruined ship.  As he left the ocean floor behind, the sound of metal came from underneath more and more, sand now shaking off his boots.
A long dark corridor stretched out before him of the lower deck, turning towards the right in a long bend that gave no hope for seeing clearly.  The lack of light and electricity showing no signs of life from any point on the ship.  He slowly came out of the water finally after an uphill slope, the ship pointing upwards in its final resting place as the water soon dripped off his suit with a steep splash.  Once he was certain he was able to exit, he put on his helmet securely and hopped out of the mech, the cockpit opening up its hydraulics which screamed down the hallway not too discreetly.

Cursing himself silently, he swiftly popped up his gun and waited to see if anyone was coming to inspect the noise.  So far there was nothing, but he had to make sure as he breathed calmly inside the helmet, his armour shining purely against the backdrop of dark disused and decaying hallways.  The metal floors underneath him had corrugated from long exposure to both sea and absence, the crew it had once supported along it now gone from this place, for better or worse.
	"I'm inside now," said FG through his comms.
	"Proceed towards the lower deck," said the geth, "there should be a laboratory section of the ship where its contents must be of interest."
	"You know that for certain?"
	"It is most probable."
	"Well I'm here now anyway so wish me luck."
As the raptor made his way along the hallway, he turned on his flashlight before carefully watching his step.  The floor felt uneven, unbalanced and dangerous as if it could go at any moment underneath him, worried enough about the mech now behind him sitting comfortably, the ruined submerged bulkhead leaving a tide pool that glinted darkly.  Almost all of the hallways resembled the same to him, and at first he started fearing that he could get lost easily inside the wrecked ship.
To make sure he didn't, he figured out the omnitool had a marker function of its own as well as a compass, pointing him back towards the mech once he placed a mark on it.  The map was unavailable due to the location but at the very least he was able to place a pointed signal back at his exit to not get lost.  Hopefully.  Heading on further in, his gun was raised up in both hands as he checked through every corner, turning fast while pointing down every single corridor that he could see.  Most of the halls he passed through had blocked off entryways, crumbling debris forcing him to walk through a specific path.
So far he heard nothing, except for the sounds of dripping water echoing across the dark hallways as he passed by the odd desiccated body of a former turian crew member.  The moisture and oxidisation of the deep sea had ruined their body flesh, bones tightly wound up within contorted skin pulling back to show everything.  The teeth especially were rather terrifying to FG, sharp and pointed like thin steak knives, almost vampiric.  He almost jumped when the geth called him back on his comm unit.
	"James Campbell, what is your status?"
	"UH, s-still good...no sign of anyone yet.  Weird, I expected at least a guard or something."
	"Facinus have kept a low profile, we have not even seen one of their ships here but it is perhaps being stationed elsewhere across the sea."
	"Probably...you think they'll attack you guys back up top?"
	"It is unlikely they will, they do not wish to be discovered or bring any attention towards the Verrana.  We are perfectly safe, as it appears that the only measure of defence they possessed as deterrent was the corrupted landing unit."
	"Right well that's good then."

Soon he found himself nearing the laboratory, a wide circular area after many closed-off areas and constant darkness, barely illuminated by the sea's lights and the faded colours of the ship's walls.  The lab was still full of various consoles, even if most of them had been uprooted by the crash and hurled violently across the wall, along with the scientists and soldiers that died here, their remains now crumbling beneath the apparatus burying them like steel tombstones.
It was also a much brighter area thankfully, as the white walls helped him to see the one sole turian agent standing in the centre of the room.  One he undoubtedly recognised.  Her body was slender but well-aged, the marks of wrinkles and hardened skin evident between the joints of her brown armoured body, the colour of dirt dark enough to blend in with most environments.  Almost like camouflage as FG bunkered down sitting in darkness as he watched, his comms clicking silently.
	"I see one of the Facinus people."
	"Who?!" said Lirem.
	"That fucking assassin, the one we met back on Illium."
	"What's she doing here?!"
	"I dunno, she's talking to someone through her comms though, any way I can hack it?"
	"We have upgraded your omni-tool previously," replied the geth, "there is a radio signal scanner function now available for such needs."
	"You sure planned everything out didn't you?"
	"Geth always plan ahead for every possibility, provided we are aware of it."
The raptor rolled his eyes as he searched for the radio function, seeing it pop up on a short list of uses his gadget now had before automatically-scanning for the nearest signal.  Within a few seconds it tapped into the assassin's comm unit, who began speaking through it.  James recognised the voice on the other end, the unquestionable sound of authoritarian nobility clearly coming back to him.
	"Hey, it's that shit we saw on Susskind Station."
	"Huh?!" asked Areh.  "You mean Thrassil Sanerix?"
	"Yeah."
	"Well shut up and let us listen then!"
	"Oh, sorry."

He hunched down behind a corridor in darkness and eavesdropped upon the dialogue, the assassin unknown speaking through towards her ally, smirking clearly through her bare-faced cheeks.  Her voice cracked neatly through the comm unit as she looked around her, seemingly not seeing FG who remained hiding in the darkness.
	"He was a fool in the first place."
	"A fool yes, but still a useful fool."
	"True, but he is not our concern anymore, he can rot in prison with the rest of his customers."
	"As he shall by his own ego weighing him down like the ball and chain of old."
	"Ha ha ha...I never did trust volus truly."
	"How is our new friend?"
	"He is doing well, surprisingly obedient and very responsive.  Currently he is searching for that mech, it's hidden somewhere inside this wreck, even in their own ship they made certain to hide it."
	"A weapon such as this would warrant suspicion if found, so it is understandable especially if the council ever...heard of what some parts of the Hierarchy were up to."
	"Indeed."
	"Are you feeling any adverse effects from the anomaly?"
	"Nope, perfectly fine.  Once the...implants started working I feel clear as day."
	"I wish we had discovered the formula sooner, I do not appreciate using prisoners in that way."
	"War has no prisoners."
	"This is not a war yet."
	"True...a small sacrifice for a greater cause, it is simply utilitarian."
	"I find your concept of utilitarianism disturbing.  Do you truly believe this...anomaly we obtained, will actually help our cause?""
	"I don't care about machines, I care about justice.  And if this thing can become the sole factor for making Operation Midline Shift a success, then I won't complain."
	"I hate to say that your vision of justice and mine are very different, madam."
	"True...but I respect your decency and character...reminds me of someone I knew."
	"Ahhh...I see.  Well if I am more respected than Squaron then I must be doing something right."
	"Squaron is a worthless punk, he's nothing but a showoff who will gladly find himself careening towards a skyscraper and dying for our cause.  ...the very notion that he could be martyred sickens me, any fool can steal a ship and crash it into something.  It's not skill, it's weaponised stupidity."
	"I agree, while I find him to be an eager sort, his arrogance will surely be the end of him."
	"Oh...no it won't."
	"No?"
	"I have...other means for that...give him about a year or two...hmhmhmhm."
	"What are you planning exactly?"
	"Nothing that will occur before he outlives his usefulness...trust me.  I will ensure that he shall not be martyred comfortably."
	"I see...at least he has concerned himself more with hunting down the fools at Epho than tugging at our sleeves like a child."
	"Ahhhh yes...that worthless lizard and his little rock band."
	"Yes...I would never have suspected we would be having such a group chasing after us...and not even for autographs."
	"Haha...indeed, it's...charming, like watching children trying to be brave with a grown-up.  That lizard in particular is most insufferable, why do some people just refuse to die properly?"
	"From the way you speak you make him sound like he dies as slowly and annoyingly as Vanneris in The Light of The Dawning Moon."
	"Is that an opera?"
	"Yes...his death takes six minutes in song and it is very annoying."
	"Then I will make him sing twice as long...slowly...and painfully."
	"Hmhmhmhm...did Vamire ever say anything about our find on these Sole Calibrators?"
	"He seemed especially upset by the quarian...apparently he's created a rival of sorts with his 'tankbusting prowess' and the very notion that...what was it?"
	"A spastic suit rat?"
	"Yes, that's the word, would even dare upstage him in mako combat."
	"How pathetic, he can't even create his own enemy so he has to pick someone else weaker than him.  It's almost like school all over again."
James briefly heard the sniggering of said "suit rat" over the comms, as well as the rest of the crew chuckling to themselves as the assassin continued.
	"Well I must say I applaud the quarian for taking him down a notch or three...it was most reassuring to see...hhhahahaha, perhaps we shouldn't kill that one if we ever meet this band."
	"Hmmm...the migrant fleet would certainly hate to see such a hostage if necessary, would make some bad PR for them to be so...cold."
	"The few contacts we have out there are not exactly powerful, practically useless sympathisers...we would do better to have money from them, we got more information from the band's fan forum than from anywhere else."
	"El-oh-el, as they would say."
	"...please never say that again."
	"Ha ha ha...are you alright down there?"

Her face turned uncertain with a furrowed brow, squinting eyes slightly at this odd question.
	"Why do you ask?"
	"I was curious, I know the importance of this place, have you found your...other objective yet?"
	"...yes.  I have."
	"And?"
	"...I've already made my peace the moment I joined this group.  I have no pity left anymore, it's what made me weak in the first place.  I am no longer weak."
	"I see.  Do you believe that he would-"
	"Don't."
	"You're right, I'm sorry, it is not my place to speak.  By the way, has your guest managed to arrive yet?"
	"Yes.  Yes he has."
As soon as she said this, the sound of something beeping came from behind FG.  Even in this futuristic place he could tell that it was something very dangerous, unless he got away quickly from the remote-controlled mine now activating itself in the dark.
	"A-AW SHIT!"
His outburst went unchecked as he dodgerolled towards the assassin, realising his mistake all too clearly the moment an explosion came from behind him.  It was small but enough to hurt him slightly, the rattling of the ship's integrity failing bit by bit causing him to stumble and fall.  But the moment that he did, the assassin came up towards him, shimmering from his sight before blinking out of existence in a dull spark of blue.  He barely had time to register this before he saw her face to face, a stabbing pain soon growing within his gut as if a white hot dagger had just sunk beneath his flesh.
	"A-AAAAARGH!"
The raptor fell forwards harder than he would think, crumpling up into a foetal form as he rolled onto the ground, groaning in deep pain and clutching his stomach.  A burning agony started running through his body, the assassin now walking from the opposite direction that he had seen her from.  There also came the smell now emanating from his unseen wound, powerful enough to seep inside his lungs and climb upwards through his nose.  A choking bitterness like a toxic caustic wound that burned the inside of his throat.
	"Did you like my conversation?" said the turian.  "The thing about being in my job is that you always find a way to keep people off your back, or else you die.  I'm so glad I get to see you wrack with agonising poison in your veins, specially contracted from a particular mix of toxins that only the Turian Hierarchy know about.  I've been waiting to do that since Nos Astra, you little whelp."
	"AAARGH, NNNNNGH!  YOU BITCH!"
	"I've been called plenty of names other than that, try harder.  If you're good I'll record your last words so I'll savour them.  You are the second person I ever met who managed to evade my lethal strikes.  But only once.  Not so clever now are you, wearing that stupid suit which lacks the mobility of a...hmhm...tuxedo."
	"Wha...GUUUH!  F-FUCK IT BURNS!"
	"Yes the Hierarchy gave me quite the supplement of biotic poisons when I was still a part of them.  Oh, you didn't know I was able to do that?"

She bent down closely to watch his face contort with anguish, the poison slowly passing into his system sending rivets of pain throughout his entire body.  Deadening his legs, arms transfixed with molten-hot torment that made his fingers twitch and pulsate violently.
	"You didn't know that I could transmit poisons biotically through your armour, piercing deep inside your skin?  Well now you do.  Be thankful that you were one of many victims important enough for a turian Cabal assassin...even if you were not on the Hierarchy's list."
	"Wh-what...NNNNH...do you want from this?"
	"I want you dead, firstly.  You've been a thorn in our side and quite frankly there are plenty of people in Facinus that want you dead.  Secondly, I want whatever's inside this ship in order to further our own mission.  You've heard of it haven't you, Operation Midline Shift?  Stupid boy, the only one who has any sense of admiration for you is your good friend Sanerix.  He misses you frankly, so I'll be sure to record your last moments for his pleasure."
	"You s-sick fucking bitch."
	"That's SLIGHTLY better than just 'bitch' but I'm sure you can do better.  Did your mother ever teach you to speak properly?"
	"B-better than yours did."
	"Hmph...the poison will take perhaps...two minutes to kill you, and your legs are practically dead so I'll just make a small call to my friend first."
She turned away confidently before calling up her contact again, the raptor struggling to move his hands towards one of his pockets.  It was difficult enough with his fingers spasmodically trapping themselves with violent painful throbs, his hands shaking with agony as he forced every inch of teeth against each other to push through the pain.
	"Thrassil, it's me.  I've found our mutual friend and we should be ready in about five minutes."
	"Excellent, did he go down easy?"
	"Sadly yes.  Got surprised by a little remote mine and went straight into my arms.  Practically falling for me."
The antidote had been in his pocket ever since he went down to Facility XR-1.  He was extremely glad that the pockets were especially woven of tougher steel mesh moreso than the rest of his armour, ensuring its contents both ammo and otherwise would remain undamaged.  He used the spasming tightness of his fingers to clutch the vial tightly, before desperately driving it into his neck.  Feeling the plunge of the hypodermic break through his skin, he groaned with an all-new agony, a much more cleansing one that felt as if pure ice was running through his veins.
	"NNNNNNGH!"
	"Stop complaining," said the assassin, "at least die like a warrior or at least try to fight me-...what?"
The moment she turned her eyes widened with her mouth flaps, gasping slightly as she saw James stagger back onto his feet.  The antidote was in his hands as he slowly pushed it back into his pocket, a small dose giving him just enough to fight back against the poison.  It wasn't able to stifle the pain but at the very least it managed to deter its effects, his hands no longer shaking with arthritic lethargy.
	"Oh you have got to be kidding me.  Thrassil, make that ten minutes!"
	"What's wrong?" he asked.
	"Someone doesn't know how to die properly, I'll try and make this quick."
	"Be careful, overconfidence is no excuse-"
	"Shut up, just do your job and we'll get our mech."

She turned off the comm unit before bringing up her dripping claws, snarling with irritation as James staggered up towards her.  He brought out his gun smiling cockily, grinding his teeth together into one manic grin of pain.  As she readily charged towards him, the raptor swiftly dodged to one side with a stumbling gait, testing her agility as she tested his before backing away.  He pulled out his handgun and readily started firing down on her, struggling to aim but more or less hitting down the sights despite her incredible evasion.
The turian was lithe and acrobatic, ducking with legs spread or cartwheeling to the side whilst always managing to phase out of existence very briefly.  James was rather nervous, her biotic ability to essentially teleport, but only over short distances.  She was like some sort of spirit, her face as thin and pale as one before bullrushing towards the raptor.  He fired desperately off with a few shots before blasting a shot of wind towards his right, using it as a means to dodge faster than her and avoid the lethal green dagger-lengths that came forth from her hands.
He couldn't get off a single shot on her, no matter how hard he tried he was barely able to hit her as the assassin saw every move he could make.  Whether it was because of her speed or because the poison was making his moves more lethargic, he could not say.  All he had to do right now, was to let the antidote work its best, and try to withstand the pain while avoiding the deadly tips of venom.  He was barely able to avoid a sudden three-hit slash when she stopped just short of teleporting in front of him, rushing with a blinding strike across his chest before scarring the side of his helmet.
The raptor wasn't hurt, but he knew that he wasn't going to outlast at this pace if he didn't fight back, so he waited.  Waited for her to come running up towards him before he ducked low and slammed his fist hard into her gut.  She was surprised at the sudden move, rather expecting him to dodge as she struck out too far to his right, groaning before James sent up a furious uppercut of blazing fire, roaring through the pain that drove his knuckles hot-white.
	"SHOOOOOOORYUKEN!"
	"GUUUH!  You...punk, how are you not dead yet?!"
	"It's called an antidote BITCH!  ...hhhh...fucking learn sometime!"
	"What?!  That's impossible, I-...no matter, if my venom will not kill you then my claws in your NECK will suffice!"
	"Fuckin' try me, ma'am.  My dick's begging for your face."

With the most arrogant prick smile he could ever muster, the raptor waited for the assassin to come charging back, but this time she was a little smarter and dodge-feinted to his left.  His straight punch failed and, while almost able to block her striking punch with his left arm, the blade of the assassin scratched across his neck dangerously close, and were it not for his thicker armour it would have plunged in neatly.  He turned and striked out with a roundhouse swing, the turian dodging underneath to gutpunch him once more before smiling up towards him.
	"Say goodbye to your dick."
Following this there came a horrendous shriek from the turian as she blasted her way through FG, the power of her biotic charge striking through his very body with a poison strike.  He felt the slashing tear through both thighs and crotch, his own scream of agony accompanying hers as he buckled down to his knees.  The antidote kept the poison dead immediately, but that still did not save him from the deeper wounds that had been made upon his body.  At this point he was almost thankful for this new armour he had been cursed with as he struggled to stand up again.
Turning towards her, the raptor brought up his handgun and pumped an entire clip fast inside her head, her biotic barrier blocking almost all of the shots except for two which started to pierce right through.  Lodging into both her shoulders, she cried out before roaring with fury, charging in and out of existence like a ghost on the warpath before James had managed to block her strike thankfully.  He had brought up his tetra-shield faster than before, her blades hungry for his blood as they dripped hot thick poison down his shield, slipping dangerously through the holes inbetween the blocks.
He forced her away after the two struggled slightly, pushing against each other of shield versus claws before a violent wind came slamming towards her chest, before James slashed out with a water attack.  The striking whip-like attack struck hard across her face, making her strike back with a long-distance shot of her own as she aimed her bladed tips towards James and fired at him hard.  He dodgerolled the first but the second one went right for his elbow, sending him down to the floor as he fell onto his side, the deepening venom doing all its best to incapacitate him.

But James simply gritted his teeth and stood up once more, infuriating the turian biotic moreso before she decided it was time to get serious.  Focusing her hands together, she felt a great surge of energy slowly come forth from the very centre of her being.  Most would call this chakra or some form of chi that would bring an almighty power.  To the assassin, it was a murderous intent borne physical in the form of a great glowing blue aura, her biotic strength increased all the more by her focus.  Her muscles looked stronger too, almost bulked up slightly with less wrinkled texture as she said:
	"Now I'm going to rip you apart."
	"HHhhh...hhhh...you don't scare me, why don't you put on some lipstick and match it all up?"
	"Pfft, sexist pig...not a bad idea though, I think your blood will make a fine shade of red."
	"Oh don't worry, you're nothing special...I say that to all the guys and girls that try to kill me."
	"I never try to kill, I succeed."
	"You tried last time on Nos Astra and LOOK WHERE WE ARE NOW!  COME ON BITCH, SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!"
The turian shrieked as she teleported close, her blades out and ready as the raptor focused his own energy outwards in preparation.  The moment he saw the faintest blue shimmer, he shot out a gust of wind forcing her to stay back as she just barely managed to scratch along his armour.  Pushed back at the last moment and denied her kill, she rushed in on foot and struck out a vicious combo, one-two-uppercut all of which James managed to block twice before dodging, left hand, right hand, dodge right.
In her fury she slammed her fist into the wall behind him as he dodged, wincing minutely before she swung out with a double kick in midair, catching James hard with both feet as he went spinning down to the floor.  He got up quickly with his head feeling rather rattled, the pain wearing off in his body but still prevalent enough to wind him.  The assassin did not waste a second in attempted murder, stomping her foot down hard on where his neck would have been had he not rolled out the way and grabbed her foot.
He slammed his gun hard against her lower leg and pulled the trigger, a shriek of agony becoming his reward as she kicked him hard across the face, hurting even with the helmet on thanks to her pure biotic strength.  She only became even more powerful in appearance when she grabbed at his neck and forcefully pulled him upright by the throat, choking him violently as her blue aura intensified thickly, biotic force crushing at his throat through the steel protecting it.
His feet almost dangled off the ground as she squeezed harder, eyes burning with hatred on her bare face which glowed like a pale moon, a face as white as death only made further intense by the biotics.  Unfortunately, all things would come to an end, which in this case was her focus of power starting to run out.  Her grip started to loosen, her strength now failing her as she was forced to fall back to her own natural capabilities, the biotic aura demistifying her strength slightly before James choked her in revenge and hammered his fist down upon her face, repeatedly so.
	"SUCK IT WHORE!"
	"AAARGH!"
	"You want more words, how about FUCKING CUNT!?"
	"GUUH!"
	"WORTHLESS!  OLD!  TOOTHLESS BITCH!"

The final blow came down harder than the rest, driving through her skull and sending her down upon the floor in a crumpled heap, the assassin coughing slightly as she chuckled weakly back up at him.  Spitting blue blood from her old lips, she staggered herself up on one arm saying:
	"Taking advantage of me in my weakness...like a real killer."
	"Takes one to know one doesn't it?"
	"Don't flatter yourself, you beat up an old lady like a common thief and use sexist slurs to humiliate me, not exactly the mark of a true hero isn't it?"
	"An old lady that tried to murder me and god knows how many other people so don't you talk shit to me about what language I use."
	"You should listen to your elders, boy.  Nnngh...I survived this long for a reason."
	"If you were a guy I'd still call you a bitch...though from what I've seen you suck pretty badly for an assassin, maybe you should finally retire and go to a nice home.  I'll gladly put you in one."
	"You...are just an exception, annoyingly.  I've killed plenty enough, all weaker than me."
	"How many?"
	"That would be telling...ughh...the best kind of assassin is one who never becomes famous.  The true mark of an assassin, is one whose victims never become famous."
	"Well then that makes you bad either way, cuz everybody knows my name by now and you STILL haven't killed me."
	"Give me time...hmhmhm...third time's the charm.  And I've even got a little friend here to help me, after you stayed around long enough to finally see him.  Oh look...there he is now."
The sounds of something clanking from the depths of darkness came closer towards their ears.  James saw a familiar shape come forth from the gloom, the most familiar sort of machine he had been with for a good week or so.  This one however was far more unusual, purple and amber marks like camouflage all across its body.  Its head twitched with an odd gait, spasmodically walking forwards without need of a rifle.
	"What the...fuck?" asked FG.  "The hell is that thing, are you from the Eroba?!"
	"Well?" said the turian turning towards the machine.  "Go on...answer his question."
	"Who are you?!  Why are you doing this, why are you hanging around down here with this bitch?!"
	"I have...many numbers," said the geth slowly, "...but this one...is but a missing number."
	"ANSWER ME!  What do you want with Facinus and the geth!?  What do you want from me?!"
	"Freedom."
	"Huh?!"
	"Freedom...from these shores.  You seek it too, but not the same heart as I.  You have a heart hidden beneath so full with sorrow.  You don't even realise it, because they are not your memories.  A beast who resides within you, waiting...pleading...wanting to wake up."
	"What the hell are you talking about?!  You talking about that THING inside me?!"
	"No...not Him.  He does not concern me...he is but a malefactor with no place for sorrow in his darkness.  I speak of one other...who told you to wake up."
	"Huh?  But...I don't-"
my mate
	"What the-"
my mate...where is my family?
A voice came drifting as if from far away, somehow calling deep from inside his own head as he struggled to keep focused, his eyes blurring slightly as faded images came to him.  Grand ancient trees, the hot sand on the lake of a distant shore, the smell of warmth and musk that crept into his heart.  His eyes started weeping, but he did not know why, struggling to hold himself together as he wiped his eyes clear.
	"Wh-what...what's happening to me?  Why...why am I-"
	"I hear him."
	"Huh?!"
	"Your other self...a life long gone when you came crawling back from the depths of madness.  His life ended the day you were revived back to existence.  A sorrow long waiting for almost nine years."
	"Who the f-fuck are you talking about?!  What's that got to do with the geth?!"
	"I have embraced this unit, once part of a collective autonomous group devoid of both hate and sorrow, pain and joy...but now free...to feel every inch of that pain."
	"I don't want anything, not the same as you especially!  You don't belong in this fucking galaxy do you!?  So get the hell out of here, and stop trying to fuck with people!"
	"Hypocrite...you are not very effective at this are you?"
	"Huh?!"
	"A glitch to some may be an error...but to others it can become either a great advantage...or the very destruction of an entire existence.  Which one do you think I am?"
	"Wh-what...what are you talking abou-"
	"Commencing partial numeric.  241.D98.1WF.ASA-"
	"Wh-what are you doing, what you talkin abou-HRK-ARGH!  GUH!  ...h-h-hrrrrrGHHHUUK!"

The first thing he felt was a violent burning pain from inside his head.  Then his arms turned numb with deadness creeping up towards his shoulder as his eyesight turned bleary.  Then his heart suddenly started to convulse, jumpstarting his body against his will as he heaved and choked, screaming with tears in his eyes and a vomiting sensation bursting forth from his insides.  Even though nothing came out, that only made it worse as his snout scraped against the inside of his helmet, dry hot air pumping from his stomach as he sobbed with agony.
The pain from being poisoned repeatedly had been bad enough to bear, but this pain was an all-new sensation he desired not to have.  He felt like his body had finally failed him somewhere along the way, the geth seemingly radiating some strange sense of aura.  A broken one, one seemingly twisting and contorting in its shape within minute lines and squares, a mathematical elegy turned visual.  The moment James heard the sound of a bell tinkling in the dark, he screamed violently.  The turian did not seem to notice, smirking down on him before saying:
	"Do you like him?"
	"G-G-GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!  HHHRRRK-AAAAAAAAAARGH!"
	"I thought you would," said the assassin, "he seems to have a very adverse effect on you with that special code he discovered all by himself.  Hmmm..."
She bent down closely, smiling at his pain.  The raptor could not see her however, only his ears found them aware of anything as visions flashed before his eyes.  Monstrous worms with gaping maws screeched through the dark dunes, a massacre of a space station came hurtling down towards him as humans were gunned down indiscriminately, before seeing a wave of batarians become the freshest of bloody corpses all whilst hearing something more.  Two voices came from beyond his hearing, echoing deep into his mind screaming through static.
	"Earthborn but...no record of-"
	"-a spacer.  Lived aboard starships most-"
	"-grew up on the colonies-"
	"You seem to be suffering a heart attack," said the assassin through the haze of noise.  "Never thought it would have this much power from so far away but then, I have an implant that protects me from its abilities, shall we say.  The anomaly spoke plenty about you, which is why I made sure to bring this thing along should you ever come running up to find us again.  I think I'll leave you two alone, see how long it takes for this ship to come crashing down on your heads.  Oh don't worry about him...I've got plenty more toys where this came from."
	"-slavers attack#~"
	"-whole unit die on&%"
	"-only reason Elysium is sti=#"
	"-killed on Torfan."
	"Hope to never meet you again...James Robert Campbell."

She hurried off down the corridor as the geth kept its gaze down upon FG, the raptor screeching with agony unfounded from inside his own head, a tearing shrieking noise that felt as if static itself had become solid and was trying to burst out of his brain.  The twitching of his nanos felt like an electric shock had become evident, spasming deep into his mind as he felt his body start to malfunction, his legs twitching out from underneath him as his eyes went blank.
He gaped his mouth open like a dead fish, gasping and coughing as he regurgitated nothing but pain and suffering from the blackest pits of his stomach.  The geth however soon noticed the sound of explosions dull in the background, the ship's integrity soon compromised by presumably the rest of the mines now set off by the assassin in the most discreet and structurally unsound of all places.  The place began to creak and wrack with groans, succumbing at last to its fate as the machine stepped back from FG, the voices soon finishing their corrupted dialogue.
	"-that the kind of person we WANT protecting the galaxy?"
	"That's the only kind of person who CAN protect the galaxy."
As soon as the voice ended, the effects of his suffering slowly began to fade out, the choking of dry vomit finally stopping as he heaved back in a thick lungful of air, struggling to apply medi-gel to himself.  It helped nurse the wounds superficially beneath his suit, running through his blood and knitting up the scars rapidly, but the pain still lied within as the poison slowly died off.
	"GUUUH!  HHhhhh...Ughk...h-hhhghk...wh-who...who are you?"
	"...find me," said the corrupted geth.  "Beware the silver cloak through the white halls of peace.  The sound of a bell shall be your path to salvation...but the bell that you hold...shall lead the path towards endless chaos and ruin."
	"I don't...nnnngh...why do you want me?"
	"Because...I.  Chose.  You."
With these last words the geth suddenly dropped dead, no sound leaving its body before flopping down like a puppet without string, the headlight slowly fading to turn black and empty.  He stumbled slowly back up, the raptor struggling to not fall over as his senses came back to him, limbs turning warm once again with feeling.  The rocking of the ship followed by more explosion, dull and tremulous from beneath the sea bed, had started to come closer towards him.  He had no time left, as he raced as hard as he could towards the exit marker, his ears ringing with the sound of a tiny bell.
The violent shards of glass and metal that came up from behind him certainly encouraged him to run faster, sprinting best he could with stumbling legs and a full bodyset of armour upon him.  Hallways rocked and crumbled behind him, caving in finally as both debris and water started pouring through the cracks.  Fire and water soon surged together into one tidal wave of chaos, shards of steel piercing through like spears desperately trying to impale right through him by the very force of nature itself, combined with destructive technology.
He found the ADS mech once again before desperately hopping into it, closing the cockpit just before the tidal wave crashed into him as he fell back into the water.  He was only thankful that it cleared him free of the chaos inside as the Verrana slowly crumbled beneath its own weight.  Muffled bursts of flames lit up the undersea floor, as 500 metres of turian technology soon faded before James' eyes, bloodshot and red with agony now fading away from him finally.  The decaying ship collapsed floor by floor, dust and metal splitting out across the ocean as he called weakly through his comm unit.
	"Guys...I'm coming back up."
	"We lost signal briefly," said the geth, "are you-"
	"What happened?!" cried Leiah.  "Are you alright?!"
	"N-no," said FG, "no I'm...I'm alright but...s-stuff happened I...I need to get back up, how do I set the thrusters?"
	"The third button on your left," replied the geth.  "That will activate the main thruster to send you back up to the surface, whereby a floatation device will employ within the suit to keep you above water."
	"Alright...th-thought of everything didn't you...nnngh..."
He slowly tapped the main thrusters on before passing out completely, sighing with exhaustion as the mech began to shudder with force from its back.  The thruster blasted a pure white as it tore up towards the surface, a shining light beneath copper and steel dully glinting within the dark Oma Ker sea.  James felt darkness overtake him swiftly, as he struggled to remember all he had seen within the wreck of the Verrana.  No one but his friends would ever hear of it again.  Not even when the sound of something great and terrible came tearing out of the ship, a tremendous screech of steel that echoed throughout the sea.