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Interlude IX: Calm before the Storm

Date: 11-16-2184

Location: Approaching Omega, Sahrabarik System, Terminus

The five days of the trip back to Omega passed largely in a tired blur. Joa and Illyan were largely responsible for that... the former hadn't taken all of the information well, and had ended up downing the entire bottle of brandy she'd brought with as she tried to process it. She'd ended up drunk enough that Illyan and I had to let her sleep on our cabin's couch so that the crew didn't see her staggering around.

I'd woken up when she'd worked her way into our bed, but had been too tired to do anything about it. She hadn't done anything worse than end up with her face alternatively buried in my hair or Illyan's chest, though she had kicked both of us in her frantic scramble to get up in the morning, bolting to the bathroom where she'd emptied her stomach repeatedly.

After that, she hadn't quite avoided me, but she'd clearly wanted her space and time to process everything that had been dumped on top of her. I'd respected that, since it let me spend more time with Illyan. My lover had come out all right, despite losing her left eye, and had been grimly amused that all of her new warpfire scars were on her left side... just like mine.

Of course, she'd also made sure to have Voya beat the crap out of me in the sparring ring every single day, punishing me for the tunnel vision I'd let myself fall into on Benihi. Discussions on me losing my temper with Petrovsky had come after that, though they'd been less severe. It wasn't as if we hadn't expected them to betray us, that had been the point of having my mother's shiny new battlegroup waiting after all. It was more the fact that I'd definitely put an even larger target on my back for the Illusive Man to shoot at, and revealing that I'd known about EDI had likely been a mistake in hindsight.

Illyan had also been the only one of my friends to be visibly unnerved at what I'd done to evade the Justicar, even if she had admitted that she couldn't think of anything else I could have done. Melding with me, and touching my own feelings on the subject, had forestalled any anger, and lead to tired, emotional sex... along with a demand that I anonymously donate more than a few credits to the school whose students I'd nearly drowned, once we figured out what it was. I might have come close to breaking entirely, but Illyan at least remained a decent person, and she seemed more determined than ever to help make sure that she could still consider me one as well.

Personally I remained unsure about that... especially given my recent actions, but I wasn't going to stop her from trying. If nothing else she seemed to be able to draw out a few flecks of my old sarcasm and cutting remarks, which seemed to arouse her even if no one else was particularly happy about it.

Arriving above Illium had slowed those particular discussions, thanks to our renewed extranet access adding a whole new set of issues that we'd had to deal with.

Most personally to me... I was now officially a father, thanks to a small message from Emily Wong showing her in a hospital room with a tiny figure in her arms. The image was... conflicting to look at, to say the least. My emotional turbulence had shifted to something close to horror when I'd realized that she... that they were still on the Citadel, and obviously wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. Six hours of debate had eventually resulted in me transmitting what information we'd learned to Aethyta in exchange for a Broker team being moved into position to keep them as safe as possible against what was about to happen.

The need for that particular action came from the news reports that a massive battle had occurred above the old Rachni home-world between the Turians and the Geth. In the wake of the engagement, Sovereign was reportedly being seen making a straight-line for the Coreward Terminus, with Alliance vessels in hot pursuit even as the main Citadel Fleet had begun to consolidate around the Citadel proper.

"Sounds like they finally found the Mu relay." Shyeel spoke in between bites of breakfast, the four of us plus Joa in the latter's wardroom for an impromptu council of war as we approached the relay that would take us to Omega. "Nothing in the news about them locking down Shepard though."

"Maybe they're not as idiotic as they're implied to be." I mused, swirling the water in my glass around a bit. "The Council, that is."

Joa snorted. "They're politicians, so I wouldn't bet on it. More likely this Shepard is smarter than the one in your head, and just never wasted her time by going to the station."

I rolled a shoulder, "Definitely possible. Either way, that's her problem, not ours. For now, let's focus on getting everything touched up. You've got your supply list?"

"Civ has it," She nodded, referring to her Turian first officer, "He'll get it to the Eclipse when we dock. Where are you lot going?"

"Afterlife." I replied with a grimace, "Scales will be there along with a few new weapons she's been working on, along with Ayle."

Voya frowned, setting down her fork, "What is she doing here? I thought she was on Anderfels?"

"Her regiments still are, but the campaigns are winding down." I shrugged once again, "At least, according to her message. Aria wants to negotiate with her about acquiring a few of our forces for some kind of raid."

The Quarian had opened her mouth to reply when there was a low buzz from the room's intercom, followed by the XO's gruff voice. "Captain, Commander. We just cleared the relay... I think you should both come to the bridge. There's a situation."

Joa was on her feet before the end of the word 'bridge', and I was only a few heartbeats behind her. Thankfully whoever had designed this ship hadn't been stupid, and it took us less than a minute to jog the short distance to the bridge, emerging into an audibly confused room.

"Ma'am." Civ quickly rose from the Captain's chair, his blue-painted mandibles twitching with suppressed emotion. "There is a lot of fleet movement currently occuring, along with automated broadcasts from Omega."

"Details." Joa snapped in reply, quickly taking her seat as I took my usual position on her right side. "Who's moving, and what does the broadcast say?"

"The Black Fleet... almost the entire Black Fleet is in motion, heading for Relay Omega Five." He nodded towards the main screen, which was currently displaying a chaotic mess of movement around Omega as Aria's war fleet moved. "Further, the Golden Armada is clearing Relay Omega Seven even as we speak."

I snapped my eyes towards that particular part of the map, frowning as the icon for Leska Sederis's flagship vanished as it left the system, the rest of the Eclipse's local fleet following it. "And the message?"

He glanced at me, "That only authorized shipping may approach Omega, the station's defenses are active and will destroy anyone who isn't on the access list."

"What the fuck..." Shyeel muttered behind me, "Is Aria leaving?"

"Looks that way." Joa replied quietly. "Omega Five leads to the coreward Terminus, Seven is the first leg towards Theodosius and the Dark Rim... and it dumps you right in the middle of what territory Ganar's got left."

I half closed my eyes as currents of thought raced around in my brain, then let out a quiet curse. "Shit... Athame's fucking ass Aethyta..."

Said woman's daughter glanced up at me, frowning, and then seemed to remember what we'd just been talking about as she started swearing as well. "By the motherfucking..."

Illyan stepped up behind me, resting her chin on my head in what was rapidly becoming her go-to position of affection. "Cie?"

"Aethyta must have had someone on the Citadel." I murmured back, "Someone who grabbed the Mu relay's location when Shepard sent it to them. Since the Citadel Fleet obviously isn't going anywhere... the old bitch decided to send her daughter reinforcements from somewhere else."

Her chest sucked in with a breath, "Goddess... what does Aria get...oh. Ilos."

"Ilos." I exhaled. "And all of its Prothean technology, something that could keep her ass on its couch for centuries even with T'Ravt and Sederis's... well, T'Ravt's expansion. The Sederis's are apparently still allied with her if Leska is moving in concert."

Joa grunted. "You think they found Ganar?"

"Maybe..." I half closed my eyes in thought, only for Shyeel to speak up from behind us again.

"Or Leska is using herself as bait." She blew out a long breath of her own, "If there's one thing that old asshole likes it's fighting Asari powerhouses, reminds him of when he was young."

And Leska was most definitely a powerhouse... shit, from what I'd heard she had nearly as much power as her mother, and far superior control. But that didn't change the fact that Ganar was supposedly a walking supernova of dark energy who was far older than her, with far more relevant combat experience.

"Send a line back to Illium." I rose my voice slightly, "Route it to the Eclipse headquarters under my name, I want to know if Ithiri is present or if she's with her sister."

"Yes Commander." The Asari at the communications system responded at once, quickly composing said message. "One moment... we have permission to approach the station, instructions to dock at the Eclipse section of Doru."

"Civ." Joa stated simply. The Turian promptly stepped forwards from her other side, raising his voice as he called out orders to begin a casual approach to the station. While he did that, his Captain shifted her attention back to me. "I'll get the ship ready to move again as quickly as I can, and discharge what little we've built up. If Leska draws Ganar out..."

"Good chance that's where Krom will be." I finished for her, nodding. "Right, we'll get our shit done in Afterlife as quickly as possible and then get back to you. See if you can harass whats-his-name... Jaroth, he might know where exactly the Armada is going. How long do you think it will take?"

"Considering we might be showing up in the middle of a battle?" She grimaced. "Give me two shifts to repair the laser scoring on the starboard side and replenish our missile bays."

Sixteen hours... I nodded again, stepping away from Illyan and waving for her and the others to head to the door. "That's fine, we'll take a room in Afterlife and see if we can't raid Aria's armory again. Let us know if you get it done faster, but don't skimp on shit."

"Will do." She replied, already drawing up her omni-tool and flicking her eyes over reports even as she lowered her voice further, "You trust us not to leave you?"

"I trust that you don't want to give up staring at my girlfriend's ass." I murmured back. "And you want revenge on the Blood Pack. After Ganar is dead I'll worry more."

Her lips twitched in something like genuine amusement, "I never said I wanted more revenge than I already achieved when you killed his spawn."

"Nope." I drawled, "But you're not denying that you do."

"True." Joa flicked her eyes back to her data, settling into her chair a bit more, "Get out of here, and take care of Illyan's ass would you? I'd rather not see it blown off before I convinced you to let me take her clothes off."

Rolling my eyes, I batted at her crest as I turned away, "Keep in contact."

She replied something affirmative sounding, already lost in her spreadsheets as we drew closer to the massive station. Leaving her to it, I followed my companions out of the command center and into the hallway, all four of us heading towards the nearest lift.

"You know Cie," Illyan mused once we'd reached it, descending towards deck two and its airlocks. "Joa really does like your scars..."

"No." I replied simply.

There was a quiet snort, "Oh come on, you can't say that you haven't-"

"No, Illyan." Reaching up, I lightly whacked her on the face with a palm. "Voya, if she brings up the idea of a threesome with Joa again, hit her somewhere painful."

"Gladly." Said Quarian purred.

My lover let out a heavily disappointed sigh, but dropped the subject... for now at least. It was entirely probable that she'd bring it up again the moment that we were alone, both to try and make me seriously consider it as well as teasing me with ideas of what two Asari could do to me instead of just one.

Personally I thought, was hoping, that talking about it was just her way of excising the awkwardness I knew she felt at being in a relationship with just one person over several months. This was already the longest such thing in her century and a half of life, and as much as she liked me, we didn't have to meld for me to know that she was having a hard time with the whole exclusivity thing.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be with me, so much as it was that the habits of five or six decades of sleeping with someone else every other night was a bitch and a half for her to break.

The conversation turned towards shop talk after that, mostly us wondering how badly Krom had been hurt by what had happened, and how we could best counter him the next time we ran into him. I'd thought that by engaging him at close range we'd be able to avoid his skills as a sniper, but I really hadn't expected the sword and omni-shield combination.

The four of us ended up waiting outside of the airlock for twenty minutes until the lights flashed to indicate that we had docked with the station. Exiting the ship let us inside of the Eclipse's main docking center, the cavernous hangar feeling incredibly disconcerting thanks to how few people were moving around the usually bustling center.

Trusting that Joa would handle any discussions with the locals, we cleared out and headed for Afterlife. Our collective mood shifted into something darker and more paranoid as we did, all of us noticing the furtive movements of the general population and their readily apparent nervousness.

"They aren't taking Aria being gone well." Shyeel murmured as we reached the central district, "You'd think we were about to be attacked by something."

My upper lip twitched, "Don't say shit like that..."

Voya snorted. "You want to check and see how many ships she left behind now?"

"Both of you stop it." Illyan groaned, "I wanted to be able to relax and get a few drinks, stop winding him up."

The Quarian woman snickered, "Too late."

"No, it's not." Illyan countered, stepping closer to me. "Cie, just a few drinks and some food. It's Aria, she wouldn't have left her station if she thought it could seriously be attacked."

I mulled over that, glancing up at her helmet and knowing by instinct that she was giving me the most pathetic expression that she could muster up beneath the armor. "...fine, we'll talk with Trena and Ayle first, assuming they're still waiting for us and didn't decide to go with."

"Trena wouldn't have." Illyan shook her head at once. "But I suppose Ayle might have tagged along with Aria."

"Trena wouldn't have gone with Aria, no," I shrugged, bringing up my omni-tool to check for messages but not finding any. "But if Ithiri was with Leska she might have gone with them."

"Without telling us?"

Voya let out a snort as we drew nearer to the club, a hand falling to her pistol despite her jovial tones. "That bitch would forget to breathe if her bondmate didn't remind her to do so."

"Please don't pick a fight with her." I grimaced, finding the grip of my hand cannon as well. Afterlife without an eternal line outside was even more disconcerting than the mostly empty Eclipse hangar had been, even though the usual Elcor bouncer was present and in his partially powered armor.

He took a single lumbering step forwards as we drew closer, his back-mounted machine guns tracking us before lowering as he recognized us. "Sincere disappointment: I see no assassin in chains, mercenary."

"Came close, set him on fire but the ass snuck away." I summarized. "We need in to talk with our people before we head after Leska and Ganar."

"Brusque acceptance: Enter, mercenary. The Queen has ordered that you may come and go as you please."

Bowing my head slightly, I lead the others inside to be further weirded out by a club that was all but empty and devoid of music. Only a few tables around the first bar were occupied, almost entirely by people bearing Aria's markings. Off duty guards mostly, but I saw a few Asari and women who I thought would have been dancers on a normal day.

If nothing else it made it easy to find our friends, Dietrich waving a massive arm at us from a circular booth off to one side. We headed over to join them, Ayle standing to allow Illyan to settle in next to Dietrich, while Shyeel and Voya sat across from him, with the Quarian pointedly taking the spot on the end to stay as far from where Trena was sandwiched between everyone else as she could.

I elected to remain upright as well, standing beside my fellow Commander and Reyja'krem, frowning as I noticed Trena's furious scowl as she watched Illyan pull her helmet off, revealing the plain purple eye-patch and still raw burn scars. "What the fuck ape?"

"Justicars." I sighed, reaching up to pull my own headgear off, settling it onto the table next to Voya. "Didn't you read the report we sent?"

"Yes." She growled, still glaring at me, "Still, what the fuck. You have the stupidly, goddess-damned luck to get Illyan in your bed, and you let that kind of shit happen to her!?"

I eyed her, then sighed and shook my head and turned to the woman beside me. "Ayle."

"Cie." She replied, amusement in her dark eyes as she sipped from a dark drink. "You don't care to sit?"

"Rather talk with you alone first," I admitted, "If you don't mind."

"I do not." Her lower eyes flicked over to Dietrich, "Feel free to get everyone drinks, and to catch them up on the campaigns."

He nodded, everyone getting settled in while Ayle and I paced a few meters away before taking a high-top table fairly far off from anybody else. A human waitress, for once in actual clothes instead of stripper-wear or just her skin, took our orders and quickly returned with drinks.

We held them in salute to each other before taking sips, and I started speaking after I'd taken a good bit of rum. "Your successful campaigns, or my fucked up mission?"

"They were hardly anything of note, we largely acted as supporting forces to campaigns that were already in their closing stages. As for your own, I have already read your report, along with the separate one that Illyan sent." She smiled when a muscle in my cheek twitched. "Are you all right?"

I exhaled, taking another small sip of rum. "As all right as I ever am."

All four of her eyes narrowed, her head tilting to the right as she made it clear that that answer was unacceptable.

"Fine." I allowed, "I might have had some anger issues over what happened."

"Something tells me that your use of the past tense is inaccurate." She replied blithely. "Try again before I decide to hit you."

I started to scowl, forced my self to exhale, then shook my head, "I'm talking with Illyan, she's made it clear what her response will be if I lose my head again."

"No sex?" She guessed.

"She wouldn't torture herself like that." I snorted, "More seeing how many sparring rounds I could last before losing consciousness, every single day for at least a week."

Ayle let out a breathy little snort of her own, "Ah, that sounds more like her. It is a shame Thul isn't here, she could have added lectures to her threat."

I smiled a little at the idea. "He would have enjoyed that."

"He would have lectured you anyway." She agreed, her smile fading slightly as she returned to business. "I'm assuming that you will be preparing to head off immediately, assuming that Krom is near Ganar and that Leska is successful in drawing him out."

"Yes." I nodded once.

Maroon lips pressed together for a moment, then she nodded as well. "You will be on alert this time, prepared to not lose emotional control. I have no objection."

My eyes rolled, and I bowed my head subserviently, "Why thank you, Commander."

She lifted a hand as if to hit me, then sighed and lowered it, her posture shifting to inform me that I just wasn't worth the bother of her anger. "I assume you have already worked out what Sederis and Aria are doing?"

"More or less." I quickly summarized my thoughts on the matter, and they drew a nod from her.

"Essentially accurate, though Leska is not acting at random. She pursues intelligence on Ganar's last known location, where the remainder of his fleet was last seen." Ayle supplied, "And because I'm assuming that you will ask, Ithiri is with her, along with three of their half-sisters."

I lifted an eyebrow. I'd known that Trena wasn't exactly alone in having Jona Sederis as her father, but I'd never so much as seen any others. Which, considering how many enemies said father had, was probably intelligent for all parties concerned. "Oh? Where'd they come from?"

"Ithiri officially closed both of the Thessian branches last week, evacuating their members before the Matriach could hit them or try and force any laws through that would leave them trapped." She let out a whistling breath between her teeth, "Evidently they were acting as cabal leaders under assumed names. Leska was confident that the five of them could take Ganar, and were given a portion of their mother's elite commandos to ensure they could make it through his own escorts."

"Assuming they don't just blow his flaghip apart."

There was a nod, "Assuming that."

I grunted, "Where's Jona?"

Her lips twitched back to show me her sharp canines, "She is assumed to be with Aria, but I cannot confirm that. She has not been on Illium since you went after Aethyta's daughter."

Another bloody mystery... lovely. Taking another long sip from my drink, I shifted the fingers on my left hand to drum them on the table. "We'll... worry about that later. I want to stay focused on Krom right now."

"Sensible, for you at least." She continued to grimace. "I am stuck waiting to negotiate with someone who is no longer here, and I have no idea when she will return."

I winced, "Anyone else here besides Dietrich?"

"Half a dozen of his people, plus their suits." The Batarian woman shrugged, "He insisted on bodyguards for myself and T'Laria."

Which was again, rather sensible, considering that I wasn't quite sure how stable Aethyta was and whether or not she'd go after Trena again. Plus there was always the threat of the Matriarch, which seemed all the more real than it had been just a few months before.

Ayle and I spent several more minutes talking, the topic shifting and meandering as we drank, with her bringing the conversation back towards what had happened on Benihi, not so subtly attempting to make sure that I was all right. Well, by Batarian standards is was extremely subtle, but I had to stop myself from laughing or rolling my eyes when she tried.

She eventually just gave up dragged me over to everyone else, and then went ahead with blunt questions about exactly what I'd done and why I'd done it. Trena, typically, had had her own comments about me blasting two girls into a river, and just as typically, been horribly confused as to why I hadn't beaten Petrovsky far more than I had.

Her comments had entirely derailed the conversation as Dietrich started laughing, and he wasted no time in bringing up several stories about Trena and some of the shit that she'd done on Xentha. That had lightened the mood considerably, and we spent nearly an hour laughing, talking, and finally relaxing as friends. Things returned to business only once, when I questioned Ayle about what defenses Aria had left behind, and learning that there were several cruiser flotillas present to supplement the station's massive gun batteries.

Eventually we'd broken up, heading to the in-club suite that Aria had given to Ayle before she'd departed, the place having more than enough rooms to fit us as well... along with the crates holding our new toys. Trena promptly lead me over to the latter while everyone else broke apart to head to their rooms.

"Illyan's." Scales thumped one metal case with her foot, "Spare parts in the one next to it. I went with just one launcher instead of two ape, but there's still two magazines with a switch to adjust the type. Tests went well, trying to work out a less fucked up way to put one together so the bitch on Illium can build them."

I lifted an eyebrow, "They light enough to use for people who aren't Illyan?"

"No." She scowled. "Well, yes, but they're still heavy as shit. Figure they can be used by the power armor units, or as heavy weapons."

Snorting, I crouched down next to the other crate, flicking it open to find my old project inside. "It work?"

"Of course it fucking does. Rate of fire is slow, but at full charge it does some serious fucking damage." My old friend moved over to look down at the boxy weapon she'd finished for me, "Basically a light Kishok, that's what your goal was right?"

"More or less." Reaching down, I hefted the gun up and checked the weight. "Bayonet attachment?"

"In the other box, flash-forge model so you're not relying on a spike of metal." She grunted, clearly remembering some of the make-shift crap we'd had to use on Redcliffe. "Detachable scope too, assuming your aim isn't shit anymore. Plus schematics and parts for when you want to tinker."

"Thanks scales." I murmured, meaning the words as I put the rifle back down. "It'll be good to have with the next time we fight Krogan."

"Welcome ape." Trena replied, reaching out to rest a hand on my shoulder. "Look... shit. You doing all right?"

I sighed, "Everyone's been asking me that since we missed Krom."

"You are kind of fucking obsessed." She pointed out with a snort. "And there's that crap you did after."

"I wanted to live, first. He fucking pissed me off, second. And yeah, I know I should have held my temper, and I'll be more cognizant in the future."

Trena grunted as I stepped back, "I'm not judging, ape. It wasn't like you intended to kill those girls, you knew there were Justicars there and that they'd save them."

The unlike me went entirely unsaid. I still didn't know how Trena had passed her Eclipse initiation... she'd never volunteered the information, and I'd never asked, but I knew that it still haunted her even centuries later.

"And that asshole deserved worse anyway." She snorted, "Fuck, if the crap in your head is right, you did the galaxy a favor by weakening their damned fleet a few years in advance."

"Assuming that all stays on track." I sighed, reaching up to touch her hand for a moment before pushing myself to my feet. "Anyways, we can talk about that crap later, for now I just want to get some rest before we start planning out our next move."

"You're not going to get any rest." Trena rolled her eyes as she turned away, "You're going to be fucking Illyan senseless and you bloody well know it."

Rather than waste time trying to deny that, I gave her back a sheepish grin as we separated to head to our respective rooms. Illyan was already in the luxurious bed within ours, her clothes and armor pointedly left in a pile beside the bed as her single eye tracked my approach.

I cut her off when her mouth opened, my voice exasperated, "If you ask me how I'm doing, I'm going to hit you... and Ayle already revealed that you told her about crap."

She gave me a sheepish grin as I approached, throwing the blankets back and sitting up, utterly unconcerned with her own nudity. "Sorry Cie, but... I just wanted to remind you that there's people besides me that you can talk to."

My response got lost in my brain as she stood up, padding over before reaching out to start tugging at my armor. "Illyan... you're doing this on purpose."

"I'm doing what on purpose?" She asked, carefully pulling my chest plate free from the black

"Distracting me..." I closed my eyes to stop staring, "So that I don't yell at you again."

"Hmm." The tall Asari hummed as she stepped closer, her breath warm as she leaned down to ask the question into my ear. "If I am, is it working?"

My response was to reach up and place both of my hands on the sides of her neck, turning my head just in time to find her lips pressing against my own. It didn't take much longer to get all of my armor, and clothing, off and for the pair of us to make our way to the bed.

An hour or so later found us in an unusual position, with me on my back and Illyan's head resting in the crook of my throat. Given our respective heights, the fact that the bed was as large as it was was the only thing that allowed her to rest on me instead of the other way around, most of her long body laying off to one side as we held each other.

I exhaled and closed my eyes, trying to chase away the few flickers of emotion and sensation that didn't belong to me. "That was... almost a full meld."

My lover made a humming sound, "Yeah... sorry, I kind of got caught off guard when I finished that last time."

"It's fine." I assured her, reaching down to trail my fingers along her arm. She obligingly flexed it, letting me feel the cords of muscles beneath her textured skin. "Just... didn't expect it."

Her one eye glanced up at me, the dark blue iris barely visible in the dim lighting of the room. "It's not fine, I know you don't really like it. I was just in your head."

"I was startled." I sighed, "It was... definitely odd. Not in a bad way, just... warn me next time."

She blinked once, "You sure?"

I hesitated as I thought about it. "Not as an every-time thing, but... if you really want to."

Illyan pursed her lips, then shifted her head a little to place them against my skin once. "I'll.. think about it some more. I mean, it's better for me if we meld, but I don't want to make it bad for you."

That drew a snort. "Seriously? You think that would make it bad?"

"I am pretty good..." She grinned up at me, "Guess that's a fair point."

Reaching up with my left hand, I flicked her on the nose once with two fingers. "Don't get cocky, even if it's true."

She gave my chest another soft kiss before scooting her body up so that she could better press her face into the side of my neck. "How long do we get to sleep?"

"Eight hours." I supplied, reaching down to yank the blankets up over us. "That'll give us four or so to plot things out with Ayle and Trena before Joa's ready."

"Sounds good." My skin tingled as she yawned against it, a strong arm and leg each wrapping tightly around me as she pulled me even closer. "Night Cie."

"Night." I yawned in reply, using my omni-tool to kill the lights entirely before relaxing in her grip, wondering which of us would wake up first... and just how we'd wake the other if we did.

Unfortunately for both of us, a mere six hours passed before a horrific shriek began to rise from every intercom in the room, the station's general alarms howling that it was under attack.

Next up is Saga V: War of the Demons

And here we are, moving into the last saga. Some bits in this chapter may seem a little repetitive, with everyone worrying over Cie... there is a reason for that, beyond what they told him. I'm assuming at least a few of you might work out what it is, but it'll be stated more obviously later. In the meantime, at least he and Illyan got some time to themselves before the next chapter, where things are going to get interesting. Oh, and the Battle of the Citadel is finally occurring 2 years after it should have.

For my usual teasing amusement, here are the chapter titles for the final Saga (in order): Old Monsters, Fallen Angels, Vent Breach, Amon Amarth, Approaching Beginnings, Hail to the Warlord

As there are six chapters, we're going to be rotating through Cie's companions as secondary points of view, with each of them getting their sections in two chapters.

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:

GreaterGoodIreland → If it was one of the other experiments, rather than Cieran, they might have gone the trust route, but given who he is... I don't think they saw much point in trying to work with him long-term.

Stonewolff → We haven't seen the last of Frank... I mean, Miranda.

Thedarknesswithin96 → I believe I revealed this somewhere else, so will go ahead and spoil it again: There was originally twenty of them, with 1-12 being experimental treatments. 13-17 were the 'chosen candidates', and 18-20 were created for unknown reasons. Only six of those twenty are still breathing as of this chapter.

Gods-own → Surprised, not so much. Overly emotional due to what had happened, yes.

Griezz → The rachni queen got off of noveria when Aethyta fucked crap up there back in Vengeance, and has been on the run for the last two years.

Tusken1602 → EDI was on the Suffern, which was spared so that Miranda and Petrovsky could leave.

Aelund → We are very close to the prologues, yes. They'll be showing up as part of a chapter in the next saga.