"…so in conclusion, humanity, stay strong…For more aliens aboard the Citadel turn to our cause everyday, accept them with open arms as brethren." A sigh. "And as for the Alliance…do not be fooled. If they truly intended to help our cause, they would have rushed for this station the moment Act 21-H expired! Instead, they are attempting to start a needless conflict with the Batarian Hegemony! But fear not, for we will soon have what we truly desire. A true home for mankind!"

Jacob Krieger smiled into the first hovercam, waiting for the feed to cut. When it finally did, he loosened his tie and slumped into his chair behind him. The man eyed the clock on the far side of the wall.

As it slowly ticked on, the man gave a weary sigh. Krieger was running out of time.

The economy took a hard hit from human interests pulling out, but the Citadel was by no means dependent on mankind, and they were steadily recovering. They were keeping C-Sec at bay, but rumor had it that Sparatus was ready to deploy soldiers to quell and subdue the human resistance. That worried him the most.

Krieger had a decent supply of fighters at his disposal, but very few of them had any actual combat training, fewer were still alive.

The man knew from the get-go that this would be a war of attrition until the Alliance entered the picture. It was the one thing he truly depended on, the factor in his plan that he didn't have control over. But he believed he could win, Krieger thought he had all the pieces in place.

Constant raids on police stations and outposts all over the station would keep C-Sec on edge, unsure of where to strike back.

The Conscription, as he began to call it, was an unfortunate but necessary action. Through careful coordination and ideal timing, Krieger's men were able to disrupt the Citadel's deportations and forcibly add more numbers to his ranks. It would have been considered a perfectly executed operation until some of his own men got trigger-happy.

They began to fire indiscriminately into the large crowds Kyrix Point, and those responsible Krieger had personally dealt with.

But regardless Krieger felt the noose slowly begin to tighten around his neck.

Sighing again the man rose from his chair, placed a cigarette in his mouth, and began a long walk to his quarters.


Gavin couldn't sleep.

It was easily two or three in the morning, station time. And he couldn't sleep.

Stumbling out of his tiny bed, the barkeep rose to his feet and left the cramped closet-turned-bedroom and into a hallway.

He looked out a nearby window and gazed down at the street below. Dark forms of humans snaked between the wrecks of cars, darting across the street and heading out into the night. Those were mostly likely scavenger teams, forging deep into the wards looking for supplies to bring back to this apartment complex. Squinting hard, Gavin noticed adjacent buildings had more people on the rooftops armed with rocket launchers.

No wonder C-Sec hasn't raided this place, he thought.

"Excuse me."

Gavin turned to find an asari waiting in a nearby doorway, a couple of feet down the hall. Her azure hands were smeared with dark blood, almost making her fingers look burnt.

"I need your help, please." She disappeared back inside, with Gavin rushing in behind her.

Dim ceiling lights kept the room illuminated, but the barkeep could easily make out several people resting on the floor. A few of them shifted nervously as Gavin entered, noticing the weapon he had slung over his shoulder. He forget he had even brought it.

"Miss," the man whispered, "what do you need me for?"

The asari didn't say a word, she just kept walking further into the room, with the barkeep close behind. Stepping over a sleeping couple, the asari kneeled by a blanket-covered form. Slowly, she pulled back the blanket, revealing a bloodied human female.

The extent of her wounds shocked the barkeep. Pale white skin was stained with thick blood, what was once delicate was shredded to ribbons of gnarled flesh held together by hastily put together bandages. The girl was barely breathing, slight tremors of her chest rising and falling was the only indication. Eyes were clamped shut, her whole face was contorted in an expression of unimaginable agony.

Gavin felt like he was going to be sick. He turned to the asari, eyes wide, "Why did you want me to see this?"

Cupping the human's cheeks with delicate palms, the asari's eyes began to water.

"We…were at your bar when the Act was cut down." The alien says slowly. "C-Sec picked us up immediately after we left the bar, escorted us back to our apartment. Diana," she gently rubs her thumbs against the human temples, "was hysterical. We both didn't what to do."

Streams of tears finally rushed down the alien's otherwise perfect cheeks. "I finally decided that I was going to leave with Diana. If she couldn't stay here, then I was coming with her to the border worlds."

The erratic rising and falling of her chest ceased, Diana's face relaxed.

"We were almost on board a transport when these…insurrectionists decided to 'rescue' us." Her hands began to glow from uncontrolled biotics, the asari then released her mate's face and clenched her digits into a fist. "It was chaos. So many people, just rushing in every direction."

She raised a fist and slammed it down knuckles-first into the metal floor, sending small biotic tremors outward.

"We got separated. Gunfire forced us in opposite directions." A sharp hiss as the woman drew in a pained breath. "I saw dozens of people, men, women…children…just get shot. Put down just for being in the way of our 'rescuers'."

The ground shook as she slammed a biotics-charged fist into the ground again. Sleeping bystanders woke, fearfully scurrying to the far corners of the room. Most immediately ran for the door.

Fresh blood started to drip from her knuckles as she raised her hand again.

"After what felt like hours of running and hiding from the bloodshed, Diana contacted me on my omni-tool. She was trapped inside a store, a firebomb went off right outside the front door." The biotics swirling about over the asari's skin faded for a moment as she pulled the blanket back over her mate. Her anger seemed to dissipate as well when she covered Diana's face.

Gavin slowly began to back away, taking his shotgun in both hands. A nervous finger tapped against the trigger-guard.

Both returned immediately, "Others got to her first. Citadel Security officers. A salarian Lieutenant and his partner. They…they…" Her biotics flared even brighter, enveloping her entire form. "They fucking shot her!"

She brought her fist down one final time, sending a wave of energy over the barkeep.

He expected to smash straight into the wall behind him, but a meaty arm grabbed his shirt and slowed him. The barkeep looked up to find Archer standing over him, bright blue eyes glowing from seemingly ethereal energy.

Archer was also a biotic.

"Gavin." The man slowly whispered, eyes locked on the alien in the center of the room like a calculating predator. "Get behind me."

Stumbling back to his feet, the barkeep got behind Archer, who had since produced a pistol in his left hand.

The asari stood, blood trickling from her knuckles as she took a protective stance over her deceased mate. "Get the hell away from me…you monsters."

Archer clenched his right fist and marched for the asari, ignoring the alien's demands. The alien threw a fist forward, sending a blast of energy for the approaching man.

Like a wave crashing against a rock, the biotic energy flowed around Archer, bright purple barriers flaring as the blast failed to even hinder his advance. Panicking, the asari attempted to throw another blast his way, only for her wrist to be caught in a vise-like grip. The cold barrel of a pistol appeared underneath her chin.

"Don't make me do this, ma'am." The man said, forcing her head back with his firearm. "You're putting yourself and everyone in this building in danger." His finger hovered over the trigger, anticipating her next move. "Let's stop this, right now."

The woman glared into Archer's eyes, the rage in her stare was apparent as a blaze on a dark night. After several moments, however, she collapsed onto the floor, sobbing.

Archer disengaged his pistol and shoved it back in its holster while making a sharp one-eighty. He grabbed Gavin by the sleeve, "Come on, Gavin. We need your help."


Red sand flowed over the twin sun-baked dunes of Callista, a harsh desert world deep within the Terminus System. In the distance, the largest Alliance element zero plant on planet lay in ruins.

Mortar fire had destroyed the two main processing plants, while what appeared to be small arms fire destroyed the various adjacent buildings. All had been empty for days before, however, in an elaborate ruse set up by the Alliance to lure out batarian forces in the sector.

The plan seemed to have worked, as a company-sized force of the aliens came down to capture the facility, only to run into a defensive line set up by an equally-sized group of humans and krogan.

And the humans were beating back the batarian advance, as they of started to fall into a steady retreat. That was one fact that seemed to surprise Mordin Solus' fellow STG compatriots.

Fellow STG agents Irayto and Wiks insisted that the batarian infantry held an advantage both physically and tactically over the homo sapiens. One for their sheer size and strength over a common human, and two for the years of mandated Hegemony military service; which bred supposedly fearless (and some say near-psychotic) warriors.

Mordin, on the other hand, wasn't nearly as shocked. If there was one thing the Alliance could do well, it was pick strong allies. Without proper training and equipment, a typical Alliance marine squad would normally not survive a close-quarters engagement with a physically superior foe. But with the krogan fighting by their sides, filling the role as organic 'tanks', humanity could win any close-quarters ground engagement.

The grating voice of Lieutenant Yar Irayto pulled Mordin from his thoughts, the salarian's dark eye focused on the scope of his custom-built sniper rifle, "Hmph. The humans are winning." Irayto adjusted his scope, following a krogan warrior as it impaled a batarian soldier on the large bayonet it had attached to its shotgun. "With a good amount of assistance from their krogan allies."

Laying beside him in the sand, Sergeant Wiks responded in a hushed tone as he watched a similar scene, "Still, the krogan are being used sparingly. For every krogan there must be at least fifteen humans. Perhaps the Alliance Military was not in the precarious situation we all believed they were in."

"Not about their situation." Mordin interjected with a snort. "All about leadership. The men, women, and krogan are performing so well for a reason. Top-notch officer."

Wiks gave a sideways glance, "Who? A majority of the Alliance's top commanders were killed during the insurrections on their homeworld."

"Correct, but there is one I'm continually being impressed by." Mordin peered through the scope of his own rifle, and then directed his comrades, "Look towards front of center line. Human in blue armor. Currently attempting to behead a batarian with an omni-blade."

The salarian waited for his men to find the person in question and then continued, "Charles Ryker, Staff Commander, Systems Alliance Marine Corps. Before that, he was a young Lieutenant, an N7. Needless to say what that says of his combat skills, but also proficient in language. Able to will others around him to follow." Pausing, the STG stared at the man, crosshairs finding his eyes. He inhaled the thick, hot air through his nose. "Ryker sent personally to forge the alliance between humanity, quarians, and krogan."

Irayto grit his teeth, "This one does not know just how much bloodshed he is going to cause, does he?" The salarian let his slender finger brush up against the trigger ever so slightly, "One bullet, and thousands, maybe millions of lives could be saved. Maybe the alliances fall apart. What do you think, Sergeant? Think I should take him out?"

"From this range," Wiks clucked his tongue as he calculated the distances in his head, "the shot is doable. Along with the high-caliber round that your rifle fires, Ryker's head would be cleaved in half, if not torn completely off."

Wishful thinking was all it was to Mordin. All three knew their orders. Observe the developing situation, do not interfere unless discovered. And the STG were never discovered.

But Mordin couldn't help but insert his opinion, "Doesn't matter." The Commander stated bluntly. "His death, at least at this point, would be meaningless. Treaties already signed. Pacts formed."

At this point in the battle before the STG agents, the humans had a decisive victory within their grasp. Callista and her element zero would still be theirs, for the time being.

Mordin pushed off the top of the dune and slid down towards the bottom, his compatriots soon followed. In unison they activated their stealth veils, disappearing under the twin suns of Callista.


Well hey there, everybody. Pushing through school, personal issues, addiction to some great video games, and various other things, I am back.

Please review, for I need to gauge whether or not my rust is gone or not. If it's still there, forgive me and I'll correct any mistakes as soon as I see them. Hope you enjoyed.

Peace.