OSaBC : The Bird of Hermes

Chapter Fifteen: Unheralded Escape


A/N: MUCH credit to EnigmaticOne, who spent hours and hours gathering the RP notes up, typing them in, and cleaning up the grammar. Any mistakes are mine, not his.


"And you expect me to believe you intervened in this mess with no ulterior motives?"

"My good friend, I couldn't care a spent eezo casing less about that you chose to believe or disbelieve. I am offering you facts, and your distaste for me coloring your acceptance of such further lets me know your supposed 'skills' are yet more of the same STG frothing at the mouth at my deviance and effrontery."

"I'd watch my words if I were you. I intend to preserve order, and you are in the way of that."

"Iridian, please. Spare me the Solus act. I am sure you are going to try, as have others before you were born. Leave aside the horn-fondling melodramatic posturing and consider what I've said about the situation with the humans, will you?"

"And the one you're hiding that the human Lords are after?"

"I am afraid I do not know what you are talking about, good sir. More wine?"

-AIS datafile, forwarded to dead-drop from Agent 'Varian', date-stamp three weeks after the Magog Incident.


The corridor that the door lead into was spacious, and it went a lengthy distance, the walls made of strange greenish-white metal that had a swirled texture to it. The floor was some kind of interlocking metal tiles, black in color, with the occasional – and alarming – splotch stains on it. Several places on the walls were marred by what looked like claw marks, although the edges of the marks were ragged and almost melted looking.

They passed several side rooms, each one sealed by a thick pane of transparent crystal of some kind, with a green hue. The rooms were full of more Ysangi statues, inexplicable machinery, stacks of odd black and blue metal, or odd translucent floating bubbles full of what looked like corpses.

The bubbles were the most troubling, as each bubble held only one body and each one was different. They passed sixteen rooms like this, each with hundreds of bubbles. Alien races, slaves, who knew?

"I am really starting to wonder about this place. I wonder what it was?" Bright's tone was musing.

Varian's answering voice was wry. "Colonel, I suspect we really don't want to know, but those look like trophy rooms if you ask me." The rest of the trip was made in relative silence, weapons leveled, everyone expecting something horrible and finding... more corridors, and emptiness. Finally, the group arrived at an intersection, a circular room with a vaulted ceiling displaying some kind of star map. Large pillars circled the room, and three doors breached the far wall. In the distance, heard the same kind of talking the black-furred soldiers were doing, the same strange words.

Marcus strained to listen, then frowned. "Can't make out much, but... if the words are the same... they're talking about system ...problems? Something about an infiltrator."

The voices came from behind the door in the middle. But mechanical noises drifted out from the entrance to the side on the north. Before the team could deliberate, the main door opened. Three creatures stood there - two looking like the furred ones fought earlier - and in the center, one bigger, about 3 meters tall, with more legs and 'arms' and what looked like a hoop of fire rotating slowly over it's main mass. The thing swelled in a grotesque manner, drips of some kind of black ichor falling ever so slowly to spatter on the floor.

Kinnix and the group tensed, and the big thing merely gave a wheezing exhale before barking out a single word. "Khalak." It then spread two 'arms,' bringing them together with another strange phrase, and a blade of fire erupted into its oversized hands.

Daniel stared. "Oh this is going to be bad..."

It pointed the blade at Kinnix Senior, and then four more of the smaller soldier Ysangi rushed up behind it. The door on the left came apart in a slamming noise, and a statue stepped forward, raising a longer gray rod in its many arms.

Kinnix barked out orders. "Cover and grenades out!" He himself rolled backwards, pulling Bright with him, and flung a smoke grenade to blind the four soldiers with the biggest alien. Matthew darted for cover behind a pillar, then shot the Gamma grenade he'd slotted, the explosion engulfing the largest group of aliens. He followed it up with a GLINT grenade, throwing it by hand. "FLASHBANG OUT!"

The flashbang went off, causing all of the enemies except the statue to scream. The two melee creatures staggered back, and four more blinked their many eyes rapidly to clear them.

Daniel aimed with his Spear rifle, then triggered his under-barrel launcher at the melee-armed Hornis, sending the BACKBLAST grenade he'd loaded earlier. It knocked down neither, but already disoriented from the flashbang, it was scant help for both. One of the horns circling the second one shattered, pieces lashing the first one. A larger chunk of horn smashed into the first Horni's 'head' and through it, and a second later, it collapsed to the ground.

Daniel fired a poorly aimed shot at its companion, hitting only because the Horni flailed about with a broken horn. Georg slung his rifle and drew his power axe, while Varian lobbed a LINUS grenade at the Big Horni, then fired his Impactor. The grenade wibbled on the launch, bouncing off the Big Horni to land at his feet. It stared at the grenade for a second then stomped on it… causing it to explode.

The blast did little, only marring the surface of its armor. Varian's follow-up shot with the plasma rifle only burned a minuscule line on its torso. The multiple reddish eyes looked up to give the AIS agent a withering glance.

While Varian was firing, Georg outright charged the disoriented melee Horni. "Gonna hafta axe you to leave, sir." The axe cleaved straight through the monster, the power-field burning through the black gunk spraying out, and with a neat sidestep, Georg evaded the falling shattered bulk of the thing, smiling as it toppled.

One of the horns flew off, embedding into a wall next to the big guy, who turned his eyes from Varian to Georg. The knight merely lifted his axe in one hand and made a 'bring it' gesture with the other, placing himself between the big boy and his softer comrades.

The general threw a HE grenade at the ones furthest away, then fired an aimed lance cannon shot at the big one. The general had to awkwardly angle the grenade and only caught two of the four hornis in the blast. On the other hand, the lance cannon blast was so wide that it cleanly hit and tore a huge chunk out of the big one, which gave a growling yowl of what sounded like pain.

Bright once again set himself up as cover for those behind him, triggering his omnishield. His Sabre barked out thin lines of spat plasma that punched more holes in the massive beast, burning off some fur. Mira, being less insane than Knights of the Defiant Axe or Kinnix, crouched behind Bright and his shield and stitched shots into the left-most Horni carrying ranged weaponry.

Marcus fired at the statue, his shot clean but with little impact as the statue merely continued forwards at an inexorable pace. The ranged Hornis returned fire in a volley, with mostly terrible aim, as two shots went wild, and one particularly misaimed attack struck the Big Horni.

Mostly terrible aim. The last shot hit Mira, the blast melting right through her armor and flinging her to the floor screaming, her armor simply gone from the shot.

The massive creature finally stepped forward, and a huge mass of black gunk smashed into the smaler alien that had accidentally shot it, sending it flying over the heads of Team Kinnix into the wall. The poor Horni splattered to the ground messily in a pile of gunk, brass plates, bits of red flesh, and bones.

Its killer then leveled a meter long gray rod at the team, and the air seemed to pulse and then flex, as if it was bent. Daniel, Varian, and Matthew were quick enough to roll out of the way and only felt like a horse kicked them straight in the nuts.

Everyone else screamed in agony.

Kinnix, Mira, and Bright fell to the ground, unmoving. George collapsed to the ground with a crash, his axe clattering out of his hands, falling into a pool of the gunk from the creature he'd slain with his axe. Blood streamed from his mouth; his helmet deformed. Marcus bled from the mouth, his armor crumpled and more blood seeping from his knee joint, but staggered back to his feet.

The statue was a friendly fire casualty of the devastating gravitic attack, crumpled into a metallic shards pile, dust blowing in all directions, further confusing the situation. The largest creature had massive steaming wounds and holes blown in it, while the bone things circling it were fractured, and it leaked something dark blue. The other upright Hornis remained disoriented.

"MEN DOWN, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, BRING THAT BIG FUCKER DOWN, GUYS!" Matthew howled after regaining his bearings.

The pilot-knight fired another Gamma grenade and plasma shot. The shot connected but only seared the beast's flanks, heaving with now sodden, blood-soaked fur. The grenade hit, but the blast did not go inside its gaping, oozing hole, leaving the beast unhappy but alive.

Daniel hurled biotic power at the beast; his face distorted in a roar of hate at seeing his General fall. Planting his feet, his focus turned inward for the strongest Fastball he ever conjured. Biotic light wreathed Daniel for a moment before the small orbs of blue fire exploded outward and upward into the blackened hulk towering above them all.

The small balls each detonated violently, scattering burning warpfire all over the thing. But for all Daniel's rage-induced power, the flames flickered sullenly. All it did was make the Big Horni take another step forward, all of its eyes fixed on Daniel now.

Varian watched with an eerie calmness. Carefully, he raised his rifle and fired a single, precise shot.

The round hit one of the orbiting bones and deflected inside, where the plasma blast detonated a second later. There was a long moment where the red-glowing slits turned to Varian, then the thing toppled over and landed on the other three Hornis.

At this same time, Matthew noticed with growing alarm that Marcus had pulled out one of the M/AM canisters.

"MARCUS, don't you do that! STAND DOWN, soldier!"

The enraged Marcus ignored him, flinging the M/AM canister, even as the Hornis began trying to get free. It flew to the far side of the beast's bulk - and by luck, or the grace of God or powers unseen - it bounced off the wall and next to the Big Horni before it went off.

The blast hurled everyone back against the far wall, but the sheer bulk of the massive creature near-entirely contained it. The explosion vaporized the giant monster, burned the other three Hornis to a crisp, and melted the far wall.

Marcus landed awkwardly on his leg but got to one knee, propping himself up with his axe.

Daniel Arondine came to his feet, marched over to Marcus, and hooked him across the jaw with his cyber arm. "IDIOT. Are you TRYING to finish us off?!"

Marcus took the hit, unrepentant. "No. I'm trying to fucking not DIE, in case you didn't notice the other three fuckers." He pointed to the corpse of one, which had dropped the ruby rod for a gray one like the big one used.

"That's what you have a GUN AND AXE FOR, not an antimatter bomb!" Daniel howled back before roughly yanking the remaining M/AM charges from Marcus. "You and your father both have an unhealthy love for explosives. No more."

Matthew and Varian ignored the drama, focusing their attention on providing medical aid. After a good fifteen minutes of frantic work, Matthew, Varian, then Daniel managed to stabilize everyone. Mira only received a severe beating, with her armor smashed. She could still walk. Kinnix was worse but also conscious and mobile, although disoriented, and his armor was mostly ruined. His knee was fractured and they didn't have time to set it cleanly.

Bright had been a close call, bleeding out with internal injuries and a broken leg. Matthew took the risk of cutting on a nano repair system Bright had (but chose to turn off manually) to stop the internal bleeding, and it worked. The Iron Valor winner soon got up, but complained of blurred vision and probable concussion.

Georg, though, was not stable. His skull was fractured, and his helmet hadn't been environmentally sealed. Matthew patched it with omnigel, but the knights' medical package reported trace amounts of heavy metals in his bloodstream already.

The room filled with slowly fading smoke, the smell of burned flesh, and worse. The north's door stood open, the one to the east shut - and based on Marcus's frustrated growling - locked.

"Shit." Marcus kicked the door in frustration. "I'm pretty sure this the way we need to go, and that way," he pointed to the open door, "is bad fucking news."

About to say something more, he stopped, eyes widening. "...Oh fuck me."

The others followed his pointing finger to see the shattered, half-destroyed smoking corpse of the giant monster bubbling. Blackened ruined flesh ever so slowly moved along the floor, slithering up the bulk of the beast.

Bright lifted his weapon and took point, but first dropped his last three motion-activated mines on top of the thing.

"Yeah... we should... get moving, guys." The general remained unsteady on his feet.

As the team reluctantly moved through the door, the entire complex shook, worse than ever. Many howls sounded from behind, some distance away.

"I'll take that sword, General," Daniel told his master. "After a beating like that, you're not much good in a fight. Now let's MOVE."

Kinnix passed it over, now half-supporting Georg as the group struggled along.

Unlike the earlier construction, the walls were now composed of slick, greasy-looking reddish blocks of metal, each stamped with a complex thing-logo that made their eyes water. As they approached a looming open doorway, something white flashed past, slamming into a charging black-furred beast. The interloper was a melange of corpses, dangling arms, three different human heads, and a mass of corrupted flesh, with four arms each ending in long bonelike swords.

Six more burst out of the ceiling, dropping down and ignoring the humans entirely. They chose to throw themselves at a horde of charging things from the west coming through another open door.

Bright sidestepped one and cursed, stammering as he fired his rifle at another approaching black-furred thing.

A dozen more of those burst through another door, two of them firing at the flesh-monsters and burning them down in piles of ash.

"Break off Bright; there's too many!" Daniel barked.

Marcus frantically examined the doors on the left and then grabbed his father by the arm. "This way!"

His hurried tap of two glyphs opened the door.

Bright ducked under another Horni, charging in his direction, and threw a pair of flashbangs in its face. The blinding light stopped all the blackened monstrosities in their tracks, and the remaining corpse things immediately leaped to attack, moving so fast they were mere blurs, cutting half their foes down in seconds.

Bright fell back hastily, throwing a detpak on the floor. General Kinnix scattered proximity detonated gamma grenades behind him. Daniel primed and tossed his remaining two BACKBLAST grenades at the mass of enemies. Matthew Machado lifted Georg on his back as the team ran.

A procession of explosions went off behind them, followed by screams sounding like nothing human ears should ever have heard. They raced down a corridor with more red brick, inlaid here and there with dark black metal bracing, the center of each brace bifurcated by glowing reddish crystals.

The corridor turned to the left, then split, one door leading south and marked with a big circle with many smaller glyphs inside. The other door was warped, bulging, and discolored, with a dozen black slime-like things holding it shut and six of the greenish statues facing the door.

Marcus pulled up his omnitool and the piece of paper he recorded the tablets on. After comparing them, he touched several glyphs hesitantly. The door shuddered and made a grinding sound. Then noting. "Well, fuck."

"Marcus..." Daniel's voice had an edge to it.

"Look, this door should lead to what I think is the command center, like the other one, but someone has... I don't know, fucking hacked it somehow. The glyphs aren't matching up, and the fucking sigils are not even goddamned making sense!" Marcus protested.

From the direction they came, more explosions sounded. Most likely, the detpacks and grenades going off.

Varian frowned. "Can we blast through it? Cut through it?"

Marcus took his axe and smashed it into the door. The blade didn't even leave a scuff. "How? This metal is fucking invincible!"

"Ask the statues?" Jason suggested.

"OH, sure, that should be a riot." Marcus walked over to the leftmost statue. "Uh...kitharka vask?"

On a hunch, Daniel scraped the sword against the door. It cut the door. And the floor. Like paper. The statue, on the other hand, did not respond. "All right then." Marcus said before simply deciding to take the win and move on.

Matthew scattered mines to trap the way behind them as they went. The red stone now only comprised just the base of each wall, moving about towards a dark reddish crystal with irregular specks of light at waist height. Thick pipes of black metal winded in and out of the walls aimlessly.

Georg's medical package beeped a new alert, indicating irregularities in his blood chemistry.

Matthew swore. "Not like this, Georg, FUCK! Don't tell me he got somehow infected."

Bright grimaced. "He did fall into the fluids where that furred thing fell..."

"Son. Does that shit say anything about curing it?" Kinnix asked worriedly.

"No. I'm not sure this is the same thing. It takes hours to show up, not minutes." Marcus replied, glancing ahead, to another door. - half-opened.

"...Should that be open already?" Daniel asked.

"...No," Marcus murmured, drawing his axe. "Not at all."

Bright lifted his rifle to cover the door, stepping ahead of Marcus and pushing the door open completely. Then he stopped. "...Mother of God."

The room they entered was big, bigger than the rest, at least a hundred or more meters high and twice as wide. Massive pools of water hung on the walls somehow, displaying images of the planet and the solar system. Smaller screens of smoke and glyphs flanked a giant console of reddish crystals.

A thing like the giant monster they killed lay torn in half on the floor, and with two dozen more of the black-furred creatures on the ground. Black gore littered the ground, several broken bone blades here and there.

Marcus pushed the door shut, which made a thudding sound, greenish bands sliding over it.

That left two more doors - one to the south, barred from their side, which seemed to lead back to the room with the giant monster in it previously locked - and one more headed north - also ajar.

"So, what now?" General Kinnix asked.

Marcus gingerly approached the central console, then gave a shaky sigh of relief. "Well, these glyphs aren't fucked up, at least." He began working. There came a sudden banging on the door they'd entered through, then a loud screeching sound (and the noises of something torn apart), then silence.

A loud voice from the middle of the room spoke in that alien language. Marcus had a hopeful look. " Well, that's encouraging. Said it is engaging defenses… I think."

His expression became thoughtful "...Okay. Okay. So, I think I get this shit now. This planet is not just a prison or a fucking trap or a lab. I mean it is, but it isn't. The people who built it originally just imprisoned whoever is here, but after time they began studying them – not sure why, something to do with 'resonances'. And after a while something bad happened and the people giving the ordrers were gone."

Varian glanced at Bright. "That doesn't sound reassuring. But what you mean it isn't a prison?"

Marcus tapped another glyph. "It's also some kind of fucking observation post, I think. I'm not sure if that was intended, but someone is – or was – monitoring it. And some of the stuff is offline...there's stuff here built on top of older stuff, multiple conflicting systems."

"There's not a lot of data here. The system was suppose to have this planet, the gas giant, and the three inner planets, which were machines to .. control all this. The rest of the planets are not supposed to be here. Whatever the fuck that means. Something about 'markers' and a rebellion."

He tapped his finger to a crystal, which glowed. "There's… someone has tried to trigger a purge, but that got shut down. Someone tried to activate the guards, but whoever came through here murdered wrecked that shit too."

His face paled, then turned angry. "...Ahh FUCK. NO."

Kinnix Senior frowned. "Son, what's wrong?"

Marcus punched the console. "This...this is a goddamned setup! We were fucking lead here!"

Varian coughed. "...by whom?"

Everyone glanced up as the central pool of water suddenly glowed, revealing a young woman, with long black hair and features a distant echo of Synthia Vandefars, with a smirk on her face.

"Hey there. Catch you boys at a bad time?" Ciana Vandefar purred.

"Hey, love." Jason Kinnix deadpanned. "Your aunt says hi."

Ciana smiled and bantered back. "Oh hey, General Kinnix. How's the wife?"

"Belligerent as normal."

"Figures." Ciana sniffed. "Your kids are fucking wild, man. But… it's handy having an actual Lord of Sol here. Bypass all the middlemen. In case you haven't figured it out, milord, this situation is beyond your jurisdiction."

"You are fucking kidding me. Monologue? Here? NOW?!" Daniel exclaimed aghast.

"Yes." Ciana tilted her head. "Look, when you get to literally fuck ever all the people who ever did you wrong at the same time, let's see you not gloat. Also, big fan of Claws and Honor here, so blame the turians."

"You'll have to excuse my skepticism. My youth was spent among turians and asari; I know bad melodrama when I hear it." Daniel retorted.

"...Seriously? Cinema criticism? Now? General, you need new knights. Damn."

"Anyway." The younger Vandefar went on. "Here's what you are going to do. "Plant your charges in this room, then take the open door. It will go past two more doors - ignore those - and then lead you to the surface. Probably a good five minutes from where you came in. Then go back wherever the fuck you came from and tell Aloxius Manswell that the plan isn't going to work, and I quit. Do that; you get out alive."

"Or you can try to stop me or some other ignorant shit, and I'll unlock the doors. I'm sure the big guy you wounded is just going to love to see you again." She smiled mockingly. "Or I guess I could tell you what the fuck is happening, but then General Patriotism over there is likely to get all Honor and shit to try to stop me. Not that you could, and it would be really neat to pull Mira's skanky little spine out… but we're both on a schedule."

Kinnix hooked his thumbs into his belt, raising his eyebrows. "We are? Is someone else going to show up?"

Ciana sighed. "Yes, and it's not a good thing." She made a gesture with her hand, and one of the pools changed, showing the form of a SA Dreadnaught erupting out of FTL.

"Oh, look. The cavalry." Daniel dryly sniped back.

"That is not the cavalry. That is a fucking clown car." Ciana scoffed. "Jesus, they're early. Alright. So, drop the charges, and I give you my word I'll not do anything to harm you or yours, General. Or come after me. Your choice, big boy."

Kinnix snorted. "You'll pardon me if I'm not sure I can trust your word."

Ciana's smile grew more slanted and mocking. "This coming from a Lord of Sol is some kind of meta-level ironic bullshit. Let me be more blunt. If I fucking wanted you dead, all I need to do is open the doors where about thirty of those things are trying to get in. If I thought you were a threat I'd have let them kill you then picked up your M/AM charges myself after the fact."

She tilted her head, her beautiful features tightening. "And like I said, I don't have time to mess around. Neither do you, the guys on that ship aren't likely to want to say hi. Your choice."

General Kinnix stared at her for a long moment, then sighed. "Very well, I accept your word. We are leaving. I came for my son, and as long as I can get my people out safely, what happens here is nothing I can fix, apparently. I do have a question – do you know how we can cure my knight here?"

Ciana frowned, then turned to something out of view, a red glow illuminating her for a second. "Yeah. Early stage. Marcus should know how to mix countering nanoagent nine, same as you use for grey goo shit. I'd prefer to see you place these charges and set timers. I'll lock the door behind you when you go."

Kinnix nodded, glancing at Bright. "You know where to place them to do the most damage, I suspect."

Varian watched the image of Ciana closely, and realized her eyes were tracking in directions not oriented to the view-screen but something else. After a moment, it hit him – he was now almost sure that Ciana was somewhere in this room. There were several doors to the north as well, and the red glow on her face matched the one on Marcus's as he manipulated the computer.

"Oh, and Marcus, darling. I'm afraid you'll need to leave behind the Sangoi Tablets once you get outside." Ciana added. "Otherwise, I might, you know, forget to deactivate the GTS defenses this planet has." The amusement on her features widened as she saw Mira turn red. Marcus grimaced but pulled the tablets out.

"Why do you need them?"

Ciana's voice hardened. "You'll understand if I am not willing to share my plans with you, lover boy."

Kinnix turned back to face her as Bright dealt with arming the charges. "Plans imply you have some idea of what is going on down here, but the situation looks pretty ugly. You know you could come with us, Ciana. Find a new future somewhere else." His voice was calm and direct, eliciting the first serious look from Ciana Vandefar.

"Milord, the SA is corrupted. There is shit going on you cannot even imagine. People in power who are actual terrorists under disguise. Entire black-ops groups that do nothing but clean up people who dig too deeply. Experiments on the innocent. Literally fucking planning to zombie all of humanity. Deals with fucking batarians, cooperation with salarian researchers, and an organization that is most likely, from what I've learned, beholden to some kind of alien intelligence that sees us as amusing pets."

She folded her arms, her expression severe. "I didn't come here expecting what I found, but now that I have a chance I am not going to just sit back and let things go directly to hell. I can tell you this – I'm not doing this out of greed or spite, but to make sure I am not going to be dragged along with the ignorant crap the High Lords are planning. My 'new future' will happen regardless of what you do or do not do, but if the High Lords knew what I had discovered they'd have stopped at nothing to kill me."

"That sounds like you've put yourself in a dangerous place, with no way out. Come with us. We can change things. You don't have to die here." Jason offered. Talking had never been his forte, yet now he was trying.

Ciana laughed. It was kind of a pretty laugh, but with an edge of both madness and something like irony in it. "You can't change shit. Don't you realize the whole reason you're here? That Marcus is here? My fucking aunt set you up to die to convince the High Lords... well." She snorted.

"How deep down the rabbit hole do you want to go?"

Varian arched an eyebrow. "You're implying we were sent for a reason, aside from the General's connection to the Admiral..."

She stared at the AIS agent. "Wow, you fucking people are goddamned clueless aren't you? Look. Vandefar knew this place was fucked from the start. She knew. I know that because she assigned me to this mission specifically to recover information for her. And she knew because I had another assignment, direct from Aloxius, to do the same thing. But they didn't know what was really here, and this entire situation is both her and Aloxius trying to get an edge before the boys in Omega or the Celestials come and wipe it clean."

Varian twitched at the last two names, but Kinnix frowned. "What does that have to do with – "

She cut him off. "General, someone manipulated my aunt and the AIS minister. Someone made sure that the 'proper people' to investigate this place were never informed of it, and they sent you here to make it impossible to keep that quiet. Do you know what kind of penetration, and power, that takes? The thing pulling the strings is utterly beyond you. You don't have any chance of changing what's going to happen. You can't."

"No. No, we can't, if the Celestial Council is involved." Varian spoke up. "But this place? This place will bring nothing good to anything and frankly you are arrogant to think you can draw some 'good' from it if those are the people who should be dealing with it."

She gave him a deadpan look. "That's your goddamned answer? I mean, fuck, you don't even know what the fuck Omega Response really is, so you cannot have seen the trap laid here. They're not looking to understand, just to maintain normalcy, whatever that is." Ciana retorted. "This place is power..."

She smiled. "...Agent Varian. And power that you cede to others rarely gets used how it should."

Kinnix shook his head. "I'm old enough to know that power shorn of both understanding and perspective just makes you arrogant or foolish, Ciana." He glanced at Varian. "I don't know what 'Omega' or this other group are, or if the HLOS are as … broken as you suggest. I know there are ugly things going on. And I'm not alone in this. If you have proof, you can come with us, and have it heard. Ahern knows some of what I found, and he gave us a contact – outside of the SA – to help change things."

Ciana's expression softened in amusement. "You told Ahern?" This time she burst out laughing. "Ahern, the man who looked the other way for twenty fucking years? Wow. Ahern isn't going to fix shit, milord. For all his loud talk, he's always shirked the hard facts about reality. There's nothing you could tell him to make him actually do anything."

"I told him about his daughter...about how the Alliance was responsible for her death." Kinnix added, though feeling he wasn't getting anywhere.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but I suspect it is even more High Lord fuckery, kinda proving my point," Ciana answered. "Look, it is very simple. Leave out all the other problems – we either blow this place up, or it will fall into the hands of either my aunt or the High Lords. I am - and God, this is satisfying to say - the good guy here."

"Pray tell. What happens if you actually succeed here, Ciana? Do you even know?" Daniel inquired.

Ciana smirked. "I've already succeeded. Far beyond my wildest projections. I just need to cover my tracks and convince the prisoners to trust me."

Varian just stared at Ciana. "The prisoners... Oh, God and Victor save us. You think that something requiring an entire system to contain it, that gets just to ignore the laws of physics is going to work with you? That it's trustworthy? That you can depend on it?"

"I think that the power the Ythrongi represent will help us survive what is fucking coming, which is way worse than anything in this system. And that they're victims, like me. Pain calls to pain..." She trailed off as the complex shuddered strongly enough to make everyone stumble. "...Oooh, somebody didn't like my present for them."

"We are probably running out of time, like you said. I'll ask – are you sure about this?" Kinnix asked.

"Am I sure? No. If I had met you earlier, before...this... maybe I'd have taken a different option. But what if's are pointless, and right now, none of the other options are worth shit, milord." Ciana replied with certainty.

Bright stood up. "Charges are set...and after what I've seen of this system, lady, you are playing with fire."

Varian nodded. "You are blind and are so convinced that power solves problems you don't realize what is going to happen. Whoever made this place could bend physics to their will and saw it as necessary to set guards capable of obliterating damned near anything."

She smirked. "I disagree. Power is what makes right and wrong matter. The very fact that the prisoners were feared means they had power."

Varian's tone hardened. "I assure you I'm well aware of dirty tricks and the realities of power, but that's not what I am saying. We are insects to whatever built this place – and to the prisoners. The High Lords are just men. They bleed, they die, they age. You can always kill them if only you find out how to bypass their security. For these things, there is nothing you can do if they decide against you – or if they are just using you! There are things that should not be touched, that should be avoided for the mere potential of them turning upon you. This is one of them."

Ciana arched an eyebrow. The pool's image faded, like a song, and the entire room blurred slightly.

The corpse slumped over one of the consoles towards one side, flowed, wavered, then reformed. And a second corpse tossed to the side. And two more behind them, flowing up from the floor. All identical, a slender human female in an unfamiliar suit of greenish-black armor with reddish crystals. All four held long bone blades in their left hand.

Daniel sighed. "And this is why we do not ask pointed questions."

The first one walked forward until about five feet away. "...You know, I really am going about this the wrong way, aren't I? Despite literally being completely fuck-ass ignorant of what's really going on, you've survived this planet. Survived traps, horrors, and even managed to defeat something that usually kills whatever it runs across with only one serious injury."

Daniel choked down a smart response.

"I should be asking you the inverse, AIS guy. You've seen the ugly side of How Things Work, and you must know good and well the High Lords have made sure if they go down all of humanity goes the fuck down with them, from bombs in the arcologies to literal fuck-ass secret legions of mindless killers to worse. The prisoners here aren't the High Lords. Their 'crimes' were not even that, they're more like political prisoners than anything else. They don't plot to destroy the universe, and they were imprisoned by fucking monsters who ... God, I can't even EXPLAIN it."

Ciana went on. "The things that put them here are pieces of shit that don't even deserve to burn in hell."

She shook her head. "There are two roads we can go down. If I wanted to kill you, I'd have done so. I needed to scare you away from the lab so that you wouldn't compare the data, but I admittedly didn't know there was a backup. The fact you survived this far means you are tough enough to be of use to me, so I'll turn this around."

She turned to stare at Kinnix, all four copies of her. "You can work for me, if you really want to know what is going on. You can help me with what I am planning and how it will both save the human race and deal with the fucker behind all the SA's problems. Problem is, that requires you give up on all your notions of what matters right now, and I don't think you can do that. So if you won't work for me, you can have Marcus hand over the tablets, set those placed charges for sixty minutes, and leave."

A slow, almost smirking smile crosses her features as she turns her gaze to Mira. "...Or you could fight me."

The speaking Ciana slowly took a step back, and the other three versions of her began softly humming some kind of tune.

"If the jailers were bad, then I am really starting to dread who the jailed are, Miss Vandefar, but this isn't my decision." Matthew said.

"...No, it isn't. Pity." Ciana One turned to face father and son. "Marcus... I don't bluff. You, however, do. What's it gonna be, lover boy?" She spoke this last in such acid tones that Marcus visibly wilted, while an alert Bright put a heavy hand around Mira's arm to keep her from lunging.

"One last question, if I may, Miss Vandefar." Matthew suddenly said with a slight head bow. "WHAT did you witness to think that they might be our only help? What brought on this Faustian Deal?"

Ciana paused. "...I doubt any of you are even fucking cleared to know. I wasn't. I learned by spying on my aunt."

She glanced at Kinnix Senior. "But does the phrase 'Reapers' mean anything, milord?"

"No, it doesn't." It was a lie. General Kinnix had been briefed but wanted to find out what Ciana knew. For a moment, he thought she would see through him.

But Ciana bought it.

"...You mean to fucking … THEY DIDN'T EVEN FUCKING TELL THE GODDAMNED..."

The other three images of her disappeared as Ciana One stormed off, smashing her fist into one of the thick black-metal columns supporting the cavern. Her blow punched through it, sending shattered metal spraying onto the floor while she cursed.

"God, this is so fucking stupid. And of course, as fucking usual, I have to clean everything up. Now I know why Wilson always looks fucking exhausted." She moved over to the nearest control console, tapping crystals. "Let's make the Repensum play dodge-ball for a while."

She turned back after a second. "The Reapers are a 60-million-year-old machine intelligence that has wiped all space-faring life out every 50,000 years or so in at least six galaxies. They're the fucking tools of the assholes who locked the Choir up for trying to stop them from massacring millions more."

"That so-called 'geth dreadnought' was one of them. We are all going to FUCKING DIE if we don't have something to stop them! And no one is doing ANYTHING!"

Her fear, Varian judged, was not feigned in the slightest.

"My god... what can we do against more of those?" General Kinnix asked, managing not to reveal he'd already had his near breakdown over the Reapers months ago when he was first briefed. The anger she showed and her loss of control was an opening.

"Fucking die." Ciana gestured to the room. "Or cheat. I am not going to sit here and let the High Lords - or my aunt - or anyone else use what is here to prop up their own fucking power. I need help, but fucking Yang was goddamned HADES and was going to turn this shit over to a fucker even crazier than my aunt. And Marcus, well, seriously, you're a fucking lightweight. You never even asked why you'd be bucked up to command with no questions asked?"

"Miss Vandefar," Matthew carefully asked, "can you tell me what they showed you to convince you of their sincerity? If there truly is Armageddon at the doors, then there must be a reason for it. And if these Reapers truly are coming to destroy us, WHY didn't they just destroy these prisoners? Because from my point of view, it looks like they are showing you what you or what WE want. And THAT is NEVER a good thing. The reeks of a deal with the devil, and I have to know, my father was a bloody pastor."

Ciana was silent for several seconds. "You sure you want to know?"

"We have already bitten the forbidden fruit, might as well take another bite. Please humor this old chap." Matthew told her.

Ciana exhaled, then sang.


It is the most beautiful song you have ever heard.

Is it notes or something else? You may never know.

There are visions - understandings -

A sea of galaxies and huge things moving between them.

You see a civilization of... creatures. Odd, five legs. They use powers and science that might as well be magic, shaping planets, making contact with other life.

Then you see... the huge things. And then agony, and fire.

You smell your flesh burning, you see your children dying, but they aren't your children.

Alien emotions, a rage more like weeping, a fury more like despair, and the song... your bones vibrate, your muscles clench.

This cannot be borne. And then you see these monsters, these THINGS...they are ripping apart galaxies...entire universes.

And laughing.

You feel your bodies ruined, thrown into vats of reddish crystals while nightmares chant overhead and stars melt.

You feel the vast and inhuman amusement of something that looks on you like a bacteria, of 'words' that are more like command-image-impulses...

And you see a vault being built of the very bodies of your dead.

You see the dark ones draw back, and a tide of metallic copies surge forth, seemingly defeating them, but in reality, the dark ones are merely watching, laughing… as the harvest continues.

Your vision wavers… you see images of Asari arguing around the corpse of a beautiful asari, one who looks almost peaceful in death, while civil war rages.

You see salarians, dead as far as the eye can see, a single Wheel Priest laughing as he detonates a bomb.

You see turian cities smoldering; corpses piled as high as siege walls.

You see the Lords of Sol and many military figures... speaking to a woman whose face is unclear, but who glows with a faint green radiance, and then they turn away.

Then you see a sight that chills your heart... thousands of those metal... copies… hovering over Sol. Over New York. Over Vancouver. And the planet is dead. No life stirs.

And above it all, that sick laughter, and a single name, a name that is an image, a feeling.

You snap out of it to find Ciana just standing there, the song fading.


"...Lethath." Ciana exhaled.

Kinnix exhaled, while both Marcus and Daniel's suits were clearing vomit from their helmets, and Mira was on her knees, hugging herself, pale and drawn. Varian still stood, as did Matthew, but both looked haggard.

Ciana's voice was soft. "I'll admit I am doing pretty good, but I also need help. I just don't think you lot are really willing to turn your back on who you are, honestly. I am, because it never mattered – not to my aunt, or my family, or anyone I cared about."

"Lethath. The being who had this place built somehow orchestrated all that?" Daniel palely asked.

"Both. I...I am not sure I grasp it all, but he wants to dissect and study the Choir, but - for whatever reason - didn't have time. Instead, he stuck them HERE, and the sick bastard made sure others found the place so he could observe them. I think the flesh things were something he did too, although they are trying to free the Choir too, it's just to use them for whatever their own goals are."

Kinnix frowned. "And what part do you play in this?"

Ciana's face went from angry to triumphant. "Me? I've fucked up his goddamned monster cupcake factory, and - when this place blows - his remote controls. He won't be able to turn this place off so easy, now." She paused. "The only problem is that if I can't convince the prisoners to help, this place could end up in the hands of ... well, the Citadel or the High Lords."

"Shit. This changes everything." General Kinnix mumbled.

Daniel looked perplexed. "How, General? Help me out here."

"IF she's right – and given the fact that Synthia sent us here to die, she probably is – then this.. .Lethath could be behind everything. If the whole reason this place is set up is a trap, then I don't trust the Citadel to be any more sensible about it than the High fact, it could be this Lethath wanting them to get involved, to have more influence or whatever."

The general paused. "And frankly, we can't trust them - the Council or the High Lords - to destroy the place. Varian said it best, there's too much power here... too much temptation. We will need to find this Shifter and see if he knows people who can help, because the governments cannot be trusted."

Ciana arched an eyebrow. "You don't need me for that. This is... ha." She laughed and smiled almost mockingly. "This is my fight."

Kinnix nodded. "It is. Mine is away from here. I will have to trust you to... do the right thing. But the right thing matters, miss. The people of the SA didn't put the High Lords in charge. They didn't pick your aunt. They aren't responsible for whatever has driven you to this point."

She stared at him a long moment, then gave a slow nod. "I'll do what I can. You need to get moving though – it looks like the clowns on the Repensum brought some kind of fuck-ass anomalous bullshit and just killed a Wyr-wurm, which I didn't think was possible." She paused. "In fact, given that she had to have done something to let the Ayys get here first, I think a double helping of 'fuck you, Auntie' is in order." She smiled. "I'll make sure no one will see you guys when you leave. If you tell her I'm dead, then we're even."

Kinnix slowly nodded. "Alright."

"Alright? None of this is alright, Dad! We can't just cut and run and trust her to fucking... " He trailed off, then jerked around towards Ciana. "And you just...what? Stay here? Die?" Marcus protested.

Ciana rolled her eyes. "Marcus, I know this is hard for someone as sheltered as you to get, but in poker, you never let people know you have a straight flush until you show your cards. I have no intention of dying, certainly not to Ayy LMAO clowns."

"...I don't think I get any of this, ma'am," Bright said. "I'll ask this instead. Is there anything we can do once we leave?"

"Well… whoever the fuck you are, damn that is waaay too much silver…your boss mentioned the Shifter. I know who that is, and he may be really useful. So – tell the Shifter that Omega Response is compromised, and that means the Celestial Council may be as well. You do that, and I'll actually owe you."

"I will. You have my word." Jason agreed, noting Varian's alarmed look but deciding to ask later. "Now, about my knight..." He gestured to Georg.

Ciana paused, then walked over to Georg, frowning, then sang again. It was short. A sort of... warmth rolled through everybody, a strange feeling like sandy breezes, but through fur instead of skin. The medical indicator on his arm blipped, then turned from amber to green. "Blood chemistry nominal. Warning. Low blood sugar. Calorie deficient. Recommend rehydrating."

"Thank you." The general bowed to her, and she gave a faint smile.

Bright cleared his throat. "Charges are placed armed – sixty minutes, you said? I've placed four, we kept one spare."

Ciana nodded. "I still have to make sure this thing doesn't kick off a fucking Purge...so I need one more, tossed near the entrance, as a fuck you to anyone coming after me, if you please."

She gestured to the far doors. "Well… The doors, as I said, will take you out of here. I have my own way out. Your knight will be sleepy and hungry for a bit, but thankfully this was not the yotties, just initial Filth infection."

"Marcus..." Her voice struck an amused note, "...You should choose your dalliances with more care in the future, loverboy."

She delivered a genuinely nasty laugh and turned to tap controls on the console. The screens on the walls now showed energy blasts from the planet attacking the Dreadnought, which countered with some kind of hex shield. The cavern trembled again and the doors Team Kinnix came through shuddered under an impact once more.

Ciana tapped a screen, and the image of a larger monstrosity like the big one that had nearly killed them all was outside the main doors, battering at them. Ciana snarled in fury, then pointed at the doors.

"Ah FUCK. Go!" Ciana shouted.

Everyone evacuated, hustling through the doors as instructed. Their last view of Ciana was her drawing a bone sword and glaring at the door as it began to bulge. "Bring it, fucking fatass beanbags!"

The doors shut with a boom, and the group ascended rapidly. The ground shook again, and then a third time. The walls and floor shifted back to the black-greenish metal, with more sunk reliefs on the walls - more hastily done, or else just less artistic - depicting leaf-shaped objects destroying planets and other mathematical shapes or graphs.

The corridor shifted left, then up, and Kinnix Senior pushed open the door to find it was part of the rock walls surrounding the dig, so finely worked as to be invisible from the outside.

The Smashfucker's Delight was still present, but the three JOTUN mechs weren't nearby. There were a pair of dead corpse-meshed things on the ground, and as they moved forward, one of the JOTUN mechs was on the far side of the Pinnace, slashed in half, optics still lit.

"...Warning: Unit mobility impaired. Defense unit J-2494 and J-3922 engaged hostile anomalous lifeforms attempting to assault pinnace. Unknown disposition. Recommend evacuation. Radiation levels rising. Motion sensors picking up incoming ground forces, eta 150 seconds."

Even as it said this, the group, now making for the ship, discovered why the earth had been shaking.

What had appeared to be a mountain now moved, actually a colossal furred monster. Vast pinwheels of fire encircled it, while four immense faces - one vaguely birdlike, one a mass of geometric shapes, one not visible, and one a continually unfolding triangle - stared as they ran to the pinnace. Many - perhaps even 108 - wings of fire spread outward as it raised a massive gray device the size of a frigate in one hand. It was trying to smash through the mountain, but on the plus side, ignoring the minuscule mortals below.

On the minus side, everyone could guess what it was trying to get into.

Everyone hurried up the ramp, Daniel losing the sword overboard in the process, but all made it inside and strapped in.

"Matt! Get us out of here!"

"On it, on it!

The sensors were overloaded - at least five to six thousand contacts coming in from all directions, including four wyrm things incoming. As they lifted off, though, a slow, almost sweet melody rang out, inside their heads. Words they couldn't quite grasp, and a warm, almost gentle feeling of utter security and serenity wrapped around them.

One wyrm about to impact the pinnace swerved and missed, while the torrents of green fire blasting into the sky didn't even get close.

Upon reaching the upper atmosphere, Georg groaned and stirred to life. "...I feel like I headbutted a krogan and then dropped twenty pounds of weed. My mouth is sandpaper. What...where?"

"You almost died." Jason told him bluntly.

"...Wait, we didn't fucking die? Fucking miracles." Georg marveled.

"NOT out yet!" Matthew bellowed, for the space above Rho-19, was in a word, omnifucked.

Two huge wyrms flew in orbit, spewing black streams of something unpleasant. The Decca's wreckage was now completely overgrown with black corruption, giant bone spikes dozens of meters long, and firing weapons. Other shattered things – including what looked like a copy of the Decca, blown to pieces, and more wyrms – littered the orbital space.

Glowing white-yellow shields in hexagonal shapes guarded the hull of the Repsensum. It fired a pair of glowing white bolts from a large cannon on the upper deck, which smashed into and through the closest wyrm, splashing black liquids everywhere.

Yet, despite blasting on active sensors, the Repenseum did not seem to see the pinnace, nor did the wyrms.

Then they heard the comms.

"All SA units, this is the Repensum, requesting confirmation of pickup location for any survivors. We are under heavy attack and cannot stay long."

"Repensum, this is Ciana Vandefar… I'm hurt." It was a master class of wounded doe acting. "My... god… my team is dead. I-I think I'm safe, but..." Weeping poured through the speakers.

"...Take it easy, ma'am. Just give us a beacon, and we'll have you out of there in a jiffy." Ciana's interlocutor promised with his best reassuring voice.

"...Uh, grid 5, 83 by 44. The tertiary base… please… hurry.."

Before she even finished, the Repensum launched a full spread of torpedoes, followed by both main mass accelerator cannons.

"...Repeat, any surviving SA personnel, please respond. We are sending down rescue teams now."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Matt, find that gas giant Sara was hiding behind. See if we can't pick her up. Varian? Do me a favor and see if there's any beer or shit left."

"Bitch, the scotch alone was a small miracle. Go look yourself." Varian called back.

"Fine!" Petulantly, Daniel marched off to the kitchen.

The Smashfucker arrived at the gas giant quietly. The Impious Delight was still there, but the hull showed the black marks and crumple areas of ICARUS suit breach boarding. There were no signs of support or life signs aboard.

Bright bowed his head at this. "...Standard SA boarding pattern. We can't do shit about it either. Goddamn it, I told her to get the fuck out."

"She might have wound up captured, but they are going further in. Sorry, but I don't see that going well either." Varian told him.

"Yeah, I know." Bright agreed. "Besides… I can't go home anyway. Even being tight with the Manswell's would not keep me in one piece after the shit I've seen."

"So you're going to do what Ahern asked?" Georg looked at his lord. The look on General Jason Kinnix's face delivered his answer perfectly.

With regret, Matthew turned the ship around. The Smashfucker emerged in the linking system… and the vessels on picket there - five cruisers and half a dozen stealth frigates backed by two heavy cruisers - did not even seem to notice the shuttle in front of them.

Matthew examined the sensor feeds. "...Milord, we just got painted by six targeting systems that then just … kind of went through us. None of the ships has picked us up, from what I can tell."

Bright's voice was wary. "...General, Ciana did say she'd make sure no one saw us, and that... song we heard on takeoff..."

Kinnix nodded slowly. "You think she was behind us not being seen?"

"God, I hate that bitch… but if she can do this, fuck that. Fighting her would just be death." Mira admitted.

".How much of what we went through was her pulling our strings and playing us, though? The shit with Yang?" Marcus pondered. "I mean, I worked with her for years, and now that I'm out of the system, I'm… not gonna make excuses for being stupid but… I literally can't remember WHY I would have a fling with her."

"...I take it back. General, can we go back and fucking skin that bitch?" Mira muttered something about a cheese grater. "And you aren't off the hook either, loverboy."

Marcus went very pale.

"Marcus, you are entirely in that on your own." Varian switched over to a direct channel to Marcus. "Kid, I recommend flowers, chocolate, and profuse apology. Possibly prostrating yourself."

"She's manipulative." Jason shrugged. "She pulls your strings and gaslights you into wanting her. Just like nearly every other bitch like her. I'm assuming you all are coming with us, Bright? You'll always have a place in my crew."

"...For now, yes. I know people if I decide we need to go separate ways, but, as little as I like to admit it? I'm not sure Ciana was wrong, General. I've seen some things in the SA that I can't really... ignore, and I worry that things are worse than I thought if one of my oldest friends is tied in closely with a woman like Vandefar."

"Neither do I," Kinnix replied. "And that scares me. The song-vision... we can't trust the SA. Or the Asari... I'll never trust the Salarian government... can we trust the turians about this? We'll need to discuss this as a group later."

The relay was clear. The ship just sailed right past another pair of picket ships. But this introduced a new problem—no relay jump without hooking the VI back up unless one wanted to turn into a smear.

"I don't think I'll be able to trust VI again till I'm on the Citadel. Maybe not even then." Daniel declared. "Got one last party trick, Bright?"

Bright paused, then decided. "Guess I should come clean. My... my friend, Alec. He was working on, well, AI concepts. He put one into what he called a 'hard-bake' box. I'm not up on AI shit, but so far, SAM hasn't led me wrong and got us out of some tight spots."

Varian looked at Bright and reached into the cabinet he'd left some of the scotch.

"Varian, you son of a bitch. Well played." Daniel hissed.

"An AI? You know what? Fuck it." Jason straightened up. "He's part of the crew too. He didn't kill us on Rho. He's part of the ship now."

"Your open-minded approach is appreciated, Lord General Kinnix," SAM spoke out loud. "I am an attempt at bypassing conventional fugue and other issues… such as murdering people and singing Daisy Bell."

Bright facepalmed. The AIS agent only laughed. Daniel glared, and patted his axe.

"You're welcome." The general responded pleasantly. "And call me Jason. Anyone who helped me on Rho is a friend."

"I'm sorry, Lord General, my programming does not allow me to do that. Your friends are, as Master Alec puts it, kinda dicks. By 'friends,' I mean the High Lords of Sol."

Jason grinned. "He's already better than most people I know. He can make jokes."

"And yes, Master Bright. I can calculate the vectors and control the mass core for a jump if Master Machado is comfortable with taking pilot guidance data from me."

Matt threw his hands in the air. "Sure, if we trust that Vandefar, I might as well trust an AI."

"She's more trustworthy than the High Lords of Sol." Kinnix rebutted. "At least once she understood we were not enemies. If she lives, I'm going to punch her in the throat for leading my boy on. But until then, she's useful. I am going to kill her aunt, though. It's a shame. I really felt love for the dear Admiral..."

"You have felt love for everything with a pulse and a nice pair of hips, Kinnix. Shut it." Varian bantered.

As they came out of the jump (only 9km drift, leading Matthew to plot stealing SAM), the pinnace emerged directly in the line of fire of the heavy cruiser holding position at an oblique attack angle.

Both the Kinnixs' recognized the ship. The Raconteur - the personal strike cruiser of Admiral Synthia Vandefar. Despite whatever protections Ciana had given them, the ship seemed to know exactly where they were at – and were close enough that Kinnix could see the open torpedo ports.

Jason gritted his teeth. "Son of a bitch. Hail them."

The viewscreen blanked. Synthia Vandefar had a very slight smirk across her expression. "...Well, hello there, General Kinnix."

"Synthia." Jason replied, bracing himself mentally. "I guess I should thank you for letting me go retreive my son, but the situation down there was not even remotely as described. Now, if you don't mind, I'm in a bit of a hurry – "

She interrupted, her voice cool. "I think not. Cut your engines and dock, Jason, or I'll have to shoot you down." She told him. "Neither of us want that."

"And what assurance do I have that you won't simply have us all shot for learning about your little science project?" Jason scoffed.

"Jason, that's almost like you don't trust me." The smirk widened.

Daniel muttered under his breath "Jesus, she's just like her fucking niece with that expression."

Kinnix spread his hands. "I'm not sure I can anymore, Synthia. You told me I had days to get in and out, but a ship called the Repensum blew the shit out of the planet and we barely escape. I wonder who accelerated the schedule. It's almost as if you betrayed me." Jason responded with fake casualness.

"I didn't accelerate anything, Jason. Where is Ciana?"

"Sorry, who now? That's not who we were sent to rescue." Daniel decided to open his mouth.

Synthia's expression lost all humor. "...Jason, dear. The next time the hired help interrupts adults, you're going to go boom. Where. Is. My. Niece?"

"I assume that dreadnought I mentioned is there to save her, but they're too late. I can't imagine anyone surviving … the last bits of what we saw. She wouldn't come with me. I tried, Synthia."

Synthia examined him minutely. "...Hmph. Telling the truth." She leaned back in the chair, the background behind her some kind of briefing room, before slowly glancing back at the screen, a troubled expression on her face.

"It's useless to complain about spilled milk at this late stage, but she was the only family I had left."

Kinnix nodded. "...I'm sorry. I think whatever happened to her drove her crazy, there wasn't anything we could do."

She nodded, then spoke, her voice tired. "...Jase. Get the fuck out of here. Now. Don't go back into SA space. Go as dark as you can. There's...things I can't tell you about. No matter what, please believe me when I say I sent you in to get your son out, but I hoped you could also get her out."

Kinnix shrugged. "And the others who showed up?"

She shrugged back, lips compressing into a hard line. "Out of my hands, in a way. I delayed as much as I could, and I sent in the team that is going in now to get rid of a pair of hindrances. Trust me when I say you don't want to know any more – and you don't wanna be involved."

Kinnix shook his head. "I've already learned too much, I think. Some of the things Ciana mentioned... it's all a pile of shit." He paused. "I already made steps to get clear of this mess. I have somewhere to hide. But you better cover your ass. They might come after you."

Her voice turned mocking. "Concern at this late date? Pity you didn't show any sooner."

Kinnix gave a tired sigh. "I loved you Synthia. I always did. I wasn't the one who decided that wasn't enough, now was I?"

Synthia Vandefar went quiet for a moment. "Perhaps. ...Was she worth it in the end?"

"She saved us all. I think she may have saved everyone."

The knight resisted the urge to facepalm as one. They knew she meant his wife, but Jason Kinnix had never been good with emotions.

Synthia Vandefar laughed. "I meant that trollop you ended up with, but...I'll take that too." The channel cut out abruptly.

"With pleasure, madam." Matthew muttered. The ship turned away, even as the sensors picked up incoming jump-signs from the far relay.

X-BoH-X

In the shattered ruins of what used to be a mountain range, Ciana Vandefar wearily stood up.

"...Fuck. Naked AGAIN."

She glanced around and sighed. She tapped her bleeding temple, then shook her head.

"Fat ass fucker."

She stumbled across smashed, glowing rubble, ignoring the spots that had turned to churning, bubbling magma. After several minutes, Ciana found a spar of blackened metal.

"How much fucking firepower did you have on that goddamned ship, Auntie? This game is no fucking fun at all anymore."

She ripped the metal free, then hummed. Halfway through, she coughed, spitting up blood.

"Fuck… maybe this wasn't a great idea after all." Ciana wiped her mouth shakily. "...Gotta keep going."

She lifted her voice again, wincing as her lungs contracted, blood vessels bursting in her fingers and eyes, but a moment later, she was sheathed in rough black metallic armor, spitting up more blood, staggering as she went.

Above, Ciana espied a pinnace coming in at a shallow angle to the east, under fire from the ground defenses.

"...They actually sent in the fucking clowns. Wow. You could have at least respected me, sent old lady Sahu after me. I swear to fucking God if this is Holden, I'm going to bitch slap them all to death."

She coughed again, wincing, and slipped to her knees. "...Or maybe just curl up somewhere… fuck. Just gotta make it a bit farther," Ciana mumbled to herself, "let those assholes deal with the Marker; that should fuck them up!"

A few minutes later, a snatch of musical notes rendered the plain of rubble devoid of anything moving at all.

X-BoH-X

The trip from Rho-19 to the system Ahern described was somewhat confusing, to say the least.

Everyone was dosed, thanks to being close to a M/AM detonation, and while both Bright and Matthew had radiation purgatives on hand, those had unpleasant side effects. Vomiting, dizziness, nausea, and ringing in the ears for the most part. Still, the purgatives did their job, and no one was in serious medical danger.

The life support system was still working, but the recyclers relied on VI and were still shut off. Worse, the VI on the food processor had gone completely farked - and SAM's abilities to integrate it were less than stellar - leaving Kinnix's team with no option but to subsist on the MREs Bright had in his pack and the rations on the shuttle. Given the rations on the shuttle still said 'Solar System Alliance' on them, nobody felt like trying those. That left nutrient soy paste and MRE for dinner.

The trip to the system Ahern specified didn't take long, but at one of the mass relay jumps, they saw something interesting.

Several salarian frigates, corvettes, and a salarian cruiser, all in STG colors (Varian recognized them as STG Forward Ops), faced down an unidentified collection of ships. Mostly a mix of asari and turian, but the center ship was some kind of custom design with a pair of arched swords above an outline of the Citadel on its bow. Either a really big ass cruiser or a pocket dreadnaught.

Neither hailed the pinnace, and Matthew maintained a wide berth.

The system that Ahern told General Kinnix to go to was empty. A single, scorching sun, a gas giant with no useful gasses, and a single, pockmarked barren world, tidally locked to the sun.

No FTL traces that the sensors found; the place had to be so off the beaten path and worthless that Jason doubted anyone had been in this system for decades. The sensor sweep did pick up what looks like some kind of beacon, or maybe a tiny base, on the rocky planet.

Matthew brought the ship around into high observable orbit, ready to punch to FTL if this turned out to be some kind of trap.

"Input the OSD. Transmit it following our instructions." Kinnix ordered.

"Lord Kinnix, loading the OSD now," SAM replied. "Transmitting narrowband..."

"...Lord Kinnix, Master Varian. While probably undetectable to a normal system, my background scanning algorithms indicate there's signal traffic bouncing from the beacon to some sort of stealthed orbital position. I cannot resolve if it is a ship or a satellite."

"Probably our friends. Proceed as normal. We don't want to spook him." Kinnix said.

Moments later, an old salarian voice spoke up. "...This is an unexpected communication. Not to mention, shall we say, more than a little suspect. Might I trouble you to identify yourself a little bit more fully than this… burst transmission is doing?"

Kinnix cleared his throat. "I am Lord General Jason Kinnix. Probably soon to lose such titles. Admiral Ahern, uh, suggested I send this to you. Along with other information."

"...Ahhh. To be fair, my good man, that is even more alarming. As of roughly one hour ago, House Kinnix has been declared Traitoris Excommunicate, you see. Internal lines only, but they are rushing four divisions of Penal Legionnaires under the command of the Second Commissariat Legio to your home. I do trust you have moved your loved ones and axe collection from there?"

Kinnix's features paled, but a second later the voice continued.

"Ah well. No matter. Assuming what you have sent me is true, you would seem to be some sort of emissary for Tradius Ahern. I know what the good Admiral wants. I do not know what you want… or why the High Lords are trying to find you. Care to enlighten me?"

"Where do I begin?" Kinnix asked semi-rhetorically. "There's a planet in the Jeremiah system, one that was some kind of xeno colony or something, codenamed Rho-19. My son was assigned there, as part of an SA R&D … group. Called HERMES."

The voice spoke in dubious tones. "I have heard of this group. Unsubtle loot-monkeys, for the most part. Hardly elite."

Marcus and Mira stiffened, but Kinnix simply continued. "Perhaps. Anyway he went missing. I tried to learn more and got stonewalled, soI pulled strings and learned of things I... shouldn't have been told. Went to Ahern to go after him. Then learned a lot MORE that I shouldn't."

Kinnix related his tale to the Shifter, with the very occasional interjection by others.

"...Well. I see. It is curious that the parties involved in this do not seem to include the Citadel's task force on... well, things that don't make sense. Or even the human equivalent of such. Almost ominous, even. Very well. One more minor thing, General Kinnix." The Shifter's voice grew thoughtful.

"I am sure you were rushed in getting away from the horrors you describe, but do you have any physical artifacts from the planet?"

"No. We left everything behind. Risk of contagion was too great." Jason told the crime lord.

"I see. That makes it somewhat difficult to find any method to convince certain parties of a situation that should be addressed, pity. Very well. I will expect you to reach my ship shortly, and from there, we can assess next steps. Be safe."

"Signal terminated." The comms chirped. "...Beacon on surface of the planet has self-destructed. Satellite in orbit has self-destructed, matter-antimatter charge."

SAM spoke. "...I have plotted the course requested, Milord Kinnix, Master Bright. The system it terminates in has not been charted or surveyed by the Galactic Council Survey Corps… or any of the independent scouting companies or concerns. I'm afraid I have no data on it."

"Figures. Probably full of fun things. You have the Helm. Make our best-rated time."

The trip to the system - Canpa-II, a loose binary with another larger B-class star - took most of twelve hours, giving everyone time to cycle through naps and finish the course of anti-rad drugs.

Halfway through, Jason got a TTL message from his head knight, Jerrold, that the Knights of the Defiant Axe evacuated the Estate on the Axcellent. His family, all knights, and most of the servants were accounted for, although scared. They received coordinates and were requesting his instructions on if they should follow them.

As the coordinates led to the same place they were headed, Kinnix ordered them to follow the instructions but keep their heads up and ready.

The Axecellent had better FTL speed than the 30-year-old ship, so the Smashfucker arrived to see the House transport already present. The Axecellent had carbon scoring and discoloration on the armor plating, and one of the GARDIAN defense strips was charred. Other than that, the ship looked fine, and the pilot communicated the correct interrogation code (axe trivia, natch) to Matthew.

The system itself looked strange. Though inside a nebula, the nebula didn't fill the system. Instead, it surrounded the system. The nebula also had been seeded with some kind of micro-mines that didn't explode, instead distorting and jamming FTL accelerated sensors.

Internally, the system had a gas giant with a trio of HE3 stations and a small oceanic moon around the green zone's sizable rocky planet. The planet was lifeless, with an acid atmosphere, storms more than sixty kilometers wide, and a gruesome 4.5 G surface gravity.

The ocean moon, however, had several floating mining rigs and a small space station. All of them sleekly salarian in design and a rather staccato version of the Ergii cant filled the comms chatter.

A pair of heavily armed corvettes painted black and dark blue formed up next to the Smashfucker and another around the Axecellent.

One corvette transmitted an incoming hail, which Kinnix accepted.

"...Ah, excellent. Welcome to hideaway, gessinister Kinnix." The term was the more elevated word for 'war leader' in salarian.

"The ginnister has informed us of your arrival and that of your House. Be welcome. No SA patrol ship will find this place, and the local C-SEC and asari patrols are our payroll. A beacon path will guide you to the station, where you can drop charge, refuel, and have a conversation with the ginnister. We will also provide any medical care or food supplies needed, as long as you and your people like fish."

The trip to the station went calmly. By Varian's quick estimation, the Shifter, in this system alone, had six heavy cruisers, almost three dozen assault cruisers, twenty corvettes, and approximately fifty transports. Concerningly, these ships were also all armed to the teeth.

Varian sat back, clapping slowly. "This is nearly a small battle fleet, plus support infrastructure,around a private colony world not on any maps. That is some serious paranoia, and he is either very multitalented or hires good people. Either way, I like it."

They docked at the station (which was either armored in or wholly built out of laser steel) to find a group of salarians approaching.

All wore black, ankle-length synthleather or nusilk long coats, open to reveal stylish clothing under thin armor vests. They bore pairs of holstered pistols, offset by fancy belt buckles, cybernetic lenses, and the occasional gold or eezo-crusted hoop piercing. Behind them were two more salarians with a trio of medical bots and some triage beds, as well as a small army of repair bots.

The leading gangster (couldn't be anything else with coats that melodramatic) also had, of all things, an axe clipped to his belt and stepped forward as the party slowly exited their ship.

Matthew pointed at the axe. "I like this guy."

"You're well prepared. And properly armed." Kinnix approved.

The salarian bowed in the salarian fashion, then stood, the only one without ridiculous cyber eyes.

"My boss does his research. I am Binth, the local...uh, facilitator." Binth spoke then without preamble.

"First of all, I'll be blunt, General. Your government is a pain in our ass, so we'll be happy to help you, but we have a profit imperative here. We are too... well, too illegal for things like 'generosity' to be in play. So you'll understand if I say that how much we help you is dependent on how much you help us and on how much you can help the ginnister."

"Now. My people will deal with any injured or wounded and let your family relax. I'd appreciate it if you could have your knights not walking around with a literal armory."

Binth jerked his head towards the Axecellent, where the small knot of House Kinnix family and servants were surrounded by the rest of the Knights of the Defiant Axe. They looked like they took every goddamned weapon in the Estate - with some of them having two pistols, a rifle, and several axes.

"They actually brought your collection..." Matthew googled.

Georg smirked. "...Such good boys. And Knight Anita. Good boys and girl."

"...Seriously." Marcus threw his father a look. "Wow. We're fucking deranged. You know that, dad?"

"We like to be prepared." Kinnix Senior replied scrupulously. "Georg. Have them leave most of it behind." He glanced at the salarian gangster. "I presume we'll need to travel light?"

"No need to do so, General," Binth interjected. "If you are willing to part with your pinnace and this other...ah, somewhat outdated ship? We can provide you with a very well equipped hauler - armed, shielded, very good speed, excellent sensors, and enough room for well, whatever you may need."

Kinnix frowned. "I like my ship. I'll have to talk to the family. After I talk to your boss."

"Of course…" Binth smiled. "And if you are disposing of any, ah, axe memorabilia, let me know. I am also a person who appreciates the simplicity of simply cutting things in half."

He motioned up the medics and repair techs. "While my people see to your people, you could follow me." Binth glanced at Varian. "...You may wish to bring the AIS agent, as this could be very amusing, General."

He turned away, revealing that his back was taken up with two more fucking axes and a belt of grenades.

Matthew groaned. General Kinnix grinned. "He looks like my kind of Salarian."

The space station's interior seemed odd to Varian and Kinnix; both used to the SA's utilitarian touch. But this one was full of carpeting, strange plants, weird statues…And more than a few asari wearing not enough clothing. The general tried not to stare.

He failed, of course.

The station remained, however, neat and efficient. Smuggling clearly was conducted in its halls; the two led past several cruiser-sized rooms full of drugs, eezo, or merchandise of some kind. But they also saw an aquarium stocked with fish and a giant bar that they passed by climbing an old fashioned staircase.

The second level dispensed with the luxury, warded by ceiling turrets, and entered through a reinforced door. The room beyond was done in black hexagonal tile, with walls covered in scramble-plast, lined with various anti-spy devices, and static foam.

Salarians operated consoles around the edge of the room - comm taps, Varian thought. Dozens of them. He observed bits of commercial concerns, SA comm bands, turian regimental orders, asari shipping manifests.

Open doors to either side showed more of the same, while the stocky salarian led them through yet another door. This room was richly appointed, with swirled metallic walls in artistic patterns framed by the bright red of ngaggi wood, a red and black tiled floor, and several comfortable-looking plush chairs.

A titanic haptic screen dominated the far wall and illuminated as the trio entered.

The salarian depicted on it was exceedingly old. His skin was withered, sunken, and an unnatural shade of pale bluish purple. Cybernetic leads trailed over his skin; a tube came out of his throat, another one from the back of his head, and his right eye was cybernetic as well.

"...Ah. My guests. Thank you, Passitter Solus. Go ahead and inform your shana that we will proceed with the other options as discussed."

"Ensure we are not disturbed, either." The Shifter added.

"Of course, ginnister." Binth bowed to Kinnix, traded a professional nod with Varian, and left, the door shutting behind him.

"Hello there, sir." Kinnix said with an absolutely straight face.

The salarian gave you a deadpan look. "...Memes, my lord? You are in better spirits than I expected."

Varian just gave a resigned side look towards Kinnix. "It might be the denial. We will know if he goes insane in the next few weeks."

The Shifter gave a shallow shrug, his breathing labored. "I've used the time since our last conversation to try and find out more about what is going on. If one is to go insane… What is being described by my agents would be a good reason to do so."

"I don't wish to be...overly blunt, but I do have to ask. General, has your government lost it's ever fucking mind?!"

Kinnix shrugged. "I'm not even sure if it ever had its fucking mind. We have armor cam footage. Edited some things out to preserve your sanity."

"...Lovely." The Shifter muttered. "I have managed to... ah... acquire... some correspondence and signals intelligence between Synthia Vandefar and one Commandant Hazred, as well as several communiques of a more cryptic measure that my people haven't been able to crack or penetrate. And I've bugged the office of your director of the AIS before, so something my people can't get at is extremely troubling, General."

"So, for the moment..." Edat interlaced cybernetic fingers, his rich coat parted, showing that the being beneath was more cyber than even Bright. "Let us first discuss what I can do for you, then what you can do for me, and then we will deal with the distressing events transpiring."

"But first, rest assured, the Citadel is sending forces... to investigate. Thankfully, the poor fools slated to go originally have been recalled."

"Good." Kinnix hoped. "Maybe the blues can burn the place to the ground."

"Doubtful, milord general. I am not a specialist on these matters - devices and objects of this nature tend to get you murdered in your sleep very fast and are both hard to sell and harder to keep from eating you - but I am not entirely ignorant. And whenever I hear the phrase 'Ythrongi,' my immediate reaction is to head the other way. Quickly. And not to look back, either. So why in the name of the Wheel were you there? To rescue your newt, er, offspring?"

Edat leaned back in a chair. From the window behind him, he had to be on the Presidium of the Citadel. His body was nearly entirely artificial, the rich clothing aside, and the two suspected mostly to keep him alive, given the tasteful but complex life support stacks of equipment flanking him.

"My son was assigned there. He took to service against my better wishes, though once he decided, I supported him." Kinnix explained. "Once I found out what was going on, I had to go after him. And I went through Ahern, who told me to contact you. I didn't know what was down there. Other than bad news."

"...I see." The Shifter noted. "And you were, ah, how to put it. Familiar with Synthia Vandefar, yes? She appears to have tried to cover for you if my agents are correct. Unfortunately, she must have either moles or spies in her command links or comms networks, as information has gone out otherwise, resulting in the Commissariat actions against your family. On the other hand, the SA is claiming in public that you and your family are on a retreat due to medical issues. Odd."

"We are too... important to simply betray and dispose of. I'm sure they would simply arrange an accident for my family and me except maybe a daughter that can be, uh, edited to marry someone that will change how the family operates." Kinnix imagined.

"A grim fate." Edat turned to the AIS agent. "And you? I believe you are... ah yes. Codename 'Varian.'" A thin and somewhat mocking smile crossed the salarian's ancient features.

"An annoying individual to pin down concretely. Did you torch your own history? But why are you also here? A favor to your friend, or opportunity? Thus far, there are no flags I can see on your AIS records."

Edat subtly stressed, 'I can see.'

"My history isn't exactly torched," Varian told him. "More just... nudged under the carpet. By an angry man with a flamethrower who would like not to have his ego hurt anymore. As for being here, I owed Kinnix a favor, and it sounded like he really needed the help. No offense to you or your men, General, but thinking is not your strong suit. Any of you, really."

The Shifted nodded. "As has been noted by some of my people, not all problems require intellectual solutions, which brings me to the delicate point of this conversation. The High Lords have put a 50 million credit bounty on you, General. Five million on anyone with you, dead only. This implies that you either know something you don't know the importance of, or you have something they want very badly."

"Probably both," Kinnix suggested. "The information Ahern gave me is probably very interesting to them."

"To be fair, Ahern's information is... well, dated. And hardly surprising. I've seen much worse, even among my own people, sadly." The Shifted dryly noted. "But Ahern wants me to violate my ethics in return for a favor. That is a conversation I will pursue with him… delicately. You, on the other hand… well. Your wealth is not extensive, and much of it was tied to your world, now lost to you. Assuming I can keep you and yours safe, what do you offer to me and my... small, humble organization?"

"I will work for you." Kinnix decided to offer. "Most of my people will probably do so as well. And I may have some information you may not even know. Both from Rho and from before. High Lords of Sol blackmail material."

Edat arched an eyebrow, intrigued. "...And you, Mr. Varian?"

"The same." Varian agreed. "I can also download... Well, some of the less troublesome bits from Rho from the cyber eyes. I am fairly sure the biggest stuff just got stuck straight in, so I will have just to talk that over. Possibly with a thesaurus. Also, alcohol, I need alcohol to think about that."

The Shifter glanced off to one side, then nodded slowly. "Then I have an... offer of sorts. Tell me, did the phrases 'Celestial Council', 'Black Lodge,' or 'Omega Response' come up by any chance in your little adventure?"

Kinnix nodded. "Omega did."

Edat nodded back. "There are, er, situations and objects that are... let's call them weird. And this arena is the only one I do not have a force of operatives, agents or investigators to look into. Such things rarely happen in Salarian space, and the RRC is sadly not open to free perusal. Whereas your people have apparently survived a serious... er, breach, shall we say, of normalcy."

"Yes, we did. I'll need better gear." Kinnix replied.

"Equipment is not the problem, I assure you. Salarians are poorly mentally equipped for this sort of work, you see."

Varian sighed. "Kinnix, remember how Ciana literally said that Omega was compromised and that the Celestial Council could be too?"

The Shifter was not surprised often. But at Varian's words, his superior expression shattered, his medical equipment giving several warning alarms.

A pair of asari in functional black uniforms fussed over him as he shook his head. "Excuse me...but could you please repeat that?"

Kinnix winced. "I had forgotten that. Many things were going on at the time."

Varian stared at Kinnix before looking back to the Shifter. "Ciana Vandefar, who is currently trying to talk to nigh godlike beings and has learned to sing things that seem to warp reality, said that Omega Response might be compromised, along with the Celestial Council, whoever they are. I really need to write you up a full brief, don't I?"

The Shifter exhaled. "It may not be true, but the danger..." He tapped something off screen, and the door opened behind them, revealing the form of Binth at the doorway. "I clearly need to refactor our response."

"Binth, have the Lord General, and his retinue's back path cleared. Take the second ship of theirs, run false trails to D-Dexi Six, and then blow it. Fake a core explosion. Use those dead slavers we had last week and scatter some human remains. Get all of Seinth's ships here ASAP and prep the Jaunty Step to bring the General and his people to the Citadel within the next six hours."

Edat turned back to the duo. "I will indeed need that writeup, with as much detail as you can remember, and your cybernetic eye downloads. You see, the Celestial Council is a shadow group run by the Citadel that handles thousands of situations and items like Rho-19. If it is compromised, we are in trouble."

"Oh dear lord. That's horrible." General Kinnix had a surprising knack for understatement.

"It is so far beyond mere 'trouble' that I fear we have little time to act." The salarian's voice was grim. "Binth, six hours. Shifter out."

Varian sighed, then turned to Binth. "So...like where do I need to go to get a drink around here?"