Cycles Upon Cycles

by The Incredible Muffin

The residents of the Koprulu Sector thought they had finally achieved peace. They were wrong. Now, the Koprulu Alliance is faced with a galaxy that was bigger than they thought. They will meet new friends, and more importantly, new enemies, but all will be forced to put away their hatreds, both old and new, or none will survive the darkness that is to come...

37. Settling Scores

STARCRAFT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. BIOTICS SOUND COOL AND ALL, BUT PSYCHIC POWERS JUST SEEM MORE FUN.

So, I think I said I would get back to this story once I finished Honor-Bound. Well, Honor-Bound is finished… and then I started its sequel?

*Nuclear Launch Detected*

Oh, crap. Quick, on to the next chapter!

Cycles Upon Cycles

Chapter 36

Settling Scores

Welcome back to UNN, this is Kate Lockwell. This just in: the Zerg aggression has just ceased, and Protoss movements are at half the speed of what they were only a few hours ago. While their purpose is still classified, I think it's safe to say that whatever had them riled up is now either destroyed, or at least no longer a threat.

However, while the rapid military deployment is significantly less, it hasn't stopped altogether. Dozens of Protoss and Dominion ships, as well as several Leviathans, are still heading to the same place. What that place is, we don't yet know.

Though the Zerg, Protoss and Dominion mobilization has slowed, it appears that Raynor's Raiders are moving out. We weren't able to get a statement from any officers within the Raiders, but we believe that they are not going to where everyone else is. That begs the question: what else is going on?

We'll keep you updated with further developments. Until then, this has been Kate Lockwell, with UNN.

Tartarus

"What do you mean, there's another Xel'naga ship!?"

Miranda was stoic in the face of Shepard's anger. "I mean that the vessel Admiral Anderson destroyed wasn't the only Xel'naga ship that Cerberus had available. This one is smaller, likely a destroyer, while the previous one was analogous to a cruiser. We detected its launch just a few minutes ago; intercepted Cerberus communications suggest that they'll use it to destroy our position within the next two hours."

Shepard took a deep breath. "And we're fresh out of ways to nuke it. Please tell me we have options."

"We've been going over that," Miranda said, and gestured to a nearby console. "That's the list of every asset we know that Cerberus has."

"I'll take a look," Shepard said, "but if it comes down to it, we'll evacuate through the Protoss network." He looked over at Zeratul. "That's okay, right?"

Zeratul nodded. {You would be taken to Aiur or Shakuras, but you must understand that Cerberus has become an intolerable threat to the entire Alliance.}

"Understood." Shepard turned to the console and began reading, though he continued speaking. "Miranda, what's our operational strength?"

"The Zerg have gone rogue; the only thing we can be relatively sure of is that they won't attack us, but we're keeping out distance, just in case." Miranda glanced at Zeratul. "The Protoss are keeping us updated on their movements, but they're not exactly working with us. That leaves just our Terran contingent, and we're not at our best. We have just over fifteen hundred personnel, but a third of that are either crewmen from the Normandy, or too wounded to fight. We're low on ammunition and supplies; at this rate, without support from the Dominion, we'll be down to throwing rocks by tomorrow."

"We captured a small Cerberus supply base," Kasumi added, "but it was half-empty when we got to it. The ammo we found was only good for Cerberus guns; we've got about a hundred of their gauss rifles, and maybe three hundred rounds for each of them. Everyone else is stuck with what they've got."

Shepard nodded, but when his gaze landed on a certain section of the report, he froze. "Miranda, did you see this?"

Miranda looked over his shoulder. "A major Cerberus armory," she noted. "We marked that as a necessary target. We'll find fuel, ammunition, spare parts—everything we need to maintain a successful ground campaign."

Shepard pointed to what was next on the list. "What about that?"

There was a reason that Miranda was second only to Shepard. Her eyes went wide, and an uncharacteristic smile appeared on her face. "Oh, I see what you're getting at. Will it work?"

"If we can get it operational."

Kasumi looked between them. "What are you talking about?"

Shepard grinned at her. "A way to tip the scales. Miranda, lead the attack on the armory, get our troops ready to go. As soon as you've got what you need, join the Protoss and the Zerg attack on the main Cerberus base."

"Understood, Commander. What about you?"

"Cerberus wants me dead. After all, Amon destroyed the UED, and at this point, they don't have much to live for other than revenge. Also, I've got a pretty good idea of who they'll send to stop me, and I'd rather they come after me than kill my soldiers." Shepard locked eyes with Kasumi. "I'd like it if you were there to watch my back."

Kasumi's smile was bright. "Always."

"Great." Shepard paused as something came to mind. "Oh, there's one other thing we'll need for this to work…"

…

Char

Kerrigan's hands slowly unclenched from the armrests of her organic throne. With the Hybrid destroyed, her inhuman wrath had begun to cool, and the Swarm reflected that; creation of more Zerg had slowed, and the Leviathans weren't pushing themselves so hard to reach Tartarus.

"Izsha," she said, using her real voice to speak.

Her aide slithered out from a hole in the wall. "You summoned, my Queen?"

"Remind me to send a message to Jim when we're done with Cerberus," she said. "I think we worried the Terrans."

"Understood, my Queen," Izsha replied. "However, the Terran known as James Raynor is no longer at Korhal, and his forces have left the Crossroads System."

Kerrigan frowned. "Where are they going?"

"We were able to intercept some of their communications. It appears that they are attacking the Collectors at their base."

Kerrigan's frown morphed into a scowl. "I don't like the idea of the Raiders going that far out of Alliance space. The Council races might see it as a sign of aggression." She came to a decision. "Izsha, have Zagara and her Brood prepare to follow them. If the Council decides to interfere… Zagara has free reign to do whatever she likes, as long as the Terrans remain safe."

Izsha bowed her head. "As you command, my Queen."

As the Swarm carried out her commands, Kerrigan couldn't help but feel annoyed with herself. She should have been more aware of Jim's actions, but her rage had blinded her.

The Hybrid are dead, she reminded herself. The Swarm is free of outside control. I am free to do what I wish. What I wish… is to keep Jim safe. Hold on, Jim; you won't fight alone.

"Izsha," she said out loud, and rose to her feet. "Prepare my Leviathan as well. I'm going to make sure that the Collectors are removed from the board.

"And I think that the galaxy needs to be reminded of what the Queen of Blades can do."

…

Tartarus

The Xel'naga outpost wasn't much to look at. It was a squat pyramid of featureless metal, save for the lines of green light that ran up its sides in geometric patterns. At the top of the pyramid was a beam of amber light that reached into the dusty sky. Around the building were a dozen small platforms that orbited the outpost like satellites.

There was only one entrance to the outpost, a bridge that was barely five meters wide, but fortunately for Shepard and Kasumi, there was more cover than they should have been. Over the millennia that the outpost had been there, chunks of volcanic rock had risen up, grown unstable, and fallen onto the bridge. The rocks had created enough places to duck down that the Terrans felt comfortable standing out in the open.

That was good for them, because their opponents had just arrived.

Maya Brooks rested her sniper rifle against her shoulder and grinned. "Well, looks like you beat us here."

"Not by much," Kai Leng said, the exposed part of his face emotionless. His statement was correct; the bodies of the small Cerberus detachment were still warm when they'd arrived.

Kasumi idly twirled her pistols. "I guess none of us are surprised. We knew you two would show up to stop us."

"And yet, you came here without any backup at all." Kai Leng held up his sword in a new mechanical hand. "Not very smart."

Shepard kept his rifle ready, but not quite aimed at the enemy Ghosts. "You and I both know that anyone else would just get in the way."

Kai Leng nodded, both as acknowledgement and the tiniest hint of respect. "True. Without your soldiers' interference, you can at least provide a challenge."

Brooks scoffed. "What challenge? They're criminals pretending to be soldiers." She sneered at Shepard. "And that one's a monster, pretending to be Human."

Kasumi bristled, but Shepard didn't so much as twitch. "Really? Miranda could have come up with so many great insults, and all you have is 'monster'? I'm disappointed."

"Enough," Kai Leng said, though whether it was to Shepard or Brooks was up for debate. "We know why you're here—the gravity tether. You want to use it to ground our ship before it destroys your forces."

"Look at that, they can be taught," Kasumi teased.

"It won't matter," Brooks said. "The very least we have to do is keep you from using the tether until our ship is ready, and that's if we don't kill you in the next five minutes."

"Five minutes? Give us a little credit, we'll last at least ten."

Shepard brought up his rifle first, aimed squarely at Kai Leng's chest, while Brooks took aim at Kasumi.

"So," Shepard said, "who wants to make the first move?"

…

"Hey, I'm getting something on the perimeter scans."

The Cerberus soldier looked over at her partner, who was keeping an eye on his suit's readout. It was connected to the base's entire sensor network, and kept the sentries up-to-date with situations as they developed.

"Define 'something'," she said.

"Movement, coming up on the north side." The man paused. "Lots of 'em, maybe a thousand, moving fast."

"Probably the Zerg that landed. Typical Swarm tactics are to hit the enemy with expendables, force them to waste ammo."

The man nodded, and then activated his comms. "North side, are you seeing this?" There was no response. "North side, come in, you've got incoming!"

"This is Charlie-Seven!" The panicked voice did not belong to any of the units guarding the north wall of the base. "We've got Zerg incoming, and all of the sentries on the wall are dead! They've been cut in half, and—aaaah!"

"Protoss!" another soldier cried out. "Infiltrators, they're tearing us apart! We need detectors down here, before—"

The base erupted into activity as soldiers poured out of their barracks, and vehicles revved their engines. Automated turrets along the wall opened fire on the advancing Zerg, but some of them had been destroyed by the Protoss, and the crossfire wasn't as effective as it could have been. Waves of Banelings crashed into the wall, and their explosive payloads reduced much of it to melting slag. Zerglings poured through the breach, followed by rampaging Krogan and Roaches. Firebats tried to stem the tide of flesh and chitin, but there were too many. Zerglings crushed them by weight of numbers, even as many of them burned alive.

The sensors lit up again, this time on the south side, as hundreds of Protoss warriors and armored units came charging across the open ground. Cerberus Siege Tanks had finished deploying there, and fired volley after volley. The Zealots, both Khalai and Nerazim variants, dashed ahead at the last moment, to escape the worst of the blasts, though a few were still killed. Stalkers blinked to safety, while the Immortals simply absorbed the shells with their hardened shields. Towering Colossi strode over the flames and craters to sweep the Cerberus infantry off the walls, while smaller walkers punched holes in the fortifications.

While the situation was bad, the fall of the main Cerberus base was far from certain. There were several thousand soldiers, and enough armor to plug the holes in their defense. Plus, the troops stationed at the east and west were free to reinforce the north and south if necessary.

Of course, as soon as the two Cerberus sentries thought about that, it got worse. A dozen contacts appeared, heading straight for them at the east wall; they were Arbiters, Protoss ships with powerful cloaking fields to hide friendly units.

Without anything else to lock onto, the turrets opened fire on the Arbiters, but their powerful shields protected them long enough for them to reveal what they'd been hiding.

"Surprise, assholes!" shouted a Marauder as the cloaks fell away. Dozens of Vikings screamed overhead, while on the ground, a thousand Terran soldiers appeared as if from nowhere, and all of them seemed to be aiming their weapons at the sentries. Weapons, they realized, had Cerberus markings on them.

"Get down!" the female Cerberus soldier yelled. She tried to grab her comrade and pull him out of the way, but she was too late. The Marauders opened fire with supercharged grenades, obliterating the sentries and a large chunk of the wall.

As the Strikers charged into the breach, James took a moment to look down at his grenade launchers. "Damn! I wish I'd had these bad boys years ago!"

Ashley laughed. "Hey, you've got time to make up for it. There's plenty of targets to go around!"

…

"Sir! Come in, sir!"

Kai Leng brought one hand up to his earpiece. "What is it?"

"Headquarters is under attack! We need you back here!"

Brooks frowned and inserted herself into the conversation. "What are you talking about?"

"The Alliance is hitting us hard! There's Zerg, Protoss, and the Terrans are using our weapons! We're taking heavy casualties!"

Kasumi's grin had long since passed 'shit-eating' levels. She was taking active enjoyment in the shock on Brooks' face. "Yeah, we figured you'd do more damage to our troops if you'd stayed home, so we brought you out here. Using the gravity tether to rip your precious little ship out of the sky? That's just the icing on the cake."

"Oh, you bitch!" Brooks shifted her aim to Kasumi's head. "I'm going to skin you alive!"

By the time she'd fired, Kasumi had already taken cover. Shepard fired a few rounds, then ducked down beside her. He frowned as he picked up a few thoughts from Brooks when her control slipped.

"They've got built-in detectors in their suits," he said.

"Well, crap. I guess we're doing this the hard way." Kasumi peeked her head out, then immediately ducked back down when Brooks fired. She brought her hand up to her cheek, and it came away with a smear of blood. "She's a good shot."

"She is," Shepard agreed. "Got any flashbangs left?"

"Just one," Kasumi said, and pulled the grenade from her belt. "Make it count."

She threw the flashbang in a high arc. As they'd suspected, Brooks aimed up and shot the grenade before it could go off. In that vital second of vulnerability, Shepard popped out of cover and fired at her. Only Brooks' near-superhuman reflexes kept her from being shot through the heart, though her rifle wasn't so lucky, and Shepard's armor-piercing round nearly snapped it in two.

Before Shepard could capitalize on the sudden advantage, Kai Leng decloaked right in front of him, sword coming down in an executioner's blow. Shepard brought up his rifle to deflect the blade, though it destroyed his weapon. Before the pieces had hit the ground, Shepard activated his psi-blade, and the two exchanged a flurry of slashes and thrusts.

Kasumi was about to help Shepard's fight, but a slight puff of dust on the ground made her whirl and fire a burst of gauss rounds. Brooks ducked under the bullets, then kicked one pistol out of Kasumi's hand. Brooks brought up her own pistol, and then it was Kasumi's turn to narrowly avoid a bullet.

"You don't deserve to call yourself a soldier," Brooks taunted, even as she threw a series of punches and kicks. "You're just a criminal, and your entire bloodline is nothing but criminals!"

Like every Terran from the Koprulu Sector, Kasumi knew what the UED thought of them. It didn't bother them, and it didn't bother her. If anything, she laughed.

"You're not wrong," she said. "I mean, I am a thief, and a pretty good one, too. How else could I have taken your knife so easily?"

Brooks' eyes were hidden by her goggles, but the slight twitch was a pretty good indicator that she was surprised, especially when her own knife came up and came within an inch of her face. Kasumi twirled the knife, and her smile turned cruel.

"Oh, you bitch," Brooks snarled. She raised her pistol, but Kasumi stepped inside her guard and slashed across her cheek.

While those two fought, Shepard and Kai Leng continued to trade blows. Neither man remained still; each darted around the thin bridge in an effort to gain any advantage over the other. Unlike the last time they'd fought, they were more even; Shepard had had a couple of hours to rest, and though Kai Leng was the better swordsman, he was still getting used to his new hand.

"I've got to ask," Shepard said as they locked blades once again, "what's in it for you? I get killing me, I destroyed the UED, but why destroy the Alliance?"

"You think our revenge stops at you?" Kai Leng threw a kick that Shepard barely avoided. "If we'd conquered your pathetic sector during the Brood War, you never would have appeared, Amon. Your Dominion should have rolled over and submitted like the worms you are."

Shepard took a step back; Kai Leng couldn't see the other man's eyes crackle with red psionic power, but he could feel the energy building up, and he could swear he saw ghostly, skeletal wings appear behind Shepard.

"All right, I've heard enough. I'm going to hurt you now."

Shepard ran forward and tackled Kai Leng off the bridge. Before either Kasumi or Brooks could react, they saw that the two men had landed on a platform as it passed by.

"Oh, so this is happening," Kasumi remarked, and then sighed when Brooks jumped off to land on another platform. "Come on, give me a break!"

Kasumi tried to jump onto the same platform, but she was an instant too slow, and barely caught the edge with her fingers. Above her, Brooks grinned and raised another knife.

"Just how many of those do you have?" Kasumi asked, then sent Brooks stumbling back with a weak psionic push. She swung forward, then pulled back into a graceful flip and landed on the platform. "Now, where were we?"

On their own platform, Shepard and Kai Leng's fight had gone from a proper battle to nearly a brawl. There was even less room to maneuver, so both of them began relying almost exclusively on blocks and parries, rather than dodging. Shepard halted Kai Leng's latest blow with his psi-blade, then grabbed the man's sword-arm by the wrist. Kai Leng tried to pull free, but Shepard pulled him in close to deliver a wicked headbutt; blood poured from Kai Leng's broken nose, even as he returned the favor by driving his knee into Shepard's ribs.

Shepard was about to attack again, but his opponent cloaked. At first, Shepard was wary, searching for any sign of Kai Leng; then he spotted a few drops of blood on the platform where there hadn't been a moment ago. Shepard waited, watching as more droplets appeared; when they got close enough that their owner had to be able to hit him, he ducked. He felt the air ripple as Kai Leng's sword passed overhead; acting on instinct, he pulled his knife free and hurled it, and was rewarded when the blade disappeared as it sank into Kai Leng's cloaked flesh.

"That'll make things easier," Shepard joked, even as Kai Leng dropped his cloak.

Kasumi, meanwhile, was having more trouble than she'd like to admit. Brooks was arrogant, but she was also skilled, especially when she was serious. Nearly every punch or kick Kasumi threw was avoided or countered, and she had more bruises than she'd like. She'd landed a few hits, but nothing that could incapacitate the other Ghost.

Still, she didn't give up, especially when she saw Shepard's platform getting close. "Shep!"

"I'm working on it!" Shepard answered, even as he knocked Kai Leng onto his back with a beautiful uppercut.

Assured that he'd be there soon, Kasumi drew her own knife to join the one she'd taken from Brooks. The other woman had to step back to avoid getting stabbed; Kasumi couldn't hit her, but it was better than getting kicked around.

When the two platforms came close, Shepard jumped, and caught Brooks across the face with his metal hand.

"I think it's time we landed," Shepard said, and drove his psi-blade into the platform. The ancient Xel'naga machine whined as it died and plummeted down to the ground. All three of them rolled with the crash, and a moment later, an unsteady Kai Leng joined them by jumping off his own platform and slowing his fall with his powers.

"What do you think, Shep?" Kasumi said, breathing lightly. "About time we wrapped this up?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm pretty much done," Shepard agreed.

"Do you think this is over?" Kai Leng brought up his sword. "This fight is nowhere near finished."

"I'm sure," Kasumi said, "and we could do this all day, but…"

"We never intended to fight you to the death," Shepard finished, then brought his hand up to his ear. "Legion, you about done?"

"Affirmative, Shepard-Commander. Xel'naga encryption broken." Shepard could have sworn that Legion actually sounded smug. "Target locked. Initiating now."

Brooks frowned. "What are you doing?"

"What we did was distract you," Kasumi laughed. "You thought you had to kill us to stop us from using the gravity tether. All we had to do was keep you busy while our Geth friend did his job."

"There was no one else there!" Brooks said. "We checked!"

"Who said his body was here?" Shepard tapped his helmet. "It was a little snug, but we managed to fit Legion's software in here."

"And while we've been chatting, Legion managed to cast his line." Kasumi looked up and grinned. "And it looks like he hooked a whopper!"

"Legion, transfer back to my helmet." Shepard pulled a small Protoss device from his belt with one hand, and put his arm around Kasumi's shoulders with his other arm. "Zeratul, we're ready for teleport."

"No!" Kai Leng threw his sword, but by the time the spinning blade reached them, Shepard and Kasumi had vanished in a flash of blue pixels.

"They played us." Brooks sat down in the dust and began to laugh hysterically. "Well done."

She continued to laugh, even as the Xel'naga vessel was ripped from the sky to crash on top of them.

…

"So, how did it go?" Jenkins asked as Shepard and Kasumi materialized by a Pylon, part of the Protoss base that had been warped in to act as a beachhead into the Cerberus base.

"Two dead assholes, and a Xel'naga ship that Cerberus won't be using," Shepard said smugly. "How was the babysitting job?"

Jenkins glanced at Legion's motionless body. "Gotta say, Commander, it was a little creepy. Did you bring him back?"

As if in answer, Legion's optic began to glow, and he took a step forward. "This unit is fully operational."

"Glad to hear it." Shepard noticed a Zealot—wounded, and likely why he wasn't fighting now—marching towards him. "Can I help you?"

The Zealot brought one fist over his chest. {En Taro Tassadar, Commander Shepard. Zeratul is leading a hunt for Cerberus soldiers that are attempting to retreat, and asked me to brief you. Eighty percent of the Cerberus base has been taken. Only their command center remains, and we will have it breached soon.}

"Good to hear." Shepard had lost his rifle, but he still had his pistol, and he quickly checked that. "Give us a minute, and we'll join the assault."

{Very well. I have informed the Dark Prelate.} The Zealot saluted again. {Good fortune, Commander.}

Shepard nodded. "Kasumi, Legion, Jenkins, you and anyone we can grab on the way are with me. We'll help crack the command center open and finish—"

Before he could finish, a huge explosion rocked not only the Cerberus base, but everything around it. Even Legion was sent sprawling to the ground. On the other side of the base, a huge cloud of dust obscured whatever had just happened.

"That wasn't the Xel'naga ship we crashed, was it?" Kasumi asked.

"No way, that was too close to us," Shepard said. "Legion, what's going on?"

"Accessing local battlenet… impossible." Legion looked Shepard dead in the eye. "Shepard-Commander, a Harvester powered up on Tartarus' moon and just landed on the other side of the base."

"You've got to kidding me!" Kasumi growled.

"Uh, ma'am?" Jenkins pointed to the Harvester that strode from the dust. "I don't think he's kidding."

…

Codex Entry: Harvesters

The Harvesters are an ancient 'race' of artificial intelligences that allegedly destroyed the Protheans over 50,000 years ago. There has been no evidence to support this theory, nor that the Harvesters actually exist.

Some claim that the vessel called Sovereign, seen at the Battle of the Citadel, was a Harvester, but all Council reports have found that it was just a Heretic Geth super-dreadnought.

The Alliance maintains that the Harvesters are not only real, but that they are an imminent threat. This has been dismissed as Alliance fear-mongering.

Notice: This post has been found inappropriate by Council Information Security Commission, and will be removed in 24 standard hours.

Sorry that this chapter was shorter than usual. I started this chapter a few days ago, and then I got sick while writing. I didn't want to lose the momentum I'd built, but my brain probably wasn't as effective as it might have been. I hope the quality was still up to par. I will admit that part of the fight scene was inspired by a fight in Red vs. Blue. There, I admit it.

And hey, Brooks and Kai Leng are dead! Their deaths always make me happy, and I hope the same is true for you.

I'll try to update this story more often, but I'm really busy. Between other stories that have more of my attention, job hunting, and trying to get publishers to pick up my book (and writing another), I just don't have a lot of time. Speaking of my book, please help me not be homeless and consider buying Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon.

You can also be really awesome and consider donating on P-atreon (also a link in my profile). There are benefits to those who donate, including a free copy of my book if you go to the max tier!

Speaking of people who are my patrons, I'd like to thank them here:

Serious Muffins: CrazySith87, jafr86, Nimrod009, CowardlyBravette, Anders Lyngbye, Krisjanis Jansons, Parker Maisterra, Matthias Matanovic, ChaosSpartan575, Alexis Troy, John Collins, Alexander James Baber, Carl Bjorkhall

Incredible Muffins: Christian Howard, RaptorusMaximus, michaelb958, Crazyman844, Jaeger456, killroy225

Ultra Muffins: Vlarto, Jeffrey Perigo, Matthew Bunting, RangersRoll

Next Chapter: Just when you think it's over…

I'm in a heap of Muffins!