Mass Effect is the property of Bioware. 20th Century Fox owns the Alien/Predator franchise.

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Torfan, shuttle docking ports.

The crash harness was uncomfortable, but the humans had insisted the she had to use it. It added to the residual pain from her wounds, both from the initial gunshot as well as the spot where her control chip had been deactivated. It also didn't bode well for the comfort of the flight, but Variana wasn't about to complain. Both her daughters were on the same shuttle. She had spotted them as the humans were processing the liberated slaves for transport and had not let them out of her sight from that moment on. The humans seemed to have understood and put them all on the same shuttle. In fact, they had been rather kind to them in general. They had even come up with some clothing for her to put on, though she had needed help with the unfamiliar fastenings. One of them had used the opportunity to feel her up but, again, she wasn't about to complain.

Somewhat curiously, there was no sign of any of the prisoners. They had still been alive -though bleeding- when she was taken from the governor's quarters, but she had not seen any of them since. Not that she particularly wanted to see them, but she couldn't help but wonder what would be done about them. There had been trials of batarian slavers in the past, but not many. Most of the time, they would be extradited to the Hegemony, which insisted that they alone could give them a 'fair and even-handed' trial. That was usually the last time they were ever heard from, though the batarian ambassador would always go on record that they had been prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Those that were heard from again had been released because of 'lack of evidence', 'faulty procedures', or other reasons.

It seemed that the humans had other plans, though she didn't fully understand what was going on. There had been a brief conversation by the two humans who seemed to be in charge, but she had only picked up part of it.

"What about the prisoners, ma'am. We'll need some extra security when we move them."

"No we don't."

"Lieutenant, ma'am-"

"They get to stay here, sergeant."

"Here? But lieutenant-"

"Right here, sergeant. We have no further need for them."

That had been the end of the exchange. Variana still wondered exactly what they had meant. In general, she would agree that Craldar and his cronies were of no particular use to anyone, other than as targets for biotics practice. Still, it seemed a bit strange to just leave them here, where they would be found within hours, or days at most, as soon as their accomplishes in the Hegemony learned what had happened.

Her train of thought was broken by a series of bumps as the docking clamps were released, followed by the roar of the engines as the shuttle took off. She had been right about one thing. Human shuttles used crash harnesses for a very good reason. They were definitely not designed for comfort. She caught her daughter's eyes as they looked at her and tried to convey some reassurance. It wasn't all that difficult. She didn't know where they were going, or what would happen to them when they got there, but that was for later concern. Right now, they were leaving Torfan and that was all that mattered.

-o-o-o-

Torfan, wide orbit

It had been a productive day for the STG team, but a nerve-racking one. Salarian stealth systems were good, but they were not perfect and the humans had been quite thorough. By now, every known ship in Torfan space, trader or pirate, had been boarded, the crews imprisoned and price crews placed aboard their vessels. There was no way the Special Tasks Group could allow the humans to do the same to one of their espionage vessels, even if that meant using the self-destruct and detonating its eezo core. Fortunately, it seemed that they had not been noticed, or, if they had, the humans had chosen to ignore their presence. Meanwhile, Kirahe and his team had had a front row seat while the United Systems Military conducted their assault and they had gathered enough data for months of analysis.
However, it seemed as though the show was about to end. A swarm of shuttles had launched from the warships in orbit, but this time they appeared to be flying empty toward the planet and loaded on the return.

The shuttles flew back and forth, turning around within minutes of docking in an impressive display of efficiency. A simple estimate showed that between five and ten thousand people were being evacuated, far more than the number of troops that had been sent down in the attack.

Operation going smoothly, no surprises. Must have dealt with control chips. Must have examined data. You're welcome. Glad I could be of assistance.

Kirahe smiled. Although he would have prefered to be part of the action himself, it was still good to see a plan come together.

Did the right thing. Humans solved problem of Torfan, retrieved their people. Will be happy, perhaps even reasonable. Perhaps even saved non-human slaves, if feeling generous. Would help with negotiations. Galaxy can move forward.

The last group of shuttles lifted off and made rendez-vous in orbit, then their mother ships backed off. Near the mass relay, the two oversized cruisers turned around and approached the planet.

"Energy spike!" One of the STG agents called. "Mass accelerators charged and... firing!"

-o-o-o-

Torfan, close orbit around the gas giant

It had been a long day, and events had followed a course that had been sadly predictable. From his position in orbit around the gas giant, Bray had been able to record much of what had been happening, at least until the exterior sensors of the colony had been shut down and he had to rely mostly on the passive sensors of his shuttle alone. All in all, it made for a fairly comprehensive view of a small scale planetary assault and Bray felt confident that he'd be able to sell the information to somebody for a few credits. Now it looked as though things were coming to an end. There were no more shuttle flights and the two oversized cruisers were on an intercept course with a point in orbit directly above the colony. Or, what would be left of the colony by the time they arrived. Both cruisers opened fired together. Their mass accelerators seemed to be relatively weak for the size fo the ship, but the volume of fire was high, with a steady stream of metal slugs raining down on the colony.

Mass accelerator rounds slammed into the planet, again and again until the entire colony, or what was left of it was hidden under a dust cloud so thick that even in Torfan's thin atmosphere it took time to settle. Then the guns fell silent. For what seemed like an eternity, nothing happened, then a single missile launched from one of the human warships. Bray looked at the sensor read-outs as the lone missile spiralled inward toward the planet. High in the atmosphere, it seemed to fall apart into multiple smaller objects that continued the downward trajectory and disappeared into the dust clouds. Long seconds past, then suddenly a dozen light spots appeared, their glow penetrating the dust, then expanding as the dust itself seemed to start burning.

Bray looked at the data in disbelieve.

Nukes! By the gods, they actually used nukes against the planet. It seemed impossible. It just wasn't done. Even though the council prohibition only applied to garden worlds, no-one had used a nuclear weapon against any planetary target since the Krogan Rebellions. Guess the humans didn't get the memo. Gods, look at that radcount. Those must have been city busters. Twelve of them mounted on a single missile and from the radiation measurements they have cobalt shells around the nukes. They're dirty as hell. One thing was certain: If anyone had been left alive after the humans departed, they were dead now. Nor would anyone return to rebuild the colony. So much for Torfan. I suppose Omega will be taking up the slack from now on. Not that they'll be moving human slaves through there anytime soon. Aria T'Loak may be crazy, but she isn't stupid. No, I think we all got the message loud and clear. No trading in human slaves. Not today, not tomorrow.

The two cruisers changed course, breaking away from the planet. At the same time the mass relay lit up and a wave of human fighter craft entered the system.

-o-o-o-

HNV Blade of Destiny, one jump away from Torfan.

"General, the humans have started to move."

Adrian Victus looked at the display. For hours, nothing had changed, except for occasional mass relay activity as the humans communicated with their people on the other end of the connection. Now they seemed to be regrouping. The fighters were forming up in a new formation, the shuttles in the centre.

"No sign of an attack. In fact, it almost looks as though-"

The mass relay flared up and the human fighters disappeared.

"General, one of the fighters remained behind. I have an incoming transmission."

"Let me hear it."

"Turian fleet, this is groupleader Ichijo Eika, please acknowledge."

Victus activated his communicator. "This is General Victus."

"General Victus, the situation in Torfan has been resolved and the United Systems Military will vacate the system within the hour. I am also authorized to inform you that we currently have nine-hundred and forty-four non-human ex-slaves in custody. Many of them require medical care. The human ambassador will contact the Citadel Council to discuss their repatriation." There was a moment silence. "And, general, thank you for your forbearance. I'm glad we were able to resolve this without the need for further hostilities. This is groupleader Ichijo Eika, signing off."

The mass-relay flared up one more time and the last fighter disappeared from local space.

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Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. Introducing Shepard was a challenge. There have been so many variations in fanfics that it was tough to come up with an interesting characterization. I even considered making her an Alien/Prometheus style robot. That idea had a lot of appeal but it would create too many problems. (There would be no way for her to interact with a Prothean beacon). So, I started her out as a rather brutal character, though part of it can excused by the fact that she just had to fight her way through Torfan, lost a lot of soldiers and has basically been abandoned by her commanding officer. We should be careful about classifying her as a renegade, though. Remember, this is someone who was raised and trained in a society that is somewhat fascist and definitely xenophobic. We don't yet know what kind of orders she had. For that matter, why was a junior officer left in command on the ground when there was a whole fleet in orbit? Normally, I'd expect a senior officer to come down once the fighting is over, even if it's just to take credit for the victory. Oops, was that foreshadowing?