And now on to the next section of Alex's story. Enjoy peeps.

I looked at them all. So young and fresh. All of them sat there ridged and at attention while the briefing went on. I didn't like it. I didn't even know them and yet I was being tossed into this situation out of my control. Later on I would regret thinking that but now I wondered what the hell the Alliance was thinking sending FNGs out with me on a mission that was sure to be rough.

Yea all of them had gone through ICT in Rio. All of them wore the dark armor with the red stripe. My eyes rested on one young man, he was pale and sweating, trying to keep his attention on the CO. That concerned me a lot but I held it back while I leaned against the wall studying the group I would be babysitting.

Shepard. The Lion. I smirked a bit at that. He looked every bit the lion with his blond hair and darker beard and mustache. It reminded me of the darker mane in a sense. At the same time he also was slightly familiar to me but I couldn't place him. He was there at Elysium but I don't remember him at all. Then again I had a lot of problems myself at the time with keeping the pirates off his six. I never did meet him there but at the same time, he struck me as familiar. One of these days I would figure it out.

Right now the man was trying his best to keep his attention on the CO as they went over the briefing. A chance to strike back at the Batarians for Elysium. No, he would have to be cut. I could tell he wasn't feeling well and the way he kept on rubbing his forehead when his CO had his back turned told me a hell of a lot more. That boy had to go to the infirmary.

My attention turned back to Captain Coats as he continued to speak. I would bring up Shepard's issue after where the young man couldn't be embarrassed by his teammates. None of them could see he was suffering. Shame that they should have been a hell of a lot more aware.

"We will go in. There are no civvies here gentlemen and ladies. Everyone is a target and I expect you all to execute them with extreme prejudice. Remember, this is the retaliation for Elysium we all want. The council has chosen to ignore this op because it helps them as much as gives us our vengeance for what happened." Coats glared at them, his eyes resting on Shepard a moment.

Good, Coats could see there was something wrong with the man. Then he jerked his head at me and I shifted lazily away from the wall. "I am Commander Stefanos. You all will be under my command while we are on the ground and for the duration of this mission. You will listen to me and you will not go off on your own like some lone wolf because if you manage to survive after, I will make sure you can barely walk because your ass is so red it makes a dwarf star look pale. Do you get me?"

The group as one shouted in agreement and I nodded slightly. "Good. I have all your profiles and you will remember this is a mission not only to judge your readiness for the next level but also to test your specific specialization. We will infiltrate here," I said and pointed at the location that was about 5 clicks outside the main base.

"From there we will make our way to here and put down any opposition as quietly as possible. There are no innocents here and just like they gave no mercy to our people on Elysium, we give no mercy to them. I don't care if they have no weapons, it just means they dropped them expecting us to imprison them. Not this time. The parameters are to get in, cause as much destruction as possible and then get out. This means no heros. It's going to be rough and dirty black ops." My gaze met each of their eyes till I saw understanding then I motioned to Coats.

"We leave at 0600 hours. Dismissed!" Coats said and then tilted his head towards me.

"Shepard, stick around," I said and watched the man stiffen then his shoulders slump. Coats looked at me and nodded before leaving the room and leaving me to deny the Lion his chance at revenge.

"Shepard, you do none of your team any good if you are too sick to pay attention," I said gently.

"I… I will be fine," he said, startling me. The voice was even familiar to me. What the hell?

I dampened the startlement down and snorted in amusement. "LT if you were any more 'fine' you'd be falling over. We need everyone sharp and you are not as sharp as you could be. My son could topple you over, both of them, and Jason's only two. Gavin on the other hand would most likely knock you on your ass and drag you to the infirmary if he was here." Thankfully he wasn't part of this mission.

Shepard jerked his head up a moment then gave me a weak smile that struck me somehow. "Nice to know someone share's my name," he said then sighed and sat heavily down. "Pardon me ma'am, I don't feel so good."

I furrowed my brows up at him. He was bone white now. "Just how long have you been feeling like this solider?"

Shepard rubbed his hands over his beard and face. "About a week," he said, voice muffled by his hands.

I bit back an oath and grabbed his arm, pulling him forcefully to his feet. "You touvlo," I grumbled and dragged him out of the room. "Never do that again LT or I will hand you your ass."

Shepard just gave in, letting me drag him to the infirmary where I all but threw him in a bed and then ordered one of the doctors to give him a look. I stood there for the next hour with my arms crossed and glared at the young man. He was just slightly younger than Gavin and my heart went out to him though I was not going to show it to him.

Finally the doctor turned to me, his face showing concern. "The LT here is anemic for some reason. If I was to guess, the training and lack of proper diet might be the issue. His body is too stressed. It's probably best that I ground him till he's on kilter again."

I nodded. "Yea, my youngest son has that issue. I keep on having to watch what he eats like a hawk. Come to think on it, I would be the same way if I didn't eat so much iron rich foods. So you telling me I should take the LT out for some really rare stake?" I grinned at the doctor who grinned back.

"It wouldn't hurt but due to the anemia he's also a bit dehydrated. We are going to put him on a bag of d5w and see if that helps him. Still he's out for at least 2 weeks. Sorry son," he said at least to Shepard who gave a rather sad smile.

"My fault doc," he said weakly and closed his eyes.

The doctor's gaze met mine. "I'll let the Captain know one of his marines is going to be on forced sick leave."

I nodded. "I'll give him a heads up for your report."

"Commander," the doctor said and tilted his head.

I nodded again and turned to leave, leaving Shepard to rest. I found Coats in his office going over last minute details and settled on the chair before his desk. He glanced up and then went back down, signing the pad.

"How is he?" There was some tone in his voice that I couldn't put a finger on.

"Anemic. Doctor's doing some tests now to see the cause. He suggested it might be the stress between the training and improper diet. Either way we can't take him." It was hard leaving the symbol of humanity's brightest behind.

"Hmm, can't be helped. He's on sick leave for the next few weeks then," Coats sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"That is what the doctor suggested. He should be shooting you his report soon so you can make it official. It's a problem but it's manageable. My youngest has the same issue. Just have to watch what he eats." I shrugged slightly.

"Gavin?" Coats arched his brow up and I shook my head.

"No the youngest, Jason," I answered.

"Gavin's doing well if you wish to know. He's every bit your son though more prone to destruction than you were," Coats said with a grin.

I laughed. "That is Kraz's doing I hate to say. The boy is built like his father without the attitude thank the gods."

Coats smiled. "Well he does handle himself like a Krogan but he's sharp too. I assume that is your influence. SCi is trying to develop new omni tool defenses to shield our N7's. The boy suggested a physical shield. Got one of the engineers in a tizzy over it. Been thick as thieves since."

I grinned. "Why am I not surprised? Its good he's doing well. I couldn't ask for anything else. Just glad he's not causing trouble."

Coats snorted in amusement. "Oh he does just no one's caught him yet. That and he doesn't target the officers. Some of them would get quite irate and then piss themselves once they find out he's your son after they reprimand him."

I shook my head and laughed. "Again, not surprised."

Gavin grew up knowing his father was a bastard of the worst sort. As he got older, I told him more and he told me about what he did remember of his father. It wasn't good and he told me he thought I was an angel the first time he saw me, someone who came and saved him.

"Gavin had a hard life before I got him," I said slowly. "His father beat him. It's a wonder he was alive when I got there. If I hadn't gone to rescue Liara…," I trailed off and Coats gave me a sympathetic look.

"Get some rest Commander. 0600 comes early around here," Coats said with a wry smile.

"Aye aye sir," I said and stood, giving him a sketchy salute. "Will you be there to watch us off?"

He nodded. "And to wish you godspeed."

I paused before I exited. "Out of curiosity, who's the engineer Gavin got in a tizzy? I just wanna know if I will have to contend with someone else in his life."

Coats laughed. "Traynor? She's a brilliant but young specialist. Don't worry, her girlfriend might get upset at Gavin if he tries. Besides, she's more into her work than anything else. The boy never would have a chance."

I nodded then tilted my head slightly before leaving. I settled into my rack and let sleep wash over me. Coats was right, 0600 came early and I was still on Hyetiana time. Like most soldiers though, I could rest when I could find it so sleep came quickly.

6 years before...

I yawned at the table, the coffee barely keeping me up. It had been a long night for me and it wasn't getting any better with the droning of the Asari there before us. Selah glanced at Kraz and then back to me and jerked her head slightly. Kraz nudged me with his elbow a little and I blinked, refocusing on the Asari.

"So, after the infiltrators gave us warning we took cover ma'am. When they hit the ambush point the charges were set off and we came in. They fought to the last being. If it wasn't for Sarg, Harvec would have brought it. He's in the infirmary now and the Doc says he'll be out about a month while they regen his leg."

I nodded and took a deliberate sip of coffee. "And the payload?"

"We delivered it to the compound as ordered. I don't think the Pack is going to be very happy with the Legion for a while if ever. We did take down one of their better units. From what I saw, it was best to keep those weapons out of their hands anyways. Not quite sure what they wanted with 'nade launchers but I am pretty sure it would be destructive."

I nodded. "Well that is for another time LT. You and your unit did good work today." I shifted my shoulder and tensed a bit in pain. My shoulder protested the movement and the bullet wound I had acquired on the last mission was one of the reasons I hadn't slept much. The other was because Gavin refused to leave me be when I got back.

"Ma'am," the Asari said and turned leaving.

I waited till she was out of the room before sighing and slumping a bit. I would have to get some meds from the Doc when I got out of here. "Anything else?"

Selah shook her head. "No, that was the last mission. Alex… I know you want to hear this all but you should be resting."

Kraz nodded, a bit concerned. "You haven't been healing very well and you seem to be tired all the time. Maybe you better go see the Doc and have her run tests."

For him to say something meant that something was wrong but I waved it off. "Gavin kept me up all night with his worry." I sighed again and rubbed my face with my good hand.

"He cares about you. You took him out of an extremely bad situation and put him in the best situation he could have never thought of. Of course he is going to worry. You are his mother even if you did not give birth to him," Selah said gently.

"I know but… he's 12 and has been with me for eight years now. He should be used to it," I said, grimacing because there was a hint of whining in my voice. Great.

"The boy worships the ground you walk on Alex," Kraz's bass rumble came from my right and I glanced over. "To him you are immortal and to show weakness has him worried."

I rolled my head a bit, neck popping which released some tension in my shoulder. "Ok ok. I'll go rest and put myself on a week's leave," I grumbled.

"Don't forget to see Doc about this troubling issue with healing," Selah added.

"Hmph, I just need a good night's rest and a good meal before I talk to her," I responded with. "So I am going to do that in that order. You know what chaos to wake me up for." I got up with a grunt. Hopefully Gavin would let me sleep.

"We do," Selah said and then got up, gathering the datapads. "Kraz how's the new one's training?"

They started talking and that left me a good cause to escape the room. I headed right to my apartment from there, sneaking in because I had left Gavin asleep in my bed. He was still there when I entered my room. I carefully dressed in a t-shirt and sweats before sliding in to the bed. When I was settled he snuggled closer to me and then was fast asleep. It didn't take me long to settle in the most comfortable position I could and drop off.

It took two weeks for me to get back to where I was before I was shot. Doc ran some tests and pronounced me iron deficient. So she gave me a shot for that and said I needed to eat more meat. She also threatened me, told me if I got hurt she was going to strap me down to a bed and let me heal without her help.

The way things have been going, maybe she was right. I depended way too much on that healing to get me through and the last 3 assignments had gotten me hurt pretty good. As in a total of 12 holes in my body, 3 broken bones and a pulled muscle. Yea, I was a wound magnet. Each time it left Gavin more and more clingy too. That should have been an indication. It was a simple choice after that.

For the next few years I only went on assignments when it was needed a more personal touch and I made sure to be over watch, letting the others take the gunfire. Gavin had taken to sticking to Kraz's side when he was around and the Krogan delighted in teaching him more than just about fighting much to my dismay. The boy caused all sort of troubles.

The next four years brought a lot of chatter, at least stuff that my merc group kept on finding. We got hired by one of the corporations to retrieve their stolen goods. Some sort of prototype that they were desperate to get back. That one was all hands on deck and even I went in because it was pirates and a pretty large group of them at that. We ran dark in the Terminus after gathering information. This group was smart but not smart enough to keep from talking.

Nutus was our target, well the moon Etrat was. It was home to a rather large pirate operation from what intel gave us. Because of the location not only were the pirates gaining tribute to Triginta Petra but also any one stupid enough to refueled using Nutus for the h3. The mission was simple, recover the prototypes and leave. That was all but as anyone knows, best laid plans never survive landing.

"Captain, hitting the drop point in 2 minutes," the shuttle pilot said and changed course.

I nodded and turned back. "Kraz you are going to go to the front with team one and cause a ruckus, give team two time to infiltrate the complex. Team three, you will be backing up Team one. Shadow team will be taking out anything in the way of team three. Selah, you are leading team three. Eyes up because we might miss a few. Take no chances, take anyone down who isn't Legion."

Kraz and Selah nodded and Kraz gave his shotgun another check before attaching it to the mag. Selah met her team member's eyes and each nodded in turn. I knew that Shadow team was behind me. We were the lone wolves who would take out any warm bodies in the way and that was all we were there for.

Each of us work darkened armor and had cloaking devices. Silencers for our pistols and melee weapons depending on the favoritism. I had the knife that Gavin's father had used against me and it had proved its worth time and time again. Silent-Step had short rod weapon with a wide blade on the end similar to a ax. It was something that Elcor actually used. Yes, we had a Elcor assassin as amusing as that sounded. He wasn't like his brethren at all.

K'sala nar Vengeance was like her mother with a sharp wit and an even sharper tongue. She used something like a stiletto, more pick like though and made to penetrate even bone. I've seen her take out a Krogan with the thing. Kraz even respected the Quarian for her skill. It's a shame that she was on our side and not the Quarian's, they really would have had a jewel.

Narzun's brother, Drakzo, was the fourth member of Shadow team. He actually used his claws to kill with. Narzun explained that some Turians genetically had throwbacks to ages gone by and Drakzo was one of them. His claws were obvious extensions of his hands and I've seen him personally take out 4 mercs in what amounted to ten seconds with those claws.

Normally these genetic throwbacks didn't survive long because of their predisposition to fighting. And if they did it was only because they were imprisoned and put in isolation. Drakzo on the other hand, he was different even for a war loving Turian. His and Narzun's parents realized after he was born that he wasn't like most Turians. They had researched and researched till they could find a way for him to control his impulses. Asari's were hired to help school him and keep him safe.

Later on, after the first Contact War and after Narzun realized the extent of my training, he sent for his brother and brought him to me. Narzun warned me about Drakzo and then left us alone. It didn't take long before the younger Turian attacked me. I promised Narzun I wouldn't hurt his brother so Drakzo leaned what an aikido master could do.

The boy was smart though and very cunning. It took months to get him to the point he was now through katas and meditation. He learned to focus his urges on things that should be taken out and to understand the katas helped train him and keep his mind on reality. And now he was a very productive member of Shadow team.

"30 seconds," the pilot's voice came back to me and pulled my hood on which was the action everyone waited for.

Each team sealed their helmets and pulled their favorite weapon out. Shadow team relaxed as the door opened, letting the cold wind in the compartment. We were five feet from the ground when I jumped out with the other 3 behind me. And then we melted into the dark with our cloaks, trotting ahead to the first point. From there we separated after we entered the base through a forgotten side door.

Drakzo made the first kill, a guard that had his back turned to us and then we went our separate ways, clearing out the chafe left behind from Kraz's all to blunt attack. K'sala took out a human that came around the corner right after, his voice cut off as her pick found his throat. We all paused to listen then I nodded to them and we separated it cause as much havoc as possible.

The hall I took lead towards the front of the compound. After a few minutes I heard voices ahead of me and I turned on my cloak to get in closer. It was two Batarians and one of them was the leader. He wore better armor than the rest of the mercs I had come across and cutting the head off the snake might at least make things easier for the other teams.

"You fucking idiot, get out there and take those damn mercs down. El will not thank you later for fucking the assignment up," came the one's voice. "What? Are you sure?" He glanced at his companion. "It's the Legion. We need to burn all data before they get their hands on it. That bitch already has enough information to piece together everything."

The other Batarian nodded and turned to me. I was lucky my cloak was on and I melted back into the shadows as he came my way. The knife came out and I hid it behind me as I waited for him to pass by me. When he passed I came up behind him, snapped his head back and plunged the knife into his throat, ripping forwards. Blood sprayed away from me as I held him and then quietly laid him down. Now for the other.

I returned to the entryway and peered around the corner. The Batarian had no clue his companion was dead and he continued to relay orders to the rest of the 'pirates'.

"Cut them off in zone three. Squad Blood and Fang back up Squad Fist. Do not let them get through," he said, pacing back and forth. That should have told me he wasn't the usual pirate but it didn't matter. He had to die.

I watched him a minute, taking in his deliberate pace and timed my attack with the moment he was closest to me and turning. The knife came up as I came up behind him but he must have sensed me because his elbow came out, tech armor spikes protruding, and caught me in my stomach. The knife dropped out of my hand.

"You," his voice growled as I recovered and then I sardonically bowed to him. That set him off and he charged me, winding up into a tech force punch.

His fist just slid past my head as I ducked under and when he was about to recock his arm, I grabbed it, shoved it towards his chest and brought my knee up to his stomach. With a oof of air he bent over a moment but that gave him time to backhand me away too. I glanced around briefly, seeing my knife on the floor a few feet away but his next attack had me watching him and not that.

He tried to stun me with a net and threw a piece of rubble at it, stopping it and followed up with a combo strike at his leg, knee and then chin. That made him reel back when I uppercut him and I moved to my right, within range of my knife, ready to pick it up so I could end it.

With a snarl he growled and rushed me, his arms wrapping around as his tech armor unleased a pulse which shocked me briefly. That gave him time to throw me down to the floor and then come down to pin me under him. Then he drove his fist down at my head, prefab'd claws sticking out. I twisted under him and his fist passed just barely by.

The next moment would be clear in my head for years later. It was like everything went slow mo on me. My vision seemed to narrow as he raised his fist up again to hit me and I slithered my leg up his side and then around his head to his neck, straightening out my leg which not only got him off me but trapped his neck between my legs.

I tensed up my legs and then all but threw my body into a roll, his neck loudly snapping in the process. That might be the cleanest kill I've ever done. Panting I laid there a moment before reaching up to grab my knife just in time to sit up and throw it at the arriving pirate. The poor human made a gurgling sound as that knife found his throat and he grabbed it. He was dead before he hit the floor all the same.

No rest for the wicked. I pushed myself up to my feet, retrieved my knife and then turned to see what the Batarian had on him. Some credits. The armor, well it was something new to me and maybe someone could reverse engineer it so that some of our tech specialist had better armor.

Grunting I gave the coms two clicks which was the signal for Shadow team to finish up. K'sala gave her customary three clicks to say she was done. Drakzo gave his sos click and Silent-Step finally gave his single click. I responded with five clicks and that told them to find me. My omni tool lit up as he scaned the Batarian's face for later and then like three shadows, the rest of my team appeared.

"Everyone dead?" My voice was soft, just in case someone else came along.

"No emotion. The base is clear except for those still fighting Kraz and his teams," came Silent-Step's slow rumble.

I nodded and then nudged the dead Batarian. "This one was not a pirate but I don't know who he was. He's got military spec ops type training."

K'sala winced slightly at the odd angle of the Batarian's neck. "Broke his neck huh?"

I nodded. "He gave me no choice and I lost my knife."

Drakzo laughed shortly and then frowned, coming over to the Batarian and rolling him to his side. "Capt, this guy definitely is Batarian military. See this?" He pointed to a slight discoloration on the neck that once the armor was off and the under armor pulled away, turned out to be some sort of tattooed symbol.

K'sala spit. "Yup, definitely official military. Looks to be one of their lesser skilled teams though."

Drakzo nodded. "Possible." He used his tool the scan the tat and then stood up and arched a brow at me.

"Ok there is some data from here we need. Let me catch Kraz's attention so he can clean up the rest." I turned away. "Kraz, weapons free." Then I turned back to them.

"Find any terminals and download all the data. Did any of you find where they are storing their stuff?" I looked at them all.

Silent-Step nodded. "With no emotion. I pointed Selah to the garage area. She is there now processing everything with her team." He then shot me the co-ords with his omni tool.

"Ok, you have your detail. Go to it. I will be in the garage. Maybe there's something there." They all moved off to search the complex and remembered terminals while I went to find Selah.

It took me a few minutes to get there and when I did I was actually taken aback at everything stored there. Selah had her team combing through all the supplies and I realized this wasn't quite a pirates take as much as storage for something big. This sent a slight shiver down my spine.

"Gamiseme tora," I said slowly as I looked around and that caught Selah's attention.

"Fuck me indeed. Capt this is not pirates stealing. This is a depot for something." Selah saw the writing on the wall as clearly as I did.

I nodded and took in the huge garage. There was enough here to supply a small army for weeks. "This, this has a use. I have Shadow team downloading all data. Maybe we can figure out what's going on. Call in the Vengeance and get the Elephant here. We are going to clear this place out." It would take the huge cargo space that the Elephant had to get everything gone.

"We found the prototype too," Selah said and nudged the box that was next to her.

"Get that on the Vengeance when she gets here. How long do you expect it will take to load all this?" I gestured towards the space before me.

Selah glanced over her shoulder a moment then smirked. "Not as long as you think. The Elephant has cargo movers for a reason. Not that any of us expected to use it as more than just a troop ship."

I nodded. "Do you need at least a day or less?"

Selah looked thoughtful a moment. "Less, maybe 5 hours if Kraz is done playing with the pirates."

"Kraz?" My voice came over the coms and after a moment he answered.

"Yea?" I heard his shotgun go off.

"You done playing around?"

"Yup, that was the last of them. What do you need?"

"I am sending you co-ords, get your guys over here for some heavy lifting." Then I sent my location to him.

"Got it. See you in three. Come on, we got some lifting to do now ladies. Double step it!" Then his voice faded and I chuckled.

"He'll be here in three minutes. Get this all organized and loaded, we'll figure out what it is later. Ok?" Selah nodded to my information and then turned away to coordinate her people and the Elephant's workers.

One day at a time is all we could do and maybe the data would give us an idea of what the hell the pirates were stockpiling for. No one stole this much and kept it, it defeated the purpose of stealing. Whatever the reason was, it sent a chill up my spine.

So I told you i'd be back with a new story. This one is time warped to eight to ten years after. We are up to the years before Elysium and Torfan. And this time I plan to at least go on through to Torfan. So be excited or disappointed ladies and gents. Also, leave messages to tell me what you think of this new section. Thank you! PS. Sorry, i knew i was missing something and one of my fav fanfic authors cmitts93 pointed out the time frame. So its fixed #lessthanthree to him :D and if you haven't read his stuff, go read his only fanfic ;)