STAR WARS DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY OC'S BELONG TO ME BECAUSE I SCAMMED THEM OUT OF THEIR SOULS.
I gotta say, Cerberus is really, really dumb in the games. I mean, I know that it's explained why, but still, only a moron tries attacking people who are trying to stop galactic genocide. Fortunately, that's why the Outcast Blades are here: to beat those morons into the ground so that the heroes can do their thing with less interference.
Also, beating up stupid people is mean. Beating up stupid people who are deliberately evil, however, is just being a good citizen.
Outcast Effect
Chapter 10
Jaws of the Beast
Cerberus Main Base, Horsehead Nebula
The Illusive Man was not normally given to fits of anger. To almost everyone who saw him, he was cool, collected and confident. Right now, though, he was seething, something he didn't do much. The last time he'd felt like this had been when Commander Shepard had chosen to destroy the Collector base instead of handing it over to him.
That had been over a year ago, however, and he had recouped quite a few of his losses. In fact, the only thing that still irritated him about Shepard's association with him was the loss of Miranda Lawson. He had entertained hopes of charming her out of that catsuit of hers, but Shepard had won her loyalty in a way that no one had before.
Aside from that, the Illusive Man had been pleased with Cerberus' progress since then… until those people from another galaxy arrived. Ever since, his organization's efforts had been stymied by not only Shepard, but also the Outcast Blades; first it was at Mars, then Grissom Academy, and over the last week, Cerberus had lost a base in the Terminus Systems, then every one of the soldiers sent to take over an Alliance outpost had been slaughtered.
The blame for the last two incidents rested solely at the feet of those damned mercenaries.
After Grissom, the Blades seemed to be after Cerberus and Cerberus only, and it wasn't just physical confrontation. Ships belonging not only to the Alliance, but also the alien races had been moving closer and closer to where over a dozen Cerberus bases were located. The Illusive Man's techs suspected that their systems were being hacked, but there was no evidence; if they were being hacked, it was by the best in the galaxy.
The Illusive Man took a drag on his cigarette—he was approaching the high double-digits smoked today—before reading reports and issuing orders based on them. That team of defecting scientists was still on the run, but his agents were closing in; at the moment, it was a race to see whether the Alliance would snatch them up to work on the Crucible, or if Cerberus would get them and their families first.
He also looked at the latest information sent by his contact on the Citadel but, not for the first time since the Reapers attacked, the information felt… off. It was almost as if the contact was either not sending everything, or maybe the Illusive Man was getting faulty intel; perhaps someone had given the contact a better deal? No matter; if the contact had turned, Kai Leng would take care of it during the Citadel operation.
Most of the rest of his orders were fairly standard—gather resources, kidnap one or two people, kill another handful—but the last one was a little interesting. It was on Akuze, where Shepard had stopped a Cerberus cell that had been testing Thresher Maw venom by injecting it into captured Alliance soldiers. After Shepard had destroyed the base there three years ago, Cerberus had rebuilt it; they had saved the data from their tests, and were preparing to move on to the next phase. If it was successful, and the Illusive Man believed that it would, then Cerberus would have a nigh-unstoppable weapon for all of its future ground-operations.
The only danger to the base at the moment was a joint Human-Turian task force on the planet; it was only four squads of soldiers with a few tech specialists, up against over fifty of his best troops.
The Illusive Man smiled as he poured himself a glass of whiskey, wishing that he had access to the surveillance footage; it would have been entertaining to see those Alliance and Turian soldiers get massacred.
There might have been setbacks, but Cerberus was still moving forward with its plans. Nothing could stop them.
…
The Desperate Measures
"Okay, we've sent the intel from the Cerberus outpost," Ryan said, "You should be getting a better picture of what they're doing in the Terminus Systems."
"Excellent work, Commander," Admiral Hackett replied, his hologram actually showing him smile a little, "Your efforts are freeing up Alliance personnel to focus on the Reaper front."
"I'm just glad we're ruining Cerberus' day, Admiral," Ryan said, then cracked a grin, "Of course, getting paid for our efforts is certainly helping."
Once the Blades had announced to Hackett and M'zan that they would be focusing on getting rid of Cerberus, Hackett had put them on the payroll. Eliminating Cerberus troops, stealing their intel and liberating their supplies had helped the Alliance, and they were more than happy to give them a hefty salary.
"I'm sure it does," Hackett said, before his face turned serious, "Did Blade Three make any more progress on locating Cerberus' main base?"
Ryan shook his head. "We've found that Cerberus' digital security is beatable, but they're very good at detecting when someone cracks their systems. If Blade Three pushes too hard, they'll go underground and we'll be at the beginning again. At the moment, we're just narrowing down sections of the galaxy, but we'll find them.
"We did find something interesting, however," Ryan brought up his Omni-tool. "Blade Three intercepted a transmission between the Illusive Man and some troops on a planet called Akuze. Seems some Alliance and Turian troops are being targeted there."
"Akuze… now that's a planet I wish would stay off the radar," Hackett said ruefully, "Last time Cerberus was there, they were experimenting with Thresher Maw venom by injecting into captured Alliance soldiers. Shepard burned that base to the ground three years ago, but it looks like they're back. Commander, could you and your team get there?"
"Absolutely," Ryan said confidently, "We'll be there within the next twelve hours."
"I envy that hyperdrive," Hackett said in good humor, "it would take three days for any ship using a Mass Relay to get there from your location. I'll keep you posted on any additional intel. Hackett out."
Once Hackett's hologram faded, Ryan turned around to see Tanith, Bitters and Soleis standing in the doorway. "Any objections to a quick stop at Akuze?"
Tanith shook her head. "Cerberus loses troops, possibly a base and some research, while a bunch of allied soldiers stay alive; I don't see a downside."
"I do," Soleis said, "The wildlife is the stuff of nightmares. You ever see a Thresher Maw?" at three shaking heads, she continued. "Over thirty meters long, can pop up right under you, regenerating flesh, jaws big enough to swallow a Krogan whole… oh, and they spit acid."
Bitters just shrugged. "Can't be worse than Felucia."
"Yeah, there's that," Tanith agreed, then explained to the Blades' newest member. "Jungle planet with monsters ten times your size, all of which want to eat you. Then there're the locals; the Dark Side of the Force corrupted them, making them psychotic killers. Basically, the entire planet is evil, and that's not hyperbole."
"Did you ever go there?" Soleis asked, somewhat unnerved that her teammates were unconcerned with the biggest, most dangerous predator in the galaxy.
"I did," Ryan said, remembering his one-man crusade against Moff Laar, "I had to stay in the jungle for days. Monsters and the native Felucians left me alone after I set a dozen of 'em on fire, but I also had to deal with the Empire there. It wasn't my favorite place to be."
Soleis sighed. "Okay, why is everything in your galaxy ten times scarier than anything here?"
"Probably because the Reapers killed anything before it became too big a threat," Bitters guessed, "I mean, they come every fifty thousand years, right? That doesn't give a whole lot of time for any species to evolve past a certain point."
"That… makes a crazy amount of sense," Soleis admitted.
"Well, let's not keep Cerberus waiting," Ryan said, then headed out to inform Wek and Sera, "Tanith, prep the ship to make the hyperspace-jump. As soon as we're in hyperspace, we all have six hours to get ready, then another six to rest; then it's show time."
…
Once the mission was explained to Wek and Sera, the Blades began preparing. Weapons were inspected and cleaned, armor was checked and equipment was tested. After years of doing this, the Blades had checked and double-checked everything in only four hours, leaving eight more to rest or complete any pre-mission habits.
For Soleis, her pre-mission rituals involved doing what she liked to call 'the dance of death'. In the cargo bay and clad in normal clothes—a dark-green shirt and pants, with brown shoes—she put on her gauntlets and activated her claws. She then practiced all of her moves—slashes, stabs, parries and so on—but in such slowness and grace that it looked like a dance. It was her way of relaxing, while also inspecting her own moves for any faults.
She had just finished a complex series of swipes that, had the move been going at full speed and strength, would leave anything short of a heavily-armored Krogan in pieces, when she heard a voice behind her.
"Not bad at all."
With a startled yelp, Soleis spun around, her claws stopping inches away from Wek's face. For his part, the Nautolan's only sign of surprise was a slight widening of his eyes.
"Do you always attack people who compliment you, or is today special?"
Soleis retracted her claws, incredibly embarrassed. "Sorry about that. Normally when I practice, everyone left me alone, mostly because I was a biotic and no one wanted to be near me."
"I thought they didn't go near you when you practiced because you would freak out and almost stab them," Wek joked. When Soleis only looked away, he quickly apologized. "Look, sorry, I was just kidding. If you want me to leave, I'll—"
"No, it's okay," Soleis said quickly, then sat down on a supply crate. "I could use someone to talk to anyway."
Wek sat down next to her and smiled. "Any time."
Soleis gave a brief smile back. "It's just that… I feel kind of outclassed here. You guys have fought against a galaxy-spanning empire, and against all the odds, you helped bring it down. You're the best I've ever seen, but I'm… well, I was rated as slightly above-average during training. I still have trouble believing that I deserve to be here."
Wek gave her a flat stare, then lightly smacked her upside the head.
"Ow! What was that for?" Soleis demanded indignantly.
For a second, Wek felt bad; he hadn't expected the back of a Turian's head to be so sensitive. Then he shoved the thought down; he needed to nip this problem in the bud.
"Okay, I'm going to poke a hole in each point of your argument. First, yes, we fought against the Empire, but you were fighting the Reapers before we were. At the least the Empire didn't try to rip your face off. Second, you were in combat missions before the Reapers attacked, right?" at Soleis' nod, he continued. "Well, you must have improved after training, so if you 'just above-average', then you must be really good now.
"As for deserving to be here…" here, Wek took a chance and briefly gave the Turian a one-armed hug, "Ryan is a good judge of character. You are the first person to be added to the Blades since Sera, and that was almost five years ago. We've met Special Forces guys, commandos and Jedi, but Ryan has never added any of them to our roster. He saw something in you; he saw it on Menae, which was kind of like your trial run. After that, we all saw it, too; you deserve to be here, Sol. Trust me on that."
Soleis' mandibles flared; she appreciated Wek's words, but then something he'd said made her stop.
"Did you just call me Sol?"
Wek flinched; Soleis hadn't been an Outcast Blade for long, and giving her a nickname probably wasn't something to do so early.
"Was that wrong?" I really need to talk to Ryan about speaking to women.
"No, it's just that… no one's called me that in years, not since I was little. It was something my friends called me."
"Am I your friend?" Wek asked, his large eyes full of curiosity, hope and apprehension.
Soleis smiled and returned the half-hug that Wek still held her in. "Sure. I always wanted a blue friend that wasn't an Asari; every one of them I've met seemed way too turned on by the fact that I'm a biotic… and I'm not that into girls anyway."
Wek smiled in relief, though what part of her comment he was smiling about was something neither of them knew.
Behind them, completely unnoticed, Sera and Bitters had been watching the exchange for quite some time. Silently, Bitters handed Sera fifty credits.
Once they moved away, beyond Wek and Soleis' hearing range, Sera spoke. "I told you they would begin moving towards a romantic relationship before the first month."
"Yeah, yeah," Bitters grumbled, "This is why I don't like gambling with you. You have an addiction, Sera."
"You only say that because I win the majority of my wagers," Sera retorted, "It is one of the benefits to being a droid: I am right more often than I am wrong."
"We need another droid on the ship," Bitters said to himself, once he went to the med-bay to make sure everything was in order, "Sera really needs a challenger who doesn't actually need credits."
…
Akuze
When the Blades set foot on the planet, they were armed, armored and ready for anything. Until the ship was locked and secured behind them, however, they didn't take their eyes off the ramp. Once the ship was secure, they looked around; the terrain was fairly rocky, with sparse vegetation and a few patches of snow.
"Great, we're here in the winter months," Wek complained, "I hate the snow; I'm amphibian!"
"At least it's not the monsoon season," Soleis replied, "This entire area would probably be flooded, and Turians don't swim well."
"They don't?" Tanith asked.
"When I say 'don't swim well', I mean that we drown. Every single time."
"Focus, people," Ryan said sternly, even as he moved forward, "Those squads of Alliance and Turian soldiers are close, and we need to reach them before Cerberus does."
The Blades quickly followed their leader, eyes peeled for any unwanted company. All around them, the only sound was the wind whistling past and the muffled crunch of snow beneath their boots.
"It's almost nice here," Tanith commented over the comms.
"Other than the xenophobic terrorists and the acid-spitting worms, you mean," Ryan said, "Aside from that, yeah; I could see building a house on a planet like this."
Tanith opened her mouth to make a joke, but the loud crack of a gunshot echoed through the shallow valley they traveled through. The Blades took cover, but there was no second shot.
"Anyone hit?" Bitters demanded.
"That echo originated at the end of the valley," Wek said, his sniper's mind going into overdrive, "Judging from the direction of the wind, the only place the shot would go without deviating would be… there."
Ryan followed Wek's outstretched hand, pointing to the left. "Great job, Blade Three. You and Blade Six take point, scout the area; we'll be right behind you."
Wek and Soleis nodded, then took off. A few seconds later, they activated their stealth-generators and disappeared.
The rest of the Blades moved forward at a more cautious pace, but froze when Wek contacted them over the comms. Thankfully, they could tell from the first second that he and Soleis weren't in danger, but they were ready to sprint at a moment's notice.
"Guys, we'd spotted a Cerberus sniper," Wek reported, "Totally suited up, just like the rest of their troops, but she's not wearing the same kind of armor. It's really thin-looking, kind of like Liara's outfit when we first met her, but without the lab coat and in Cerberus colors."
"What was her target?" Ryan asked, comfortable enough to start moving again.
"Hang on, there's a big rock in the way," Wek said, "Blade Six is moving to ID the target. I'm keeping my eye on the sniper; looks like she missed her target, or there're more, because she's still got her rifle aimed. She's got a good position, but she definitely wasn't prepared for someone who was already on her flank."
"Blade Six here," Soleis said, before Wek could start criticizing the sniper even more, "I've got eyes on the sniper's targets. I count five Alliance troops, three Turian… and a pack of Vorcha? What the hell? No one said anything about Vorcha being here!"
During their read through the Codex, the Blades had learned about the Vorcha. About the same size as a Human, but thinner and more wiry, they were seen as the sapient vermin of the galaxy. They were often used as cannon fodder by other mercenaries, barely intelligent enough to point a gun in the right direction. However, they were smarter than most people gave them credit for, usually because the only Vorcha people saw were the ones dumb enough to run headlong into a hail of gunfire.
Apparently, the ones in front of them were among the smarter variety, or they were under the command of someone who cared about them and told them to take cover.
"Blade Three, take out the sniper on my mark," Ryan said quietly, "Blade Six, get back to his position and keep an eye out; that sniper might not be alone."
"Got it, boss."
"Understood, Commander."
Ryan held up a fist, telling Tanith, Bitters and Sera to freeze; they didn't want to make any excess noise that might alert the sniper, even if she was a fair distance away.
"Mark."
Too far away to hear the sound-suppressed shot, Ryan had to wait for Wek's response.
"Sniper is down, Blade Lead," Wek reported, much to everyone's relief, "I'm not seeing any other Cerberus forces."
"Nice job," Ryan said, moving again, "Let's say hi to our new friends, shall we?"
The Blades regrouped at the end of the valley, overlooking the area that the Alliance, Turians and Vorcha had been hiding.
"Who are you people?" an Alliance soldier, a Sergeant, demanded.
Ryan nodded at him. "Blade Lead, CO of the Outcast Blades. Admiral Hackett sent us to take out the Cerberus forces here, find any useful intel, and make sure that you guys didn't die."
"I appreciate the assist," the Sergeant said, then held out his hand. "Sergeant Miles Trench, Alliance Marine Corps."
Ryan shook Trench's hand. "Good to meet you, Sergeant. Is this all the men you have left?"
Trench shook his head. "The rest of us are back at camp, we're just scouting."
Tanith glanced around at the group. "Quite a lot of you for scouting."
Trench shrugged. "With Thresher Maws in the area, you don't travel in small groups. Hell, even with all of us, we're still considered understaffed."
These guys are really scared of these Thresher Maws, Ryan mused, but kept it to himself.
"Why don't we head to your camp, and you can give us a sitrep?" he suggested out loud.
Trench nodded. "Good idea."
…
"We came here to investigate an SOS," Trench explained as they moved from cover to cover, "It was the same kind of emergency beacon that's deployed by infantry units that take over fifty-percent losses. Our own ship was damaged when we left Earth, but a Turian frigate offered us a lift, seeing as we're all friends now. They sent a couple squads, we sent a couple squads.
"We found the beacon, but it was a trap; Cerberus was waiting with turrets, snipers, you name it, they even had one of those old ATLAS combat-walkers. We'd have died for sure if the Vorcha hadn't been there; they hit the Cerberus flank, made just enough of a distraction for us to bail out. We've been ducking their patrols for three days."
One of the Vorcha made a hissing noise before speaking. "Cerberus bad! They take our people, fill them with needles and fire, then kill them. We here for revenge."
Trench nodded. "Apparently, these Vorcha have been here for almost a year; they were dropped off by a bunch of Krogan mercs who didn't want 'em anymore. They started building a colony, using scavenged stuff from the old Alliance colony that used to be here. It was actually pretty impressive. Then Cerberus set up shop a couple months back; they blew up the colony, then started hunting down the Vorcha for either target-practice or for whatever sick experiments they've got going on."
"Have you tried leaving?" Ryan asked.
"We can't," Trench replied, "The Turian ship dropped us off, then had to bug out when Cerberus set up a ground-to-space missile battery. Its range covers the entire planet; if we don't take it out, we're never getting off."
"Our ship left once we found out," a Turian soldier added, "They retreated into the Mass Relay before they got hit. We can't contact them for support because Cerberus is jamming us."
"But we landed on the ship without any problems," Soleis said.
"The Desperate was probably too small to pick up," Tanith said thoughtfully, "Besides, we can't get everyone onboard anyway; not enough room."
"Then we'll have to take out the missile battery and the base first," Ryan said, then looked at Trench. "How long until we reach your camp? We have some planning to do."
…
When the group reached the camp, a council of war was held. The Blades, a couple of the senior Vorcha and the four squad leaders were gathered around a holographic map of the terrain. At the center of it, surrounded by large, jagged rocks and protected by a series of gun turrets and an unknown amount of troops, was the Cerberus base.
"It's not an outpost, it's a fortress!" Wek said.
"There's no way to take that base," Trench said, shaking his head, "Not without armor and artillery."
"No, we can make this work," Ryan said, not taking his eyes off the fortress, "Now, we can't get everyone inside the base, but my team could get in."
"How?" a large Turian asked, an eye-ridge raised, "Can you turn invisible?"
"Actually, yes," Ryan said dismissively, shutting the Turian up, "However, our cloak will only hold up for a short time. We can't move too fast while cloaked or it will fail, and we won't have enough time to make it across that no-man's land before it wears off."
"You'd need a distraction," Trench realized, "Someone to hold Cerberus' attention long enough for you to make it at least halfway across that field, then use your cloak to get inside."
"Spirits, you want to use us as bait!" the other Turian officer exclaimed.
"Only for a few minutes," Ryan said quickly, "Just long enough for us to get across and into the base. Once that's done, you guys get the hell out of there; we'll take care of the rest."
The first Turian tapped his chin thoughtfully. "You're going to have a hell of a fight once you're inside. Considering the size of that base… I'd guess at least a hundred Cerberus soldiers, and these guys are good, borderline Special Forces."
"Good," Bitters said, grinning in anticipation, "that means that the Illusive Man will be short some of his best troops when we tear his whole organization down."
Trench looked at the Blades, incredulous. "You're not worried about the opposition in there?"
The Blades glanced at each other, then spoke as one. "Nope."
"You brave," one of the Vorcha hissed, "Me like that. When you go into base, find lost Vorcha. They help you."
"How do we know if they're even alive?" Tanith asked, "Assuming they are, if Cerberus is experimenting on them, they might not be fit to fight."
"Vorcha are tougher than you'd think," Trench said, "Unless you kill them outright, they'll just regenerate. Give a Vorcha five minutes, he'll look like he was never hurt."
Wek gave a low whistle. "Okay, now that's something I wish I could do."
"All right, we'll keep an eye out for any prisoners," Ryan said, "For now, tell your men to get ready; we move out in an hour."
…
The Citadel
"Shepard…"
"I know, Garrus."
"Really? Because you're not doing anything about it."
"You saw the look on the guy's face when I said yes; he'd probably feel like I ripped his heart out if I went back on the deal."
"Well, yes, but…" Garrus pointed to the holographic sign with the Commander's face on it. "I was so happy when those were taken down last year, and now it's back!"
"I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite store on the Citadel."
"Argh!" Garrus threw his hands over his head, then covered his ear-holes to block out the sound. "It never leaves!"
"I believe that the sign brings out your eyes, Commander."
"Thanks, EDI," Shepard said, smiling at the AI, "Nice to see someone actually appreciating what I do."
"Although," EDI said thoughtfully, "The hologram does make the rest of you look rather… bloated."
"Argh!" now it was Shepard's turn to throw his hands up in annoyance. He turned to walk away, but froze.
Walking towards him was probably the most beautiful Human female in existence. Clad in a black bodysuit that she had to have been poured into, curves in all the right places, a beautiful face framed in raven hair and a swing in her hips that drew the attention of just about every man—and quite a few women—who saw her.
Shepard, however, was not staring at the woman because his mind was in the gutter—he was too loyal to Tali for that. No, he was staring because he was sure that the woman would have been arrested by C-Sec the moment she'd stepped on the Citadel.
"Miranda?" he asked, once the woman got closer to him, "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you, Commander," Miranda Lawson said in her Australian accent, "I was hoping to catch up with you before you left."
"You did," Garrus said, "We were just resupplying before we headed out to our next mission. Good to see you again, Miranda."
"Likewise, Garrus," Miranda replied with a small smile; she'd always appreciated the Turian's professionalism, if not his sense of humor.
"Miss Lawson," EDI said, stepping forward, "it is a pleasant surprise to see you here. I was unaware that you were on the Citadel."
Miranda blinked in surprise. "EDI? When did you get a body?"
"We took out a Cerberus mech on Mars," Shepard explained, "EDI deleted the AI inside, then put herself in."
"I'll bet Joker was pleased with the new arrangement," Miranda deadpanned.
"He was," EDI said, "However, when I sat next to him in the cockpit, his attention to his work dropped twenty-seven percent."
"Only that much?" Miranda asked, "He has more self-control than I thought."
Shepard and Garrus laughed, but EDI only tilted her head, not getting it; Joker was still working on teaching her the concept of humor.
"So, Miranda," Shepard said, getting more serious, "What brings you here? Do you need something?"
"What makes you think I came here for your help, Shepard?" Miranda asked.
Shepard crossed his arms. "You're ex-Cerberus, and I'm sure you're on the watch-list for C-Sec, so coming to the Citadel in the open seems kind of stupid for someone as smart as you. You also don't do anything for a reason, but I've learned that the more direct you are, the more important the situation is. Third, and this one is the most obvious, you maintained eye-contact with me the entire time you were walking."
Miranda blinked, as did Garrus. They both knew that Shepard was smart—you had to be to get into the N7 program, and Shepard was one of the best, if not the best in the program's history—but Shepard rarely showed just how brilliant he really was. He could read someone like a book after only a few minutes of talking with them; he was also adept at getting people to do what he wanted, appealing to their nature and yet not outright manipulating them, leaving the choices to them. And that was just his social skills; his tactical abilities were so good that his instructors had had to create whole new charts to account for his skills. He'd put those skills to good use at the Battle of Elysium five years ago, when he'd led a handful of inexperienced troops against an invading force of pirates who'd had him outnumbered and outgunned.
In the words of Admiral Hackett himself, 'Shepard was Sun Tzu reincarnated. It's just good that he's so loyal to the Alliance; if he wanted to, he could take over the galaxy in a year, and half of his victories would be won without firing a shot.'
"That's… true, Commander," Miranda admitted, "I was hoping to get your assistance in a matter."
"What's wrong?" Shepard asked, his eyes already looking around for potential threats as his protective nature kicked in; Miranda had been a member of his crew, and he considered her a friend.
"Nothing at the moment, just suspicions," Miranda assured him, "It's my sister, Oriana. I think that my father is trying to capture her again."
"I thought we covered her tracks?" Shepard asked, remembering when he'd helped save Miranda's twin—and yet younger—sister.
"Cerberus did," Miranda corrected, "And my father has close ties to Cerberus. I threw away everything the Illusive Man had given me; he's petty enough to give Oriana's location to my father if it meant getting revenge."
Shepard thought about it for a moment. "I've got Spectre resources, an advanced AI, a detective, top-of-the-line communications systems, and the Shadow Broker on my ship. What if you join my crew, and we can help each other?"
Miranda was surprised. She had only been hoping to get some security clearance from Shepard, but the amount of resources he was offering her… it was better than anything she could have hoped for.
"Thank you, Commander," Miranda said, a rare, genuine smile gracing her lips, "I'll grab my effects and take them to the Normandy."
"You might need to find a new room," Garrus said, "Liara kind of set up shop there."
Miranda shrugged. "I'm sure I'll work something out. I just have one question."
"What's that?" Shepard asked.
"It's about your new body, EDI," Miranda said, looking at the AI, "Why does it look like me from the neck down, and why are you wearing one of my outfits?"
Shepard and Garrus did a quick double-take between the synthetic woman and the organic one. Both of them had suspected that EDI shared the same physical appearance as Miranda, but seeing them standing in front of each other confirmed it.
"That's a good question," Shepard said, then looked at EDI, "Why does your body look like Miranda's?"
EDI cocked her head as she accessed her body's history. "The Illusive Man based this platform off of Miss Lawson's physical dimensions. Until the previous AI was installed, he had this platform simply stand next to him."
"I always suspected that he was a creepy perv," Shepard said, "But that… wow."
"Maybe he watches a lot of those old spy vids," Garrus suggested, "You know, the one with the Human who has those drinks and always gets the girl?"
"James Bond?" Shepard guessed, "Yeah, I could see him getting the idea from that, but he isn't nearly as cool."
"As for your second question," EDI continued, "Liara located a hidden compartment in your previous quarters with several outfits inside. Since it fitted this platform, I selected several. Is this permissible?"
From the look on Miranda's face, it wasn't, but she was too disciplined to say it. Shepard and Garrus inwardly groaned; this was going to end badly when they were on the ship.
I hope Ryan doesn't have to deal with this sort of drama on his team, Shepard thought, just as his Omni-tool beeped, signaling that he was getting a message. As he read it, his eyes went wide in surprise, something that his three teammates noticed.
"Shepard? What's wrong?" Garrus asked.
"Head to the Normandy," Shepard ordered, "I just got an emergency transmission from Admiral Hackett.
"Eden Prime is under attack."
…
Akuze
"Final check," Ryan said into the short-range comms, which Cerberus couldn't jam, "Outcast Blades, ready."
"Right prong, ready," Sergeant Trench said, as head of the Alliance part of the attack.
"Center prong, ready," one of the Turian sergeants said.
"Left prong. We go now?" the Vorcha leader asked.
The plan revolved around the coalition forces, along with the Vorcha, to attack from three different locations. This would force Cerberus to split their fire; if they focused on just one group, they risked getting flanked. Either way, the fire heading their way would be minimized, but it would still provide the distraction necessary for the Blades to make their way across no-man's land.
"Remember, keep them busy for ten minutes," Ryan said, ignoring the eager Vorcha, "No matter what happens, once the time is up, get out of their range."
What Ryan didn't say was that the coalition forces were to retreat even if the Blades failed. They didn't really have a backup plan in case this didn't work; the only other idea they had was to get to the Desperate Measures and use it to attack the base, but the antiaircraft batteries, while unlikely to do any damage to the beskar hull, would certainly ruin their day.
"Good luck, guys," Trench said, then cut the transmission.
"You ready?" Ryan asked his teammates.
"Absolutely," Tanith replied.
"Yep," Wek said, checking his dagger before sheathing it.
"Yes, now let's go," Bitters said impatiently.
"Affirmative," Sera said.
"Let's do this," Soleis said, eager to start.
Ryan nodded, then activated the comms again.
"All forces, begin the attack."
Dashing out of their cover, the three groups opened fire at the Cerberus fortifications, surprising a few of the patrolling soldiers and killing them. It didn't take long for Cerberus to respond, however; the large guns on the roof of the base, as well as the ones located at ground-level, opened fire, halting the attackers' advance.
So far, the plan was working.
"Go, go, go!" Ryan ordered, running as fast as he could towards no man's land. The Blades couldn't move that fast while using their stealth-generators, so they stuck to the shadows cast by the jutting rocks, hoping that their allies created enough of a distraction.
"Five minutes," Sera said, checking the time left for the assault.
"Making good time," Ryan said tersely; they were only a couple of minutes away from their optimal position.
Still, those couple of minutes seemed to stretch on forever; it was almost a surprise when they reached the location.
"Disappear, now!" Ryan said, almost belatedly, as the team activated their stealth-generators.
Now forced to move at a light jog, progress towards the base was slow-going, but the sound of combat could still be clearly heard. Two minutes later, it started to die down, prompting Ryan to check on the coalition forces.
"All teams, report status."
"Right prong here," Trench said, "I've got a few wounded, nothing serious."
"Center prong," one of the Turians said next, "We have four wounded, one fatality."
"Left prong. Some dead. Others healing."
Ryan suppressed a wince. Everyone had known that the operation was high-risk, which was why Ryan had offered the choice to stay behind for anyone who wanted to. However, not a single man or woman had taken him up on the offer. Still, Ryan felt a bit of responsibility for the deaths.
Tanith seemed to read his mind. "It wasn't your fault. Remember, every time we go out into a fight, we know the risks. It doesn't matter if we're soldiers or mercenaries."
Ryan almost sighed. "I know. It still sucks."
The rest of the way to the base was uneventful, but several times, the guns at the ground-level turned in their direction, but didn't fire. Finally, they were close to the wall.
"Three minutes left on the cloak," Wek reported.
"Five guards at this position," Soleis said, "How do you want to handle this, Lead?"
Ryan glanced at the area for a moment. "Blade Five: give the explosives to Blade Two. Two, you're in charge of breaching the wall; set the explosives on a timer, not manual detonation. You'll want to throw the bombs about fifteen seconds after we engage the guards."
"Fifteen seconds to kill five guys?" Bitters asked, "Not much of a challenge."
"Fifteen seconds to kill five guys and then get out of the blast radius," Ryan corrected him.
"Two minutes," Wek said.
"Marking targets now," Ryan said, his cybernetic eye placing numbers over the guards, one through six, but without a two, the numbers then becoming visible to the other Blades via their HUDs.
"Engage on my mark," Ryan said, slowly drawing his carbine and aiming, while the others did the same with their own weapons, "Mark!"
Five blasters fired simultaneously, and five Cerberus troops dropped dead. Tanith then sprinted forward, hurled the explosives that Sera had given her moments earlier, then dashed back, huddling behind a rocky outcropping just as the bombs exploded, leaving a gaping hole in the wall.
"Move, move, move!" Ryan shouted, charging through the breach. While the smoke from the explosion blurred his vision, he still fired at the first form he saw, then did the same three more times. The sound of more blaster-fire echoed for a moment, and when the smoke cleared, a dozen Cerberus troops were dead.
"I thought these were the Illusive Man's elite?" Soleis asked, unimpressed.
"Don't let your guard down," Ryan said, "We have no idea what else is here."
The Blades moved into the next part of the facility. To their credit, Cerberus had reacted quickly to the intrusion, and their engineers had set up several layers of automated turrets. Those were a problem for the organic Blades, but Sera calmly strode forward, ignoring the bullets that bounced off of her armor. Her cannon roared, each shot blowing a turret into scrap or a Cerberus soldier into bloody chunks.
"I know a lot of troops in the Hierarchy who would kill to have that kind of firepower," Soleis commented.
"I knew a lot of people in the Rebellion who said the same thing," Wek replied, before calmly firing his sniper rifle over Sera's shoulder, his shot going right through the vision-slit of a shield held by a Cerberus soldier, separating the man's body from his head.
The fight through the base began to drag on, the quick assault turning into a slog. The Blades were soon facing more and more Cerberus troops, and it looked like they'd be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. They needed something to even the odds…
"Blade Three, is that a computer terminal?" Ryan asked, pointing to a wall on one side of the hallway they were in.
Wek followed his leader's hand, then smiled behind his mask. "Yes it is, and that means that things just got a whole lot more interesting."
"Do what you can," Ryan said, even as he snapped off a shot that caught a Cerberus soldier in the throat. "We'll cover you."
With his teammates killing anyone who got close, Wek immediately began bypassing the computer's security. As he accessed more functions, he grinned even wider.
"Blade Lead, you're going to love this. This terminal controls the turrets on the walls and on the ground; I can turn them around, have them shoot down Cerberus guys instead!"
"Anything else?" Ryan asked, "Useful intel or something?"
Wek shrugged. "I can download a map of the base's interior, but any intel beyond this base is going to be at the main computer."
"We'll get to that later, then; for now, turn those turrets around!" a minute later, once Wek gave him an assuring nod, Ryan activated his comms. "All attack groups, this is Blade Lead; our attack on the base has stalled, but we've sabotaged the turrets on the outside to attack Cerberus troops instead. Can you attack again?"
When Trench replied a moment later, the sound of cheering was in the background. "Hot damn, kid, I was half expecting you all to be dead by now. We're mobilizing as fast as we can, we should be there in a few minutes."
"That's all?" Ryan asked.
"If no one's shooting at us, we don't have to be as cautious."
"Good point. Just hurry, would you? There're a bit too many Cerberus guys who want to dance."
"Let us free up your dance card then, okay? Trench out."
"Blades, hold your positions!" Ryan shouted, then drew his pistol to join his carbine. "Reinforcements will be here soon!"
It was difficult to hold back the dozens of troops that hit them from both sides, but Cerberus' progress was slowed by the growing piles of bodies in their way. Still, it was harrowing, and every one of the Blades felt a bullet strike their armor, or in Soleis' case, her biotic barrier. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the river of Cerberus reinforcements tapered off, and more distant combat could be heard in other parts of the facility.
"Looks like we just caught a break," Tanith said, relieved.
"We need to make use of it," Ryan said, "Those guys won't last forever."
The Blades finished off the last of the nearby enemies, then followed the map that Wek had downloaded to where the prisoners were supposed to be held. They blew through the guards at the door and, rather than have Wek slice through the security, Sera simply fired at the door until it shattered.
As soon as they entered, Ryan felt sick; the room was less of a place to house prisoners as it was to dissect them. Pieces of Vorcha were suspended in Mass Effect fields or laid out on tables. Only one Vorcha was still alive, strapped to a large table, manacled at the wrists and ankles. For the briefest of moments, Ryan was back at Moff Laar's base, in the same position. He quickly shook himself out of it; there was someone who needed help.
"Blade Four, get that Vorcha out of there, check if he's all right." Then Ryan switched to his comms. "Attention, all attack groups: we found where the prisoners were being held. There was only one survivor. I'm sorry."
"Gah, you make Cerberus pay, Blade! You kill all!"
"With pleasure," Ryan snarled, then cut the transmission. "Blade Four, what's the prisoner's status?"
"Thank the Force for Vorcha regeneration," Bitters said, even as he yanked needles and tubes out of the semiconscious Vorcha, "Otherwise, he'd be dead five times over."
"Ugh," the Vorcha groaned, his eyes fully opening, then looked around. "Who you? You not Cerberus. You save Xin? Why?"
"We wanted to stop Cerberus," Soleis answered, "But first, we wanted to save anyone they'd captured."
"Still not answer question," Xin said, eying them suspiciously, "Who you?"
"We're the Outcast Blades," Ryan said, looking through the dead Cerberus soldiers to get a weapon for their new friend.
"Outcasts? Why you outcast? What you do?"
"You're awfully chatty for a Vorcha," Soleis commented.
Xin glared at her. "Not all Vorcha dumb. Xin knows things. Can even fly ship."
Soleis opened a private comm-channel to Ryan. "Commander, we have no idea what Cerberus did to this guy. He could be a time bomb for all we know."
Ryan considered that for a moment, then turned to Xin. "If I give you a gun, will you use it on us?"
Xin tilted his head. "You fight Cerberus. You save Xin. Xin will fight for you. Xin will die for you."
"How about just the fighting part?" Ryan suggested, then handed Xin a Mattock assault rifle. "I don't want anyone dying for me."
Xin grinned, his mouth full of needle-sharp teeth. "Xin like that idea. Xin kill lots of Cerberus. Reapers too."
"Good enough for me," Ryan said, "Get anything you can salvage, we're blowing this place sky-high soon."
Like most Vorcha, Xin was wearing metal briefs, and a single belt across his back and torso, which attached to a shoulder-plate on his right shoulder. Vorcha didn't need armor for the most part; their rapid regeneration took care of injuries, though some did have kinetic barriers.
Wek, caught the other Blades' attention from his position at the lab's computers. "Guys, I know what Cerberus was doing with the Vorcha; they were experimenting with their regeneration, trying to incorporate it into Human DNA."
"Gene splicing," Bitters said, scowling, "I hate it when people do that, it never ends well."
"Just when I think Cerberus won't find another reason to make me sick…" Tanith said, shaking her head.
After a minute, Xin had another pistol and had loosely hung a few plates of damaged Cerberus armor over his chest and back.
"Xin ready. Wish Xin had rocket launcher, but Cerberus broke it. Gah, Xin will kill them!"
"Okay, everyone, let's move out!" Ryan left the lab, but ducked when a squad of Cerberus troops rounded the corner and opened fire.
The other Blades, plus Xin, returned fire, killing a few of the troopers and sending the rest into a retreat.
"We hunt them down?" Xin asked hopefully, "We kill them?"
Wek checked the map. "Well, they are headed in the same direction we are."
"Then that settles it," Ryan said, smiling behind his helmet, "The answer, Xin, is yes."
Xin hissed in pleasure, but rather than blindly charge forward, he stayed with the Blades, his eyes searching for targets.
"Okay, I've seen smart Vorcha before," Soleis said over the comms, so that Xin didn't hear her, "But I've never even heard of one who had that kind of head for tactics. Did Cerberus do something to him?"
Wek looked at the files he'd downloaded. "Says here that they were using an intelligence-boosting drug on him. It looks like they were trying to find a way to counter the intelligence-reducing effect of Reaper tech."
"So they're having some problems with their upgrades," Bitters said thoughtfully, "See, this is why you test things before you use them."
"We'll talk about it later," Ryan cut in, "Right now, we've got to take this base out."
The seven of them raced after the retreating Cerberus troops, eventually killing them outside of the armory.
"Xin," Ryan said, "See if there's anything in there that's better than a pistol for you."
Xin nodded and entered the armory. A few moments later, he emerged toting a rocket launcher, cackling madly.
"Xin has rocket launcher! Xin have fun now!"
As soon as he said that, more Cerberus forces arrived. Still giggling like a lunatic, Xin fired his new weapon, the rocket exploding in the center of the enemy squad. The explosion rocked the hallway, turning all but two of them into paste and scraps of armor. The survivors were quickly gunned down by the Blades.
"I can see why you wanted a rocket launcher," Bitters commented.
"Yes. Xin make Cerberus go boom!"
"Nice work," Ryan said, clapping the Vorcha on the shoulder, then turned to Wek. "How far is the main control room?"
"Not far. About five minutes, not counting time spent fighting Cerberus."
At those words, the sound of stomping could be heard. Something was headed their way, and it was very, very large. That something turned out to be a large exoskeleton armed with a large claw on one arm, an oversized cannon on the other. In the center of the mech, protected by orange-tinted, transparent plating, was a Cerberus soldier.
"What the hell is that?" Ryan asked, even as he opened fire.
"ATLAS mech," Soleis said tersely, her two blaster pistols not doing much to the mech, "It's old Alliance tech that got shelved decades ago. Between this and those Mattock rifles they're using, it's a wonder Cerberus has everyone scared; all their tech is obsolete!"
"It's got thick armor, you have to give 'em that," Tanith commented, watching wide-eyed as a high-powered shot from Sera and a rocket from Xin only made the mech stagger.
"We'll see about that," Wek said as he aimed his sniper rifle, set it to 'anti-armor' and fired. The high-powered bolt punched a hole straight through the orange front, drilling into the pilot's head and killing him instantly.
Soleis turned to stare at Wek, who was now nonchalantly resting his rifle on his shoulder. "That was… awesome!"
Wek started walking, a bit of a swagger in his step. "Hey, when you're good, you're good."
Ryan decided to deflate his friend's ego a bit. "You're a good sniper, Blade Three. You're still the worst hand-to-hand fighter on the team."
At those words, Wek sagged, but Soleis' genuine laughter seemed to make him perk up a bit.
…
The rest of the base had few Cerberus troops left. Trench reported in to say that the coalition forces were only encountering token resistance now, but another five of their own soldiers were dead, and most of the rest had at least one injury.
With the base almost cleared, Ryan had the remaining soldiers meet the Blades outside of the control room. Bitters spent a few minutes patching up a handful of men and women, while the Vorcha happily reunited with Xin.
"Glad Xin still alive," one Vorcha said, "Xin make us strong."
Xin shook his spiked head. "Xin want to stay with Outcast Blades. Blades saved Xin. Now Xin owe them life."
The other Vorcha blinked their beady red eyes at each other, then shrugged.
"That Xin's choice. Xin kill Cerberus and Reapers for Vorcha killed by Cerberus?"
Xin nodded eagerly. "Happy to do that."
The other Vorcha grinned maliciously.
"Hey, Xin!" Ryan called out, "Want to do the honors and open the door?"
In response, Xin lifted his rocket launcher.
"Oh, fierfek," Ryan swore, "Get down!"
Everyone hit the floor as Xin fired; the rocket blew the door into metal splinters. Trench glared at the Vorcha.
"You could have just opened it!" he shouted, "It wasn't locked!"
"Oops," Xin said, but didn't look the least bit sorry.
"Figures you had to rescue a psychopath," Trench muttered to Ryan.
Bitters laughed. "I don't know, I kind of like him."
"You would, you lunatic," Wek accused.
The control room only had a few Cerberus technicians inside, but oddly enough, they weren't implanted with Reaper technology. Perhaps Cerberus wanted its scientists' minds to be unimpaired.
"Blade Three, get on that computer!" Ryan barked as the Blades, Xin and a handful of coalition troops secured the room. It was fairly standard, but it had a large window on one side, overlooking a large cage inside the center of the base. Whatever was in the cage was moving, but they didn't have a good view.
"Okay, I've got good news and bad news," Wek reported, "The good news is that I've got a ton of intel on Cerberus activities. This'll really help us."
"Okay, I'll bite," Ryan sighed, "What's the bad news?"
"The bad news is that Cerberus was trying to do more than experiment on Vorcha. They captured a Thresher Maw, and were trying to find a way to control it."
"That's… really, really bad," Soleis said numbly.
Wek tapped away at the computer again, and his blue skin turned to a much lighter shade. "Uh, looks like the bad news keeps on coming. Cerberus set the Maw's cage to open as soon as someone accessed their files. They must have known we would win."
"Wait… you just accessed the files," Ryan said slowly, "That means… oh, dammit."
With a deafening roar, the entire control room shook from a massive impact. Ryan spotted a brief flash of brownish-green carapace as it tunneled upwards, ripping the room from the rest of the base. The control room fell into the open courtyard, taking the Blades, Xin and the other soldiers with it.
They landed painfully, but could still move. They scrambled out of the wreckage and saw the giant wormlike creature, its head raised above them.
"Um, anyone have any ideas?" Ryan asked.
"Don't get eaten?" Soleis offered.
"Die, Maw!" Xin fired his rocket launcher, hitting the Thresher Maw in the face.
The colossal monster roared, more in anger than in pain, then burrowed underground like the stone was water.
"Don't bunch up," Ryan ordered, "We can't give that thing a large target."
Then, the ground shook, and the Maw burst upwards. It spotted a Turian in the open and spat a glob of green acid. It only grazed the Turian's arm, but the acid was strong enough to reduce it to a mere stump.
"Fierfek," Bitters whispered, "I do not want to get hit by that stuff."
"Agreed," Sera said, opening fire with her cannon and blowing off a large chunk of the Maw's carapace.
The Maw screamed, then dove forward, slithering across the ground at a speed that belied its bulk. For Ryan, everything seemed to freeze; for a split second, he saw everything with perfect clarity. Then he moved. The world seemed to pass in a blur as he tackled into Bitters. The medic stumbled into Sera, the two of them now pushed out of the way.
Unfortunately, that left Ryan right in the path of the Maw.
Everyone watched, horrified, as the Thresher Maw's jaws closed around the Human, then tossed him into the air. They all heard a brief scream as Ryan fell into the Maw's gullet, which was then cut off.
"NO!" Tanith screamed, then fired every mini-rocket she had at the Maw. Her attacks were joined by the other Blades, Xin, the Turians and Humans, everyone who had a gun.
Thresher Maws were tough, but between high-powered blasters, rockets and an unrelenting storm of bullets—most of which were aimed at the weak-spot created by Sera—the giant creature fell. It was will alive, which was why Tanith ran up to it, her scattergun fully charged, and fired point-blank into its eye. The shot blew apart its brain, killing it instantly, but no one seemed to care.
Tanith sank to her knees, ripped off her helmet and began to sob. "No, no, no! Ryan… I…"
The other Blades looked close to tears themselves; even Soleis, who had only been a part of the team for a short time, looked stricken.
Xin was raging, slicing his claws against the Maw's thick hide. He had sworn his life to the Blades, and in only a few minutes, one of them was dead. In his mind, he should have died, not Ryan.
"Hold up!" one of the Turians shouted, "That thing is still moving!"
He was right. The side of the Thresher Maw was bulging, as if something was pushing outwards. Then, with the sound of tearing flesh, a sword ripped a hole from the inside. That sword then dragged across in a horizontal line, opening up a wide hole. Everyone stared in disbelief as a gore-drenched figure flopped out of the Maw, his sword clattering to his side.
"Hey, guys," Ryan said, weakly raising his head, then letting it fall back down.
Trench said the first thing on his mind. "Mazel Tov, it's a boy!"
That set off the rest of the Humans and the Turians who understood the joke. While they laughed themselves silly, Tanith dashed over to Ryan, cradling his head on her lap.
"Ryan, are you—"
"I'm fine," Ryan said weakly, "Gotta say, though, that that was the most disgusting thing that I have ever seen. Oh, and I think some acid got on me. My skin is burning."
Bitters quickly scanned him. "There's no damage to the beskar plates, but the mesh got some acid on it and it's burning through. We need to get you to the ship ASAP."
"I'll start fixing up your armor," Tanith offered, glad to have something normal to do to get her mind off of the fact that Ryan had just been eaten alive.
"One thing before we go," Ryan said, "Help me up."
Careful not to get any acid on her, Tanith helped Ryan to his feet. Ryan turned to face the dead Thresher Maw and kicked it as hard as he could.
"Okay, now we can go."
…
The Desperate Measures
Ryan sat back on the cot in the infirmary, struggling to find a comfortable position, but his acid-burns itched and stung. After being taken to the Desperate by Bitters and Tanith, his armor was removed and he was covered in bacta-gel bandages. While Bitters ran checks on Ryan's body, Tanith worked on replacing the mesh of Ryan's armor, as well as repainting the plates—the paint had been almost completely burned off. There was also some minor damage to Ryan's blasters, but Sera assured Ryan that she would repair them as soon as she, Wek and Soleis finished helping their allies in disabling the base's missile-based defenses.
What really annoyed Ryan was the damage to his coat. It wasn't too bad; the acid had only splattered the hemline. The result, however, was that the bottom edge was ragged, something that drove Ryan crazy whenever he saw it.
"I don't know," Tanith had said when Ryan complained about it, "I kind of like it. It'll make you look badass."
"I thought I was already badass?" Ryan had mock-pouted.
Tanith had smiled sweetly, and Ryan thought she was about to kiss him. Instead, she whipped out a spanner and cracked it against his head.
"What was that for!?"
"Never scare me like that again!" Tanith waved her spanner threateningly near Ryan's nose for emphasis.
"Yes, ma'am," Ryan said meekly, and had remained silent as his fiancé moved her work to the infirmary, humming softly as she repaired Ryan's armor, her head resting against his cot.
After an hour, the other Blades had returned, bearing good news, as well as Xin.
"We alerted the Turian ship that had dropped the Alliance and Turian forces off," Wek reported, "They'll be here in less than an hour."
"Good," Ryan said, "In the meantime, I want you and Soleis to go through that data you got, see what looks like a good target for us, and what would be better for the Alliance to go after."
"Got it. What about Sera?"
Ryan looked at the droid in question. "She's on maintenance duty today. If you need help, just send something my way. Bitters says that I'm not leaving this room for the next six hours."
Wek winced. "Yeesh, I wouldn't want to spend six hours in a room with that nutcase as my doctor."
"That's why I'm here," Tanith said from her spot on the floor, "If he tries replacing Ryan's legs or something, I have my spanner."
"It is good you are here to keep him in line," Sera commented.
Soleis, feeling more comfortable with her team, asked, "Who? Bitters, or Commander Ryan?"
The other Blades laughed, while Wek elbowed her playfully. It was only when Xin coughed loudly that they remembered that the Vorcha was there. Despite the near-constant twitching that plagued him, he could be almost unnoticeable when he wanted to be.
"Sorry about that, Xin, we didn't mean to ignore you," Ryan said, "Was there something you wanted?"
"Xin pledged life to Outcast Blades. Xin want to go with you."
The Blades looked at each other, then at Ryan. As the Commander, he had the final say on that sort of thing.
"I have two conditions," Ryan said after a moment, "First, we'll take you through our next mission, start to finish, and see how you work with us. Second, I need to make sure that your anger at Cerberus won't compromise us. If I give an order, even one you don't like, you have to follow it."
In response, Xin drew his pistol, which had Wek, Soleis and Sera reaching for their own, but stopped when Ryan shook his head.
Xin held the gun to his head. "Xin die before betrayal."
Ryan and Xin held each other's gaze for a few tense seconds, then Ryan nodded. "Okay. Bitters, I want you to find him somewhere to sleep—"
"Xin can stay in cargo bay?" the Vorcha suggested, "Xin not like small rooms. Reminds Xin of lab."
Ryan nodded. It made sense. "That's fair. Next time we go to the Citadel, we'll look into getting you some actual armor; until then, Wek, I want you working on another stealth-generator."
The Blades nodded and set about their tasks, but Sera remained. "Commander, we are receiving a transmission from Commander Shepard. It is text only. He is requesting our assistance at the Alliance colony of Eden Prime. Cerberus is there in force. Once they are taken care of, he asks that we remain with his team for a critical mission."
Ryan thought about it for a moment. "Well, Xin needs his trial-run anyway.
"Set course for Eden Prime."
And there it is, the introduction of the seventh member of the Outcast Blades, Xin! He's a bit unstable, but he's got an eye for tactics, something that just about every other Vorcha lacks. I hope you liked him, but he'll get more time to shine next chapter in case you wanted more.
On a side note, writing third-person dialogue makes my computer hate me. So many grammar mistakes.
Also, yeah, I brought Miranda back onto Shepard's team. I know a lot of people think Miranda is a bitch… and she is. Still, I liked using her in Mass Effect 2. Besides, Shepard needs more biotics on his team, especially since I didn't add Jack (I liked her as a teacher). You really can't go wrong with badass biotics.
Why are you wearing a piece of my armor?
No muffin available.