(A/N: Hello there! This is my first fan-fiction, and thus I desire criticism for my work, so please review! As one cannot improve without knowing their flaws. Also, just so know beforehand Bold is Daedra speak Italics are thoughts.)

Twin-Headed Serpent of the Normandy

Krosis was a tired Argonian, a happy one, but tired, it had taken years of study and training but after all of that boredom he is now back at the level of thieving mastery he was back on his home planet. Now, with his skill and newly invented spells, he could sneak in and steal from all but the most paranoid holders of valuable objects, bulls-eyes he like to call them, without any prior planning or preparation, just the way he enjoys working. Taking a deep breath of exaggerated exhaustion he relaxes from his combat stance, and turns to examine the training course he built years ago for evidence of any mistake he may have made, an alarm blaring, a depressed pressure plate, a security bot attempting to kill him with holographic rounds, anything to suggest he needed further training. Nothing, simply an unscathed collection of well lit corridors, cameras and droids continuing their patrol as if nothing was amiss, the only evidence of Krosis' passing was an open display case. Where once it proudly held a large, if fake, blue diamond, now only holds an enchanted weight, placed with impossible precision so as not to set off the pressure sensor underneath. Said blue diamond now rested in the thief's pocket, a cliché objective, sure, but a nice reminder of his old quarries and an as enticing goal as any, finished and satisfied with his analysis of his performance he then fishes the rock from the satchel of the Nightingale armor it was stored within, bringing it up to the eye holes of the Dragon Priest's mask he long ago claimed from its twice dead corpse, he let himself get lost in the stone's beauty, its infinite refractions giving the impression of an entire world within its many facets, something he knew was not entirely impossible from his experience inside Azura's Star.

Thinking of Azura's Star brings memories of what he occupied himself with before he began his studies and training, even after he'd been taken from Tamriel the Daedric Princes he'd served across Skyrim, had been able to maintain contact, not through shrines, but through the artifacts he'd earned from all of the Daedric Princes, and while his disappearance from Skyrim upset many mortals despite Alduin's defeat and death, the Daedra couldn't have been happier that their champion could now extend their reach to the stars, to beings with technology the divines, still stuck in Tamriel, could only dream of. So eager was each Lord to be the first to gain worshipers and conduits into this new world of technology, that they argued for days about who's agenda would be fulfilled, nearly driving Krosis to insanity with so many voices echoing throughout his mind for those long three days, to this day he holds a special grudge against Sheogorath for his hand in making the argument last for so long, but at last a compromise was reached. A Daedra would be bound to Krosis, to act as a conduit to the Daedric Princes, organize their commands, and assist Krosis in his endeavors, a secretary in a sense, though no Daedra seemed to be fit for the task, yes, all were loyal to a fault towards their respective Lord though none held loyalty and respect for all Daedra and their respective Prince, and for the Daedric Lords, the search for the appropriate Daedra was becoming tiring, to say the least. Though, after weeks of searching, one was found, a Spider Daedra by the name of Krisaph whom was known for her good Samaritan nature towards her fellow Daedra and their worshipers, odd for a servant of the Prince of destruction, and immediately accepted upon being offered the honor of serving the will of every Daedric Lord, an honor only known to two others, Krosis, and the once Champion of Cyrodiil, now mad-god Sheogorath.

The Daedra found, she was bound to Krosis' soul using power from each Prince, never to be separated in life or death nor before the might of mortal or god. After that ordeal had been sorted Krosis felt that it was time to move from the station "Omega" he'd been staving off boredom on, and pissing off one or two crime lords in entertaining himself, for greener pastures, and fatter wallets, and so used a spell he invented with express purpose of information gathering, in order to steal knowledge of how maintain and pilot a ship, causing a pilot to lose his job due to forgetting how to pilot, but that just let Krosis know the spell needed improvement. Using his new-found knowledge to hijack a docked ship and use another spell he'd invented under the onslaught of boredom, a special conjuration spell that basically clones the caster a different number of times depending on the amount of magicka used, while they weren't durable enough for combat, they did allow for a single man to pilot a ship. The former crew of the ship were dumped onto the nearest hospitable planet, let it never be said he didn't give them a chance at survival, a solution Krisaph found quite amusing, caring she may be but a Daedra's enjoyment of mortal's misfortune is something one can never take. The problem of transport solved, Krosis proceeded to spread the influence of the Daedric Princes, Malacath of the hideous finding worshipers among the Vorcha, Mehrunes Dagon of destruction and ambition attracted the worship of many Krogans, Clavicus Vile became popular, in secret, with a few power-hungry individuals whom experienced proof of the Lords power, Hermaeus Mora the Vast Expanse of knowledge lured in the Asari and Salarians of an insatiable curiosity, Hircine's dominance of the hunt enticed a few bounty hunters and galactic huntsman into worship, Jyggalag the embodiment of order and logic was accepted by scientists and keepers of the peace, Mephala, the web spinner caught the interest of manipulators and strategists, Meridia of life's spark guided the hands of many a doctor in preserving it, Molag Bal of domination was embraced by sadistic criminals, who's pleasures were reviled by most other religions, and by masochists who simply wanted to be dominated by his worshipers or the Prince himself, Peryite of pestilence was revered by Vorcha and those whom believe society must be cleansed, Vaermina of dreams and nightmares entered the minds of those whom treasure the brain and its many machinations, Azura of the magic between twilights became an object of worship for fortune tellers and psychics, where once were cons were now genuine articles, Sanguine of debauchery and darker pleasures was taken in by the minds of those who freely indulge in their darker natures, a far greater percentage than in Tamriel, Namira of darkness and those reviled seized the mind of those whom wanted acceptance despite their their looks and those who reveled in their hideous physical nature, Nocturnal of thieves and the night guided the hands of more thieves than ever and got more than a few worshipers as well as Nightingales in return, Sheogorath of madness and the youngest Prince enraptured the minds of the mad and now was a name known in every insane asylum in the galaxy.

Though worship of the Daedric Princes was certainly known to many around the galaxy and was practiced by more than it ever would be in Tamriel, it wasn't as widespread or commonplace as many official religions and, to this day was only on the level of a cult, though steadily grows with each year, but there were still social stigmas attached to being a Daedra worshiper in popular culture, with only a scant few famous figures openly admitting to being a Daedra worshiper, mainly due to the lack of moral judgment with the Daedric Princes, a good selling point, but incriminating in the eyes of the "moral" populous. After his work in spreading the word of the Daedra had, for the most part, been finished, his influence only known to the highest ranked worshipers with his careful manipulations and honeyed words, Krosis went back to being a thief and assassin for hire, as the Daedric Princes had more than enough servants to carry out their will. And so we come to the three years of research and training he went through to find a way to fool every security measure this galaxy had to offer, money was no object as the Daedra worshipers were more than willing to offer financial support to their "Messiah" as they've taken to calling him, a fitting title given his deeds. 'Three years,' Krosis mutters in his mind, 'looking back, three years felt like they passed so quickly.' 'Of course it did, over those three years you were so focused on your research and training, you barely, if ever, noticed the sun and moon pass through the sky.' the enticing, heavenly voice of Krisaph points out from within his mind and sighs, 'It almost made me wish you weren't so polarized between your two faces.' Krosis, in his early days as an amateur thief, took the lesson of deception further than most ever did, through years of developing habits and molding his own mind he split it into two personalities, one of the fool, fun-loving, seemingly unprofessional yet with all of his skills as a master thief, and the other of logic and plans, with all of the skills of the former but only taking control when necessary to maintain the image of an idiot savant thief. An extreme measure of deception that fooled all of Skyrim into believing that he stole because it was the only thing he was good at, and not out of his simple greed and a desire for the thrill of thievery, and convinced more than a few guards into letting him go with the use of his silver-tongue. Krosis chuckles, 'Almost?' he questions, amusement lacing his mental words, Krisaph offers her gentle giggle in return, 'It's what makes you interesting even after living in your mind all of these years.' she answers, a slight smile visible on the mental view he has of her whenever they converse, 'I suppose I have let my more critical personality be a little too dominant these last three years.' he admits with Krisaph letting out a snort at the word "little," 'But, what say I make amends, eh?' Krosis offers with the words thinly veiling the excitement he has for what he has planned, but Krisaph decides to play along, 'Oh? And what do you have in mind, my Twin-Headed Serpent?' she queries with mirth, using the pet name she made for him in reference to his split personality and species, Krosis lets out a joyful, yet borderline sinister laugh characteristic of his more jovial personality, 'Why, the greatest crime spree Ilium has ever known, of course! After all, what better way to put my study and training to use?' he reveals with a playful joy akin to that of a child, Krisaph can only grin and laugh with him, 'Nice to see those years of dormancy haven't changed your fun-loving side.' she remarks with relief, as she will finally have some fun after those three long years.

After deactivating the training course, locking the doors to his home, and ensuring he was properly equipped for his nocturnal escapades, he jumps out of the sole window in his home and cast the alteration spell, "Wall Walk," which did exactly as its name implied, and allowed the caster to walk on walls, invaluable in a world of buildings that could taunt the moon with their height, and as soon as his feet makes contact with the wall of the skyscraper his home resided within, he is off, weaving through the shadows cast by city light, like a whisper in the wind he deftly avoids detection of the many people still basking in the joys of night, the cool breeze bringing refreshing air to his lungs, as he makes his way to stores and banks, each being hit without any knowing of his presence, building after building, pocket after pocket, he steals to his hearts content, for while there was no physical currency to take for his own, there were more than enough valuable objects to grab and sell for quite a profit. After hours of thievery the night comes to its crescendo as the master thief stops to gaze at his final quarry for the night, a Turian Military Base, heavily guarded and an adequate test of his skills in the field. Krosis looks away from the base to rest the cartoonishly large dark brown sack upon the ground and pull it open, proceeding to look inside, humming to himself he comes up with an answer to the unspoken question, "There should be enough room in here for a few valuable guns, and maybe a grenade or two." nodding to himself with that evaluation he closes the bag and casts an invisibility spell over it, set to last until he gets back. Krosis steps up to the ledge of the building, the armory directly across, though too far to jump, seeing this he prepares to do something he hasn't done since he was taken from Tamriel, taking in a deep breath and whispers three words though their power still rang true, "Wuld, Nah Kest." and as the words were spoken he is propelled across the gap with the greatest of ease and lands with light feet born from experience, the gap cleared, he looks for a way in, though, not finding one in his immediate area, decides to put to use his now more refined "Mind Scan" spell, that, unlike the first prototype, does not affect the memories of the victim in any way and can only be sensed by biotics and Asari due to their greater mental awareness. As it was a "touch" spell he had to get in close, a paltry task for him, so, casting "Wall Walk" he crawls down the side of the building to a bridge connecting this building to another, coming to a stop just above a soldier guarding the front door, extending his hand slowly, and carefully, his more logical side assuming control for the precision necessary, and with his hand in reach the spell is cast soundlessly, the only visible sign of its work being scant few dull green wispy tendrils bridging the gap between Krosis' hand and the back of the soldier's head. Within a few seconds Krosis scanned the soldiers memories, only memorizing those having to due with the building's security, after that short moment the spell stops, the necessary information gathered, before Krosis looks to the other side of the bridge, and whispers, "zul mey gut." the words of power called, his own voice taunts from the shadowed end of the bridge, "Hey! Skeever butt!" the guard, none the wiser, immediately pulls up his rifle and cries out,

"Who's there!" receiving no answer only makes the guard frustrated, "I said who's there!" he repeats angrily, after still receiving no answer he moves toward the other end, gun poised to fire, allowing for Krosis to noiselessly descend upon the ground, having pulled all the key codes from the turian's mind he quietly punches in the code and makes his way into the base and hears the guard give out a last few words, before shutting the door, "Who's there dammit! And what the hell's a Skeever?" letting himself have a quiet snicker he quickly jumps back onto the front wall of the hangar the door led to, getting a good grip and quickly crawling to the ceiling.

Knowing where the shadows were naturally cast from the memories he pulled, he takes a moment to figure out his exact route, 'Hmm, I could go with the most direct route, through the barracks, or through the amply shaded storage area, what do you think I should do Krisaph, this is after all, me making amends for the boredom you went through.' said Spider Daedra only smirks, 'Oh yes, this venture was all for me, because aren't enjoying duping these mortals so easily at all' Krosis smiles underneath his mask, 'True,' he admits with amusement, 'But regardless, this is just as much for you as it is for me, and I have been making all of the decisions tonight, amusing as they may be.' the bar brawl he started earlier came to mind at that comment, though, as those words are projected from his mind Krisaph gains a devious smile, 'Well since you're so insistent on the matter, have a clone grab a bucket of hot pink paint from the bag,' 'And what makes you think I stole a bucket of paint, let alone a pink one?' Krisaph simply gives him a deadpan look, 'Because you steal everything of even remote value' she points out as if it was obvious, which to anyone who knew Krosis, it was, he simply gives a weak chuckle, 'Point taken, so what do you want me to do with the paint?' he questions, truly curious, 'Nope, you'll just have to wait and see.' she refuses playfully, enjoying the mild look of annoyance on his face, 'Very well, Krisaph, but there will come a day when I learn how to read your thoughts as you do mine.' he mock threatens, earning a chuckle from her, 'Well, until that day my Twin-Headed Serpent, I shall enjoy keeping my secrets, secret.' she happily taunts, 'Now, do as I say, you did say this night was for me, right?' she kindly orders, batting her eyelashes in her imitation of cuteness. Seeing that he's lost this round he sighs and does as she commanded, sending a clone to retrieve the paint, it should be fine as long as it doesn't trip, 'Now, when the clone gets back take the paint and go to the barracks.' knowing she wouldn't specify on her objectives more than necessary he simply chooses to remain on the ceiling, contemplating if casting a fury spell on one of the patrolling soldiers would be worth it, though, luckily before he can expand on that idea the clone returns with the bucket of pink paint, proving that, yes, Krosis did steal everything worth anything, the clone passes him the bucket before dissipating like dust blown away in the wind, hooking the bucket handle over his shoulder he crawls across the ceiling towards the barracks, easily slipping past the guards, undetected. Reaching a door that led to his objective, he looks around the door from his vantage point to ensure no guards nor cameras would see him enter the code or go through the doorway, upon seeing none would, he nods to himself before dropping from the ceiling and landing, light as a feather, inputting the code, the door unlocks and he slips in closing the door behind him, and looks to the hallway in front of him, seeing a camera about to turn in his direction, widening his eyes he hastily casts an invisibility spell, just in time for the camera to miss the magicka's light, letting a sigh of relief escape his lips, he takes this chance to silently sprint through the corridors, the many lights doing nothing to reveal his form, unnoticed by the cameras and soldiers, navigating the hallways with ease thanks to the Skeever butt guard's memories he quickly reaches the barracks, most of the bunks filled with sleeping soldiers, their snores allowing for him to be slightly louder in his actions here, 'Okay, Krisaph, I'm in the barracks, now what?' he questions of her, 'Now, make as many clones as needed and have them paint all of the soldiers' uniforms pink.' Krosis rose an eyebrow behind his mask, '...really? That's it?' his voice contained, a little disappointment, and Krisaph merely replies, 'Ha! O ye of little faith, the fruits of this will be well known come tomorrow morning.' reassured but not convinced Krosis merely shrugs before doing as she said, and, seeing as he made enough clones to get the job done and has no more need for the soon-to-be empty paint bucket, he leaves the room through a door opposite the one he entered, casting the invisibility spell once more, he bounds silently, maneuvering from one hallway to the next with fluidity and ease, before coming a seeming dead end, an easily missed, unassuming keypad tucked in the corner, Krosis approaches the keypad, punching in the code, and nodding with satisfaction that the Skeever butt guard has been here for long enough to simply learn the code because he was trusted by his superior officer with it. The "dead end's" wall lowered revealing a laboratory behind it with many shiny prototypes in view, Krosis lets out a grin before going to town, "Mine, Mine, Mine, OoOoh definitely mine." and with each successive mine another prototype was stolen from its place, the last one being of a particularly shiny variety. With the lab cleaned out, he cast one last invisibility spell and made his way outside, up the wall, hearing the guard back to his post grumbling about looking up "Skeever" on the internet, and back on the roof before using whirlwind sprint to clear the gap once more, fetching the now visible bag, the spell having worn off, and the nights high point accomplished he heads home to rest and make an appointment with someone who'll buy his loot.

After his blank sleep Krosis awakens, bleary-eyed and drowsy, not of his own volition after such a long night indulging in the thrill of thievery, but, 'GET UP! Get up get up get up! And get your tail to the television! I don't want to miss it!' Krisaph's desires wait for no man. Krosis grunts in aggravation at Krisaph's pushiness, but chooses not to fight back, he learned long ago that winning an argument against Krisaph takes all of one's energy and willpower, two things he currently had neither of. Using what little energy he has, he drags his barely awake feet to the living room, eying the couch, its black hue and deep red pillows looking so beautiful and heavenly in his exceedingly tired state, finally managing to drag himself to the edge, he let go and fell like a rock onto its cold but oh so soft cushions, his tail lazily hanging over the backrest, he almost lets go and falls into sleep once more, 'OH NO YOU DON'T! Get up and turn that TV to the news!' Krisaph shouts, aggravated, from within, clearly not going to let him rest until they see, whatever she's so eager to see. Exhausted and getting annoyed he lifts his head with every ounce of strength he can scrounge up and tiredly moans out, "Brelyna!" hearing its name being called an ethereal blue hologram with the likeness of a dark elf wearing a Winterhold mage's uniform phases into existence, its face lacking any emotion,

"Yes? Krosis?" Brelyna inquires as her "eyes" focus on his prone form, seeing the VI of Brelyna Maryon ready for orders and now being just awake enough to move he pushes himself up and into a sitting position,

"Could you, turn on the news please?" he manages to get out, sitting, slouched in the cushions, his tail now lying limp to the side. The hologram merely stares into space before the television flickers on, the local news channel logo just entering the screen,

"Anything else, Krosis?" "she" queries, eyes refocusing on him,

"No, that's all Brelyna." he drowsily answers, Brelyna nods before phasing out as quickly as she came. With the hologram gone he lazily looks to the news, finally allowing himself a yawn, 'Alright, Krisaph, what did you want to see?' he asks, now more awake and aware, getting a small chuckle from her for his question, 'Just wait, watch, and listen, you'll know when you see it.' figuring that she wouldn't elaborate any further, he simply relaxes and watches the newscasters do their jobs, with some "friendly banter" laced throughout the reports. After watching for ten minutes they bring up a story actually interesting to him, the aftermath of his first crime spree in a long while, a salarian on the scene giving his report and many shopkeepers in the background talking with the police,

"This is the scene on one of the average streets of Ilium, on the outside, nothing appears wrong, no windows broken, no stores vandalized, but on the inside, inside there is nothing, merchandise inexplicably missing from their former shelves, high security boxes for valuable merchandise opened, without force, and their innards plundered, anything on-site of value for all of the shops and banks within a mile radius, stolen, everything gone, even the cheap toys from a dime-store shelf, gone." Krosis, sheepishly grins, now sitting in a more upright position, at that comment while the reporter continues his report, sympathy in his voice for the owners of all of these places, "But, who's to blame, for these numerous crimes, who's to blame for the many small businesses that will be out of business because of this thievery, well, as far as the police know, no one, with the exception of the missing merchandise, there is no evidence as to who the culprit is, no footprints, no fingerprints, not even an image on a security camera, it was as if the merchandise just, disappeared, so as a request from the police and this reporter, anyone with information on someone suspicious, call this number, and give any info you might have." the salarian finishes as the feed cuts out and goes back to the anchors. Krosis jumps up from the couch, pumping his fist in victory,

"Ha! The skills of a master thief at work for all to see, or, not to see, as would be more appropriate." he announces with a satisfied grin under his mask, Krisaph gives an amused chuckle, 'Well, I'm glad that got you awake, but A: with the exception of that military base, you mostly only stole from small businesses, and B: that isn't what I wanted you to see.' she points out matter-of-factly, a sly smirk on her face, but Krosis' mood isn't brought down a bit, 'THIS time it was small businesses, that was just a test after all, next time we're going more things of real value. And what do you mean that wasn't what you wanted me to see?' he points out eagerly then questions bewildered, but Krisaph merely shakes her head getting exasperated, 'Just sit back, and watch.' sighing, he sits, leaning into the soft cushions and relaxing his arms over the back of the couch, resting his feet on the dark brown coffee table in front, and thus, the news continues, referencing the string of burglaries now and then, until at the 45-minute mark, a turian news anchor currently has the floor,

"Well, moving on from the more depressing side of the news, we now come to the special event I know I have been waiting for for the last month, the annual march of our proud men and women in the army around the few proud memorials on Ilium." the turian proudly reports, clearly quite supportive of the turian military. It is at this moment, that everything finally clicks in Krosis' mind, his eyes widen, and all he can do,

"Oh no..." he utters with dread. Seeing him figure it out Krisaph gives out a sadistic grin, 'Oh yes...' she replies, mischievous pride oozing from her words, with that the feed cuts to the march already in progress around a 20-foot tall dark stone statue of a turian striking a valiant pose, commanding non-existent troops forward, while the existent troops march around the memorial, their hot pink armor standing out more than the statue ever could, the uniforms showing signs of the desperate scrubbing that probably occurred before the march, and only a few soldiers retaining their dignity in clean armor, with more than a few civilians running off to snicker, away from the soldiers' view. As for Krosis and Krisaph, he can only sit there, open mouthed, entertained, and secretly hoping they don't find out who redecorated their armor, and she is cackling away like a mad banshee, her laughs echoing in his mind, though Krosis only had one question, 'How did you know about this?' Krisaph's cackles die down, and she turns her attention back to him, 'Well, when you scanned that guard's mind, I did some digging of my own, and learned about this march, that the needed soldiers were sleeping in preparation for it, and what channel with a certain patriotic turian would be covering the whole march.' she explains, a smile showing her pride at her plan unfolding so perfectly. 'Well I have to say I'm impressed with you Krisaph, you single-handedly humiliated the turian military on Ilium.' he compliments, a simple, happy smile on his face, getting a smile right back from her, 'Can you expect anything less from your favorite Daedra?' she replies playfully, he chuckles, knowing that she really is his favorite Daedra, 'No, I guess I can't.'

The next nights proceeded much in the same fashion, though, in a different section of Ilium each time, they amassed quite a bit of loot, but Krosis was putting off finding a buyer until he had a higher percentage of loot actually worth a lot and wasn't just shiny, a time consuming task considering his borderline kleptomania, as each night passed and greater bulls-eyes were plundered he became more and more well known to Ilium, or rather his deeds did as, with his skill, the peacekeepers of Ilium and the now bloodthirsty big businesses reasoned that such wide-scale thievery could only be accomplished by a highly trained, highly organized, and highly influential group, Krosis and Krisaph merely laughed at their incorrect theories as they ran off into the night, carting bulging sacks of loot. It was the most fun they'd both had in a long time, until...

"Oh crap!" Krosis curses hearing the alarm blaring, sprinting out a nearby window, quickly making contact with the wall and running up to the building's distant roof, already hearing sirens roaring, close to his position. He curses once more, 'How did they get here so fast?... They were waiting for me, that's why the guards didn't know about that trip-laser, I hate it when things are on a need-to-know basis.' shaking off his thoughts he only focuses on running. Upon reaching the roof he dashes to the opposite ledge, but when getting there he sees that there's no building within reach even with whirlwind sprint, and the nearest walkway hundreds of feet down, heavy traffic ready to clip him on the way, however, seeing the amount of traffic gives him a, most likely suicidal, idea. Taking a pick of a small freighter coming down the way, he backs up to get a running start, just in time for,

"FREEZE!" comes the stern order of peacekeepers exiting a stairwell, their guns ready, yet Krosis pays them no mind as he starts his run, "I SAID FREEZE!" erupts another shout, but, as before it is paid no mind as Krosis jumps, and successfully lands on the freighter, the driver unaware of his hitchhiker, Krosis, takes this moment to look back at the officers still on the roof, now on the edge staring at him in unrestrained shock at his stunt, and can't help but taunt them with a quick mock salute. Krosis chuckles and turns forward to find a way off less daring than how he got on, his solution presents itself as a construction site within jumping distance, getting ready to jump he sees gunships in the corners of his eyes closing in on the freighter, shifting his moderately sized sack of loot, ensuring it's secure, he nods to himself and jumps, only barely gaining footing on one of the many open ledges of the construction site, immediately bounding through the desolate forest of steel beams eventually reaching an elevator shaft, sighing he uses his tail to hold the sack of loot while he takes out his two daedric daggers before jamming them in between the elevator doors and forcing them open in a show of strength one wouldn't expect from his lithe body, seeing the shaft conveniently was transparent, he uses the daggers still holding the doors back to push himself over the ledge, keeping his feet in contact with it, and launching himself down the shaft. Falling at terminal velocity and sheathing his daggers, he keeps watch on the outside, waiting for until he reaches the "ground floor," upon seeing a courtyard outside, he quickly flips in mid-air, now right-side up and facing the wall, he casts Wall Walk and makes contact on the wall ahead with his hands and feet, sliding to a stop, his gloves absorbing the friction, right in front of a closed door, he takes out his daggers once more, his feet maintaining his grip on the wall, and again jams both blades in and forces the door open, speedily jumping out of the shaft, sheathing the daggers, and taking the bag in his hand again he turns to the entrance. Sprinting out to the bare courtyard, he stops as bright lights shine into his eyes, temporarily blinding him in the middle of the courtyard, that moment of pause proves to be enough for the peacekeepers to surround him with four gunships and over thirty officers, all with their guns trained on him. Krosis straightens to a ram rod stiff position holding his hands in surrender, the bag still in his grip, 'You don't seem worried.' he mentally remarks as an officer orders him to drop the bag, 'I'm not.' Krisaph simply replies, not worried in the least as Krosis gently lays down his loot, 'Why?' he questions, curious as to her apparent lack of concern, she merely snorts as the officer now orders him to get on the ground, 'Because, my Twin-Headed Serpent, I'd wager you have an ace up your sleeve that will make fools out of these mortals.' she answers with a sly smile on her face, earning a hearty chuckle and a grin from Krosis as the officer yells out about a "last warning," 'Hehehe, you'd be right.' as the officer finishes giving his last warning, Krosis takes in a deep breath, "FAAS RU MAAR!" he shouts at the top of his lungs, a mighty shock wave erupting from his spot, and enveloping all in the vicinity, for a small moment, the only sound is the shout's echo, then,

"RUN!" and with that scream from one officer, all others throw down their guns and anything else that might slow them down as they run in absolute terror, the pilots of the gunships, losing their rational thought in the wake of fear, pull out, flying away as fast as they can, with only one hitting the building in its panicked fleeing, before smashing its own crater in the courtyard. Seizing this moment, Krosis picks up his loot and casts both Invisibility and Wall Walk, speedily making his way far from the scene, and evading the peacekeepers, 'You know, you can move faster without the loot' Krisaph points out, he merely laughs, 'Ha ha, if I let them force me to ditch what I've already stolen that means they've beaten me, and they haven't beaten me.' he explains with the smile of a true rogue adorning his face. Krosis makes it, undetected, back to his home, a hologram of Brelyna coming into its deep blue form upon his entry through the window, "Was your outing enjoyable Krosis?" she asks, as per her programming, gaining a satisfied chuckle from him, "Oh yes, Brelyna, it was a most enjoyable outing indeed." he answers the VI with a grin, and proceeds to sit on couch and empty his sack of loot, checking what he actually stole, the phrase, "Why did I steal this?" being the most used throughout that night.

Aboard the Normandy SR-1

The debriefing with Liara proved to be enlightening, although she doesn't know the reason her mother sided with Saren, her knowledge of the Protheans and her biotics will come in more than handy. Some of the crew doesn't seem to trust her, based on her connection to Benezia, but, looking at Liara, Shepard can only see a curious little girl, an introvert, sure, but not someone who would side with Saren or the Geth. As everyone left the debriefing room Joker's voice comes in over the intercom, "Report is away commander, want me to patch you through to the council?" he inquires in his serious voice, Shepard looks to the camera,

"Patch 'em through, Joker." he affirms and turns to the three communications terminals in the back of the debriefing room, with a mere flicker the orange holographic images of the three council members come into view,

"We've received your report commander, I understand Dr. T'Soni is on the Normandy." the asari councilor speaks in the unemotional tone of voice all politicians seemed capable of producing,

"I assume you're taking the necessary security precautions." the turian councilor remarks in the same tone, though Shepard chooses to explain Liara innocence in the matter,

"Liara's on our side, the Geth were trying to kill her." he recalls from his rescue of her,

"Benezia would never allow Saren to try to kill her daughter." the asari rebuts, unbelieving Benezia would do such a thing,

"Maybe she doesn't know." the salarian councilor offers as a possibility,

"Or maybe we don't know her, we never expected she could become a traitor." the turian speaks offering his own opinion,

"At least the mission was a success." the salarian points out,

"Apart from the utter destruction of a major Prothean ruin, was that really necessary Shepard?" the turian questions, obviously not having much faith in the Human Spectre's judgment,

"The Geth were crawling all over those ruins, we were lucky to make it out of there alive." Shepard reminds them of how he didn't bring down those ruins without good cause,

"Of course, the mission must always take priority." the salarian acknowledges, "but Shepard, we have come across new info that might interest you." he alludes, already knowing whether or not it would interest Shepard,

"What is it?" he queries, knowing any information on the Geth or Saren would help,

"Recently there has been a massive crime spree on Ilium, almost every store and business is now devoid of everything of value." the asari explains, though Shepard only raises an eyebrow,

"While that's certainly alarming, I don't see what this has to do with Saren or the Geth." he remarks, not seeing what this has to do with his mission,

"We're getting to that Shepard. But only a few hours ago did we receive a tape found in a news camera at the crash site of a security gunship, with a recording of what happened before the crash." the salarian explains, with that done he nods to an unseen individual to start the tape, soon after, a screen projects showing the video already playing, all for stay silent to let the tape run its course,

"Suspect is in sight, I repeat, suspect is in sight. Proceeding to surround" a pilot reports, the cameraman trying to still the omni-tool's camera, and finally manages to do so, centering it on an individual surrounded by an almost absurd amount of officers, and three other gun ships, its smoke gray outfit, bronze tribal mask, brown hood and strangely, a black and gray tail twirling absent-mindedly, practically glowing in the center of all of the spotlights,

"Drop the bag, slowly." one of the commanding officers orders of the culprit, and it does so, but, when ordered to get on the ground, it simply remains standing, and stays that way, the officer's continued threats of its last warning doing nothing to phase it, in that moment Shepard goes over the many ways he believes this could play out, but, unexpectedly, the suspect visibly takes in a deep breath,

"FAAS RU MAAR!" with that a shock wave burst forth, engulfing everyone in the blast radius, and, at first, nothing happened, but progressively the cameraman started shaking, getting worse and worse, until,

"RUN!" came the shout of an officer, and with that the floodgates burst forth, everyone starts inexplicably running in terror from the single suspect now only standing there, seemingly enjoying the show, Shepard widens his eyes, now seeing the gunship pilots desperately pulling their ships away, though the cameraman's ship wasn't so lucky, for it seemed in the pilot's panic, they were rammed in a wall of the nearby building, cascading out of control until finally hitting the ground, fires starting to ignite with both pilot and cameraman dead, tangled in the compressed mess of metal. But the camera still functioned, catching one last glimpse of the suspect retaking his bag and sprinting off, surprisingly becoming invisible mid-run. It's there that the feed cuts, leaving Shepard to stand there wide-eyed still trying to comprehend what he saw, the councilors seem understanding of this and most likely went through own moment after viewing the tape for the first time. Nothing is said between them for the next few moments,

"There, now you know why this crime spree is so important, and before you ask, we believe it to be some sort of prototype Geth infiltrator, due to its willful disregard for its life, the targets going from small businesses to military bases, and other buildings with high security, most of the objects stolen being worthless, like these thefts were more for a field test than to actually get anything valuable, it's ability to climb on walls, confirmed by several officers, and this newer ability activated by shouting a nonsensical phrase." the turian councilor lists off, bringing Shepard out of his stupor and back to his all-business disposition, he nods to the councilors

"I'll go to Ilium and check it out immediately." he informs them, the councilors showing some sense of relief at that,

"We'd appreciate it if you did Shepard, as if this is a Geth and was ever used against us in battle or in sabotage..." the salarian councilor states leaving it unfinished, knowing Shepard knew how much damage something with these capabilities could cause. With that the feed cuts off, leaving the Spectre to think up a plan to combat this new, presumed, Geth,

"Joker! Set a course for Ilium." he orders through the intercom, getting a "roger" in acknowledgment.

Later on Ilium

Ever since that eventful night, Krosis chose to be a little more random in his targets, now expanding his targets to residences, which offered many fun possibilities in redecoration, and served its task in confusing law enforcement as to where he'd strike next, and it was back to smooth, nights with full bags of loot, with vastly differing amounts of actual worth, but eventually,

"Okay that is just unfair!" Krosis screams out in frustration at this newest alarm that tripped, not because he faulted, but because he took a shiny, decorative ball off of the front desk of an office building that just happened to be rigged. Ignoring his frustration he sprints out of the building to the only bridge out that would get him within range of another building or any of those flying cars, but alas as it seems the peacekeepers were very prepared this time round and already had the bridge covered with several officers that strangely didn't advance into the building, but Krosis simply dismisses it as them believing that they have him cornered, and retreats inside the front doors to slip through a service door and ascend up a spiral staircase leading to the roof, jumping from guard rail to guard rail getting higher and higher before soon reaching the top and bounding out of the door to the roof, gunships already in position around it, ready to fire, 'Wow, they really thought this one through.' he comments, and hears a hum from Krisaph, 'They're certainly smarter than the guards in Skyrim, I'll give 'em that.' she agrees. Hearing people coming from the stairs he turns, and sees a human, a quarian and an asari, just exiting and training their guns on him,

"Surrender, you're surrounded!" the human orders in a tone that normally leaves no room for argument, but with Krosis...

"How about no, Strun Bah Ao!" with that another shock wave explodes from him, this one shaking the building beneath them. As the two sides regain their footing dark clouds quickly gather above, blotting out any light from the stars, and after a moment that is commonly known as the calm before the storm, a crack of lightening erupts from the clouds, its merciless force striking each gunship, one after the other, each sent down in a flaming wreck, the rain doing nothing to the fires. With the airborne targets eliminated, the senseless storm's desire for destruction sought other targets, quickly striking bolt after bolt near the human and his allies,

"Take cover!" the human bellows, receiving no argument from the other two, all of them finding shelter behind the stairwell or guardrails, Krosis takes this moment to let out a much needed cough, 'I hate using that shout, it always really hurts my throat.' he remarks to himself, his throat is indeed very sore from the power of the shout at full strength. The human, from behind his cover, notices Krosis' lack of attention, "Tali! Use overload!" he orders,

"Right Shepard!" Tali acknowledges, quickly rising from her cover and doing as she was ordered, getting a direct hit on Krosis before quickly getting back into cover, just avoiding another bolt of lightening, and, while not hurting him, did manage to make the many electronics in his bag explode, roughly sending him to the ground, from which he quickly recovers. Upon seeing the destruction of his loot though, his hands ball into tight fists, shaking with rarely felt fury, 'Oh no...' Krisaph mutters in dread, she may enjoy playing around and messing with Krosis, but if there was one thing she learned from their years together, it was to never, destroy, his, loot, 'Those three, are dead men walking...' unaware of the impending doom heading their way, Tali turns to the human now known as Shepard,

"It didn't work." she tells him, confused as to why,

"What? Then what was that explosion?" Shepard questions, 'If overload didn't affect it, then, that's not a Geth!' his eyes widen, though he decides to ponder on the implications of that later, he turns to Tali, awaiting her answer,

"That explosion was all of the electronics it stole," she is interrupted by a male's cry of unholy rage, "and I think that just made him very angry." she finishes, a tad disturbed by the now evident fury, daring to take a look the three now see Krosis quickly advancing on their position, the eye-holes of his mask almost glowing with his anger, a black and crimson dagger in each hand, each looking demonic and tough enough to pierce a krogan's hide making for quite an intimidating sight. Widening their collective eyes they quickly retreat from their cover as Krosis blades cleanly dig into where they were a split-second ago,

"Liara, lift!" Shepard commands, Liara does so, not taking time to verbally acknowledge the order. Krosis is then surrounded by a blue aura and lifts into the air, still in his rage,

"Now! Fire!" Shepard call out, though, just before all three pull their triggers, Krosis throws the dagger in his left hand, with high precision it drives deep into Liara's left thigh, the blade not going fast enough for the shield to block, forcing her to drop to the floor and wail in pain, "Liara!" Shepard cries out, anger starting to rise within him at his squad-mate's pain and grits his teeth, turning to unload everything he has on Krosis, still stuck in the air Krosis quickly uses his now empty left hand to quickly cast a powerful ward spell, effectively blocking every shot fired until both guns overheat, and the two are forced to get themselves and their injured teammate behind cover once more. Krosis' anger relieving somewhat after injuring Liara, he falls to the floor, the lift wearing off, and disappears into the many shadows, sneaking around them, knowing they'd be too preoccupied assisting their friend to notice. Shepard is currently looking over the dagger, still firmly in place, Liara's eyes beginning to water at the amount of pain engulfing her injured leg,

"Shepard, what did he do? It looked like some kind of advanced shielding." Tali asks of him, knowing the Spectre had far more combat experience than her,

"I don't know, but we can't take any chances against whoever this is." Shepard remarks, still looking over Liara's wound , getting ready to pull the dagger out and use medigel to fix the injury. But their distraction allows Krosis to make his way behind Tali, unseen in the many shadows cast by the city light, taking this chance he grabs her, forcing her to drop her gun and her left hand behind her back, placing his remaining dagger at her throat, her surprised gasp alerting Shepard, whom immediately trains his rifle on Krosis, though Shepard dared not fire, with Tali being used as a shield, "Let her go!" he yells, his voice not betraying his worry,

"Why? First you destroy my loot and then you try to kill me, even if I started it." Krosis questions in a cold, almost robotic voice, showing his second personality at work, "But I must ask, who are you? I've never seen a three-man team with a human, quarian, and asari come after me before, and with the full support of the law enforcement no less!" he inquires, quite curious at seeing three different species work together so fluently, Shepard, knowing that he has no choice but to answer to keep Tali safe, takes in a breath to relax his nerves,

"I'm Commander Shepard, council spectre, and these two are part of my crew." he calmly explains, knowing that showing his worry for his teammates would only exacerbate the situation. "Now that I've told you who I am, I think its only fair for you to do the same for us." he remarks, trying to get some kind of identity to go with the mask, Krosis merely coldly chuckles at the unsubtle request,

"Who said I played fair?" he can't resist but to point out, though he sees that the spectre is less than satisfied with his answer, "But I'll indulge you, Krosis, master thief and assassin for hire at your service." he announces with a bit of gleeful bravado mixing in, but not being foolish as to remove his dagger from its position nor loosen his grip on Tali's wrist, hearing this Shepard raises an eyebrow at the sudden shift in Krosis' tone, his tribal mask looking less intimidating than before. The grave nature of the situation lessens somewhat though neither party dares to lower their guard, Shepard's gun still ready to fire at any sudden movement, and Krosis retaining his firm grip on Tali,

"So, you don't work for Saren or theGeth?" the spectre feels compelled to ask, causing Krosis to tilt his head in confusion,

"Um, Who is Saren and what are the Geth?" he asks, getting very confused, and hearing those names for the first time, Tali and Liara widening their eyes at becoming aware that this entire fight could have been avoided. At this point Shepard comes to the realization that, they aren't really enemies, at least, that they don't have to be, and, remembering the footage shown to him by the council, starts to envision how much of a boon those abilities could be to his mission to stop Saren,

"Krosis was it?" at receiving a nod he continues, "What would it take to hire you?" Shepard asks seriously, causing his two teammate to look at him in shock, Liara ignoring her pain to do so,

"Shepard! You can't be serious!" comes the shocked voice of Tali, still restrained by Krosis, but Krosis shows intrigue in the offer,

"Depends, as a spectre can you clear my name of all crimes?" he asks, seeing a way to get away with everything Scot-free,

"As long as you give back everything you stole." Shepard offers with a nod, not about to let Krosis get away with ALL of his crimes, Krosis sighs, knowing that getting off so easily was a long shot,

"What do you want to hire me for anyway?" he inquires, aware that he should know before agreeing to anything, or setting the terms,

"I'm hunting a rogue spectre by the name of Saren, who somehow has the backing of a race of synthetic AIs known as Geth, I want you as a part of my crew to help stop him." Shepard explains giving Krosis the bare details necessary to know the risk of this mission, but not informing him of the Reapers, as presenting that without evidence confirming their existence might botch the deal.

"Hm, that is a big job." Krosis comments to himself and hums, "How about this Shepard, I go with you on your mission, and give back everything I stole, in return, you use your spectre status to clear my name of all crimes and I am allowed to lay claim to anything I steal from the enemies we make on this mission in lieu of an actual fee." he illustrates, the deal sounding quite fair, as anything stolen from Saren or the Geth is another thing they can't use, and while the council might not like it, having Krosis as an ally is better than as an enemy. Shepard nods in acceptance of the deal's terms, lowering his gun as a sign of trust, Krosis doing the same in releasing Tali and sheathing his dagger. Shepard and Krosis walk up to each other, looking the other deep in their eyes, judging one another, Shepard, though not liking everything he saw in those eyes, sighs and extends and open palm, as for Krosis, he saw a saint in the making in Shepard's eyes, someone who would become a hero and a role model to the entire galaxy, he chuckles before extending his own hand, nothing like him at all.