A/N: So I lied. There was no violence last chapter. Trust me, I'll make it up to you. In fact, I'll just go ahead and make a down payment towards that in this chapter.

Also, for the sake of non-clunky writing, when I refer to 'Blue Team', I'm lumping Shepard in with the Spartans.

Jacob ducked reflexively as another sniper round tore overhead. "Jesus, this is a goddamn warzone!" Alicia heard what might have been a ghost of a chuckle over Blue Team's private comm net.

She switched to external comms. "Okay, people, let's find this Cathka and figure out what the hell's going on. Remember, we've got mercs from Eclipse, Blue Suns, and Blood Pack here, so eyes open and safeties off. I don't want to lose anyone to a trigger-happy mercenary."

Eight green lights acknowledged her. "Yes, Ma'am." Jacob drew a shotgun. Miranda just pulled out her SMG.

They threaded their way through the mercenary encampment, then stopped as Shepard opened a door that hadn't appeared on the tacmap they'd been given when they signed up. It opened into a room full of mechs: several LOKI guard mechs and one YMIR Heavy Mech. Miranda walked up to the YMIR. "Shepard. This could turn into a problem."

Fred's voice came over the comm net. "We could plant a remote-det charge on it. Somewhere easy to miss."

Alicia nodded. "Do it." Fred moved forward, pulling a demo charge from its container. He walked silently past Miranda and pushed the charge far into a vent. He turned to regard the LOKI mechs.

"Not sure about those, though. Not worth a demo charge each."

Alicia paused. "Do we have a line to Dr. Halsey?"

There was a break of about three seconds. "We do now."

The Spectre flashed her acknowledgement, and opened the new channel. "Doctor? How good are you at coding?"

"Very. What do you need?"

"If I can get a hard uplink to my suit to three LOKI guard mechs, can you spoof their IFF detectors?"

"Easily."

"Just a moment, then." Alicia pulled a slim wire from its pouch and connected it to her armored forearm, then slotted the other end into the mech's access port. "Connection should be up now."

"Good. This will only take a moment." Alicia heard the rapid-fire chatter of computer keys, and about twenty seconds later, Halsey confirmed she was finished. Shepard repeated the process with the other two robots, then disconnected and stowed the wire and re-opened external comms. "Dr. Halsey's spoofed the IFFs in these mechs. When the mercs boot them up, they'll open fire."

"Clever. We should get moving - it doesn't sound like the mercs are letting up." Miranda palmed open the door, and stepped out. Jacob followed, along with Blue Team. They continued through the mercenary lines, eventually reaching a Gunship being worked on by a Batarian in Blue Suns colors.

"Sergeant Cathka?" Alicia raised her voice to be heard over the sound of gunfire.

The alien shut off his arc welder, and straightened up. "Yeah, that's me. You the freelancers that signed up to take down Archangel?" He sized them up. "You don't look like most of the other freelancers that come through here."

"That's because we're not. What can you tell me about the situation?"

He shrugged. "Archangel is holed up on the second floor of the building across the way. The only way to get to him is to go across that bridge, but he's got a perfect line of sight to it and there's no cover. He's probably killed fifty of you freelancers today alone."

Alicia crossed her arms. "So what, we're just cannon fodder?"

The Sergeant shook his head. "Not quite. You're a distraction. We've got an infiltration team trying to work around and get through the lower levels. Your job is to keep them occupied, so he doesn't see them coming until it's too late."

The Spectre stood in silence for a good 20 seconds. "So, basically, what you're telling me is that you are luring a bunch of poor, unsuspecting shmucks with the promise of an easy credit into coming up here and being expendable bullet shields for your men?"

Lucy shifted slightly, and Tom put a hand on her shoulder. Shepard didn't think anyone else had noticed, and filed it away to ask the two SPARTAN-IIIs later.

The mercenary was unabashed. "Pretty much."

Alicia ground her teeth, but brought herself under control before she spoke. "All right. When do we go in?"

The Sergeant checked a chronometer. "The infiltration team should be just about ready, so now would be good." He paused, one hand to his ear as he listened to his comm. "We've just got some new intel you might be interested in. Apparently, it's not just archangel up there – there's somebody else working with him. Some other freaking do-gooder that we have to deal with. According to this, he is heavily armored, and uses a heavy machine gun, fired from the hip." He shook his head. "Sounds like some kind of freaking monster if you ask me. But, hey, just another reason for me to be glad the you expendable types will be be headed up the pipe instead of me."

Alicia turned away, and let her team to the edge of the bridge, staying in cover behind a large column.

"All right, People, here's how we do this. Mark, Fred, Kelly, Linda, Jacob, Miranda, Lucy, with me. Tom, take Ash and Olivia, go dark, and secure the lower floor. Mark, I want you cloaked as well when we go across that bridge. Your armor probably isn't thick enough to stop a sniper round."

"As for you three," Alicia turned to the three SPARTAN-IIs, "I don't want to take any chances. I don't know what kind of rifle Archangel has been using to pick these people off, but he will probably be firing on us until we can get up close enough to talk to him."

Kelly's voice cut in. "So, what you're saying is you need a rabbit?"

The Spectre blinked. "Not the way I would've put it, but yes, I suppose I am."

"Well, I'm the right one for the job. I can run faster than just about anything, so if he manages to hit me, he deserves to hit me."

Alicia mulled it over for a moment, then nodded. "Good. That should do it. One the last thing – from this moment on, all mercenaries are to be considered hostile. Understood?"

Eight green lights flashed on her HUD, and she smiled imperceptibly. "On my mark, then. Three… Two… One…Mark!"

Each SPARTAN-III vanished as they activated their cloaks. Kelly took off at a dead sprint, zigzagging her way across the bridge. Sniper fire pinged around her, as Archangel tried to compensate for her unexpected speed. The rest of Alicia's team used the distraction to move up behind her, trying to get under the firing arc before Archangel realized what was going on.

They reached the ground floor unscathed, though Fred had taken a hit three quarters of the way across. His shields had completely dissipated the impact, and the monitors in Alicia's suit told her the shot had only dropped his shield about 25%, and it was rapidly recharging.

They moved into the building, and her motion tracker warned her that several mercenaries were already in the building. She dropped a waypoint on them, and designated Fred and Kelly to take them out. Two green lights, and the Spartans moved silently off. Seconds later, she heard a quartet of short bursts of rifle fire, and the green lights blinked again.

She then dropped a second waypoint, this time in front of a door on the second floor balcony that, according to her tacmap, should lead to the room Archangel was in. Her team moves up the stairs, and behind her, she registered the sound of the door opening and closing. Her second team was on the move.

As she reached the top of the stairs, a door opened behind her, and a pair of mercenaries in Blue Suns colors came out, assault rifles already out and scanning. Without conscious thought, she snapped her rifle to her shoulder and drilled a perfect three round burst into each man's head, then looked at her rifle wonderingly.

Compared to her usual weapons, there was virtually no recoil, and the unusual, explosive sound it made was slightly unnerving. She grinned wolfishly. It was reached the door, blinked her green light in a slow three-count, and palmed it open. Fred and Kelly were the first to through the door, followed by Alicia herself and Jacob. Miranda, Mark, and Linda brought up the rear, the latter two's weapons unsuited for close quarters.

A figure in blue armor, Turian by the look of it, stood in the middle of the room, braced against the sofa. Alicia recognized the rifle in his hand as an M-92 Mantis, and he held up the other hand, one finger extended in a 'just a second' gesture. He steadied the rifle, waited a beat, and squeezed the trigger. A choked scream came from the bridge, and he lowered the rifle, and pulled his helmet off. Alicia blinked, then grinned broadly and stowed her rifle.

The Spartans' grip on their weapons tightened in reflex, another fact she made note of for later.

"Garrus!"

"Shepard. Good to see you again." The Turian veteran gave her what passed for a smile. "What brings you to Omega?"

The Spectre pulled her rifle back out, ejected the partially spent magazine, and began loading loose rounds into it. "I'm putting together a team to take down the Collectors. They've been hitting Human colonies across the Terminus Systems. I intend to stop them."

Garrus snorted. "Just like old times, eh?" He turned away, and sighted on the bridge. "I'm in, Shepard, but we have to get through these mercenaries first. You getting in here was the easy part. Getting out, not so much. I assume you have a plan?"

Alicia gestured to the Spartans behind her, as well as Jacob and Miranda. "Thought we could shoot our way out. Mix things up a bit."

Miranda gave her a Look. "That's what you said on Freedom's Progress - remember how that ended?"

"With all three of us alive, and a set of new allies to boot."

"Barely alive!"

"Still counts."

Garrus laughed. "Well, I'll be damned. It really is like old times."

Alicia turned into address her team. "This is Garrus Vakarian. He was with me when we took down Saren and the Geth."

The Spartans nodded in understanding; one of the first things they had done aboard the Normandy was read as much of the Codex is possible.

She turned back to the Turian. "Garrus, these are Jacob and Miranda. They're from Cerberus. The big ones are called Spartans. They're...not from around here. It's a long story."

Garrus nodded. "We can swap stories later. Right now, we need to worry about getting out of here. I've held them off for several days, but they're wearing me down."

"Of course. Mark, Linda, set up and start picking them off. Prioritize anyone who looks like an officer area. Miranda, Jacob, stay with Garrus. Make sure they don't get to him. Fred, Kelly, secure the door to the bridge. I don't want anything getting through. Lucy, you're with me. We're rapid reaction." Lights winked on as she gave Blue Team their orders, and the Spartans spread out.

Tom's voice came over the comm. "We need you on the ground level. There's something you need to see."

Alicia blinked her green light, then turned to Garrus and reactivated her external speakers. "Anything on the ground floor I should know about?"

He nodded. "My backup. He's a vigilante, same as me. Big guy, very strong. Doesn't talk a lot. Wears heavy armor. Never seen anything like it. About like your Spartans, really."

Alicia nodded. "All right. I'm needed downstairs. Let me know if they start putting too much pressure on." She turned, shoulder weapon, and left the room, heading down the stairs. Lucy followed as she walked through the door through which Tom's team had gone, and then make their way through a court or is broken up with barriers and pipes. As they progressed, the now-familiar sound of a slugthrower firing on full automatic became louder.

Shepard stayed low as they rounded the corner, and zoomed in on the hulking figure standing in the middle of the room, firing a large machine gun into a pack of Vorcha. His armor was battered, and the entire sections of it to have been replaced, but it still bore a striking resemblance to the MJOLNIR armor Fred, Kelly, and Linda wore. She did not see any of the SPARTAN IIIs, but her motion tracker told her that they had spread out along one wall, still cloaked. She waited until the last Vorcha had fallen before stepping out. The figure spun and leveled his weapon.

Alicia raised one hand. "On fire, hold fire! Friendly!" The machine gun's muzzle tracked away from her, and she pulled her helmet off. "Alicia Shepard, Alliance military."

The figure did likewise, revealing a pale-skinned man with a weathered, scarred face. He wore his hair cut close to the scalp, and a mustache hid his upper lip. "Pleased to meet you."

Alicia was struck by something about the way the big man carried himself. She opened a line to Fred. "Fred. I'm sending you imagery from my helmet feed. You recognize this guy."

There was a full thirty seconds of silence from the other end. When Fred spoke again, his voice sounded slightly choked. "Get Halsey. She'll want to see this."

Alicia wordessly patched the Doctor's line into the channel. "Dr. Halsey. I'm sending you imagery from my helmet feed. Do you recognize this?"

There was a crash, like someone had dropped a mug. Halsey's voice shook. "Mother of God. It's Jorge."

A/N: And that's the end of Archangel Part One. I thought about going a little further, but this was such a perfect place to stop that I couldn't resist. Does that make me a horrible person?

I feel like I may be going a bit too fast, skimping on description. In this case, it's mostly because I know a lot of my readers will know this from the game, so I don't need to write it blow-by-blow. When it deviates significantly from the canon, I tend to slow down a bit. Let me know if you feel like I'm moving too quickly, skipping too many details. I need the feedback.

Until next time, Readers mine. I'm writing this on the fly, folks, so let me know how I'm doing. Hope you're enjoying this as much as I am!