Mad love for all of you. 140+ readers (adding AO3 and ff together), I know you're out there. Drop a word in. Especially because this chapter and the next are very closely linked. That's right, I split one hell of a long chapter into two parts. This one has some action (little, very little) but the next one has the answer to a lot of unresolved things. (i.e. What is the Dominion, precisely? Who is Lor?) Want the chapter early?

Let me know. Hope this chapter finds you well.

Also, references to the Omega DLC and Mass Effect: Retribution (a novel, I haven't read it either- but the reference here is more subtle). Nonetheless, if you know about neither you may look them up.

Chapter 12

The drop into the tunnels was a dark and long one, only the awareness of Legacy's limbs, the reflex of the body to relax, allowed her to land on her feet, pulling away from the grip of three digits—talons, Legacy noted, turian—friend or foe? A foe would have killed her, but a friend usually didn't pull other friends into dark tunnels—unless they knew how good you were at fighting in them.

Practiced fingers reached for the Carnifex at her side and aimed—

Up, at Zadkiel as he fell in after them. He managed to predict that Legacy would be ready for him and he twisted in mid-air, the bullet barely grazing his shield. Once he landed on the ground, he drew his own gun and aimed it at her. Habit had her reaching for her omni-tool to activate a Cryo Blast but she cursed as the tech sputtered in retaliation and she dodge rolled a rain of bullets and into the cover of shadows; not knowing where to aim, he shot blindly, unable to see her low crouch and the speed of her feet as she moved away from the general direction of his bullets.

He realized she was moving away and motioned to pursue, squinting against the darkness, his run was broken by a biotic barrier that appeared in front of him. He cussed, a dual voice—not human then, Legacy noted, but drell; but what was a drell doing in the new Dominion? — activating his own biotics, he used a Pull at the other figure that had dragged Legacy into the tunnels. The turian growled, resisting with dark energy, in the process illuminating a familiar face that Legacy had known in her youth. The turian broke free and used that chance to Pull to return the cover of the tunnels above them, the light dimmed to nearly nothing save the glow of blues and purples of their biotics.

Legacy resisted the elation, the laughter as she came out from her cover, cloaked by the darkness, this time with her sword drawn and burning in one hand and the side arm in the other as she dwindled his powerful barrier with two shots aimed at the back of his head. The bullets brought it down quickly and the drell turned back to her with his hands glowing with dark energy—

Only to have his space invaded by Legacy herself, her gun against his gut as she fired twice and he slumped against her, bleeding and dead and she laid him on the floor just as swiftly before shooting his omni-tool, killing whatever signal it might give off to the new Dominion. She aimed her sword at the turian biotic in front of her, burning between them as Legacy studied her face in its light.

"Just like old times, Kandros?"

Legacy remembered the silver landscape of Palaven, the reflected light from Menae and Nanus that glinted against the sharp end of her blade. She was Commander Shepard then with the seven men who stood behind her, ready to draw their own weapons at her signal. Standing before them was another group, steel sharp like her blade's edge—blue biotics flickering and dancing around them. The Cabal, a more known reputation than the Dominion and a group larger only by half but just as deadly and just as quiet—they didn't like each other at first but duties from the respective governments told them to put all the history and distrust aside for the cause. After all, the Normandy had been in the works despite the First Contact War. What Shepard found, however, was that the Dominion had more in common with the Cabal than they did with their own race— but now, wasn't the time for fond memories.

The emergence of the names of old friends with completely new faces was worrying. There was something off about the new Dominion. As much as Shepard, as Legacy was able to work well with aliens, the Alliance would never employ a drell to do its dirty work, least of all give him a name and the title of operative. Her own Zadkiel had been a recon scout with the quickest feet she'd ever trained and was nowhere near a biotic and all of the Dominion, her Dominion, had been human.

But that was then, and this was now. Kandros—old and dear, ally and friend, chuckled with her arms crossed and carried herself with ease despite the sword burning between them. "You didn't struggle. How did you know it was me?"

"Please. Not a lot of people can sneak up behind me and carry me in here. Aria's tunnels? Only a handful of people know how to navigate through them. Myself included. You're the only other one I know besides the brat and Aria herself." Rachel sighed at the dignified figure of the female turian before her, the red colony markings—though barely visible in the dark— would have given her away. "I'm glad you didn't leave Omega like you threatened to, Nyreen. I've been looking for you. Besides, Aria needs a few pains in the ass."

"I was really just on my way to see you after tearing down Omega for your apartment. Timing." Nyreen Kandros chuckled again. "And I hear you've been doing a fair job of pissing Aria off, Lorraine. Is it still Lorraine? Alice?"

"Legacy. Now that I'm working for our favorite asari." She snapped her sword back in its sheath at Kandros' hand signal to move out.

"Legacy? You're Legacy? Aria and her kinks." She shook her head. The pair walked deeper inside the tunnels, a labyrinth that would lead them straight under Afterlife if they kept walking westward. "You didn't seem like the type to just bend over backwards for her."

"You didn't look it either but you still did it." She paused. "Tell me, did you decide not to leave because of Aria or because of princess Liselle?"

If turians could blush, Nyreen probably would have. Instead, she cleared her throat noisily. "Liselle isn't at Omega at the moment and she doesn't know I'm around." She cleared her throat again, obviously she didn't want to talk about this and Legacy smirked. "Just tell me. I know you weren't exactly a paragon of goodness but you had your own creed. You worked for no one, even when you were part of the Dominion. Alliance colors be damned."

"Yeah. Remember all the times you were being a sanctimonious compromiser?"

"Yeah, I also remember some hardass bitch who killed everything and didn't listen to good sense." Legacy didn't see it but she knew Kandros had just rolled her eyes. "What's really going on?"

"Fine. I'm trying to be good and thinking about the galaxy for once."

"I said tell me the truth, not tell me the impossible."

Rachel huffed. "Fine. I'm repaying a debt, a damn heavy one. He's been out of commission, this friend, so until he comes back I have to pick up the slack."

"What? So, you're—how do you humans put it? Making deals with devils to repay someone?"

"Got it in one, Nyreen. You were always the smart one."

She chuckled, her talons scraping the tunnels' inner walls. Rachel could tell she'd been here a long time, her skin and plates seemed too pale under the light minutes before, and her eyes were closed, relying on just her memory and her hearing to get them through. "Must be one heavy debt."

Legacy nodded, even if Nyreen probably didn't see it. The turian probably already knew that she had agreed though, they knew each other too well and they let the silence accompany them through the tunnels. Studying the vague outline of the turian in front of her, she remembered all the missions they went through together when it was Shepard taking point and Nyreen questioning her morals.

When Nyreen was part of the Cabal, she was nothing more than a lieutenant despite years of loyal service, a real waste for talent like hers. Shepard had often talked to her instead of their own commanding officer to share Intel and discuss tactics—the rest of the Cabal felt the same about Nyreen. Of course, their own commander hadn't liked this special treatment and threatened to charge Nyreen with insubordination and even treason. And although she knew Kandros' disapproved of the way Shepard had dealt with the problem (cloaks did what cloaks did) and the fact that she dealt with it—no one complained when Kandros had taken her rightful place.

Roughly afterwards, Nyreen went rogue around the same time the Dominion disbanded. Being reunited at Omega about a year after, pitted against each other as enemies by Aria—that was just a few years ago. Legacy, Lorraine at that time, had made herself the thorn (or rifle, Lorraine was a real menace) on Aria's side. Then again, even that rivalry didn't last long the moment Lorraine discovered it was Nyreen and the princess brat chasing her around. And the fact that Aria turned out to be a pretty fun bitch past the violence and the attitude and the "Don't fuck with Aria." speech she gave all the newcomers.

Lorraine had walked all over that rule, even after they had become friends. Good times.

A little more than a year later, however, Kandros and Aria had a falling out and they went their separate ways. At that time, her name had been changed to Alice (the name of her childhood) and had moved on to Illium, working with an old drell friend, Amos. Aria didn't seem fazed when she had relayed the news but Rachel had regretted not being able to contact Nyreen again.

Nyreen cleared her throat. "That doesn't sound like the best idea. They might rather shoot you than the enemy."

"Have a little faith, Cabal. I'm more likely to shoot them before they could."

"There is that, Dominion." Her subharmonics were laced with amusement. "You should go to Palaven. I know the brass there owes the Shepard a few favors. And I know you were on speaking terms with Councilor Sparatus and the Lentinus family, to name a few."

"I've been rogue for years. I don't think they'd even hear what I have to say." She sighed. "And if I contact them and they contact the Alliance—I'd hate to have my house littered with mines again."

"It could be worse. They could be chasing you in dark tunnels."

"Nyreen, I hate your jokes." Legacy replied but laughed anyway. "But, that's the reason why I was looking for you. Think you can get in contact with the Cabal for me?"

"The Cabal? Did you forget I went rogue too?"

"Yeah, but you were the Commander at one point. Your men still respect you. Turian loyalty and all."

"Still. I all but deserted them it could get—ugly." Nyreen mandibles clicked together. "Legacy, I don't know what kind of favor you owe someone but this would be huge for me. You'd have to buy me drinks for the rest of my life."

"Doable."

"Spirits, of course you're swimming in credits. Freelance shadow or vigilante or whatever you called it, still a criminal—have I mentioned that we should talk about your career options?" She heard the clicking of Kandros' mandibles again. "What do you want me to tell them?"

"I'll send you the info as soon as I replace my omni-tool. But in a nutshell: I need an indirect route to get the Hierarchy to listen to the claims about the Reapers—"

"They're real?"

"As real as you and me, Kandros. And a threat to everyone. The Hierarchy more than anyone may have a good chance at holding the line. If the Cabal can stumble into some sensitive information—"

"And they tell the Hierarchy, they could get to preparing for war and they don't even need to know you were involved. Hah, I like it even if we would be lying."

"Not lying, the threat really exists." Rachel replied sternly. "But maybe manipulating the location of evidence wouldn't appeal to your better nature, Kandros, yes."

"So, not so good after all, Legacy?"

"Never good at all, Nyreen." Rachel chuckled. "But that's for later."

"Right," Kandros sighed, talons tapping against the walls of the tunnels. "This new Dominion is a little slow. I suppose they've given up with figuring out this labyrinth."

"Likely just waiting around?"

"Lazy. Obviously, but the drell was something. The way you took him out so fast though—remind me not to piss you off."

"Couldn't have done it without you."

"Lies."

"Fine. I could have, but maybe just a few seconds slower." Rachel smiled then sobered. "The whole new Dominion is probably in Omega. If we break surface, I'm almost sure there's going to be at least one operative at entry points to Afterlife—they probably figured out my connection to Aria if they managed to find the apartment."

"We could stick to the tunnel openings and wait for them to notice it's off. Lure them in and jump them when they get close enough. You always liked guerilla warfare tactics."

"That would take centuries we both don't have—they don't seem very bright. Who waits by the fire exits without a fail safe? Besides, you can't break the surface for me." Rachel spun her around to face her. Dark green eyes met lighter ones. "I know you don't want Aria to know you're still here, do you? You were probably skulking around trying to figure out a way to see me without being noticed."

That didn't even make Nyreen pause. "There's no way I'd abandon a friend just because me and an asari aren't on speaking terms."

"I know she isn't just any asari to you, Kandros." Rachel sighed. "Listen, I need you here as well. Track my path. They may seem dumb but one of them might decide to drop in from where we entered. Get rid of them for me and smash their omni-tools. There are sure to be tracking devices there. Dispose of the lieutenant's body too while you're at it."

"And what? I'll leave you to fend for yourself?"

"There are going to be at least a handful of them." She paused, contemplating it. "There are about three entry points to Afterlife and since they're a predictable mess there'll be at least an operative on every one. The moment I alert one way, I'm sure the others will leave their posts to pursue like a bunch of pyjaks."

Nyreen nodded. "They do seem strangely eager."

"This new Dominion is off. I haven't heard from my contacts in the Alliance about them which means they're probably borrowing the name or they're not telling my contacts anything about it—highly improbable. They're likely to be working for one of the heads that want mine and deviated to gain a name."

"Hired thugs." Nyreen muttered. She motioned Rachel to press forward and they both began walking again, they turned a few corners and ducked under a hidden passage, crouching as they crossed to the other side. They were approaching light which meant they were close to a tunnel opening. "This will lead you to an entry point, I'm sure you remember."

"Right. Be careful down here, Nyreen. Try not to blow them up: quick and quiet, understand?"

"Don't worry. They're completely artless, as you used to say." Nyreen reached forward, holding her inner arm near the elbow. Right when Rachel was about to pull away the female turian pulled her closer and they crashed into a hug. It only took a few seconds to register that Kandros was a friend, who would not hurt her, even if her fingers twitched to push her away. "It was good to see you, my friend. Even if it was because a bunch of bastards are trying to kill you."

"It was nice to finally see you after so long, Nyreen." The turian smelled like iron from the rusty pipes, and Rachel was sure she didn't exactly smell like roses either but this sudden closeness made her feel nervous and giddy all at once so she laughed to disperse it. "What did they use to say in the Cabal before a mission?"

Nyreen eased away, a predatory grin with a lot of teeth on her face. "Happy hunting."

Omega had been home for a year, some time ago when she left the Alliance. She'd met good people and killed bad ones. All this proved was that she knew Omega almost as well as Aria did. Her short few months here just reacquainted her with the places she already knew. Omega was unchanging, persisting, and dark like its queen.

Omega wouldn't bend to just any outsider, Rachel knew. So even without her tactical cloak it was easy to slip into the hiding places of the predictable and artless new Dominion. The two of them were kneeling and waiting behind a dumpster in an alleyway; a human and a batarian, both female. They were both watching the same direction, but one was ahead of the other. A tactical oversight, even if batarians had four eyes, one Rachel was thankful for when she slid her blade through the first girl's throat: quick and quiet. And she twisted the neck of the batarian until it snapped. Grabbing their omni-tools, she destroyed one and then activated a distress signal with the other one for a short while, just enough so the rest of the new Dominion would know what was up before she destroyed that one too.

What had Lor said about unorganized units and superior numbers? She leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, closing her eyes and taking in as much of the sounds as she possibly could. From where she stood, she was close enough to feel the bass of Afterlife, close as she was to the heart of Omega, which meant the new Dominion would be there soon. The alley reeked with the smell coming from the dumpster and the blood from the drell and the human on her armor and the floor.

"Sit and wait. They're coming for you." Lor smiled. "And just the best way they possibly can, as humans like to say: like moths to a flame."

She drew her blade, activating its new tech mod through the handle so that it extended into a longer sword: just one of the many surprise features other than the fire. She whispered her mantra, her one prayer, before the first of the Dominion arrived.

Garrus couldn't drag in the whole of Archangel to the special operation but he did take all the ones who had thought of Rachel with something close to warmth. Obviously, Erash and Sensat were on board. Weaver, who volunteered when he heard of the meeting and Butler who said Nalah would kill him if he didn't help out. Krul nodded, probably guilty over what happened during Christmas and that this was a good way to apologize to both of them at once.

He stationed them, save Erash who stayed by his computers and kept the comm channels online, near entry points to Afterlife as surveillance. If he were Rachel, he would head to the place where he could get the most help (and actually be heard) and for her that would be either the doctor or Aria. Solus was the least likely since there were too many injured people in the vicinity who would slow Legacy down (Garrus himself would avoid it because of the civilians and the likelihood of casualties), so Garrus put all his money down on Aria. True enough, as he was making the asari's floor his temporary base of operations, Aria received an anonymous tip less than an hour ago that Legacy was about to break open from the tunnels and that there were enemies stationed at the entry points to Afterlife.

"Should we believe it?"

Aria looked at the message. Garrus was sure the air around them had dropped several degrees over the few seconds she was thinking about it. "Yes. I think I know exactly who sent this information."

"And you trust it?"

"No, but I'm not sending my men. I'm sending you. Try not to disappoint me, Archangel." She glared at him and he took that as a cue to exit.

Sure enough, each of his team members had encountered operatives, a grand total of five by adding all three points, two of which came with a pair and one was solo.

"Should we strike?" Weaver's whisper came through the comm. Out of his whole team, Weaver was the one whose skillset came close to Legacy's. He understood more than anybody the sort of numbers she'd have to deal with if they left these guys alive.

"We don't know what Legacy wants to do with them. Let's wait." Garrus cocked his Mantis. He'd taken the higher ground, stationed near the entry point he felt would give Legacy the best advantage and in turn make it the path she would most likely take if she were on her way to Afterlife. It was a narrow alleyway with two operatives waiting where it was closest to Afterlife. What made it attractive, however, was that it was also connected to an abandoned building with a courtyard. Garrus had situated himself on the fourth floor, overlooking the alleyway and the courtyard, waiting.

When he saw a shadow flicker, he thought it was just his imagination, but then the two operatives went down, one choking on her blood and the other instantly dead with her head twisted in an abnormal angle. The new figure standing in the alley now, toying with one of their omni-tools before triggering it to self-destruct, was Legacy. Her mask was up as well and her eyes, when he looked into his scope, were a dark green. Through his visor, he noted she was uninjured and her heart beat was normal. Despite the situation, he had to look away and sigh in relief at the sight of her, in perfect health and waiting for her enemies, their enemies.

It was unlikely that she didn't know he was there, and just as he stared at her through his scope she stared back, mask in place. He felt his own pulse, heard it through his ears as the adrenaline pumped through him.

"Legacy sighted, team." His voice cracked through the comm.

"They've begun to move, boss." Sensat whispered through her comm. He can imagine her biotics flared just then. "Likely heading to your location."

"Amateurs. They're running to the slaughter. Head to your second positions. Tell me if anything new comes up." Garrus heard the round of "ayes" and looked through his scope and into an all kill zone.

Legacy had run so that they ended up in the courtyard. First, she took one down with her sword, slashing through the shield and tearing flesh. The weapon glowed with new tech and Garrus noticed it was longer and deadlier than ever before. The other pursuer who finally decided to pull out his gun got beat to it when she pulled out her sidearm and the enemy took one bullet to the head at near-point blank range. Quickly, she fired bullets at their omni-tools and they fizzled and died.

It would be a while before his team would arrive and he chuckled that they might miss all the action. As per her reputation, Legacy worked fast and efficiently alone.

When the last three operatives arrived they didn't charge at her right away, instead one stood back while two others stood in front of him. The two were armed, submachine guns drawn and they'd probably shoot before Legacy could move fast enough. But she didn't seem at all fazed, standing there with a sword in her hand. From where he was, he could only see the back of her head.

"Is this all you add up to?" Her voice echoed through the courtyard. "Did the Alliance really send you or just one man? I'll take you in alive, Hashmal. Because torturing you will be the best part of my week."

When one of the two in front fired with the provocation, Legacy flipped beautifully away, bullets barely grazing her shield. No wonder she wasn't worried, Garrus thought, the woman could dodge bullets.

Still in a crouch her finger pulled the trigger of her pistol and fired at the neck and head of one of her enemies. As he was going down, her arm moved to aim at the next man but she got her gun knocked out of her hand. He had been a better fighter than the last, engaging her in a flurry of movement and bullets—they danced around each other like Garrus had never seen the likes of, before Legacy got him, a blade through his throat, spraying blood on her armor and face as he fell too.

She wasn't immortal though, the last man, Hashmal, still stood there and he was ready for the other man to fall. His shotgun would take her down easily with her shields low and he yelled, "Die, Shepard!"

Garrus didn't have time to be surprised by the name. He fired a concussive round that hit him between the neck and the shoulder and he crumpled down to the ground, on his knees, before Legacy—Shepard? Alliance Shepard? Alenko's Shepard? Was that possible?—knocked him out with a punch to the face.

Garrus stood from his position and Legacy turned back and to stare at him. Sensat's voice through the comm announced that they had just arrived and Weaver sighed because they had missed everything.

Instead of responding, Garrus looked down at the rifle still in hand. Rach—Legacy— Shepard gave him a little wave, relieved and confused, Garrus could only wave back.

Edited 05.20.2014