"Are you sure we should be doing this?"

"Why not?"

"Well…" Jorgal was nervously looking at the Basilisk as it tried to distribute its weight over the hospital without falling though, "we could just knock a few heads around and get him out that way."

"That's be fun too…but those damn doctors don't want us to push him too far before he's 'fully' recovers."

"What do they know about us krogan," Grunt was doing his best to climb down the rope they had slipped into his room's window. "Now shut your mouths and get me out of here."

"No worries there, we…" The Basilisk's claws accidently cut the rope when Grunt finally managed to get ready to climb out. His full weight couldn't be supported on the glass so he fell out, falling toward the water reservoir below.

Drok started to laugh, "That's one hell of a way to start a 'birthday' party!"


Mandalore managed to find Ash at the bar, wearing just casual wear and carrying a hidden pistol. "So do you think you got what it takes to play with the big boys?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to hurt 'the' Mandalore's reputation now being able to shut you down, hard."

"You're getting rather close." Mandalore wrapped his arm around her, "So up for a little Mandalorian styled fun? Mhi n'ulu."

"Me what?"

"It's a drinking chant. We've turned it into a bit of a game. You chant it as long as you can with as many shots as you can take. The one still singing after the most shots wins. I have to warn you, of my brothers, I'm the second best at this game."

"Second best? You? Well then, maybe we should invite the first best instead."

Mandalore took the first glass and quickly downed it. "I doubt you'd be able to pry Tali off him to join us. Naasad'guur mhi. Naasad'guur mhi. "

Ashley took the next glass and slammed it down after guzzling it, "You know there's no point. I don't know the words, and you won't be beating me this time."

Mandalore took the next glass, "Last time you could barely hold your own with just one of Vega's little cocktails. What makes you think you'll win tonight?"

"My secret weapon…" Ashely then started to whisper into his ear before finishing another glass.

"That's low…"

"A Spectre does whatever it takes to win."

"Well two can play at that." Mandalore downed his next glass before whispering something into her ear.

"You wouldn't!"

"You'd be blindfolded. You wouldn't be able to tell. Plus, the gunship was built to carry thirty fully armed and armored troopers. A few dozen of us won't break her."

"It's not her you should be worried about breaking…"


In one of the Citadel's many dark alleyways, Tishad easily slipped into the darkness without anyone noticing. "Looks like you still got it."

"At least I don't have to rely on a cloaker for most of it, Goto." Kasumi appeared next to the drell as the two of them smiled, "So, what's this big plan this time around?"

A turian, asari and salarian joined them. "Have fun. What else? There's going to be a lot of credits leaving the recently reopened, under new management, Silver Coast Casino. Want to join us? I could use someone who recently visited."

"Unfortunately for me, I didn't get to go in with Mandalore. But I suppose I could use this to hone my skills for the Mandalorians."

"That's the spirit. Don't want to get rusty around them. So, first, since you probably have the schematics still, we need a few of these put down inside to scramble their cameras…"


Aralakh Company managed to fish Grunt out of the water and since they were on the Presidium, there was a monument many of them wanted to visit. "There it is…"

The Krogan Monument, built in remembrance of the krogan effort against the rachni. Unfortunately Aralakh Company had a few bottles of ryncol stashed on that Basilisk and have already started drinking. Grunt was the first to start climbing onto the monument, claiming to be 'king of the Presidium'.

"Hey, tell the statue to stop moving to I can take this picture!"

Unfortunately for them, it would seem that someone didn't like their antics, or screaming. A C-Sec shuttle arrived and the officers started yelling at the krogan. "Hey, you're not supposed to be on that! Get down now before we force you down!"

"Why don't you try and make us?" Dork was a tad drunk after twelve bottles of ryncol as his Basilisk tried to intimidate the officers, which seemed to be working.

Grunt was the first to climb down, "No, it's all right guys. They just want to join us. Here, have a bottle!" Grunt threw his current bottle at the shuttle and the ryncol went up in a blaze. The C-Sec officers scattered, fleeing from the fire. "Looks like we've got a ride for the rest of us, boys!"

Most of Aralakh Company hopped into the shuttle that Grunt was taking as the rest of Aralakh held onto the Basilisk to follow on this joyride.


"Ladies and gentlemen, it's combat night in the Armax Arsenal Arena!"

Aay'han seemed rather disappointed, "Oh come on!? They call this realistic? We are fighting on the wing of a turian cruiser. The least they could do is have sprinklers spraying at us and the wind properly matching the ship's flight speed. When the drill sergeants put us through a training sim, we went through the next best thing that wasn't live fire exercise."

"Yeah? Complain to the desk jockey who runs this ship. I'm still breaking in this new foot, and I don't intend for you to screw that for me by getting us kicked out." The buzzer rang out as the holographic targets started to appear, yet Nyona and Aay'han didn't seem all that worried. "And if you think you can do better, why don't we make a friendly wager?"

"While the match just started?" Aay'han blasted Cerberus troopers to his flank, "What's the game?"

Nyona grabbed a target by the face before flaring her biotics to digitize it, "Whoever gets the most kills gets to do whatever they want to the loser for an entire day, no questions asked and no bitching about it no matter how humiliating it gets."

Vren blasted a target with his shotgun, "So does that include the two of us or is this a private wager?" grabbing Hardcase when he turned to them.

"Sure, why the fuck not? The more personal slaves the merrier. I'm going to enjoy making you three grovel for me."

"Do many Mandalorian exchanges involve violence?"

"Not always, but usually." Aay'han pat the geth on the back, "No worries, and if you win you get to be the boss of us for a day."


Kix was staring up at the glowing neon Castle Arcade sign. "Okay. Run this through me again. How the hell did you convince us to do this?"

Rang slugged Kix's arm, "Hey, even we Mandos need some good press from time to time that Prath can't provide us. Ain't that right Miss Wong?"

Emily was in a very casual set of cloths along with her camera bot, "This is going to be very good or end very badly."

"I'll say." Forta turned back to Rang, "So, what are we waiting for again?"

"The kids, or so the email said…"

"Sis?" much to Kix's surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Even I get shore leave from time to time, in case you forgot since leaving the Hierarchy." She was displaying her omni-tool, "And I got an email from this mouthy asshole named 'Rang' saying something about a charity for war orphaned kids and to see you in a 'less scummy light'."

Kix barely glanced over to Rang, "I'd strangle you if I wasn't expecting you to be carrying one or two of your homemade cherry bombs somehow." He turned to his sister, "Okay, I probably have a few things to explain and I haven't called as often as I should…" she punched his arm, "Hey, what was that for?"

"For everything you listed and leaving. You ass. I tried to defend you, you know." She then hugged him, "And thanks for that save back on Palaven."

"So…how is everybody?"

"Mom and dad made it safely thanks to you guys saving my ass back there. Big brother…well he died fighting. Funny, I always thought he'd die fighting batarians or Cerberus. But to those monster…"

"I know, sis. But this nightmare will be over soon enough. We're at that last stretch of the race here."

Suddenly a group of kids from a multitude of races rushed over to the arcade with Jacob Taylor following behind them. "I didn't think you'd be bringing the press for us."

"I didn't. But you know, that's all up to how Miss Wong here wants to spin this tale before broadcasting it."

She smiled, "I've learned to only do live shoots around you guys on request. So let's see what I can film, then I'll send it to the editor to see how they want to do this. Though I'm going to have to get consent to show faces of minors…"


"Teh…"

"Teh…"

"Manda'yaim…"

"Manda'yaim…."

"There you go, Williams. Now for the tricky part. Putting it all together and singing it. Aloud for the whole casino to hear!"

Ashley giggled, "You're not going to get me to sing…"

"After another shot or three, you might be singing a different tune." Just as Mandalore was about to swing his arm, he accidently elbowed someone. "Sorry pal. I'll pay for the next two for ya. Now where were we?"

The batarian snarled at him as a vorcha approached, "My friend doesn't like Alliance types."

"Good for him…"

When Mandalore tried to go back to his drink, the batarian pushed his shoulder, "I don't like Alliance types either. You best watch yourself, human."

Mandalore glanced back to them, "Look pal. I don't care. I'm just looking for a good time, but if you continue…" the batarian tried to punch him, but Mandalore stopped his fist, crushing his hand now. "You asked for this." He punched the batarian in the face.

The vorcha tried to attack Mandalore, but Ashley punched his jaw. "I'd say rain check, but you might just put this on my bill."

"I wouldn't even dare."


A flaming C-Sec shuttle and a Mandalorian Basilisk wasn't all that hard to follow, especially now that they've got a small entourage of C-Sec shuttles after them. "Hey, runt! I think they want their shuttle back."

"Yeah. They can try, but I don't think they'll be waiting for much longer."

"Why's that?"

"Because the controls stopped working."

The Basilisk flew behind trying to keep the shuttle in the air, but it wouldn't help since they were built to destroy. C-Sec officers were already waiting for them when the krogan started to climb out of the crash. They started to spray them in riot foam, stopping most of them in their tracks.

Grunt and Jorgal were unaffected because their armors were still on fire. "Well, I'm hungry. What about you runt?"

Luckily they crashed not too far from a food joint. "Huh…noodles…" the sign read 'Noodle House' with a neon krogan jumping into a box. The krogan who were enflame not that long ago causing most of the customers to flee. "Two bowls of your best noodles."

"Ya might want to hurry up with the food too. Those assholes will be here soon and we won't be able to pay for it." As the chief got to cooking, Jorgal turned to Grunt, "So, should we call Mandalore or Shepard about this?"


Mandalore was cracking his knuckles before wiping the blood off his fists. "I think I almost broke a finger against your faces, pal." Mandalore paid for their drinks, putting a few extra credits down to the bartender, "Sorry about the mess."

Ash had also finished up knocking around the vorcha, leaving him with a dislocated jaw, fractured ribcage and a broken leg. "I was expecting worse on your 'partner'."

"Which is why you got the vorcha. I'd probably have ripe his arm out. So, about our game…" Mandalore's omni-tool started to flash with a message from one of his Mandalorians. Quickly skimming through the message, he found what he needed to know, "Great. Not even a day into shore leave, and we've got problems with C-Sec. Looks like we'll have to pick this back up later."

"You better make sure you do. Otherwise I might have to call someone else to help me relax."


Nyona brought down the Atlas mech's shield, but Vren ripped off its claw arm and Aay'han broke the canopy cover, but it was Hardcase put the killing blow to the pilot and mech. The stadium was in an uproar at watching these Mandalorians tear through their targets.

Aay'han raised the geth's arm up, "That's it, let them soak this sight in! The 'heroes' of the day!"

Hardcase was still uncertain how this helped. "We participated in an open view combat simulation. We have done nothing of significant worth beyond improving our tactical coordination."

Vren fired off his shotgun a few more times, "You really know how to drain the fun outta things, flashlight."

Nyona pulled off her helmet, "Complain all you want to the metal box, I get to have the three of you as my personal bitches for a day."

As the team left the arena and into the locker room. The holopannel for setting up the match activated with Prath on the other end. "That was an excellent match out there. These people were really excited to see the infamous Mandalorians in action."

"Hey, Prath. What's going on, and how did you get connected here?"

"Since I handle most of our logistics it's only expected. However when you registered for the battle, Hardcase linked me to your account."

Nyona turned to Hardcase, expecting an explanation. "Registration asked about sponsorship."

"And I'm glad you did. This account's email has been flooded with fan challenge requests and a few from charities. Proceeds from your matches go to help them."

Aay'han and Vren turned to Nyona, "So, best two outta three?"

"Planning to extend your services, fine by me boys."


Prudii had rented out a skycar for the day as he took Tali somehow, keeping their destination a secret. "You're still not going to tell me where we're going?"

"It's a surprise." Although she was already surprised to see Prudii out of his armor again.

"Not even a clue to guess?"

"It'd spoil the surprise." Tali wasn't certain what this surprise could be, especially down in the wards. "Close your eyes for a bit." She knew he could see through her visor and see her face as clear as day, so she played along for now. It was a rather calm and quiet drive, though when they finally stopped he gently nudged, "Okay. Open them."

"Prudii…how did you…" this small section of the Citadel had been closed off to replicate a small portion of Rannoch.

"I…had some help…" Prudii got out, "Why don't you try out that dress? The skycar was rented new. So there haven't been many people who flew it."


Bev was monitoring the atmospheric conditions and the bacterial count within Prudii's little escape. "You're doing quite a lot for your brother…" Rasen wrapped her arms around Bev's neck even as he continued his work.

"Prudii doesn't usually ask for much, but when he does they're usually doozies."

"This reminds me of all those repairs you and your brothers helped do back on the Idenna. Before you came, I never expected to see anyone else willing to work on a ship's hull not in dry dock."

"In many respects, the quarians are just like us."

"Mandalorians?"

Bev stopped. "Clones. Our only real home we knew was a city built above an ocean planet. Even then we knew we were going to ship out to fight a war. Our lives were onboard those warships. We all had to pull our weight on the battlefield just as we did off it. I think that's what we respected about your people. You didn't have much, but you survived and made do with what you could."

"You know, I hope this doesn't distract from our plans…"

"I just need to set up a few more things than Prudii should be able to handle everything on his own." Bev made a few more entries and closed the program, ensuring his omni-tool was synced. "There we go. Everything should be up to Prudii now."


Tali got out of the car again, this time wearing that dress she had bought earlier. "You know, when we got this, I thought I was going to wear it on the ship…" Tali seemed a little embarrassed now, as though the entire Citadel was watching her.

"Don't worry. You look great." He took her hands just as music started to play.

"You got that music from Flux."

"It was one of the mixes you liked…"

"It is." She kissed his cheek. "So, are we going to dance, or just stand around?"

Prudii took Tali's hand, and started to guide her through the steps, "Might seem premature, but I thought it'd be good to have at least one dance…before retiring on Rannoch…"

"Retire?" The two of them started to flow with the music now, adrift in their small little world to themselves for the day.

"Yeah…after we win, we settle on Rannoch. Build that home and see where that takes us."

"It'll be interesting to see you building a home…just don't ask Rang to help you."


Lissarkh carefully walked through the Citadel, heading toward the location she was told to meet someone. She wasn't all that thrilled to see Javik. "Why did you ask me to meet here like this?"

"I have been asked to take part in a 'vid'. I am told it will boost morale for the war. I am waiting for the Commander to show up."

Lissarkh quietly tried to imagine Javik in this vid. "I'm sure you will play a major role…however I don't think I want to have anything to do with it."


A/N: This update took long because I wanted to make sure I got all of these vacation moments right and I got wrapped up in writing a new story.

Mando'a Translation:

The chant Mandalore was referring to is Mhi n'ulu. I won't translate the whole song though it is easy to look up.