Mass Effect: End of Days

by Postmeat

An ancient danger threatens the galaxy, unknown to all. A humanity which never discovered Prothean ruins, expanding through space on their own, emerges. Joined with the machines they created, hardened by war with a terrifying enemy, they read the writing on the wall. But will the galactic community already there listen to these newcomers, stirring up trouble everywhere they go?

10. Chapter 10: Lex Talionis

Author's Note:

I'm really sorry about the long wait everybody! I've been really busy, and haven't had all that much time to write. A lame excuse, I know. I'll try to pick up the pace, but I've barely had time for sleep these past months, and writing wasn't at the top of my priorities. Hopefully, that'll change a bit now.

~Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!~

Star map of human territory and ship sizes, as well as a galaxy map are on my profile.

Any and all feedback is much appreciated.

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Chapter 10: Lex Talionis

Heloys looked up.

She could see the pirates advancing on the lone human. Ten against one.

Ten enemies with rifles, shotguns and grenades, against a single human armed with a pistol and a knife.

Her mechs had dwindled over the course of the battle, and the last one was disabled by the glowing Collector. She had been with Shepard throughout the days events, from the barricade onwards. She had been with the Alliance for almost 50 years now, but had never experienced an alien attack before. It was quite unlike training exercises, and the Collectors had been relentless. The Vision in the Alliance weren't really loyal to the government, they were loyal to humanity. It was simply the fact that the Alliance was the most widely accepted human government, and by working to further the Alliance's goals, they helped both human and their own goals. Not every Vision agreed though, and there were plenty of insurgent and pirate Vision.

Heloys had been assigned as a military Vision on Elysium a year ago, and enjoyed talking with the aliens. It was fascinating how similar they were to her creators, in both mindset and abilities. Some even became friendly after a while. She wondered where those were now. She knew the shelter was just a hundred meters behind Shepard.

He was a capable N4 Lieutenant.

-So, I have some time.-

She looked back as the shooting resumed.

-What can I do with it?-

While the mech she currently inhabited was disabled, unable to move or fire weapons, she could still send and receive. She activated her damaged sensors, and could see that there was only one other mech nearby able to get close enough to reach them in time to help.

There were two types of Human mechs. One type, collectively called "the Iron Legion", was mainly used as security, shock troops and quick response teams, much like what was deployed here, or other dangerous or arduous work in industries. Variations included the massive mechs and the industrial "squids" which the first Citadel delegation aboard the Gungnir got a look at. Clearly mechanical, and mass-produced.

They were each programmed with individual advanced V.I's that could discern between friend or foe, but were limited in that they could not adapt to changing circumstances, or make a decision on the fly. Or any independent decision for that matter. To solve that, a Vision could "spread itself" across half a dozen mechs, linking them up through the QSD's, effectively making the drones their hands and feet, and suddenly, the enemy would face a truly intelligent opponent. Several, in fact. The V.I's were designed for this, and the programming was fully compatible with the Vision, so there wasn't even that much of a strain on the processes.

The other type were more personalized, and would vary a great in both appearance and function. They were called "Sentinels", and usually closely resembled the human frame, and in some instances, was almost a complete copy. "Almost" meaning it was still synthetic, but of a significantly higher quality than the Iron Legion. It was what most Vision preferred to use in their downtime in the physical world. Its ease of use (due to almost all technology and architecture being formed with the human body in mind), and the added effect that the humans saw them as relatable physical beings, not as immaterial vapour clouds in the sky or cold machines, made it a good choice when interacting with organics. Since almost every model was unique, it could be far more deadlier in combat, if you found one designed for it. They generally didn't have V.I programming taking off strain either, meaning a Vision would be better served to operate one or two at a time.

Heloys's combat mechs were shot, but the other was the back-door in the battlefield she needed. She sent herself to the newly discovered QSD, leaving the ruined mechs cameras to operate, gathering data. After a brief feeling of compression and disembodiment, where some of her more inactive synapses were archived for efficient transfer, she slammed into the firewall. Any comparison in organic terms would end with a liquefied organic, even if it was the sturdy Krogan.

This mech was different, even by the standards of Sentinels, she realized. The firewall rejected her. It was tougher to crack than it should be, and she spent half a minute getting in, much to her frustration. Normally, in cases of emergency, any personal restrictions on mechs were automatically lifted. But not this one. Once she got in, she immediately realized that this was a combat mech. An advanced combat mech at that. She felt her conciousness expand and uncompress itself in her new body. Very well-designed, comfortable even. She quickly ran some diagnostics, and found that it had excellent targeting algorithms, was extremely well balanced and strong, but with no built in ranged weapons. It was streamlined and slim, a 1.73 cm in height, resembling a young woman. The suspension was powerful, and it'd be able to clear a five-story building, easy. She opened her new eyes, and saw she was seated in a chair that seemed to be designed specifically for this mech.

-That's curios.-

It seemed the room was a lab of some sort, and she could see several gas screens dotting the walls. They worked by sending electric pulses to heat the gas to different temperatures, causing the gas to turn different colours, forming pictures. Computers hummed, technology and equipment littered the lab. Dust from the ceiling floated in the air, and she saw sunlight filtering through a newly added crack in the roof, courtesy of the invaders.

-The people here probably evacuated with everyone else.- she surmised. -Bombardment must've cracked the shielding.- That was how she had been able to detect this mech at all. She doubted the people working here anticipated a breach.

And it was weird for there to be such an advanced lab here. She immediately knew it wasn't Alliance, as she had access to most research-sites of any consequence in their territory. Private company? Unlikely, as the Alliance was pretty strict with who was allowed to make custom mechs of this calibre and more specifically, where the research was conducted. It would require a certain amount of funds to set this up. Then she saw a logo of some sort on one of the gas-screens.

-Petty vain for a secret like this to have its own logo.- she thought.

It was a black, oblong hexagon, with a small opening at the bottom. The hexagon was either overlapping or was being flanked by a similar shape, but only the lower part of this orange part was visible. She had never seen the symbol before, and scoured the computers present for any intel she could, allowing herself the ten-second delay. There was little data left on the drives, and she assumed it had been extracted or destroyed. Probably a combination of both. She got a few snippets out of them though, and filed it for later, in case she survived the battle currently raging. This would require some investigation.

Even with all the things she had to do, it took less than a minute from her entry to make the mech fully cooperative. She tried to move an arm, and it obeyed immediately. She tried to wriggle her new fingers. They wriggled. She looked around for a weapon, without luck. She would have to scavenge one.

She got to her feet, and found that the mech indeed had excellent balance. She ran to the spot below the crack, and jumped.

X

"I'm Pethe Bonsabar, and I'll not have some fucking pyjak talk back to me!" the last batarian screamed in rage, bringing his gun to bear. She came from behind Shepard, running at a speed which would shame any Olympian. But the batarian hadn't noticed her. He was far too focused on Shepard, and who could blame him?

*BLAM!*

Armour didn't stop that one, she saw.

*BLAM!*

...Or that one.

Shepard kept moving.

The pirate seemed uncertain.

*BLAM!*

Desperate more like.

*BLAM!* *BLAM!*

"Why won't you DIE?!" the batarian screamed at the top of his lungs.

Shepard reached him, placing one hand on each cheek before twisting violently. She heard the pirate's neck snap. Loudly.

Then Shepard collapsed on top of him.

He was loosing conciousness, she could tell by the biometric readers. As she ran, she readied the medi-gel, hoping she would be in time. She also prepared a shot of adrenaline. The other Vision had reported that the pirates were quickly regrouping, and would be on top of them in about five minutes. They had left behind enough men to keep the other barricades and entrenched positions occupied. Unfortunately, that meant that most of the colony's defence forces were tied down. Some reinforcements were on their way, but they wouldn't arrive in time.

She skidded the last few meters, knocking up dust and gravel. She applied the medi-gel as fast as she could, and saw the wounds clotting. The bleeding stopped, but he had still lost a fair amount. His breath steadied, and his eyes flickered. She gave him the adrenaline.

X

Shepard took a breath that cut like glass, and spat blood.

He opened an eye. Everything was blurry, the world was spinning. He saw triple. He opened the other, and saw sextuple, but the spinning seemed to decrease in speed.

'Focus!'

The worst of it abated. He could feel adrenaline surging in his veins. All Alliance soldiers were genetically engineered to have the duration of their adrenaline rushes last longer, among other things. He could see he was still slung across the chest of the, until moments ago, screaming batarian. He lifted his head and shook it, but it didn't help much. He saw a shape leaning over him, and tried to ascertain what it was. Probably not an enemy, or he would not be breathing.

"Steady." a voice said. Whoever it was put an arm around him, and heaved his own arm over their shoulder with ease.

He got to his knees with a groan. The dizziness had left him, and the haze in his head abated. Once again, he looked around, taking in his surroundings, and saw his benefactor clearly. A Vision, by the looks of things, in a high quality mech.

"Thanks." he said. "Who're you?"

"Heloys. Don't worry about it. More importantly, pirates are converging on our position." what he assumed was a 'she' told him.

He was all ears. "How long until they arrive?"

"About four minutes. Whatever it is keeping you going mister, I hope you have a little of it left."

"A lifetimes worth." he replied.

He looked around, trying to find the best cover which also provided a clear line of sight, and for any weapon he could use. Then he saw Wrex where he had fallen.

He was still laying on the small crater, and wasn't moving.

Shepard grabbed a batarian gun, and moved across the field. Heloys began gathering weapons and explosives from the fallen, checking in and applying medi-gel to any survivor she found. Crude first aid, but it would do the trick for the time being. Some of them got to their feet, while others simply stabilized. Shepard, on the other hand, was moving closer to what had been behind enemy lines only moments ago.

When he was halfway there, Wrex began to stir. He groaned, applied medi-gel, and got to his feet. He had suffered heavy bleeding, and he could see holes in the armour from shrapnel. But he seemed fine enough, alert and awake.

"Shepard."

"Wrex."

X

Salea Rak'meba was Pethe's second in command. He had stayed behind in space in the second of their cruisers, fighting the humans. Three pirate cruisers were left, as well as hundreds of frigates. The two remaining human cruisers were reeling from the damage they had taken in the last hour, their frigates were reduced to a dozen, and the number of fighters and drones had dropped sharply.

But their own losses had been catastrophic. It would be years before the gaps in their ranks were filled, so he hoped whatever the Collectors offered them would be worth it. Their cruisers were heavily damaged, and no ship that had entered the fight were unharmed. But the battle would be won. It was only a matter of time. Then they could load up slaves without interference.

But if he ever saw Balak again, Balak was a dead man. He had drafted them, and had led much of their forces to the slaughter.

The sensor operator spoke.

"Hey, the relay just activated. Something is coming through." he said.

"Is it the Alliance?!" he said, a note of panic seeping through. It was unintentional, but if human reinforcements arrived now, the whole operation would combust. Literally.

"I can't tell. Not before it exits."

As if on cue, a single ship emerged, according to scans, but it was too far away to discern which race it belonged to. It seemed whatever it was got scared and immediately ran, though. The unmistakable FTL-signature of an eezo drive showed itself to the sensor operator, and the ship was gone. In a few moments, they would also be able to tell exactly what it was, as soon as the scans finished.

Then two things happened. First, the scans finished, determining that it belonged to the cruiser class, and its likeness appeared on holo.

Second, the ship in question appeared behind them, in optimal range for firing solutions.

And when they understood who had come, nothing could have prevented the panic that exploded on every ship with still functioning sensors.

X

"It seems we are going to get some reinforcements sooner than anticipated." Heloys said with a devious smile.

"Seems you're right." Shepard said, pointing behind her.

He saw several civilians, human and alien both, running towards their position. She seemed surprised to see them.

"Wrex, how's Tagora?" Shepard asked, hoping against hope.

Wrex only needed to cast a quick glance at the fallen krogan to see there was no hope. The orb had gouged out his chest, leaving a large gaping wound. No organic could survive such injuries. Wrex looked back at Shepard.

"Dead. Let's hope some of these civvies pack a punch." he said with krogan indifference.

Shepard wasn't surprised by the reaction, death was always a risk in their line of work. He looked back at the civilians advancing, and could see some among them carrying rifles and pistols, even wearing light armour. They must've raided the small armoury always present in shelters. He saw turian, asari, and a few salarians. Even a quarian or two, on some coming-of-age journey, according to customs. The Alliance didn't really have a solid opinion of the Quarians, due to the minimal contact, but they weren't restricted from entering Alliance Space. They had an interest in good relations, in order to bring the Quarians to the table with the Geth.

The turians, trained from a young age, moved like soldiers, with an air of professionalism and discipline, as a unit. Most states had an army. The Turian Army had a state.

The asari moved more individually, and most were young Maidens, searching for adventure and excitement in the galaxy. He would say they found it. The salarians moved fast, behind debris, and set up traps and ambushes quickly, aided by some turians.

A turian quickly walked up to him, and Wrex grumbled.

"Admirable job taking down the pirates." he simply said. "We will offer what assistance we can."

They began hoisting the soldiers too wounded to fight on stretchers, and quickly moved them towards the shelter, which had proper medical equipment. Shepard was relieved to see that Coats was still breathing, on his way to relative safety. A small comfort. He was sure the recruit had perished.

"Thank you. They'll come again in a few minutes, so make whatever preparations you need quickly." he answered.

X

By the time the fresh pirates came, their position was in significantly better shape than it was previously, and the fighting quickly became bogged down. But despite the fresh blood the defenders had received, it was obvious they had only bought time. There were a few bugs here and there, but they had ceased to be the main problem. Even with fighters taking strafing runs at them, dropping bombs, the pirates quickly learned to take cover.

Bullets whizzed past Shepard's head, digging deep into the meagre fortification. He lobbed a grenade, which landed behind a group of pirates, taking down several. But it was hopeless. There were hundreds of pirates, still relatively fresh, while he had a few dozen civilians and a single Sentinel.

One of the quarians had stayed on the front-lines with them, and had taken out quite a few pirates, displaying impressive skill in combat. Her (she looked like a female) had deployed a multitude of drones, and had even managed to overload a few pirate-grenades, with spectacular results. But Quarian suits were distinctive, and caught the eyes of the batarians, who started screaming insults, and began aiming for "the suit rat." The bullets flew thick over and around the quarian, and she did an admirable job of keeping herself alive. But battles where hundreds of rifles fired at a single individual only ended one way.

A shot caught the quarian through the chest. Red blood splattered the ground, and she collapsed, wheezing. She was lung-shot, and not long for this world, Shepard realized. The threat of infection and disease did nothing to improve her situation. But there was no-one there who could get to her in time, through the hail of bullets, much less provide the necessary care, due to the differing biology, as well as ignorance on quarian physiology.

Shepard was about to enter a sprint to recover her, so that at least her body wouldn't be completely unrecognisable by the pot-shots the pirates fired, when he heard a loud 'THUMP' from the pirate front-line.

He looked, and saw a dust-cloud forming in the middle of the charging group. He could see something mechanical moving within. At first, he thought the pirates had brought mounted heavy weapons, until he noticed that the batarians seemed equally confused. Then he saw a light at well above head height. Then came several more loud thumps, all around them, and everyone saw they came from the sky. The shooting had stopped momentarily.

Momentarily.

Precise and deadly bursts of plasma-fire suddenly spewed from the dust, hammering the pirates.

Shepard understood then, what Heloys had meant by reinforcements.

The Geth were here.

X

The young quarian had chosen to travel to Elysium as part of her Pilgrimage due to the new arrivals on the galactic stage. Despite the new colony, Pilgrimages were still a tradition with deep roots, and she doubted the practice would end any time soon. She had quickly learned that the Humans utilized A.I, but was certain they were restrained, or otherwise not true A.I. She had managed to get a look at a copy of their ambassadors speech on the Quarian people and the hated Geth, thanks to her father. She didn't believe the humans claims on the Geth Uprising.

But the Alliance's technological prowess (which she had to admit were formidable), and their A.I's (as she'd been forced to admit were truly sentient after a while), could provide valuable data if the Quarians were ever to retake their Homeworld. She wasn't thrilled about the Vision, but there was little she could do about them. Most quarians who had seen or herd the speech were scared of the implications, and rumours of an alliance between the Humans and the Geth had circulated the news on Khufu (Familiar Refuge), their new colony, for months. But few had taken it seriously, even in Citadel Space. A way for the newcomers to make themselves appear more powerful, to get the Council to back off.

In truth, she secretly envied their position. Whatever they had done during First Contact had impressed or scared the Council badly enough to not only let them keep their machines, but even gaining colonies in the galaxy. The Quarians, on the other hand, had been ousted 300 years ago, shunned by all for their own creations. Not allowed to settle a new world, nor able to get a fair deal in any business-transaction. Until now. They had lived on the mercy of the galaxy, and if their exile had taught them anything, it was that mercy was in short supply.

But doubts that the Human-Geth alliance was fabrication had begun to creep into her mind as she had lived here. She had been on Elysium for less than three months, but she had seen several pieces of technology with Quarian-looking design. And what had unnerved her the most was that it was definitely changed. Newer, sleeker, and different. But its baseline was definitely Quarian. Could it really be possible? Then their chances of taking back Rannoch was almost nil.

But now, half a week before she had planned to leave for some other place, the batarians had come knocking. Alongside the Collectors. She never knew the Collectors were real. She thought they were a myth, but here they were, clear as day. She never knew they had dreadnoughts either. She had hurried to a shelter, her suit and physiology making combat far more dangerous than for other races. She had a knack for technology, and had hoped to join the newly established External Tasks Group, but she had yet to enter training, and she hadn't even completed her Pilgrimage. Her expertise was not really combat, she was a natural techie, a role the Quarians valued.

She had been as scared as everyone else when the shells had hammered the walls and roof until the structures caved in to the guns demands. She had been terrified when their defenders had dwindled down to a single human, being able to watch the drama through the now gaping cracks.

And she had been equally amazed, when that single human took on the remaining pirates and emerged victorious.

When the human collapsed, the turians in the shelter had already raided the armoury and was busy setting up a rudimentary barricade in front of the cracks, but had been unable to sit on their talons any more. A Vision had told them more pirates were on their way. The turians had implored every able being in the shelter to join them, deciding to go out with a fight rather than cower.

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya answered the call.

Look where that had gotten her. Gaping chest-wound. Left lung shot to hell. A rib gone. Not broken, gone. Some modified rounds, probably. Didn't matter, she was quickly loosing conciousness, entering shock, and darkness came unbidden to the corner of her eyes.

Her hearing was going as well. She could've sworn she heard something metallic deploy on the ground, and was certain the pirates were preparing to blast her with the new heavy weapons, just for the sheer hell of it. That was the moment her hearing was lost, she assumed, because everything went deathly quiet, and the sounds of gunfire grew distant. Only her rasping breath was as clear as before. Then came more metallic thumps, as loud as the first.

Suddenly she recognized the sound. It was due to the shock, or she would've recognized it immediately. It was a sound every Quarian knew by heart, from the Old Recordings of the Geth Uprising. It was the sound of Geth deploying.

Even if she were already cold from blood-loss, she could feel the icy claw gripping her stomach. Geth! Geth, here! Not just programs, but platforms! Were they invading? Had they deceived the Humans? Pretended to be friendly, in order to stage this attack, taking advantage of an already confusing situation? They wouldn't care who were pirates and civilians, all organics were the same to them. They were monsters.

She could hear someone running to her. She had no idea who it was, but could feel the bleeding stopping. It must've been that weird gel the Humans had introduced. She had never tried it on her person before, and had only heard of its effects. However, she felt better, and opened her eyes. She looked to her rescuer, to tell them how doomed they now were, expecting a human or one of their mechs, maybe a turian.

Instead she looked straight into the flash-light head of a Geth.

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"The Batarians did...what?!" Councillor Tevos asked, shocked at what she had just been told.

"The Batarians," Anita mimicked, "attacked Elysium, with a force of many thousand men, and hundreds of ships."

Anita looked rather calm as she stood there, but Tevos doubted she was. She had found human body-language rather easy to read, since it was so similar to her own, and she saw the tell-tale signs of stress and anger etched in Anita's face and posture. Her counterpart, Airiel, stood beside her, displayed by a mobile holographic platform, floating in her chest. A recent human invention, to get around the restrictions on mechs and drones on the Citadel.

Tevos had long since learned that the Vision were friendly, and they were humorous, sly, and could be quite rude. An acceptable price to pay for the three new planets. Synthetic Insights had rather quickly pushed out software that could detect, if not stop, A.I tampering with important systems. It had been a heated discussion when one Vision had described it as being "a tiny bit alive". But the Alliance hadn't complained too much, and its intelligence was not major enough to classify it as a true A.I. In fact, it was a brilliant piece of code.

But she knew that while the Alliance was content to remain on the sidelines for now, observing and getting to know the galaxy proper, they didn't look kindly upon alien aggression.

"They brought along the Collectors as well." Airiel said, her face an unreadable mask. Tevos didn't like it. Normally, Airiel's face was far more alive. Then the words registered.

"What?!" Sparatus exclaimed before she could get the word out her own mouth.

"The... the Collectors?! How... Why?!" Lugoln asked.

The Collectors rarely showed themselves, and the majority of the galaxy believed them to be a myth. The Council did of course know the Collectors were real. But the Collectors were isolationistic to the extreme, and wasn't inclined to interfere much in the galaxy at all. In fact, they were similar to the Geth in that no ship ever returned from a trip through their relay. Humans had recently travelled to the Veil in secret, but this was another matter.

This was unprecedented.

"We don't know. I was hoping you could enlighten me." Anita said.

Sparatus began. "They are enigmatic. We had never thought they'd do something like this."

"They are most well-known for their odd trade requests for which they offer new technologies, often of a startling level of advancement." Lugoln added. "They are rarely seen in the Terminus itself, let alone Citadel Space, and are generally regarded as a myth by Citadel citizens."

"Their requests usually involve the trade of living beings in odd numbers and varieties. We have verified that they have traded batarian twins, left-handed salarians, and a krogan born from parents of two feuding clans, amongst others." Tevos supplied. "We had nothing to indicate they were capable of such military feats."

"...So you know nothing." Anita said, clearly annoyed.

Tevos grew a little irate by the remark. But it was true, she realized. Hearing it from the humans brought the reality to them. They had no idea that the Collectors could have the means to create gigantic ships like that, possessing such destructive potential. Normally, they travelled in much smaller ships. In fact, it was strange they knew so little about them. Not to mention worrying. They weren't a new species, there had been verified encounters throughout history.

"We have little knowledge of them." she conceded. The Council Chamber was empty, at the Alliance's request, and a minor flaw like that wouldn't reflect too poorly on the Citadel anyway.

'But that might quickly change.' she thought.

"How long ago did this attack take place?" Lugoln asked.

"Less than 20 hours ago. It was Hegemony-sponsored and backed."

"Do you have any proof? Human and Batarian interests collide in the Verge. How can we be certain this isn't a pretence for war on your part?" Lugoln asked, cutting to the heart of the matter, steering the subject away from the Collectors.

Anita activated her ICM, and in seconds, a picture of a batarian had appeared on the large holo in the Council Chambers. He was clad in full armour, and was clearly standing on a battlefield.

"This is Ka'hairal Balak, a member of the Batarian External Forces." Anita said, before bringing up some more holos. "These batarians are members of either the External Forces or the Special Intervention Unit. These were all taken on Elysium during the attack. They 'enlisted' the help of one Pethe Bonsabar, also known as the Butcher of the Terminus."

"They could have gone rogue, joined Bonsabar. What makes you say 'Hegemony' with such conviction?" Tevos asked.

"We paid your 'Shadow Broker' to identify them, and the captives we managed to take confirmed our theory." Airiel answered. "Some of the attackers, including Balak, escaped. Only a handful of ships managed to get away, the rest were destroyed or captured."

"What of the Collectors themselves?" Sparatus asked. "Did you capture any of them?"

"They seem to prefer death, not one have given themselves up peacefully. The ones we have managed to capture haven't said a word."

"What of their ship? Did it escape?" Lugoln asked.

"Ships." Anita corrected. "One was completely destroyed above the colony, the other will never fly again."

She showed the picture of the half-demolished ship, standing askew on the surface. Deep gashes ran along the surface of the ship, and it was obvious to everyone in the Chamber that Anita was true to her word. No ship that had taken such large amounts of damage would ever function again.

X

Anita noticed that the Councillors looked at the Collector ship with a reverence that, even in her befuddled and angry state, she did not like to see. They caught themselves quickly, but Anita immediately realized they were intrigued by the possibility of such a large cache of new advanced technology. The ship might be disabled, but much could still be salvaged. But the Council had done jack shit in preventing the attack, and had not been there to fend it off. Some aliens had taken up arms, to be sure, but the Council hadn't been involved at all.

She would be damned if they would reap these benefits for free.

"What will the Alliance do?" Tevos asked.

Anita thought for a bit, before replying. "'Vengeance is mine,' saith the Lord, but this time, He is going to damn well have to share."

Then she turned to walk away from the Council.

X

The Council shared an uneasy glance. Was this the moment then? The moment when the humans showed their true colours? The Council had feared something like this might happen. They had warned the Hegemony of not provoking the humans needlessly, and they spectacularly failed when they did. It had also been abundantly clear from the start that the Hegemony wasn't worth a war with the Alliance. The Council would not protect them from retaliation, but they couldn't let the Alliance run guns blazing at the batarians. They would have to try to dissuade the humans. They had seen how they responded to alien threats in the past, and the results hadn't been pretty.

"Wait! You're not going to take the law into your own hands." Tevos cried out, in one of those rare moments when her composure almost failed her.

"The law? Sometimes combat is simply used as a way to tell your enemy that you thought about what they did and fuck them." Anita testily replied.

"We cannot allow you to go to move against the Hegemony. It could throw the galaxy into chaos!" Tevos continued.

"Cannot allow us? I thought you didn't want to get involved in 'such small skirmishes between humanity and pirates?' That we would 'have to handle our own problems if we're to have a place in the galaxy?' That is what we are doing, so don't complain when we do as we're told. I think you've gotten the wrong idea about us, Councillors."

"What do you mean?!" Sparatus asked. Anita moved back to the front of the podium.

"The Alliance is a sovereign faction. I cannot recall agreeing to becoming one of your client races. We agreed to an alliance. We did not come as a subject asking permission from its superior."

"You have an embassy on the Citadel, we have allowed you to settle in the galaxy! We even overlooked your contact with the Geth!" Sparatus exclaimed.

"Overlooked? We established peaceful contact, we settled peacefully. We both opened our borders. Yet the Batarian Hegemony seeks hostilities. Our embassy here is out of necessity. Politics, galactic law, peacekeeping and what not. Your own diplomats have their own offices on the Gungnir! As a sovereign faction, we have every right to contact whomever we wish. The Geth saved the colony, and had they not arrived when they did, it is likely many more lives would be lost." Airiel retorted. "Honestly, that you wanted compensation for the Geth Contact at all is laughable."

"Then why did you accept?" Lugoln asked, wondering if the claims of the Geth saviours was genuine. As did they all. The phrases 'Geth' and 'saving things' were not normally present in the same sentence.

"To safeguard our future. To make sure Vision were not needlessly killed. We had the equipment to spare, and we can make more. Three planets were not all that heavy a price to pay for that. We recognize your borders in the known galaxy. We respected your rules, albeit with modifications. But what we will not accept is your condescension."

"Our condescension?" Sparatus said, clearly angry. "Who do you think you are talking to?!"

"Someone who has failed to deal with the Hegemony for far too long. How many slaves have languished and died because of your inaction? How many colonies have been ruined?" Anita said. "They want to start a war with the Alliance? Then the Alliance... will finish it."

"They do not want war!" Tevos said.

"No, they want slaves. And you've let them have it far too long. They shouldn't pick fights they can't win. Surely, the Turian Hierarchy could get behind such a stance?" Airiel said with a significant look at Sparatus. "What would you do? Send them an angry letter? I haven't heard any viable suggestions from any of you."

Sparatus had nothing to say to this. Neither did the rest of the Council, as they full well knew the turians would go to war if any of their colonies were attacked by such a force. The humans did too, it would appear. But while the turians only understood 'total war', they didn't have the SHIVA. They could be brutal and short-sighted, but they had their honour. If the humans had, they didn't know, and right now, it didn't seem all that likely. But trying to stop them by force would not be a viable option. It would not be popular to start a war for the sake of the Batarian Hegemony. The Hegemony was little loved by the galaxy, and few tears would be shed for their government. After a few seconds silence, Sparatus began to speak.

"Hmph! So you will be burning Khar'Shan to the ground then? Is that how you respond to everything?"

"For every action, there is a reaction. Judging by how far you went with the Krogan, you should find ours reasonable enough."

"And what will you do about the Collectors?" Lugoln asked. "You can't hit them, no matter how much you might want to. It is impossible."

"Everything is possible. The impossible just takes more time." Airiel replied, her gaze steely.

X

Anita was walking back to the Alliance Embassy, still angry from her meeting with the Council. Airiel floated beside her, still sending her likeness through the floating holo from her QSD in Anita's arm. The Citadel races thought the QSD was hidden somewhere in the floating orb, but they were mistaken.

-Everything is possible. The impossible just takes more time?- Anita asked with a smirk, looking at Airiel's hologram. Despite the fact that Airiel was in her arm, it was something familiar about having something to direct focus at.

-We have picked up a thing or two listening to your damn speeches.- Airiel said innocently. -It seemed fitting.-

-It was a good answer, I'll give you that. Do we have anything more on those batarians who escaped?-

-Very little. We tracked a few shuttles through the relays, but found them abandoned. Some used conventional FTL. Can't say for sure how many of those we'll see again.-

Anita thought it over. Very few pirates had managed to escape, it was mostly the outsourced military units that had gotten away. The Hegemony wouldn't be dumb enough to welcome them back, if their paranoia held true. No, these agents were on the run, with the Alliance sniffing their tails. Couldn't be a comforting thought, and Anita hoped a few would have restless nights ahead. They could run, but they'd only die tired.

-What's the situation on Elysium?-

-3872 casualties, counting allied aliens and the crews of the destroyed ships. We are still digging through the ruins, so that number might change. Approximately 2/3rds of the casualties were civilian. Approximately 37,251,583,000 Terran Dollars, or 25,843,128,000 credits worth of damage to the colony itself.-

Anita felt as if she'd been punched in the stomach. She wasn't really concerned about the price tag for restoration, the Alliance would front it, and it would hardly make a dent in the annual budget. But the cost in lives...

-I hope the invaders paid a heavy price.-

-They did. No accurate count exists, but we estimate their losses to be between 8 and 9000, maybe higher, not counting the Collectors. Relief-workers are present, as are medical squads. We have begun clearing rubble, but it'll take time before the colony is functional agai-

The ICM beeped. Anita had received an urgent message. She activated her ICM, and saw that the message was from High Command. She felt trepidation as she saw their mark. She opened the message and quickly read through it, and for every word, she could feel her anger rising.

"The bastards just did it again." she said out loud.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Tali awoke in a stupor. Her left chest was numb, and she felt as though she was having a serious fever. Her body felt as if she was submerged in some sort of viscous liquid. Her head felt quite heavy, and she had trouble shaking the dizziness from her head. She tried to recall the days events. She had been in her apartment, lent to her by the Alliance, packing her few belongings. She had been surprised she had been allowed such a nice place, thinking the Humans would've treated her like every other race in the galaxy, with disdain. But they had been surprisingly polite.

Then she had checked her shuttle's departure schedule, three days from now, walking to the space-port. She had barely gotten there when...

Suddenly, it all came flooding back. The attack, the Collectors, the terrifying last stand of the lone human, her own injury, and... the Geth! She shot open her eyes, but something was wrong. The world had taken on green colour, and everything was distorted. She tried moving, but found she didn't get far. She looked down, and saw that she was restrained by a soft band of cloth of some sort. She was also wearing a breather, and most shocking, she wasn't wearing her suit. Only white garments that covered her body. A square exposed some of her chest, just below her left breast. She could see a small scar there.

She almost panicked, when she noticed that she was in an obvious medical facility. As she looked around, she could see that she was submerged in a transparent vat of some sort, and saw many other vats alongside her own. Some had severe injuries, in the middle of mending, and she could see that the vats accommodated several mechanical arms, some of which were currently performing surgery. She couldn't see the operators, only half globes, glowing blue at the front and noticed several similar arms in her own vat. Her globe was inactive, and she saw it was hollow. She could see several humans dressed in white, with red crosses adorning their shoulders walking around at brisk paces. She knew enough about the Humans to recognize their medical personnel.

Someone tapped the glass, and she turned her head to the source. Jam'Feemos nar Maasost stood there, relieved and happy, she could tell from his body language. He was a quarian who had arrived at the same conclusion she had, that the humans and their technology could be valuable in the effort to retake Rannoch, or at least make life easier on Khufu. So, he had joined her to Elysium. He was unharmed, she was relieved to see.

"Hey, Tali. How are you feeling?" he asked. His voice was dampened by the liquid, but she could hear him well enough. He sounded tired.

"I'm fine. Good to see you. Do you know where is this?" she asked. The breather allowed her to speak. Handy, but she was still not comfortable with the situation, and she wanted info.

"It's an Alliance hospital. You've been out of it for two days."

Two days? She wondered how her father was dealing with the news. He knew she was here, but he probably knew little else right now. No doubt, the attack was plastered on every screen in Citadel Space and beyond. No wonder, both Collectors and Geth! Every news-anchor in the galaxy was having the time of their lives, she guessed.

"What about the Geth?! What did they do? What happened to them?" she asked urgently.

"They... they're in the colony." he said, looking at his toes, wringing his hands nervously. "They have c-cruisers in space as well."

Tali felt the return of the icy claw. So the alliance wasn't just hot air. It was true. Otherwise, the Alliance would never have let them in. And there would be no reason for Geth to be here unless they were invited or attacked. Before she could get much farther in her thoughts, the globe in front of her woke to life, and she saw a face materializing. A hologram. A Vision.

"Good morning, Tali." it said with a soothing voice. "My name is Rednas. You appear to be feeling better."

She eyed it nervously, wondering what would become of her. The Quarians and the Geth weren't exactly on good terms, and she wondered if she would be treated as a prisoner. Being captured by Geth did not hold any appeal to her.

"...I am."

"Good. Your wounds were severe, and you had quite the infection. It was touch and go for a while there." it said with an air of calm professionalism. She didn't feel like a prisoner, but she knew there were many methods of imprisonment. The best were invisible. "You've been in an artificial coma for two days to ease your treatment. You'll be pleased to know the infection is receding, and your wound is no more. It will take time before you're a 100% again though."

"..."

The Vision looked at her, half expectantly. "Your friend here says you need to get in touch with your father?"

"Yes. When can I leave this tank?"

"Later today, after we make sure everything is progressing as it should. We have provided a clean-room, and we'll move the vat there to make things easier. Sounds good?"

"Yes... What about the message to my father?"

"No problem. You can speak right here, and we could send it for you. Vid, text or voice, your choice. We have already received transmissions from Khufu, asking for the state of you two." it said with a nod to Jam'Feemos. "More specifically, any Quarian on Elysium. It came straight from one of your Admirals. I could play it for you?"

"Yes, I want to see." she said with urgency. She could guess which Admiral had sent the message. It would be calming to just hear his voice again. He had been distant during their time in the Fleet, but had begun relaxing somewhat after they established themselves on Khufu. No longer was his people as dependent on him as they had been in their migration. He had been both happy and sad about that, but he took more time with her. They had finally been able to get to know each other.

A screen was brought up by one of the thin arms. The message was very official, probably to hide their relationship. Revealing herself as an Admirals daughter would not be the best move, she thought. It asked for updates on any Quarian in the Alliance, and Elysium specifically. He was worried, she could tell, and he made it clear that any injuries caused by Human or Geth hands would be repaid, making clear his dedication to his people. But he was also diplomatic, asking the Alliance to provide necessary care, and to allow them to leave when they were well enough to do so.

"Will I be able to leave?" she asked the Vision.

"Yes, eventually. We will need to debrief you, however, as you took part in the fight. Nothing major, but we need a clear picture of the battle to make the right choices moving forward."

"Meaning?"

"I suspect you'll be held a week at most. There is no shortage of shuttles or ships here presently, so after the debriefing, you'll be free to go where you want."

"The Geth won't stop me?" she asked testily.

"Why? Are you a criminal?" it replied, surprised.

"What? No!" she burst out.

"Then I see no reason why they would stop you."

"I'm a Quarian, you bosh'tet! The Geth hate us!"

"No, they don't. A Geth saved your life, for one. I thought Ambassador Anita's explanation had reached the Quarian people?"

X

Tali had been told that the Alliance had responded to the transmission, telling the Admiral of her survival, and her serious condition, as well as Jam'Feemos. She had quickly sent off a voice-message of her own, telling him she was alive, and getting better. She also told him she expected to leave within the week, so that he would have something to work with if the Humans or Vision reneged on their word.

She was changing in the clean-room, her mind deep in thought. The vat had moved on a pillow of shimmering air, smoothly gliding over the floor, detaching itself from the connecting tubes. Rednas had assured her it could still function for a month on the batteries alone. She had almost felt as though she was on display when it moved, but Rednas had told her that the glass could work like a two-way mirror. She could see out, but no-one could see in, unless the Vision allowed a small patch open, like with Jam'Feemos, for which she was relieved. It wasn't often Quarians were out of their suits, usually only in intimate situations, with people they trusted. This was neither.

When they had gone halfway, a door in front of her opened, and she saw the human that had made the last stand walked through. He was wearing the same white outfit as other patients, but seemed to have healed just fine. His right arm was mechanical. She was glad he had made it. She would make sure to thank him later. The Geth that apparently saved her, she didn't know. It was a weird feeling, being saved by your mortal enemy.

When she was in the clean-room, she saw her suit on a table. It was folded, and she could see it had been repaired. Rednas had moved a ladder in the room so she would be able to climb down from the vat, and the arms had helped her up above the liquid. She was still physically weak, and knew it would be a bad idea to leave immediately, even if she weren't being held back for debriefing. The strange liquid, called Dactivid, was a medical fluid that the Alliance had developed long ago, and had been able to configure it to Turian and Quarian physiology when they had made contact. It fought bacteria and disease, sped the healing process and was completely sterile.

The clean-room also had a shower, so she could wash herself. The Dactivid was thick and viscous, sticking to her body, and she appreciated the chance to clean herself.

After a steaming shower, she put on her fully functional suit.

X

Shepard was walking through the medical facility, on his way to Wrex's sickbed. He had been pissed when he was restrained to a bed for days, but the medical personnel had insisted, and even gave him his own room. That was because Krogan were territorial. Injured Krogan, even more so. 'Territorial' is a word nature takes pretty seriously. And when it is applied to a half-ton alien who thrives on a death world, that is one hell of a word. One you either pay very close attention to, or end up with the epitaph 'killed to death by a krogan.'

He walked the length of the vat-room, where the most heavily injured people were. He saw one, its surface matte and dark, moving some-place. If he wasn't mistaken, that was the one with the wounded quarian. She wouldn't be too pleased if she left the building. The Geth had sent more ships, the first was on its way to Earth when it had responded to the distress-signal, being close. Now the colony was swarming with geth platforms, helping locating survivors and clearing rubble.

The aliens with him had panicked when the Geth had deployed from the sky, still unaware that the alliance was in fact very real. According what they told him, few actually believed it. Most thought it was an outrageous claim made for a party that had no interest or ability to answer for themselves. But the Geth had saved the colony. The pirate fleet had been thrown into disarray, as had the pirates on the ground. Shepard had never seen a fear factor like that before. An hour later, the Alliance relief had come in the form of the Second Fleet, but by then, the pirates were in full retreat, target practice for the reinforcements.

And now, every being in the galaxy was aware that the Geth were indeed allied to the Alliance.

As he entered Wrex's room, he saw the large krogan finishing putting on his repaired armour. He seemed anxious to get out of the cramped room.

"Wrex."

The krogan got the last piece in place, and turned to face him.

"Shepard."

"You all healed then? You took quite a beating."

"Aah, I've been worse. Those damned Vision wouldn't let me out. Something about 'serious injuries'."

"...You did take a grenade to the face, you know?"

"I've been eaten by a thresher maw as well. I survived that too." he said.

"Eaten... by a thresher maw. How did that happen?" Shepard asked.

"Scouting on Tuchanka, when one surprised our group. I shot my way out. Spike Throwers works wonders on their insides."

"Spike Throwers? Sounds like a krogan weapon."

"Yep. Made for chewing their way through maws."

"...Overall, it says something about the Krogan that you designed a gun believing it a very real possibility that you might be eaten at some point." Shepard said, half in disbelief.

Wrex just laughed.

After a little while, they were on their way outside, Wrex rushing to feel the fresh air. When they reached the exit, Shepard saw two geth on each side of the door, providing security. The ruins were boiling with activity. Humans, Vision, Geth, Turian, Asari, Salarian, every one was looking for survivors, searching for loved ones. The aliens were mostly comprised of those who already lived there, and they were less than pleased about the Geth presence at first. Even when the Geth had insisted they were 'allied assistance', the nervousness did not abate, and the atmosphere was tense.

"Feel like doing some physical work?" Shepard asked Wrex.

"Yeah, I need to do something. Need to stretch my legs." he said, and together they made their way to the search parties.

X

Tali was walking with Jam'Feemos towards the exit. They had been allowed freedom of movement, so long as they didn't try to leave the colony. They were being treated more like witnesses than prisoners, and she had gotten a private reply from her father. He had been relieved and happy that she was safe, but was far less pleased about the Geth. She had this time sent a vid back, to confirm that it was actually her. She hadn't told him that a geth had been responsible for stabilizing her long enough to get her proper medical attention. That was something she wanted to do face to face.

Jam'Feemos had continually warned that there was a lot of Geth on Elysium. But she wasn't prepared for the sight in front of her when they exited. She didn't even notice the two standing beside the door, being shocked by the amounts of Geth there. There were small platforms, large ones, and slim ones, scurrying beneath the rubble. She saw Vision coordinating with them, and providing care to whomever they found. This was something she had never expected from the Geth, and it was a side of them completely unknown to the Quarian people.

"Creator-Tali'Zorah. Are you restored to health?" a synthesized voice asked.

She froze. The mechanical voice had come from right beside her. She turned slowly, and saw to her terror that a geth stood right beside her. Holding a rifle. She backed up slowly, and the geth inclined its head a bit. She bumped into something, and when she turned, saw another identical platform. She had no idea what to do. Jam'Feemos grabbed her shoulder to calm her down.

"They... they don't do anything. I actually... t-talked a little with one." he said with a nervous glance at the geth.

"We are allied with the Humans and Vision. We do not intend harm to the Creators at this time."

That did little to release tension.

"At this time?! What is that supposed to mean?" Tali asked angrily.

"We came to assist our allies. We have no reason to harm Creators."

"What, us, or all Quarians?"

"Yes."

Before Tali could retort, fiercely, someone shouted for them to move. The two geth complied immediately, and Tali herself jumped out of the way. She saw the human, Frank Shepard, as Rednas had named him, run past while carrying a wounded soldier over his back, ignoring the geth completely. She shot a last scorching look at the two geth, and made to follow him. She followed some ten meters behind him, letting him leave the soldier in the hands of the doctors, before talking.

"Excuse me..." she said a little meekly, still in a state of shock. He turned to look at her, and his yellow eyes pierced her. But there was no scorn in his face, just curiosity. Then it seemed he recognized her, which was a surprise. But not an unpleasant one.

"...You were the quarian who got shot, right? How are you feeling?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How?! How did they do it? We beat them back at Elysium!" Anita asked, furious.

She was back in the Alliance Embassy, talking in the Quantum Entanglement Communicator between the Citadel and Earth. Humans used QEC to communicate between planets and systems, and was quite common in the Core, the Colonies and Fleets. While there were drawbacks, the benefits far outweighed them. They had gotten a knack for the technology when working out the Dimension Drives, the QEC being an unintentional bonus, developed during an early step in quantum mechanics, centuries ago. It had been refined over the years, and wasn't prohibitively expensive like the Council's own. Inside a single system, sending signals through the dimensions worked fine, but became extremely unreliable when removed further, the signals disappearing in the void.

"They didn't have the Trishulas. Soldiers on Elysium confirmed the presence of these bugs there as well, as well as the Trishulas effectiveness in dealing with them. Because of that, we had no data on what they could do."

"But the Vision there! How..."

Anita had a hundred questions in her head, but she needed to focus. She rubbed her temples, taking several deep, calming breaths, before continuing.

"Admiral, forgive my outburst. Please give me a run-down of what happened." she said.

Fleet Admiral Hackett obliged. "It's pretty straight forward actually. There was no fleet around Ferris Fields, they just landed and deployed their bugs. It seems they work by enveloping their victims in a stasis field, immobilizing them. Unfortunately, the field works on mechs and drones as well." he explained.

"While we have a good deal of footage, the mechs were immobilized the second they showed themselves, but the Vision could still utilize the facility cameras. We had no proper defence. The footage also confirms the reports that the Collectors can increase their power and apparent intellect, manifested as a fiery glow. We are unsure how this works, but for now, we are working on the assumption that they are a hive-mind." Hackett continued.

"They loaded up the colonists, not a single man, woman or child is left. Ten thousand, five hundred in all. Almost a thousand Vision were killed by their wanton destruction as well. An N7, Emily Nichols, was deployed there as soon as the first attack happened, to coordinate the troops there. Many other N7 are on their way to colonies outside the Core, as well as several warships. Nichols was also abducted, and her Vision partner had refused to leave. The Collectors might regret the decision to abduct them." he said matter-of-factly, with a note of malicious glee.

Not that Anita felt any different. The N7 were the deadliest soldiers the Alliance could field. And as long as the Vision partner wasn't actually disabled, the armour wouldn't come off. And while a stasis field immobilized them, it did nothing to hamper their minds. Which would give Nichols some room to maneuver. And then they would learn what 'N7' meant.

"So, we're also short one N7. According to data collected from the Citadel races, no ship have ever returned from a trip through the Omega 4 Relay, so I'm not inclined to send reinforcements just yet. Were scouring the downed ship on Elysium for any scrap of data, but we haven't received results at this time. The computer terminals were heavily damaged by the fighting inside the ship." Hackett said, apparently finished.

"The Council said it was impossible to get to them. But they never had the key standing in their backyard either." Anita said. She wasn't shocked that the Collectors had a contingency plan, but was still appalled that they had just lost more than eleven thousand people. It was a heavy blow, and right now, the Collectors represented a clear and present threat.

"The risk of attacking them head on is huge. Should we deploy teams of N7, covertly?" she asked.

"We are already working on that. But, as of now, we're discussing the possibility of inducting Frank Shepard into their ranks. He handled himself well, and held off the pirates long enough for reinforcements to arrive. His earlier achievements speak in his favour. Then he'd be, officially, the 1001 N7, even if Nichols didn't make it. We've also received transmissions from the various Council races, expressing concern about the Collector threat. Some want Spectres in on this as well."

"The Council didn't tell me that."

"They will." he said.

"What about the batarian pirates? What do we do about them? We can't forget their involvement." Airiel cut in.

"No, we can't. We're establishing a task force to specifically deal with these attacks, both Batarian and Collector." Hackett said. "We know their base of operations, thanks to heavy interrogation of the captives. We have a little something planned for the Hegemony."

"A task force? What do they have to work with?" Anita asked.

"Quite a lot. This is still technically classified, but I'll trust you with this; Mikhail and Mordin's new drive is ready for a prototype. We've designed a ship alongside the Turian Hierarchy, with revolutionary stealth technology, and, if the prototype works, unprecedented reach. We'll outfit that ship with the new drive. While small, it'll swing well above its weight, and it will spearhead the operation, assuming all goes well."

Anita gave a wolfish smile. "How long until its ready for a test drive?"

"Six months. The original schedule called for a year and a half, but we've sped up production considerably. Night shifts and overtime all around. It'll give us some time to come up with a plan. The retaliatory strike against the Batarians will happen in less than a month."

Anita was a little disappointed when she was told about the time-frame, and Airiel felt the same, she could tell. Six months in enemy territory? Nichols's chances of survival were low.

"This is a major breakthrough, Ambassador." Hackett said, as if he could read her thoughts. "If we move up the schedule any more, the whole thing could blow up in our faces."

He was right, of course. It was a prototype drive that had never been tested, and contained tremendous amounts of energy. Not to mention the task of getting through the relay, which was a unique one.

"What is this task force called?" she asked.

"Lex Talionis" Hackett replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Balak was tending to a wound on his forehead. He had barely escaped when the Geth had arrived. As soon as he understood that his own forces were the only ones being targeted, he had realized they had no opportunity to regroup. The battle had been lost. Which made him mad beyond belief. It was supposed to be a quick in-out job, but Bonsabar had managed to fuck it up. The northern barricade had been lightly defended, but the famous 'Butcher of the Terminus' hadn't even managed to get through there in time. Even with the help of the Collectors.

They had been the most useless of the bunch. Aside from encrypting their comms, they hadn't managed to turn the battle in their favour, being stopped by the human defenders time and time again. It would be the last time he dealt with them, no matter what orders came from up high. But he had managed to snatch a rifle from one of their fallen, as well as a shotgun.

It had been half a relief to see Bonsabar succumb to the lone human. The Hegemony had obviously overestimated him. He had planned to finish the human off, but a mech had appeared in moments, and reinforcements from the shelter had arrived soon after. He might be good, but even he couldn't take on so many at once. He had turned and moved towards the remaining shuttles, moving through buildings and debris, hiding himself from the others who were still dumb enough to fight. He hadn't bothered using the relay, preferring to use conventional FTL to get to a nearby system with a relay of its own.

Which had been the right decision. Seconds away from leaving the system, he had seen a large human fleet emerge from the relay.

Now, he was alone in a small shuttle, with a weeks' worth of food, at most. The nearest system was three weeks away. He would have to deal with little food, already having rationed what he needed. Not that it was a problem, his training had prepared him for situations like this.

But not defeats like this.

X

Three weeks later, a small shuttle emerged over a batarian colony. It wasn't a particularly large colony, but it would do for the time being. He had run out of food three days ago, and if he was quick, he might be able to scrounge some more supplies and maybe a better ship before someone discovered he was effectively an outcast, and not at all supposed to be seen in Batarian Space. But he suspected he would have a few hours. He looked out the window, and saw the planet below, guarded by a fleet. As he approached, he was hailed, and was glad his shuttle was batarian-made.

"Unidentified shuttle. You are entering restricted space. State your identification and purpose, or we will open fire."

"This is Darish Dhas'sanrek. I escaped a pirate-attack and is seeking refuge on the colony. I require food and water." he said. He had a good long while to think of a cover. It wasn't a lie either. Technically.

"...Stand by for confirmation."

While they tried to confirm his existence in all the paperwork, he decided to check what had been happening in his absence. It wasn't normal for the Hegemony to station fleets above colonies. Something must've happened. He activated his omni-tool, and entered the extranet, thanks to a modified omni-tool, bypassing the restrictions the Hegemony had over its citizens. He was surprised it still worked, as he was sure his clearance would've been removed. But they most likely thought him dead, and hadn't bothered. Sloppy. He hadn't had reception during his three week trip. He opened a link to one of the largest news agencies in the galaxy, and began reading. What he did read shocked him.

Torfan was gone.

The Alliance had mounted a massive counter-attack, in just a week. They had even brought two dreadnoughts to bear on the pirate outpost, as well as several cruisers. The remaining pirates hadn't stood a chance. He saw pictures and vids of human soldiers in front of the smoking compound, as well as some of their mechs. Some of the mechs in question were weird. They looked like large mechanical hanar, but were rounder in shape, had numerous red eyes, and their legs protruded from behind them, not below. But he saw that the arms had sharp claws at the end, and several were damaged, scorch marks and bullet holes were clearly visible. They had seen combat.

He didn't much envy the pirates who'd faced them. Thousands of slaves were also liberated, and the support from the galactic populace was tremendous. Not so much from the politicians, but who cared about them?

'Good job! Maybe the humans aren't so bad after all!" one comment read.

"The Council should've done this long ago!" read another.

He wasn't shocked by the unfair reactions. Their hands had been forced by Human expansion. But the Batarians weren't popular in the galaxy, as the other races didn't see their greatness and beauty. Their caste-system had worked for thousands of years, what was the merit in changing things now? It was their culture, and while the Council pretended to respect all cultures, theirs were the exception. Hypocrites.

But now he understood why the fleets had been mobilized. The Hegemony was scared of reprisals from the Alliance. And seeing as Aratoht was so close to the borders, naturally it had been bolstered. One dreadnought, and four cruisers. And a good number of frigates. Quite the assembly.

"Unknown shuttle, you are being sent a flight path. Do not deviate. Prepare to be boarded and searched."

"Confirming flight path." he said. He wasn't so worried about the search. Pirate shuttles like this one had plenty of compartments for hiding contraband, and the Hegemony rarely found them all. He plotted in the flight path, letting the shuttle run on autopilot, while he stashed any compromising evidence in one particularly well-hidden locker. He hoped he was lucky and got the name right, or the discussion down there would be held at muzzle velocity.

He saw the planet below coming into view, the flight path ending in a secluded area of the space port. From there it would be a simply be a matter of gathering some supplies, and steal a better ship, then head deep into the Terminus for the time being. He was tired of this tiny thing. As he hit atmo, his sensor beeped.

He strolled to the pilots seat, and saw what had caused the disturbance. The relay had activated, and out poured Alliance ships.

His spirit dropped a few notches. He did no longer have hours to get away. This would require decisive and quick action. He sped up the shuttle, coming in hard. The ship shook violently from the hard landing, but he was already on his feet, waiting for the airlock to open. He had stuffed the contraband into a bag, hoping any soldiers would be too focused on the Alliance presence rather than him.

He was not disappointed. There was no-one to greet him, and he didn't feel like waiting around. He took off towards the city in a sprint.

X

The city was in a state of panic. Civilians ran everywhere, some trying to get off planet, others ran to find whatever shelter they could. He had tapped into the communications of the fleet above, and they were quickly being reduced to scrap-metal and minced meat by the sound of things. His situation was quickly becoming precarious, as he had no doubts he would be shot on sight if he encountered any human soldiers. He ran towards the closest military base, now all but deserted, and vaulted the fence. Security here was sloppy. The Hegemony might be paranoid, but they were the dumb kind of paranoid.

He ran towards a hangar, hoping to find a space-worthy vehicle, but every hangar was empty. Probably gone to fight in space or used in a general retreat. Damn it. He would have to commandeer a civilian craft then. But it would probably be easier to slip by the humans in one of those, rather than a military craft. A military craft could carry soldiers, and was probably considered a threat right now, no matter how small. He was about to return to the city, when the loudspeakers everywhere began broadcasting. Every piece of hardware that could emit sound began to speak in batarian.

"This is the Alliance's Third Fleet. All military personnel is to lay down their arms, immediately. Any who offer resistance will be killed. Surrender, and you will be allowed to live. We give you five minutes to comply. Over and out."

'Pretentious bastards.' he thought. But as pretentious as the demands were, he could see squads of soldiers standing in the street, arms limply at their sides. Most stared at the sky, but there were some faithful soldiers who took matters into their own hands. He recognized a SIU uniform, berating the soldiers who were preparing surrender into action. Pretty soon, what barricades could be thrown together littered the streets, and civilians were herded to the basements to keep them out of the line of fire.

Time for the Hegemony to prove they were there to help. Showing they suppressed information and freedom for a reason. Varren were deployed, their handlers ready to unleash them on the humans foolish enough to land. Balak himself didn't take part in the commotion, instead searching for a ship. He didn't have much time now, the Alliance would be sure to deploy shuttles any moment.

"Hey, what's that?" someone said behind him. Balak turned, and saw a young soldier pointing to the sky.

He turned to look, and saw streaks of fire raining from the sky. He could see it wasn't armaments, at least not recognizable ones. They were both big and small, and he supposed it was the remains of the fleet burning in orbit. But the rubble came straight at the colony, and whether intentional or not, it would cause a lot of damage.

"TAKE COVER!" the SIU bellowed.

The rubble began impacting the city. He could see a few buildings collapsing from the impacts, and large dust-clouds were everywhere, and not a few fires broke out. The SIU was about to order them to put some of them out, when the sound of gunshots could be heard. Somewhere, someone screamed. Balak's minds was racing. Gunshots? The humans hadn't landed yet! What were they shooting at? The fire? Or could the humans have deployed covertly behind the fleet, on the dark side of the planet? Unlikely. Even if their FTL didn't get picked up on sensors, their ships would be. He saw several fireballs heading his way from the sky, and dove out of the way.

Not a moment too soon. Brand new craters soon adorned the streets, one or two being where soldiers had been until moments ago. Blood was splattered on the nearby buildings, up to two floors above street level. Then he heard a deep voice.

"Ka'hairal Balak. Do not move." the voice said. Strange... it was coming from the dust-clouds in front of him.

Then he understood. The humans hadn't deployed secretly, they had deployed right in front of their faces! And the AA operators hadn't bothered firing at what they believed to be debris. It was too late. The operators wouldn't be able to make a real difference now. They were probably dead already. A heavily armoured human stepped from the dust, a large weapon pointed squarely at his chest. He was soon joined by a few others in similar armour.

"What, you're special forces or something?" Balak asked, standing his ground.

"By way of the Orbital Stormtroopers, by way of the N7. Feel free to scream your fucking head off."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Shepard could not believe his ears when they told him. He was N7. Number 1001, which was unusual, to say the least. He had been transported to the Citadel, to meet Ambassador Goyle. N7 was a big deal after all, and the ambassador would probably like to meet him. He had been told there was some friction in the Council regarding the Collectors. Apparently, the Turian Hierarchy had become wary of the unknown factor that was the Collectors, and wanted a Spectre in on the hunt. The Asari Republics and the Salarian Union wasn't as keen on a joint operation after Torfan.

The siege had been short and brutal, and the utilization of the normally industrial drones had the effect of painting humanity as vicious and cruel adversaries. Which was according to plan. The Council was under the impression that they controlled everything in the galaxy, the Alliance disagreed. So, to get them off their high horse and stop the worst of their whining, the Alliance had gone completely against the Council in these matters. The Council wanted a clean operation, but the Alliance wanted it to be as messy as possible for the defenders.

It didn't matter how far into the darkness they went. It didn't matter if they did things that would stain their souls forever. Because, when all was said and done, no-one would look at what had become of Torfan and what would happen at Aratoht and think it a good idea to fuck with the Alliance.

The SHIVA wasn't practical as a demonstration. It was annihilation made manifest. No, they needed it to be personal.

Shepard had spent the past few days on the Presidium. He was glad there had been shops that sold coffee. The Vision, Heloys, had accompanied him, and had been given the offer of partnering up with him, if it was fine by him, which it was. He hadn't been hard to ask about a promotion either. It had come straight from the Fleet Admiral himself. If everything went well, he would be sent to a facility for his armour and new implants at the end of the day. His right arm had also been replaced during his tenure at Elysium.

The new arm was matte black, not shiny silver as the previous arm had been. It had concealable, retractable monomolecular carbon fibre blades and a plasma cannon that revealed itself when the arm rearranged. It weighed in at about half the previous arm, but was just as strong. It was thinner and more streamlined, but was so adaptable he could hardly believe it, and as a bonus, it was also more accurate.

He had received the N7-promotion when he was talking to the quarian Tali. She had been flustered, but thanked him for stopping the pirates. She was mad about the Geth though. Understandable, but she had been scared stiff when it had been time to leave. Shepard had invited her along, and she accepted. She said she still had to finish her 'Pilgrimage', and that joining him could be the best way. Jam'Feemos had gone off to join some other quarians on their journey. Right now, she sat opposite him, together with Wrex and Heloys, in the floating holo. She had to give up the mysterious mech she found on Elysium. Wrex had been disgusted with coffee, and Tali couldn't drink it. She was far too busy looking around to even notice her drink anyway.

"I've never been to the Presidium before!" she said with childlike glee. Even after a few days, she was still amazed with the place.

Here, removed from the Geth, it seemed she was more comfortable. She didn't mind the Vision as much, and had also established a rapport with Wrex. Shepard had been allowed to bring them, as Wrex was military, and because of the ulterior motives the Alliance had with the Quarians. They were well aware Tali was an Admirals daughter, but had not divulged this little fact. She could be the piece they needed to get through to the Admiralty Board, which, while grateful for the safety of the two quarians, did not look kindly upon the Human-Geth alliance. But they treated her as a valuable member of the operation, to garner good-will. She made it easy too, being an energetic and generally positive girl.

And an N7 could choose their own crews if they were to captain a ship. And Shepard had been given command of what would be the galaxy's most advanced warship. He suspected the Council would be able to get a Spectre along for the ride, considering the Turian Hierarchy had co-developed the ship. Not that he minded. He would need every edge he could get.

His ICM beeped. Time to go.

X

"Yes, Fleet Admiral. He is on his way up now." Anita said.

"Tell him of the new development. We're not going to deny the turian." Hackett said.

"Are we sure this is the guy we want? He has a certain... reputation." Anita asked. "I've read some reports and consorted with the Shadow Broker. His work isn't pretty."

"Be that as it may, he is one of the best. He gets the job done, and right now, that's exactly what we need."

"Alright, I'll tell him." Anita said as the door chimed. Shepard was here. Hackett disconnected, needing to supervise the attack on Aratoht. This was an operation the Alliance wasn't taking any chances with.

Anita let them in, and saw Shepard, Heloys, Wrex and Tali'Zorah enter the room. She had learned all their names by now, and the rest of the process was mostly formalities. Shepard stood at attention.

"At ease. Good day, Shepard." she said pleasantly. After personally greeting the others, and being ever so sorry for having this meeting be between humans and Vision, asking the others to wait outside, she turned back to him. "I assume you know why we're here today?"

"Yes, ma'am. I received an offer to join the N7. I accepted." he replied.

"Is there any particular reason you accepted?"

"It was offered to me. When Hackett says jump, bitches say how high?" Shepard replied.

"Heh. Well, you'll be jumping quite high then." she laughed. "But the N7 is a big commitment. You get the best training, the best equipment, the best assignments..."

"And you expect the best in return." he replied.

"Yes, we do. You'll be spearheading the fight against the Collectors. They have already abducted one N7, so we know they might have a few nasty surprises up their sleeve."

"We'll be ready for it. Do you have any inclination on where to start our investigation?" he asked. The first step was gathering more intel.

"I would recommend trying to track their movements. It will not be easy, but we have some rudimentary data on their routes to our colonies, but not much yet. I would start by looking around Omega, the space station. It is close to the Omega 4 Relay. The de-facto ruler of the station might have some intel. Nothing happens there unless she knows about it."

"I thought Omega was a station of outlaws? Why would they help us?" he asked.

"Because I don't think she likes the thought of Collectors running roughshod either. Bad for business. If that approach fails, there's always credits." Anita said. "The more pressing matter though, is that we will have a Spectre going along."

"I'll take all I can get against these bastards."

"Glad to hear it won't be a problem. Another thing. For the duration of your mission, you will be granted the same amount of autonomy as him. Both the Alliance and the Hierarchy is in agreement on this, and the Council eventually caved in."

"Understood."

"But remember. Your actions will reflect on humanity as a whole, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't make things more difficult than they are. If you can help it of course."

"Right. If I can help it."

Anita's ICM gave a beep, and she couldn't suppress a victorious smile when she saw the message.

"What is it?" Shepard asked.

"We got him. Ka'hairal Balak. He was the mastermind behind Elysium."

"Dead?"

"No, unconscious. We'll get him talking soon enough. We'll forward any intel he is... willing to divulge."

"If he was found on a batarian colony, it proves the Hegemony is protecting the perps. We should flush them out!"

"Easy. That is not your job. We have something else in mind, but never mind that now. Focus on the Collectors." Anita said a bit sternly.

"Yes ma'am. Sorry, ma'am."

"Now, about the turian you'll be working with, he is one of the Council's best Spectre's, their top agent. But he has a bit of a reputation. You will have command, but he might resist it a bit. Shouldn't be something you can't handle though."

"Does this Spectre have a name?" Shepard asked.

"He does. His name is Saren Arterius."

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Author's Note:

How many thought it was going to be Garrus?

Boosting the aliens: It's more along the lines of the Collector orbs damaging buildings, being more powerful, and having a larger area of effect, stuff like that. (As well as a few extra ships.) Biotics will be ramped up a bit as well, but probably not as much. Things that were simply "limited" in the games. (By current computer capabilities for one.) Should probably have specified. I'll do that from now on.

We never see the stasis work on mechs in canon, because none are active when the Collectors attack. But I'll assume it does. They aren't purely organic, but use biological tech, so it's not impossible. The 'squids', by the way, looks pretty much like the sentinels from the Matrix.

I'm not going to change the size of the Dyson Swarms, as their size is of little relevance to the story, their existence is. It was simply a way for me to make the Council and Alliance completely different, as is the terraforming. I wanted the difference to be bigger than just the FTL, I wanted two different approaches to colonizing planets and systems. I did not do the math, as this was always a hobby-project.

But seriously though, if one extrapolate human technological growth from a thousand years ago, up until today, to a thousand years to the future, who's to say what could happen? Our technology would appear to be magic back in the Viking age. I also gave humanity the thousand years extra, because I always found the ~50 vs ~3000 years of development being almost equal to be a bit of a stretch, even if the Citadel races are pretty stagnant.

Anyways, thanks for reading, and for all reviews, followers and favourites so far! I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season!