A/N: Sorry for the wait everyone, another story of mine has been occupying my mind, plus the others I have to keep up with, so it's back and forth, back and forth, seesawing every which way.

Even as the shuttle took her to an undisclosed location, Pyth couldn't care where she was as she was overly excited to be working so many brilliant minded individuals, though she was excited about was learning about the rachni and acting as an intermediate for the Alliance. Even as the Mandalorian shuttle was accepted with relative ease, Alliance security seemed rather jumpy when they had rifles pointed at her face when she disembarked. An older human in an admiral's uniform and a few scars on his face arrived to greet her personally. "I'm sorry about the security. When Mandalore sent me your dossier I was a bit skeptical to believe everything he said. I take it that you'll be able to communicate with the rachni."

"Doctor T'Soni believes so, and if a Jedi can commune with their queen directly then I can more than likely commune with her daughters."

The older gentleman turned to the viewport as a group of alien ships arrived, "Time to see if your right." The ships arriving were very organic-looking in nature, resembling a space worth Bartokk hive or a carve Verpine asteroid in Pyth's personal opinion.

The Alliance guards quickly escorted Pyth over to the docking port before the rachni were allowed access onboard. The teams at the ports were uncertain what to expect or even if it was going to be friendly as they were told. As Pyth arrived one of the larger rachni slowly walked out of the shadows, greeting her in some unusual way, one of its tendrils extended out as it bowed its head and offered its hand to her.

Pyth however seemed to completely understand the rachni, bowing in return as she accepted the tiny arm and took the tendril in her other hand. After that the other rachni started to crawl out as the tiny green rachni quickly rushed out and started to get to work. Pyth turned to watch the rachni busy at work, "Well that's interesting…"

"What just happened? What did they say?"

Pyth turned to the admiral, "Well she introduced herself as a servant of the queen and that she and her sisters are ready to aid however possible. I answered by accepting her gestures and offer of assistance, as well as introducing myself as a telepathic interpreter between them and humans and recommended we get started right away. Well the conversation was actually far more formal and courteous. I'm just giving more of a synopsis."

The rachni got to work assembling and disassembling portions of the Crucible around them. "Hey, what are they doing?"

Pyth just stared at the rachni she conversed with first, as it looked to her and turned to the others. "I see. Well she noticed a few flaws to the original design so they are at work improving it and completing portions you missed."

"Really? Where?"

Even with the engineer's condescending tone, Pyth pulled up her own plans of the Crucible, turning back to the rachni again to get the exact points once more. "Well once they got some of the panels opened her smaller sisters spotted a number of crosswire here, here and here. A few misplaced components here, and we mustn't forget that you were still trying to complete this portion right here. They were just attempting to speed the process along."

The admiral wasn't exactly comfortable seeing rachni onboard, but with Pyth already providing a voice for them he had some woes lifted.

As Shepard continued to speak with his crew, Lissarkh was being informed about recent events by C3 as she obtained a proper meal after nearly three months of fasting. Suddenly C3 became rather bothered, slowly backing away from something in fear. Lissarkh already felt his presence, though said nothing about it. "So you are this 'Jedi' Mandalore reveres? I do not see what makes you so impressive."

He attempted to touch her, though Lissarkh moved away, keeping some distance from him, "And you are a Prothean. The last of a dead race seeking vengeance against those who made it so."

Javik was intrigued. "I do not need to read you to know your people are hunters. But your ability that mocks ours, it eludes me."

Lissarkh carefully studied Javik's form, unwilling to discuss the matter he wanted. "Insects with teeth. Unusual, but not unheard of." She closed her eyes for a moment, looking through his jumbled up memories, "Your people's ability to transfer thoughts and memories cloud your own. You are wrought with pain, and yet you cannot remember why. From what I can tell it might be for the better at the moment. However, you should be more mindful of your anger, Javik. Your quest for vengeance could lead to an untimely demise before you ever get to see it fulfilled." Lissarkh started to look to the crew, "Though your kind knew them at their primal stages, do not let such preconceptions blind you to their true potentials. And you also need to be more open minded about synthetics," adjusting herself to be between him and C3.

Javik looked to some of the humans, "The primitives and the machine? If the humans and the others prove themselves, then they will have earned it. I have yet to see anything to prove otherwise." Javik's eye then darted down toward the droid that now coward behind Lissarkh, "I would have thought one who has fought against a droid army would know better than to trust a machine like them."

"She is not like them. And if you intend to harm her, you will have to go through me first."

Though Lissarkh did not enter a combat stance, her glare was good enough. "You trust that machine too much. What if it decides to side with the Reapers?"

"C3 will not. She is one of us, and she will die to help save us if she had to." C3 confirmed though she still remained behind Lissarkh just to be safe.

"Do as you please with the machine. But I will continue to watch it and the EDI machine for treachery."

Lissarkh just watched as Javik left them to go back to his quarter and just as she was about to sit back down to continue her meal, Shepard walked over. "We never really got to speak while you were on the Normandy last time."

"That was because I was only here for Mandalore and his men."

"And now?"

Lissarkh looked back to C3 as the droid rolled up to her. "I still fight to protect them, as I do for all life. These Reapers are abominations that must be stopped. And I will aid in that effort however need be. Though I believe you should more conscious of whom you call ally."

Shepard looked back, "Are you talking about Javik?"

She nodded, "Although he has been in suspended animation for 50,000 years that is no excuse for his blatant disregard of anyone who stands in his path of vengeance."

Mandalore was with Wrex as the two were talking about the mission with the rachni. "So I hear your Jedi friend cut a deal with the rachni."

"Something like that."

"You know it's her head if they get out of line again."

"I know. But if you knew Jedi, then you'd know she'd fix her mistake if it were to happen. So, any news about Jorgal or Drok?"

Wrex casually leaned back against the console, "Don't worry, we'll get those two platebrains patched up. Vren's with them now so they and Grunt will be back in the fight soon."

Mandalore nodded, "Good. Well I'll talk with you later. Shepard has requested I help with something."

"Well as long as it's not turian related, I won't complain," laughing about it.

Bev has tried to keep news about the war against the Reapers to a minimum for his students, though he has broken some of the harder news to them as a way of showing them that this war will be a bloody one and it won't be ending any time soon.

Bev continued to train his students, providing them with new ways of thinking and to become the best hackers that he could make them. He even arranged for them to work on some repetitive technical issues that C-Sec couldn't delegate to VIs with any expected results. "I still don't see why we have to do this boring debugging stuff that should be handled by tech support?"

Bev walked over to the complaining student, "With your assistance, various Citadel resources and manpower can be diverted to more essential tasks for defenses and civilian activities. That's why we're doing this, Isaac. They are also ways for you to keep your skills sharp and fine-tune, to be prepared for any situation. Cerberus caught the Alliance off-guard when they hit Grissom Academy, but it was through your training and teamwork that we held out long enough for Shepard and Mandalore to provide assistance. But we can't always rely on others to bail us out. We need to be capable of pushing our foes back and send them packing with our own abilities!"

Octavia couldn't agree more. "Do you know any techniques that we might be able to use then?"

Bev thought about that for a moment knowing some of his techniques, though effective for him, might be viewed as obsolete with an omni-tool. "Alright, I have a hack that is illegal, even in the Terminus. It will successfully hack any system without leaving any traceable evidence. The only downside will be that it takes time, how long depends on the level of security. It's recommended to only use this when you know you won't be disturbed by anything or anyone. But remember, this is a last resort tool. Under only the most dire of circumstances are you to use this."

The shuttle was set, as Mandalore, Shepard, Garrus and James moved to the site. "This crash site is a nightmare."

Mandalore looked it over, "I've seen worse. They'll be alive, assuming any enemies haven't gotten to them yet."

"EDI, try to raise Lieutenant Victus."

"Yes, sir."

Garrus got up, looking at the carnage from the monitors, "For a turian commander, what happened here is…let's just say the turian code is not forgiving. And that it's his son is bad for the Primarch. Promoting family without merit can bite you in the ass. What's strange is that the Primarch knows that."

"Commander. I have to land well back from the main crash site."

Shepard turned to Cortez, "That's the best you can do?"

"Yes sir, but the Reapers seem unaware of our presence. You might get the jump on them."

"All right. Set her down. Let's save this platoon." At the landing zone the team jumped out ready for a confrontation. With confirmation that the LZ was clean, the shuttle fell back to a safe distance as Shepard got on the radio. "EDI? Did you raise Lieutenant Victus?"

"Yes, but the connection is bad."

Mandalore continued to be on the lookout as Garrus and James moved closer, "Patch me in. This is Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy. Do you read?"

"This is Lieutenant Tarquin Victus of the Ninth Platoon. We're pinned by Reaper Harvesters and taking heavy casualties. Also, there are pockets of my men scatted along the crash trajectory."

"I need you to fire a flare so I can find your position." The flare indicated that they were roughly thirty or so meters though the wreckage. "Got it."

"Things get worse by the minute. My men are dying!"

"This sounds bad. Let's move."

Garrus tapped Mandalore, "Looks worse than I feared."

Mandalore threw one of the panels over, "Could be worse. The crash could have killed them all."

Garrus nodded, though he had other concerns. "A secret turian mission on Tuchanka is especially odd. Thoughts?"

"You're the turian—you tell us."

Garrus stopped at the ladder, turning back to James, "I've got nothing Lieutenant."

Mandalore looked around at the wreckage, "All I do know is that with the turians, it means something big is up."

"Shh! See 'em?" there were three husks, all huddled around a pile of refuse.

"Quick. We don't want them to call for back up." Mandalore stopped James before he could fire on them. He pulled out a frag grenade as he grabbed a nearby rock. Throwing the rock first he caught the husks attention, looking to the corner he had hit.

Once all three were gathered around the corner Mandalore tossed the grenade, catching all three in the blast. "Nice."

"Tricks you learn from fighting tinnies. Both are just as stupid. Now let's pick up the pace."

Climbing up to the next area, Garrus spotted something new. "Escape pod. Our first casualties."

"Survived the crash just in time for a Harvester to take 'em out."

"Died in the explosion?"

"Or dragged out and chewed on by husks."

Mandalore took point as Garrus was taking tags. Mandalore stopped, signaling Shepard to take cover, "Hear that? Eyes up people." Mandalore crept over using his HUD's scanners. "I've got a visual on the situation. We've got an escape pod on the other side of a ravine. They've got enemies pinning them in a pretty tight spot. But it looks like they are unaware we're here."

Garrus got his rifle ready, "Surprise on our side for once. I like it."

"For you guys, maybe. We Mandalorians added a few new chapters to that book," getting another grenade ready for the surprise attack.

Lissarkh was meditating in the mess hall, gathering her strength so she could help in Mandalore's next assignment. As she did though one of the crew members tried to speak with her, "Uh, miss? Could I talk with you about some of your exploits? Maybe about how you know Mandalore, or what you have done when…"

"Why must you inquire about my past?"

"Huh?"

Lissarkh remained where she sat, not even bothering to open her eyes to look to him. "Your thirst for stories of grandeur and wonder are immature. Something I actually agree with the Prothean about."

"Yeah but…"

"We each have a roll to fulfill in this war. Do not let your intrigue for a war story cloud your vision, human."

"Yeah, but, a tale of heroics or maybe an inspirational story could help inspire people who are lacking the resolve to continue."

Lissarkh picked herself up, turning to the human, "Very well. If you must hear a tale, then I will entice your appetite with a tale from my time as a Jedi Knight, before I was forced into this role as a general, in a war that need not have been fought."

The Tervho was dropping off the next group of elcor onto the Citadel, the crew was assisting with refugee relocation. As they were busy with that task, Nyona arrived to 'greet' them. "Hey, four-eyes were are the others?"

Aay'han found her, "What's up?"

"Aria's getting ready for her assault on Omega and she wants us on standby."

"What's the matter, couldn't message us about it."

Nyona looked around the refugee camp, especially toward a handful of humans, "Can't be too careful. I've had a few dealings with Cerberus before I became a Mandalorian. They like to have eyes and ears in a lot of places. Have Prath get in contact with our good friends and start forming a fleet. Get a message sent out to Mandalore and tell him the good news. I'm hoping to get Omega back soon, even if I'm not living there anymore."

Aay'han nodded, "I understand. Omega is your home. Hell even I still miss Kamino from time to time." Even though Nyona wasn't saying anything, Aay'han could read her. "Don't worry, Omega will be out of Cerberus' clutches soon enough."

Prudii was right about Tali needing that small time to just rest, now she was able to think clearly and use her knowledge of geth tactics and processes to protect her people. Rang had created a scoreboard for the five fleets, counting the number of kills each got. "Heavy Fleet, don't tell you guys are getting soft on me? Cause the Patrol Fleet has started to catch up in kill counts."

"We won't be shown up by the fighters. We aren't finished yet."

Prudii quickly cut Rang's comm channel then smacked the back of his head. "What?" Prudii just groaned at him, unwilling to explain after a few prior attempts. Instead of wasting his breath again, he left bridge to be with Swoop and Dagger in the hanger. At least until he cool off enough he doesn't want to beat Rang a few times.

"Well yes I'd agree it would be nonsensical, however the humans do wish to follow the plans exactly as diagrammed." The rachni screeched as one of her tendrils aided a sister with holding a beam in place for welding. Pyth was providing technical aid, keeping the translated plans active for them to use. No but I understand their concerns. A fear of the unknown and what could potentially occur with the technology when they use it.

And if we are to defeat the machines, then we must use every advantage we can achieve, including correcting their mistakes. We will not allow them to survive. Not after what they did to our songs.

Dr. Lok still couldn't help but shutter seeing the rachni at work and Pyth so willing to be in arms reach to them. "I don't understand you professor. They're dangerous."

Pyth turned to the doctor with a smile, much to the uncertainty of the humans. "She and her sisters are anything but dangerous, Doctor Lok." Pyth started to scratch the rachni she was standing next to like a cat, though fully aware that she was scratching a sentient being. "The historical record has been skewed by mental interference to their ancestors. They are only violent when absolutely necessary."

The rachni screeched, though unlike some of the other screams, this one was far gentler. Pyth nodded to the rachni, patting her back. Lok continued to keep her distance, still cautious of them. "Yes, well I can't say everyone is still comfortable with the idea of rachni working alongside them, but I have to say it's nice to have extra hands helping out."

A/N: I don't know about you, but seeing bugs with claws capable of tearing you to shreds would have me staying back a few feet.

Mandalorian Translation:

N/A