I don't own the Mass Effect.


Chapter 10: The Warriors

I grimaced as I accepted the broken piece of armor from Dorvahn, regarding what was left of the chest plate. "Seriously Tris, what the fuck did you do to this?"

The Asari grimaced, visibly wincing as she leaned back in her bed. "You mean what did Krom do it."

That name hardly improved my mood, not that I'd been all that thrilled to be dragged from Ironhold down to the Silver Blades' headquarters in the middle of the day's first shift. Illyan was minding the store, and Rane was asleep, so I'd only brought Voya with. She was currently out in the main room going over everyone else's battered equipment, while the three of us had retreated into Trisren's room to go over things.

It also ensured that Trisren wouldn't have to get out of bed and risk opening her wounds. The thin Asari's right arm was in a sling, and her shirt was ruffled where more bandages were probably wrapped around her torso. Her normally dusky skin looked a bit lighter than normal, which was probably a bad sign.

Covering up my concern, I focused on the assassin. "I thought that the True Sons didn't have the cash to pay that asshole anymore."

"They don't." Dorvahn rumbled from where he was leaning against the bedroom wall. "He shot his way out of Gozu, taunting the True Sons on open lines as he murdered them. When we and the rest tried to take advantage of the chaos he was causing..."

When his voice trailed off into a rumbling snarl, Tris took over. " That fucking piece of worthless driftwood set off every trap they had on three separate levels. Mines, improvised suicide drones, reprogrammed turrets. One of the drones is what hit Ratha and Fec."

"They all right?" I had assumed they were, otherwise I'd have expected them to have lead the conversation with that.

Dorvahn nodded tiredly, "Fec is, just scratched up. Ratha... he'll make it, but he's not going anywhere for a while. Tris was trying to pull him back into cover when Krom hit her. We know it was him thanks to yet more damned taunting."

"Seriously ready for that man to turn up dead."

"What's your people's expression? Join the line?"

"Get in line. Or join the club. Either or."

"Pick one." He growled, glancing protectively at his girlfriend.

"If anyone is killing him it's me." Trisren's lips twisted. "I'm the one who's got the goddess-damned flesh wounds here."

"I'm the one who has to patch your armor. And I've had to put up with him before." I pointed out, hefting her armor back up to glare at the shattered plates and torn circuitry. "Though with how badly you tore this up I might just unpack a new set for you."

"Don't even think about going after him Kie." Her voice lowered to a growl, though the effect was somewhat ruined by a grimace of pain. "And I thought you were out of armor."

I gave her an Asari style shrug. "I've got a spare set for the both of you, been sitting on them since the first shipments got in. Seemed to be a good idea."

"Not going to argue." Another grimace. "Right, need to give you the details-"

"Trisren, I can handle that." Dorvahn cut her off, stepping away from the wall and moving closer to her bed. "You need to rest."

From her glare, his lover didn't quite agree.

I mostly tuned out the short argument that followed, waiting patiently for Tris to tire herself out from all the shouting. It didn't take terribly long, maybe five minutes, before she was panting and grudgingly accepting a bottle of water and some pain pills.

Dorvahn lowered the lights on the way out, barely letting me see her trying to relax as we stepped out into the circular main room. Apart from Voya, whose body language screamed irritation as she examined pieces of armor and gear, the only other occupant was Herani. The purple skinned Asari looked exhausted, but otherwise unharmed as she sat in a recliner and sipped tea.

"She going to be all right?" I asked only once the door was closed. "She looked pretty beat up."

"She'll be fine." His tone brooked no argument. "She's been through worse, you know that."

I know she'd been through worse. I'd had to pour medigel into bullet wounds that the medics could barely find amidst the burns. "Those aren't exactly pleasant memories for either of us Dovahn."

"What are... spirits, I'd forgotten you where there." Mandibles quivered slightly in suppressed emotion. "She doesn't like to talk about it."

That was entirely understandable, but hadn't I just said that I didn't want to talk about it? "I'm sure she'll be all right. What details did you want to go over?"

The big Turian gave a last glance at the room we'd just left before gathering himself and waving a clawed hand to a pair of chairs nearer Herani. "Have you been tracking the campaign?"

"Obviously."

T'Ravt began her campaign on Boxing Day, though even most of the humans didn't recognize the holiday. It was... decidedly odd to be on the outside looking in, rather than being in the thick of things like I usually was. All we could really do at the shop was stick to our routine, and keep the Omega centric news sites running more or less at all times.

The True Sons original and primary fortress compromised a good portion of the Gozu district, in particular one of the many small self-contained 'spires' that stretched downwards within the main Omega spire. Combine that territory with the areas they'd seized during the Blue Suns war, and they had nearly thirty levels firmly under their thumb.

The Lady Warlord's primary target was the hanger and docking complex that stretched from levels nineteen to twenty five, and the connection tubes on level twenty eight that led to easy access to the Blood Pack warrens in the Kenzo district. Unfortunately for everyone involved, the True Sons leadership wasn't proving to be as stupid as I personally had expected. Ignoring Aria's standing orders concerning the station's physical components, they'd sabotaged all four of the heavy lifts that ran through Gozu, and had done so with gusto.

What that meant for Tris... she and the other mercenaries, and T'Ravt's regulars whenever they showed, was that they'd have to fight their way down floor by floor, cleaning out each one as they went. Nor were the True Sons making it easy on them. They'd fortified nearly every meter of each goddess-damned floor, and weren't ashamed to use the few civilians who they hadn't yet conscripted as cannon fodder or living shields when the situation called for it.

I shook my head as we sat down, Herani barely glancing up from her cup as we did so. "The broad strokes anyway, though the mess Krom left..."

"We were on level nine, we think he sabotaged everything as far down as twelve when he... quit." He shook his head slowly. "Though the Warlord's forces may make better time now."

"Could hardly be making worse time."

That brought the Asari into the conversation, her eyes snapping up to glare at me. "Don't talk shit MacKeanen. You aren't stuck fighting and bleeding in that goddess-damned spire." My hands rose in surrender to try and forestall the berating, not that it helped. "Why don't you fucking come with us the next time, then maybe you can-"

"Herani!" Dorvahn snapped. "Don't. Kie knows the kind of shit we're going through."

Purple lips pulled back into a snarl. "Doubtful."

"You ever been clinically dead?" He shot back, and I slightly enjoyed the way her eyes widened. The Turian looked like he was on the verge of saying more, restraining himself and exhaling heavily as his mandibles quivered before apparently regaining control of himself. "I understand that you're worried about Ratha, but don't take it out on him. Kie, refrain from making further stupid comments if you can."

Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I settled for nodding politely.

The Asari's anger had withdrawn into a sea of confusion for all of five seconds before it rolled back in. Growling to herself, she threw her cup onto a table, uncaring about the spillage, before standing and stomping over to a bedroom and vanishing inside.

"That went well incredibly well, don't you think?"

My companion gave a low growl. "Kie.'

This time I did roll my eyes, waving a hand irritably. "You don't want me to be a smart-ass? Then don't ever bring that up again."

He blinked slowly, seeming to be as taken aback as Herani had been, before shaking his head slowly. "We don't have time to argue. T'Ravt isn't going to give us that much time to recover, not while we're still under contract. Have Trisren's armor repaired and ready to go as quickly as possible."

"Her spare set was made ready when we first arrived, we just need to get it here. Voya, how do the rest look?" The Quarian threw a battered chest plate halfway across the room, letting me see just how banged up it was when it hit the ground. She followed it up with a quick series of gestures, wordlessly answering my questions as I asked them. "How many? Don't include Ratha's... they all that bad? Shit... right, we can get that done by the day after tomorrow then."

Voya stomped one of her feet at that, crossing her arms and glaring at me in the way she normally did when I forgot something. Like the fact that we were in the middle of one of T'Ravt's orders.

"We'll close the store and let Illyan get the backups all setup, that should... fine, three days then."

Dorvahn let out a quiet rumble. "I tell you to calm down and you ignore me. She stomps her foot and you back down."

"You wouldn't knife me in my sleep if I pissed you off." I muttered as the Quarian turned back to check over a few more things. "And she's been... moody lately."

He glanced between us before letting out a whistling Turian snort. "Three days is fine. Hopefully T'Ravt will be understanding enough with our leader down, I'll update you if that isn't the case."

Recognizing the dismissal, I grunted and used my cane as a lever to help me stand. My knee was mostly better, I'd finally been religiously adhering to my stretches and work-out schedule, and I liked to think I was starting to get close to where I'd been prior to Korlus. Still, it was easier to use the weapon disguised as a walking stick, especially when I'd been awake for nearly twenty bloody hours.

"I'll have Illyan and Rane by later to grab the pieces we can repair, I'll keep you informed if we need more time."

The pair of us exchanged polite nods, then I turned and started moving. Grabbing my helmet from where I'd left it near Voya, I waited for her to take a few final notes in her omni-tool before we gave Dorvahn our farewells and stepped outside.

The streets were packed as they usually were at this time of day, made worse by the fact that tens of thousands had been displaced from Gozu and its surrounding areas thanks to the fighting. While it was relatively far away from us, the ripple effect ensured that there was still more people around than there had been just a month and a half ago.

As she usually did in crowds, Voya quickly stuck herself to my side, primly waiting for me to offer her my arm as I would for Rane. Once I'd done so, and her dainty three fingered hand was wrapped tightly around my armored limb, she graciously allowed us to begin moving.

For the most part the crowd parted for us, our obviously quality armor and weaponry making it clear that we were people of means, and thus not to be fucked with. I kept my external microphones running as we walked, trying to parse through the general din of conversation for anything interesting.

"...I can't believe he's trying to cheat the Eclipse! Does he have a death wish?" Probably.

"Two hundred credits for a bit of fun." She wouldn't get any takers in this district. Not at that price anyway. You could pay ten to spend an hour in the slave brothel not fifteen minutes away. If I was still stuck on this station when Vakarian showed up, I was contemplating ways to get him to obliterate that place and the others like it.

"Is that a highborn? With a Quarian?" Observant but not threatening, they weren't wondering how much Voya would fetch as a slave. Which was a good thing, because her reaction to that kind of discussion was predictable.

As was mine.

"How much is T'Ravt paying? That much... let's go boys, I think we found our next meal ticket." That one was actually good to know, I hadn't realized she was still bringing in freelancers.

"Aria still won't allow broadcasts out of Gozu, how am I supposed to know if they made it out!?" Knew that already.

"Touch me again, Batarian, and I'll burn your dick off with warpfire." A crowd quickly began to gather at the last, as someone began screaming in extremely high pitched tones. "Warned you!"

Despite the fact that he had probably deserved it, I still winced a bit and moved a little faster, making Voya's eyes twitch to let me know she was grinning at my discomfort.

"Shut up." I muttered, making sure the helmet-to-helmet channel was active. "You're not a guy, you don't understand it."

From the way her chin tilted back a little bit, she was quite happy about that state of affairs.

Things calmed down as we neared the edges of the district, entering the ramped tunnels that would bring us back to Fumi. The Talons had largely been keeping the refugees off of our level, instead directing them to the less populated lower ledges. We'd asked around for a reason, but the local patrollers only knew that the orders had come down from on high.

Which meant Nyreen, which meant I wasn't getting an answer. She'd effectively vanished since she'd made the deal with the White Tigers in the aftermath of seizing the True Son base, and everything we'd heard indicated that she was more or less holed up in the old recruiting center. Probably still trying to get the place in order to use as a command center.

As we left the crowds behind, my companion relaxed somewhat, eventually extracting herself to walk on her own as we stepped out onto our street. Everything seemed like a normal, calm first shift until we neared the store and heard the shouting.

"...fucking bitch! You will give me a full refund!"

Voya and I exchanged a quick glance before accelerating, my fingers tightening around my cane's grip as she pulled an upgraded Acolyte off of her belt.

"For the last goddess-damned time, you didn't buy that piece of tide brought filth here!" Illyan bellowed back at whoever was shouting at her. "Now get your four-eyed asses out of here!"

Batarians then.

That was confirmed when I stepped through the door, motioning for Voya to stay back a bit as I moved in. There were four in total, wearing light to moderate armor, not the best quality but not the worst either. Probably freelancers then, I'd have said former Blue Suns but none of them were smart enough to be watching the doorway as well as Illyan and Glitch, and only one of them was smart enough to wear a helmet.

The Asari hadn't released the mech to combat mode yet, leaving it with its shotgun aimed at the floor as it's head swiveled between possible targets. Her own rifle was drawn but likewise held loosely in her hands, matching the fact that none of our 'customers' were actively aiming at her yet.

"You're a fucking liar blue." The apparent leader stepped closer to the cage, his voice somewhat modulated by his helmet. "Now either repay my five hundred credits, or..."

Points for not bothering with specific threats. Ominously trailing off like that let the victim's imagination fill in the blank. Or would have if she hadn't visibly relaxed at the sight of Voya and I arriving.

"Or you all can take a long walk in the desert without water." Two of them actually jumped, spinning around in shock to stare blankly at us. "It seems to the better alternative than continuing your rather transparent attempt to extort money from my store."

He turned enough so that he could see both myself and Illyan, so maybe he wasn't entirely an idiot. Though I couldn't help but notice the complete absence of any measure of respect in his posture. "The fake highborn. I was hoping that you would show up."

Tilting my head to display just how superior I thought myself above the lot of them, I noticed that one of the guys who had jumped reflexively started to bow his own before one of his companions growled at him to stop it.

"Here I am then." Shifting my cane in front of me, I wrapped my free hand over top of the one holding the grip. It served to make my look somewhat like Xerol, a highborn impatiently waiting for an idiot to get on with it. More importantly, it hid the fact that I was carefully adjusting the settings on my cane and removing the safety.

"Here you are, ready to give me my five hundred credits." I could practically see his grin as he confidently tilted his head to the right. "And a new Avenger."

"One, no weapon in this store is so cheap as to cost a mere five hundred credits. Two, I don't sell Avengers." My voice hardened into a low growl as I counted my points off. "Three... if you keep fucking disrespecting me I will rip your eyes out."

While his friends seemed nervous, he only snorted. "You do have the attitude correct. How long did that useless bitch of a Reyja'krem spend training you?"

I throttled the anger down very slightly at the mention of Ayle, my desire for information outweighing my desire to bash his head in. "You have a problem with we Reyja'krem?"

His sneer might have been hidden, but it came through his voice all the same. "Stop pretending to be one of those pretentious relics, acting as though whoring yourself out to a highborn and then being tossed aside is something to be proud of."

Turning myself slightly, I focused on the youngish exile who had tried to bow his head. "You. What's your problem with Reyj'akrem Ayle?"

"Don't answer that-" His voice cut off when Voya snapped her gun up to aim at him, Illyan doing the same a few heartbeats later. His own weapon rose to aim at Illyan, but none of his companions seemed quite ready to reciprocate. "By the Pillars, get your damned guns up!"

"Um... they have us surrounded." Companion who'd nudged the polite one seemed far less than certain now. "And those guns look expensive."

"Gutter trash! I bought you your fucking armor!"

Nudge shifted uncomfortably, his dark eyes flicking between his leader and the other two. "Joth... answer the Reyja'krem."

The leader revealed his intent before his weapon started moving, the way his weight shifted right, his head tilting back in obvious display of fury. Even a petty leader such as himself couldn't take being defied in front of his enemies, and his knee-jerk reaction was thus sadly predictable.

My cane snapped upwards as I flicked my wrist, index finger pulling the small trigger as soon as it was in line with him. The gleaming orange blur of the tech-mine was followed almost instantly by Voya and Illyan reflexively opening fire as well.

He'd gotten his weapon half-way towards Nudge before the incinerate exploded, making him and his companions scream as the fire blazed in the confined space. It didn't kill him, his armor and barriers were sufficient to keep the flames at bay, though the latter quickly broke under the rifle and pistol fire from my friends.

But the actual kill went to Glitch. The mech had automatically gone active when my mine had exploded, its shotgun snapping up, the solid slug easily tearing through the cage mesh before smashing through his chest.

"Hostiles detected! Defending the store!"

Illyan snapped out commands before it could attack the rest, "Stand down! 2F!"

"Standing down, vocal authorization accepted. Requesting permission to eliminate surrendered hostiles."

"Denied." She growled, keeping her gun on the three remaining Batarians. Not that they were in any shape to really put up any resistance, my incinerate had seen to that. The blast hadn't been enough to seriously harm them, but they were all wincing and at least one had mild burns on his face.

Carefully lowering my cane, I grimaced as my omni-tool promptly began to alert me to a priority call. "We're fine Rane, just a minor disagreement with an extortionist."

My lover's voice growled in my helmet. "Minor disagreements don't include explosions my Reyja'krem."

"Using my cane was faster than drawing my gun." I defended myself, watching as Voya carefully shifted forwards, nudging the corpse with her foot to make sure it was dead. "And the rest of them surrendered."

"Rest of them? Please tell me they aren't White Tigers."

"They aren't, all Batarian... all lowborn exiles." Flicking my eyes left, I watched as Nudge and the one apparently named Joth carefully helped each other to stand. "We'll be up once we're done interrogating them."

There was a slight pause before she spoke again. "Understood, my Reyja'krem."

I was glad that my helmet hid my grimace as she cut the line. I had no idea how she managed to make that tiny sentence seem slightly disappointed, but she had. Worse, I had no idea why she would be... though I would probably find out soon enough.

Exhaling, I shook myself a bit before turning to where Voya and Illyan had herded the three and relieved them of their weapons. "All right. What the fuck was all of this about?"

The three exiles wasted no time in bowing their heads deferentially, Nudge speaking with almost indecent haste. "May the Pillars of Heart and Kin guide your weapon, Reyja'krem. The plan was entirely Hesh's."

"Begging for mercy and blaming the dead guy isn't exactly original, and I do believe that I asked for an explanation."

He shifted slightly, keeping his head bowed as he seemingly tried to work out his next words. When the silence stretched on to nearly a minute, I pointedly turned my gaze to the next one in line. "You. Joth. Out with it."

The young lowborn swallowed heavily, tried to duck his head even more subserviently as he started to stammer. "It w-was Hesh's plan, Reyja'krem. He hates Reyja'krem Ayle and knew she b-buys her weapons here."

One of my fingers tapped my cane's grip thoughtfully. "And he intended to what? Try and annoy us out of five hundred credits?"

Joth grimaced. "He.. wanted to see what kind of defenses you had, then talk our way out."

I grunted quietly. He'd definitely failed at the latter. "Then what, attack us later? The four of you would hardly be... who was sponsoring him?"

All three of them seemed to wince in unison.

Voya stepped a little closer, casually drawing a knife and giving it a little twirl to draw their attention to it. Joth nearly whimpered, he was the closest to her, and he seemed to start losing himself as she negligently rubbed the flat of the blade across his chest plate.

"If we tell you, Reyja'krem," Nudge cut in before his companion could simply tell us, "Will you let us leave here alive and unharmed?"

"Provided you aren't lying," I gave him a slight nod, "I have no desire to kill any more people today."

"A Hegemony Batarian. He didn't give his name, just provided payment. He said he represented people who wanted to see the old ways brought down, especially getting rid of the Harath'krem and Reyja'krem alike." Nudge glanced at the body. "Hesh looked like the Pillars themselves had spoken to him, the rest of us just wanted the paycheck."

My helmet concealed yet another grimace. "How did he hold himself? Midcaste? Warrior?"

"Both, Reyja'krem."

Illyan shifted uncomfortably beside me, while Voya glanced back at us. "Boss..."

"You three, get out. And take that with you." Fucking shit... I spent a few mental moments bitching out Athame for her poor sense of humor before continuing. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you what will happen if you return."

"The Pillar of Heart truly has taught you its wisdom Reyja'krem." Nudge bowed low, his head craned left. I twitched my own in the barest of nods, and the three of them promptly scampered, dragging their former leader's body out with them. Illyan followed them as far as the door, locking it behind them as they vanished.

"Boss..." I held up a hand to forestall Illyan again, trying to think as Voya glared at me and made a quick gesture across her throat. She stomped a foot angrily and repeated the motion when I didn't respond right away.

"Killing them wouldn't change anything Voya. Yes, I know they're going to run off and report to whoever paid them, but if they were all dead it would send the same damned message." My breath escaped in an annoyed hiss. "Either way the Hegemony would know something is going on here."

The Quarian didn't look like that was an acceptable answering, shoving her knife back into its sheath before stalking through the cage and heading upstairs. I yanked my helmet off as she left, setting the heavy thing on a display stand as I ran a hand through my hair.

Illyan copied me, her own concerned features coming into view as she put hers next to mine. "They were going to figure it out eventually boss."

"I fucking know that, but I'd have fucking rather it happened when we were on goddess-damned Illium." I snapped, wincing almost automatically as she flinched at my tone. "Sorry... shit, I didn't mean to go off like that."

She bit her lip for a moment, "It's all right boss, you haven't slept in a long damned time. You've got those dark marks under your eyes."

"It's not all right." My body shifted as I leaned heavily on my cane. "Fucking... you aren't on the list of people I feel like I can yell at."

"You yell at me all the time boss." The Asari moved closer to me, wrapping a heavy arm around my torso and helping me stand properly upright.

"I yell at you for trying to molest me. Or Rane. Not for trying to help me think through this crap." I muttered as we started moving towards the stairs, avoiding the blood smears across the floor. "Athame's ass. We're going to have to check the utility hatch daily. Or every shift."

The Asari grunted quietly as she helped haul my suddenly exhausted body up the stairs. "We could close the store."

"We'll have to. Too easy for them to just walk in." My lips twisted. "Fucking Hegemony... I'd bet that Aethyta won't be able to tell me if the SIU has a team on station, assuming she can be bothered to get back to us."

"You've got plenty of wind in your sails today boss."

Grimacing at the reminder that I'd been snapping at... pretty much everyone over the last few hours, I kept my mouth shut the rest of the way up.

The third floor proved to have all three of our companions already present, two of them glancing over at us as we awkwardly made our way through the heavy door. Rane quickly rose from where she'd been sitting at the kitchen table to join Illyan, taking my cane and helping me limp over to the table.

"I'm not injured dammit." I muttered as the pair of aliens manhandled me, "Just tired, I can walk on my own."

"Boss, do us a favor and just shut up for now." She entirely ignored my glare, instead glancing over at the young man sitting on the couch. "Jarick, sorry kid, but we need to have one of those conversations."

The kid's bald head had remained that way, apparently he liked not having to deal with hair, and he nodded before politely rising. "Not a problem Miss Illyan, I was about to go to sleep anyway."

He gave Rane and I polite bows of his head in the Batarian way, not mangling the motions all that much, before skirting around where Voya was leaning against the fridge and vanishing into the hallway. I vaguely heard his bedroom door closing as I was gently pushed into a chair, the Asari stealing my cane just to make it more difficult for me to try and stand on my own.

Which naturally just annoyed me even more. "I'm not fucking injured Illyan."

"Technically you haven't finished your rehab yet," She countered, tossing the weapon over to Voya who easily caught it. "By that measure you're still injured boss."

I gave her a mild glare, which didn't make her look abashed in the slightest. She dropped herself into the chair across from me while Rane took one on my left side. "Because you're bloody exhausted boss, and if you get pissed off some more the last of your energy will drain out to sea even faster."

"Illyan." Rane admonished quietly, before shifting her entire gaze to our fourth member. "Voya, please sit with us."

The Quarian's wide eyes expanded a bit further before furrowing as she frowned at the lowborn. Still, she did set my cane aside before stepping over to the table, pointedly shifting the chair a bit closer to me and away from Illyan as she sat in it.

"Just pointing out that he gets irritable when he's tired." The Asari muttered as Voya pulled out her small tablet and set it on the table. "Which is all the time lately."

Are you sure it isn't simply exposure to your oh so admirable personality?

Illyan glared at the smaller alien. "No, but your lovely brand of psychopathy might be a factor."

You did NOT just-

"Enough!" My shout was enough for both of them to jump slightly, both of them turning to stare at me in something like shock. "Fucking enough all right? I get that you don't like each other. Pranks, fine. Direct insults, not."

There was a tight glare between them, easily revealing that each blamed the other for setting me off, but they did subside for the moment.

Counting to ten in my head in Thessian, then again in highborn, and then yet again in lowborn, I didn't quite calm down until Rane's hand found my leg under the table and gave me a very gentle squeeze. "Personal issues can wait for a minute. More importantly is what just went on downstairs, and how T'Ravt's campaign is progressing."

Voya and I took turns updating the others on the latter, including the injuries to both Trisren and Ratha. Illyan had paled at the later, calming only once I assured her that he'd live, he just wasn't going to be joining the fighting anytime soon. Or up for sex either. Once we'd gotten that out of the way, the three of us had summed up the short lived 'attack' for Rane. She took the news better than I and Illyan had, merely thinning her lips before pulling her pipe out and preparing it.

"In short, we have a campaign against the True Sons that is going poorly, but with little that we can do about it," She summarized as she carefully ignited it, drawing a mouthful of the pale smoke before continuing, "And it is probable that the SIU is now aware that there are indeed two Reyja'krem on station."

"And it won't take them long to figure out just who the boss is either." Illyan sighed. "Bets on how long it'll take for the first attacks?"

Two or three weeks. Voya typed out slowly, her eyes narrowing in thought. She'd calmed down somewhat during the exposition, though that really wasn't saying all that much. They'll want to confirm his identity, after that they'll start trying to work out his routine.

I grimaced. "And follow it up with ambushes, traps, snipers. Usual Hegemony operating procedure to wear at our pscyches if they don't kill us outright. Do I want to know how you're familiar with the SIU?"

I'm from Xentha. We had to deal with them chasing exiles and pirates fairly routinely. She shrugged slightly. They're skilled, if not terribly efficient at times.

Rane's lower eyes glanced in my direction. "Did we have a plan for this, my Reyja'krem?"

Another grimace. "Pack everything up and move into Trsiren's place. But with T'Ravt's orders..."

"They don't have the equipment we'd need to complete them." Illyan finished for me.

We would also have to answer some rather pointed questions from the Warlord as to why we felt the need to live with our customers.

"So we're stuck here at least until our contract is up. Two more orders." I exhaled slowly, bringing a hand up to rub at my temples, trying to force my sluggish brain to actually work. "After that... if we shift to Trisren's place we're basically locking ourselves in, we wouldn't be able to leave. And we'd have to trust that none of her people would reveal us."

Which I didn't. Wilhelm openly resented Rane's mere presence whenever she ran a delivery, and I didn't know enough about either of the Salarians.

Illyan nodded slightly, "Or we can call it a job and set sail for home boss."

"It's an option." I admitted, glancing at the other two. "Might piss off Aehtya and Trisren, but I'm pretty sure Tris would at least understand. We dump all of our spare gear with them on the way out, they'd be setup enough to make it through the campaign. We'd miss out on whatever they find in the True Sons base, but she'll have to transmit that to Illium eventually."

"I would prefer that to being trapped in the Silver Blades chambers, my Reyja'krem." Rane murmured, her lips twisting a little at the very idea. "And I believe I speak for all of us when I say that I am quite tired of Omega."

All three of us glanced at Voya, who drummed her fingers slowly before typing her opinion. I would not be opposed. Your doctor is on Illium, and I have nothing here that particularly ties me in place anymore. Though there is a third option. Tell T'Ravt.

"Tell her what? That the SIU is after us?"

Yes. We are her employees right now, she would look weak if we were killed. She doesn't have much love for the Hegemony, not that I've heard of. She shrugged again. I'm sure she could relocate us, and then you could stay for the duration of her campaign before we leave.

"Assuming that she'd allow us to leave once she had us." Illyan shook her head. "She's got no love for the Republics either, if she finds out that we're RI..."

We'd be dead, regardless of where we were. Voya impatiently replied. But if she protects us we could at least remain alive until her orders are complete, and then renegotiate for new tasks that last until your friend Trisren is done with her mission. Then we could use one of the cruise ships to leave, traveling with strength in numbers.

It was my turn to drum my fingers slowly. It wasn't a bad idea, and it was definitely better than the original one of just fleeing to the Blades. Especially with how on edge they all were with the fighting and their wounded. But it still meant that we'd be drawing the ropes holding us to the Republics' most wanted Warlord much tighter than I was comfortable with.

"This is too big to decide right now." I spoke after a few minutes of tense silence. "And too large a decision just for me. We'll all sleep on it and put it to a vote over dinner. Agreed?"

There were nods as everyone glanced at one another.

"All right. As much as it sucks, we're going to need someone on permanent watch from this point on, we can't trust the mechs on their own. Rane, you just woke up, so you're first." She nodded firmly. "Then Illyan, then me, then Voya. We'll let the kid keep doing his own thing, otherwise we're going back to Nos Astra standard time."

More nods before Rane spoke quietly, "That would conclude our official work, my Reyja'krem. The personal issues remain."

I exhaled heavily. "Besides my sleeping problems leading to irritation, what else is there?"

Illyan grimaced. "You didn't exactly try to talk those guys down in the shop boss. But I guess you didn't kill them after either."

"It was his choice to try and kill his companion. He could have shut his mouth and left at anytime." I countered. "Both before and after I arrived."

"Well... yeah, I guess." She still didn't seem entirely comfortable. "Maybe I'm just getting tired of killing people."

This is Omega, where life is worth little. Voya shook her head slowly, unknown emotions rippling beneath her alien features. You don't belong here.

"I don't think anyone does. Even people as fucked up as you."

The Quarian stilled for a moment. Don't. Just don't.

Illyan held her hands up, shaking her head before standing. "Boss. I'd suggest smoking but I don't think you'll have problems sleeping tonight."

The massive Asari vanished into the hallway without waiting for me to respond, leaving just the three of us. "Rane?"

My lover leaned over, chastely kissing the side of my neck before pulling back. "You have been more prone to anger, my Reyja'krem, but it does seem to correspond to how much sleep you get and how much stress you are under. I cannot help as much as I wish with the latter, not with everything going on... but I did leave my spare pipe and some Chehala on the nightstand."

"My thanks." I murmured, leaning against the brief brush of her fingers across my cheek as she stood. And then she too was gone, heading downstairs to spend several hours checking on both mechs and our external cameras.

And leaving me alone with Voya.

The Quarian glanced at me, purple lips thin as we regarded each other. Are you going to ask how I feel, or are you finally going to inquire about how I ended up a slave to a pathetic gang?

"The former. The latter is your business, agreement or not. You can tell me when you want or not at all."

I still don't understand why you trust me so much. Neither of your companions do. Well... She paused before amending herself. Rane'li does, though only because she fears disappointing you if she does not.

"Rane says I trust too easily. And forgive too easily." I shook my head tiredly, glancing away from her to stare at the table. "Illyan insists I'm still a good person."

Good is relative.

"Thank you for cheering me up with that."

She let out an annoyed exhale. I meant it in a good way bosh'tet. By Omega's standards you are practically an ancestral guardian. Maybe humans from the Alliance wouldn't think of you as good, but they cower in their shelters, hiding from reality whenever it refuses to change itself to suit them. You have to deal with it daily, and you still let those three live.

"You didn't want me to."

That's because I am not a good person.

"Part of you must be. Otherwise you would have left by now."

Her lips compressed into a tight line. Don't Cieran. I'm a hollow wreck of a being even by the standard of my people, and I'm self aware enough to realize it. Don't try to coddle me.

"I'm not coddling you. Just pointing out that you could have left when you got what you wanted, instead of keeping your word." I exhaled heavily. "And that's one reason I trust you."

Fingers went still for a few breaths, then slowly entered her next question. And what is the other?

My mouth twitched a little on the sides. "For me to know."

Gleaming eyes blinked, then narrowed rapidly. There are days when I hate you Cieran Kean. You did that on purpose.

"As if I would stoop so low as to arouse your hidden curious streak just to distract you from what we were talking about."

I am going to hit you. And then cut your hair.

My eyes narrowed in return, a hand automatically reaching up to make sure my ponytail was still attached. "Don't even think about it."

The tablet shut off with a flick, her lips curling into a wicked grin that showed me her canines. She rose as I did, her dainty hands coming together to crack her long knuckles, her legs easily matching my pace as I tried to back towards the hallway.

A half-naked Illyan stomped out of her room five minutes later, yanking us apart with an annoyed growl. Or at least, she tried to. Voya may or may not have sucker-punched her in the side when she was trying to get between us, and I may or may not have slammed a booted foot onto her bare blue one, drawing a snarling yowl before a heavy fist hit my thankfully armored chest.

After that... well, things got a little complicated. And blurry. And mildly painful. But at least I didn't need any help in falling asleep.


Next up is Chapter 11: The Scythe

Well. Lots of personal issues and a bit of self-realization from Voya as two very screwed up people talk with one another. This chapter came out to be a bit longer than most, mostly because there was quite a bit to cover, especially when it came to Cieran and his increasing anger and stress problems.

The next chapter is the Act finale, after which we'll have another two part interlude before the final act of Ronin begins. My game plan is to complete Act III before Adepticon, which is at the end of March, with the interlude coming after that little vacation. Once that is done... I'm not sure when AR: IV will hit. I'm probably going to take an actual break to try and write an original story for myself, so it might be a while. Then again, if people seriously love how the story is going I might be persuaded to work on both, so we'll play it by ear.

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat


Review Responses:

Tusken1602 → I'm seriously flattered that you enjoy it to that extent, and glad to hear that I'm keeping everyone unique.

Griezz → He still has his copy of his will, which has likely undergone several revisions by this point. That's probably the closest thing to 'notes' on the games as he has.

Kudara → Thanks, that's one thing I really wanted to make sure that I hit. I didn't want everyone just to seem like humans, I wanted different cultures and viewpoints that could lead to misunderstandings, amusement, and problems.

BJ Hanssen → For the conversations and interaction... honestly I just let it roll out of my head.

Adam Pitlik → Good to hear from you and glad that you like it.

Elidan1012 → I did make a few token efforts at lemon scenes in Arrival.. honestly I find writing it in the first person to be rather awkward and thus dropped it as an idea. The story also seems to flow better when you're not going into that kind of detail all the time.

Lfan8 → If things get worse, there's plenty of things out there he could reach out to. Still have quite a ways to go yet.