Hello readers, and welcome to chapter 49 of Violet Eyes, and the culmination of Act II!

Now, before we get down to chapter, there is some business to be attended to. Right now, I a trying to balance four stories as well as a full time job, and it is not working. So, I am putting Violet Eyes, as well as my Frozen fic, The Summer Run, on temporary hiatus. This will be a short hiatus so that I can take care of my two request stories. They are not long, one being a Bleach oneshot, while the other is a Mass Effect multi-chapter project, but with pretty short chapters sitting at 2000-2500 words.

The requests should not take me long to get completed and out of the way, so I do not expect the hiatus to last long. That being said, I will only allow it to go on for a single month. The very latest that Violet Eyes will return, regardless of how those requests go, is August 4th.

Now, with that out of the way, please enjoy Chapter 49!


The elevator crawled up the shaft, and Shepard was slowly getting more and more pumped for something that hadn't happened yet. This was the end. The culmination of a hunt that had taken her from being bedridden with shattered ribs to this elevator, on Ilium, next to Nenin T'Nirra. Strange, when she really took a second to think about it all. This whole time had been started by a T'Nirra, and now it was being brought to a close with a T'Nirra.

The thief was standing, anxious, against the side of the small box. Shepard had an idea that she was still shaken up by how easy it had been to kill the three humans downstairs. The thief had no background in killing, so to see it done so close, and so efficiently, had shaken her. Even if she denied it, Shepard had seen the look in her eyes many times before and it was a familiar one. Not that she placed any fault or blame on the asari. She had done Shepard a huge favor by bringing her here to Khan's hideout.

It was a favor that Shepard would not soon forget. Not even close to forget. They might have caught Khan eventually, but by the time that had happened, he may have gone after Vasha or Imali. He might have hurt someone they loved, and that would make things far worse. Now though, she had gotten to him. This nightmare was going to be over.

She wasn't completely in the clear though. She still recalled seeing Amata outside, so that meant that this building probably had reasonably strong personal inside, protecting Khan as he hid behind a desk. Although he has caused such issues and rallied a force like Revenant behind himself, Khan himself is now and always was a coward. In some ways, Zaia truly wondered how he had managed to pull together the funds and other assets necessary to make Revenant the power that it was.

As the elevator began to get higher, a thought struck her. There might be defenses up here, and if there was, then she was not the only person that had to stay alive. She went to her belt and removed one of her pistols, handing it to Nenin. The asari took it, albeit hesitantly.

"If there is someone up there guarding Khan, you'll need that. I assume you know how to use it." She said. Nenin sent a scowl her way and checked the clip, as if to show Shepard that she knew exactly what she was doing.

"When we reach the top, you push into that corner. I'm throwing a flashbang and an EMP into the hall," Shepard tapped two sets of grenades strapped to her belt. "If there is any defenses at all already there, they'll be neutralized. When it's time, you follow me through."

Nenin nodded steadily, her eyes taking on a hardness that Shepard recognized as someone steeling themselves for the worst. She said nothing, but Zaia had no concerns about her. She would kill if she had to. Besides, she was certain that nearly any defenses were going to gone by the time the two of them entered the hall. The grenades she used were small and compact, but they detonated with the same force as normal sized grenades.

The elevator came to a soft stop, and Shepard unclipped the two grenades that were going into the hall. She fixed another look onto Nenin, hoping that the asari was ready for anything they were about to go up against. She would hate for Nenin to die at this point. She had earned that much.

The doors eased open, and the first thing Shepard saw was Amata's unforgettable form standing across the hall. She activated both grenades and rolled them into the hall, right to the human's feet. A smirk crossed Shepard's face as she drew back into the elevator and slid into the corner, shielding her eyes from the blasts.

Both charges went off, and Shepard heard the magical sound of several bodies hitting the floor. Strange though; she heard no yells or screams. She nodded to the asari in the opposite corner, and the two of them emerged into the hall, pistols up. Just as Shepard had heard, there were several bodies spread out through the hall. However, that thing exactly is what was strange.

They were all Amata. All seven of the humans that now lay on the ground in various positions looked like mirror images of Amata. Shepard glared around at all the bodies, her mental red flags flying up. How were all of these humans the same? She wanted to stay and find out just what the hell was going on, but there was something she needed to do first. Her eyes flicked down the hall to a large door, still operational as far as she could see.

She had assumed that an office door would have some sort of EMP proof defenses, but no door she had ever come across could stand up to a hack. She stayed silent, but worked forward down the hall steadily. There were no other doors that went off this hall that she could see, and that meant that any more defenses would come from either behind this office door or from the door at the opposite end. Nenin followed close behind her, the asari barely even breathing hard enough to hear.

Shepard went to work on the door, finding an almost elementary set of protection codes on it. Even more flags rose in her mind. She couldn't believe that this was the office of the man that she had been chasing for months. A man that had been able to rally enough troops to run a gang, as well as a man who rose to the Director of the N7.

As she worked, she began to realize that this door actually had no security on it at all. It was just locked. From the inside. Who would lock it from the inside, and why the fuck was there no security on this door? Why the fuck is this so easy? Where is all the defense for this place? It made no sense that this was so easy…unless there was something else going on.

"Stay out here," She mumbled to Nenin. "If anyone other than me walks out of this room, shoot to kill. If any more guards come up, come inside and be ready to fight…"

Seven guards had been neutralized before they even had a chance to react, but that was also curious. She threw an EMP and a flash bang…neither of which should have rendered those humans unconscious. The Amata that was closest to the flash could possibly have been exposed to enough force to induce unconsciousness, but not the others. Easily finishing off the last part of the lock, she stepped back, her pistol up and ready to dispense death.

The door slid open…and she was greeted with a view of the top half of a quarian female, riding whoever was sitting in that chair, who was undoubtedly Temujin Khan. When the sound of the door reached his ears, the man angrily pushed the quarian off of him, spinning the chair.

"God dammit, Amata! I sai-" His words ended abruptly when his eyes alighted on Shepard's grinning features. He sputtered in his chair, his eyes wide and full of fear. The quarian, who had gotten up from the floor, grabbed a pistol off the desk and tried to point it at Shepard.

A single round through the neck ended her life quickly and painlessly. Shepard didn't want to have to shoot her, but she had made a move against her. Khan watched his whore fall to the floor, red blood pouring from her neck wound. Shepard took a predatory step into the office, allowed the door to slide closed behind her.

"Temujin Khan," She chuckled maniacally, feeling the bloodlust begin to run through her. "I find you at last." The human was typing through his terminal quickly, but Shepard didn't care what he was doing. He could send more troops up, but it didn't matter. She would kill them all if they came. Her eyes narrowed when the frantic Khan suddenly relaxed.

He leaned back in his chair, his hands steepling in front of his face. "Zaia Shepard. I knew I would get you eventually." He said, his sudden calmness infuriating her.

"The fuck you mean you got me? Correct me if I'm wrong, Khan, but you're the trapped rabbit here." She growled. Her Woedes was pumping wildly, and she tried to suppress it, knowing that she needed to be in control here. This fucking weasel was up to something, and she knew it.

"Indeed, you are wrong, Zaia. Let me ask you something: were you impressed with my guards? I know you and Amata had quite an up close and personal meeting on Tuchanka." Khan's face betrayed no emotion that she could easily discern. She definitely knew that he was up to something, but she couldn't decide what.

"Nothing to say? Typical. You're still just a grunt," He gave her a condescending smirk, and she had to truly struggle to keep from slicing him into little pieces. Khan tapped something on his omni, and a pressure release brought Shepard's attention to a panel that had slid up in the wall. Inside it was Amata. But she was folded up, like a compact machine. The human extended from the wall, and immediately, Shepard knew what she was.

Her broken ribs now made complete sense. The seven Amata's in the hall now made sense. Khan stood up, coming to stand next to the human. "Shepard, please meet Amata. Asset Management, Acquisition and Termination Android." The robot's human features activated, and suddenly, Shepard was eye to eye with Amata.

"Hello, Zaia Shepard. Have your bones healed sufficiently?" The machine asked in an unnervingly human voice, with an unnervingly human smile. Shepard glared at the machine, noting that there were no physical signs of weapons. No pistol, rifle or shotgun, but that didn't mean the android was harmless. Not at all.

"You see, Shepard…people like you are untrustworthy," Khan started speaking as he paced circles around his robot. "Human agents cannot be trusted to always follow orders, without question. You, for example. You always do what you wish, despite your orders. Despite your commands. You might accomplish your mission…but always with baggage."

He brought his hand up and stroked the androids cheek, the hair that hung down shifting just like a human's would. "Amata, however, represents change. Represents order. The perfect agent: she will complete the mission without demanded explanation. Without fighting with morals." He spat the word out like it was an infection that he was getting rid of. "She would never question the ethics of her orders. She just completes them."

"You want to kill me, because I didn't follow orders?" She grunted. Khan shook his head, smiling, although about what she couldn't guess at.

"No…you see, Amata is the perfect agent…but she is incomplete. Amata lacks certain traits that, as an android, she could never possibly obtain. I need humans, Shepard, not androids. But I need humans who follow orders unquestioningly, like androids. Do you understand now? Can your single focus mind comprehend what I need? I need an android with judgement, but not morality. Not choice," He began his slow pace around Amata once more.

"You see, if Amata had the traits of a human, then she would have taken you when she beat you down on Tuchanka. However, her mission stated that she was to capture you, in good health, and bring you to me. You weren't in good health when she broke your ribs, and hence her programming made her leave you there!" He yelled, obviously angry about the fact that he pretty much had her and she slipped away because of his fucking android.

Shepard didn't say anything, but subtly began to reach to the back of her hip. Encased there was the blade that she had brought for exactly this occasion. Her Scorpion Blade, or at least one of her Scorpions blades, sat in its hidden sheath there. Khan was too caught up in his own rhetoric to care what she was doing.

"I need your parts, Shepard. You are the only being in this galaxy that has retained its humanity, its soul, while having the capability of a machine. You defied death, and with your parts, you shall continue to do so for hundreds of years. I want your parts, because I know that I can engineer the perfect agent with them. Amata has everything…except she is not human." Khan stared at her as he spoke, his eyes almost shining with envy. She narrowed her own eyes further, debating with herself if Khan was making sense, or if he had truly descended into madness.

"If you wanted to build more like me, why didn't you go after Miranda?" She asked. Not that she wanted the madman to chase after Lawson instead, but it would make sense that if he wanted the tech, he should go after the one who created it. The one who created Zaia Shepard from a pile of meat.

Khan gave a short chortle. "That would never work. Lawson was a Cerberus operative trained in intelligence and counter-intelligence; she would sooner die than give that information to me. So I had to go after the living, breathing result of her research…"

"Which is why you wanted to use my daughters to get to me…" Shepard droned, her mind linking all the pieces of the puzzle. Khan laughed, returning to his desk and steepling his hands once more.

"And the slowest horse finally finishes the race. Face it, Shepard. I wasn't prepared for you to come here, but still. You might think you caught me…" The door behind Zaia slid open, and in marched five more Amata's, Nenin in front of them. "You are the one who is caught."

Shepard could see bullets marks on the bodies the new androids wore and knew that Nenin had tried to fight them. Strange; she heard no gunfire. Khan must have soundproofed his office. Explains why he didn't hear the flash bang, EMP, or his other seven Amata's fall in the hall. Also explains why they were out cold; EMP fried their circuits.

These new Amata's were armed with rifles, but Shepard knew what she was dealing with now. Androids were simple to handle, almost more so than humans: when you go after a droid, it doesn't run. It simply stands and attempts to fight. She took a moment to guess that distance between herself and the closest droid. It was a step and a half, but it had to be quick.

She had to hope that Nenin would have the sense to get the fuck out of the way when it all started, because there was no way to tell her without blowing the element of surprise. She took a deep breath, letting it out in a long sigh. Then she sprang.

The first droid that Khan had been caressing was down in a second, a sizzling gash sliced across the front, revealing cybernetics beneath it all. Her omni-blade punched through the metal and severed many of the connections, sending the bot into a sparking mess.

Nenin shot the bot behind her with a quick biotic push before leaping over the desk, punching Khan as he reached for what was undoubtedly a weapon. The asari leveled her own pistol and tried to assume a target, but couldn't actually shoot. Shepard was a blur, her single steel blade producing showers of sparks as she sliced savagely at the Amata's nearest her.

Her omni-blade was the only thing doing any real damage, because whatever the bots were made of was barely scratched with the steel blade. However, the flicking steel was distracting the bots as it carved across eyes. Cybernetic eyes or real ones, they weren't meant to deal with a blade. As she finished carving through the second bot, the Amata's decided to stop trying to level weapons. Shepard traded painful blows with a third Amata, the metal of the androids body crashing against the human's forearms and shoulders.

It made sense that she never made any strange connection to the power of Amata's blows when she fought one of them on Tuchanka. Wearing the Micro-Steel probably softened the hits enough to not arouse the fact that she was fighting a robot. Secretly, she didn't feel so bad about her broken ribs anymore. Wasn't like a real human gave them to her. As she fought, landing another slice across the bots eyes, she heard several gunshots ring out. She kicked the bot she was fighting away and spun to evaluate and respond if necessary.

Behind her, an Amata had a few holes in the side of the head, and Nenin's aim had been true; the android was malfunctioning now, simply standing in place and repeating orders about calibrations or something or other. Shepard swung the omni-blade in a wide arc, making use of a brand new, state of the art mod she had acquired from Aria that extended the blade out into a sword.

The extended omni-blade sliced easily through the two remaining Amata's that she had kicked away, severing the heads completely and rendering the bots unable to function. With five bots down, Shepard glanced back at the front of the office to see the bot that Nenin had pushed away pulling the trigger on the rifle it carried. Shots ricocheted off the walls and the desk, and although she had quickly jumped to the floor behind the desk, Shepard felt the familiar sting of a bullet hitting her side. The burning pain came soon after, but she ignored it.

The Amata rose to its feet, finger pressed onto the trigger of the rifle as it continuously peppered the desk with shots. Shepard noted that Nenin had pulled Khan down and had him effectively pinned against the floor, the pathetic man's pupils dilated and rushing around in fear. The bullets stopped, but no sound of ejected clip came which meant the droid was waiting for them to emerge.

Shepard quickly thought of a solution and flicked her steel blade past Nenin, sending it clanging into the wall opposite her. At the moment it struck the wall, the Amata turned to investigate the noise, and Shepard leaned out and shot the bot in the head, emptying her own clip. The room fell into silence, the only sound to be heard being that of Shepard's heavy breathing.

When she had gotten herself under control again, Shepard glared down at Khan. As far as she knew, that was his last ditch attempt, and it had failed. A victorious grin spread across her face as she got to her feet, Nenin slowly coming to her own. The asari looked around at the sparking androids that lay across the room, but remained silent.

Shepard leaned down and grabbed Khan, pulling him up and planting him viciously into his seat. "Time to die, fucker!" She hissed. Khan stared at her in fear, his eyes shaking and his previous smug attitude gone.

She pulled from its sheath the blade that she knew he would recognize, even if it was not the same blade he met thirteen years ago. The Scorpion Blade that he met in Ulaanbaatar was still in her side table back on Thessia, and that's where it would stay. He didn't know that though.

"Recognize this, Khan?" She asked, passing it in front of his eyes and feeling a sick pleasure run through her at the fear with which he followed the blade with. "You escaped it all those years ago…but not this time. This time, I will kill you. I will kill you slowly…painfully…deliciously…" She knew she was descending back into the bloodlust that she was working to get out of, but she didn't care right now. Khan deserved this. But first things first.

She flipped the blade and flicked it forward, the bulbous stinger on the pommel stabbing into the humans shoulder. He barely winced as it went in and out. "What was that? Are you going to kill me with pin pricks?" He asked, some of that arrogance from before leaking out. Shepard grinned wildly.

"Oh no…the stinger had poison in it…" She whispered, gratified to see his eyes widened as his hand inadvertently went to cover his shoulder. She placed the flat of the blade against it, pushing the hand to rest on his thigh again. "That poison is going to clot your blood, so you don't bleed out on me. What I'm going to do to you Khan…you'll be bleeding a lot."

She flipped the blade again and slashed it down, feeling it bite deep into the same shoulder that she had just injected the poison into. Khan yelled in pain, and his hand shot up to cover the wound. Shepard waited with savage glee as he saw the deep cut barely leak any blood at all. The poison she had used was fast acting, and soon, only the very deepest wounds would bleed.

"Shepard!" Zaia turned around to find Nenin pointing at the monitor on his desk. From her spot, Shepard could already see what was on it: orders. Orders, sent to Amata, to activate all forces and destroy the T'Soni estate and kill everyone. She turned a furious glare back onto the human sitting in the chair in front of her.

Shepard's Woedes began to pump when Khan only smirked at her. "I only regret that I will not be able to witness the pathetic pile of shit you become when your whole family lies dead, because you refused to give up your life! Their pain will be your fault!" The Woedes pumped even harder as she lashed out, her fist crashing into his face.

While his head rocked from the force of the punch, she easily reached into his mouth and grabbed his tongue, pulling it as far out of his mouth as she could. "Enough talking from you!" In a fluid motion, she sliced his tongue off, the man screaming in pain although blood barely trickled from the severed muscle. One that was done, she cracked the butt of her pistol into his head, knocking him out.

While she wanted to sit here and enjoy his pain, she had to help her family. There was no possible way for them to get back to Thessia by the time this happened, so she had a few calls to make. Khan's androids might get to the estate before her, but they would be exterminated.

XXX

Liara sat in her living area, the holo screen on and the twin's favorite movie, Blasto 10: A New Generation playing in the background. She herself was perusing their homework, checking their answers to make sure they were correct. She really didn't need to, as her daughters were top of the class students, even with being in the first years of school. It made her proud.

She glanced up to the screen, witnessing Blasto teaching his son how to use his tentacles for something. She smiled warmly as the twins laughed along with something funny that happened, even if another thought struck her. Zaia would have a stroke if she knew that her daughters loved Blasto, because the human hated Blasto.

Speaking of Zaia, she wondered where her love was. She'd left that note with Vasha and Imali, but since then, Liara had heard nothing from her. Even Jack, who had been with Zaia last, knew nothing of where she was apart from her heading to Illium. Her thoughts about Zaia's whereabouts turned, inevitably, to what was written in that note.

Shepard had said that she found Khan. According to Jack, Shepard had not specifically found him on Omega, but rather that she found someone who can bring her to Khan. Nenin T'Nirra. The name itself brought a scowl to her face. Another T'Nirra who is somehow involved in their trials for peace. All she wanted was for Zaia to be a part of their family, each and every day. Yet, every time something happens to them, a fucking T'Nirra is somehow involved.

Yet, at Jack's word, this T'Nirra is actually helping, which Liara would only believe when Zaia was home again and Khan was dead. Even with that doubt, Liara's hopes were up in the clouds at this point. If Khan was gone, then the last obstacle to Zaia being able to stay home, without them worrying about something, was gone. Finally, the only problem they have to face is how to get Zaia to sleep well at night.

"Mistress." She turned her head, seeing one of her commandos standing at the door, looking concerned.

"Kivara? What is it?" Liara asked, noting the tense way that the commando held her rifle.

"You have…visitors. A lot of them." Kivara answered simply. Liara gave her a curious glance, to which the commando only gestured to the front hall with a slight nod of her head.

"Girls, I will be right back," Liara said to her daughters. The two of them didn't respond to her, too engrossed in their movie to mind. The scientist followed her commando, and once they were out of earshot of the twins, she spoke again.

"It's a group from Armali. Commandos." She reported nervously. Liara's surprise flared at that, her eyes opening wide and staring at Kivara. Why would a detachment of commandos have come here, to the estate? There was no criminal activity here, nor had some catastrophe taken place.

"Let's see what they want…" Liara trailed off, the possibilities still assaulting her mind. The two of them went in silence the rest of the short walk to the front entrance way. Once there, Liara saw that Kivara had not been exaggerating. From first glance, she assumed that there were probably forty commandos, all wearing the uniform of the Armali Commandos. While each House had its own commandos, Armali itself maintained a standing force in case of emergency. The fact that they were here, at her estate, worried her.

"Dr. T'Soni," A commando with dark purple skin and plenty of facial markings stepped up to her. "I am Captain T'Fare. I apologize if we are interrupted, but this is urgent."

Liara bowed her head in respect. "That is fine, Captain. What is the issue?"

"We received a call, bounced from a ship on Illium, from Zaia Shepard. She informed us that the T'Soni estate was going to come under attack, if it had not been already."

Liara's mouth had gone dry. Shepard had called the Armali Commandos, but she hadn't called her? Or even Jack? Even her damn Banshee had not come with information about such an attack! She swallowed hard and nodded, which the captain took as permission to continue.

"We were understandably skeptical of the chances that someone would actually attack an estate on Thessia itself, so we called you as well as Matriarch Aethyta…and received no answers." Liara's eyes narrowed as she checked her own omni. Nothing. She looked behind her and gestured to Kivara. The commando lifted her own, and the same thing. Nothing.

"Glyph?" She asked the air. The small blue drone appeared next to her.

"Yes, Dr. T'Soni?" Its monotone chimed out.

"Are you able to connect to the extranet?" She asked quietly, starting to see the signs and have her questions answered. Zaia may have tried to call them, but…it would appear that they had no connection.

The small drone blinked several times, then fell dim before lighting back up again. "Doctor, the estate itself is under a communication net that is being projected from orbit above Thessia. I am currently retracing the net to the source." The drone said.

"Why weren't we aware of this until now?" Liara asked icily. She couldn't really get angry with her drone, because Glyph didn't particularly understand anger and guilt or other emotions that getting angry with him would produce.

"The net is not disruptive to normal functionality within the estate. It is a block on outgoing and incoming communications. Only by attempting any contact out of the estate would it have been discovered prior to now, yet no communication was attempted. This sufficiently explains the lack of calls to the estate within the last two hours. If Commander Shepard attempted to call either yourself or any other person within a several mile radius of the estate, it would have been caught by the net and failed." Liara sighed, understanding exactly what the drone meant. It wasn't something that he would have detected unless she specifically asked him to try and call someone outside the estate. Which she hadn't.

On top of that, if anyone had tried to make personal calls, they would have been rejected, but nobody barring Glyph could possibly know that the estate was being netted. "Doctor, I have retraced the net to a small ship in orbit, as well as infiltrated its systems. It would appear that the only purpose of the vessel was the communication net."

As soon as the words had come from Glyph, there was a yell from the doors. Liara looked past the Armali commandos to see Ji sprinting towards them. "Mistress! We have shots fired in the forests to the east, as well as the front boulevard! Jarra and Ayri reported large numbers of hostiles coming through the forests, and Shiala and Hayha report almost equal numbers advancing down the boulevard!"

"Glyph, I thought there was a communication net?" She demanded. The drone bobbed up and down lazily.

"Yes, Doctor. However, the net only blocks incoming and outgoing communication from the estate. Communication around the interior is still possible."

Liara thought for a bare moment before making her decision. This was crisis time. "Alright! Ji! Get all the commandos ready to fight immediately! I don't care about the grounds, but defend this house!" She yelled, marching back in the house, Kivara and Captain T'Fare on her heels.

"Captain, I won't try to ord-"

"Nonsense, Doctor! This is your home, we listen to your orders!" The Captain interrupted. Liara nodded in appreciation. At least she would not have to try and cooperate with another person trying to hand out orders.

"Glyph!" Liara said to the air. The drone appeared next to her in a bare moment. "What is the status of that ship?"

"Crippled, Doctor. It will maintain orbit for the next nine hours before gravity pulls it into the atmosphere. The net is deactivated."

"Good. Captain, call your superiors and have the military pick up that ship. Split your troops, send half to Jarra in the eastern forests, and keep half here! I intend to fight these bastards from the balconies! Kivara, contact Ji and have her send ten twenty of our commandos to the forest to help Jarra, and have the others come here to the estate! I want omni barriers on the second floor balconies, facing the boulevard! And send Hayha here!" She barked out. Both the Captain and Kivara split off to go and take care of their orders.

When she reached the living room again, Liara was pleased to find Miranda and Jack standing alert, the twins standing with them against the wall. Her father stood near the windows, an assault rifle in her hands. "Liara, what's happening?" She demanded.

"Father, can you take Vasha and Imali to the gardens, please?" Liara asked. Aethyta gave her a questioning glare, to which Liara flashed her a set of numbers with her hand. The matriarch nodded and held her hands out.

"Come on, girls." Both the small ones came running to Liara immediately, and to their credit, they didn't look too scared. Too scared. Liara patted them both of their crests as she leaned down to pepper kisses on their cheeks.

"Mom…" Their small voices wavered ever so slightly, but Liara put a single finger on each of their lips.

"Shh. Don't worry girls. I have to take care of the house. Go with your grandfather, ok? I will come find you when it is safe." Liara was surprised when both girls wrapped her in a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around them. When she went to let go, neither of them wanted to separate, but she gently pushed them towards Aethyta.

"Be careful, Liara." Her father said before leading both girls by the hand towards the gardens. Liara watched them go with a sense of security. They would be safe. No doubt about it. But, just to be sure…

"Glyph, go with them. If anyone attempts to get to them other than myself or Zaia," She glance down at her omni, which was ringing urgently. "Kill them." Glyph wordlessly floated after the Matriarch while Liara answered the call.

"Zaia! What's going on?" She asked.

"Khan sent his fucking droids to attack the estate." Zaia growled. Liara jerked at her words.

"Droids?"

"Long story, just warn everyone. There are androids with those forces. I'm headed back, but it'll be a few hours. Tell me you're defended? I call-"

"The Armali commandos are here, Zaia. We're fine. I'm coordinating right now, and the girls are more than safe. Hurry back."

"Be safe. I love you." Liara couldn't help the smile the crossed her face at the words.

"I love you too. Now, I have to go defend our home." She ended the call and took a moment to compose herself. For the first time in years, she would be fighting for her life. She was trying her hardest to be confident and decisive, but she still felt a gnawing feeling of uncertainty. What if what she did wasn't enough? What if many of her commandos died? What if the Armali commandos perished?

"Liara, we have to move. What are we doing?" Miranda pulled her from her thoughts and back to the situation at hand. She looked to the two humans with a wide eye. Jack was armed, literally, from head to toe with pistols, rifles and shotguns. She even had an interesting looking heavy weapon of some type strapped to her back.

Miranda herself was armed nearly as heavily, also sporting a sniper rifle as well as two pistols and an assault rifle. "Where did you find all of those?" Liara asked, momentarily confused. She had an assault rifle in her office and knew that Shepard had three sniper rifles in their room, but she wasn't aware of this type of weaponry in the house.

"Shepard may or may not have smuggled all her weapons into your house while you were gone to Rannoch that one week," Jack said cheerfully. She hefted the weapon off her back, holding it up like a trophy. "Like this missile launcher…"

Liara shook her head, dispelling her angry thoughts. She would have her talk with Shepard about all this, after she finished defending her home. "It doesn't matter. We have to get to the balconies on the second floor. Kivara and the others should be arriving soon with the omni barriers, and then we'll have a position to fire down onto those droids."

As soon as she finished speaking, Hayha ran into the room, panting and sweating. "Mistress! You asked for me?"

Liara nodded. "Yes. You are going onto the roof to fire down onto both the enemies in the forest as well as the boulevard…" She trailed off when Hayha began to look guilty and down trodden.

"What is it?" She ground out, wondering exactly what the problem was. Hayha took a deep breath.

"Both my rifles are on the Citadel for upgrade." Hayha said quietly. Liara waved her hand, finding the excuse ridiculous.

"We'll go get one of Zaia's rifles. Can you fire a Widow?" Hayha's eyes lit up at the idea and she nodded animatedly, although whether it was firing a Widow, or if it was the idea of firing one of Shepard's personal rifles that excited her, Liara was unsure, nor did she care.

"Jack, Miranda, head to those balconies and make sure things get together. Until Hayha is ready, Miranda, keep that rifle close at hand," She said, gesturing to the semi-automatic Raptor that sat on the woman's back. The Lawsons nodded and sprinted off.

Liara and Hayha ran towards her bedroom and Shepard's rifles. She didn't want to say it, but she had a suspicion that Shepard's rifles would be far more powerful and better calibrated anyway. Liara silently said a prayer to whatever Goddess might be listening. Please, let everyone survive this.

XXX

The trees were being torn to shreds by the gunfire and biotics, and Jarra could tell from biotic flashes that the line of battle was long enough that she couldn't see all her troops. The battle had been going for almost an hour now, and she had to say that it didn't look to be stopping any time soon. The people they were fighting were heavily armored, but not so well armed. Standard assault rifles and few explosives, which was only a good thing for them.

The House T'Soni Commandos might be few, but they were some of the best equipped commandos of this hemisphere of Thessia. She leaned out, peppering a large stump with shots, retreating into cover as soon as shots from elsewhere began to slam into the trunk she was using as cover. She was no stranger to battle and stand offs. Nothing was happening right now, in terms of win or lose.

As many times as she had heard kills be called out, as was customary among the House T'Soni Commandos for this situation, it didn't seem that the enemy was slowing down. She knew that Hayha was nested comfortably at the top of the estate, calling out movements as well as announcing her presence with the roar of a rifle that Jarra knew was not hers. She had been on the range many times when Hayha took her training time. Her rifles sounded nothing like that.

"Kill!" The call came up from her left, and she mentally added it to her tally. That made nearly thirty dead, but from the sounds of the gunfire, that was not even half of what had come. The commandos could have stood their ground against this attack themselves, but Jarra was not going to say that she didn't appreciate the reinforcements from the Armali Commandos.

"Kill!" Another call up from her right. She took her moment and leaned out to check the stump. The two humans there, or at least the droids parading as humans, had their fire concentrated elsewhere. She leaned back into cover and started to generate sizzling biotics in her hand.

She flicked her head out to check, and then flung her body out, hurling the huge warp at the stump. The biotics struck it and blew it apart, sending pieces of wood everywhere and throwing back the droids who hid there. As soon as they were out of cover, the droids were torn to pieces from concentrated fire from the T'Soni Commandos. Jarra herself quickly sprinted to a tree, closer now to the line of engagement, adding the kills to her count.

They were not without their own casualties either. Ayri had died when a grenade landed just next to the tree she had been using for cover. The poor asari only noticed it a moment before it detonated, and she could not get clear in time. The blast did not kill her, but the shrapnel that pierced her arteries did. Even with them trying desperately to close her wounds, she bled out.

Two others were too injured to fight and were safely tucked away behind their line. A few Armali Commandos had been killed and wounded as well. Six dead and four wounded, but overall their casualties were nothing compared to their enemy, but it still made no sense as to how they were still fighting. Hayha had said that there was a large number of them…but this large? Who could have snuck an attack force this large onto Thessia?

"Kill!" She heard the echo around her and peeked out, finding another fallen log that had these damned droids hiding behind it. Whoever the fuck sent these things out here had committed a lot to this attack. She aimed careful and fired, the bullets from her rifle slamming into the log, but doing nothing other than that.

It made no sense. They had come to Thessia to attack, but it wasn't a complete surprise, apparently. Somehow, the Armali Commandos were here when it all started, essentially doubling the fighting power of the estates defenders. If this was supposed to be a surprise attack, it had pretty much failed. She leaned out again, but ripped herself back as bullet struck her trunk almost at the same time.

The barrage only got heavier. "I need suppressing fire!" She yelled into her comm, pinging the commandos around her to give her location. She got some responses and soon, return fire rang out, giving her the chance to run back towards cover that was further back in her own line, firing blindly back towards the androids as she went. She was almost to cover when she felt the all too familiar sting of a bullet sinking into the back of her shoulder.

She growled in pain, but her comrades obviously noted the jerk as she ran as well as the purple blood that now trickled down her leathers. "Jarra! Are yo-" A commando yelled to her, beginning to make her way over.

"I'm fine!" She snapped, quickly scrambling behind cover. "Focus on them!" To illustrate her point, she leaned out and sent a barrage of shots toward nothing again. They needed a plan to better take care of this. Simply trading fire through the trees was doing nothing.

Jarra took a few moments to spread medi-gel on her bullet wound, then formulate something that could shift the course of this. They needed to be able to see what they were shooting at, and in here, they couldn't. This part of the eastern forest was thick, and probably why these bastards chose to come this way.

She tapped her ear, opening the comm channel. "Paila! Yenda! We need to flank the-" As she spoke, an explosion rocked the forest. She looked in surprise and found that a huge chunk of trees had been upended by a blast. There were several of the droids bodies lying about the blast zone, sparking and in pieces. Others were turned away from the commandos and were firing at another attacker.

As she watched, the trees lit up and a massive biotic wave flashed out, detonating against a log and throwing more androids out into the open, where the commandos quickly eliminated them. Jarra herself was stunned. She had seen advanced biotics. She'd seen destructive biotics, but this…this was wild biotics.

She recognized the wave that had just barreled through the forest. It was better known as blast wave among the asari. It was powerful, large, dangerous...and ridiculously destructive. They had been fighting for just over an hour and gotten very little in terms of progress, but now…things were blown open. Literally. She wasn't going to waste her chance though.

She and her troops pressed forward, taking advantage of the loss of organization in their enemies. Jarra didn't know what was going on, but whenever they fired on the newly found cover of the androids, there was nearly no response as the mechs fired on someone else. Since the first two blast waves, there had not been another, but Jarra continued to see smaller biotic flashes ahead of them.

"Jarra!" Paila's desperate voice came over the comm. "Yenda is trapped in the middle of the androids! She has cover for the moment, but we have to get her out!" Jarra immediately went to find the younger commandos, running through constant gunfire to find her comrade. Thankfully, she was barely thirty meters away.

"Paila, I'm here!" She called out, seeing the commando huddled behind a log with another one from House T'Soni, and three more from Armali. She slid down into cover as shots whipped overhead, coming to lay next to her sister. Paila jerked a thumb directly over her head, prompting Jarra to glance over the edge of the log. Her breath hitched in her throat.

Yenda was crouched next to a giant stone, and as Paila had said, she was covered for now. However, she could see at least seven, if not more, of the human-like androids converging on her. Yenda leaned out to fire on one of them, but as soon as she did, a droid that had found cover almost directly to her left fired.

Three shots slammed into her side, and Jarra felt her scream pierce deep into her bones. She stood up, her rifle roaring as she fired at the android that had shot Yenda. Those with her stood as well to fire, but were forced back into cover when almost twice as many droids appeared in the trees to suppress them. Jarra edged back out on her belly to glance, and her gut twisted to see Yenda still alive, but obviously in incredible pain.

She was going to start crawling to her. Screw her own possible injury or death, but she would not let another one of her sister's die under her watch. She had watched too many die in the Reaper War. She had watched and taken part in the sentencing of another to a life of hell, then watched as another was killed Ayri, only two hundred years old and a whole life ahead of her, lay dead against a tree. She would not let Yenda go the same route.

Yet, the androids had similar thoughts and also began to edge out towards the rock, seemingly to finish the job. Jarra leapt to her feet, intent on reaching her before them. She sprinted, even as the shots whistled past her face. Her body jerked as a shot pierced her side. Then another grazed her cheek, pulling her around, and another slammed into her calf. She went down to the ground, pain hazing her vision as she rolled onto her back.

She could hear someone shouting her name, but she wasn't focused on that. She wasn't sure if it was the pain making her see things, but she was staring up as small, sizzling blue orbs were flying overhead. A burst of heat and energy near her went off, but she had no idea what had happened. Her body was still in shock from the bullets lodged in her.

The gunfire that was thumping dimly into her brain ceased, and she saw a dark form standing over her. Its hand was clenched around a rifle of some type, but not one that the T'Soni commandos used. The form came close enough that she could discern features…not that there were many. She was looking up at a cold, metal helmet. Smooth, with a single glowing strip running across it. It was foreign, but she was still alive. If it had been one of her enemies, she would be dead.

She let out a piercing shriek as her side began to burn, the pain feeling like a glowing hot metal rod had been pressed into her. Her hands scrabbled aimlessly as she tried to find anything to hold onto, to squeeze to help fight it. Whatever was being pressed into her side was far too hot for her to touch.

The pain subsided, but she barely had a moment to think before it rose again, this time on her shoulder. Her vision, unable to bear the pain, whited as she screamed. Again, the pain disappeared, as well as the form above her. This time, when the burning burst to life on her calf, the pain sent her into welcome unconsciousness.

XXX

"Dammit!" Miranda cursed, huddling next to Jack and Liara on the east side balcony, facing the boulevard. A shot had just ricocheted off the pillars that made up the banister and forced Mi back behind the omni barrier that was their only cover. The barrier was the same as one generated by a biotic, only it was sustained by a small generator instead of a person.

"They have a sniper down there! Hayha! Can you find it?" Mi growled. Liara leaned out and sprayed the boulevard, not really hoping to hit anything. The androids that had come were almost all hiding amongst the large pillars that made up the street, as well as hiding in the trees that lined it. Her substantial force guarding the house had done well up to this point, littering the boulevard with the sparking remnants of Khan's forces.

"Spotted!" The sniper above them chimed. "Skycar garage, front corner!" Liara tried to see if she could spot the droid, but to no avail. It was too far for her to see with the naked eye.

"I can't spot it!" She informed them. Next to her, Jack dropped her rifle.

"Sniper, schmiper, this will take care of her…" She said firmly, as she hoisted the missile launcher that she had brought to the balcony with her to her shoulder. Liara stared at it in surprise.

"Jack! That is my skycar garage!" She protested, staring at the intimidating missile that had been loaded into it. The biotic turned to her with a wide grin.

"I'm sure Shepard will buy you a new one." She chuckled before setting her eye to the scope. For a tense few moments, Jack said nothing, but Liara watched as a satisfied smile broke across her face.

"This is for Sarah and Marcus, bitch." She said, and a second later, the missile roared from the launcher, screaming towards the garage. It hit its mark powerfully, completely demolishing the building and any droids that were using it as cover.

"Uh…yeah…hostile eliminated…" Hayha said into the comm, and Liara could just hear the attempt to hide a snicker. A second later, the roar of the Widow signaled another android that would never function again. Liara herself had been surprised at how well they were defending the estate. Although these androids came in force, they were all poorly equipped, with standard looking rifles and pistols. Only a few explosives had been used by them, whereas grenades, charges and just now a missile had been used by the T'Soni defenders.

Liara, knowing that Jack and Miranda were set and could take care of themselves, ran back into the house towards the lower balcony. That balcony was under the charge of Captain T'Fare, while Shiala led the defenders who were at ground level with the androids. She emerged onto the balcony and hurried to kneel beside the captain.

"Status!" She yelled over the gunfire. The captain jerked a finger behind her. Liara followed it and felt her stomach clench with regret. Four asari, all from the Armali squad, lay motionless against the wall of the house.

"Four dead, two wounded and brought inside! Ammo is green! Reinforcements coming in from Armali, ETA half hour!" Liara nodded and let her gaze linger sadly on the dead before leaving the balcony and heading to the entrance hall, where her own commandos had taken position.

She quickly found Shiala, but before she could ask the obvious, the asari answered her. "Two dead, three wounded." She mumbled. Liara jerked back in shock. Only her commandos were here…and that meant that one of them was no more.

"Who?" She asked hesitantly. Shiala swallowed heavily before nodding her head to the corner of the room, where two bodies lay covered with a sheet that had come from somewhere.

"Ji and Ilia." She said thickly, and Liara felt the tears immediately spring to her eyes. She had lost one of her own. She had known this to be dangerous, but...one of her commandos had died. She swallowed her grief before nodding.

"I'm sorry. Captain T'Fare said that reinforcements are on their way in from Armali…" She said, but she wasn't all there. She was still reeling from shock. She had no idea how things fared in the forest, but two immense detonations had her fearing the very worst.

"Captain!" Shiala and Liara both looked up at the call. Just outside the doors, behind more omni barriers, Kivara was pointing up to the sky, above the androids on the boulevard. "Jets from Armali!" Liara's chest inflated again with hope that this would finally be over. She and Shiala edged forward and saw three squadrons of Armali Stingers, nine jets in all, flying towards the estate.

This battle was over. With air support, the droids were be destroyed, down to the last. "Stay behind cover, everyone," Liara said through the comm to all forces at the estate. "We don't want any undue casualties." She added sadly, her eyes again being drawn to the motionless form in the corner.

A few minutes later, as the Stingers were already making sweeps, Captain T'Fare came down. "The Stingers must have been scrambled along with ground troops. It is no surprise they arrived here first." She said, watching the advanced fighters take care of what hostiles were left. Liara nodded absently, taking little comfort in the presence of the fighters. She had lost a dear friend and sister in Ji, and she still didn't know what had happened in the forest.

"Mistress, I have received word that the battle in the forests has ended. The commandos there are making their way back to the estate with wounded and casualties…" Hayha said distantly. Liara could tell that she was saddened by the news that had come from the trees.

"Who?" She hated having to ask who had died. She hated having to ask who was wounded. It was terrible.

"Ayri, Loa, and Fissa…dead…as well as six of the Armali squad…" Liara and Shiala fell into each other, each of them holding the other up as tears began to build. Captain T'Fare swallowed hard, trying to maintain her composure. Liara could hear around her the beginnings of cries that those commandos who remained were falling to.

"Yenda and Jarra are both seriously wounded, but alive…Nia and Opina also wounded, but not life threatening…four more wounded from Armali, not serious…" Liara felt Shiala jerk violently against her, but she held on, hugging the green asari tighter to her body. She glanced over and immediately pulled the crying Captain T'Fare into the hug as well, knowing that the Captain needed as much comfort as she and Shiala.

"Official count…Five House T'Soni commandos dead, seven wounded…ten Armali commandos dead, six wounded…" Hayha reported before she lost herself to sobbing.

The battle of House T'Soni was over, but it had not come without a price.


I hope you all enjoyed it! Show that review button some love, and I will see you all as soon as I can!