I don't own the Mass Effect, that belongs to Bioware. For my original characters, see my profile.

This is a sequel to Another Realm: Arrival. Reading that story is highly encouraged before delving into this one.

Another Realm: Terminus

I have no idea why I'm even writing this down. No one would believe me even if I told them the truth.. which might be for the best. Normally it seems that everyone feels the need to get it out, let it off their chests, tell someone that they're from another universe.

Me?

Not so much. I have enough shit going on in my life without trying to convince people that I'm not from this dimension, or that I think I have a good idea of what's coming in the future. As far as everyone else knows, I was mind-raped by an Asari until I lost most of my memories, and that works for me.

I suppose I should start from the beginning, for those of you who missed that part. On March 30, 2015, I went to bed in a hotel in upstate New York where I'd been traveling for work. I, quite naturally, expected to wake up in that same place the next morning. Instead, my eyes opened to a small apartment on a planet I'd previously thought was mere fiction, and that wasn't even the worst of my issues. There was a corpse in the corner, a very enigmatic Asari Matriarch pumping me for information, and my head was pounding. To say that my life had suddenly become very complicated would be understating things to the extreme.

Still, things weren't all bad. The Matriarch, who didn't give me her real name, put me in touch with Trena T'laria, an engineer and former commando who owed her a favor. She, in turn, was able to connect me with a Highborn Batarian named Xerol Shaaryak, who basically ran the small colony of Batarian exiles on Illium. And for a few months, at least, I had a fairly normal, quiet life.. which ended when the True Sons, a front for the Blue Suns mercenary group, made our lives hell. Long story short, Xerol's brother and his wife wanted to kill him for not turning their daughter Nynsi over to them to be married off to the highest bidder, and wanted to kill me for sleeping with said daughter.

The fights that followed were pretty brutal. Without the powered exoskeleton that Trena and Xerol arranged for me to use, I'd have died several times over. As it was, I barely made it through with my skin mostly intact. I was one of the luckier ones when it came to injuries, not suffering more than a few scars and broken bones. Trena, and her lover Ghai, were both crippled, and Xerol himself died in the fighting. But at the end of the day, both of Nyn's parents were dead, and she was the one now running Khar'shan Minor with me as her Harath'krem, which was a Batarian title signifying someone elevated to the Highborn caste. That someone was bound to their liege in much the same way a knight would be bound to a lord in medieval times. And the duties, defending her, advising her, were pretty similar as well.

It was around the end where things started to, well, change. Despite my intentions not to purposefully change anything, it would seem that my mere presence was enough to throw a spanner in the works. Stealing her parent's confidential data right out from under Spectre Tela Vasir's blue nose, Nyn used it to send Zaeed Massani straight after the man who'd betrayed him. And once that was done, broadcast every little secret that the Blue Suns had onto the extranet, kicking off a war in the Terminus that still hasn't stopped.

But that was there. On Illium, we were able to start putting our lives back together, far from the war fronts. Sure there were a few arguments here and there, but life was going on, and at that point.. I had no idea just how things were going to turn out.

If I had.. maybe I would have done things differently.

To: Nobody at all

From: Cieran Kean

Act 1: The Rescue

Date: 04-5-2181

Chapter 1: The Dawn

I let out a very long groan, trying not to slump into the couch.

There was an amused little chuckle at my sound of pain, a smooth voice nearly echoing in the spacious living room. "Come now Harath'krem, this morning was hardly that rough on you."

Turning slightly, I gave Nynsi Shaaryak a mild glare. My Batarian girlfriend, boss, and Tarath'shan merely gave me a small smile. She was already dressed for the day in a brown suit that contemplated her teal skin very well, and it was slim enough to cling very nicely to her tall, muscled frame.

Seeing that I wasn't about to respond verbally, she continued speaking. "Aethyta had you run, what, a mere few kilometers?"

"Five. And then she let Chen 'teach' me some more boxing, and then she made me go through shooting drills. And then another kilometer."

Her arms crossed, but her tone remained amused. "Which is hardly as bad as some of the days where she had us both working."

I grimaced, "Less the running, more Chen. Apparently he wanted revenge for our last training exercise and she felt like letting him beat on me."

Aethyta wasn't training me every day anymore, neither she nor I had the time to continue that relentless schedule, so she was doing her best to make up for my days off by severely putting me through my paces. Initially the focus had been entirely on bulking my stamina up further, along with improving my marginal weapons skills.

After a good two months of that, she'd started adding in close combat sessions, which had quickly become my least favorite part. Rather than train me herself, which would have been terrifying enough, she'd drafted Chen. The former sniper turned squad leader was shorter than me, but like most Batarian males he was literally bulging with muscles and had a good forty pounds on me.

Which meant he spent as much time giving me black eyes as he did actually teaching me Thondurian boxing. Thankfully he'd yet to break my nose, which I was convinced was more luck than any skill on my part.

Nyn sighed quietly, her arms unfolding so that she could adjust her shirt a bit. "You did rather humiliate him in front of the other squad leaders."

I rolled my eyes, "He's got to learn to react to surprises somehow. We've done it to all four squads, it isn't like we're singling him out."

She tilted her head minutely to the left to accept the point. "But can you honestly say that you are surprised at his reaction?"

A frown grew on my face as I stared at her. "Aren't you supposed to be on my side about this?"

That earned me an honest chuckle before she glided across the distance between us. "I am always on your side, but there are some things that even your eyes should be able to see coming. And besides, there will be plenty of time for me to help you feel better later tonight."

I had the good grace to blush slightly, even as I rolled my single pair of eyes at the first comment. "Assuming you're in the mood after dealing with the Executive Board."

"Yes." She admitted with a sigh, a hand reaching down to run across my cheek. "Assuming that."

Leaning into her touch a bit, my head turned enough that I could brush my lips against her wrist. "Still finding ways to drag out any idea of lessening the embargo?"

"We have an agreement on paper," fingers slid up and into my short cropped hair, a sad little sigh marking exactly what she thought of its new length, "But they insist on arguing every single line of the contract. That the Council is hardly in favor of the concept is not helping my arguments."

"You'd expect quid pro quo to go farther. We did save them from a having a war happen right under their upturned noses." It was a bit weird throwing the Latin phrase into my otherwise Asari dialect, but they didn't really have a saying that worked as well. Well, they did, but it referenced sexual favors, and I wasn't quite ready to go that far in casual conversation.

She grunted before pulling her hand back. "That was six months ago, and their memories are apparently short. Unlike their speeches. I would much rather be on your particular mission today."

"You want to go on a stake-out run?" I shook my head, "I had no idea that they were that bad."

"They are." There was a sigh. "Are you going to stand up and bid me a proper farewell or not?"

"Of course Tarath'shan." Rising to my feet with only a small wince, I politely took her left hand brought the back of it to my lips. "May you have a good and profitable day, with the Pillars themselves supporting your efforts."

"Thank you, my Harath'krem." she tilted her head politely to the right as I reciprocated to the left. Respect shown and given between a lady and her vassal. The moment ended when her lips curled into a smirk. "And now an improper farewell, if you would."

My own curled for a brief moment before my arms shot out to wrap around her waist, dragging her body against mine. She had time for a quietly pleased sound before our lips met, her earthy taste filling me as our mouths moved against one another. Regretfully the kiss lasted for only a few moments before I had to let her go, her lower eyes opening to meet mine even as her upper set was lazily lidded.

"I do adore you, Cieran."

"And I you, Nynsi." Leaning in I brushed our lips together one more time before stepping back. "I would say dinner tonight but somehow I doubt I'll be back."

A hand waved dismissively as she turned to leave, "Then it will be a late dinner, I will alert the cooks."

I sighed, but knew when not to protest. I wasn't exactly comfortable with the perks that my title granted me, as much as Nyn kept edging for me to enjoy some of them. I'd pushed back as best I could during the few disagreements we'd had on the subject, and we'd eventually compromised. I wouldn't actively seek to use my technical status as a highborn, but in turn I wasn't allowed to protest when she did it on my behalf.

"Nothing complicated then."

There was a short pause as she mulled that over before nodding, "Agreed, but regretfully I have to be going. Try not to become too bored today my dear."

"The same, Tarath'shan."

And with that she glided out the doors, already bringing up her omni-tool to harangue her the mechanics to have her aircar ready. Not that I was really concerned about that. Our chief mechanic was an Asari named Illyan, who probably bench-pressed small shuttles in her spare time. She knew Nyn was her boss, but like the other Asari on staff she didn't demurely bow her head just because Nyn was a highborn and was more than capable of giving as good as she got if she thought that her boss had crossed a line.

Which I thought of as a good thing.

As much as I was in love with her, Nyn definitely had an high-class attitude about her that would have well suited a medieval lord. Puncturing that bubble once and a while had proven to be a good thing for her. She'd remained far more relaxed and at ease than some of the older staff remembered her being before I'd come around, and she'd continued her late Uncle's good relations with the lower caste workers.

Once Nyn had left, I sighed and drifted into our room to shower and then change. While I wasn't expecting any problems, I still made sure to put on some light-weight armor beneath my casual shirt and pants. Always being prepared for trouble had been something that Aethyta had further pounded into my skull, but she'd admitted that I'd pretty much worked that one out on my own during the unpleasantness that had marked my first few months in this universe.

I'd just finished attaching my tech mine launcher to my belt when a short, burly Asari strolled into the bedroom without even knocking.

"Scales." I didn't bother yelling at my friend, it wouldn't have done any good. "Need something?"

"You to be on time, ape." Trena T'laria growled, stabbing her cane in my direction. She barely needed to use it anymore, but seemed to enjoy always having something handy to hit people with. "You're more than thirty minutes late."

"I'm early." I corrected. "Aethyta sent you the notice an hour early to stop you from being late."

Gem colored eyes blinked furiously for several moments before a low growl came from her throat. "That ancient fucking fish..."

I tuned out most of the rant that followed, instead focusing on grabbing my gun and double-checking the safety. The little Watcher-24 wasn't much of a sub-machine gun, but it was a full auto model and I'd managed to attach a few upgrades of my own.

"..even listening?"

"No." My right shoulder rose as my head tilted towards it slightly. I rather liked the Asari style of shrugging, especially with most of the people I knew being Batarian. By doing it to the right I managed to both shrug and convey how little I cared about what was happening.

There was another growl as we started to leave, idly closing the bedroom doors behind us. "Why do I even put up with you?"

"You really want me to answer that?"

"Fucking fur covered short-lived dick."

"Ancient, scale covered oversexed bimbo."

Her fist hit my shoulder hard enough to bruise, and I responded in kind before we both gave each other small grins and kept walking.

"Any idea where she's sending us today?"

My lips twisted. "Nos Irrail. That smuggler is still finding ways to dodge I-Sec and bring in cargo without having to pay the fees. And if she's good enough to do that under the Eclipse's nose, she's good enough to bring in other cargo that's a lot more dangerous."

She grunted as we exited Nyn's chambers entirely, emerging into a wide hallway that was well lit from the floor to ceiling windows. "Her tendrils are curling over that that bitch. Got a cover?"

"Yup."

The spywork that Matriarch Aethyta had me doing, whenever my duties as Nyn's Harath'krem didn't interfere, was interesting and boring all the same time. Trust me, if you think the life of a spy is glamorous, you've obviously watched too many movies or read the wrong kind of books. In reality it's a hell of a lot of guesswork, theorizing, number-crunching, and people-watching. I found the first two to be tolerable, the third intolerable, and the last to be suicide-inducing.

Lucky me, it was that one that we were doing today.

"What is it?"

"Briefing says she already has two teams in place. All we have to do is alert them when she lands at the shuttle-pad to unload her cargo." I nodded slightly to several guards walking the other way, the two Batarians both politely tilting their own to the left in response. "So the two of us and a third person land a speeder there, they drive, get out, shop around a bit, and we wait and watch."

Trena thought that over as we passed through the entrance hall. Nyn had done away with the elegant columns that Xerol had favored, instead opting for a more defensive construction. A pair of raised gardens dominated the interior end of the hall, which would have been a lot prettier if I hadn't known about the auto-turrets hidden within the soil. She'd determined quite quickly that no one would find the mansion unprepared, regardless of how many or few defenders it had, a sentiment that I readily endorsed

"That should work." she spoke once we'd crossed into the East wing and started to near the garage. "Who did you pick?"

"I wanted Tris, but she's on the Citadel for another rehab session." Tris'ren was the bartender at a little place named Forever, one of Aethyta's many bars and restaurants. She was also the Matriarch's personal pilot, and had gotten both shot and badly burned getting them both out of Omega with the Blue Suns hot on their tails. She was also a friend of both mine and Trena's, and really the only other agent of Aethyta's that we knew personally.

"I know it's not Ghai, she's at the hospital getting her prosthetic adjusted." her eyes narrowed. "It's Rane'li, isn't it?"

"She volunteered."

Those same eyes rolled in exasperation. "Athame's tits ape. You are not helping yourself at all here."

"I still think you're imagining things." I shot back. "She's never been anything but professional."

"Because she thinks its the best way to go about it." My friend shot back. "I've seen her watching you, don't think I fucking haven't."

"I haven't." I tried to end this particular conversation as quickly as I could. "And everyone knows I'm with Nyn anyway."

And, typically, she ignored me and kept right on going. "With Shaaryak or not, you saved her life, that's big shit to Batarians. A Highborn, even an elevated one, saving a fucking lowborn's life? It's a damned given that she'd want to make it up to you."

I wasn't about to concede the point. "We saved each other's lives. I'd have been dead without her there to shoot that asshole. And what part about me being with Nyn didn't you get?"

"The part where you're thinking like a human." She waved a hand irritably before I could point out the obvious. "You apes and the Turians, all into your exclusive sex shit. No one but you would even care if you dragged her to a closet and told her to strip."

"You would." My voice went a bit quiet at the mental image. "If I phrased it like that."

Trena stared at nothing for a long moment before her face twisted into a grimace. "Fuck. I'm sorry ape, you know I didn't mean it like that."

"I know." A long breath escaped me as I pushed that bit aside. The worst thing was that she was right. Technically speaking, I could drag Rane or any other pretty lowcaste girl to a room and have my way with them, and there wasn't much that they would be able to do about it. Sure they could try and refuse me, but I could more than make their lives a living hell with the authority my title gave me.

Not that I would, as fucked up as my life had become, there were lines that I wasn't going to cross.

"Seriously though." she paused as we approached the garage door, her own voice going low. "Taking her with is not going to help."

"You're assuming that she is crushing on me." I gave her a slight shake of my head. "I haven't seen it yet."

There was a soft grunt at that. "Maybe you and Shaaryak claiming each other so damned publicly is helping with that."

"It's supposed to." A hand ran through my hair, "If she's seen as some deviant who only takes human lovers, maybe it will lower the number of other highborn trying to find a way here."

She snorted. "I've heard worse plans. The High whatever still keeping them at bay for now?"

"High Patriarch." Stepping away from her I turned to rest my back against the wall, resisting the urge to run a hand through my goatee. "And sort of. He wants Nyn married off as much as the rest of them, but he doesn't want any highborn getting killed trying to get here either. Or worse, her to get killed trying to get to Khar'shan."

"And going through Council space would just be begging for C-Sec to detain them for some made up fucking reason." Trena nodded, "Buying you two some time at least."

"Some time." I echoed. "Not that we've come up with anything to get her out of it yet. And don't even get me started on those SIU assholes that were here last month. I'm still convinced they were up to something."

Her eyes rolled, "They're fucking Hegemony special forces ape. Of course they were up to some goddess damned shit. We both double-checked everything. Apart from some awkward ass questions about who was sleeping with who they didn't do crap while they were in the walls here."

"We think."

That made her pause for a long moment before giving me a grudging nod. We were reasonably confident we could catch anything that the resting and recuperating Hegemony agents tried to insert into the systems here. I'd become a decent engineer and coder over the last year, and she was fairly skilled at both, but neither of us was an expert. We'd tried to get Aethyta to loan us some of her people to run their own checks, but they were occupied on tasks of their own and couldn't be spared right now. Which really left us with nothing but paranoid thoughts and faint hope.

I glanced at my omni-tool before shaking my head. "Fuck it, we'll actually be late if we don't get moving."

She nodded as my hands pushed me off the wall.

Entering the garage was like walking into a wall of noise, shouting, cussing, metal crashing, and machines grinding all slamming into your eardrums the moment the door slid open. When I'd first started working in the room, back in the first days I'd even taken up residence in the mansion, I'd winced at the noise. These days it was comfortably familiar, like having a favorite chair to sink into at work.

The two of us threaded our way between the mixed species teams of mechanics swarming over aircars and shuttles. Most weren't owned by Nyn or any of her subordinates, instead belonging to midcaste Batarians or Asari from the River District who could afford to have Illyan's crack team of grease monkeys work on their vehicles.

Illyan herself caught sight of us fairly quickly, which wasn't hard to do when you're as tall as she was.

"Kean! Trena!" She jerked her head to the left. "She's fueled up and waiting for you."

Scales actually looked a little put out at the greeting. "The night me and Ghai give you, and that's all I fucking get as a greeting?"

Broad hands settled onto her hips as blue lips curled into a smirk. "I think it was me giving both of you a great night, and I'll give you all the greeting you want the next time you want me between you two."

"Illyan," I kept my voice firm. "Please don't encourage her"

Her head tossed as she rolled her eyes, "She doesn't need any encouragement boss."

"Believe me, I know." Trena, proving that even several centuries of life wasn't enough for her to grow up, stuck her tongue out at me. "Is my armor ready for tomorrow?"

She glanced over at it. The eight foot tall exoskeleton loomed in its corner, the black armor looking fairly ominous even in the good lighting. From here I couldn't see the mounted chevalier that Nyn had had painted on the chest, but the ancient Batarian runes describing the rights and duties of the Harath'krem gleamed silver down its right flank.

"Barriers check out good for training mode, I'll be double-checking the weapons after lunch."

I nodded. "Thanks. Have a run-down ready for me in the morning."

"Will do boss."

Dragging Trena away proved to be difficult, and grew more so when Illyan started lifting heavy bits of equipment around. She could have easily managed it with her biotics, but apparently just felt like showing off her bulging thews to make my companion drool.

The third member of our party was waiting at the designated air car, and could only shake her head as I pulled Trena along behind me.

Rane'li had coppery-tan skin, and was built like most young Batarian women. Which meant very muscular with a small bust, but just enough curves to make you interested. And like Nyn her pointed ears were almost elfin in their length. Today she was dressed as I'd told her to be, in casual, loose fitting clothes as if she was just heading out for a day on the town.

She'd come a long way from the communications technician drafted to help defend the mansion in the middle of an attack, becoming the youngest squad leader in our reformed little defense corps.

And Trena thought she had a massive crush on me stemming from that fight, where we'd ended up saving each others lives. That I'd sent her and another still wounded fighter to safety when we'd gone after Nyn's father, rather than order her to follow me into the fray, apparently hadn't helped. At least, according to scales. Personally I didn't see it, but then again I was hardly an expert on women. I hadn't been with many in what I was now considering my past life, and Nynsi never bothered concealing what she wanted or how she wanted it.

But for my own sake I hoped she was wrong. As much as part of me liked the idea that a young, attractive woman found me desirable, I was already very much claimed and taken, and content with that.

"Cieran. T'laria." Her lips twerked a bit. "Still can't resist Illyan, I see."

"No." I grunted as I let go of the Asari's arm. "She can't."

"You think she's hot too ape." Trena muttered sullenly, "I know you've said so."

"Unlike you I am capable of looking without touching." A hand rose of its own accord to rub at my forehead. Trena was probably the best friend I had, even accounting fro Nyn, but that didn't mean that there weren't times when I seriously wanted to punch her. "Could we please get going?"

"Fine."

She clambered into the backseat without another word, with Rane'li taking the driver's seat as I rode shotgun.

"So." The Batarian spoke as she started the vehicle up, letting the VI handle the exit from the garage. "You were rather vague on the details."

"Fly us to Nos Irrail, get out alone, you get two thousand credits to buy whatever you want." I shrugged. "Come back when we ping your omni-tool."

She chuckled softly, "So I'm being paid to fly you two across the sea, then to go shopping with your money."

"Not my money," my lips curled slightly, "So don't feel like you have to save any of it."

"Even better." The car had finished booting up and started to glide smoothly towards the garage door as she spoke, "But that doesn't tell me what this is all about. Or what you two will be doing."

"That's kind of the idea girl." Trena made a show of yawning from the backseat. "You know we're working for the old fish as well as Shaaryak. Don't always get to tell you lot everything."

"Fair point." She admitted, her hands rising to take manual control once we'd cleared the structure. A few moments later we were in a smooth climb, the element zero compensators making the ride as smooth as ever despite our rising speed. "Our next stop is Nos Irrail, three hours from now."

"Great." I muttered. "Always forget how long of a trip it is."

"Could have grabbed the shuttle ape."

My eyes rolled. "Why not just hold up giant signs saying 'we are right fucking here'?"

I had to jerk a bit to my right to dodge the cane she tried to jab into the back of my head.

"So." Rane interjected before either of us could start insulting one another, a small measure of hope in her voice. "Is there anything we could talk about that isn't secretive?"

"Your squad's doing better girl. Ready to take on Ghai's team tomorrow?"

There might have been a wince at that. "You mean ready to get our asses kicked?"

"You'll have the ape." Trena shrugged before stretching out across the entire backseat. "You'll have a shot."

"And a draw maybe." Rane shook her head, obviously not convinced in the slightest. "No offense Cieran, but going up against six Asari still pissed that Marn's team has the highest training scores can't possibly go well for us."

"Can't argue with that."

Ghai, despite her injuries, had been put in command of the Asari that Aethyta had recommended Nyn hire. Three were out of work bodyguards, one was a maiden who'd decided the private sector was better than the military proper, and the last wouldn't admit to anything but we were pretty sure she'd been a drug runner in the Traverse. Regardless, all were fairly strong biotics with excellent military skills, and were naturally irritated that they weren't easily dominating our training exercises.

Mostly that was a matter of teamwork. They were all too used to doing their own thing and were only slowly coming around to letting Ghai call the shots. But the few times they had they'd absolutely torn the opposition apart, and I wasn't looking forwards to tomorrow in the slightest.

"You know." I mused. "We have several hours to work out some plans that might help at least. A draw could be possible."

"Ah by the deeps." Trena groaned. "I had to fucking bring it up."

"Shut up and sleep scales. I'll wake you when we get there."

She grumbled something uncomplimentary about me, but smirked when I flipped her off for it. "Whatever. You two have fun then."

I wouldn't say that we had fun, but it was a lot better than staring at the ocean for hours on end. And by the time we arrived in Nos Irrail, we thought we might even have a chance.

Not much of a chance, mind you. But a chance.

Next up is Chapter 2: The Meeting

So, bit of a slow start. A lot of recapping, reintroducing, bringing everyone back up to speed with the situation and the various characters as well as illustrating what Cieran's life is like circa six months post AR: Arrival.

Kudos to The Blocked Writer who has taken up beta/editing duties for this fic, and has helped me greatly by letting me run through various outlines and plans with him. I'm hoping for a more regular update schedule with this story in comparison to my previous ones, but no guarantees.. the temptation to post is pretty strong with this one.

Currently this fic is planned to be shorter than AR: Arrival, stretching only over two acts plus the same four mini-chapter epilogue.

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat

Author's Fun Fact: Shaaryak Security Forces

As of the start of this story, the security forces in Nynsi Shaaryak's employ are divided into four squads. Two of these have a dozen members each, with the other two having only about half of that. All are very well equipped thanks to the money stolen from the True Sons and Blue Suns bank accounts, with the remainder of that cash being used to heavily improve the mansion's defenses.

The 'premier' squad is Marn's. She was the last surviving squad leader from Xerol's days and has all but a few of the other remaining Batarian veterans. Gruff, scarred, and very no-nonsense, she's used the cash provided to equip her people with uniformly heavy armor. At Nyn's request, they mostly utilize assault rifles and shotguns and train heavily in assault scenarios.

The other 'full' squad is led by Chen, formerly the sniper from first Re'hat Shaaryak's, and then Y'rrich's team. As you would expect, his team focuses far more on long ranged combat, with most of his team carrying at least a carbine if not a full sniper rifle. Despite that, they are likewise equipped with heavier armor, as he is well aware that you can't always rely on distance or speed to save you.

The remaining Batarian squad is led by Rane'li, formerly Xerol's communications technician. Her promotion came from Nyn witnessing her quickly corralling the other survivors from the fight at Sederis's mansion and organizing them into a defensive detail while she and Trena tended to Cieran's wounds. Currently her squad is composed of five lowborn females and one male, all of whom are new to Nyn's employ. Despite all being 'rookies', Rane'li is determined to prove that they are as skilled as Chen or Marn's middlecaste soldiers.

The final unit is a motley group of Asari, led by Ghai. Former bodyguards, commandos, and even a drug-runner, all were recommended by Aethyta for their ability to stay loyal to a contract and their ability in a fight. Currently there are five of them, and their unit feuds rather regularly with Marn's people, each group considering itself the elite.