STARCRAFT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. ACCORDING TO THE MAGIC SOCK THAT TELLS ME WHAT TO DO, I SHOULD THANK ALL OF THE PEOPLE WHO READ THIS STORY, SO… THANKS. MAYBE NOW THE SOCK WON'T EAT MY FAMILY.

Ah, it feels good to get back to this story. Would now be a good time to mention another hiatus?

*Dodges gunfire*

I'm just kidding!

Cycles Upon Cycles

Chapter 28

Omega Rising

Welcome back to UNN, with Kate Lockwell. Tonight, we have a special report from our military and economic analysts about the Dominion's military spending. Despite relative peace over the last few years, military production has not decreased; if anything, it's gone up almost ten percent since the formation of the Koprulu Alliance. On the surface, this has been done in order to replace the losses we've suffered since the end of the Brood War, but our analysts have estimated that those losses have been replaced since just over a year ago.

Furthermore, it seems that the Dominion isn't alone in military buildup. New Protoss weapons were spotted in frontier systems, though I can happily report that they were joining our border defense. Although we have no confirmation, it wouldn't be surprising if the Zerg have a few new tricks up their sleeves as well.

This all begs the question: who is the Alliance preparing to fight? The Council races, more of Saren's remaining forces, or something worse? We'll keep asking questions, so that you can get the answers. Until then, this has been Kate Lockwell, for UNN.

The Normandy

Shepard couldn't decide whether to be in a good mood, or a foul one. On the one hand, he had gone through the Normandy and greeted anyone he saw; they had all given very positive responses, even though they'd been told lies about why he'd gone missing. On the other hand, three of his friends—one of whom was the woman he loved—were stuck in a rapidly deteriorating situation, and until the Strikers arrived at Omega, there was nothing Shepard could do to help.

Every time he thought about Kasumi, a part of Shepard became worried. He knew that he would tell her the truth—if anyone deserved to know, it was her—but he had no idea how she would react. At the very least, he expected her to keep her distance for a while; if that was the case, he would wait while she got her feelings in order. At the worst, she would probably outright leave the Strikers, and him. If that happened, he expected to feel some heartache for a while, but beyond that, well… he'd cross that bridge if he came to it.

The Strikers were still a few hours away from Omega, and Shepard didn't want to risk unbalancing himself by practicing with his powers, and Zeratul was too busy to train him in the use of his psi-blade, so Shepard distracted himself by practicing with his new rifle on the Normandy's firing range.

Though almost identical to his old AGR-14, his new weapon, identified as the AGR-16, had several improvements. First was a near absence of recoil in single-shot or burst settings, and he could keep the weapon on target on full-auto for almost the entire clip's use. There was also a larger ammo capacity of seventy shots per clip. On automatic, those bullets would disappear almost instantly, but seventy armor-piercing rounds was nothing to sneeze at.

Last, but most impressively, was the psionic enhancement function. Like Miranda's rifle, Shepard could now channel his psychic power into his bullets, thus increasing the power behind each shot by several magnitudes. With his vast reservoir of psionic energy, Shepard believed he could fire several bursts of such rounds before pushing himself too far, though he decided to save such a move for an emergency.

After almost two hours of punching holes in targets—or outright shredding them—Shepard finally went to his quarters to rest. There was still time until the Normandy arrived at Omega, and Shepard wanted to be as fresh as possible for the mission. This was one battle he would not allow himself to fail.

Omega

Kasumi was at home in the dark; she welcomed it like an old friend. As a Ghost, she was trained to use everything possible to maximize her stealth. However, as she, Garrus and Tali walked through Omega's tunnels, she felt something odd about this darkness. It was not her friend, but an enemy that hid untold dangers.

"Does anyone else feel like we're walking into a trap?" Kasumi asked over the comms.

"I do," Tali replied. "But Mira said that this part of the station was secure, right?"

"Most of Omega was secure until a couple days ago," Garrus reminded her, "and look how that's changed."

Kasumi fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Do you practice being negative, Garrus, or does it just come naturally to you?"

Garrus scoffed. "Please, I don't need to practice anything. I'm just that good."

"Then why didn't C-Sec ever promote you?" Tali teased.

"Obviously they were all jealous of my skills."

Kasumi listened to the banter with a nostalgic smile; it reminded her of when she and Shepard had verbally sparred when they'd first met, and again when they had reunited at Dead Man's Port all those years later.

She blinked. 'All those years later'? Great, now I feel old.

A movement within the shadows up ahead caught her attention. "Okay, kids, as cute as your foreplay is, I think we've got company."

Garrus immediately became serious as he brought his rifle up, but Kasumi was rewarded with a muffled squeak of embarrassment from Tali, which was even more hilarious when it came from her hulking suit of armor.

"Kasumi, scout ahead, but pull back if you even think you're in danger," Garrus ordered.

Kasumi almost snorted. I'm a Ghost that was on the run from two different governments at one point. I always think I'm in danger.

Still, she crept forward, as silent and invisible as her namesake; she even withdrew her psychic presence, making herself seem almost invisible to psionic detection as well. With her night-vision up, she quickly identified the source of the movement.

"Guys, I've got five bodies," she reported tersely. "Four of Mira's guys, one of… well, a cyber-Quarian. You might want to check this out."

As it turned out, it was six bodies; the fifth War Pig had been so thoroughly shredded that Kasumi hadn't identified it until she found a severed head. The wounds were fresh, and if the movement Kasumi had seen earlier was any indication, the killers had left seconds ago.

While Kasumi kept an eye on the perimeter, in case the enemy came back, Garrus began cataloguing the mercenaries' injuries, trying to identify what caused them.

"This one has a five-inch hole in his sternum, punched right through the thickest part of the armor and out the back. Probably an anti-materiel weapon; gross overkill, but effective. And this one was cut almost in half by some kind of laser; kind of reminds me of those mining lasers that Moebius uses."

As Garrus went on, Tali inspected the dead Quarian/Geth abomination. It was shaped like a Quarian, but the sleek plating was almost identical to that of a pre-Protoss Geth. The upper half of the face was protected by a wide visor, but by the structure of the exposed lower jaw, Tali identified the thing as a female. Her right arm was slightly larger than her left, and had a tube-shaped weapon mounted on top; the left arm ended in long metal talons, rather than fingers.

"So, what kind of horrible things did Xen do to this one?" Kasumi asked idly.

Tali scanned the corpse with her omni-tool. "I'm seeing metal plates grafted onto skin, a generator powering shields and internal systems implanted at the base of the spine, and several organs replaced by cybernetics. Keelah, it looks like the part of her brain that regulated her immune-system was removed and replaced by some kind of nanobot-producing device. Her blood has more tech in it than I've ever seen, or even heard of, but it would explain why she doesn't have a mask."

"Sorry I asked," Kasumi muttered. "At least it's a step up from her playing Doctor Frankenstein, but still… gross."

"What killed it?" Garrus asked.

Tali looked at her scans. "It looks like a lucky gauss round broke through the shields and hit her brain. She might be more machine than organic, but she would still need the brain to function."

"So, either extreme overkill, or a headshot." Kasumi sighed. "I'm starting to wish I used a sniper rifle more often."

"We need to move up," Garrus said, ignoring Kasumi's comment. "If Xen's forces are here already, they might know about the 'gift' that Mira left behind. I'd rather that it be used on them, and not the other way around."

Kasumi shook her head as they moved further into the darkness. "Entering a deathtrap to set off a nuclear bomb, while surrounded by horrible freaks that want to kill us… is it bad that I consider this normal?"

The Normandy

By the time Edi had finished telling him that they were minutes away from Omega, Shepard had already reassembled his rifle and was halfway into his armor. If someone were to gauge his mood by his expression alone, Shepard looked almost bored, as if this mission was nothing more than a live-fire exercise.

However, this was hardly the case. Only a lifetime of discipline—at least, a memory of that lifetime—kept him from breaking out in a nervous sweat. Unlike the fighting at Ulnar, which had been almost reflexive, Shepard was going into a mission with full knowledge of what he was, and what he could do.

Shepard ran into Miranda a few minutes after he felt the slight jolt of the Normandy coming out of warp. "Anything to report?"

Miranda nodded. "Admiral Anderson made contact with one of Mira Han's vessels. The mercenaries are evacuating Omega, and they say that they'll be returning to Alliance space within five hours. We have until then to either retake the station, or at least complete our mission."

Shepard frowned. "Why? What happens in five hours?"

"Mira Han detonates a series of nuclear weapons to disable the station." Miranda grimaced. "And she sent Goto, Vakarian, and Zorah to arm the primary device."

Shepard resisted the urge to punch something. "Okay, do any of them know that that was probably a suicide mission?"

"They probably do, but considering the importance of the mission, they might think that it's worth it."

"God damn it." Shepard had his helmet tucked under one arm, and he used his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. "I don't know who I'm more pissed off at: Xen, Han, or our people."

"To answer that, all you have to do is decide which one you want to shoot."

Shepard gave Miranda a glare. "Your sense of humor needs work."

Miranda raised an eyebrow as they stepped into an elevator. "You're unusually angry, Commander. If this is about Goto, I should remind you that the mission always comes first."

"I know." In the cramped confines of the elevator, Miranda could barely take a step back at the double-tone in Shepard's voice. Her obvious shock was enough to snap Shepard out of it, and he took a deep breath. "I know, Miranda. That doesn't mean that I have to like it."

The rest of the ride down to the hangar was mercifully quiet, which was broken by the sound of barking orders and clanking equipment as soon as they arrived. Shepard put on his helmet to help filter out the background noise as he and Miranda walked up to where the other officers were waiting.

Ashley was the first to spot them and immediately saluted. "Commander, Lieutenant Commander."

Shepard snapped off a quick salute. "At ease. What's our status?"

"The troops being deployed are prepped and ready to go, sir." Ashley nodded in the direction of a squad of Marines. "We've got four more platoons ready to reinforce us if we need it."

"There are a lot of tight spaces on Omega," Shepard mused. "Our boys will make an easy target if we flood that place with bodies."

"Good thing you've got us, Shepard." Grunt was smiling in a way that did nothing to reassure anyone. "You send me and my packs in those tunnels first, and we'll clear the way."

{And we will be able to locate any traps along the way,} Zeratul added.

Shepard was grateful for the backup from the Zerg and Protoss; most of Omega was unsuited for vehicles, so the majority of the work would be up to the infantry. Jenkins and Kaidan would have to hold the Strikers' landing zones, while Legion would remain behind as unofficial head of the ship's security.

"At least the landing will be a little easier," Jenkins said, pointing at the Medivacs. "I can't believe Cortez got his plans okayed."

Shepard smiled, his eyes following Jenkins' arm until they landed on the newly armed transports. He remembered when Cortez had shown him his plans for underslung, automatic turrets for the Medivacs, and now they were seeing the fruits of his labor. While the Dominion was taking a little more time to retrofit every Medivac out there, the first ones out of the shop had gone to the Strikers.

"As nice as it is to look at the new toys," Shepard said, "I think we need to buckle up. Good luck, everyone."

Shepard and Miranda joined Ashley and her squad's Medivac and settled in. A moment later, the craft's engines began to hum, and a slight jolt told everyone that they were flying. As the dozens of Medivacs flew towards Omega, one of the Marines across from Shepard accessed the transport's outside cameras.

"What the hell is that?" the Marine asked.

Shepard glanced at what the man was looking at. "That's the Omega Four Relay." He recalled what he'd read about it during the mission briefing. "Nobody's sure what's on the other side, and nobody who's gone in has ever come back."

"Fantastic," the Marine grumbled. "Anyone wanna take a bet if we end up going in?"

Another Marine elbowed him. "Shut up, you'll jinx us."

The Medivac suddenly bucked like it had hit something; everyone gripped their restraints a little tighter, awaiting the dreaded explosion that took out entire squads before they hit the ground. When it didn't happen, the passengers let out a collective breath.

"Cortez, what was that?" Shepard asked.

"Antiaircraft fire, sir!" Cortez called back. "Looks like the bad guys captured some of the merc weaponry on the docks. All transports are taking evasive maneuvers."

Shepard nodded absently as he accessed his comms. "Kaidan, do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, sir."

"Good. I want you to pull your squadrons ahead and land at the docks. Take out those guns ASAP, understood?"

"Copy that, Commander, we'll get it done." Outside the dropship, Kaidan and his Viking squadrons rocketed ahead, dodging lines of gunfire as they tried to land. Several fighters were blown out of the sky, but the majority made it past the guns' fields of fire. As soon as they were close enough, the Vikings transformed into their walker-mode and began spraying the guns and anyone near them with waves of bullets.

With the landing zones secure, the Medivacs flew in, their new turrets occasionally taking shots at the odd survivor. As Shepard dropped to the ground from the grav-chute, he noted that the dead were all alien mercenaries. It seemed that Aria wanted to take back her little kingdom as quickly as possible.

"From the way things were going for Mira's Marauders, I was expecting more of a challenge," James said as he stomped over a dead Turian. As the corpse shifted, something caught Shepard's eye.

"James, move over," Shepard ordered, then knelt down to inspect the body. "What the… Okay, this is weird. Miranda! Zeratul!"

When the Ghost and Protoss arrived, Shepard tilted the dead Turian's head to the side, exposing lines of red circuitry crawling across his jaw and down his neck.

"Does this look familiar to you guys?" Shepard asked.

{It resembles the Harvester technology that Saren possessed.} Zeratul narrowed his eyes at the dead Turian. {Could this one have been a follower of Saren?}

Shepard could only shrug. "I don't know, honestly." He activated his comms and addressed the entire strike force. "All Medics, check the bodies for unusual cybernetics. Jenkins, Kaidan, secure the LZ."

After a few minutes, the Medics came back with an unusual report. After inspecting the mercenaries' bodies—those that hadn't been reduced to chunks by the Vikings—they found that only the Turians had the same kind of circuitry. The odd thing was that every Turian had the circuitry; the Batarians, Salarians, Asari, and the odd non-Zerg Krogan were all free of that kind of modification.

"Any theories?" Shepard asked his officers in a quick council of war.

Zaeed shrugged, the movement awkward in his cumbersome armor. "A bunch of goddamn Saren wannabes?"

Grunt shook his head. "They didn't smell wrong, like Saren or the Rachni. The Harvesters didn't corrupt them."

Miranda frowned behind her mask. "What if they're test subjects?"

Shepard glanced at her. "How so?"

"We know that Xen is creating Quarian cyborgs, but she only has so many of her people on hand, and she can't use the dead." Miranda shifted uncomfortably. "Turian and Quarian physiology is similar, although the former is more durable. Xen could be using them to test some of her developments."

"We don't have enough information," Shepard said. "Miranda, you have a secondary objective: observe any enemy Turians for unusual capabilities or behavior. If they're a bigger threat for infantry, prioritize them as targets."

"Understood, Commander."

Shepard glanced at the Strikers that were assembled. There were two squads of each of his Terran units, with one of those two led by one of his officers. Grunt had two dozen of his Krogan Zerg, and Zeratul had a dozen Centurions and a handful of scythe-wielding Dark Templar. Considering that the Strikers had little idea of what they were facing, Shepard was unwilling to commit more of his forces until he knew more.

"Okay, people," he said, "let's get going."

The throne was hers once again. The Terran mercenaries were almost completely gone, and were unlikely to return anytime soon. Aria knew she should have been happy, even elated, but something still bothered her, and it had nothing to do with Mira Han, or the new force that had landed on her station.

"Where is Xen?" she asked one of her lieutenants, an Asari named Tima.

Before Mira Han had attacked, Aria didn't like to employ other Asari as her officers. She preferred having beings who wouldn't live long enough to learn all her secrets and try to usurp her. She liked having her fellow Asari work as dancers in her clubs, where she could use them as spies to gather dirt on customers, as well as keep them in a lower station, to keep them from getting ideas.

Unfortunately, the losses she had suffered—either at the hands of her enemy, or donating her Turians to Xen for experimentation—meant that most of her competent officers had died. She still had a few loyal Batarian lieutenants, but many of her Asari dancers-turned-soldiers had proven their worth.

The younger Asari grimaced. "Still in her lab. I don't think she's left it since she sent out that last batch of… things."

Aria nodded; Xen disturbed her, but the madwoman had delivered on her promise to return Omega to her. Working with a Quarian mad scientist was yet another thing that Aria never thought she'd do. She just considered herself lucky that she didn't have to interact with Xen very often.

"Give me an update on the intruders," Aria ordered.

Tima brought up her omni-tool. "We've got Vikings and a group of some kind of light vehicle I've never seen before guarding the docks. We don't have the numbers or the firepower to get rid of them… unless we ask Xen."

Aria grimaced. "I'll think about that. What about the ones that made it inside?"

"Just under a hundred and fifty, mostly Terrans, but there are Protoss and Zerg with them."

Aria felt a tiny spike of fear. She had seen the footage of what the Swarm had done to the Batarians, and a few of her mercenaries of that race had joined her with horror stories to share about them. And the Protoss were almost completely unknown to the Council races, other than having powerful shields, even more powerful energy weapons, and technology that defied the laws of physics.

"How many troops can we spare?" she asked.

"We're spread thin," Tima said. "Unless we draft some of the civilians—"

"Absolutely not," Aria snarled. "I didn't fight so long to keep my people's home just to throw them into the fire."

Tima shrugged uncaringly. "Okay, but that means that we can divert about three hundred of our guys, and most of them either have gear that's being held together with spit and prayer, or are lobotomized Turians."

Aria held in a sigh, instead glaring at Tima. The other Asari didn't have nearly as much experience as her, and rather than look at the big picture, she would try to address only the immediate situation. She was also very ambitious, and if it weren't for the fact that both she and Aria knew who would win in a fight, Aria would have worried about a coup. The only reason Aria kept her around was because she had a head for numbers, and she appreciated how Tima always cut to the chase.

"If you won't bring in the civilians, then we have to ask Xen for help," Tima said.

This time, Aria did sigh. "I wonder what she'll ask for this time. We don't exactly have much to offer right now." Before Tima could say anything, Aria pointed to the door. "Get out. I'll talk to her."

Tima nodded and left to do… whatever she did in what little spare time she had. Honestly, Aria was too tired to care. She had spent so long fighting to retake her kingdom that it had consumed most of her energies.

Once Tima was gone, Aria activated her omni-tool and keyed in a frequency that Xen had provided her, in case Aria ever needed to contact her. After a moment, Xen answered; there was no image on the omni-tool, just like every time.

"Yes, Aria?"

Aria bristled at the dismissive tone, but didn't address it. "We have a problem. A joint Alliance force is here, and they've already taken the docks. I don't have enough men to push them back."

"And so, you need my children."

Aria felt her stomach churn; she had seen what Xen did to her creations, and calling them 'children' after all that would make anyone sick.

"Yes, I do. What do you want in exchange?"

There was a long moment of silence. Aria was about to repeat herself, something she hated doing, but then Xen spoke.

"There is a Quarian on this station who is not mine. I know where she is going, and none of my children are close enough to catch her for me. I will send my children to fight your enemies once again, if you send some of your thugs to bring her to me. Alive."

Aria frowned; the request seemed ridiculously simple. "Why do you want her? Is she alone?"

"My reasons are my own," Xen said, and Aria detected a hint of fury behind the calm veneer. "If you want my help, you will not ask again. As for your second question, she is not alone; there is a Turian and a Terran with her. I have no use for either; kill them, if you want."

Now Aria was furious; deals were one thing, but Xen was ordering her around. Her! Nobody ordered the Queen of Omega around!

"Now listen here, you tin-plated bitch, I—" Aria snarled when she realized that Xen had already cut the connection. "Tima!"

The other Asari hurried into the room, spurred on by Aria's obvious wrath. "What is it?"

Aria glanced at the coordinates Xen had sent her. "Take three squads of our best to this location. You'll find a Quarian, a Terran, and a Turian. Capture the Quarian, and kill the other two if you get the chance." Aria glanced at her lieutenant, who hadn't moved. "Get going!"

Tima rushed out again. Aria sank back into her chair, her throne, and tried contact Xen again. She didn't accept an actual call, but opened up a text-based messaging system. As much as it infuriated her, Aria sent a three-word message.

I'll do it.

Xen's response was immediate. My children are on their way.

"I am so confused," Tali admitted, during a quick break. "Are we really arming a nuclear weapon?"

"Yes and no," Garrus said. "Mira Han put these fake nukes all over as a scare-tactic. She thought she could use it to make Aria's forces abandon Omega by making it look like the station was going to blow. Once we arm the fake nuke, it'll hopefully make everyone evacuate, including Xen."

"And when she's in the open, we take her out," Kasumi finished.

"Why didn't Mira Han just tell us that?" Tali asked. "Why make me think we're about to blow up the whole place?"

"Two reasons," Kasumi said. "First, because it was possible that someone was listening in that didn't need to know that it was a trick."

"And the second reason?" Tali asked.

Kasumi shrugged. "I think she likes messing with people."

"Wha—I don't even… huh?"

Garrus chuckled. "I think we broke her."

Kasumi smiled, then put her mask back on. "I think we need to get back to it, don't you think, Garrus?"

Garrus nodded grimly, all humor suddenly gone. "Yeah. Let's see if we can reach the device within the next hour. And I don't like how we haven't run into any hostiles yet; we're pretty deep in Omega now, but we haven't even seen anyone. Alive, anyway."

During their travels through the station, the team had come across dozens of bodies. Some, like the Terrans and cyborg they had found at the beginning, were fresh, but many more—some Terran, but mostly alien—were months or even years dead. Garrus had guessed that, even if Aria regained complete control over Omega, it would be years before the station returned to a decent level of sanitation.

"You know what the worst part is?" Kasumi asked with a frown. "As much as I'd like to see someone who isn't dead, I know that they'll just shoot at us."

"How is that different from any of our other missions?" Tali asked back.

Kasumi would have replied, but she was suddenly busy dodging gunfire that ripped out of the corridor ahead. Even as she flipped and rolled, her mind instantly began identifying and prioritizing threats.

"I've got multiple hostiles," she said, her Ghost training and discipline making her normally cheerful voice drop to a grim monotone. "At least one squad, more behind them. Garrus, take out the sniper in the back. Tali, we're keeping them distracted until Garrus picks them off."

The two aliens might have had misgivings about Kasumi's drinking in the past, but combat was another matter entirely—they trusted Kasumi without hesitation. While Garrus tracked and killed the Salarian sniper, Kasumi and Tali used their pistols to keep up a barrage of fire. At the range they were firing at, only a few of their shots landed, but it distracted the mercenaries long enough for Garrus to start picking off other members of the squad.

However, just because the three of them were killing mercs didn't mean that their targets weren't fighting back. Assault rifles and SMGs roared, bullets only barely missing Kasumi, while quickly chipping away Tali and Garrus' shields.

"We need more room to maneuver," Garrus said, struggling to be heard over the gunfire. "There's a branching path on our left; we'll take it and try to find a more open space. Tali, you go first; we'll be right behind you."

"Got it." Tali shifted over to the door and waved her hand over the holographic interface. As soon as the door opened, she stomped through. "I'm in; hurry up!"

Garrus and Kasumi hurried to the door, but before they could join their teammate, the bulkheads slammed shut.

"Hey!" Kasumi tried to open the door, but it was locked tight.

"Tali, do you read me?" Garrus asked over the comms, even as he resumed firing at the mercenaries. "Can you open the door?"

"I would," came Tali's clipped reply, "but I've got my hands full. There's another squad over here, and—ah! That's it, come here, you bosh'tet!"

Kasumi was frustrated, but kept firing at her attackers. She was confident in Tali's abilities, but she wanted to hurry up and help her friend before anything—

Both Kasumi and Garrus paused for an instant as a scream of pain—in Tali's voice—rang out over the comms, and was then cut short. It was a moment that would haunt both of them for a long time.

"Tali?" Garrus glanced at the locked door. "Tali, respond! Answer me, dammit!"

There was no answer over the comms. Kasumi wanted to try reaching the Quarian telepathically, but the implants that both aliens had prevented that.

She had to be alive. Kasumi kept telling herself that. She had already lost the man she loved, she would not lose her best friend and surrogate baby sister.

"They're retreating," Garrus said grimly; Kasumi noticed that, indeed, the mercenaries were pulling back. "They could have pushed forward and crushed us, but they didn't. They came for Tali."

Kasumi pushed aside the obvious question of why; it wasn't immediately important. "We have to go after them. Tali could still be alive!"

Garrus refused to meet her gaze. "We can't. The mission takes—"

"NO!" With a display of unusual psionic might, Kasumi slammed Garrus, armor and all, into the wall and pinned him there. "I don't care what kind of black-ops bullshit you signed on with, Garrus, but I know that it wouldn't have changed you so much that you'd abandon someone you care about! You might care about the cause, but you care about people even more!"

By the end of Kasumi's little rant, Garrus was staring at her with wide eyes. The last time she had broken down like this had been back at Dead Man's Port, but back then she was a self-loathing drunk. This was frustration, and righteous fury. If Garrus hadn't been the target of her anger, he would have been proud that she was focusing on something other than missing Shepard.

The worst part about it all was that he knew that she was right. Aside from his habit of playing loose with protocol, one reason why his career in the Turian military, and later in C-Sec, stalled out was because he hated the idea of leaving someone behind. He understood the concept of sacrificing one to save many, but the thought of leaving a comrade—or a friend—in enemy hands made him sick.

And maybe, a traitorous part of his mind thought, it's because Tali is more important to you than a soldier you never even bothered to learn the name of.

"This… was a terrible plan," Garrus finally said. "Three of us against an entire station of people that want to kill us? This was suicide, we just didn't want to admit it."

Kasumi nodded, then let go of him before the use of her powers drained her too much.

"I tried to be the perfect Dominion soldier," he continued. "But that's not the kind of person I am. Maybe that's why I liked being with the Strikers; we had a good balance of how we did things."

"I'm glad to see you can admit to being an idiot," Kasumi said impatiently, "but what about Tali?"

Garrus picked up his rifle, then reloaded it. "This mission is a bust. Let's go get our Quarian back."

Kasumi raised an eyebrow. "And Xen?"

Garrus smiled. "If I have to, I'll tell Emperor Valerian himself that he can nuke this place into dust. I really don't care anymore."

Tali woke up with a throbbing headache. After being ambushed by more mercenaries, she had been hit by tech attacks that had shorted out her armor. Thankfully, her suit had enough protection to keep her filters running, but she had had only a few seconds to appreciate that before the mercenaries had pried open her armor and knocked her out.

Now, she was being dragged down a dimly-lit hallway by a pair of Asari that had seen better days. One was completely concealed by her armor, but it was so scuffed and scratched that Tali would have been surprised if the all of the systems still worked. The other Asari didn't wear a helmet, but her face was crisscrossed by thick scars. Both of the mercenaries were holding Tali up by her upper arms.

"She's waking up," the helmeted Asari said in a bored tone.

"Good," the scarred one replied. "Maybe she can walk her ass the rest of the way."

Tali scowled at them. "How about I just kill you and then show myself out?"

"Shut up, suit-rat!" Scars threw her forward with a light biotic push. "If I had my way, you'd be walking to the lab with a hole in that suit!"

Tali pushed herself to her feet; even if her visor hadn't been tinted, she wouldn't have let them see her fear. "Then I guess you're more afraid of someone else than me."

She wasn't a detective, but Tali had picked up a few tricks about gathering information from both Garrus and Kasumi.

Scars reached for the pistol on her hip, but Helmet grabbed her arm. "Let it go. You really want to explain to Xen why the kid is damaged?"

Xen wanted me taken alive? Why? Some kind of revenge on Raan for trying to kill her?

Scars yanked her arm free, then glared at Tali. "Keep going, suit-rat. I might not shoot you, but I can still give you some bruises before I go."

Reluctantly, Tali began walking forward as she assessed her options. She had no weapons, and her omni-tool was gone, but that didn't mean she was completely helpless. Her close-combat training was far more thorough now than it had been before she'd joined the Strikers, and her captors hadn't searched her well enough. Quarian suits had more pockets than people thought.

After a few more minutes of walking, they arrived at a thick door, guarded by two Quarian cyborgs. The guards were identical to the dead one Tali had seen, though these were both male.

"I don't envy you, suit-rat," Scars said, not bothering to hide a wicked grin. "You'll wish I'd killed you."

"Honestly, I'll take anything if it means I don't have to see your ugly face again." Tali smirked at the outraged shriek from Scars, before one of the cyborgs grabbed her roughly by the shoulder and forced her through the now-open door.

As soon as Tali was past the threshold, the door closed. She was inside a large room that was far cleaner than any other part of Omega she'd seen that day. On one side of the lab was a collection of computers, chemicals, and small tools; on the other side was a row of tables, each of which held a Quarian in various stages of becoming a cyborg.

It still made Tali sick, but at least the cyborgs weren't impossible nightmares this time.

"Welcome to my laboratory, Tali'Zorah," Xen said as she stepped out of the shadows. "I am sure you can see how my creations have been improved since Rannoch."

"I can, but they're still disgusting," Tali replied, her arms crossed. "Let's cut to the chase. Why am I here? Planning on getting even with the Admiralty Board by hurting my father?"

Xen tilted her head. "Why would I hurt your father? He and I collaborated on many projects together, and his efforts were appreciated."

Tali frowned. "Then why am I here?"

"Simple, child." Xen shrugged, and it was a testament to her 'upgrades' that Tali couldn't hear even the slightest mechanical whir. "I need more Quarians for my procedures, and you are the only one of our people on this station that has not been elevated to a higher status. Besides, I need more genetic material to use for cloning procedures, and your DNA would be useful."

Tali felt her blood run cold. Xen wanted to turn her into one of those… things? Before she could try and back away, or even respond verbally, metal hands gripped her shoulders with impossible strength. The Quarian cyborg dragged her to the far end of the lab, where she was bound to a table.

"You should be thanking me, Tali'Zorah," Xen said as she walked to the back of the lab. "I am going to introduce you to the future."

Tali didn't respond; instead, she slowly rubbed her left wrist against the shackle that bound her. She could feel the small tool in the mesh on the underside of her arm slowly move up into her hand. When it was firmly in her grip, she waited; her timing would have to be perfect, but it was her only chance of getting out of this nightmare in one piece.

{Commander, something is coming,} Zeratul warned. {Their minds are… clouded, but I can still sense them. They are headed this way.}

"Defensive positions," Shepard ordered his troops. "We've got incoming. Zeratul, Miranda, you two are with me; let's see what we're up against."

If he was being honest with himself, Shepard was almost glad that the Strikers were running into something to fight. Aside from the initial landing, their attack was met with no opposition at all; in fact, it looked like Aria's mercenaries and pirates were letting them pass. From what he was able to gather from a few fleeting thoughts, though, they weren't being led into a trap. Apparently, they were just letting someone else do the fighting for them.

Now cloaked, Shepard led Zeratul and Miranda ahead to scout the area and try to learn more about this mysterious enemy.

As soon as they entered what was once a parking structure, Shepard got his first look at the cyborg Quarians. There were thirty of them, all relatively the same in appearance, with slight differences between the males and females. To Shepard, they reminded him far too much of how Saren looked before he died. The worst part, however, was when he tried to read their thoughts; it was like their minds were overlaid with grating static, and the few thoughts he could sense all boiled down to the same thing: serve Xen.

{Should we investigate further?} Miranda asked telepathically. {I don't like the idea of approaching the entire group by ourselves.}

{We do not have to,} Zeratul said. {One of them is coming to us.}

Indeed, one of the Quarians was walking towards their position. Its weapon-arm was not raised, but its head was swiveling back and forth, as if it was looking for something. Finally, when it was only about ten feet away from Shepard, it stopped; a rectangular device emerged from its shoulder and spun around, emitting a blue light. As soon as the light touched Shepard, the device retracted, and the Quarian aimed its weapon.

Shepard immediately knew what had happened. "They're detectors!" he shouted, all pretense of stealth forgotten. "Retreat!"

Zeratul vanished into the shadows a dozen meters behind them, then turned and ran back to the other Strikers. Miranda sprinted after him, doing her best not to be an easy target. As Shepard ran, he glanced over his shoulder and saw a beam of orange energy shoot out from the Quarian's arm; it barely missed Shepard, though it carved a deep furrow in the wall nearby. Powerful though he might be, Shepard was in no mood to see what that kind of weapon would do to a Human body.

"Back so soon, Commander?" James asked as the three rejoined the Strikers.

"Save it," Shepard growled, "these guys can see through cloaking. Fire when in range!"

Shepard and Miranda had the longest reach with their rifles; as soon as the first cyborg came around the corner, both of them fired. Shepard's round hit the Quarian in the chest, while Miranda's hit it in the head. To both of their surprise, not only did the Quarian not die, but it was barely staggered.

Miranda noticed the flickering lights around the Quarian's body. "It has strong shields, Commander."

"I noticed," Shepard said dryly, then grimaced as more of the Quarians appeared. "Take 'em out!"

Marines and Marauders opened up on the cyborgs, the sheer weight of fire killing some and damaging others. The Quarians fired back, their powerful lasers cutting through Terran armor like it was wet paper. For every Quarian the Strikers killed, several of them died as well.

Thankfully, the Terrans weren't the only ones fighting. With a feral roar, Grunt and his packs burst out of the makeshift tunnels they had created mere minutes earlier; while Grunt and the handful of Gargoyle-strain Krogan briefly flew into the air before diving into the Quarian ranks, the rest of the Zerg charged across the rubble-strewn ground. Some were cut down before getting close enough, but most were able to cover the last few meters and crash into the cyborgs. Carapace clashed with metal plates, acid and spines were traded with lasers, and it became a test of endurance between shields and armor against regeneration and genetically-enhanced durability.

With the fight turning into a melee, Shepard couldn't risk the Terrans accidentally shooting the Zerg.

"All Reapers and Protoss, engage!" Shepard activated his psi-blade. "Let's get in there!"

The Reapers rocketed into the fight, either firing at point-blank range or hitting the cyborgs with knives and fists, while Shepard and the Protoss attacked with their psi-blades. Unlike Protoss shields, the Quarians were using kinetic barriers, albeit barriers that were stronger than anything ever used by a single person before, so the Protoss weapons were able to carve deep into armor and flesh. With the odds finally in their favor, the Strikers tore apart the last of the Quarians after a few more minutes of intense fighting.

"That sucked," Jack complained, as the echoes of combat faded. "Why was this so hard?"

Shepard stepped over a dead Quarian to check on his own forces. While no single squad had been destroyed, there were far too many casualties. The Strikers had outnumbered the enemy almost five to one, but what should have been a quick, decisive victory had left nearly fifty of Shepard's men dead.

"We can't have more fights like this," Miranda said, arriving at the same conclusion as Shepard. "Not unless we want mass casualties."

"Agreed," Shepard said, looking over his troops and reassessing his options. "If we're going to pull this mission off, we need to move fast, and we can't do that with so many troops."

"But you saw those things, Commander!" Jacob protested. "It took all of us just to bring down a few of them!"

Shepard nodded. "I agree, which means we need to give these guys a better target." He activated his comms. "Kaidan, Anderson, come in."

"We read you, Commander," Anderson said, speaking for both of them. "What do you need?"

"We've engaged a new enemy—some kind of Quarian cyborg. We've taken heavy casualties. I'm sending the bulk of my force here back to the landing zone," Shepard said. "I want you to land another twenty percent of our forces and have them dig in. Make it look like we're planning a siege, just like what Mira Han did." He smirked. "From what the reports on Aria said, she won't let another invader sit on her doorstep. Just keep the enemy busy until my team completes the mission."

"Understood, Commander," Anderson said, "I'm scrambling our Medivacs now."

"We'll hold them back, sir," Kaidan added.

"I know you will." Shepard paused for a moment. "Be careful; it takes three or four Marines' worth of firepower to take down these cyborgs, and they don't die easy."

Kaidan's answer was filled with a mix of confidence and anticipation. "Then we'll just fight extra-hard, sir. Don't worry, just finish the mission."

"Good luck; Shepard out." Once the link was cut, Shepard turned to his force. "All senior officers are with me. I also want three Medics to come with us. Everyone else, take our dead and wounded back to the LZ."

"Commander, are you sure this is a good idea?" Miranda asked, even as the Strikers obeyed Shepard's orders. "If we're engaged by more of these Quarians…"

"I know," Shepard said, then switched to telepathy. {Hey, if we have less people in the way, maybe I can really cut loose. I couldn't exactly fight at my best when I wasn't sure if I'd kill our own.}

Miranda had to concede that point. Even if Shepard's power was only a fraction of what Amon's was at his height, it would still be an important factor to consider.

After the other Strikers left with their dead and wounded, the dozen remaining fighters, which included Grunt and Zeratul, cautiously advanced over the dead Quarians. More than one of them felt a little anxious without dozens of other soldiers at their backs. Jack was one of the few who was actually more enthusiastic about what happened next.

And James noticed. "What's got you so happy?"

Jack grinned behind her helmet. "Now that my boys are gone, I get more targets to myself."

"Only if I don't blow 'em up first," James taunted.

"Just try it!"

"Focus, people," Shepard said, cutting off further banter. "We need to find our people and finish the mission. Miranda, anything on comms?"

Miranda cycled through various channels, then shook her head. "Negative, Commander; they're either using frequencies that we don't, or they've gone dark."

The third option, one that she didn't voice, but everyone heard anyway, was that the team was dead.

"We'll find them," Shepard said confidently. "Kasumi has a way of getting out of trouble."

"Could you please move a little faster?" Kasumi hissed through clenched teeth. "We need to hurry!"

"I know," Garrus said grimly, "but I don't want to get ambushed before we even find Tali."

"I'm not trying to find Tali," Kasumi replied, "I'm trying to find one of those mercs. Then I can just read their minds until I find someone who knows where Tali is."

Garrus only sighed, even if he admitted to himself that it was better than searching every inch of Omega.

"Hold up," Kasumi said quietly, "I've got something."

Garrus halted, then crouched behind a fallen crate and steadied his rifle. Ahead of him, Kasumi cloaked. A few seconds later, two Asari walked around the corner; both were armed, but their weapons were slung over their backs.

"Leg shots only," Garrus muttered into the comms. "We need them alive."

There was a single click in reply. A moment later, Kasumi fired both her pistols into the back of one Asari's legs, the close-range shots blowing both kneecaps out. Garrus' shot nearly separated the other Asari's right leg at the knee. He mentally smacked himself; he had overestimated the Asari's shields, and now, the mercenary had a few minutes, at most, before she bled out.

"Start with her," Garrus said, pointing at the more wounded one. "She doesn't have much time."

"Sure, just keep the other one from going anywhere," Kasumi said as she decloaked. While she knelt by the dying Asari, the face of whom they noticed was covered in scars, Garrus kept the other one still with one boot planted on her back.

"Didn't know Aria was hiring other Asari," Garrus commented. "She must be desperate."

The Asari under his boot snarled and tried to struggle, but Garrus merely rested the business end of her rifle against the back of her head, which was enough to make her freeze.

"Oh, these little…" Kasumi trailed off with a series of curses in Japanese. "We got lucky, Garrus; these two dropped Tali off Xen's lab not too long ago!"

"Which means we might be able to save her, and finish the mission," Garrus said, not that he cared about the mission as much as his friend's life—at least, not anymore.

"Go ahead and try," the scarred Asari said weakly, sneering despite the blood-loss. "That little suit-rat's not gonna last long in Xen's dungeon."

If she was going to say more, no one knew, because Garrus lashed out with his foot hard enough to crush the Asari's skull.

"Don't you ever call her that!" Garrus snarled in a fit of uncharacteristic fury; even Kasumi was taken aback.

"I don't think she will, Garrus," she said mildly, "since, you know, she's dead."

Garrus took a breath, then nodded. "Right. Can you lead us to the lab?"

"Sure, it's not far." Kasumi pointed at the other Asari. "What about her?"

Garrus considered killing her, but the rage that had filled him had left as quickly as it had come. "Take her comms and leave her here. She's not worth the bullet."

Kasumi glanced at him. "Or the boot?"

"Or the boot." Garrus looked down at his gore-streaked foot. "This is going to be a pain to clean off."

"Rescue first, clean later!" Kasumi was already running. "Come on!"

"Are you ready, Tali?" Xen asked as she approached the captive Quarian. "A whole new world awaits."

"You can go there yourself," Tali growled, her entire body as tense as a coiled spring. "I like this one, you crazy bosh'tet."

Xen shook her head, disappointed, but raised a large injector, filled with a silvery liquid. "Nanotech. This will lower the shock to your body as you are upgraded."

"And I'd like a second opinion!" With that, Tali twisted her hand to aim her last resort.

Though the Quarians had a home again, it didn't erase hundreds of years of ingrained habits overnight. During her time with the Strikers, as well as when she had free time during her Intelligence missions, Tali liked to cobbled together tools that might be useful, either to her or someone else.

In this case, the tool she used was a small cutting laser, one that was compact enough that it could be used in the cramped confines of a ship. Because of its size, it couldn't cut through particularly dense metals, but the restraints around her wrists were another matter. Tali had had plenty of time to calculate the angle she needed to free herself without cutting off her own hand—or breach her suit—and after an instant, her left hand was free.

"No!" Xen lunged forward, injector still in her hand, but she had been unprepared for Tali's move, and was a fraction of a second too slow. Tali tossed the cutter into her free hand and aimed it at Xen; unlike her escape, Tali aimed for Xen's wrist, and the highly-focused beam nearly severed Xen's hand from the rest of her arm.

Xen stared at her damaged appendage, as if trying to comprehend what had happened. That had always been Xen's weakness—her plans and designs were meticulous, but if something unexpected happened, it always took her a moment for her brain to adjust. That was all the time Tali needed to destroy the restraints around her other arm and legs; sadly, the power for the cutter gave out, but at least Tali was free.

She considered trying to attack Xen, but now Tali was weaponless, and she had no idea how powerful Xen's cybernetics were. She decided that it would be in her best interest to retreat, so she hopped off the table and sprinted for the door.

"Stop her!" Xen shouted. "I need a genetic sample!"

Just as Tali reached the door, a Quarian cyborg opened it from the other side. Tali tried to duck around it, but the cyborg was faster; it grabbed her arm with its clawed arm, and Tali hissed as she felt a sharp pain. A moment later, pain was replaced by fear.

My suit's been compromised, and I've been injured! If she survived this, Tali knew that she would be in for a terrible infection.

"Tali, drop!"

At the familiar voice, Tali instantly obeyed and went limp. It caused the cyborg's claws to drag further along her skin, but she was out of the line of fire. Garrus fired twice at nearly point-blank range; the first shot nearly took out the cyborg's shields, and the second still had enough power behind it to separate the arm that grabbed Tali from its owner's shoulder. As Tali hit the floor, she rolled to the side, giving Kasumi plenty of space to riddle the cyborg with bullets. She didn't stop shooting until its head was a pile of sparking metal and shattered flesh.

"Kasumi, cover Tali!" Garrus ordered as he thundered into the lab. "I'll go after Xen!"

Tali pushed herself into a sitting position just as Kasumi knelt in front of her. "You came after me?"

Kasumi grabbed her arm and inspected the injury. "I'm not losing anyone else. I won't let it happen again."

Tali smiled, then gently batted her friend's hands away so that she could apply some emergency sealant to her suit. "That will hold for a while, but I'm going to need to see a doctor about an infection."

Kasumi nodded, then helped her to her feet. "First thing on the to-do list." The sound of gunfire coming from outside the lab made them both tense. "First thing after taking care of that, anyway. Garrus, we've got company!"

A moment later, Garrus came back; his visor was up, so Tali could see him shaking his head. "Xen's gone; she had an escape route all ready, just in case. And she sealed the door behind her."

"We can worry about that later." Kasumi handed Tali one of her pistols. "Garrus, give her your pistol."

"Sure." Garrus handed Tali his gauss pistol. "I've only got three clips for it, so make every shot count."

"What about you?" Kasumi asked him. "You good?"

Garrus scoffed with good humor. "I always make every shot count."

Tali didn't need to be able to read minds like Kasumi to know that her friends were tense; they were trapped, running low on ammo, and they had who-knew-how-many Quarian cyborgs barreling down on them. They had probably known that it might come to this, but they had gone after her anyway. Tali felt a lump in her throat; if she was going to die, she could think of no other people she would rather die alongside.

The sound of approaching footsteps grew louder, and the first cyborg rounded the corner; or, rather, its pieces came around the corner, sliding to a stop halfway to their position.

Kasumi was the first to say something. "Um… what?"

"Ha! I told you he could throw one fifty feet!" a familiar voice crowed over the sound of fighting. "You owe me a hundred credits, James!"

The next voice was also familiar. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." A grenade went off, and a Quarian's severed arm clattered to the ground. "I'll pay you when we get back to the ship, Jack."

Tali blinked rapidly, then looked at her friends. "Did I just hear Jack and James, or is the fever hitting me faster than I thought it would?"

"Not unless we're both delirious," Garrus said. "Intel never said anything about backup."

"Keep pushing!" This time, the voice that shouted made Kasumi gasp, and Tali didn't blame her. "We're almost through!"

More cyborgs, five of them, began falling back to the lab. They didn't hesitate to fire on the three operatives as soon as they saw them. Tali and Garrus were quick to return the favor, while Kasumi was an instant behind them. One Quarian died, but the other four were perfectly fine; one managed to tear off half of Garrus' shoulder armor, while another hunched over and fired a trio of rockets from a launcher that unfolded from its back.

"Move!" Garrus tucked Tali into a corner and shielded her with his own body, but Kasumi had no such protection. The rockets passed through the open door and into the back of the lab. The shockwave sent Kasumi tumbling into the hallway; she had managed to avoid getting shredded by flying debris, but considering she was now at the feet of an armed Quarian cyborg and her weapons were out of reach, it wasn't much of a silver lining.

Kasumi braced herself for death, but a feral roar made even the cyborgs pause. Before anyone else could react, something crashed into the Quarians with incredible force. Kasumi couldn't be sure, since he looked different, but she could have sworn that Grunt had just shown up. While she was grateful for the save—though, even after all this time, it was something of a novelty to be saved by a Zerg—her good mood soured just a little when she saw who was next. Zeratul didn't say anything, but he offered her a nod as he danced around a cyborg's attacks, then neatly decapitated the Quarian.

That still left one cyborg remaining, and it was still targeting Kasumi; perhaps it knew that it was going to die, so it had decided to take one of them down with it. For a being that was practically a robot, that was an oddly emotional decision. Despite herself, Kasumi actually smiled at the thought.

Then a figure jumped, flipping over the Quarian, to land between it and Kasumi. He held out his right arm, and a crackling blade of red energy emerged from the red crystal on the back of his hand. With an inhumanly-fast slash, he hacked off the Quarian's weapon; he then psionically lifted the cyborg into the air for a moment, then dropped it, letting gravity do the work of impaling the Quarian's head on his blade.

The fight wasn't over yet; the man drew his pistol and fired an entire clip into the back of the last cyborg as it wrestled with Grunt—and after getting a good look, Kasumi confirmed that it was Grunt, even if he looked different. With that help, Grunt was able to overpower the Quarian and crush it to death.

The man—Kasumi couldn't name him; she'd heard his voice, but there was no way that he was here, that she had found him—looked around for a moment, then deactivated his blade.

"All clear!" he shouted—that voice; Kasumi had to be hallucinating!—and knelt in front of Kasumi. "Are you okay?"

Kasumi found she couldn't talk; she settled for a nod. When the man reached out to help her up, she scrambled to her feet.

The man sighed, then pulled off his helmet. "I was kind of hoping for a more enthusiastic greeting, to be honest."

Kasumi would swear until her dying day that, in that moment, her heart stopped beating. It was him! Every feature, every scar, even the way his eyes twinkled in amusement was exactly how she remembered.

And then Garrus had to come around the corner and ruin the moment. "Hey, Commander, I thought you were dead?"

Shepard laughed.

While the fighting raged inside Omega, space remained silent, as it always did. Noise had no place in the void, though many organics liked to imagine what some things sounded like.

Had anyone been near the Omega-4 Relay, they might have said that it had an angry hum to it, as opposed to the calming vibrations of normal Mass Relays. As the rings of the Omega-4 Relay began to spin, someone might have said that the hum had turned into a predatory growl, the herald of a terrible and hungry monster.

And as the massive, ugly ship emerged from the Relay, the poets would find that their words were prophetic. The monsters had come to feed.

[message sent: 0320 hours]

Dominion Intelligence Report, submitted by [REDACTED], concerning the following personnel.

Goto, Kasumi: Extreme flight risk. Emotional attachment to [REDACTED] potentially useful as manipulation, but only for short-term. Potential security risk if she believes that [REDACTED] is alive and under duress. Recommend immediate severance or termination.

Zorah, Tali (Note: Quarian names make reports difficult): Psych-eval determines that Zorah, along with most Quarians, are too socially dependent to be effective agents. Recommend cessation of Quarian recruitment into Intelligence, shift focus to engineering and security.

Vakarian, Garrus: Unable to fully detach from emotions. Psych-eval predicts emotional implosion, and will choose teammates over objective when pressured. Note: Turian nature interesting, but lack of Turian citizens in Dominion space makes project not worth the effort.

Conclusion: Team is effective as a military unit, but is unfit for Intelligence operations. Recommend team be terminated. Orders?

[reply sent: 0400 hours]

Cut them loose. Some old friends will take them off our hands.

Well, this was fun! I have to admit that I got a little stuck about halfway through, but I'm happy with the way this turned out. Once again, any questions should be asked via PM. Seriously, I want to see REVIEWS in the REVIEW SECTION. I won't answer you if you ask me something in the review. Regardless, I'm eager to see your feedback.

One thing I noticed about Aria: She doesn't hire any Asari in canon, and I can't find any reason why. Sure, she hires some Eclipse mercs, but I recall seeing mostly Humans, robots, and Salarians. If she did have any Asari lieutenants, I never saw them, so I came up with the reason that she both cares too much for her people to put them in danger, but also doesn't want them to get any ideas about usurping her.

Next Chapter: Though the crew is complete, there's still a tiny problem left to handle…

You know, for the most wanted Muffin in the sector, you ain't too hard to find.