A/N: I'm baaack! And it only took about three weeks. So yeah, I kinda left you guys and gals on a bit of a cliffhanger last chapter, so I'll save stuff for the end. Enjoy!

Let's Get Off This Shithole

"Is there any way you can fire a gun while keeping this shield up?" I ask Miranda as we continue our steady advance towards the merc outpost. We've got about ten meters left to the door, and I'm trying to think of ways to breach this place without getting my ass shot to pieces.

"There really isn't," she says between clenched teeth. "I'm doing all I can to keep this barrier in place and keep you alive."

"Just had to ask. So any ideas on how to clear this base?" Because honestly, I have no freaking clue. We're outnumbered, outgunned, and out-shielded. The only real thing we have going for us is Miranda's biotics. The Suns aren't notorious for employing biotics, so maybe that'll give us an edge.

In theory, that is.

"I have any number of ideas to clear an outpost like this." Wow, really? Damn, I guess there's a reason she's one of Cerberus' top agents. "Unfortunately, none of them would work in our situation."

And the other shoe drops. God damn it. Well…this might not be a very fun objective.

"Wonderful," I mutter, unable to help myself.

"I don't hear you coming up with any good ideas," she shoots back.

"That's because I don't have any. But we need to come up with something fast; we've only got a few more meters." And it's true. The doorway is slowly getting closer. If we want to make it out of there alive, we need to think of something.

"I have a flashbang grenade that the EMP burst wouldn't have affected. When we reach the door, I'll throw it in. Anyone without the proper gear will be blinded, giving us a few seconds to clear the main room."

…

"You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?" I ask after a heavy pause.

"I wanted to eliminate any other option. Like I said, the flashbang will only work if they're not wearing helmets. So even in a best case scenario, there will still be a few Suns unaffected."

"Then we shoot them first," I say, surprising myself at how coldly it comes out.

"Agreed," she says with a small nod.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we reached the entrance to the outpost. Luckily, the Suns can't get an angle to shoot down at us, so we can take a short moment to catch our breath and prepare for what will probably be one of the worst things I've had to do in a long time. If Ian was right, we still have another four minutes before our shields and equipment recovers from the EMP, but we can't spend that whole time waiting outside the door; the mercs would surely come out and deal with us before then. Or the others would die. Or both. So I guess Miranda and I are stuck on our course.

"Ready?" I ask after about fifteen seconds.

"Let's go," she says determinately.

With those two words, our fate—for better or worse—is sealed.

She removes the flashbang from her belt and pulls the proverbial pin. Technically, she presses a button, but it does the same thing: primes the grenade and starts the timer. She holds on to it for almost a full second before rolling it into the room. I hear a few startled shouts as some of the mercs realize what we're doing, but that's quickly drowned out by the incredible noise created by the grenade. Damn, they don't call it a flashbang for nothing.

Miranda is the first one through the door, rushing in almost before the residual light and echo go away. Her biotics are primed, and her SMG is ready to go. I'm inside a half second after her, my Mattock shouldered and my finger on the trigger.

Miranda chose to go left, and I see her fling some biotic attack before I turn to face what awaits me on the right. Three Suns are doubled over, screaming and clutching at their eyes and ears. Two more, however, have helmets on and have already started moving back from the door. All pretense of accuracy or finesse goes out the window as I pull the trigger as fast as I possibly can. In less than five seconds, I empty my thermal clip—all sixteen rounds—into the helmeted merc on the right.

It took the first ten shots to break his shields, but I'm not sure how many of those actually hit him. Like I said, accuracy isn't really a focus right now. Of the final six shots, I clearly see four of them punch through his armor, all center mass. The mercenary falls backward to the ground, four new holes in his chest.

As I reach for a new thermal clip from my belt, the second helmeted merc begins firing at me. There's really nothing in here that I can use for cover, meaning I'm screwed unless this guy is a terrible shot. Even then, we're so close that at least some of his shots are bound to hit me. The first three rounds out of his Avenger all score a glancing hit on my armor; none of them penetrate, but each one left behind a small gouge in the ceramic plates.

Before he can fire any more shots, however, the Sun is covered by a rapidly shifting biotic field. He falls to the ground, writhing and screaming in pain. Instinct kicks in. I quickly pop in the new heat sink and promptly empty it into the enemy. He doesn't get back up.

By this time, the mercs affected by the flashbang have stopped screaming, but they still haven't really recovered any of their sight or hearing. Now that the helmeted mercs are dead, it's time to deal with them. Speed is of the essence, and if they're all shielded, I can't waste any time bringing said shields down. So I decide to bypass them all together.

My hand goes to the side of my boot and comes back up with my Bowie knife. Kinetic shields are only designed to stop bullets; they won't do anything to stop a knife.

The merc closest to me dies before he knew I was near him. The thin armor around the neck did nothing to stop a thrust from the side. It might have severed his spinal cord. I quickly pull my knife from the now-dead merc and move on to the next one. This guy must have recovered enough vision or hearing to detect my approach, but I easily get past his sloppy defenses. A quick thrust up from under the jaw ends his life. The final Sun actually managed to draw his gun, but I'm so close to him that it's useless. Echoing Omega, I push his gun arm up into the air, exposing his armpit. A knife thrust through the natural weakness penetrates his heart.

And just like that, it's over. In slightly less than a minute, I've killed five men. It sure is a far cry from when I first got here. Part of me laments over my loss of innocence, but other parts say that I did what I had to do to survive. I can't say I like that rationalization, but it really is them or me. And I have stuff yet to do here.

"Come on. We don't have time to waste," Miranda says, walking up next to me. "We still have the upper floor." She starts to walk towards the staircase, but I put a hand on her shoulder to stop her. The operative turns around and gives me a quizzical look.

"Thanks for warping that merc back there," I say. "I would have died otherwise."

"I only had one on the left wearing a helmet. While I may not approve of you being here, I couldn't let you die."

"Well it's nice to know you care at least that much." I shoot her a small grin. In response, she just rolls her eyes at me.

"Come on, we've wasted enough time down here," she says, turning back towards the staircase. It's a good thing she did; otherwise, she might have killed me when she saw my grin get bigger.

"Aye aye, ma'am," I say, moving to join her at the base of the steps. When I get next to her, however, a small burst of fire goes between us. We quickly split to take cover on either side of the staircase.

I look across the gap that separates us and give her a questioning look. I really have no idea how we're getting up these stairs. In response to my silent question, she quickly flares her biotics. Huh? I cock my head to the side, unsure of what she's suggesting. She rolls her eyes and projects the barrier from our approach for a brief moment. Oh, she wants to go up first with the barrier in place. Considering there's only one direction the enemy can shoot from, it's a good idea.

I nod, and any hint of irritation she might have shown at my incomprehension vanishes, replaced by the same determined look from before. Closing her eyes, she takes a deep breath before putting the barrier in place. With confidence I don't think I could match, she starts walking up the stairs while I follow closely behind.

Just like the approach to the outpost, I swear I can see shots impacting her barrier, and I'm almost certain that she grunts a little with each one. From what I can see, there are only two Suns at the top of the steps, but for all I know, there could be a dozen more hiding behind them. I guess there's no getting around that.

When Miranda reaches the top of the steps, she does something that I didn't know was possible. She uses her barrier like a physical shield and bashes the guy on the right into the far wall. I think I hear something crunch…

The sudden crushing of his buddy makes the remaining Sun look away from the stairs, making it almost too easy to remove him from the picture. I quickly scan the rest of the area, but it's empty on my side. The lack of gunfire seems to indicate that it's vacant on Miranda's side, too. Sparing a quick look around, I see that this room is little more than a place for the stairs to lead to. Besides the stairs, the only exit leads to the walls, and a quick examination of them turns up no more enemies. Well, live ones, at least. There are a few with some rather prominent new holes in their heads, most likely a gift from Jenny or Ian.

Well it looks like the outpost is finally clear. By my estimates, we should be getting our electronics back in about…two minutes. I look out over the area we came from and see Jenny and Zaeed standing by Ian, who still hasn't moved from the spot he was pinned at. They're about thirty meters out and right in the center of the path.

Now that I know they're all fine, my eyes start to wander, idly observing the rather dull surroundings. Honestly, you see one junk pile, you've seen them all. There's nothing all that special, just brown, brown, a white speck, and more brown. It makes me think why anyone would want to set up a base here. I guess this place is such a shithole that no one would think to really look around.

…

Wait, what was that about a white speck? I quickly glance back to where I think it was. Same dull brown as before. Well what the hell? Maybe clearing this outpost took more out of me than I thought. Oh well, I guess I'm just seeing things. Right as I'm about to look away, it pops up again. I focus on the speck, but from what I can tell, it's at least a hundred meters out; I can't make out much detail. As I continue to stare at it, it seems to…rotate? It sort of angles down before blinking out of sight. A few seconds later, it glints back.

Wait a minute…glint?

…

"Jenny!" I yell before my brain finishes processing what my eyes already know. Hearing my cry, she turns towards the outpost and looks up at me. She smiles and waves at me. "Jenny! Get dow—"

A spurt of blood suddenly erupts from her shoulder, making her lurch forward a bit. Even from this distance, I can see her eyes widen as she looks down. Slowly, she sinks to her knees before collapsing to the ground.

"—n!"

BANG!

I don't actually remember what happens for the next thirty seconds or so. The next thing I know, I'm kneeling at Jenny's side while the others start fanning out.

Oh god…there's so much blood. Despite almost a year and a half at the clinic, I'm still uncomfortable seeing a lot of blood up close. Somehow, she's still conscious, but she seems in shock. She keeps trying to push herself back to her feet, but her right arm won't move because of the wound.

"Jenny, stop moving," I say in as soothing a voice as I can muster. "I can't help you if you keep trying to get up." She doesn't seem to take any notice of my words. "Jenny, you have to stop moving." Still nothing. Damn it, she's definitely in shock right now. I know that words won't do anything in her current state, so I place a hand on her back to keep her from trying to get up.

She slowly looks up at me with unfocused eyes, but she seems to calm down. Well, at least she stops squirming.

"You're gonna be ok, Jenny," I say, opening my small medical pouch and removing a tube of medi-gel. I gently apply the wonderful salve to the entry and exit wounds. Almost instantly, the gel seals itself to the wound, stopping the bleeding and preventing any contaminants from entering the injury. And just to be on the safe side, I wrap her shoulder in gauze. With everything covered, I gently roll her onto her back.

"Alright, Jenny, you're all patched up. Now just take it easy and let the medi-gel do its job."

With that same dazed look in her eyes, she looks up at me. "Dylan? Is that you?" she asks quietly. "What happened?"

"Yes, it's me, Jenny," I say, smiling down at her. "As to what happened… You were shot."

"I thought we got all the Suns."

"There was a sniper about a hundred meters out. I think the others went to go find him."

"But you didn't," she mutters. Huh? Why would she say that?

"I'm the medic," I say, my confusion apparent in my tone of voice. "Patching you up is my job."

"Well I'm glad you're here." She lifts up her left arm towards me. I really don't think she should be moving much—if any—so I gently take her hand and lower it. I stay there by her side, holding her hand, for about ten minutes until the others get back.

By now, our electronics have come back online, including the medical interface in Jenny's armor. With that back up and running—in addition to my treatment beforehand—she's feeling much better by the time the others return. Hell, with the exception of not being able to move her right arm, I'd almost say she's combat-ready again. I still plan to give her another five minutes at least. Then I'll leave it up to her.

"Good to see you up and about, Shepard," Ian says as he, Miranda, and Zaeed return from their sweep of the area. I had let her sit up a few minutes ago. "Looks like Dylan knows what he's doing after all."

"And boy, am I glad for that," she says, smiling at me. "So tell me what happened after the shot."

"Seeing the hit and hearing the shot gave me a fairly good indication of where the shooter was," Ian explains. "The guy must have been an amateur because I saw the scope glint that Dylan probably noticed. He was taking his sweet time moving, so I decided to return the favor. Unlike him, though, I know how to score a kill-shot."

"By that time, Dylan and I had arrived," Miranda says, deciding to take over the story. "While he stayed here to tend to you, Ian, Zaeed, and I decided to sweep the area for any other hostiles."

"Were there anymore?" Jenny asks.

"No more live ones, at least," Zaeed says with a smirk. "We found about a half a dozen dead Suns lying around. Couldn't be sure what killed 'em, but dead is dead. Area's clear."

"Are you fit to continue the mission, Commander?" Miranda asks. "Do you want me to call the Normandy down for a medevac?"

"I'll be fine, Miranda," she says, dismissively waving with her good hand. "I know how to shoot left-handed." Miranda's expression clearly shows that she's skeptical. She looks at me.

"Should I call the Normandy?"

"She's in no need of immediate surgery," I say. "The bullet passed straight through. Tissue damage is minimal, and as long as Chakwas gets her in the med bay in the next few hours, any damage can be easily fixed."

"In other words, I'll be fine," Jenny says. As if to express her point, she gets to her feet and draws her Predator pistol with her left hand. "Now let's get going. The faster we get Okeer, the faster I can get to the med bay."

"Fine," the operative says. "But once we're back on the Normandy, you're seeing Dr. Chakwas first thing."

"Of course, Miranda. Now let's move out; same tactics as before." We all give an affirmative and continue our trek to find Okeer.

Well here we are. We finally made it to Okeer's lab. Once we got away from that one outpost, all the firefights seemed to get easier. I guess it was all a matter of perspective. Taking that base was probably one of the toughest, most terrifying things I've had to do; compared to that, fighting a few Suns at a time with full shields was nothing. I could see Jenny having some problems due to the injury, but I was keeping a close watch on her the whole time; she was never in any real danger of aggravating the wound.

True to the game (which is becoming increasingly rare), we met Rana Thanoptis, the asari scientist from Virmire. She expressed the usual surprise at Jenny being alive and tried to explain how she wasn't wasting the second chance she got. Jenny just rolled her eyes and told the asari to get out.

So now we're here, standing in front of the door to Okeer's lab. Zaeed and I, as the two tanks of the squad, are the first ones in the room. It's a large room, but for supposedly being Okeer's main lab, it seems rather empty. And there off to the right is Okeer, standing at a terminal. More importantly, he's standing next to the pod which contains Grunt.

"It's about time," the old warlord says, looking over his shoulder at us. His voice is similar to Wrex's, but it lacks that gruffness that our old friend has. "I've been monitoring your progress. The batteries on these tanks will not wait while you play with these idiotic mercs."

"You must be Okeer," Jenny says, walking to the front of the group. "You don't seem particularly caged…or grateful that I'm here."

"You may claim to be here not help, but the formerly deceased Shepard is not a sign of gentle change." The old warlord pauses to turn and face us. "Surprised? All krogan should know you. Or have you forgotten your actions on Virmire?" For the briefest instant, I'm back on Virmire: infiltrating the base, meeting Sovereign, planting the bomb, and…Ash. It all comes flooding back, but I manage to suppress it. That's in the past.

"I've sure tried my best," Jenny says in a surprisingly cold voice. "I lost a friend that day because I had to destroy that damn facility. I'm not about to have you tell me that was the wrong thing to do."

"But I approve," Okeer says, making a conciliatory gesture. "Saren's pale horde were not true krogan. Numbers alone are nothing. The mistake of an outsider, one that these mercenaries have also made. I gave their leader my rejects for her army. But she grows impatient. It's time for you to take me out of here."

"We're here about the Collectors," Miranda says. "We couldn't care less about your problems."

"I see. Yes, Collector attacks have increased. A human concern. My requests were focused elsewhere." He gestures to the tank containing Grunt. "I acquired the knowledge to create one pure soldier. With that, I will inflict upon the genophage the greatest insult and enemy can suffer: to be ignored."

"I can't say I agree with your methods, but I suppose that's irrelevant," Jenny says. "All that matters right now is whether or not you'll join me."

"Perhaps I can strike a deal to secure passage," he says thoughtfully. "But my prototype is not negotiable. It is the key to my legacy."

Before Jenny can answer, Jedore's voice comes over the loudspeaker. "Attention! I have traced the krogan release. Okeer, of course. I'm calling 'blank slate' on this project. Gas these commandoes and start over from Okeer's data. Flush the tanks!" Suddenly, the pipes all throughout the room start hissing as steam begins to shoot out.

"She's that weak willed? She'll kill my legacy with a damned valve!" Okeer turns back to Jenny. "Shepard! You want information on the Collectors? Stop her. She'll try to access contaminants in the storage bay."

"You better keep your side of the bargain, Okeer," Jenny says.

"Your implied threat does you credit, Shepard. You have my word. Now go! My legacy must not suffer this insult. Jedore will be with the rejected tanks. Kill her. I will…stay and do what must be done." With that, he turns back to his console and starts typing away. The five of us share a look before heading out to face Jedore.

I'm not really ready for what happens when we reach her.

"I don't care who you are, you're going to die," she says when we enter the room. Before any shooting happens, though, Zaeed speaks up.

"Jedore? Is that really you?" the old merc asks. "Last I remember, you were a sweet little girl, not a complete bitch."

… Dafuq?

"Who the fuck do you think you are, old man?"

"You mean you don't remember old Uncle Zaeed? You used to sit on my knee while your dad and I talked shop."

That seems to shock her. "Zaeed? What the fuck? You must have some pretty big balls to come storming into a Suns base after you betrayed Vido."

"Oh, so I betrayed Vido?" he says, voice dropping dangerously low. Oh boy…this might not end well. "Then I'll let you be there to greet him in hell."

In a single fluid movement, Zaeed aims his rifle and fires a single shot. It misses her.

But it doesn't miss the fusion cell behind her.

Once my vision returns after the blinding explosion, the full extent of the damage becomes apparent. There's nothing left. Jedore is just gone.

After a slightly awkward silence in which all of us stare at Zaeed, Jenny finally speaks up.

"Zaeed, while that saved us a lot of time, please try to warn me when you're about to do something like that. Also, we're having a little talk when we get back to the Normandy."

"Whatever," he says. "Let's just get that guddamn krogan and get of this shithole."

"I recommend haste," EDI says over the squad channel. "I have detected alarms in the lab that coincide with a system failure. According to scanners, the room is flooded with toxins, and Okeer's life signs are falling rapidly. I am in the process of venting the lab."

"You heard EDI," Jenny says. "Let's get moving!" Without another word, the five of us sprint back to Okeer's lab.

But it's too late. The door opens, and Okeer's lifeless body lies in front of his terminal.

A/N: Yay! Korlus is finally done! And no cliffhanger this time! Though I will have you know that I very well could have ended with one. The only thing that saved you guys was not wanting to write another chapter of Korlus.

So yeah, I think I'm pretty well settled in here at college. I'm really loving it, but I have no doubt that updates are gonna get slower. My goal is to try and get one chapter every two weeks. No clue if that'll work, but I'm gonna try.

Anywho, I suppose that's it for this chapter. Till next time, folks, ta ta!