A/N: Down to business. I can't say this was a fun chapter to write, but so it goes. I hope you like twists.

Fun fact: this chapter was alternatively titled Unlucky Thirteen.

xxxx

Chapter XIII – Soldier, Doomsday, Psycho

xxxx

The Ortona slipped out of FTL. I found myself relieved to see the familiar outline of the TIER headquarters, the massive space station orbiting a nearby star, intact. I had no reason to believe it would be gone, but… I worried none the less. I stood there in the cockpit, leaning on Jarka's chair, fully armored up. The rest of the ground squad stood behind me in their light-duty armors.

As I watched the station close in, I shivered. At least, I thought I shivered. All I heard was a scuttle of metal plates along my spine, gone in an instant. Nobody else seemed to hear it.

"Looks like we're clear to dock." Jarka notified. "Maya, be sure to transfer our restock lists to main command."

"Already done." The AI responded.

"I've got the bad feeling of blood in my gut." Torr growled and shook his head, barring his teeth for a moment.

"Do we really need the armor and everything, boss?" Sam asked. "Seems… a bit excessive."

"We're not going to be here for long." I reminded her. "And yeah, I've got a bad feeling too."

"You are quite paranoid." Jarka commented. "Surprisingly so for someone who takes so many risks."

"Why do you think I've been able to get away with it?" I joked and slapped the pilot on the shoulder. We were almost to the station.

"You idiots don't listen to instinct anymore." Torr added bitterly. I shot him a glance to keep it down.

True, I was anxious to get back to the fight. That was probably a large part of why I felt so antsy, if not the entire reason. "Alright. Let's make this layover short as possible. If there's any restocking or research you need to do now, do it."

"Jeeze. Get in a hurry all of a sudden, why don't you?" Sam rolled her eyes. "It's not like the Contractor is gonna do anything crazy overnight."

Jarka interjected. "It is very unwise to underestimate such a powerful foe."

"I have also detected increased Contractor transmissions during the past several days." Maya added.

"Ok, ok. Fine." Sam backed off and shook her head.

It seemed that we were going to get one of the higher docks. We remained silent and let our pilot do his thing as he got the Ortona through one of the pressurization fields and set the frigate down gently on the metal docks. I could already see dockhands rushing out to set up the gangway, refuel lines, supply carts, and so on. It was madness. "Nice work, Jarka."

With that I turned to the airlock and signaled the rest of the ground team to follow. We still had to wait for the decon cycle to run before we could step out onto the docks, and by the time we did there was already a gangway extended. Several dockhands saluted as I stepped out.

No Jack. I raised my brow. I would have expected him to meet me there. I turned to the dockhands and nodded. "At ease. Everything in order?"

"Yes sir!" One human reported. "Jack requested that you see him as soon as possible. Said it was urgent."

"Thanks." I replied, glanced back to the rest of my squad the signal to move ahead with their own errands and then I took off towards the elevator.

xxxx

The elevator seemed slower than usual. I shook my head as I reached the lounge level to meet Jack, trying to get my nerves back under control. What the hell was wrong with me? Was I really looking forward to war?

Yes.

Yes I was. I could barely hold myself from rushing back to the Ortona and launching back into the fight. Here I was, stuck being responsible and shit. I wasn't fit to be a commander, but I was anyway. And I owed my squad that accountability. I clasped my hands behind my back as I waited for the door to open.

When the black metal plates finally separated I faced the nearly empty expanse of station that must have been on a corner of the station. To the right, the red star. Straight ahead, space. For a moment the room seemed empty.

But sure enough, Jack was there, sitting in his wheelchair in front of the dark, starry backdrop. He had all kinds of haptic panels up around him. Enough info to make my head hurt. Yet still he noticed my arrival, smiling widely as he glanced over his shoulder, spun his chair around, and greeted. "Welcome back, my boy."

I nodded, temporarily forgetting my anxiety. "Good to be back." I added: "At least for a little while."

"Yes… I can see that you're not intent on staying for long." Jack noted.

"Well, if there's one thing I learned from the old Contractor… it was to never let leads slips away."

"Fair enough." Jack agreed. "Speaking of which, I've done some digging on the leads you received from Aria…" The old man began, turning back to the haptic panels.

"And?" I pressed, trying to make sense of all the information.

"Hayburg checks out. A few satellite images from the Shadow Broker show a considerable Contractor presence there. It's hard to tell what they're planning on, but it looks serious. Several frigates and ground troops."

"Gotcha. And Illium?"

"I haven't had such luck scouting there. There are undoubtedly Contractor outposts there, but they've proven to be much more troublesome to monitor. They've done a much better job of hiding their tracks."

"Damn. And the third lead?"

"Well…" Jack began to beam, turning to me with a shit-eating grin. "Have you heard of the planet Therum?"

Oh fuck. My mind jumped and I took a moment to respond. "Yeah… I've been there before."

"I figured that might have been the case. Well, we managed to track Contractor scouts to a position on the north continent. Just between lava flows. From what we can gather, they've set up data servers there."

"Huh. Should hurt when we blow them up, then."

"Alternatively, it would be a excellent source of data." Jack pointed out, starting to close down some of the haptic panels.

"Ah, yeah." I admitted, realizing I had gotten ahead of myself.

"However, all of this information is downloaded and forward to your AI – Maya, wasn't it?"

I nodded.

"Right well played, I must admit. Quite frankly, I didn't want to spring such an upgrade on you like that – some people take rather harshly to AIs."

"Well… can't say I do. Maya's pulling her own weight and then some."

"And Jarka has accepted the change?"

"With a bit of coaxing, sure."

We both chuckled. Jack brushed a wrinkle from his right sleeve. "So, how are you holding in there my boy?"

I was quiet for several seconds as I stared out into space.

Finally I replied. "Well, the squad is holding itself together so far. I've managed to keep infighting to a minimum."

"Well, that's worth a great deal. You didn't exactly pick an easy squad." Jack chuckled and shook his head. "But what about you? How are you feeling as a commander?"

"Heh." I shook my head. "I keep thinking back to Kaira. She always seemed to know how to handle a situation, no matter how tough shit got. Me… I'm just rushing around trying to keep everything from catching on fire."

Jack smiled, looked down for a second, then replied. "In time you'll see this too, but being a commander is less about issuing orders and more about instilling confidence. In my day, I saw men fresh out of elite training who lost their entire unit because their troops lost faith. These were men who should have been able to lead a squad perfectly." He shook his head. "And I've seen commanders lead ground wars without a minute of formal training."

"I can't imagine I do a very good job at either." I grumbled. "I'm stuck in the mindset of rushing in and having other people cover me. And now I'm just hoping that those people know what to do."

"You sent Mender and the T'Vintha sisters running on Omega, did you not?" Trinder asked simply.

I nodded.

"Like I said before: Confidence." Jack explained. "Did you once think about abandoning the fight?"

"Can't say it ever crossed my mind."

"Right. For them, for your squad, knowing that you have faith in their abilities is more valuable than actually having a plan. Admittedly, having a plan does help…" Jack teased.

"Well… thanks."

"Of course. Aside from that, how have you been doing?"

"Great." I beamed. "I only needed to be patched up once. And the Ortona is getting to quite the outfit. You sure you're okay with the AI?"

Jack nodded once. "Despite everything that has happened with synthetics, I can see the benefits of symbiosis. And now your ship is all the stronger. I believe that is well worth while."

"Alright." I affirmed.

We were quiet for several seconds, me standing and the old man sitting as we stared out into the starry expanse, before Jack spoke again. "I suppose you will take interest in this as well..." He began to say, then brought up his omni-tool, accessed a dossier. Not enough time to make out a name.

I immediately recognized the face on file. Asari, navy blue bandit-mask markings. Dark brown eyes. "Rana."

"Yes." Jack replied. "The Shadow Broker was able to find some information on her. Not much, but -"

"Is she alive? Where is she?" I blurted out, blurring out everything around. A breakthrough had been made. Finally.

"Forrest, my boy… The last known intel is from 2170. Thessia marked her file as MIA from the 656th commando unit."

"That was twenty years ago." I shook my head. "Surely there's something."

"I'm afraid not. There's nothing." Jack spoke slowly. It was irking my impatience, and that was just why he was doing it. I needed to calm down. After a moment, he continued: "I know the importance this bears to you, but... an MIA status of that duration doesn't bode well."

I couldn't say much as I stood there with my arms folded and my jaw clenched, trying to skirt the truth and my own emotional response. I deflected. "Is that it? What about the 656th?"

"They share the same status, though their four names were redacted prior. There was mention of a final mission in the Traverse, but they fell out of communication and the mission parameters were never cited."

That was the point where the wounds that I had been carrying since TIER had rebuilt me – the broken heart, the guilt, the shame – began to bleed again. No, not just bleed. They had been bashed open and salt rubbed in.

I stared out into space, feeling the knot was form in my gut. Jack didn't need to explain the MIA status – a Council-world unit operating in the Traverse? KIA would have admitted they were someplace they shouldn't have been. MIA, after twenty years… well, it was a nice way for Thessia avoid war with the Terminus while admitting a commando unit was dead.

A sliver of me clung to the hope that it wasn't over. That Rana had slipped through the cracks. Best I could do was keep from breaking down right then and there. The tears were sure there and waiting.

"The Broker had to do quite a bit of work just to build her file…" Jack began to explain, bringing me back to the present. "Do you want to try and get more info on T'Suni and T'Kasan?"

I thought for a moment. Realized that their files would look the same. Incomplete. "I don't know. They probably disappeared too."

"That's a practical decision, so long as you're comfortable with it." Jack paused long for my silent confirmation before he continued. "And, my boy… I'm sorry."

I jolted, looked over at him in surprise. "Sorry – for what?"

"While you've adapted to a new galaxy, I find I have had to relearn the tolerances of your mind and memory. You are far more resilient than I expected. So it was unfair of me to question whether or not your past life existed."

I nodded slowly, unsure what to say.

Jack continued. "Of course it existed. Just as we do now. Just as Rana and the rest of your former squad did."

"Well… Thanks." I replied appreciatively and started, "I guess I owe you a lot more than thanks for all of this…"

"Nonsense. It was my choice to bring you back. I took a risk, just as you did in trusting me. I hope that you don't hold it against me."

I shook my head and got morbid. "It would be a lot easier if I stayed dead."

"Easy is seldom the best path, my boy." Jack chuckled.

"Yeah. Exactly." I glanced down. After several heartbeats passed, I looked back up to the stars. Perfectly still, distant shimmers. No telling how far away some were.

A disturbance. A tiny ripple of blue directly in front of us. Maybe ten clicks away. And it was gone.

"Jack…" I began, swallowing down my paranoia. "Did you see that?"

"I thought it was just old age playing tricks on my mind." Jack laughed it off and wheeled closer to the window.

I followed hesitantly. We're safe here. I reminded myself. It's probably just… space dust or something. Yet I couldn't shake the feeling from my gut.

"Trinder -" Jack's omni-tool suddenly pinged with a female voice. "This is urgent! We're picking up faster-than-light disturbances in sector 3, degree bearing 43!"

Not a moment later and there was another blue disturbance out in space. Except the second time the blue ripples blasted out, dissipated to reveal the source.

Five sources.

Five grey ships with red stripes running down their starboard edge.

Five Contractor dreadnaughts lay clicks away from our station. Massive warships, already in formation.

"Shit!" I yelled, broken between running back to the Ortona and staying there with Jack and watching. I held my ground. "How the fuck did they find us out here?"

"Jackson, blood boils and the radio blares - I know enough fancy terms to know that it's bad!" Torr barked over the radio.

"Torr, get Sam and Jakur and get our ship ready to launch. Bad doesn't start to cover this."

Trinder remained silent. Stared out at the dreadnaughts. "I was afraid this would happen."

Panic set in. Not because of the ships themselves. "I did this, didn't I – I lead them here?"

"Don't go and blame yourself. A Spectre wouldn't work with these mongrels." Jack shook his head, gaze unwavering from the Contractor assault force. "I knew we wouldn't be safe here indefinitely. Sooner or later they would track a recon team back…

"Shit…" I whispered. That was all I could manage.

Jack keyed his omni-tool. "I want teams on all defensive turrets now. Send out the fighters and prepare strike teams near every docking point." He shook his head and turned to me. "The Contractor has risen to power faster than we could have foreseen. Five short months ago, we had them pushed entirely off of the grid."

The five dreadnaughts were creeping closer in perfect formation. They were waiting for something. Orders.

There was a blue streak that lead from the lead ship to our station. A moment later, I felt the floor tremble under my feet.

Another voice over the intercom. Male. "Trinder, we've taken a direct hit! I repeat, direct hit! They're using heavy rail cannons!"

There was a moment where we could have responded. Then all hell broke loose.

An accelerated sabot tore through the edge of the room, initial shockwave sending me flying and sliding on my back as the metal walls of the station were shredded. Smoke. Fires had started from the impact, and as I glanced back out to the five dreadnaughts I could see they were barraging the TIER station with cannon fire.

They weren't planning on taking prisoners.

In a second I realized that the room was depressurized. Temporary containment fields kept us from dying immediately, but I could feel the air rushing out – out of the room, out of my lungs. Memories of the Citadel began to flash through my mind. Empty lungs. Darkness latching on.

Not again. I scrambled to put my assassin mask on as I lurched forward to find Jack.

I did not have to look far. He took had been knocked back by the blast, sent clear of his wheelchair and caught between two separated floor joints. He lay there rather motionless, even as I yelled "Trinder!"

He barely responded, glancing over slowly. It took me a second to process what had happened. Then I saw the shard of metal jammed through his chest. "No…" I muttered as I dropped down my knees and tried to find a way to get him out.

"Looks… Looks like this is the end of the line for me, my boy." Jack smiled weakly even as he lost his breath. "Save what you can. You know what needs to be done."

"No – I'm not just -"

I was cut off as another cannon round tore through the opposite wall, shockwave knocking me forward and the decompression increasing.

"Jackson, I've done – done all I can. Make sure…" Jack tried to regain his breath. Blood was dripping from the corners of his mouth as he lay there, me holding up his head. "Make sure it is not in vain."

"I'll make damn sure." I replied quietly, trying to talk past the burning at the back of my throat.

"And… Forrest." Jack managed, lifting his right arm slowly, handing me something. "This, this was… in your armor."

I took the small square of paper in my gloved bionic hand. A moment passed before I processed that it was a picture. A picture of Rana and me on the Citadel, the wards in the background. I stared at the small print for a second, trying to make sense of something. I glanced back to Jack.

His eyes had glossed over.

"God dammit!" I screamed. Lunged back to my feet, pocketing the picture and breaking into a run. "Jarka, I want the Ortona ready to fly stat. The rest of the TIER station – Trinder is dead. I'm ordering a full evac. Get to all frigates and escape pods and prepare for a mass exodus. We're not dying here today!"

xxxx

By the time I reached the Ortona dock, my lungs were fumbling against the internal oxygen supplies of my armor and my legs moved in protesting twitches. I had run the entire way, forced to use fifty sets of stairs since the elevator power was shot down.

When I reached the back of the bay, I saw we were not alone. A whole platoon of TIER soldiers were gathered by the loading ramp of the Ortona, soldiers and engineers and a Mecha armor operator all in disarray. I shook my head and drilled. "What the hell's going on?"

"I'm sorry," One Turian soldier finally began. "Our dock was taken out by the first hit. This was the closest exit point."

"Jarka, can the Ortona carry this lot?" I asked over the radio.

"Easily, commander." The Salarian replied.

A blast closer than the rest. Overhead. Metal roof panels rained down around us. One trooper knocked a sheet out of the way with a biotic throw, sending it to the wall away from the crowd.

"Right then. Let's go! Load up and stay ready!" I ordered just before launching forward again, making my way up the ramp and into the Ortona. The whole platoon, all thirty troops, rushed in behind me.

"Everyone is aboard. Raising the ramp and preparing for launch." Jarka announced.

"Forrest, this is nutso – seriously, what's going on?" Sam stood in the doorway to engineering, holding the frame and glancing back to the now full hold.

"We got jumped by five Contractor dreadnaughts. They knew right where we were." I snapped.

"Oh shit." The girl's eyes widened, and that was that.

Without another word I made my way up the stairs, across the combat deck, up the bridge and to the cockpit. Torr and Jakur were already there; the Ortona was already in the air.

"Jackson, I rebroadcasted your orders to the entirety of the TIER station." Maya reported. "If anyone has a hope of evacuating, they should have left or be leaving now."

"Yeah. Good call." I nodded. "Jarka, we good to fly?"

"Yes, commander. All refuels and restocks had been completed before the attack." The Salarian noted. "I would suggest an immediate exit route. It would be certain suicide to take on five dreadnaughts with nothing more than frigates."

"If we're space-hulls plural to start." Torr muttered.

"Alright. We'll have to regroup with the rest of the survivors later. Let's hustle." I agreed as I caught my breath and held onto the pilot's chair.

We were already out of the station, away from the shattered outline of the TIER headquarters. And we were leaving the flaming carnage behind, leaving behind countless ships, credits, armors, prototypes, and lives.

The Ortona was on a course directly away from the station and away from the Contractor assault fleet. I bowed my head as we powered away. What the fuck just happened? I thought, then quietly asked our AI: "Maya, see if you can contact any of the other evac vessels."

"I am currently trying, commander." She replied, pausing for several seconds. "I have not been able to locate any friendly signals."

"We're the only ones who made it out?" I murmured. It was more of a realization than a question.

"At this point, that seems to be the case. I am detected no TIER radio traffic."

"Dammit, dammit, dammit." I snarled. A moment passed before I looked up. "No sense in staying around. Get us into FTL."

"Got it, commander." Jarka nodded and began tapping away at his haptic controls. Several seconds passed before he stopped.

Nothing happened. The Salarian tapped on final haptic again, making sure. Then he glanced back to me. "Commander…. We've stopped moving."

"What do you mean we've stopped moving?" I snapped. "How does that work, exactly?"

"Commander, I have located a sixth Contractor dreadnaught on our LADAR. It is only a click away, meant to intercept."

They knew we would get away. I thought.

"Doesn't explain why we're stopped." Torr growled.

"The sixth dreadnaught appears to be equipped with a gravitational field manipulator. We are currently being drug towards it." Maya explained.

"A tractor beam." I muttered. "Well fuck me."

"Maya, try and run some cyberattacks against that ship and get that beam shut down!" Jarka ordered.

"I am currently trying to subvert 1036 instances of firewall breaches. That dreadnaught is equipped with a chained AI, but it's processing power outclasses mine by several times." Our AI figure explained, almost sounding irritated.

"So…" I began, likely leaving indents in the back of the chair where my hands clung. "We're going to have to shut it down manually, aren't we?"

"It appears so." Jarka agreed. "I presume that ship has heavy kinetics, so any ranged attacks will be ineffective."

"So we let them take us into their gut and blast our way out." Torr hissed.

"Unfortunately, that is your best option at this point. I do not have the processing power to launch offensive cyberattacks at this time." Maya noted.

"Well, let's get ready to fight." I cracked my knuckles, looking to Jakur; he had been silent the entire time. "Ready?"

The Batarian nodded slowly. "Dude…Do you think we're really going to make it out of this?"

"Well, they had their chance to shoot us down. Caught us by surprise, now they figure we're toast." I shook my head. "We fought our way out of some mean corners before. We'll get out of this one, too."

"Not before we slash throats and drown them in their own blood." Torr began, teethed bared. He was starting to look real jittery. Trembling, hands quivering my his sides.

"Let's get the troops ready." I nodded. "Things are gonna get real interesting." With a pat on the pilot's shoulder I added, "Jarka, be ready to get us the hell out of dodge."

"As soon as we can go, I plan on doing just that, commander." The pilot replied.

Right then there was a blast to our starboard side. I jumped, shielded my helmet, before peering out the edge of the cockpit window.

There was a fireball where the TIER station had been. Nothing else, just the nova.

"God damn… Guess we're not going back." I shook my head. Without another word I made my way to the cargo hold.

xxxx

There thirty-four of us in total. That included me, the person suddenly in charge of not just a fireteam, but a whole platoon.

Oh boy.

"Alright. Listen up." I began, hopping up on a hoverbike to get a better view of the small crowd. "We're probably going to end up in the docking bay of a Contractor dreadnaught. No telling what kind of troops they'll throw at us."

Well, that wasn't very encouraging. Everyone was silent, so I continued.

"I want you to break down into six smaller units. Five people each. Make sure you have a soldier, engineer and biotic in each. You're going to stick together as groups and defend this ship no matter what. We've got weapons and cover."

"So we defend the ship." The other Doomsday armor boomed. "What about getting out of here? Something's pulling us back – who's gonna shut that off?"

"That's where my squad comes in." I motioned to the Soldier, the Doomsday armor, and the Psycho. "We'll make a push and take down their systems at least temporarily."

Torr was tapping his axe on a crate impatiently. The other two members of my squad seemed less eager. I knew they would hold up, even if nervous.

There were a few silent nods. A couple people started to mill, organize themselves.

"This is life or death. The last chance we'll get." I shook my head. "But fight smart. Time your shots and make them count. Let's do this!"

With that, I drew my Shredder shotgun and leapt down from the bike, striding right towards the loading ramp. The TIER platoon parted to both sides to let my squad pass, take a spearhead position.

"Commander, we're getting close. I'd hold on if I were you." Jarka warned.

"I'll beat them apart with my axe." Torr spat.

"PCR's ready." Jakur noted from my right.

"Locked and loaded, bitches." Sam boomed from her armor, throwing her arms forward for emphasis.

I turned back to the ramp and waited. God, I hoped that we weren't shot down on the spot. This wasn't how it should end. Not now.

Not before I got vengeance for Jack.

There was a thud as our ship was pulled into dock. No way out. I ordered for the ramp to be lowered.

And we were face-to-face with a line of Defenders. All I could see was red and grey shields. I rushed forward with a roar, activating my tech skates on the fly and nearly crashing into the line.

The first Defender bashed out at me with his shield. An age-old move. I was ready, jumping up and rolling over the top and landing behind him – facing into more Contractor troops but with my shotgun against his back. I pulled the trigger five times in a matter of milliseconds. The unprotected Defender went down. I had punched a hole in their line.

"Worthless sacks of meat. I'll slash your skull open!" There went Torr, just before he threw himself into another Defender and cracked through their line in another point.

I deflected a trooper as he tried to tackle me, shotgunning him three times before he hit the ground limp. Then I spun and unleashed a barrage on the nearest Defender. He still hadn't turned to face me. Troops started to clear out around me, providing enough space for Sam to punch through the unprotected troops with a single rail blast. That about left a corridor to the back of the hold.

In the meantime, I was taking fire. I ducked and rolled out of the way, using a disoriented defender for cover and priming a grenade and tossing it into the bulk of Contractor troopers. I also had a chance to figure out what was going on around us. We had been drug into a large docking bay within the dreadnaught no doubt, but it wasn't very well designed. Not for bombarding us, anyhow – only one level, no raised cover, no catwalks around the edges.

"Maya…" I cloaked and snuck between two defenders. "Can you get a location on this tractor beam?"

"Yes." The AI replied. "It seems to be located near the power core of the dreadnaught. If you took maintenance shafts, it is not very far away. I've forwarded a layout map to your omni-tool."

"Thanks." I replied, uncloaking and firing a shotgun blast to the right, and then to the left. Two Defenders down.

Without the line of Defenders, the rest of the contractor suppression team was exposed to the fire from the platoon of TIER survivors. They were getting cut down, especially with the help of the two Doomsday armors.

And there I was, standing right in the middle of the madness, shotgun in my hands, Contractors strewn all about. That was really the best they could do?

There was a blast to my right. Torr's kinetic plating unleashing itself and knocking back three Contractors. Assassins. The Psycho let out a scream and threw himself at one with his axe drawn back.

I knew there would be more. I holstered my Shredder, clenched my fists and strode forward, stepping over bodies and making my way to the back of the hold. For a minute it was actually quiet, crossfire dying down and Torr taking out the last of the assassins.

It couldn't last. And it didn't.

I sidestepped as another assassin materialized in front of me and drove her blades forward. As I stepped past, I threw my right hand back and activated my new tech blades. One strike. Clean kill.

Contractor Sentinels were also flooding in. A throw slammed into my chest, sending me staggered back before I reached for a dampening grenade and chucked it towards them. My squad had formed back up behind me – mostly, at least. Jakur to my left, kneeling and hammering our enemies with plasma fire. Sam to my right, suppressing any hope they had of moving up.

Torr spun around and nailed a cloaked assassin in the face with his axe, sending the hostile down in a single blow.

Goddamn assassins. I snarled as I moved up, kicking a Contractor trooper away as he tried to grab my leg. I knew they were everywhere, dropping from the rafters and sweeping forward, but damned if I could see them until they were right on top of me. Sure enough, two were right in my face.

I jigged, avoiding their initial attacks as my own blades sprang to life.

I was right at home. With the tech blades fit into my arms, it was just like the old days. I fell into my old mindset of charging forward and slashing. Right, left, a manic pattern of crisscrossing blades that Contractor assassins couldn't keep up with. Only a second passed before the first fell; missing a single block and leaving my blade to slash across her chest and knock her back. I spun around and kicked at the other – wisely, she had flanked me.

They had new patterns. More dependence on fencing, rather than swings. I hopped back to avoid the two katanas jabbed forward, then came back on the edge to deflect her swords with my right blade and slash through her neck with my left.

As the masked assassin fell, I took a breath. Watched around me. Ranged fighters were keeping control on most of the battlefield; the TIER platoon was holding its ground as my squad stayed out in the muck. We could have been turning the tide.

Then a Contractor assassin materialized in front of me, blades drawn and ready by her sides. And then another to the left. And another. I watched the hostiles uncloak around me, circling me. I lost track at twelve. Each looked the same as the last.

I stood there for a moment before my processes kicked in. Instinct. The circle of assassins seemed to freeze as red binary sprang up in my vision.

/

Accessing core clocks…

Increasing to highest stable level…

Core clocks increased successfully.

…

Shutting down excess processes…

Working…

Complete.

…

Increasing adrenaline infusion...

Preparing receptor sites…

Complete.

…

Initiating kill protocols.

/

The red retreated to the corners of my view and I lunged. Yes, I made the first move – and I struck before the first hostile could raise her sword. Two tech blades through her chest before I knocked her back. Then I swung at the next. Left blade close, right blade wide. The second blow crashed into the side of her head. It didn't cut clean through, but she went down for the count.

Another grabbed me in a chokehold, trying to hold me vulnerable. I didn't wait before grabbing her arms and then heaving her forward, over me and slamming into the deck. Before she could try to get up I grabbed both sides of her helmet and snapped it to the right. No blades necessary.

I narrowly avoided one stab and parried another, grabbing an assailant by the wrist and yanking her in so that I could headbutt her back. Not lethal, but it bought me time. I needed time. More so as I felt a sword grate along the kinetic plating on my back.

Shields: 45%.

Time to fight harder. I spun around with my left blade and she parried. The assassin didn't expect me to drop forward and drive my right blade through her gut. I rolled out of the way, luring them to come after me. More materialized.

I charged back in, perhaps with a violent roar. If that was the case, it was on my body's own accord. Warding two assassins off, I had both of my blades in use. And two exposed fronts. Of course two more hostiles moved in to flank and shank. I shoved the first two away, deflecting the second two as they pressed in and then stabbing both through the chest and then spinning to catch a third with both of my blades.

There was no warning, no time to react as another tackled me from the side and took us both down. No chance for me to stab before we were down on the ground. Assassins were far stronger than they looked, and it was all I had to keep her at bay. Except for my biotic arm. I got wound up and punched her in the faceplate once. That must have done damage as she let go of me and clawed at her helmet. I rolled away, back onto my feet.

Red flashed across my vision.

/

Warning: System oxygen supplies reaching critical levels!

…

Warning: Organic muscle structures past maximum performance. Decay imminent!

…

Warning: Emergency system shutdown imminent!

/

I shook my head and lunged forward, shouldering one assassin out of the way as I drove both blades into another. I took another blow from the right.

Shields: 12%

I retaliated with a slash from my right blade and a stab from my left. Another assassin KIA. I turned back only to see another rushing in, blades drawn back to slash. I intercepted, driving my blade through her chest and clotheslining the Contractor. Slammed her into the deck with my blade through her chest and I knelt.

My world went blank.

Was that what it felt like to faint? I wondered, staying perfectly still and waiting. I could hear nothing; I could see nothing.

I don't know how long I was out.

My vision began to return. Red binary, less concerning than before:

/

Organic structures returning to operational parameters…

….

System clocks returning to default levels…

/

I took a deep breath before I stood up and looked around.

There must have been a floor underneath the carnage, but I couldn't see it. Contractors strewn all about. The only ones standing were my squad and the TIER platoon, still on the Ortona and obviously scared shitless from the attack. But they were holding in there.

Jakur had blood splatters across his chest and helmet, and judging by the red, it was not his. Just close encounters.

Sam stood there with both guns smoking. Her fist pump indicated everything was A-OK.

And then Torr. The Psycho stood off by himself, shoulders heaving. Soaked in blood. His armor was cut open in several places, exposing recently regenerated flesh. And around him lay a pile of assassins.

We had cut through the whole damn lot.

"Is… Is it over?" One trooper asked.

"For now." I replied. "Everyone regroup. Patch up." I turned to Sam and Jakur. "You two stay here and keep the troops together. I shouldn't be too long."

Sam nodded slowly. Jakur saluted. "Yes sir!"

I turned to Torr. "You ready for more?"

"More, more, more. Grind to the bone and cull this plague." He snarled, smacking a few corpses as he made his way over.

"Good. The two of us will strike in through maintenance vents and take out the power core."

"That's… um…" Sam began. "You do realize power cores are synchronized, right? You throw it off balance and it's gonna turn this entire dreadnaught to plasma."

I nodded. "That's the point."

"Oook." The Doomsday armor shook its head.

"Ready?" I asked Torr. He nodded.

So I took off at a run, the Psycho on my heels. We reached the edge of the bay in seconds, and I didn't even slow before leaping and bashing through a vent feet-first.

I may have through twice if I had known it went down at an angle. Instead of skidding to a stop, I picked up speed. Sparks were starting to fly, my kinetic plating was starting to take friction damage. I didn't know how far the vent went, but I was still skidding on my side.

Then I hit the bottom, where the vent leveled out but my trajectory did not. The whole vent collapsed and I crashed down several meters, landing and rolling amidst the debris and dust. A maintenance area. I was relieved as I looked around. No one was shooting as us. Hell, we were just in the space between bays, standing on a bundle of wires.

Torr landed with a thud behind me and got to his feet slowly, axe still in hand. He too glanced around, then noting the wires under foot, said, "These look important."

I nodded. "We're on the right track. They should lead to the power core."

I checked my omni-tool as I moved forward, trying to make sense of the 3D schematic of the dreadnaught. Hell, the area we were in wasn't even shown. But big cables meant power, and that had to come from the core. I took off at a trot.

We didn't go two hundred meters before the cables went straight up. I cursed as I looked up the space that was half the size of an elevator shaft, then I began climbing. Leaping from brace to brace might have been more accurate. Big jumps between each, using my arms to pull myself up, then jump back and zig-zag my way up.

Judging by the amount of dust I was kicking up, this area had never seen a traveler.

I kept climbing. I knew I was getting far off the deck, but I didn't look down. Not until I reached the top of the shaft and glanced back down. It was quite a fall. I probably shouldn't have glanced until I was clear up and rolled out onto another horizontal level.

"Curse the fall, it screams at me from below!" Torr hissed as he climbed out the shaft and jumped away.

"Sorry." I replied, barely glancing back from the path ahead. We must have been getting close. No longer were the wires under foot. There were metal maintenance walkways on this level. Well used.

I could see a glow ahead. That was promising. I waited for Torr to get clear up on the deck, and once the huffing vorcha was on board, I nodded and began to edge forward. We only had fifty meters to go before I heard company.

Technicians, it sounded like. We kept edging in.

"I'm telling you… This tractor beam is using too much power. I ran the calculations again… and it's going to start cutting into AI power soon." A Salarian.

"Oh please. It's working just fine. Maybe if we didn't fire up all six tracks for a tiny frigate we wouldn't have any worries!" An Asari.

The first voice scoffed."Well I wasn't going to take any risks. Not on this target. Do you realize how long the boss has been after this little rogue?"

I glanced to Torr and nodded. Then I activated my cloak and rounded the corner.

We found the core alright. And the tractor beam. And the two technicians.

Sneaking forward, I focused on the Salarian standing in front of a panel, to the left of the Asari. I had to pass up the first strike, leave it for Torr. I got right behind my target, arms lifted and ready before I ordered: "Strike!"

Torr and I swept forward at the same. I drove two tech blades through the technician. Torr opted to leap, grab the Asari by the back of the fringe, and bash her head into the corner of a metal server. One strike wasn't enough. He continued bashing until he was absolutely certain that she was KIA. Then he tossed the body aside.

Made quite a bit of racket in the process. I shook my head as I eased the Salarian to the floor and started to look over core controls and everything else around. Torr was standing in front of the tractor beam controls; there was a breaker right in the middle. Currently on.

"Flip that breaker off and make sure it stays that way." I ordered, looking back to the power core controls. I sure as hell wasn't intending on leaving quietly. These Contractor bastards were going to pay in blood.

The Vorcha took a long moment to figure out what was going on, but eventually complied. He flipped the breaker back, then smashed the handle down with his axe. And again, until the thing came off.

My attention went back to the core. A metal contraption, with a cylinder rotating in the middle. Not the eezo core; that was somewhere else. No blue glow here. "Maya, what's the best way to set this thing off balance?"

"A pistol shot to the side should leave a millimeter scratch that would cause the core stability to deteriorate. I would estimate complete entropy in five minutes. At that point I would advise us to be well removed from this dreadnaught."

"We're free to launch." Jarka added. "Haste would be ideal!"

"On it." I replied, drew my MR13, aimed at the core, and then stopped to think what a terrible idea this was. I was shooting a precise bit of equipment that had enough energy to liquidate me on the spot.

With a squeeze of my finger, the doubt was gone. A metal shaving pinged off the side of the core and hit the far wall. I turned to Torr and tilted my head towards the open lift some meters away. "Let's roll."

We moved out, both getting on the maintenance lift and waiting for the cage to close. A simple line of physical buttons, each labeled. Power core, deck 2, dock 1, and so on. Dock one looked right, so I pressed that and waited as we ascended. The heavy revolver stayed in my hands.

"Commander, you better make it quick!" Sam yelled over the radio. "We're getting hit with another wave!"

"Quick is what I do." I replied.

"Hopefully we're not disappointed like she was!" Sam returned.

I shook my head and said nothing. Wasn't exactly in the mood.

Torr snorted with some sort of amusement. "You humans don't get it. The slow Vorcha get killed before it's even over."

"Charming." I muttered and checked my pistol. The lift stopped. We had to wait as the doors slogged open.

Then Torr and I charged out. The psycho with his axe, me with my pistol, and we burst into an empty corridor. I glanced around once. Knowing where we needed to go, I activated my tech skates and launched off down the corridor; the grey walls blurred and my feet felt uneasy but I didn't slow down and Torr was right behind me.

My tech skates were getting low on charge. I noticed that before I noticed the door ahead, at which point I had to slam on the brakes, sliding sideways and kicking up sparks until I came to a rest against the holographic panel. It activated.

The door opened. I stepped through, knowing right away we were in the right place. Contractor bodies all around, a new wave of Defenders cinching down on the Ortona. The whole assault team focused on the TIER survivors. Not one faced Torr and me.

Easy pickings. The psycho rushed forward with his axe pulled all the way back. I walked across the deck, drawing a bead on one defender's head. I pulled the trigger. One shaving, one kill. I continued to drop hostiles, and Torr smashed into one with the blunt of his axe and then whipped around to deck out another.

We threw them into disarray. Without one side safe, Defenders were useless. Like turtles on their back, just as vulnerable as a trooper with light armor. I dropped three more, missing a fourth which Sam proceeded to blast away with a rail shot, and then nailed a fifth between the eyes before I reached the loading ramp of my frigate. I glanced over at Torr; the psycho was temporarily out of the fight as he struggled to free his buzzaxe from a Contractor skull, finally succeeding and falling onto his back before leaping back up.

Only a few Defenders stood. I laughed, holstered my pistol, and raised my middle finger high. "Fuck you, Contractor!"

With that I turned to the TIER crew. "We're good to go. Everyone on board. Let's move!"

I stood by the corner of the ramp, plating absorbing a few light pistol rounds as I made sure everyone got back on board. As I surveyed the fallen, I didn't see a single corpse with black armor. All Contractor casualties.

Torr was the last to clamor up the ramp, dragging his axe along and glancing back at the Contractor reinforcements that were flooding into the dock.

The Ortona was already in the air, the ramp closing. I swung into the cargo bay and turned my back on the blood. Focused on our crew and extended crew as the gap closed behind me. It was just us, and we were ready to go. "Jarka… do your stuff!"

"Working on it, Commander! I suggest everyone hold on!" the pilot shot back.

I nodded at the platoon. "Any major injuries?"

Lots of heads shook.

That was a good sign. I smacked my fists together as I strode forward, through the lot of troops that were starting to take off their gear. We had the gamut covered; Asari, Turian, Salarian, Human, even two Batarians not even including Jakur. Biotics and soldiers, two mech armor operators.

I kept my helmet on as I made my way across the hold. I wanted to make damn sure we were in the clear.

"Distance from Dreadnaught: one kilometer." Maya reported. "I'm detecting increased energy fluctuations from their kinetic barriers. Core detonation imminent."

Not two seconds later, I was nearly thrown on my face as the Ortona jolted. A bit of panic broke out within the platoon.

"That, Commander, would be a Contractor dreadnaught exploding!" Jarka announced over the intercom.

Cheers broke out from the entire crew. Thirty people were fucking loud, too. I came to a stop with my head against the wall next to our gear lockers, tried to fight off the empty feeling that lay through my entire body. "Nice work, Jarka."

"Where to?" Jarka asked on a private channel.

I thought for a moment. "Illium."

"You got it, Jackson. Last of the TIER fleet is heading to Illium!"

I unbuckled my helmet then pushed away from the wall and freed my head, cracked my neck, and asked Maya. "Any activity on TIER frequencies?"

"It is quiet, Forrest."

"So we're the only ones." I stated as I turned the helmet over in my hands, looking into the blank faceplate with a glossy distance. "Is there anything left?"

"The final blast appears to have taken out the entirety of the headquarters station." Maya explained. "I may be able to salvage digital assets, but at this point there is nothing physical left." The AI paused. "I'm sorry, Forrest."

"Thanks Maya." I replied, shaking my head before I glanced down to the left arm of my armor and the four-bar TIER 'T' that was painted there. I started to realize that it was over.

The fucking fairytale was over. No TIER, no Jack, no backing, no more cutting-edge tech, nothing to keep the Contractor in check. Nothing. It was gone. All of it. And the poor bastards that survived… they had me in charge.

xxxx