Mass Effect: Event Horizon

A Mass Effect Fanfiction

By Drussius

Chapter Fifty-Six: Traitors

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Transport Truck, Entering F.O.B. Delta-1…

Aida stood in the aisle between the driver's and passenger's seats in the transport truck, staring at the massive barricade in front of them. A wall had been constructed out of shipping containers, presenting a towering defense against outside attack that anything short of an actual Reaper would have had difficulty in breaching. They were rapidly approaching a gap in the wall, which was flanked by heavy turrets and guarded by armed Alliance soldiers. According to Aida's makeshift tracking system, Illitha's omni-tool was located somewhere in this Alliance base, and the medic was so eager to see her best friend that she felt like she was on the verge of tears.

One of the Alliance soldiers stepped out into the center of the road at their approach, but Aida's eyes were on the turrets flanking the gate, which were tracking them as they came closer. She could almost imagine the massive weapons opening fire, and the image in her head made her feel suddenly uneasy. Harper was apparently unfazed. He slowed the vehicle when the man in the road waved them down, and then opened the outer door so that he could speak to the sentry.

"Identify yourself," the guard instructed.

"Corporal Todd Harper," the engineer introduced himself. "This is Aida and Candice. We escaped from the ruins of Scott and came here looking for somewhere safe. We haven't eaten in days. We could really use some food, and Aida should see a medic."

"Open the deployment ramp," the sentry demanded.

Harper nodded and pulled the lever that caused the rear hatch to open and flip downward to form a ramp. Under ordinary circumstances, the ramp would have allowed the soldiers carried in the transport to quickly exit the vehicle. However, with all the damage to the rear section of the transport, the ramp only descended halfway before it became stuck. The sentry peered into the blackened and melted interior of the rear compartment for a moment, and then returned to the driver's side door.

"Take the vehicle straight ahead. At the end of this road is a plaza. Park it there. Someone there can direct you to the mess hall and the infirmary. Then report to Lieutenant-Commander Kosar for instructions. I'll radio him and tell him you're coming."

"Thanks," Harper smiled and pulled his door shut. He toggled the lever for the rear door, but the ramp remained firmly rooted in position.

Aida smiled as they passed through the gate and into the Alliance base. Some aspects of the interior layout reminded her of F.O.B. Alpha-5… the prefab units and the general positioning of the various buildings was similar. Beyond those details, however, this position was a tremendous improvement over the first Alliance base she'd been on. The shipping-container walls were much more secure than the portable barricades that had surrounded the first base. This base was also built upon preexisting roads, it seemed, as the street they were now rolling along was concrete, and she could see permanent structures among the prefabs. Together with the twisted trees and their high canopies that shielded the base from the sight of anything passing overhead, this new Alliance camp seemed much more secure than Alpha-5 had ever been.

The transport rolled along until they reached the point the sentry had mentioned, where the street opened into a large plaza. Upon reaching that point, however, Aida's eyes were immediately drawn to a pair of shuttles parked at the center of the area, both of which bore the Cerberus logo and colors. Her brows rose, and for a moment she caught herself wondering if the Alliance was working with Cerberus. As Harper turned their vehicle and circled around the shuttles, however, a small group of people came into view. Aida saw a blue face among the group, and a small sob escaped her.

She was scrambling through the ruined rear compartment of the vehicle before Harper even brought the truck to a complete stop. The instant the transport stopped moving, she squeezed through the opening afforded by the disabled ramp, stumbling out into the open air. She was sprinting toward the group within seconds. She could see Selura, and even Neela seemed to be present, though she'd never seen a suit quite like the one the quarian was wearing. There were several humans there as well. But she saw no sign of her best friend or her captain.

"Aida!" a voice cried out from somewhere to her right.

Her attention diverted toward the sound of that voice, and tears blurred her vision. Illitha was running out from a spot between two prefabs that bordered the plaza. Aida sprinted for her, and moments later, her best friend almost tackled her with a hug. Aida caught the engineer's armored form in a vice-like grip, sobbing joyfully. A part of her had feared she would never see Illitha again. Illitha was crying and laughing at the same time, and the two held onto each other, neither particularly willing to let the other go.

"I-I tried to contact you," Illitha murmured, her voice thick with tears. "When I got no answers, I thought… I was afraid that…" the engineer trailed off. Apparently she couldn't even put her fears into words. But she didn't have to.

"I know, Lith," Aida said softly. "Things happened and I… I did not think I would see you again."

"Where have you been?" Illitha drew back just enough to see her face. "Not knowing has been killing me."

"It is… a very long story," Aida sighed. "But it can wait. I have not eaten much in days. I need food."

"The Alliance has plenty," Illitha smiled, wiping her eyes when Aida finally released her hold upon her. "The mess hall is over here," she added, pointing out a building on the north side of the plaza.

"Come with me," Aida smiled, brushing the moisture from her own cheeks and stepping back to look her friend over. "You can tell me what you have been doing while we were apart. It is odd to see you in armor."

"I…" the engineer frowned, glancing toward the prefabs where she had been standing when Aida first spotted her. Aida followed her gaze, confused by her friend's reluctance to spend time with her. "I want to," Illitha finally said. "But I have to do something first. The captain… she will be meeting me over there any minute. It… it is important."

"Then I will come with you," Aida offered, though her stomach was making a very audible protest to the idea.

"No," Illitha shook her head. "I do not want you involved… in case this does not work like we want it to. And you need food. As soon as you have eaten, get aboard one of the shuttles. We… It… We might have to leave in a big hurry."

"Lith, what is going on?" Aida demanded.

"It is a long story," the young engineer said softly. "But Tarrislav is here. And a friend is locked up because of him. We are going to get her out."

"You are…" Aida stared at her friend. The full import of her words was taking a moment to sink in. "You mean you are going to break someone out of Alliance custody? And… the captain is helping?" She was stunned. The idea that her best friend and the captain would be contemplating such a blatant act of defiance against their allies was a bit overwhelming.

"Make sure you are on the shuttle as soon as possible," Illitha urged. "I am not going to leave anyone behind here."

"Who is this person you are rescuing?" Aida asked. If Illitha hadn't said they were going to get 'her' out, she would have assumed it was Prathus, since there was no sign of the turian. But she had no idea what female could be so important, given the fact that she could clearly see Selura and Neela. The two girls were headed toward them, Neela moving with the assistance of crutches.

"Rachel. She is… a friend," Illitha said softly.

Aida saw a hint of a blush creep into her best friend's cheeks, and she found herself once more surprised by the turn of events. Illitha had never been very good at hiding her feelings, and Aida could see the shy engineer's emotions written all over her face. Her best friend was infatuated with this girl. She had clearly missed a great deal.

"And Prathus is supporting this plan?" Aida asked as Neela and Selura joined them. "Is he with the captain?"

Aida glanced at Neela, and realized for the first time that she could actually see the quarian's face through the visor of her helmet. However, when saw the looks of sorrow and pain that clouded the expressions of her three friends, any wonder she might have felt over that fact was eclipsed by the swift ache that filled her heart. She knew what they were going to say before anyone said a word.

"No…" she gasped out the word.

Almost immediately, Illitha's arms were around her. Aida felt her knees give out, and she collapsed into her friend's embrace, sobbing once again, though this time in sorrow rather than joy. She could hear her friends offering sympathy for her pain, and she knew they all shared it, but she was barely hearing them. She'd lost a friend, and the surge of grief she felt was overwhelming.

I knew this would happen… They should not be fighting the Reapers. It will only get more of us killed. We need to leave this planet. We need to do it now…

Illitha continued to support her, and the only small sliver of comfort she found was the embrace of her best friend. She knew that the engineer needed to go and save this girl she liked, but she couldn't force herself to let her go.

"Come on," Selura urged, sliding an arm around her. "Let's get you something to eat. We can talk in the mess hall."

Aida was shaking as she released her hold upon the engineer and leaned on the scientist instead. She could see the indecision and misery upon her best friend's face, and she knew that it was hurting Illitha to think of leaving her while she was in such a state. In truth, she was a little hurt that Illitha would want to go help someone else when she needed her. But she forced herself to say the exact opposite of what she felt.

"Go, Lith. Rescue your friend."

Illitha stared at her for a moment longer, chewing on her lower lip, obviously torn by indecision. Then her expression filled with resolve and she nodded once. "I will be back soon," she promised. "And then we will have plenty of time to talk. I am sorry."

Aida watched sullenly as her best friend turned and hurried away. She knew it was wrong to be mad at her for going to save someone she cared about, but she couldn't help the way she felt. She was upset and hurt, and she needed Illitha. And some other girl was pulling her away. She found herself frowning. Whoever this 'Rachel' was, she already disliked her…


Plaza's Edge, F.O.B. Delta-1…

Illitha sighed as she stood in the shadow of a prefab near the plaza, waiting for the captain to return to their designated rendezvous point. Finding Aida here had been an unexpected and extremely pleasant surprise, at least until her friend had found out about Prathus. Leaving Aida to go and save Rachel was one of the hardest things the young engineer had ever done, and even now, she was still torn by indecision and guilt. Aida was her best friend, and she'd seen the look of hurt in her eyes when she'd said she had to go. She knew Aida needed her right at that moment. But she had to save Rachel. Having to choose between the two made her miserable. But it also highlighted something for the asari that she'd been trying to deny for some time.

She was in love with Rachel.

She had called the girl a friend, and she had admitted to herself that she admired the girl, that she thought she was beautiful, and that she cared about her. She had even admitted to having a crush on her. But she had never wanted to admit the whole truth. She was once again deeply in love with a girl that did not love her back.

Why do I torture myself like this? I should just stick to tending to machinery, where I belong, she thought miserably. Rachel has been a wonderful friend to me. Why can I not be content with that?

She would have to be content with that, she knew. While concepts of male and female were relatively foreign to her as a member of a mono-gendered race, she knew that for humans and most other races, the opposite was true. For procreation, they needed to pair male with female, and their natural inclinations most of the time led them to such pairings. Rachel had already made clear that she had no romantic appreciation for the female form. Which meant Illitha's desires were irrelevant.

Goddess… I need to just stop thinking about her in a romantic sense…

She might have continued to berate herself mentally for some time if not for the faint sound of rustling that approached from behind. She turned and found the captain creeping along the edge of the prefab, right on time for their appointed meeting. She pushed all of her other thoughts to the back of her mind for the moment. She could deal with her infatuation with Rachel and her guilt over leaving Aida in such a state at another time. She needed to focus on the task at hand.

"The good news is that there is only a single sentry on duty within the detention area itself," the captain told her without preamble. "The bad news is that the detention center is extremely close to the north gate. If we cause any commotion, Alliance reinforcements will arrive within seconds."

"I can program my omni-tool to scramble communications in a small radius so that the sentry cannot radio for help," Illitha suggested. "But how do we prevent him from simply screaming for reinforcements?"

"We will have to move quickly and quietly. If we can get close enough, I can render him unconscious with ease," the captain promised. "My greater concern is actually that captain that was claiming you were indoctrinated. You said the same of him. How certain are you that the Reapers control him?"

"I… I cannot be sure, of course," Illitha frowned. "B-But he has proven a detriment to his men, and I cannot believe he would act so… irrationally… without Reaper influence."

"I think we need to take steps to deal with him."

Illitha could only stare at the elder asari following this last statement. While it was possible Tarrislav was indoctrinated, they couldn't be sure. And attacking a high-ranking Alliance official would make them enemies of the Alliance. She had been trying almost since arriving on Terra Nova to help the Alliance. How could she attack one of their officers now?

"Think about it," the captain had been watching her, and apparently saw something of her confusion in her expression. "This man is in the CIC with the other Alliance commander and one or perhaps two sentries. If the sentries were distracted or ordered to leave, Tarrislav could execute Shirakawa. Then the Reapers would essentially have command of the defending forces on this planet. How well do you think these humans would fare once the Reapers were controlling both the attacking forces and the movements of the defenders?"

The captain's question gave Illitha pause. If the elder asari's fears proved correct, it would be the death knell for this planet and everyone fighting to defend it. Once the Reapers had a pawn in charge of the defenders, they would crush the resistance with ease. It was too big a risk to ignore. But she still couldn't stomach the idea of attacking Tarrislav – no matter how much of an idiot he was – without some proof that he was indoctrinated.

"We cannot simply attack him," Illitha finally murmured. "B-But perhaps I can protect Shirakawa and find proof of Tarrislav's motives all at once."

"How do you plan to do that?"

Illitha retrieved Crawler from the canvas pouch attached to her belt and dropped it on the ground, where it sprouted into its insect-like drone form. She immediately set it up to record its visual feed, and sent it off toward the CIC. The command center was located in one of the permanent structures on the base, which Illitha knew would mean it had ventilation systems and other points of entry the drone could exploit. The captain stepped up beside her, watching the display of the drone's remote feed as it made its way toward its destination.

In just a few minutes, Crawler had climbed up to the roof of the structure and cut its way into the ventilation system, and from there it scuttled through the vents, slicing apart ventilation fans and grates wherever they blocked the path. The engineer was proud of her little drone's capabilities. It was able to use a miniature plasma cutter to shear through thin metal surfaces, and its forelegs adhered to the pieces so that it could set them aside without letting them drop onto other surfaces and risk making noise. The drone had definitely been intended for infiltration and espionage. When it finally reached a grate that overlooked the CIC, it sliced a hole in the obstruction large enough to fit through and lurked there, watching the goings-on in the room below.

Illitha designated Tarrislav as the priority hostile target in the room, and designated the two sentries posted inside the door as secondary targets. Then she scrolled through the tactical options available, and finally found a preprogrammed routine for 'conditional intervention'. Using this routine, she was able to declare Shirakawa as an ally to be defended. If any of the designated hostile targets took an action that could be deemed dangerous to Shirakawa, the drone would immediately act to defend him.

"So your drone will now protect Shirakawa?" the captain asked. She had been watching Illitha work.

"Yes. And it is recording everything it sees. So if it is forced to take action to defend him, we will have proof that he was in danger."

"Good thinking," the captain commented. "Can you set an alert to let us know if the drone takes action?"

"Already done, Captain," Illitha smiled.

"Excellent. Then let us go and rescue your friend. Once we get her out of her cell, if your drone has seen nothing threatening, we can evacuate on the shuttles and discuss our next option from there. Perhaps we can track down Aida-"

"Aida is here," Illitha interrupted the elder asari. She'd forgotten that the captain hadn't been present when Aida arrived. "She arrived aboard a transport truck just a few minutes ago."

"Is she okay?"

"She looked a little bruised, and… she did not take it well when she heard about Prathus," Illitha sighed. "B-But she did not seem to be seriously hurt."

"Good."

Though the word was simple, Illitha could tell by the look in the captain's eyes that the elder asari was more pleased than her expression or her tone would indicate. Her entire surviving crew was finally together in one place. Illitha was happy about that fact, and she could tell that the captain was as well. Everyone they both felt obligated to protect was finally together.

"Let us rescue your friend," the captain repeated her earlier urging. "I am eager to see us all evacuated from this place."

Illitha nodded, and when the elder asari turned and crept off through the spaces between prefabs, she fell into step behind her. She too, was eager to see Rachel set free, and to leave this place behind. Though she was at a loss as to what they would do after those tasks were accomplished. If they couldn't assist in the Alliance operation, what other options did that leave them?


Munitions Depot, F.O.B. Delta-1…

"Much as I hated the ugly bastard, I have to give him credit. The vorcha wasn't afraid to be a decoy. While he was running through the weeds, avoiding cannon fire, I was hitting the goddamn Atlas in the back. And when it turned toward me, the vorcha did the same…" Zaeed recounted, watching the two young men grin as he spoke.

"That took serious balls," one of the young soldiers commented. "Hitting an entrenched enemy with only a few real soldiers on your side? And the quarian really ran through the middle of them all and jumped into the hacked mech?"

"That's right," Zaeed nodded. "I had my doubts about her at the start, but I can give credit where it's due," he shrugged.

"I can't believe Cerberus was here and we didn't hear anything about it," the second soldier frowned. "What were they after?"

"Not really sure," Zaeed shrugged. "Some sort of signal analysis, according to the asari. So anyway, when the Atlas finally went down-"

The opening of the door interrupted the mercenary's tale, and he watched as Selura hurried inside, followed by Neela, who was limping heavily without her crutches. The two young men he'd been talking to for the last twenty minutes fell silent, watching as the women passed through, followed by the young, blonde-haired child they'd drafted to help them. As they had already done a dozen times, the three of them gathered as many dextro-based ration packs as they could carry, and then carried them out to the shuttles. As the three girls exited, Zaeed noted with some amusement that both of the soldiers were staring at the quarian's retreating backside.

"Damn, she has an incredible ass," one of them commented as soon as the door closed.

"I know, right?" his friend chuckled.

"I'm sure she'd be thrilled you approve," Zaeed muttered sarcastically.

"Hey, there's no harm in looking. And they're a lot prettier than I ever imagined… Quarians, I mean," the first soldier sighed. "It's too bad she's gay."

"Seriously?" his friend frowned. "How can you tell?"

"I saw her and the asari holding hands a little while ago…"

"That doesn't necessarily mean they're a couple."

"It does when one of them kept kissing the other one's hand…"

"Oh."

Zaeed snorted and stepped away from the pair, quickly losing interest in their idle gossip about the relationship between the two. And though he tried to ignore their prattle, he couldn't help hearing that from there the topic turned into a discussion about how asari always managed to steal the best-looking women.

The mercenary had originally come into the munitions prefab to get equipment for the civilians and to gather a few spare weapons, but he'd become sidetracked when the two soldiers asked him what they'd heard about events elsewhere on the planet. He started telling tales about the events in Scott and at Fulton's Folly and the Prothean Ruin. Now that the conversation had wandered into topics he didn't give a damn about, he decided to claim some supplies for himself.

He poked through the crates looking for anything useful, until he opened the lid on a large crate and discovered that it was filled with incendiary grenades. A small smile worked its way into his expression at the sight, and he quickly grabbed half a dozen of the inferno grenades, securing them in a compartment in his armor. Fragmentation grenades were fine, but he'd always been partial to the incendiary version. From there he moved on to the weapon racks, examining the few mods that were lined up along the top of the rack. When he spotted an armor-piercing ammo mod among them, his smile returned and he claimed it for himself.

Next time we meet, Salik, the playing field will be a bit more level…

Zaeed pulled his rifle from the maglock on his shoulder and dropped it on a table at the back of the room, activating his omni-tool and getting started on installing the new ammo mod. He'd been firing unmodded ammo almost since arriving on Terra Nova, and it would be a nice change to be properly outfitted for once. He was only sorry that there weren't more ammo mods among the options lined up on the weapon rack. But then, he supposed that ammo mods would have been the first ones to be used in the early days of the war, and according to the two men he'd been speaking with, the early fighting in Dotterstown had been intense.

Zaeed heard the door open again, and glanced over his shoulder as the three girls returned for another load of food. The men had fallen silent – no doubt they were staring at Neela's ass again – but Zaeed could hear the asari and quarian talking softly about their friend and how hard she was taking Prathus's death. At the mention of the turian, Zaeed's work upon his rifle briefly came to a halt, and his expression hardened. Over the years of mercenary work in which he'd engaged, there hadn't been many mercs or soldiers he worked with that he really respected or even thought about much. But the turian had been different. He hadn't been a friend, exactly, but someone Zaeed could respect. He supposed that in his own way, he was sorry the turian was gone.

Quickly finishing the installation of the new mod, Zaeed slipped the weapon over his shoulder and prepared to leave the munitions supply depot behind. When he turned to go, Neela and Selura were once more exiting the room, with the two Alliance soldiers staring as they left. Everyone was distracted by their own issues, and thus no one had been paying any attention to the young blonde child that had been helping the asari and quarian. She was now standing beside the open crate of inferno grenades, and held one in her hand, staring at it in fascination.

"That's dangerous," he glared at the child. He didn't have much patience for children. "Put it back."

The small blonde quickly put the grenade back into the slot and stepped away from the crate, wandering off to poke around in other crates instead. Zaeed didn't spare the child another thought. He walked past the two men near the door and out into the sweltering heat that dominated the plaza outside. Though another long Terra Nova day was nearing its end and the sun was slowly sinking toward the horizon, it would still be hours before the sun would actually set and then hours more before the heat would die to a tolerable level.

The mercenary hadn't taken two steps beyond the exterior door before a deafening series of explosions tore through the prefab behind him, causing him to instinctively dive, roll, and come up to a crouch, aiming his weapon toward the commotion. Smoke was pouring out through the shutters on the munitions depot, and Zaeed could see the lurid orange glow of fire raging within. He cursed and raced for the shuttle, where the asari, the quarian, and the civilian brothers were all staring in shock at the structure. He shouldered past them and grabbed his helmet, slipping it on and then running back toward the burning structure. Kinetic shields offered no protection against fire or heat, but the kinetic weave in his armor was fire-resistant, and the environmental seals would offer limited protection from the smoke and heat.

Zaeed ran into the structure, and found the majority of the rear of the building engulfed in flames. He could see almost nothing, thanks to the smoke that billowed through the room, but after a moment he finally managed to make out two silhouettes moving through the haze. One of the Alliance soldiers was half-supporting and half-dragging his fellow toward the door. The injured soldier had a large weapon of some kind in his hands. Zaeed moved to support him from the opposite side, taking the heavy weapon from him in the process. They all stumbled outside, and the two soldiers immediately collapsed to the ground, coughing and gasping for fresh air. Almost immediately, the asari medic was at their side, anxiously questioning both men about injuries. Apparently her instinct to provide medical care had pushed her grief to the side for the moment.

Zaeed's gaze fell to the massive, heavy weapon he held, and his brows rose in surprise. He recognized it immediately. After all the time Shepard had spent lugging one around, it was hard not to.

"The M-920?" he turned to look at the two men. The Cain had been a favorite weapon of Shepard's, and Zaeed was very familiar with the power of the heavy weapon. "Are there any more of these in there?"

"No," one of the men coughed, his voice hoarse. "I went for it the second the fire broke out. I don't know if fire could cause the ammunition to detonate, but I didn't wanna find out…"

"What happened?" Neela demanded.

"I don't know," the Alliance soldier sighed.

"That little blonde brat was playing with the inferno grenades in there," Zaeed growled. "She must have accidentally triggered one when I told her to leave them alone."

"Candice?" Aida's head snapped up, her eyes widening in shock. Before anyone could stop her, the asari dashed into the building. Several of the others started to go after her, but Zaeed quickly shoved them back, cursing angrily.

"I'll get her. Stay the hell away from the building," he growled, and then dashed inside.

The automated fire suppression systems still had not come online, and Zaeed had to move slowly through the smoke, keeping low where the haze wasn't quite as concentrated. Fortunately, most of the thermite had burned itself out already – it had a short but intense lifespan – and so the heat and the flames were fading.

"Asari? Kid?" he called out, trying to locate them.

"Help! Back here! She is hurt!"

Zaeed scowled and kicked aside a crate that was glowing from the heat, carefully navigating the maze of crates and boxes until he reached the back of the structure, where the smoke seemed heaviest. He found the asari there, coughing heavily and trying to shield her mouth and nose with the fabric of her shirt, cradling the unconscious child in her arms. Zaeed could barely make out the severe burns that covered much of the left-hand side of the child's body. He immediately took the child from Aida's arms, trusting the asari to follow him out. He felt her grab onto his belt as he started to leave, no doubt so she wouldn't become separated from him in the smoke.

Moments later, they were all outside, and Zaeed carefully lowered the child to the ground. He could hear gasps and murmurs from everyone around him at the sight of her, and he knew what everyone was feeling. While he felt nothing more than a vague sense of disquiet himself, he was aware that many people were hit especially hard by the sight of such injuries… especially when children were involved. There were Alliance medics on the scene, and he quickly stepped back to give them room to work.

"Aida, what were you thinking?" Neela demanded.

"I promised to protect her!" the asari medic shouted. "Like you all failed to do for Prathus!"

"Okay, calm down," Selura quickly interceded, grabbing her fellow asari by the arm and pulling her away from the gathered crowd. Neela limped after the pair, and Zaeed watched as the two worked to calm their friend down.

The mercenary pulled his helmet off and ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. Dotterstown was supposed to have been a chance to do something useful for once. Instead, they'd spent the last hour experiencing disappointment and tragedy and not much else.

What else can go wrong?

At that moment, gunshots rang out from somewhere else in the camp.


Detention Area, F.O.B. Delta-1…

Rachel shifted uncomfortably on the hard metal bench in her cell, trying to act like she was still paying attention to the prattle of her jailor. The young man was trying hard to be charming and attentive, but it was actually wearing upon her patience more and more as time passed. The blonde was silently praying for someone to arrive and relieve him from duty so that he would stop talking, but she feared that even when his official duties were over, he might linger to flirt with her some more.

Perhaps this is a special punishment, she mused. Tarrislav sent him in here to drive me mad before my court-marshal…

The blonde resisted the urge to sigh at the thought. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to go home to her sisters and tell them how sorry she was that she had never been the big sister they deserved. Then she could concentrate on supporting them and making sure they both did more with their lives than she had done with hers. In thinking about her siblings, she found herself frowning. If she was dishonorably discharged from the Alliance, would it ruin Holly's chances of joining the Alliance as she wanted to do? Would her sister face additional hardships and preconceived judgments because of her?

"Hey, you're frowning again," Desmond pointed out. "Do I need to tell a few jokes to cheer you up? Being court-marshaled isn't the end of the world, you know…"

"Just the end of my career…"

"Maybe not. You might just receive a formal reprimand and maybe a reduction in rank or something…"

"I'm a Private Second-Class… There isn't a rank lower than mine," Rachel snapped.

"Hmm. Okay, you've got me there… But still, you could be judged not guilty…"

"After I slugged a captain in front of about fifteen witnesses?"

"Hmm. Okay, you've got me again."

"My sister wants to join the Alliance when she turns eighteen," Rachel sighed and turned to face him, resting her elbows on her knees. "When I get booted out, I might be ruining her dream in addition to mine…"

"You have a sister?" Desmond grinned. "Is she cute? How old is she?"

"Young enough that if you ask about her again, I'm gonna kick your ass," Rachel glared.

"Okay, okay," he held up his hands, smiling apologetically. "Too young. You could have just said 'too young'. No need to get all hostile."

"Look… Maybe I just need some time alone," Rachel began. However, just as she was speaking the words, the exterior door opened, drawing not only her own attention, but that of the sentry as well. To her vast surprise, Illitha walked inside, smiling nervously.

"Hey… Pale blue skin, really petite…" Desmond said slowly. "Is this the girl you wanted me to give the message to?" he turned to look at her expectantly.

"Uh… Yeah," Rachel nodded. "Illitha… What are you doing here?"

"C-Can I speak to the prisoner?" she asked, her eyes upon Desmond.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea…" he said uncertainly, glancing from Illitha to Rachel and back again, "But… I guess… If we keep it between us… it wouldn't hurt to let you talk to her for a minute."

"Thank you," Illitha smiled, slipping past the young sentry and stepping up to the security barrier.

As she gazed through the barrier, Rachel could see her expression fill with concern. But there was something else in her eyes as well. Anticipation perhaps? Rachel stood up and came closer to the barrier, trying to guess what the asari was up to. She hoped Illitha didn't intend to suddenly tackle the guard or something. While she was sure Illitha would manage to overcome Desmond in a fight, she knew the commotion would draw others.

"Are you okay?" Illitha asked anxiously. "Your lip is split…"

"I'm fine," Rachel assured her. "You really should get out of here. Gather the team and get off the base. Tarrislav will find a way to incriminate you and lock you up right next to me…"

"The team is mostly gone," Illitha said softly, bowing her head. "I-I told them the truth. Most of them did not want to follow me after that. A few would have liked to, but are not willing to disobey the orders of their commanding officers. It is just my crewmates, Zaeed, Jay and Elliot now…"

"Still, you have to go…" Rachel urged. "Don't worry about me."

"How can I not? You are my responsibility." Illitha pointed out. "C-Can I give her some medigel?" the asari suddenly asked, turning to look at Desmond. "For her lip?"

Rachel's brows came together, and she glanced at Desmond, wondering what Illitha was up to. The cut on her lip was minor. It certainly didn't require medigel. This had to be a ruse to get him to open the cell. At that moment, however, Rachel's eyes went to the exterior door which, she noted for the first time, had remained open instead of closing as it should have done after Illitha came inside. Desmond's attention was on Illitha and herself, and his back was to the door. Thus he never noticed when the elder asari, Illitha's captain, entered the room, moving as silently as a ghost. By the time the door's sensors recognized that the doorway was clear and it closed, the asari was already in position. She quickly wrapped an arm around Desmond's neck, locking her hand in the crook of the opposite elbow, and then she leaned back and tightened her grip significantly, actually lifting Desmond off the ground with the chokehold. The poor guard clawed at her arm for a moment, struggling to get free of her grasp, but he never had a chance. With the blood flow to his brain cut off, he was unconscious within seconds.

The asari captain eased him to the ground, snatching a security keycard from his belt and tossing it to Illitha, who quickly inserted it into the console beside the cell, disengaging the security barrier. Rachel quickly left the confines of the cell, grabbing Desmond's sidearm and securing it to the maglock on her armor while the elder asari dragged the unconscious sentry into the now-vacant cell and reengaged the security field.

"You two are insane," she hissed. "When Tarrislav finds out you helped me escape-"

"As you said," Illitha cut her off. "He would have found a way to accuse us of something anyway."

"We need to get to the shu-"

The elder asari's comment was cut off abruptly by a deafening series of explosions from somewhere in the camp. Rachel, Illitha and the captain all exchanged glances, wondering if the Reapers were attacking the base. Rachel started toward the door, and was brought up short by a ping from Illitha's omni-tool.

"Your drone?" Captain Nisaria asked.

"Yes," Illitha's eyes were on the holographic display of her omni-tool. "Tarrislav has made his move. Crawler is keeping him occupied, but we must hurry."

The two asari sprinted out the door, and Rachel fell into step with them, though she hadn't a clue what was going on. One of the buildings near the plaza was burning, and smoke was pouring from the spaces between the shutters. Men were running toward the burning building, and a large crowd had already gathered outside. However, the two asari diverted away from the crowd and the burning prefab, and seemed to be heading for the CIC instead.

"Wanna clue me in?" Rachel prompted Illitha as they ran behind the prefabs flanking the north side of the plaza.

"Tarrislav has made a move to harm Shirakawa," Illitha explained hurriedly. "I had Crawler watching over them. If Tarrislav takes control-"

"Shit," Rachel swore. "The Reapers would essentially control the Alliance forces here!"

The blonde didn't need to hear any more. She increased her speed to a flat-out sprint, even though it meant leaving Illitha behind. The sooner she could assist Shirakawa, the better off they would all be. It seemed that the asari captain had the same idea, but to the blonde's surprise, Captain Nisaria quickly left even her behind. She could only marvel at the asari commando's speed as she tried to keep up.


CIC, F.O.B. Delta-1…

Julisa knew that they couldn't afford to spare any time in reaching the CIC to help Shirakawa, and so she ran full speed for the building, quickly leaving Illitha and her human friend behind. When she reached a point where she could see the stone building that housed the CIC directly, she was amazed to note that the sentries that had been outside the building on their last visit were gone… no doubt drawn away by the explosions in the munitions shelter. The explosion had likely given Tarrislav the opening he was looking for, allowing him to be rid of the witnesses so that he could turn on his fellow soldier. Indeed, she now heard a few shots ring out.

Julisa braced herself and focused her energy, executing a biotic charge to quickly cover the remaining distance to the CIC's entrance. When she slammed into the door an instant later, the portal gave way under the force of the impact, buckling inward and snapping free of the hinges. Fortunately for the captain, her barrier was up, because she immediately came under pistol fire. The impacts upon her barrier prompted her to immediately dive for the nearest cover she could find… a desk adjacent to the door.

The captain risked a quick peek around the edge of the desk to get a better feel for the situation; she hadn't been able to look around much before she came under fire. She could see two figures crouched on opposite sides of the holographic projection table that dominated the center of the room. Tarrislav was on the nearer side, and even as she spotted him, he quickly darted around the adjacent corner of the table to get to a spot where she couldn't fire upon him. By process of elimination, that put Shirakawa on the other side of the table. Illitha's drone was scuttling across the ceiling, but from the look of it, the small construct had already suffered a number of direct hits… its carapace was riddled with holes, and there were small sparks spitting intermittently from its side.

"I will not see the Alliance fall to Reaper slaves!" Tarrislav shouted, rising from behind his cover and firing upon the drone, which lost its grip upon the surface and plummeted to the floor, where it lay twitching.

Julisa frowned at his declaration. She'd wanted to point to whatever action he had taken against Shirakawa as proof that he was indoctrinated, but he was accusing them of being the ones serving the Reapers. She knew very little about indoctrination, but she found herself wondering if the Reapers were capable of playing upon the human's natural hatred for them to manipulate him… essentially causing him to see everyone as possible Reaper spies. On the other hand, she supposed the stress of the invasion might have simply driven him to severe paranoia. Perhaps the Reapers had nothing to do with it. Either way, it didn't matter. She needed to make sure he didn't seize command by eliminating his fellow Alliance captain.

"Surrender now," she called out. "You are already outnumbered, and in a moment the odds will get even worse."

"Go to hell!" the captain shouted back, and there were several pistol shots to accompany the answer. The bullets ricocheted off of the front of the desk.

Julisa was about to use a singularity to snare the man, but just as the orb was forming in her hand, both Shirakawa and Tarrislav rose from behind the table. Tarrislav was aiming at her, but when he spotted his fellow officer, he quickly turned the weapon upon the man. However, Shirakawa was faster. Two shots rang out in rapid succession, the force of the impacts spinning Tarrislav around. He pitched over on his side, and his pistol clattered to the floor beside him. Julisa saw Shirakawa stumble and brace himself against the holo-table, and she spotted a section of his shirt on the side that was dark with blood. She assumed the injury had occurred before she arrived. She quickly moved to stand over Tarrislav, training her Prothean rifle upon him. As she looked down upon him, she noted that there were fresh burns over the side of his neck and his left shoulder, and his right shoulder and arm were now bleeding profusely.

At that moment, Rachel and Illitha finally dashed inside, and both girls brought their weapons up, surveying the scene. Once it was clear that the excitement was over, they lowered their weapons and stepped inside. Rachel was quick to go to Captain Shirakawa's side, gazing at him with concern.

"Sir, are you alright?" the blonde asked.

"Thanks to that little drone, I will live," Shirakawa muttered. "Call a medic."

"Aye aye," Rachel quickly dashed outside, and Julisa could hear her cries for medical assistance.

"Crawler…" Illitha was crouched beside the small drone, and she picked it up, turning it over in her hands and frowning.

"That is yours?" Shirakawa asked, his eyes upon the young asari.

"Y-Yes," Illitha nodded. "My captain realized that Tarrislav might try to kill you if he was indoctrinated. I sent my drone to defend you…"

"I am not indoctrinated! You are! All of you! I will not allow you to doom us all to death at the hands of the Reapers! You have to be stopped!" Tarrislav raved. He tried to rise, but Julisa quickly planted her boot upon his chest and forced him back to the floor.

Rachel returned with a medic and several marines. The marines quickly trained their weapons upon Julisa when they saw her standing over Captain Tarrislav with a rifle in her hands. Julisa understood the reaction completely, since none of the men knew what had happened, and she pointed the rifle toward the ceiling, holding up her other hand to show she meant no harm.

"Shoot her!" Tarrislav shouted. "She's a Reaper spy!"

"Hold your fire!" Shirakawa barked. "I am hereby relieving Captain Tarrislav of his duties and ordering him detained for attempting to murder me."

"He lies! He's indoctrinated! Arrest him!" Tarrislav countered.

The marines exchanged glances, obviously uncertain about which man to listen to. However, before Julisa could explain the situation, Illitha spoke up.

"I-I can prove that Tarrislav attempted to murder Shirakawa," she told them, activating her omni-tool. A moment later, the holo-table flared to life, displaying the video feed Crawler had recorded. All eyes turned toward the footage being displayed.

At first, the footage was from the drone's point of view as it traveled across the plaza and into the building, and Illitha increased the playback speed to hurriedly get through that portion of the recording, as well as the significant span of time that the drone spent watching Tarrislav and Shirakawa stand over the projection table, coordinating their forces. Then both men in the recording jumped, as if they'd been surprised by something, and the recording returned to normal speed.

"What the hell was that?" Tarrislav's image demanded. "Get out there and find out!"

At his urging, the two sentries on the screen ran outside, leaving Tarrislav and Shirakawa alone. Shirakawa walked away from the holo-table and to the exterior door, gazing outside. Behind him, Tarrislav drew his pistol and aimed it at the Japanese soldier's back. At that moment, crawler went into action. An incendiary drone streaked out and hit Tarrislav in the back of his left shoulder. The man fired, but the unexpected attack threw his aim off, and the bullet pierced Shirakawa's side. Tarrislav turned and fired up at the screen, and Shirakawa took cover behind the projection table. Illitha stopped the recording, gazing at the marines expectantly.

None of the men hesitated further. One of them trained his rifle upon Tarrislav, while two others quickly turned him over and forced his hands behind his back. The captain struggled against them.

"You don't understand!" he shouted. "He is working with the Reapers! I had to try to kill him! He will lead our men directly into the Reapers' hands!"

"Get him out of here," Shirakawa growled, sinking into a chair so that the medic could look at him. "I want him kept under constant guard. And as for this young woman," his eyes shifted to Rachel, "she is free to return to her duties. She was mistakenly arrested for assaulting a superior officer. As this recording proves, she was actually taking action against an enemy agent."

Julisa saw Illitha smile at the blonde woman, and noted that the human girl's eyes were glistening with unshed tears. No doubt it was a relief for the young human to be cleared of the stigma of having assaulted her superior. The guards led Tarrislav from the room, and the former commando nodded her satisfaction, walking over to stand at the edge of the holo-table. Perhaps now they might be able to find out a bit more about the human operation.

"I apologize for my earlier mistrust," Shirakawa's gaze was upon Illitha. "I am man enough to admit when I am wrong. And it seems I was wrong to deny you the chance to prove your claims about him."

"I-I had no proof," Illitha admitted. "J-Just suspicions."

"Be that as it may, you were correct. And I owe you my gratitude for your drone's protection. Do you think you can salvage it?"

Illitha sighed softly and shrugged. "I will try. I have become fond of it."

"If any of our gear can help, it's yours," Shirakawa promised. "I trust the guard in the brig is unharmed as well?"

"Of course," Julisa was quick to assure him. "He may wake with a headache, but I did not hurt him."

Shirakawa's eyes narrowed and he regarded her in silence for a moment, but he didn't further inquire about the particulars of the jailbreak. Instead, he turned his attention to one of the remaining marines. "What happened in the munitions prefab? I saw that it was burning…"

"Yes sir," the young man frowned. "A civilian kid was inside, apparently messing with our store of inferno grenades. She accidentally set one off when she was putting it away with the rest…"

"Casualties?"

"None, sir," the marine reported. "But the girl that started the fire is in serious condition. We have some men going through the depot now to see if any of the weapons can be salvaged."

"I see," Shirakawa fell silent.

"Aida is taking all of this very hard," Neela spoke up. "She really needs you, Illitha."

The young asari nodded and picked up the mangled remains of her drone from where she'd set it down, quickly excusing herself from the room. Once she was gone, Julisa turned her attention to the Alliance captain.

"What is the objective of this operation you have organized?" she asked. "We had theories, but no real information."

"The embassy in the city had a newly-installed QEC system that linked to the embassy on the citadel and to Arcturus Station. We have a team going in to salvage the necessary parts from the embassy to get the communicator working from here. We need to contact Alliance command if we are going to get reinforcements."

"Why has this QEC not been used before now? This planet has been under siege for weeks…" Julisa was curious. It seemed like such an obvious objective, she couldn't understand why this offensive wasn't attempted weeks ago.

"The embassy is in the northeast quadrant of the city," Shirakawa explained. "When the Reapers landed, they came down right in the middle of the industrial center and hit our military training center there. Our forces were scattered and everyone was desperately trying to escape the area alive. No one gave any thought to securing the embassy. It wasn't fortified and had no munitions stockpiles, and the initial reports from our personnel working as security there said that Reapers were swarming through the halls and that everyone was being evacuated."

Julisa nodded slowly. Even with her military experience, it was hard to envision the sort of chaos that must have dominated the first hours of the invasion, with Reapers dropping from the sky and their forces spreading through the area in a wave.

"When our standard communications went down, we assumed it was a local scrambling system. It wasn't until we got forces well outside the city and tried to contact Alliance command that we figured out that the FTL comm buoys in the system were gone. But by that time, the Reapers had a stranglehold over the entire area where the embassy is located. We sent multiple teams in to try to covertly access the system and none ever reported back. Given the speed with which casualties were mounting, we had to write off the QEC as a lost cause."

"What changed?" the former commando asked, but she already had an idea.

"Our lines couldn't hold against the Reaper forces," Tarrislav confirmed her suspicions. "We have fought hard to keep the city and have sustained devastating losses, but we've been slowly pushed further and further back. And as the Reapers advanced, the neighborhoods behind them opened up little by little. Our scouts report only token forces in the area now. I came to the decision that if we are ever to reclaim the QEC and contact Alliance command for aid, it must be now."

"Then what is the situation?" Julisa glanced around at the others in the room, and all of them gathered around the holo-projection table, which Shirakawa activated via omni-tool to show the scans of the city. The Japanese soldier remained seated, letting the medic work.

"Whisper Alpha is our infiltration team. They worked their way around behind enemy lines hours before the rest of the forces departed. They were under orders to find a secure position south of the embassy and wait. Their job was to secure the embassy, and then the engineers in their ranks were to salvage the necessary components from the QEC, but they weren't to begin their assault until the diversionary attack began."

"So you intend to create an off-site version of the QEC for your use," Julisa nodded slowly.

"No other choice. We could never hold the Embassy if the Reapers doubled back to retake it from us. We're only after the vital components. The rest of the offensive is centered upon two simultaneous objectives. We are providing a massive distraction and trying to capture stores of water to supplement our stores of food. Our Spearhead forces punched a hole deep into the Reaper lines, and then Warcry hit a water purification plant. Their combined offensive got the Reapers' attention, just like we wanted. Bulwark and Armor divisions are holding the south flank against the bulk of the Reaper forces, and Overwatch has been constantly updating our feeds with Reaper troop positions and status updates on our forces."

Julisa studied the scans of the city, and tried to digest the massive amount of red on the display that represented Reaper troops. However, as she studied the scans, she found one question nagging at her. If it had been asari trying to infiltrate the Alliance, she knew where commandos would have wanted to place themselves. She had to believe the Reapers would have done the same.

"Tarrislav is an indoctrinated servant of the Reapers," Julisa pointed out. "I assume any forces he brought with him are likewise compromised. How many of them were deployed on your operation?"

Absolute silence descended over the room following her question. It was apparently the first thought any of them had given to that particular problem. Shirakawa pushed the medic aside and stood up, wincing as he did so, studying the disposition of the Reaper troops and his own forces. He opened a channel to his men.

"This is Captain Shirakawa to all teams. Captain Tarrislav has been relieved of duty under suspicion of indoctrination. His men may also be working with the Reapers. All teams, place any members of Tarrislav's command under arrest immediately. I want a sitrep from all units." Shirakawa hit the key to mute the microphone, and he frowned as he studied the display.

"Arresting Tarrislav's men is a fine start," Zaeed commented. "But I get the feeling there's a problem…"

"Tarrislav insisted that his engineers had a great deal of experience with advanced communications systems," Shirakawa admitted. "His man, Lieutenant Collins, took charge of Whisper Alpha, the team charged with infiltrating the embassy. More than half of that team was comprised of Tarrislav's men."

"So by now, they could have destroyed the goddamn QEC," Zaeed growled. "We need to shuttle out there, right now."

"Agreed," Julisa nodded. "If there is any chance we can save the equipment, we need to take it. Unless you have men that could get there faster… Do you have any way to tell if they have reached the embassy yet?"

"A shuttle would be the fastest way to get a team on site. I don't have any large units close enough to get there quickly. The incursion team was supposed to hold their position until the Warcry units started the diversionary attack. They may not have reached the embassy itself yet, depending on how much resistance is in the area," Shirakawa informed them. "Unfortunately, I think most of the men that you brought here would refuse to work with your young friend now that the truth about her qualifications is known, and they've already been reassigned. There's no time to hunt them down. But I can assign another team to go with you. Can your group secure the embassy and deal with any indoctrinated traitors in Whisper Alpha?"

"We can," Julisa nodded. "We have to."

"Salik was monitoring communications and followed them to Cerberus at the Prothean ruin," Selura spoke up. "He also followed an Alliance transmission to that facility up north, right? That is what Illitha said…"

"Yeah," Zaeed nodded. "If he has been listening to your communications, I think we can expect him to get involved here as well."

"Who is this 'Salik'?" Shirakawa glanced around.

"Another indoctrinated Reaper agent," Julisa answered. "But far more dangerous than Tarrislav or these others. His equipment is advanced, and he is a trained STG operative. He and his companion already almost killed me once."

"And me," Selura added.

"Me too," Neela chimed in.

"Can you deal with him and any indoctrinated Alliance personnel as well?" Shirakawa asked, glancing around at the group.

"We will manage," Julisa promised before anyone could speak. She knew the others harbored doubts about their chances of beating the salarian. However, she was not so pessimistic. She had underestimated him the last time they fought. She would not give him that advantage a second time.

"I will organize a team of marines and engineers and have them report to your shuttles. You need to move immediately," Shirakawa's eyes were on the holographic representation of the city. "Whisper Alpha was positioned here," he pointed to a cluster of buildings on the display, "when the operation started. The embassy is this building," he indicated a structure about five blocks from the starting position. "If they have not reached it by now, they will be close."

"Shuttling out there won't be easy," Zaeed pointed out. "There are oculus drones all over the airspace, and those shuttles aren't built for combat."

"I'll divert Trident Wing Alpha to serve as escort," Shirakawa offered. "This is a priority mission. I'll see you protected until you land. Then you'll be on your own. These are our frequencies," he brought up a list of unit and general frequencies for them to see. "Keep me updated on your progress."

Julisa nodded and copied the data to her omni-tool, and then she turned and headed for the door. The others quickly followed suit. As she was stepping outside, she heard the first of the progress updates begin to pour in as Shirakawa had requested.

"This is Warcry Alpha. No one from Tarrislav's command was in our unit. We're taking heavy fire from Reaper forces at the water purification plant, but casualties have been minimal…"

"This is Bulwark Beta. We've removed Tarrislav's men from active duty and confiscated their weapons. We're getting hammered on the southern front. Alpha was decimated. Our unit is down to fifty percent capability, and others are in worse shape. We need support or we need to fall back!"

"This is Overwatch Alpha… We have a massive buildup of Reaper forces on the northeast front. They're swarming all over that alloy fabrication plant. Do we have any people in there?"

As the door closed, the former commando found herself frowning. It seemed that the situation was already becoming desperate. She just hoped that they could manage to get the equipment they needed before Tarrislav's men were able to destroy or otherwise sabotage it. With a working quantum entanglement communicator, they could get information on what was going on elsewhere in the galaxy. She was eager to find out if Thessia was still safe. She wanted to get off world and find her daughter before the Reapers brought the same kind of destruction to her home world that they had been inflicting on other planets.

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Author's Note: First off, thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited/followed or otherwise given any attention to this story. Your continued interest is much appreciated, and it is always wonderful to hear the thoughts and opinions expressed in reviews and PMs by my readers. I hope I continue to entertain. Sadly, this weekend was a lot more hectic than I thought it would be, and this is a moment when having a buffer helped. I didn't finish the Chapter I was working on, but thankfully since I am several Chapters ahead, this one can still go up on time (well, about 20 minutes later than usual because I was editing it, but close enough). Unfortunately, my buffer is down to three Chapters. Rest assured, I'll be trying to finish my current Chapter and one more over the next several days to rebuild that buffer.

There was a lot going on in this Chapter. Aida's return took place at a poor time, with so much else going on, and as a result, none of the other characters had sufficient time for a proper welcome or to properly comfort her. Between rescuing Rachel, the explosions and assassination attempts, and news of Prathus's death, it was a little tough to get the tone of it just right. I look forward to hearing thoughts on anything that did or did not work.

I've also waited quite a while to get the indoctrinated Alliance soldiers into the story. I know it was heavily hinted at in earlier Chapters, but it had been so long since they were mentioned, I was starting to think people might have forgotten about that danger by the time I got this Chapter up! :)

Unless something abnormal happens in my life, the next Chapter will go up this coming Monday morning. I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend. And I hope everyone has a great coming weekend as well!