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Five months had soon passed, and with it came several events over the course of James' experience with the geth. Leiah only joined him whenever he was in danger, hunting down various leads across the galaxy as the band made preparations for their upcoming event. Yet every new incident was just as strange and terrifying as the last, the lack of explanations infuriating all of them. More cases like the Eroba came to them, as various ships went missing over time throughout different regions of the galaxy, all with the same symptoms. A mysterious cargo is taken onboard, the crew turn mad with rage and fear unable to make sense from anything resulting in deaths or suicides separately. Sometimes the bodies would be trapped inside walls and floors halfway buried, stiffer than cold steel and just as unyielding. Always there were traces of an unknown geth, the anomaly sending its feeders out towards various victims. Normally they were cargo ships, but then they sometimes found a lead. A crew member or three would always somehow be missing from the register, yet their bodies were not found amongst the crew. As the crew of the Centurion Eagle tried everything they could to hunt down this anomaly, as well as to find out where Facinus could possibly be hiding the very source, they found nothing. James also began to lose focus owing to a great series of nightmares that clawed through his sleep, tearing across the landscape of his dreams like the reapers themselves as he turned and tossed fretfully. It was just like when he first felt the demon inside him long ago, and while he now knew what the source of it was, he had no means of fighting back. In a world without gods and magic, he felt helpless and meek, a lost boy within a city too grand for his existence. Leiah noticed this and tried helping him through his feelings, not knowing what he was going through but seeing regardless a slow change within him. His eyes turned more bleak, his gaze cast downwards more often than not, as well as his scales looking more thin than usual. Pale with gaunt cheeks stemming from exhaustion. The crew met up within a dark room, hearing the sounds of what felt like an ocean outside their doors. "Did Shala'Raan get back to you?" asked Lirem. "Of course," said Areh, "she talked with Councilor T'Kina and they corroborated on the geth routes. We might get some extra information out of this." "Won't they find our own geth friends too?" asked Norem. "Nah I don't think so, they know they'll be followed so they'll switch things up a bit, but Facinus don't, they think they've won so they'll just keep making things easy." "It certainly looks like it, they got more samarium down from other places, compound stuff too. I wish you'd managed to see what exactly was stolen from the Verrana." "I'm sorry," said FG, "I was...no, I just-I fucked up, sorry. I didn't think that they had something that could mess me up like that." "Well whatever it was, it tore a hole big enough to rip through half the hull, and that's not including the bombs they set off. How did you even survive all that?" "I...I don't know anymore."

The raptor sighed full with exhaustion, his tail weakly moving back and forth as he sat down upon a black chest, trying to build up his strength as Leiah sat down beside him. The band members looked at him with concern, with Jax asking: "You've been really out of it since then, you sure you're alright?" "I'm fine just...I'm having nightmares a lot lately and I'm not getting enough sleep." "If you want I can get you some drugs fer that." "I'd rather not, I don't wanna look like a junkie more than I already do." "Heh, I'm not talkin' about shootin' up wise-ass." "I know...my point still stands." "Alright then. You gonna at least enjoy the show right? I mean come on we've been building up to this!" "I will just...let me rest a bit, I'm sure you got your songs going we can get something up." "Oh we will," said Areh. "We have to. I've got something special just for this concert and I know people are gonna love it." "Hey uh speaking of this concert, I got a question for all of you. Like, considering who it's all for." "Yeah?" "What do you guys think of humans then? Like, personally, all of you. I'm just curious because well, you guys seem really set on this concert, you especially Areh so I wondered what was up with that." They all pondered briefly on their answers before giving them each of them in turn, shrugging more or less with indifference as Jax started with: "I think they're weird, but kinda cool too. I mean they don't look like much an' they got no powers but man I heard some crazy stories about whut a human can do in a battle. They got somethin' damn near to bloodlust like us krogans. Especially after Shepard." "I don't really care either way," said Norem, "I'm just doing this because we got a contract to, we made a promise to do this concert, plus it'd be good to do something nice for a change. And by that I mean helping other people out, without using a gun I mean." "...I dunno," said Lirem even more indifferent, "I...I-i don't care, they're just another group of aliens, so what? Maybe they got a little shaky start on things but you wanna ask, what about you then Areh? You're the reason we're all here in this place." The quarian glowered at him before starting off with a more sincere but nervous speech than his fellow band members.

"I kinda HAVE to love them for making Godzilla," said Areh, "but...at the same time I know that sounds kinda shallow. I guess it's because I saw so many of those movies that in turn...I...kinda makes me more fascinated about humans themselves. Plus Eden Prime it's...kinda personal really." "Yanno I always wanted to ask," said Leiah cautiously, "why are you so into this Godzilla? I mean, how'd you even find out about it in this galaxy?" "You...you really wanna know?" "Well...yeah just...I was kind of curious and the way your eyes just...light up talking about him I...I'm kind of curious, I don't know anything about him so...I'd like to know more." James smiled at her attempt to reconcile as Areh explained. "Well, my dad when on his pilgrimage worked at a human colony out somewhere near Eden Prime, yanno, before all that shit happened. He started out on one of the first human colonies out there after the First Contact War cuz he was kinda fascinated, he loves meeting new people and seeing strange and interesting things. And he got to talking with some of them and made real good friends with some of the humans, one especially who became like his best friend!" "Awwww...that's...that's actually...kinda sweet." "But that's not the only reason. I mean...this monster's like a legend to humans, a huge icon yet at the same time it represents something they fear. Godzilla was originally made like a hundred years ago as a physical representation of the nuclear bomb. The first time humans ever obtained this kinda power, and they were terrified of their own chaos, their own destruction upon each other. So when I see this monster of legend that they formed out of a mushroom cloud...I...I can't help but feel fascinated by something that they feared become something so iconic. And not always in the bad way." "What you mean by that?" asked Lirem. "Well, sometimes he's just the protector of the Earth from all evil beyond its borders. Other times he's just a raging force of nature gone beyond its control, he's never EVIL by himself, he's just...a monster. He's not actively going out to hurt people, he just wants to take on all monsters that oppose him, that would dare unbalance the fate of the Earth by their very nature. All he really wants is to be left alone. And that...that's something I...kinda sympathise with honestly." "You sympathise? With a giant monster?" "I don't know, maybe I'm just being stupid but...that's how I feel. I mean yeah he's some giant lizard but he's got feelings too, he wants to be left alone and keep the Earth safe, his home safe. Isn't that what all of us would want, to keep our homes safe? And because of all they inspired in me, because of all they've given me in my life I wanna give something back to them. To the people that made him, to the human race that made that legend and inspired my whole life...with the idea me and Norem had hopefully." "I don't think it's stupid," said Leiah softly. "I think that's really sweet...I understand a little now." Areh smiled at her softly in return, the bitterness between them slowly softening up as Norem stated: "Well if anything, it'll make a good thing for people to talk about if...we can't play our full set for some reason."

He looked at his brother slowly, indicating him as Lirem looked away softly with shame downwards, before he stiffened up and turned towards the doors that opened outwards, asking: "Let's see who's up before us, the show's about to start in like five minutes. You ready?" "More than you are," said Areh. "Areh." "I'm just saying. Don't worry, you don't even have to come on if you don't WANT to." "Huh?" "We have a song planned, me and Norem wrote something up especially for the concert." "Wait seriously?! And you DIDN'T tell me?!" "Sorry bro," said Norem. "Kinda slipped my mind while we were working on it inbetween missions. We made something as a tribute to the human race and all they've been through what with Feros and Eden Prime and all that yanno." "But...but we never do a song without each other." "This one didn't require guitar, actually it only needs drums, synth and voice. And my voice is deeper than yours so..." "You...you really gonna do this without me?" "Someone has to," said Jax bluntly. "We got two songs in our set that we got to do, that wuz whut we were contracted with as part of the lineup here. We're gonna have our new song, and then Rachniphobia. And if we can't do that, then we leave." "W-woah woah hold on, you can't just LEAVE before your set's up!" "Sure we can, if someone can't perform the song and be a part of it." "Jax, guys, listen-" "No, YOU listen!" shouted Areh. "I made a promise, and I NEVER break a promise. If you force me to break this by your own will then you can call this our last performance." "Wait, what?" "I'm done with you Lirem. You two can go off and do duets, but I'm not gonna stick with a group that let itself crash and burn all because of your damn pride. You are such a typical turian, I thought you were better than this." "...you won't leave this band." "Huh?" "I know you won't. You have nothing other than this band Areh, don't try to bluff me. You're not going anywhere else, you really gonna go back on the streets like a beggar, cuz I know there's no way you're going back to the Migrant Fleet, we all heard you." "I...well, it won't be my fault the band splits then, I won't leave unless there is no band to be with. Because the leader is a fucking coward who can't stand up to himself, a little bitch who's so obsessed with his own father's shadow that-" "Don't you talk back to me you little shit, I fought in wars! I'm NOT a coward! You don't have any right to talk to me that way just because you don't like the way I do things. If you wanna leave, then stop looking for excuses and leave!" "...heh...heheheh." "Wh-what?!" "Funny...I wonder if your dad said the same thing to you."

The quarian smiled beneath his mask as he turned towards the windows, pushing it open as the ocean poured forth. An ocean of people, from all races and all colours, screaming by the thousands as they sweeped across the main colony grounds of Horizon. The sky was a sunset hue perfectly in form with a painting that everyone would want, a peaceful serenity blending with the utmost joy experienced as a huge concert stage stood tall before them. Black curtains of silk, stage lights shining above and standing upon the front of the faux-wood panelled floor, was a human band rising with their song. A song of three guitars and a set of drums, no vocals needed as a slow bass melody started to play underneath a synth melody, before rising with a militaristic riff. As the melody began to rise in pitch and hope, a swell of excitement came from the crowd below as drums kicked in. Humans, turians, asari, salarians, even the odd mix of quarian, krogan, hanar and volus all came through with cheers and shrieks of their own language. Humans cried, krogans roared, turians whistled with delight. Quarians gasped, the volus lost their breath whilst the hanar simply glowed like the sun itself. Batarians shouted with lustrous joy, salarians leaped with fists punching the air alongside asari who squealed like schoolgirls. A single melting pot of the entire galaxy itself, transfixed before the human band as they played on. The song rose to an apex, the riff repeated, an electronic aria came calling from the back to blend it all together. A song of hope for the people, from Eden Prime and beyond. The Horizon Charity Concert had begun, now known as Eden Aid, and the Sole Calibrators were witness to it all from an unseen vantage point connecting to the stage. The sea of grey, pink, brown, black, red and indigo was a bewildering sight, almost humbling even as they slowly backed off. They seated themselves back down in the side room set up for them, a converted home cabin that no one was using shaped like a rectangular white egg from the outside. "Hooooly shit," gasped FG. "This place is unbelieveable." "And that music is amazing!" said Leiah. "Who's that on the stage?!" "Can't remember," said Norem, "some human band, not sure where they're from but they make a real good opening I can tell ya." "When do you guys go on?" "In a couple of hours, we got a long night ahead of us, sooooo take your time, relax, this whole thing's going on an entire day." "Keelah..." "You can go and mix with the crowd if you like, we start in four hours from now so go on, enjoy yourselves. You too James, you look like shit." "Heh thanks," said FG sarcastically, "might as well enjoy the atmosphere a little, come on Leiah."

The raptor and the quarian headed out towards the ground, keeping with them special VIP passes that allowed them backstage as part of the Sole Calibrators' entourage. The concert was tremendous to hear, the sound clear as day transcending across the colony grounds. The concert itself was situated on a smaller settlement away from the main capital known as Discovery, due to less area restrictions for the 82,000 people now watching from the grounds, with millions more watching from around the galaxy as well as from roofs and rampart buildings. Food was sold at hot and cold stands ranging from ice cream to hot dogs, the festive atmosphere focusing on charity and goodwill was infectious even to the most sour of people. James managed to perk up moreso after some good ice cream and pizza slices, whilst Leiah enjoyed herself some dextro-shakes and chocolate, cheering with the massive crowd over towards the new acts on the stage. Many acts came and went, all of whom received a warm welcome and even bantered with the audience a little. Salarian acappella, turian metal, krogan drum 'n' bass and asari fusion music all culminating up into a festival that people would remember for the ages. James was especially fascinated by a Quarian rock group called Red Alert, playing a rather bizarre but frenetically awesome rock song that mixed in elements of brass and drums, a real stab of cheer in the people's hearts for the concert. Leiah was especially happy to see them, screaming like she was six years old all over again whilst bouncing on her feet. The music was strange and wonderful, the people were mixed and cheerful, the food was delicious and heartening with unhealthy amounts of taste, and above all there was money pouring in from everywhere. Every corner of the galaxy, from James' pockets to the far-off rim where the Migrant Fleet flew, there was money coming in always. Two hours later however, James had to make a meeting with someone, along with Leiah who stuck by him trying to finding the VIP suite, bumping almost into a white-suited volus near the bathroom areas of the concert, calling out for someone.

"PUUUUTTZ! Hhhhhhh...Puttz where are you!?" "You alright?!" asked FG. "OH, I...um, I'm looking for my father's pet, he...I can't find him anywhere." "Can we help?" asked Leiah. "S-sure, um, thank you...he...he's big and scaly, a varren, kind of chocolatey colour." "A varren?! Here?!" "W-we didn't bring him in, we just...he got out of our ship and...ohhhh noooo, I don't wanna-" "DOH!" A black volus came waddling up towards the white one, heaving slightly as he took a moment to catch breath. "Nirethia found him." "Oh good! Where was he?!" "He was eating in the bins...hhhh...on the other side of the concert...hhhhh. Who are these people?" "N-no one father, I was just asking if they had seen Puttz." "Ahhh...I'm sorry for the interruption." "It's okay," said Leiah. "Um have we met?" asked James to the white volus. "You look familiar." "...n-no I...don't think we have." "Huh...you just look like someone I know." "Really? Um, I'm afraid I don't know you sir, sorry." "Hmm, alright. You didn't by chance happen to be in a-" "A-AHEM," coughed the black volus, "I'm sorry but we really must be going, we're meeting our family." "OH, right, sorry you have a great night guys." "Thank you. Come on Doh, we need to get some refreshments too." "Okay," said Doh. The raptor slowly walked off before pulling Leiah towards the bathroom discreetly, shushing her silently as he listened in on the dialogue of the two volus. "Do you think Alestia's boyfriend found her yet?" said the younger white. "Probably." "I bet her dad won't like him...he's already looking at his head like a thick nail to pound that hammer into." "Hhhha ha ha ha ha...ahhhh..." "You're not...mad at me are you, for letting Puttz out?" "No son...I know it was an accident, your mind is still...recovering a little, correct?" "I am...I think. I'm sorry." "For what?" "For...disappearing before, I...I can't remember anything, I wish I could tell you but-" "It's alright...I'm just glad I found you...I missed you son." "I...missed you too father. Um...can I ask...hhhh...wasn't there another friend that you had? One that sorta looked like that guy we just-" "He has his own...hhhh...business, to attend to. Now come on...let's make this a night to celebrate and watch...hhhhh...Alestia's boyfriend panic at seeing a krogan." "Haahaha, ohhhh I'm so putting this on Stumblr!" James had never heard a volus laugh, but smiled all the same as he just winked at Leiah, who nodded knowingly in return. He started to feel better about things as they found the VIP suite upstairs. A familiar-looking asari stood waiting for them, waving happily with the face of joy as she wore a much lighter look of a bright blue one-piece robe on her amethyst skin. The imposing tall turian of amber facepaint across his snout was also familiar, nodding dutifully in what he thought was informal, but really looked like a military recruit off-base in stiff unbuttoned attire.

"Mr. Campbell!" said the asari. "So glad we could meet before the Sole Calibrators played." "It's good to see you again Councilor," said FG. "Oh no no please, this is not Illium, just miss T'Kina will do." "Alright miss. Hey there sir." "Good to see you again Mr. Campbell," said the turian, "you've found yourself a better suit but...expecting trouble?" "Naaaah just, I'm a bodyguard for the band so..." "Ahh I understand. If any trouble comes up then let me know, I may assist." "Appreciate that sir. Did you talk with the quarian fleet yet miss T'Kina?" "Yes," said T'Kina, "and they were very helpful, thank you again for directing them to me. I understand that you...worked with a mercenary group that uncovered something related to the geth tracer routes?" "Yeah uh, when the band's not hiring me, I tend to work out on the outer rim with another separate group, checking out leads and such. When we found some stuff related to the geth I remembered something about you and how you were looking something up so..." "Wait...I don't think I ever mentioned that." "No? OH, right no, the assassin mentioned it I think, that was it." "Ahhh...of course that makes sense, well I appreciate your forethought, I spoke with a very lovely admiral who helped me better corroborate my evidence, I think Shala'Raan was it?" "Yes," said Leiah, "she's on the admiralty board too so she has a lot of authority." "I see...I'm very glad to see you again miss Dahlael." "It is a pleasure, miss T'Kina." "I firstly want to apologise for my behaviour back at the estate. That was terrible of me and-" "OH no no it's fine, I'm-just-it's nothing really I mean-" "No no, I made an assumption of you and that was terrible of me, and I apologise profusely. Shala'Raan told me about how your father was on board Susskind Station and thankfully survived, and...you were there rescuing him along with James and this mercenary group. You are a brave wonderful girl." "I...I'm just......thank you." "In fact...I discussed this briefly with Mrs. Raan and your family...I have an offer to make you." "Y-yes?" "I remember seeing how...upset you were at the estate and I noticed that...quarian clothing does not offer very much for formal occasions. And that this upset you." "Please, miss it wasn't your fault I-" "Let me finish. I'm a major shareholder of Zara's, the clothing store on the presidium. And, if you want, I would like your assistance in helping me design some new fabrics for the quarian market. Something for formal occasions." "W-wait wait...you...want me...to help you make quarian dresses?" "Yes. In fact, your father mentioned you had a lot of aspirations along those lines and...would you do me the honour of being our model?"

Were Leiah able to make any sound higher than the one she made then, her mask would have cracked open. James could barely hear the squeak of shock from underneath her suit, as the quarian fretted with her hands clammy and wringing against each other, before replying: "A-a-a...a-are you serious?" "I am," said the asari, "it's been bothering me for sometime and it is a fair niche in our market that would greatly cater to us in future events. Should I ever have to collaborate with the Migrant Fleet on say, geth activity monitoring, perhaps I might not be doing it in my office but at my estate. And I would certainly hate to see any of them struggling to accommodate themselves with the finest gentry, which is where you come in." "Oh...keelah...my father knows about this?" "He does, I said I would meet with you at the concert and discuss it with you properly. You can refuse, it is your choice entirely but-" "Yes," she said hastily, "yes I would. I...I would love to help you...k-keelah this is amazing oh my-keelah I-" "Then perhaps after this concert is finished, you can head down to the presidium on the Citadel and find the head office of Zara's. I'll give you both a pass I've prepared to let you through easily." She swiftly beeped on her omni-tool and transferred two bits of data, the visitor passes allowing them top access only to the Zara's main office. Leiah was still overwhelmed and struggled to maintain her decency, legs quivering weakly as James wrapped an arm around her shoulder to comfort her. T'Kina smirked sweetly, chuckling as Leiah asked: "Why are you doing this? I mean, I'm...I'm flattered but...why?" "Because of all you've done," said T'Kina, "I would never have been able to proceed further in my investigations, that and you saved my life." "James did, I didn't-" "The friend of my saviour is even more a friend. I want to help all people in this galaxy so that through kindness and equality, we can become better people. Not only for ourselves, but for the future." "And designer dresses help?" asked FG chuckling. "One step at a time, Mr. Campbell. Are you free within the next month?" "I'm free next week!" squawked Leiah. "I'll come down right away and we can do this, thank you THANK you!" Overwhelmed she grabbed T'Kina into a tight hug, realising her mistake before swiftly pulling back and awkwardly handshaking her out of it. The turian almost made a move out of reflex, but realised and stopped himself from jumping at her, shaking his head softly as the councilor smiled. "I'm glad to see you're so eager about this. Would you like to sit and watch with us?" "Um...s-sure thank you! If your bodyguard doesn't mind." "Whatever miss T'Kina desires," said the turian sternly. "Long as you don't cause trouble I have no problems." "Th-thank you...thank you so much." The two sat down readily enjoying the rest of the concert, waiting for the big show of their favourite band. In truth they were not the most eagerly-awaited band or the most popular, but nevertheless there was a good few thousand fans clamouring with excitement as their time drew near, song after song being played until it all became a musical haze. Other groups came and went such as the human group Solarforce with insanely rapid guitar riffs, the asari group Kinetic Shock with biotically-charged instruments, and the krogan duo known as Earth and Fire who duelled down with the strangest drum-based guitar instruments ever seen.

Elsewhere in the concert, located backstage along the wings in semi-darkness, Lirem sat waiting as he finished up his coffee, sighing to himself as he kept apart from the rest of the group talking amongst themselves. They were largely waiting for their act to come up, their instruments ready as they went over the song between them. The turian leader of the group felt all the more torn between his feelings, struggling as he walked into the bathroom behind him and locked the door, staring at himself in the mirror. "...what do you want?" he asked himself. "You have everything you could ask for, you're at the biggest fucking concert where millions are watching you...why are you acting like this? Why are you-...why are you being such a shithead? ...dammit...f-fucking DAMMIT!" He slammed his fists into the walls beside him, snarling with fury at himself as he resisted every urge he could to break himself in the mirror. He knew who he was angry at truly, as his solitude allowed him to open up some more on his feelings. "All I wanted, everything I could ever ask, is right fucking there outside, and they all want ONE SONG, just one fucking song that I know every single beat of. But YOU had to ruin it, you had to fucking ruin it by being a jackass and dying on me before you could see what I wanted to be! ...you couldn't even let me have my dream, dad. Why wouldn't you let me have it? I did everything you asked, I played a good soldier, I got merits, I made your family name good to carry on for fifteen years. Is it bad that I wanted to make people happy, rather than just kill more people?! Is morale not as important as an extra gun or two?! IS IT?!" His hands went over his head clasping at the back, throwing himself forwards as if about to puke, the feelings of his stomach knotting up both with stage fright and his own hatred. He said nothing for the next six minutes waiting, gasping, softly wincing to himself as he held back his tears. Eventually he heard a voice booming across every room, every blade of grass out across the stage front. "OKAY FOLKS, WE'RE DOING REAL GOOD SO LET'S KEEP IT UP WITH THE MONEY! WE GOT FOURTEEN MILLION IN THE BANK AND EDEN AID AIN'T GONNA STOP UNTIL WE HIT A REAL PRIME NUMBER, AM I RIGHT?! OKAY NOW, PUT YOUR HANDS AND TENTACLES UP FOR OUR NEXT GROUP! PLEASE WELCOME, THE SOOOOOOOOOOOOLE CALIBRATOOOOOOOOOORS!" Even in the locked bathroom Lirem could hear the screaming joy that greeted every band on stage, trudging his way through out to the backstage wings as he watched his brother on stage, speaking solo on mic. Jax and Areh also sat by their seats ready on instruments, the quarian not so nervous as he normally was despite his hands still shaking. Instead he shook with a different kind of feeling. Rage. But Lirem knew he would calm himself by the time the song itself would start, the quarian seated on the far right of the stage, with Norem centre forward and Jax centre back behind him.

"Hellooooooooo Horizon!" called Norem to the cheers. "How's it going?! So I hear we got some of our own fans out there, I-" "woooooooooooo!" "Aaaand that's all of them, that one guy there." The crowd giggled at the joke to ease things a little. "We're very honoured to be here, I mean, we're just some punks that did the soundtrack of one movie and that was it. But we're all stuck between these bigger awesome acts, I mean did you see that Solarforce guy? Now I know why humans have five fingers, it's for all that extra shredding on the guitars." Laughter rose once more as the three band members smirked at each other. They needed the laughs more than the crowd did. "But seriously, we're all honoured to be here but the fact that this kind of gig exists is not a good thing. It's been one and a half years since Eden Prime was assaulted by geth. Now I know that humans haven't really been around a long time compared to well, everybody else, but the things they've done are incredible. They dared to stake out a claim off in the Terminus Alliance which was the bad side of the galaxy, they dared to fight against the great threat that almost destroyed the Citadel and save our galaxy's stability, or lack thereof. "But the thing that people most admire about the human race, is how they never give in. Now I know we all like to think we're the biggest...the bravest...the smartest race, but in the end we all have our flaws. We all have to work together, and it was thanks to Commander Shepard, the first human spectre, that we were able to understand that. And I just hope that we can all follow this example, for a better and brighter future." He let a few seconds pass to let his words sink in, a dead silence of respect given as not a word went out from the people. "We all have different feelings about humans, but the fact remains that, freedom is the right of all sentient beings. I dunno where I heard that, but it's true. To the human race that first appeared on the galactic stage, I just want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to see all of us still quarrelling and bickering, while trying to run a galaxy that's still full of bigotry, and prejudice...and old wounds that are not healing. Well now you have a wound too, and we all want to help because you helped us. "When you were struck down hard by a great enemy, you just kicked back tooth and nail without giving in, no time for weeping until the job was done. And I think that kind of spirit, that kind of crazy determination even for the sake of other people...is something we could all learn. This is a song we made especially for the human race, and for the people of Eden Prime. We will never forget your sacrifice. This song is called 'On The Run', and it's about how...how fear and suffering under the shadow of evil, should never, ever, stop you from living."

The quarian started playing. A small key of four notes, repeating them smoothly back and forth until Jax slowly came in with a subdued drumbeat. Snare, cymbal, snare snare, cymbal, as Areh sent a rising hymn of a melody to play like a backdrop against the song. Norem soon followed through as his voice came haunting over the concert, a deeper voice than his brother's as the song came together, the turian gazing solemnly across the crowd before them. "Darkness burrows in, when we fall Morning will reveal us after all Curtains wide, say you'll run with me Captives we were called, but now we're free We won't stop until we say we're done We'll return the world to what it was." Lirem watched silently from behind the wings, fascinated by the song new to him. His brother stood like a soldier, the same way he did back in old army days. "Stuck behind, it's not a flaw They don't understand the webs we are We won't stop until we say we're done We'll return the world to what it was." The song bridged through an instrumental melody, the drums subsiding as Areh took centre stage. His hands glided with precision, breathing heavily to himself, almost as if he were sighing with regrets. His mind went with the song, flowing down and down into a spiral until the rise of the faux-choir melody brought them back up with a song of hope. A song of a brighter future against oppression and the darkness. "Glacial thoughts, they linger, then they die Grateful we were not sold for a price." A voice began to whisper the next two lines, haunting through Areh's instrument. "We won't stop until we say we're done We'll return the world to what it was." The song stopped for but a split second. The crowd held its breath before all three of them came through with full force, Norem singing alongside the whispers of Areh's keyboard. "We won't stop until we say we're done We'll return the world to what it was They will never catch us on the run We'll return the world to what it was." As the song soon petered out towards its end, with Jax and Areh turning quieter and quieter alongside each other. The crowd soon turned wild with amazement, screaming with joy and awe at such an emotional song. Norem could even see people weeping in the front rows, as did Areh too before they turned smiling at each other. At the very least it would help negate the damage of their next act, or lack thereof once the crowd died down. "Thank you," said Norem, "thank you, uh...I'm glad you liked that. Now...I know you were all expecting a second act, or rather the uh...one guy out there that came to watch us." "woooooooooo!" "Yes thank you! That's a hanar too, that's real excitement." The crowd giggled as Norem stood himself up. "We also had another song, that we claimed to our fans out there that we were promising to do...something that we haven't played for perhaps two years for various reasons. Well...the bad news is, that-" "IT'S GONNA KNOCK THAT LAST SONG RIGHT OUT OF THE GALAXY!"

A voice came screeching from behind the wings as another turian stepped on with his guitar, grinning excitably at his brother and friends who all looked at him with shock slightly. But Lirem didn't care. He couldn't care about anything other than this concert as the roaring cheers came washing over him. "HELLOOOOOOOOO HORIZOOOOOOOON, YOU HAVIN' FUN!?" "YEAAAAAAAAAH!" "WHAT!? THIS MIC BROKEN, I SAID YOU HAVING FUN!?" " YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" "Well GOOD! Cuz uh...we might be having some problems when uh, people here, even at a concert can get pretty scared of stuff. I mean we're all scared of things, war, illness, losing someone, that's natural to be scared. But maybe some of us...have other fears. Lemme ask you all something...who here, is afraid of rachni?" The crowd was somewhat perplexed but the telltale scream of the Sole Calibrators' fans told a different story altogether, as well as Jax saying: "I am!" "OH, we got someone here, you sir, you're afraid of rachni?" "Y-yeah?!" "See, even if you're a big powerful guy like my buddy here, it's alright to be afraid. Cuz I think right now we got to deal with a biiiig problem. Cuz I think...someone here has got a bad case of Rachniphobia...HIT IT!" Lirem slithered his fingers down his guitar as Jax swiftly joined right in, understanding the cue immediately as he played out a surprisingly tricky drumbeat. Focusing on the snares that stood around him with two on each side, the occasional smack of the cymbal joined the bass drum at his feet as Areh rapidly jammed his fingers across the keyboard, making a strange electronic sort of chitter, all while Lirem and Norem rose up their guitars slowly together back and forth. Bass to lead, lead to bass. The bass stopped briefly as they reached the apex of the intro, Lirem slowly bringing it back down in a as Areh put down a soulful seven notes. Right before Jax's hands blurred violently across his drums from left to right, sticks hammering down four times as fast as all four of them went full force into the song. The crowd turned wild at the guitars rocking out together, both Norem and Lirem dancing on the stage together as they wielded their guitar necks loosely, fingering along the string to alter the pitch with every pluck they made. Jax had never been so animated as before on the drums, his arms a blurr of brass colour as the drums shivered with every double, triple, quadruple slam in the space of a second on each one of them, the occasional interrupt with the bass breaking up very slightly. Lirem occasionally hit a little screaming riff to himself, during which he rose the guitar neck high and silently screamed with bliss eyes closed. Norem kept down low, smiling to himself as he dropped the bass neatly, almost subtly to the point that no one even noticed it other than by his own hands moving.

Areh however was the main conductor, despite Jax carrying the main beat of the song with the most frantic of drumbeats. His variations were the greatest, creating the oddest sounds from his keyboard of the softest faux-knocks that echoed slightly, to the soulful synth that changed pitch with every second for seven. Of course, nobody noticed all these minute details, and frankly nobody cared. What they did care about, was an amazingly-varied song that to many had been a long time coming, the return of an old friend that knew how to party and knew how to rock the fuck out. James and Leiah were in awe of their performance, seeing Lirem just breathe with a whole new life on stage as his guitar became his weapon, an instrument of power against the misery, the depression of war and strife. This was his sword, this was his shield against the night of sorrow, and everyone felt it. Like most of the other songs and every other band before them, hopefully, they played to live. They played to make people smile and cheer and feel warm inside their hearts. Even if it was only for a good four minutes. But what a hell of a four minutes it was going to be. The song ended with a space-age whoosh and no more, as the crowd within milliseconds of its end began cheering with screams of joy. Above them all, Oria T'Kina was screaming and cheering like a young maiden, hands tightly bunched up into fists as she jumped and clapped happily, a hundred years falling off her face. "THEY DID IT! THEY FINALLY DID IT, OH GODDESS YES!" "He really did didn't he?" said James. "Man...I'm glad this finally happened." "Me too," said Leiah, "I feel like...like things will be okay now." "Don't say that, you might jinx it." "Hehehee...you look a little better at least." "That's cuz I'm happy to see Lirem finally get out from his funk. Now they really do look like a band." On stage the Sole Calibrators waved and smiled gladly, resonating with smooth certainty of a job well done. They all slowly pulled their instruments away, assisted by small mass effect fields as they allowed the next act to come on. Norem, Jax and Areh all grinned towards Lirem, the turian looking slightly offput. "Thank you," said Areh. "H-hey I just...I just grew up that's all, can't help after that song you played on your own." "Took you long enough," said Norem, "thought I had to wait another two years." "Pfft, fuck you." "Hehehe...seriously, thank you." "What can I say, your song reached my heart and...well it just fit." "I thought so." "Did you see the way they loved that beat?!" crowed Jax. "That was AWESOME! SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME!" "Couldn't have done it without you Jax, this is your song." "Nah nah...this is OUR song. All of us...thanks fer not quittin' on us." "I know you'd never quit on me...truth is I already would have the way I was acting, so I know that anything is worth it with you guys. SO, who's up for some ice cream?!" "I AM!" "ME TOO!" cried Areh. "I really need something sweet, my mouth is all dry an-whu-wha-h-HEY!" The krogan lifted up Areh onto his shoulders without warning, cackling with joy as he went jogging off towards the food stands with a quarian bouncing on his hump. "Come on let's get some food I'm starving!" "Don't run, DON'T RUN-DAMMIT-AAAH! JAAAAAX! JAX STOPPIT-HHHH, YOUR HUMP'S HITTING MY ASS!" "Don't say that, people'll talk!" "THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT YOU BOSH'TET-HHHEHEHAHAHA!" "HAHAHAHAHA!" Both of them ran laughing down the corridor as the two turian brothers smiled at each other. They offered each other their hand before clasping with a firm shake, nodding peacefully as Norem said: "I'll always be proud of you Lirem. If I thought for a second that you couldn't do this, I would never have left home with you." "I know," said Lirem, "I just...forgot about that. Thanks big brother." Norem pulled his little brother against his side with an arm around his head, the two walking down after their two friends as the concert played on, forever singing songs across Horizon. A new hope for a new galaxy.