Mass Effect: Shadow of the Sith

by SomeGuyOverHere

Commander Shepard has fought slavers, Geth, Collectors, and Reapers. Now a mysterious faction called the Sith Empire makes itself known. Led by Emperor Revan and the Emperor's Wrath, it attacks and declares war on the Citadel species. Will Shepard be able to save his galaxy from this new threat and still be ready for the coming of the Reapers?

11. Chapter 7 part 2: Normandy Strikes Back

Star Wars is owned by Lucas Arts and Disney. Mass Effect is owned by EA and BioWare.

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Hunter 139: Fear not, there will be more Star Wars soon!

TetrisLame: I agree

MEleeSmasher: Haha, yeah it'll be quite the shock

Old one Griffin: Thank you for your feed back, and the idea is an interesting one. Maybe I'll use it.

Rabid Armenian: Hehehe, your comment made me laugh. Thanks for your feedback!

Guest: I don't want to give too much away, but the survivors of the Republic are definitely a thing. They and the surviving Jedi will play a big role in later chapters.

artix93: Thank you! I hope this update is soon enough for you!

WriteAnon: Thank you for such an in-depth review, it's truly inspiring to see someone talk at such length about something I've written. I also really appreciate your thoughts on Roussel and I can definitely see where you are coming from. I wouldn't worry too much about her being a stagnant character, like you said I've thought her character out and there will be some development. Also, hehe, "Evil Space Jesus with Boobs", that caught me off guard and made me laugh so hard.

ErnestShippinglane89: Yeah, I love Revan as much as the next SW fan, but I feel like he/she has been over done at this point.

Terlander: Well, I wouldn't say that the Star-Cabal holo-disguise is such a long shot. I wouldn't say that no one will be able to trust British accents anymore. The Empire now encompasses all of their galaxy and that includes people with non-Imperial accents. You're assessment of Roussel is a fair one, most authors use OC's for power trips. I myself have been guilty of that. Thank you for your review, I'm glad you're enjoying yourself!

Guest: Thank you for your review! We'll see more of Revan soon, so don't worry!

Hello everyone, I just wanted to apologize for how long it took me to get this update out to you. There's really no excuse except that I wasn't feeling it and work has recently been keeping me busy lately. Like I said before, my paycheck unfortunately takes priority.

If you're looking for some good reads while you wait, I recommend the stories On Wings of Silver and Lead and its sequel Call of The Mocking Bird. Both are excellent Star Wars stories set in the Clone Wars. Go over there and give them some reviews so that the author knows how awesome of a writer she is.

Please all of you continue reviewing so that I can get the feedback I need to improve! I really want to know what you all think of each update!

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Mass Effect: Shadow of the Sith

Chapter 7 part 2 – The Normandy Strikes Back

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SSV Baldwin - Hanger Bay

Two and a half years ago, Squadron Leader Tina Walsh and the rest of Squadron 193, better known among their peers as The Gunslingers, had been transferred aboard the SSV Baldwin. Like many of the other Gunslingers Tina had known very little about their new boss, Commodore Zaman, other than the rumors that circulated about him in the navy. Apparently, he was some sort of tactical genius who had made a name for himself cleaning up slaver and pirate scum in the traverse.

Said slavers and scum were in reality Hegemony backed privateers who got paid to attack Alliance colonies and ships. So the fact that the commodore was a veteran of killing those four eyed freaks was enough to earn Tina's respect. But Zaman had earned her and every other Gunslinger's loyalty at the Battle of the Citadel. There he had led the 8th Carrier Battle Group against the Geth fleet and their massive squid looking dreadnought.

It had been the most intense dog fighting of Tina's entire career. Geth programs made calculations faster than she ever could have hoped to, even with the VI assistance of her S-33 Hornet Strike fighter. She was certain that if it were not for the commodore's direction the Gunslingers would have seen their last showdown that day. As it was, God had been merciful, and at the end of the battle the Gunslingers were forced to bury only six of their members.

Those seemed like heavy losses, but other battle groups had sustained 100% casualties. The Gunslingers had been granted a small miracle in comparison, one delivered by the authoritative voice of Zaman.

So when the commodore had said that the battle group was being roped into helping Humanity's newest (potential) Spectre, each member of the Gunslingers, Tina included, had been ready to provide support.

When the commodore revealed the Spectre recruit was the Butcher of Torfan, the Gunslingers hadn't made a single complaint.

And when the commodore asked Tina to act as pilot for the Butcher's latest mission, she had not hesitated to say yes.

But that didn't mean she was particularly happy with her assignment.

"What a piece of junk," she mused aloud, as she studied the bird she would be flying. The JingXi would have been state of the art during the First Contact war. Against modern standards the light freighter was nearly an antique, and not the kind that belonged in a museum. The sheer amount of rust, pock marks, and gashes on the JingXi's hull made it look more like it was ready for the scrap heap rather than a military mission.

With a reluctant sigh Tina moved towards the boarding ramp and entered her new ship.

Inside she found herself pleasantly surprised. While the outside might have been nothing pleasant to look at, the inside was something to behold. Every where Tina looked she saw the latest in ship technology, all of it sleek and shiny. She entered the cockpit and sat in the pilot's chair.

"Oh my," she cooed appreciatively. The chair was real leather, if nothing else she appreciated that small luxury. She then activated some of the secondary systems and began familiarizing herself with them. Again she was in awe of the systems and technology being put at her disposal. Tina wished that she had some of these toys in her personal fighter.

"Walsh! Are you in there?" A voice with a familiar Arabic accent called to her from outside the ship. Tina actually jumped in surprise, she'd been so sucked into familiarizing herself with the JingXi's systems she hadn't realized that nearly a whole hour had passed already.

"Yes!" she called back in her own Texas farm grown accent. Reluctantly she left the comfort of the pilot's seat and walked down the boarding ramp. At the bottom of the ramp she spotted Commodore Zaman waiting patiently with his hands behind his back.

"Sir!" she quickly saluted.

The commodore returned the salute. "At ease. Having fun with your new assignment?"

"Well she ain't pretty sir, but like my grandpa used to say back on Earth. Doesn't matter if the horse is pretty, just so long as it can handle a day of plowing the field."

Zaman arched a brow up towards the blue turban he wore and nodded. "As you say Walsh. I came to inform you that we've arrived in the system." He held out a data pad towards her and she took it. "This has the details of your mission. Please remember that while you are the JingXi's pilot you must never identify yourself as a member of the Alliance."

"I know the protocol sir. This is the Attican Traverse after all, folks out here tend to frown on the color blue."

The commodore nodded. "The hardest part will be getting your cargo down to the planet."

Tina's face crinkled in confusion. "Cargo sir? I was under the impression I'd just be transport'n Lieutenant Commander Roussel and some marines."

Zaman scratched his beard. "Yes, that is true. But you will be ferrying some additional passengers as well."

At that moment a UT-47 Kodiak shuttle entered the Baldwin's hangar. Tina noted that it was not painted in the traditional Alliance blue, instead it was white and black. That struck the pilot as a little odd and put her on edge. The commodore however seemed ever at ease so she decided to try to do the same.

The shuttle landed and after a brief moment it's door slid open. Then the oddest collection of individuals Tina had ever seen filed out into the hangar.

The first to come out was just a regular human man. He was handsome but otherwise fairly unremarkable with regulation length hair and a posture that was confident yet not arrogant. Though he was clearly military he wore civilian clothes; a black leather jacket over a simple white shirt and BDU trousers.

The second to come out was a Turian. He wore heavy blue armor and had a fancy eye piece over his left eye. Tina's eyes however were drawn more towards the alien's right arm. At first she thought the armor was simply painted a different color, but she soon realized it was actually a prosthetic.

After the human and Turian, a massive hulking reptilian alien exited the shuttle. Tina had never seen a Krogan in person before and she wondered if all of them were so massive. After the Krogan came a mean looking elderly fellow that reminded Tina of her late grandfather. Then came a beautiful human woman with raven colored hair wearing a black and white cat suit that made Tina feel a little self-conscious.

Next came bald woman covered in tattoos and wearing nearly nothing beyond a pair of baggy pants and some sort of weird belt looking thing that protected her modesty. She reminded Tina of a group of Terra Firma skinheads she'd seen during some leave on Bekenstein. Then came an Asari in a skin tight red suit. Tina had often heard of the "legendary" beauty of the Asari, mostly from her male colleagues. She'd seen some in person and had been fairly unimpressed. This one however was different, she carried herself with a certain regalness that the others did not.

Tina was still concentrating on the Asari when one last figure exited the Kodiak and turned her blood to ice. She had never seen one in person, but after the Battle of the Citadel she had learned as much about them as she could. Standing in the middle of the Baldwin's hangar was a real, honest to god, Geth.

Tina's hand immediately dropped to the sidearm she always had strapped to her waist, but the Commodore raised a hand to stop her from drawing it.

"Calm down," he said evenly.

"But sir! It's a-"

"I know what it is. I was there as well if you'll recall."

Her hand remained on the butt of the pistol, but eventually she gave a reluctant nod and released it. "Yes sir, as you say sir."

"Good," Zaman gave her a reassuring pat on the back and then locked his hands behind his back. "I shall go greet our guests, I suggest that you familiarize yourself with the systems of the vessel, you will be departing soon after all."

She could have pointed out that she had already become familiar with the systems half an hour ago, but that wasn't the point of the order. The commodore just wanted to give her time to cool down, because whether she liked it or not, that Geth was going to be a part of her day.

"Yes sir." She saluted and then moved towards the boarding ramp. As she did so, Tina could not help but glance over her shoulder at the synthetic accompanying the odd group.

God give her strength, she hated this mission already.

---

Shepard took a deep breath and smiled as he exhaled. A familiar stale taste entered his mouth with every breath he took. He hadn't tasted air with this particular type of staleness in a while, it was a taste one could only get from breathing in the constantly recycled air of an Alliance ship. He hadn't realized how badly he'd missed it till now.

"Commander Shepard?" A voice with a heavy Arabic accent pulled him from his nostalgia. He turned towards its source and found it to be a tall somewhat lanky man with a full dark beard wearing a turban colored Alliance blue. On the shoulder of his uniform Shepard spotted a golden circle and bar, indicating the rank of commodore.

The marine in Shepard came out immediately and snapped a crisp salute. "Commodore Zaman! Sir!"

Zaman's lips twitch towards a smile beneath his thick facial hair. "At ease commander."

Shepard relaxed and became acutely aware that Jack was stifling laughter behind his back. He ignored it and to his great relief so did Zaman. "I'm glad to finally meet you in person commander," Zaman said.

"It's good to meet you too commodore."

"This is your team?" the commodore asked. The way he asked was not snide as some Alliance officers, like a certain Admiral Malkovitch, would have done. Instead it more curious than anything, something that Shepard could understand. Against the uniform background of the Alliance around them Shepard's team stood out quite a bit.

"Yes sir, they're the same team that I took through the Omega-4 Relay," he replied, a bit defensively.

Zaman nodded as he scanned them with his dark brown eyes, then stopped as came to Legion. "Commander, am I correct in assuming that is a Geth?"

Shepard winced at the question but reminded himself that he had expected and planned for just such inquiries.

"Yes sir, it is," he replied as calmly as possible.

"I see. You are aware that at present time the Geth are still considered an enemy of the Citadel and the Systems Alliance, yes?"

"I'm aware sir, but Legion is different from the Geth that attacked the Citadel."

Zaman arched a brow. "Legion?"

"That's what we call him sir."

The use of the word 'him' did not escape Zaman's attention. He glanced warily at Legion then back at Shepard. "You fought at the Battle of the Citadel, as did I, which is why I did not immediately order the marines to shoot...Legion."

"I appreciate that sir."

"However, I will still have to report this to the admiralty. You understand, yes?"

"I do sir."

At this point Legion had deduced that the conversation was about itself and stepped forward, causing Zaman to recoil back a step.

"Shepard Commander, if this platform's presence is detrimental to the team's mission, we would be willing to return to the Normandy."

"That's not an option Legion. With Tali still in the hospital and Kasumi gone we don't have anyone to provide infiltration and tech support. We need you down there with us."

"If the Geth is vital to your mission than I shall defer to you judgment," said Zaman though his eyes never wandered from Legion and his hand had dropped to his sidearm. "But I must ask that you do your best to keep it out of sight while on my ship. I may be able to restrain myself, but I cannot say the same of the rest of the crew."

"You can't just order them not to shoot?"

"I can. But many of my crew were also at the Battle of the Citadel. They lost friends to the Geth."

"I lost men to the Geth as well. But I got over it for the greater good."

"Not everyone can keep their prejudices in check Commander. I'm sure you understand."

Shepard did, he just didn't like it. Eventually however he nodded. "We'll be out of here soon Commodore. Just direct us to the ship that'll be taking us to the surface and we won't cause anymore trouble."

Zaman returned his nod. "Thank you, right this way please."

Despite the subtle hostility shown towards them, the Normandy team walked through the Baldwin's hangar unaccosted, likely due to the presence of the commodore. Crewmen working on a variety of different spacecraft threw them dirty looks, especially at Legion, but otherwise kept to themselves. Shepard was thankful for that.

As they approached an old looking ship that he assumed to be their transport, he chose to strike up a conversation with the Commodore.

"If you don't mind me asking sir, how'd you get roped into working with Roussel?"

"I had not met Lieutenant Commander Roussel until I and the rest of my battle group were reassigned by the admiralty to assisting her."

"The Alliance decided to assign a whole battlegroup to hunt down a PMC? Seems like overkill."

"Perhaps, but from what the lieutenant commander has deigned to share with me their influence is much greater than initially thought. Truthfully it is not so much CAT6 that we are hunting, but those who command them."

That caught Shepard's attention immediately. "You mean like those who hire them?"

Zaman gave him a look. "You need not hide it from me Commander, I have the proper clearance."

"So you know then that CAT6 is more than just a PMC?"

"I do. It would be somewhat inconvenient I think, if I did not."

"Then you also know that Roussel is an SAI agent." Shepard had noticed that Zaman had been referring to Roussel by her marine rank, which made sense. It was actually a very well kept secret that Roussel was an agent for the SAI, most of the Alliance and media knew her only as another marine and graduate of the N7 program. Shepard only knew because the SAI had given him the same offer to join as they had given her.

He had refused of course. He'd have been no good as a spy. While Roussel was recognizable for her actions at Torfan, Shepard was, as Roussel often reminded him, a poster boy for the Alliance. He still had nightmares of all the propaganda tours he'd been forced to go to after Elysium.

"I know that as well," nodded Zaman.

"Did she tell you herself or did you get a mysterious letter from an anonymous but high level source?"

"The second one."

"Sorry to hear that."

Zaman shook his head. "We are all Alliance, Commander Shepard. We all took the oath to serve. I would be more comfortable hunting slavers and pirates. But if the Alliance decides that I can better serve humanity by providing support to our next Spectre then I shall not complain. It is my duty."

"That's...a very respectable outlook Commodore," Shepard said sincerely. After having had to deal with Cerberus for months, Shepard had very nearly forgotten what it was like to talk to a fellow soldier. It was a refreshing breath of stale recycled air.

They soon arrived at the ship. Shepard gave orders for his team to board and then turned back to the commodore.

"It's been a pleasure meeting you sir, I hope to work with you again in the future." He extended a hand. Zaman immediately took it and gave a firm shake.

"It was a pleasure to meet you as well Commander."

As Shepard began to climb the boarding ramp he realized that he truly had missed the Alliance. Maybe I should give some more thought to turning myself in?

Those thoughts were quickly dismissed however, when he began to hear a familiar kind of bickering coming from inside the ship. With a sigh and a roll of his eyes, Shepard ascended the ramp. But then who would keep those two from killing one another?

---

As the collection of aliens and odd individuals moved up the boarding ramp and into the JingXi, Tina tied her straw colored hair into a bun. It was a small ritual that she performed before every launch, that and small prayer to the big man upstairs.

The raven haired beauty in the black and white cat suit stopped by the cockpit and asked her where they should put themselves.

"You can settle down in the cargo bay. It's empty and there are some seats y'all can strap yourselves into."

She thanked Tina and directed the group towards the cargo bay. One member of the group, the half naked bald woman with tattoos all over her body, made a fuss about not wanting to follow the "cheerleader's" orders. That started off a hissy fight that Tina hadn't seen since her high school days.

"Maybe if you followed orders you wouldn't have put on such an embarrassing display earlier," the 'cheerleader' said.

"Fuck you cheerleader! I didn't see you standing up to the one eyed bitch either! In fact you looked like you were about to wet yourself the minute she brought up-"

"Don't you dare say her name!"

Tattoos smiled cruelly. "O-R-I-A-N-"

"Shut up!"

"Or what? You'll sit on me with that big old bubble butt of yours? Come on cheerleader, you've been giving me the stink eye more than usual lately. I know you've got a bone to pick so why not just get it over with."

"I said shut it you useless bitch!" Something about what 'cheerleader' said wiped the smile right off of 'tattoos' face.

"What the fuck did you just call me?"

"You heard me: useless."

"I am not useless."

'Cheerleader' crossed her arms. "I beg to differ. The day you became part of this team you've been nothing but trouble to everyone. We would be better off without you." There was a pause, then she continued. "Without you, Jacob would still be alive."

The bald woman's eyes widened then quickly narrowed with anger. "I'm going to shove my fist down your throat and-"

"HEY!" a new voice from outside the ship boomed, cutting off whatever threat she was about to give. The handsome man that Tina had seen leading the group earlier stepped into the ship looking mighty pissed. "That's enough! From both of you! Jack, go find a seat and cool down."

"You can't stop me this time boy scout! I'm gonna-"

"Jack," the man did not raise his voice this time, but a wispy blue aura began to surround his body. "I'm not going to ask you again."

For all the bald woman's fury the minute she saw the biotic aura she immediately backed down. Muttering a line of curses that would have made Tina's famously foul mouthed uncle blush, Jack disappeared into the back of the ship.

"And you!" the man turned to 'cheerleader'. "I expected better from you. You're supposed to be the mature one."

"Like you are with Roussel?"

The man flinched and from the look on her face Tina knew that 'cheerleader' immediately regretted saying that. At first Tina thought that he too would explode into shouting, but instead he seemed to struggle through the desire and simply sighed heavily.

"Just...just go find a seat that's as far from Jack as possible. We'll talk about this later."

'Cheerleader' nodded and disappeared after Jack.

Finally the man turned around to face her and Tina's heart leapt up into her throat. She'd seen him before, on billboards, on Alliance propaganda, and in her baby sister's scrapbook where his face was surrounded by little pink hearts.

"Y-you're Commander Shepard," she realized with near panic.

"Yes I am," he replied with a charming smile and a friendly demeanor very different from the stern one he'd just displayed. Tina was suddenly very subconscious about the fact that she wasn't wearing any makeup. He extended a hand to her and she stared at it for a brief moment before realizing she was supposed to shake it.

"I-I'm your pilot for the mission," she stuttered. Oh gosh, I remembered to take a shower right?

"I can see that," he said, gesturing to the cockpit.

"Oh, yeah, of course you can because your Commander Shepard," she said, smiling awkwardly.

"I apologize for the unprofessional display my team put on earlier. I promise it won't happen again."

"Oh, that was nothing. You should have seen my parents go at it before the divorce." She smiled nervously. Stupid Tina! He don't want to hear about your dumb life story!

Thankfully the Commander just gave a acknowledging grunt, which was better than what Tina had been expecting. As he turned to leave, Tina finally had to ask the question that had been burning inside of her since she realized she was talking to The Commander Shepard.

"Uh...do you mind if I ask you a question?"

He turned back towards her and shrugged. "Sure."

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

"I got better."

"...Oh." That wasn't a satisfactory answer at all, but Tina figured it was about as good as she was going to get. As the Commander began to turn away again, Tina decided to be extra bold and ask another burning question.

"Um...sorry, but can I ask you something else?"

Once again the Commander was an absolute gentleman. "Sure, what is it?"

"Uh...it's stupid...but, well, can I get a picture with you? My lil' baby sister is a big fan and she'd murder me if I passed up this opportunity."

Shepard chuckled and for a brief moment Tina thought he would refuse.

In truth the Commander was simply remembering the thousands of photos he'd been forced to take during the propaganda tours he'd been forced to go on. It had once gotten so bad that he had had to ice his cheeks from hours of smiling. Since then he avoided photos at all costs. But he supposed that one more picture couldn't hurt.

"Sure," he finally said. Tina's face lit up in that way only a southern girl's face could. Excitedly she stood up and moved next to the commander. She wrapped an arm around his back and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Part of Tina wanted to scream in girlish delight.

Abby is gonna be so jealous. She quickly activated her Omni-tool's camera app and held it out.

"Say cheese!"

"Cheese!"

There was a digital click as the miniature camera took the photo. Tina brought her arm back in and brought up the photo. It was perfect, except...who was that in the background. She enhanced the image and zoomed in. Upon realizing who the photo-bomber was, Tina quickly whirled around and snapped a salute.

"Ma'am!"

"At ease," said Roussel.

Shepard turned around as well. The two did not exchange words, just glared at each other. Tina's earlier elation was now lost to a tense nervousness. Behind Roussel four marines entered the ship carrying stacks of crates, accompanying them was, to Shepard's surprise, a Salarian.

"Where you want these boss?" one of the marines asked.

"Cargo hold. Stack them up and then strap yourselves into a free seat."

"Yes ma'am, alright boys let's go!" The marines disappeared to carry out their orders.

"Commander Shepard?" asked the Salarian.

"I am, and you are?"

"Jondum Bau, Special Tactics and Recon, I am Roussel's overseer." The Salarian extended a hand. Shepard took it and shook.

"It's good to meet you."

"Likewise, I look forward to seeing how you operate. If you'll excuse me," the Salarian disappeared after the marines.

Shepard had heard of Jondum Bau from fellow Spectres before his death by the hands of the Collectors. According to the opinion of most, Bau was one of the Council's best and second to none within his species. Some had said that he had been second only to Saren. Shepard felt better knowing that another Spectre, particularly one trained in espionage, would be coming with them. He was ashamed to admit it but he wasn't very good at playing spy.

"Walsh right?" asked Roussel, directing the question at Tina.

"Yes ma'am," she replied.

"Prepare for launch, we leave in five."

"Yes ma'am, right away." Tina eagerly retreated back into the cockpit and took her seat. So far she'd seen a Geth, met and taken a photo with Commander Shepard, and finally been embarrassed in front of The Butcher of Torfan. Hopefully that was all the excitement she was going to get for the rest of the mission.

---

"Adding another one to you're harem?" asked Roussel.

"You're late," said Shepard, ignoring her jibe.

Roussel simply shrugged and dropped a duffle bag she had been carrying on to the floor. "You know us women, we take forever to pick what we'll wear for the day."

Like Shepard the SAI agent had forgone combat armor in favor of civilian attire. She wore a pair of baggy gray trousers and brown combat boot with a plain black tank top under a brown survivalists vest. Roussel had reasoned that while the others could pass off as mercenaries and criminals, the N7 emblems on their armor would likely flag them as Alliance. More importantly they both had fairly recognizable faces, especially Shepard, so it was important to dress in a manner that drew the least amount of attention.

"You got you're armor stored away?" she asked.

Shepard held up a duffle bag similar to the one that Roussel had been carrying.

"Good," she nodded, "and judging from that racket I heard before, your crew must be aboard."

"You heard that?"

"I'm pretty sure half the hangar heard it. I'll give this to the little gang banger, she's got some bloody strong lungs."

Shepard pinched the flesh between his eyes. He was not looking forward to dealing with Jack or Miranda at the moment, though he knew he needed to.

"Is it true what Lawson said?" asked Roussel.

"About what?"

"That the little gangbanger was the one who got your Cerberus friend killed."

"No," Shepard replied immediately.

Roussel arched a perfect eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

"It wasn't her fault, if you'd seen the guy we were facing..." Shepard bit his lip, then continued. "The enemy was well trained. Looking back it's kind of a miracle more of us didn't die."

Roussel stood a little straighter upon hearing his admission. "One guy took down you're whole team? How'd one guy get the best of all of you?"

"He was...I don't think I can describe it."

"Well hopefully you can figure out how on the trip down. I'd rather not run into him without knowing what I'm up against," said Roussel as she walked passed him to enter the cockpit.

Shepard was surprised."What, no jokes about how I got my ass handed to me?"

"Not for now," she replied before settling into the co-pilot seat, apparently done with the subject. Shepard chose to leave it alone as well. Roussel was choosing to give him a break and it would be wise to take it. Right now he needed to focus on dealing with Jack and Miranda...again.

"There's another seat in here if you'd like to sit up front Commander," said Tina sheepishly, then quickly added, "if that's alright with you ma'am."

Roussel shrugged indifferently. "He's a big boy, he can buckle his own seat belt." The SAI agent flipped a number of switches. "You might want to choose soon Shepard, we're about to take off."

Deciding that there was no real reason not to, Shepard seated himself in the extra chair behind the two pilot seats and strapped himself into the crash webbing.

"On your go Walsh."

"Yes ma'am," Tina placed her pilot's helmet on and spoke into it's microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the JingXi. Unless you wanna end up flatter than a pancake I suggest you find your seats and buckle up real good. We'll be launching in exactly 2 minutes. Our destination: the very friendly and highly civilized world, Kal-Riv."

---

The flight was long one. Roussel, not wanting to spook the residents of the planet with the presence of an Alliance battle group, had chosen to leave the Baldwin and its escort ships at the edge of the system. But considering the distance that they had been forced to travel in a light freighter, a three hour trip wasn't particularly bad.

"We're approaching our destination," Tina announced over the JingXi's intercom.

Having spent the entire trip in the cockpit's passenger seat, mostly to avoid Miranda and Jack, Shepard could clearly see Kal-Riv through the view-port. It was an ugly world and reminded Shepard of a muddy soccer ball. The poles were capped with sizeable portions of snow but that was about the only white he could see. The oceans were all an ugly piss yellow, the clouds were all gray, and as far as he could see none of the landmasses had any green vegetation which left them all dirt brown in color.

"Pretty as a picture," Roussel commented sarcastically. She tapped a few keys on her control board. "Uploading landing coordinates. We're going to land outside of Kuussov city, we'll avoid any possible eyes CAT6 will have and draw less attention."

"Is landing outside the city legal ma'am?" asked the pilot.

"Legal? Ha! This is the Traverse, legal doesn't exist."

The descent through the planet's atmosphere was fairly smooth. For a while all that the three humans could see through the forward viewport were masses of thick puffy gray clouds. Then that gave way to the greenish yellow sky of Kal-Riv. Shepard recalled that the first time he'd visited Omega that Miranda had called it a "pisshole". Personally the space station had reminded him of the movie Blade Runner, which endeared it to him a bit. This on the other hand really was a pisshole.

After some time flying through the throw up colored sky Shepard saw the first signs of civilization.

"There it is," said Roussel, "Kuussov city, the biggest gathering of pirates, slavers, drug dealers, and mercenaries in the entire Traverse."

The city was quite large, especially for a planet located in the Traverse. From the information Miranda had pulled for them Shepard knew that the population of Kuussov itself was around 500,000 people. The city had originally started as a Batarian military outpost, which was why the entire city was built surrounding a medium sized mesa.

Living on top of the mesa was now considered a sign of power in Kuussov. Only the richest and most powerful criminal factions could carve themselves out a piece of territory. As it turned out, CAT6 was one of those factions. Their base on Kal-Riv was located on the southern section of Kuussov's mesa. Ordinarily it would have been a struggle to find a way to infiltrate that particular section of the city, especially for off-world visitors.

Thankfully they had a plan.

"You remember our cover?" asked Roussel.

"I'm Robert McCall, you're Jane Smith. We're semi-prominent red sand and weapons dealers contracted with Eclipse. We're here to sell our product and make deals. The others are our security crew."

"Good," she nodded. "Walsh, set us down on that piece of flat land there."

"Aye ma'am," the JingXi descended towards the ground. As they got closer the shape of other ships came into view. "Looks like some folks had the same idea as us. Guess parking is real expensive here."

The ship came to a rest on Kal-Riv's surface with a light jerk. Once it did, Shepard unbuckled his crash webbing and immediately stood to stretch his legs. They were a bit stiff from hours of sitting and he was thankful for the break.

"I'll get our rides ready. You get our 'security'," said Roussel.

Shepard wasn't keen on taking her orders, especially since technically he outranked her, but decided not to make a big deal about it. As he turned to leave the SAI agent caught him by the shoulder.

"What?" he asked.

"Just a bit of advice, but I think we should leave the Asari on the ship."

"Samara? Why?"

"She's a Justicar right? Superhero warriors of justice who punish criminals."

"Yeah, surprised you knew that."

Roussel brought her voice down to a whisper. "I'm an agent for SAI Shepard, it's my job to know things." She then brought her voice back up to its regular volume. "We're going to Kuussov, a place filled with criminals. Do the math. I like staring at blue tits as much as anyone else but out there she could become a liability."

Without waiting for his response Roussel moved passed him and disembarked down the boarding ramp.

Again, Shepard hated to admit it but she had a point. On Illium Samara had nearly killed law enforcement officers in order to continue pursing an Ardat-Yakshi, as was in accordance with the Justicar code. While he could always bring up the oath she swore to him and force her not to execute the entire population of Kuussov, he didn't much like the idea of abusing her trust.

"Oh boy," Shepard palmed his face, "this should be fun."

---

"I was actually going to suggest the same," said Samara.

"Really?" Shepard was a little surprised.

"Yes. Though I'd like nothing better than to bring the Goddess's justice to this den of lawlessness, I also understand that it would be detrimental to our mission. However the Code is absolute, if I see a criminal I must execute them regardless of the situation. Therefore it is best that I do not see any criminals."

Shepard let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for understanding."

"Of course. The Code also requires personal sacrifice for the greater good. Besides that, I believe having extra security for our ship would not be amiss." Samara turned her head to look at the other ships that occupied the same stretch of flat land as the JingXi, most likely owned by crews that didn't want to pay the city's docking fee. A few members of those other ships had been staring intently at the JingXi, most likely sizing up how difficult it might be to steal it.

"Yeah, it'll be good to know that no one will steal our fuel tank while we're out. Just make sure you to play nice with them alright?" Shepard gestured to Roussel's marines, who were also staying on the ship on account of their recognizable armor. "Roussel might be a bitch but her marines are Alliance."

Samara nodded. "As you say commander, may the Goddess guide your path."

---

There was 8 miles of flat yet rough terrain between the landing site and the city limits. Thankfully they had not needed to walk it. Stowed in the JingXi's cargo bay was an old commercial truck. Unlike most modern vehicles this one utilized a set of wheels instead of mass effect fields.

Roussel drove the truck while Shepard rode shotgun, Bau chose to sit in the seat between them. The rest of the team was forced to ride in the trailer with the contraband. It was a short and silent trip during which Shepard mentally reviewed the plan.

Soon they arrived but were stopped by a group of less than friendly looking individuals.

"You! Stop there!" a Turian wearing ragged clothes shouted.

Roussel slowed the truck to a stop as ordered, rolled down the window, and stuck her head out. "What do you want?" she asked tersely.

The Turian spat onto the ground and grinned, showing his mouth full of needle sharp teeth. "You better be more polite off-worlder. You see there's a toll for entering Kuussov."

"Really, I had no idea," said Roussel, her tone conveying that she was not in the least bit convinced.

"Yeah? Well that doesn't mean you're not going to pay it." As the Turian talked Shepard noticed that two of his friends, a Batarian and a Salarian, were making their way to his side of the truck.

"And I assume you gentlemen are going to be the ones to collect this toll?" asked Roussel. Shepard saw her hand move to the pistol taped beneath the wheel.

"That's right. Don't worry, since this is you're first time I'll be gentle and give you a discount." The Batarian and Salarian were now nearly arms length away from Shepard's door. Behind the Turian a surly looking Krogan was cradling a shotgun.

"A discount. My, that's very generous of you."

"Yeah well, I'm a generous guy."

"So how much do I have to pay?"

The Turian smiled and looked back the Krogan who chuckled. "A mere 100 platinum a head should do it."

Shepard rolled his eyes. If he hadn't been sure that this was a scam before he was definitely certain about it now. The Salarian thug noticed his behavior and frowned while toggling the safety off of his submachine gun.

"100 platinum a head?" Roussel feigned horror.

"That's right. You're lucky I'm nice, otherwise it'd be 200."

"Well gee mister, I'm not sure everyone can pay."

That news seemed to please the Turian greatly. "Well, that is a shame. But tell you what, me and my boys here will have a look through your cargo. We'll take just enough to cover the cost." The Turian then sauntered up to the truck and put a sharp talon underneath the woman's chin. "Unless maybe...you'd like to pay in other ways?"

Roussel had apparently had enough of toying with the poor thug. Her voice became hard and threatening. "As tempting as that might be, I don't think my friend here would appreciate that."

The Turian was about ask what friend, when he suddenly saw Bau pull out a pistol and aim it down at him. His eyes widened in terror as he realized what was happening. The Salarian and Batarian thug noticed and immediately tried to grab their own weapons, but Shepard raised a glowing blue palm in their direction.

"I wouldn't," he warned and they immediately backed off.

The Krogan snarled and aimed his shotgun at the truck. Roussel ripped her pistol from its hiding placed and fired a single shot. The Krogan howled and dropped his weapon, the hand holding it was now nothing more than a bloody stump.

"Spirits! Okay! Okay! We surrender or whatever! We're sorry! Please don't kill us!" the Turian begged, his earlier confidence suddenly gone.

"You're sorry? You try to rob us and you think saying sorry is going to make us forgive you?"

"Uh...yes?" the Turian said hopefully.

Roussel silently glared at the Turian.

"Alright, fine! Just don't shoot me! Please!" The Turian reached into a pouch at his side and produced a number of platinum chips. "This is all we got today. Take it and please just leave us alone! We'll never bother you again."

Roussel swiped the money from him and Bau lowered his weapon. The Turian immediately let out a relieved sigh.

"You had better not," Roussel stated simply. The truck pulled forward, leaving the highway thugs to wallow in their humiliation.

"That was surprisingly restrained for you," said Shepard when they were far enough away. "I fully expected you to kill all of them."

"Agreed," said Bau, much to Shepard's own amusement, "based on your usual MO, those thugs should be dead."

"Oh trust me, I wanted to. They're criminals and they deserve no less than to be put down," she said, a small wolfish smirk developing on her lips. "But I'd rather not announce our presence. As small as the chance may be, killing them may draw unwanted attention."

Bau nodded with satisfaction. So far Roussel had proven to be an excellent intelligence operative.

"Besides," Roussel tossed the platinum coins into the air and caught them. "It'd be damn rude to kill them after they paid for our drinks."

---

The drive to the mesa was thankfully bereft of anymore highway robbery and filled with more silence, which Shepard was thankful for. It meant that for now, Jack and Miranda had given up on trying to get the best of one another. He took advantage of the quiet to observe the scenery of Kuussov.

Unsurprisingly, the city was just as bleak as the planet it was located on. There was no color in either the few buildings that existed or the clothes that people wore. Everything seemed to be darkened by the ever present muting affect of the planet's atmosphere. Most of the lower city was comprised of tents and shoddily put together structures that provided little in the way of pleasantry. Of the few buildings that existed most were of the cheap prefabricated variety, providing four walls and little else.

Vehicles were in a similar situation. It seemed that in the lower city even the old truck that they were traveling in were uncommon. Shepard saw only a few transport vehicles along the way, all of which were in various states of falling apart.

"Stop! Thief!"

Shepard watched as a Salarian ran from an elderly looking Turian, who was struggling to keep up. Shepard thought about intervening, but Bau seemed to anticipate this and put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"Robert McCall does not care if someone is robbed," the Salarian Spectre reminded.

The elderly Turian collapsed in the street, too exhausted to continue after the thief. No one moved to offer aid, none even turned to acknowledge it. This was an everyday occurrence in the lower city. As Roussel drove on, Shepard noticed a few people move towards the old Turian. They immediately began searching his clothes for anything useful.

"I hate this place already," he muttered aloud.

Before they would reach the upper city Shepard would see more events like the robbery that pricked his strong sense of justice. But he dug his nails into his palms and forced himself to hold back. This planet was outside of the law. Even his Spectre authority had no meaning here. A few times Shepard looked over at Roussel and saw that she had no problems keeping a steely exterior, no surprise there.

Upon reaching the base of the mesa they were confronted by, of all things, a checkpoint.

"More highway men?" asked Shepard.

"Definitely not, look how well armed they are," said Roussel.

Indeed they were nothing like the ones encountered at the edge of the city. They were much better equipped, with combat grade armor instead of ragged clothes and high quality assault rifles instead of cheap pistols and shotguns. The checkpoint itself was a testament to their better funding, with two well built guard towers and a steel bar fence that traveled along the long winding road up to the top of the mesa.

"I thought there was no law on Kal-Riv," said Shepard.

"That's not entirely true," said Bau, "there is one law here: power. These guards are most likely members of one of the factions who live in the upper city."

"But why keep men to guard the entrance?"

"Because power is a fickle thing. It is hard to gain but easy to lose. The best way to make sure you can keep it is to prevent anyone else from ever having the chance to take it away. By making sure not everyone can reach the upper city, the power remains with the elite minority."

Shepard nodded but scowled. It made sense in a sort of twisted and selfish kind of way. If everyone could live in the upper city then living in the upper city wouldn't be special anymore.

Roussel drove up to the gate and lowered her window. A guard, a Turian, slowly walked up to her window. "I haven't seen you before," he noted dryly.

"We're new," Roussel replied simply.

"Mmmhmmm, what's you're business in the upper city?"

"Got shipment of weapons and sand for Eclipse."

The Turian pulled out a datapad. "Name?"

"Jane Smith, and that's Robert McCall," she jabbed a thumb over at Shepard.

"And the Salarian?"

"Security."

"Heh, couldn't afford a Krogan huh?" Bau scowled but otherwise ignored the insult.

"It beats fighting my own battles," said Roussel, "plus its fun to watch him shoot people. Got a little show at the edge of the city, group of trash bandits tried to shake us down."

"Good to know you're enjoying yourself." The guard's datapad chirped. "You check out. Open the gate!"

The gate slid open with a loud screeching groan born from years of neglect.

"Hope you've got a working radio in that thing. It's a long drive up."

Roussel didn't bother to respond and drove the truck through the gate. Just as the guard had warned them it was a very long drive up. Midway up Shepard heard a loud banging noise come from the trailer. He activated his Omni-tool and contacted Garrus.

"Everything okay in there?"

"Not really," replied Garrus. "Grunt is getting a little antsy."

"I WANNA SHOOT SOMETHING!" came the Krogan's voice.

"Is there a problem?" asked Bau.

"No, no problem."

"Oh sure, you can say that because you're not stuck in a small trailer with a teenage Krogan."

"This is an easy fix," assured Shepard, "just tell him to start playing Mad Birds on his Omni-tool. He'll calm right down."

"That works?"

"It does."

"Alright, but if he tosses me out the back. Just know that it's your fault."

"I'll try not to let the guilt get to me."

---

The upper city was so different from the lower city that Shepard had difficulty believing they were on the same planet. Here the roads were actually paved asphalt instead of trampled dirt, and instead of a thousand tents there were well constructed buildings, some of which stretched up to ten stories tall.

People were different here as well. Their clothes, while not as opulent as the Citadel or Illium, were in much better condition than the patched together pieces worn in the lower city. They also seemed happier, more alive. It occurred to Shepard that while they had driven through the lower city he had not once heard the sound of laughter.

But the upper city still held reminders that this was a lawless planet. Guards wearing armor indicative of their faction patrolled the streets openly bearing their weapons. Occasionally they would hear the sound of gun fire in the distance, but none of the people ever seemed to acknowledge it. Likely they had grown accustomed to it.

Soon they arrived at their destination: The Endless Void. What a terrible name for a bar.

Upon parking, Shepard immediately jumped out of the truck and stretched his legs. A chirp came from his Omni-tool and answered it.

"We here?" asked Garrus.

"Yup."

"Thank the spirits. Open it up before I go insane."

As requested Shepard and Roussel unlocked the trailer doors, allowing his team to file out. Garrus practically charged outside and lovingly touched the ground.

"Happy?" asked an amused Shepard.

The Turian simply glared at him. "Next time, you get to ride in the trailer."

Before he could give a response, Roussel pulled on his shoulder. "Shepard, can I have a word with you?"

"What is it this time?" he asked as they walked to the side.

"You're trophy bot," she pointed at Legion who was still inside the truck trailer. "We need to leave him in the truck."

"What? Why?"

"Do you want to cause a panic? We're trying to keep a low profile remember?"

"Legion has never caused problems when I've taken him out before."

"That's probably because people recognized you as Commander Shepard. Here you're Robert McCall, and Robert McCall does not have a Geth buddy."

Shepard sighed and frustratedly rubbed the back of his head. He really hated this spy stuff, things were so much nicer when it was a simple shoot-the-bad-guy mission.

"Alright fine, I'll tell him to stay on the truck."

"Good, because as it turns out we need someone to make sure no one steals our ride. It can use the computers inside to provide tactical support."

"Computers?"

Like the JingXi, the truck's trailer turned out to be much more impressive on the inside than the outside would suggest. In addition to the contraband cargo, there was a set of cutting edge computers on the level of the Normandy's systems. On one of the monitors Shepard saw a sky view architectural map of the city. Roussel typed a few commands on the keyboard and the map zoomed in to their current location.

"Think you can handle this robot?" she asked Legion.

"We can," Legion replied.

"Good. Let's break into our teams and get this done."

---

The Endless Void

After going over the plan one more time and breaking into their teams, Shepard found himself accompanied into The Endless Void by Bau and Roussel. Inside they found that the bar was dimly lit and populated by a variety of different customers. The lack of light seemed to be a conscious choice by the proprietor. It added an atmosphere of mystery to the place.

The trio headed straight for the bar which was manned by a Batarian.

"What can I get you?" he asked while cleaning a glass with a rag.

"Salarian Experiment," said Shepard.

"Sur'Kesh beer with nola berry sauce, got it. And you?"

"Beer," Roussel replied simply.

"Any brand in particular?"

"Surprise me."

"What about you slim?" the bartender asked Bau.

"I'm on duty," the Salarian replied gruffly, playing the part of a bodyguard.

The bartender nodded and soon returned with their drinks. Roussel got a pint of human beer, which she nearly drained in a single go, while Shepard got a tall glass of green liquid. He had never had an 'Salarian Experiment' before, he had ordered it in order as a signal to their STG contact.

Feeling thirsty and a bit adventurous, he scanned the drink first with his Omni-tool's toxicity app. An incident on Omega had made Shepard suspicious of Batarian bartenders. When it came up as clean he took a tentative sip. It tasted a bit like a blonde beer mixed with cherry. Not bad, but he'd had better.

"And then I said, you talk'n to me?! If you're talk'n to me I'm going to have introduce you to my scalpel! Never seen a Krogan run so fast!"

That was the return signal.

"There," Roussel nodded towards a booth in the back corner of the building where a green skinned Salarian was sitting, his only company was an Asari in his lap.

Together the trio moved towards them. The Salarian noticed as they go closer and ordered the Asari, likely a prostitute, to leave. She pouted but did as instructed.

"Gonna be a dry season," greeted the Salarian.

"Probably, but I'd keep an umbrella on hand just in case," replied Shepard.

The Salarian stood up and held out his hand. "It's good to finally meet you Mr..."

"McCall, Robert McCall," said Shepard.

"Mr. McCall, and who is your associate?"

"Jane Smith," answered Roussel.

"A pleasure to meet you Ms. Smith," the Salarian shook her hand as well. He then turned to Bau. "I think I might have seen you before, ever do work on Kal-Riv?"

"Once or twice," Bau replied.

The Salarian, who still had not given his own name, grunted in amusement. "My associates and I are very eager to begin business with you. Please, follow me."

Wordlessly the trio did so. They returned to the bar, as they walked through the door to the back the nameless Salarian threw a nod towards the Batarian bartender, who nodded back. As he entered through the door, Shepard noticed a shotgun strapped to the underside of the bar counter.

They soon found themselves in storage area where boxes containing food and other such supplies were piled high. The nameless Salarian stopped by a specific box and brought out his Omni-tool. He entered in a few commands and, as though possessed, the large box began to slide back. In doing so it revealed a section of the flooring which was in fact a door.

The door slid open with a hiss.

"Cool," Shepard commented.

"Thank you," said the Salarian, "please watch your step on the way down."

Once they were all down inside, the door shut behind them and Shepard could hear the 'box' slide back into place. He hoped that there was more than one way out of here as he did not enjoy the thought of being buried alive.

"We can talk freely now," said the Salarian as they continued their descent down the stairs, "I am Okin Jurot, STG Operative."

"Commander Alan Shepard."

"I know who you are. It's an honor to meet you Commander, and you Spectre Bau."

"Thank you, it's good to see that STG has not degraded in my absence." Shepard thought there was a little cockiness in the Spectre's voice, but it was hard to tell with Salarians.

"And you are Lieutenant Commander Laura Roussel, correct?"

"That's me," said Roussel simply.

"Where are we headed?" asked Shepard.

"Our safe house, where we conduct most of our operation. My commanding officer wants to meet with you."

At the bottom of the stairs there was a tunnel. Like the bar above, it was poorly lit by only a few scattered lamps, so Shepard could not tell how far it stretched. Thankfully the group kept a brisk pace and after only five minutes of walking they came to the end. There they found a solid looking door that felt very out of place surrounded by rocks and dirt. Okin walked up to it and revealed a control pad next to the door, hidden behind a section of fake dirt.

He entered in a 10 digit long code, put his palm down on a scanner for finger print verification, and placed his eye up to a miniature camera which took a retinal scan. With each test a green light lit up on the control panel. Once three lights had turned green the door gave a shudder and slid open.

Inside were two Salarians clad in advanced combat armor and carrying STG Venom shotguns, both of which were pointed at the group. Upon seeing Okin, the two guards lowered their weapons and saluted.

"Please, come inside," said Okin.

Just like the JingXi and the truck, the inside of the STG safehouse was far more impressive than the outside. Shepard internally mused it must be a trend for spies. Ten different Salarians seated in a semi-circle monitored fifty different monitors, five to each operative. Each one was constantly chattering away into a headpiece while simultaneously tapping at keypads and coordinating with each other.

Shepard could barely keep track of what any of them were doing as none of them stayed still long enough for him to catch up. It reminded him of when he'd first met Mordin on Omega. The Salarian had been a whirlwind of activity inside the clinic, diagnosing and solving medical issues quickly, while at the same time finding a cure for a plague that had been ravaging the sector. This was like meeting 10 Mordins at the same time. Shepard braced himself for the inevitable headache that would lead to.

He noted only one Salarian remained still, likely Okin's commanding officer. He stood with his back to them on top of a command dais, monitoring the work of his operatives.

"Major," said Okin, "Commander Shepard has arrived."

The Major turned to face them and Shepard was greeted with a familiar face.

"Major Kirrahe."

"Commander Shepard," Kirrahe stuck out a hand and Shepard took it. "It's good to see you again Commander."

"Likewise."

He then turned to Roussel and Bau.

"Spectre Bau. Good to see you again."

"You as well Kirrahe," Bau gave a curt nod.

"The Butcher," said Kirrahe as he addressed Roussel, making Shepard wince just a bit. He didn't really like it when people called him by his own title, and from the subtle tensing of her neck muscles, Shepard knew that Roussel didn't care for it either. "I've heard word of your exploits. I must say that I'm a bit disappointed."

"Oh?" Roussel raised an eyebrow.

"You lack the sharpened fangs, evil red eye, razor claws, and pointed tail that the Batarians claim you have."

Shepard couldn't help but snicker.

Roussel shrugged nonchalantly. "Benefits of a bit of make up."

"Indeed."

Wishing to change the subject, Shepard asked, "what's STG got you doing out here?"

"Monitoring the Hegemony's slaver trafficking. The Batarians have gone quiet recently and we've yet to determine why. But I imagine you didn't travel all the way into the Traverse just to hear about that. I received contact from Councilor Valern that you require aid with a PMC group known as CAT6?"

Shepard nodded "That's right. We believe that they are involved in a plot to inspire another war with the Krogan."

Instantly, every Salarian stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the Commander. It made him feel like spotlight was shining down on him. Kirrahe noticed and swiveled around wearing a heavy frown.

"Back to work! All of you!" he ordered.

Just as quickly as they'd stopped, they all followed orders and returned to their screens. Though Shepard noted that some of them were occasionally throwing glances back at him over their shoulders.

"Perhaps we should speak privately. Agent Okin Jurot, you are dismissed until further notice."

"Yes Major," Okin saluted, nodded to them, and then disappeared back the way they had come.

"My office is this way," Kirrahe gestured.

True to the Salarian way, Kirrahe's office was incredibly spartan. It consisted of a room able to just barely fit four individuals comfortably, and that was mostly because the only furniture inside was a half-moon shaped desk. There were no chairs as, according to Kirrahe, sitting slowed the mind. Thankfully all present were just fine with standing.

Shepard quickly brought Kirrahe up to speed on the mission. The Salarian listened intently, only interrupting to ask the occasional clarifying question. When Shepard was finished Kirrahe silently leaned forward and placed both hands on his desk.

"This is most disturbing news. The last time the Krogan went to war billions died, whole planets were rendered inhospitable for life."

"You can understand then why the Council decided it might be a good idea for us to help one another," said Shepard.

"I do," nodded Kirrahe. He grabbed a data pad and began dancing his thin fingers across its surface. "My unit hasn't really been paying attention to CAT6. They're a major player in Kuussov's power structure but other than the occasional raid against rival fractions, they haven't been doing anything of particular interest. And you say they are working for the mastermind behind this Krogan Uprising?"

"Yes. Though whether CAT6 is just working for them or actually a front to operate out of, we're still not sure."

"Hmmm, then I suppose you're looking to raid their base here in the city."

"That's the plan, can you assist?"

"I can. I can have a squad of twelve agents ready for a combat mission in just half an hour, though we'll need to do some recon first. We have a preliminary idea of their defenses but nothing solid."

"I have two teams doing recon right now actually," Shepard said, a bit of pride in his voice. "They're supposed to give me a call once each team leader has decided they've learned as much as they can."

Kirrahe looked up from his pad though his fingers continued to work. "That might be a problem. This bunker is shielded against signals, no calls can come in or out except through our own communication's center."

"Standard STG operating procedure," added Bau.

"They're not due to report back in for at least another hour," said Roussel, "we're not in a rush."

Kirrahe returned to his pad. "Good, now about this Captain Tyco. You said that he is the only sure link you have between CAT6 and the 'mastermind' of the uprising?"

"That's right."

"Can you describe him?"

Shepard scratched the stubble on his cheek as he recalled what few memories he had of Tyco. "Human male, about 1.7 meters tall, maybe mid forties. He looked to be of Asian descent, though he apparently grew up back on Earth in a country called New Zealand."

"Anything else?"

"He looked very military, which I guess makes sense for CAT6. His hair was a standard marine cut."

"Is this him?" Bau held out the data pad for them to see and Shepard took sharp breath through his nose.

It was him, Captain Tyco.

"That's the bastard," Shepard answered as he glared down at the picture. "Why do you ask?"

"Because this image was taken from one of our cameras exactly two days ago, five blocks from this building." Shepard's eyes went wide. "Captain Tyco is in the city."

---

Kal-Riv, Team 2

Garrus, Grunt, Jack

"I don't get it."

"It's not that hard to understand Grunt," said Garrus, his voice betraying the exhaustion he felt.

"But it doesn't make any sense, this recon. Why would you search out your enemies and then not kill them? It seems a foolish tactic."

Garrus sighed and twitched his mandibles, a Turian expression for irritation. For the last ten minutes he had been attempting, and failing, to explain to Grunt the purpose of a reconnaissance mission. He had explained the same way his drill instructors had done to him during boot camp.

To explore an unknown area outside of friendly territory, to gain information about the features of terrain and about the enemy presence.

Unfortunately Grunt's adolescent Krogan sensibilities did not allow him to see the benefits or necessity of such a mission. In his opinion if you found the enemy then you should destroy the enemy. Going back to the Battle Master with information about the enemy meant you had to wait longer to fight and there would be less opponents for you when the battle started.

"Look, all you need to know is that Shepard needs us to do this," Garrus finally said.

Grunt grumbled. "Fine, I'll follow the Battle Master's orders. But if something shoots at us I'm going to shoot back."

"Fair enough." That was probably the best he could get for now.

After Shepard had gone with Roussel and Bau to meet the STG contact at the bar, the rest of them had divided into the two recon teams. Miranda had taken off with Zaeed, leaving Garrus stuck with, much to his own horror, Grunt and Jack. Besides a few annoying and somewhat childish questions, Grunt had caused few problems so far. That wasn't too surprising as the Krogan respected Garrus as one of his Battle Master's closest advisers.

Jack on the other hand did not have such a respect and so Garrus had expected her to be a pain in his ass for the duration of the recon mission. Much to his surprise she had remained very quiet so far. He had seen her act like this only once, after she'd been cowed by The Butcher. It was odd to see her so subdued and Garrus couldn't help but feel like he was looking at a completely different person.

Eventually Jack noticed him staring and scowled. "The fuck you looking at?"

Okay, so not a completely different person.

"Are you alright?" he asked tentatively.

"I'm fucking fine bird brain."

Garrus immediately turned away and sighed. How does Shepard deal with this?

At that same time Grunt, who had gotten to the head of their group, began to let out a low growl. Having worked with Grunt before, Garrus knew that the Krogan did that when spotting danger. Instinctively his talons went for his Ventis, mag-locked to his thigh.

But they soon fell away and instead were used to palm his face in disbelief.

The growling was Grunt's stomach, and it wasn't the enemy he'd spotted. It was a food cart.

"Nak beast! Fried Nak beast! Get it hot and fresh! Just one platinum for five strips of crunchy delicious goodness!" Grunt's eyes followed the small plate of fried meat being advertised by the cart's owner, a chubby Batarian.

"I'll take six," said Grunt. The Batarian turned to face the Krogan and smiled.

"Ah! Of course good sir. Clearly you are a Krogan of excellent taste. Six strips of fried Nak beast coming right up!"

"No, not six strips. Six platess."

"Haha, and one with a healthy appetite as well! I can relate," the Batarian said jovially, rubbing his large belly. "Very well, six trays for the hungry Krogan. That'll be eight platinum."

Grunt turned to Garrus. "Can I borrow eight platinum?"

"Grunt, we don't have time to eat."

"Nonsense young Turian! There is always time to fill one's belly," said the Batarian as he threw strips of red meat into a pot of boiling oil.

"Look I'm sure it's delicious, but we really need to-"

"To keep a low profile?" The Batarian's words, though still jovial and friendly, suddenly felt more sly than before. Garrus carefully reached for his Ventis again, his talons closing around the pistol's familiar grip.

"Now now, no need for that, we're all friends here. Besides, I doubt you could draw that Ventis before I can pull out the shotgun I've got here under my cart." The Batarian continued cooking as though they weren't subtly threatening each other's lives.

"Fucking try it," said Jack.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, language young lady."

"Who are you?" asked Garrus.

"Borus, at your service. Retired member of the Hegemony's SIU, and creator of Kuussov's finest cuisine."

Garrus' shook his head in disbelief. "Last I checked retirement from the SIU involved a bullet to the back of the skull and incineration of the corpse."

Borus pulled out finished strips from the pot of oil with a pair of tongs. "It does."

"You look pretty good for a pile of ashes."

"Comes from years of good eating," the Batarian patted his belly appreciatively. Garrus kept his talons curled around the handle of his Ventis.

The SIU was the Batarian Hegemony's special forces. While the majority of the Hegemony's military wasn't much better than a cult of fanatical armed thugs, the SIU were serious business. During the Blitz, SIU commandos that had "gone rogue" aided slavers in fighting Alliance forces. Sabotage, assassinations, and night raids conducted by the commandos had caused havoc among the Alliance. If Borus really was a former member of the SIU he was not nearly as harmless as he appeared to be.

"Here's your first tray buddy," Borus handed Grunt a plate of finished Nak strips. Grunt eagerly grabbed the plate and picked a strip to toss into his awaiting maw, when Garrus stopped him by grabbing his wrist. The Turian's eyes never left the Batarian's.

Borus sighed and picked one of the strips off of Grunt's plate and ate it. Satisfied it wasn't poisoned, Garrus released Grunt's wrist and allowed the Krogan to gorge himself.

"What makes you think we're trying to keep a low profile?"

The Batarian cook tossed more meat into the pot. "Oh, your little group just has that look. Like you believe you could be attacked any minute."

"Isn't that normal for this city?"

"True, but most people who live here are used to it and as a result are a little more lax about the possibility of spontaneous death. You're still all on edge, which means you're new. Trying to get your Krogan friend here to move along quietly told me everything else." Grunt finished the last of the fried Nak and licked his plate. "How was it big guy?"

"More!" Grunt shoved the plate at Borus.

"Hahaha, sure thing big guy. But I think I need to see some payment first. I'm not a charity after all."

Garrus rolled his eyes and tossed Borus the required amount of platinum.

"Thank you kindly," he said and handed Grunt a fresh plate of food. "So let me guess, you're here to find someone?"

"Something like that."

"Hmmm, you know as a simple food cart owner I hear lots of stuff. People don't pay me any mind, after all I'm just a fat Batarian cook trying to make a living."

Garrus cocked one of his brow plates in curiosity. "You a Rat?"

Borus chuckled at that. "You've spent time on Omega haven't you? That's not what they're called in Kuussov. Here we call'em Worms."

"Are you one?" asked Garrus.

The Batarian smiled, showing off a mouth full of sharp teeth. "Maybe."

"How much do you know about CAT6?"

"Depends, how much you willing to pay?"

---

Kal-Riv, Team 3

Miranda carefully scanned her eyes along the impressive six meter tall walls of the CAT6 compound. She immediately picked out half a dozen guards walking along the wall, two squads patrolling the streets below, and snipers in the guard towers placed at the four corners of the compound. It was an old fashioned design, comparable to the fortresses of Earth's medieval times. Old but effective.

Speaking of which, Zaeed pulled a pair of antique binoculars and used them to get a better look at their target.

"I could probably get up one of those walls with a bit of climbing rope," said Zaeed. "Then I could open the doors and let in everyone else."

"Doubtful. You'd be spotted before you got half way up."

"Heh, says you."

"Let's try to come up with ways that won't kill us first. If none of those pan out, then we can get back to them."

Zaeed gave Miranda a confused look then returned to his binoculars. "Must be that time of the month," she heard him murmur.

Miranda's irritation with the mercenary skyrocketed but she marshalled her patience and pushed her anger away. She had a mission to do and she could not afford to compromise it because of emotion. That would lead to mistakes, and mistakes lead to casualties.

Casualties like Jacob.

Miranda cursed herself for allowing such thoughts to slip into her mind. Now was not the time to be thinking about this. She could grieve on her own later, when the fate of the crew did not rest on what intel she was able to acquire.

"You got something to say?" asked Zaeed, seemingly sensing her internal struggle.

"No," she replied in a clipped tone.

She heard Zaeed release a quiet sigh but ignored it. Instead she focused on a small squad of CAT6 patrolmen making their way to the nearby gate. The squad leader activated his Omni-tool and held it up to a small scanner. The scanner switched from a red light to a green light, and the gate slid open, allowing the squad passage inside.

Miranda mentally pocketed away that information for later.

A chirp, signaling an incoming call, came from her Omni-tool. She answered it and was greeted by Garrus's familiar gravely voice.

"Team Two to Team Three, do you read?"

"We read you," she replied, "what happened? You were supposed to report in ten minutes ago."

"Got held up, but it turned out to be worth it. Met with a Worm that had some solid intel."

Miranda assumed that 'Worm' was the local slang for a street informant. "What did you get?"

"Apparently a few days ago this base got some reinforcements. A single squad."

"A single squad? That's hardly a game changer."

"I know. But get this, the squad of reinforcements wore armor and carried weapons that no one has ever seen before."

Though not very descriptive, Miranda understood the implication. The squad could be the one led by Captain Tyco, which possibly meant that Tyco himself was on the planet.

"Where are you right now?" she asked.

"Six story apartment building on the north side. I'll signal you." Miranda turned her attention north. A regular human would have had to squint to get a clear view, but with her genetically perfected vision Miranda easily spotted a lone hand with talons waving from afar.

"I see you," she said, and the hand stopped waving. "What can you see form up there?"

"A lot of guns...also two Mako armored personal carriers. It looks like they're guns have been modified to include missile launchers."

Miranda grimaced, while not a proverbial wrench in the overall plan the presence of armored assault vehicles complicated things. No matter, she would simply adjust the plan accordingly.

"Hold on...there's some sort of commotion." Miranda listened intently. "Spirits be blessed, I have visual confirmation on the intel."

"You see Tyco?" she asked hopefully.

"No, one of his cronies. I'll send you the feed from my eye piece." Miranda waited patiently while the connection was established. A few moments later and a holographic screen appeared from her Omni-tool, displaying live video footage being captured by Garrus. "Hold on, let me zoom in."

There was some loud shuffling as the Turian adjusted his position on the roof. Then the video zoomed down on the CAT6 compound and Miranda saw what Garrus had seen. Even without her eidetic memory there was no way for Miranda to not recognize the figure who was the focus of the video.

She vividly recalled the dark bulky armor and the strange boxy rifles that fired weaponized energy bolts. It was indeed one of those strange soldiers under the command of Tyco, and The Wrath. An involuntary chill ran up her spine at the thought of that monster.

"This is critical intel, we've got to get this to Shepard," she decided.

"Agreezzzdd, Izzzzzzz..." Garrus's voice sputtered out into static and then finally silence. Miranda frowned, like all her equipment the Omni-tool was in pristine condition. Which meant that the problem with the connection was on Garrus's end, or that-.

Miranda tensed as her ears picked up the sound of footsteps, quiet footsteps. The sound was so faint that were it not for her enhancements she would not have heard it at all. At first she thought they may have belonged to Zaeed, but stealth had never been the mercenary's forte and these footsteps were nearly as muted as Thane's.

She heard a loud crack followed by a cry of pain from Zaeed. "ARGH!"

Miranda spun around, bringing out her Talon pistol as she did. She came about just in time to see Zaeed slump onto ground. Standing above the mercenary's prone form was a humanoid figure clad in a thick dark trench coat. A hood and featureless mask hid the figure's face and the thick coat made gender indeterminable, though Miranda suspected male due to the height.

Without hesitation she aimed at the figure and tightened her finger around the trigger of her weapon. But before the shot could be made the shadowy attacker's hands flashed out and pushed back the pistol's slide, causing the thermal clip to pop out, and effectively rendering it a paperweight.

The loss of her pistol was a surprise, particularly because even with her enhanced reflexes she'd barely been able to see the attacker's movements. But surprise was not enough to disable Miranda. Using her pistol as an impropteau melee weapon she viciously swung at the side of her attacker's head.

Once again she was surprised by the attacker's speed. He easily dodged her strike and stepped inside her guard to deliver a solid strike to her gut. The blow emptied the air from Miranda's lungs and caused no small amount of pain. But she fought through that and swung again, only to once miss a second time.

The attacker moved behind Miranda and snaked an arm around her neck, placing her in a lateral vascular hold that would restrict the flow of oxygen to the brain.

Miranda felt the effects almost immediately. Her vision began to blur and thoughts started to become hazy. A few more seconds and she'd pass out completely. But Miranda didn't let that happen.

Thanks to her father, Miranda's body could produce the peak of human strength. Though she chose not to advertise, it was possible for her to bench press as much as 500 pounds, if she wanted to. As fast as he was, the attacker had no chance of stopping her. With all her strength Miranda pushed her back against the attacker and sent both of them slamming into one of the two buildings that made up the alley way.

Her quick thinking was rewarded with an audible cough of pain and a release from the chokehold. Once free, Miranda took in a deep breath of acrid air for the sake of her strained lungs. But there was no time for a reprieve.

The attacker pulled something from a pouch on his belt and tossed it at Miranda. Instinctively she stretched out a palm and put up a biotic barrier. The object impacted the shimmering blue shield and released a thick puffy cloud of smoke. Miranda at first thought it nothing more than a smoke grenade, but then the heavy gray cloud began to solidify around her barrier.

Miranda's eyes widened in shock. Some sort of fast acting cryogenic formula?

Whatever it was, it had effectively obscured her vision of the attacker and put a physical obstruction preventing retaliation. But she could use that to her advantage, the obstruction went both ways. Now it was just a question of which way the next strike would come from, left or right?

She waited, the adrenaline in her system artificially stretching out each moment of anticipation.

Nothing came. Perhaps the attacker was doing the same as her and waiting to see what move she would make.

Then Miranda felt a tingle move up her spine.

She realized the truth too late and an electric crackle filled her ears just before she felt something jab into the back of her neck. Miranda's vision went blue and her teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. It was like her entire body was having a single massive cramp as every muscle tensed painfully.

Then the crackling went silent. Her muscles went limp and she crumpled onto the dirty street next to Zaeed. Though she willed it with every fiber of her being not to, Miranda's vision slowly began to darken.

A pair of boots shimmered back into existence right in front of Miranda's eyes, confirming her earlier suspicion that the attacker had cloaked himself in a EM based stealth field. She struggled to raise her head and saw her attacker press something on his belt and then heard Garrus's voice return from her Omni-tool.

"Miranda? Are you there? Is everything alright? Respond. I repeat, respond to confirm your status."

She had to warn him, she had to tell him that they'd been compromised. Get up! She told herself. Don't be the reason the mission fails! Don't let them get away with murdering Jacob! With that single thought, anger welled up inside of Miranda. She grabbed hold of that anger and wrestled it into new found strength.

Without warning her hand lashed out and grabbed her attacker by the ankle.

"I'm not done with you yet."

---

Garrus scowled darkly.

Something was not right. He'd been about to agree with the plan Miranda had put forward when the connection had abruptly cut off. In his experience, sudden drops in communication were a very bad sign. For the next few minutes afterward he'd kept trying to reach Miranda again.

Jack had compared him to a parrot, whatever that was.

Now suddenly the connection had returned, but Miranda continued to remain silent. His suspicions that something had happened felt nearly confirmed.

"What's going on?" asked Grunt.

"Not sure," Garrus admitted, "I think something might have happened to Team 3."

"Does that mean we get to shoot something?" the Krogan asked hopefully.

"Maybe. I'm going to chance a quick look." Garrus carefully crawled his way over to the edge of the roof. Standing would have been too risky, the CAT6 guards would quickly spot him and likely shoot him on sight with the assumption that he was spying on them, which he was but the Turian doubted they would care to confirm it first.

Upon reaching the edge, Garrus adjusted the magnification of his eye piece to 10x and looked towards the alleyway Miranda and Zaeed had been hiding in.

"Miranda, if you need to keep radio silence but are still there, wave at me."

A few moments passed and then a hand stuck out from the alley and waved at him. Garrus let out a breath of relief, everything was fine.

"I see you," he said.

Miranda's voice suddenly returned. "Sorry about that. An...unexpected development arose."

Garrus did not reply immediately. He couldn't recall a single instance where Miranda had apologized for, well...anything. It felt bizarre to hear the words come from her.

"Uh...no problem. As long as everything is alright. We should probably get back to Shepard, he's going to want to know what we found."

"Agreed, we'll meet up at the...hold on...something's happening."

Garrus returned his attention to the CAT6 compound. His bird eye view allowed him a better look at the commotion Miranda had noticed. The two Mako APCs had come to life with a rumble and a number of squads had been released from the compound into the streets. Most of them were headed towards...uh oh.

"We've got a problem," Garrus said into his Omni.

"What kind of problem?"

"I think we've been compromised. You've got 15 plus CAT6 soldiers headed towards your position."

"Damn. Alright, new plan. We link up at the bottom floor of your building and-"

"There she is!" Garrus heard a new voice followed by the sound of gunfire.

"Miranda?! Miranda?!"

"What the fuck's happening?" asked Jack, but Garrus ignored her query and watched as CAT6 soldiers swarmed into the alley. In the periphery of his vision he also saw more of the PMC troops breaking into the first floor below.

"We've got to go," he decided, "we've got to go right now! Grunt, take point and clear the way down."

"Hehehe, finally something fun to do!" The Krogan pulled out his Claymore shotgun and eagerly ran down the maintenance stairwell that had allowed them entry to the roof. Garrus cast one more glance at the alley and took some comfort in the fact that the CAT6 troopers did not yet look to be victorious.

The unmistakable boom of Grunt's shotgun followed by bloody scream recaptured Garrus's attention. "Let's go," he said to Jack as he drew out his Ventis and she her own Katana shotgun. They followed after Grunt down the maintenance stairwell. Two levels down and they found the first evidence of a skirmish between the Krogan and a squad of unlucky CAT6 soldiers.

One more level down and they caught up to him just as he finished off the last of another squad.

"Weakling!" Grunt fired his Claymore into a retreating soldier, literally blowing the poor man off his feet.

"Good work," commented Garrus. He looked over the stair railing and saw at least two more squads coming up to intercept them. One soldier noticed the Turian staring down at them and fired a burst from his rifle. Garrus quickly jerked back, allowing the rounds to miss. "Damn!" he cursed then turned to Jack. "You get down to the lobby and secure it. Grunt and I will deal with these guys."

Jack gave a mock two fingered salute. "Aye aye captain bird brain."

Without another word the Biotic woman leapt over the railing and fell three stories before reaching the bottom floor in a fiery blue explosion. Standing up in a low crouch Jack surveyed the lobby where a dozen soldiers had their weapons trained on her.

Her lips curved up in a cruel grin. "Wha'sup fuck heads?"

The soldiers opened fire and Jack threw out her hands.

Garrus heard the cries of pain coming from downstairs and knew that Jack had begun her biotic rampage. He almost felt sorry for those CAT6 who had the misfortune of being in the lobby at the wrong time. It would only be a few minutes before she had it cleared, which meant he and Grunt just had to catch up.

A little fewer than two dozen heavily armed soldiers stood between them and the first floor.

"She's taking all the kills!" Grunt complained.

"The let's go!"

The Krogan slammed a new thermal clip into his shotgun and bellowed a heavy war cry as he charged down the stairs. Garrus followed closely behind with his Ventis.

"Armor-Piercing!" he ordered. His Ventis had a recognition system cued to his voice's unique harmonics, at his command the pistol toggled to fire armor-piercing rounds.

"I AM KROGAN!"

Grunt crashed into the first of the soldiers standing in their way, his immense strength allowed him to smash his way through them with brutal savage efficiency. But even as he dealt with the ones in front, the soldiers in the back began to hose him down with automatic weapons fire, gradually chipping away at the Krogan's shields and armor.

Garrus targeted them first. Four shots boomed out from his Ventis and each of them found their way into the head of a CAT6 soldier. The lull in fire allowed Grunt to finish off his victims safely and continue clearing the path forward. The two of them held to this tactic the entire way down, with Grunt in the front soaking up most of the incoming fire while Garrus covered him from the back using his preternatural accuracy to pull off headshot after headshot.

After about two thirds of their number went down, the CAT6 officer in charge apparently realized it was a bad idea to attack the Krogan-Turian duo head on and ordered a full retreat. One soldier lost his nerve so badly that he attempted to hide in a room, closing the door him to keep them out. Garrus casually fired three shots at the door and a moment later he heard the muffled thump of a body hit the floor.

"Running away won't help! You'll just die tired!" As if to iterate, Garrus shot two more retreating soldiers in the back. It was a dirty tactic, but a necessary one in this case.

"Hey! Leave some for me!" demanded Grunt.

Garrus and Grunt soon found themselves on the first floor after having gunned down the last of the retreating soldiers. Inside the lobby they saw the aftermath of Jack's work. Bodies lay strewn about, all with limbs twisted at unnatural angles. One particularly unfortunate soldier had been smeared against the wall above the front desk like an insect across a windshield.

"Eat it motherfuckers!" screamed Jack, tossing a Warp at a group of surviving soldiers. One soldier with a riot shield jumped in front of his comrades and blocked the Biotic attack, allowing his comrades to return fire and force Jack into cover.

"Hi-Ex" Garrus ordered. His Ventis immediately switched to explosive ammunition and then he fired a single shot. The round screeched through the air like a miniature warhead, struck the shield bearer's shoulder, and detonated. The resulting explosion turned the soldier into a bloody mist while his comrades were sent tumbling to the floor.

"Standard," the Ventis switched to 'normal' rounds and Garrus used them to shoot each of the downed soldiers once, just in case the shockwave had simply rendered them unconscious and not dead.

"You okay?" he asked Jack, who had kept safe behind the front desk.

"Fine," she muttered a little ungratefully. "Can we go now?"

"Not yet, we're still waiting for Miranda. She said that she'd meet us here but I lost communications with her. We might have to go save her."

"Heh, more fun," Grunt grinned widely.

Jack was about to make some comment as well but was interrupted when someone entered through the front door. All three of them swiveled to face it, weapons at the ready. It was Miranda, she looked like she'd gone through hell. Her suit and face were covered in grime and her usually perfect hair was fairly disheveled.

"Miranda!" Garrus lowered his pistol, then noticed that Zaeed was not with her. "Where's Massani?"

Through heavy breaths she managed to respond, "he...he's been captured."

"What?! How?!"

Before Miranda could explain, a loud mechanical growl from outside the building answered instead. A mere moment later the entire entrance of the apartment lobby came crashing down as the unmistakable form of a Mako APC came crashing through.

"That's how! Run!"

As the four members of the Normandy turned to run, the CAT6 armored vehicle turned its main gun on them.

"Oh crap!"

---

Author's Note:

And that's the chapter, longer than usual to make up for the fact that it took a literal month to get out and the lack of CODEX entry. I realize things have been slow up until now, but fear not. Things are going to pick up and we'll be getting back to the Star Wars characters soon.

I miss writing them as much as you all probably miss reading about them.

I'm fairly confident that the next update won't take as long to get out as this one.

But tell me, who do you think was the mysterious figure that attacked Miranda? Tell me in a review.

I hope this chapter was entertaining for everyone to read. Thank you for all you're feed back from the last chapter. Please continue reviewing and telling me what you think.

That's all for now,

See ya next time!