Alright, and now it's time to begin the next chapter. With the revelation that the Yuuzhan Vong are present in the galaxy and learning about their invasion of the Star Wars galaxy, well, things are definitely going to turn out interestingly for everyone involved.

Now for those who aren't a huge fan of the Vong, rest assured I don't plan on having them play too big of a role, especially since their forces total three scout ships and their accompanying troops, which would be mincemeat in the face of a Star Destroyer. But anyway, let's dive right in, shall we?

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or Mass Effect: Andromeda.

At this point, the Benefactor felt like tearing her hair out. All these new arrivals from this other galaxy kept threatening to unravel her plans. First it was the Jedi, an outside context problem in and of itself, but one that could be managed.

Then it was the arrival of the Impassive, an entire warship full of armed combatants, and if they weren't human, their presence would be much more of an issue. As it stood, they were useful to an extent, but still a problem.

The Sith were easy enough to manipulate, though she suspected that was mainly a result of inexperience. Given what she had overheard of the Emperor and Vader, a full Sith Lord would be a much more intelligent and dangerous threat. As it stood though, they hadn't exactly helped her plans much.

And now there were these other aliens, these Yuuzhan Vong, that had apparently come from an entirely separate galaxy altogether. And if their boasts were true, they were well on their way to conquering the Jedi's own galaxy. And with their hatred of technology, spying on them would be nigh impossible.

Her plans were unraveling further and further with each new arrival, as the unexpected variables would only hinder her current plans. Angrily, she slammed her fist against a console.

No, she refused to let all her work, all that effort to create the Initiative and escape the Reapers, to let it all go down the drain here. Her plans would be salvaged, they had to be. She just needed more time.

...

The latest meeting of the Pathfinders, Nexus and Angara leaders had just ended, and after that busy day, plus all the busy days before it, the human Pathfinder decided to take a moment to himself, finding a secluded balcony to look out over the station proper.

Being back on the Nexus once again brought a certain joy to Scott's heart, seeing what all their effort had achieved, it was enough to fill him with pride and hope. However, it was also undercut by the knowledge of all the threats they still had to deal with.

The Archon may have been dead, but the Kett were still out there, and would come back sooner or later. He was thankful that the Jedi had dealt with the Sith when they did, but of course there now seemed to be something worse on the horizon with the Yuuzhan Vong.

And it wouldn't do well to forget about threats much closer to home. The Benefactor was still out there, with an unknown agenda. And if the suspicions of the Jedi were correct, then it was they who had allowed the Sith to get on the Nexus, something Scott admittedly found quite likely.

SAM was spending time searching for the Benefactor and where they might be with every chance he got, but of course the priority right now was still dealing with the threats in front of them. But that necessitated finding them first, and their prisoner still refused to give away any secrets.

Scott sighed heavily, once again feeling the burden of his role. Some days it just threatened to overwhelm him, but as much as he would like to, he couldn't take a break, not with so many people depending on him.

"Uh oh, I know that look." A familiar voice said, bringing a smile to his face as Cora came up next to him on the balcony. "That's your 'brooding pose'."

"I'm not- I'm not brooding." Scott protested feebly, before glancing at Cora who simply raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Maybe I'm brooding."

"Your posture and thought process would match the typical process of brooding by 83.75%." SAM chimed in, causing Scott to sigh.

"Thank you, SAM." Cora chuckled, before putting an arm around Ryder's waist and pulling him closer. "Still worried about what happened on Elaaden?"

"Among other things." The Pathfinder closed his eyes and leaned his head against Cora's, gently inhaling her scent. "As horrific as these Yuuzhan Vong are, they're not the only threats we have to deal with. The Kett are still out there, and we have no idea what they're up to. The Vong are just an extra helping of crap on a shit sandwich."

"Well, look on the bright side." Cora started, causing Scott to shift slightly. "If the Kett meet the Vong, maybe they'll wipe each other out."

"As much as that would make our jobs a bit easier, we probably shouldn't count on that." Scott sighed. "Frankly, I'm more worried about what else might be coming through from their galaxy. And what other threats might exist in Andromeda on top of that."

"You can't constantly worry about the what-ifs and what might happen." The two humans turned to see Ahsoka walking up to them. "It's as dangerous a path as getting caught up in the mistakes of the past."

"This the voice of experience talking?" The Pathfinder asked, not unkindly.

"You could say that." Ahsoka leaned against the balcony on the other side of Scott and sighed. "I get how you're feeling. Force knows I understand the worry completely. But you can't let those thoughts fester, otherwise they'll consume you."

"And how are you doing at that so far?" Cora asked, causing Ahsoka to sigh and chuckle.

"Not so great." The Togruta admitted. "With these Yuuzhan Vong around, and if their claims are true..." She trailed off, before her voice dropped to a whisper. "I think I get how you guys feel about the Reapers in the Milky Way."

They shared a moment of silence at that, the two humans and Togruta bowing their heads in mourning at the thought. Despite how solemn the line of conversation was, Ahsoka couldn't help but feel a little better at the companionship. Apparently misery really does love company.

Their musing and quiet contemplation was interrupted by SAM. "Pathfinder, I've noticed an oddity that deserves attention."

"What is it, SAM?" The AI highlighted several humans down on the level below, walking amongst the crowd.

"I have noticed an irregularity in the database." The AI explained. "These humans do not match any known Imperial or Initiative member."

"I take it you've alerted Kandros?" Scott's eyes narrowed as the trio looked over the grouping. They seemed like any other humans, if a little taller than normal.

"Affirmative." The AI confirmed. "Security teams are already on the move."

"Could just be nothing." Cora offered, clearly not believing it herself. "Ahsoka? Do you sense anything unusual about them?" At the question, Ahsoka immersed herself in the Force, spreading her awareness to the crowd below.

"I... I can't sense anything about them... at all... " Ahsoka's eyes widened. "It's them! The Vong are on the station!"

Without a moment of hesitation, she leapt off the balcony, igniting her lightsabers in mid air and coming to a halt in front of the odd grouping of humans, startling the other Nexus residents and visitors around them.

"What seems to be the problem?" One of the tall humans said, sounding a little too calm about being confronted by the armed Jedi. If anything, he sounded almost angry.

"You can drop the act." Ahsoka said, as Ryder and Cora used their biotics to float down behind her. "We know you're not really human."

"Is this how all Jedi behave?" One of the infiltrators asked, noticeably speaking loud enough so the entire crowd could hear. "Openly flaunting their weapons and confronting those who-"

"Your biometrics don't match any living being in the Initiative or Impassive." Ryder interrupted, drawing his side arm and aiming it at the lead infiltrator while Cora's biotics flared. "You're not fooling anyone."

Suddenly, all the tall warriors had snakes slithering around their wrists, while one at the back hurled several razer sharp bugs out of nowhere. They forced the trio on the defensive, while the razer bugs flew through the crowd, drawing cuts and screams of pain from the civilians.

Cora immediately formed a biotic barrier around several civilians to protect them and corralled them to a safer location, while Scott already opened fire at some of the warriors. Meanwhile, three of the Vong were advancing on Ahsoka, their amphistaffs hardening to block her lightsaber strikes.

Muttering a curse under her breath, the Jedi was forced on the back foot. In other circumstances, she would have used the Force to throw these foes aside and give herself some breathing room, but that wasn't going to work here.

She narrowly avoided the stream of venom one of the staffs tried to spit in her eyes, and retaliated with a strike on one of the others. Whatever they were wearing to mask their appearance didn't have the same durability as the armor they'd been in before, and she cut through the life form and the Vong inside, causing them to fall to the ground.

Meanwhile, Scott unleashed a cryo blast that froze two of the Vong warriors, before tossing out an incinerate that created an explosion of fire and ice, staggering and harming several of the other warriors around them.

A Vong warrior tried to attack him from behind, but was cut down by a sniper round as the security team sent by Kandros finally arrived. Kota had come with them, and while the rest of the Nexus Security rallied to help the civilians, the Jedi Master moved to aid Ahsoka.

Fortunately, Ahsoka was already finishing off one of the warriors attacking her, leaving the last one alone to deal with two Jedi. Force resistant or not, it was still a two on one fight, and they were able to disarm and cut down the Vong.

"Thanks for the help." Ahsoka said, as she shut off her lightsabers and turned to the Jedi Master.

"I'm afraid we can't relax yet." Kota shook his head. "From what we're seeing, this isn't an isolated incident."

"What are you talking about?" Cora asked.

"SAM detected several other groups of infiltrators in other docks." Kota explained, walking over to a disguised Vong and pulling its human face off to reveal the hardened lines of the Vong warrior underneath. "All of them somehow disguised as humans."

As if on cue, the sound of explosions, mass accelerator and blasterfire permeated the air from deeper inside the station and near the other docks. The four of them turned toward it, then Ahsoka glanced back at the disguised Vong around them.

"It seems they have experience with this sort of thing already." The Togruta scowled. "I wonder how many worlds they brought down that way."

"Looks like they didn't anticipate SAM being able to see through their disguises." Scott interjected. "Still, we need to shut this down before they get any further onto the station."

"Right." Cora nodded in agreement as she looked towards Kota. "Which way, General?"

Kota simply gestured with his lightsaber before following the others as they moved deeper into the station.

...

They were here. These Yuuzhan Vong actually managed to get on the Nexus using infiltration tactics. The Benefactor watched through the security cameras as Nexus Militia and Imperial Stormtroopers took the lead in attempting to repel them.

There weren't that many of the creatures, but they made up for their lack of numbers with surprise and their willingness to target civilians with their strange organic weapons. This caused a number of casualties before the allied forces could rally and start driving them back.

Members of Ryder's team were also joining the fray, unleashing their own firepower and abilities against these Yuuzhan Vong. It was clear that despite their surprise, these aliens would be driven back before they could get anywhere, thanks to the efforts of such individuals.

This gave the Benefactor a moment of pause. It was true she hadn't planned for their presence, and they could pose a serious threat to her long term plans, but their presence here on the Nexus provided a potential opportunity.

Changing the feed to a different group of Vong that were facing fairly minor resistance, she used her control over the Nexus systems and opened a maintainence passage near their location. One of the Vong noticed this development and pointed, causing several others to look in the same direction.

They seemed hesitant, which was understandable given their fear of technology and the zealous nature she had seen from their interrogation, but it seemed at least these ones had a pragmatic sense to them, as a number of warriors moved towards the passage to get past the soldiers pinning them down.

Once they had done that, the Benefactor sealed the passage behind them, cutting off the allied forces while she attempted to direct the Vong to where she wanted them to go.

Turns out it wasn't that simple. These Vong weren't stupid, they clearly suspected that this was some sort of trap. Which it was, to an extent, but it didn't help her goals if they refused to go down the passage.

"Do not be concerned." The Benefactor spoke up, hijacking a speaker in the area for her voice. "I am here to help you."

"Who are you?" One of the Vong asked, understandably suspicious.

"I am merely someone who can help you in your goals." She replied. "And who will ensure that you are not found by the station's security."

"And what exactly do you want in return?" Came the expected response, with a noticeable tone of suspicion in his voice.

"Something that will benefit you right now." She replied. "I can direct you right to the leaders of the Initiative. What you do when you find them is up to you."

"So, you are like the Peace Brigade." One of the warriors grumbled, causing another to punch him.

"We will tolerate her presence." The clear senior officer said, before looking back up at the ceiling. "Which way do we go?"

In response, the Benefactor used her control of the hallway to illuminate lights to direct them. The Vong followed her directions, slipping past the patrols while she kept the areas of the station they were in dark enough to avoid detection.

Having them cut down the current Nexus leaders would do wonders for her goals, especially if it happened on the Nexus itself. It would be easy to sell the need for security with that failure, and if she played her cards right, she could end up in power sooner than even she expected.

As the Benefactor worked, she didn't notice one of the lights on her console briefly flicker.

...

With coordinated response teams, the security forces of Initiative, Angara and Imperials were able to keep most of the Yuuzhan Vong infiltrators from spreading too far beyond the docks. Despite this, SAM was quick to report there was a problem.

"We've lost track of one of the infiltration teams." The AI reported as Kota cut down the last Vong warrior at their current location. "Someone has aided the Vong in getting deeper into the station."

"Who the hell would do that?" Cora asked incredulously.

"It's the Benefactor." Ahsoka realized. "SAM, track the signal."

"Already working on it." SAM replied as Scott brought up his omni-tool. "The security is quite robust, however. It may take some time to acquire the location without alerting the Benefactor."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." The Pathfinder replied. "First things first, we need to figure out where they're going."

"They would either be after the Blackwing virus," Kota spoke up in contemplation. "Or if the Benefactor is aiding them, some other target of theirs."

"If they were infiltrators, then they would probably want to cause some kind of chaos." Ahsoka realized, her eyes widening as she looked at Kota. "What are the defenses for Kesh, Addison and Tann?"

...

The Yuuzhan Vong infiltrators made their way through the maze of service tunnels and corridors, with the leader frowning all the while. Things had not gone according to plan; somehow, the Initiative had noticed their arrival far earlier than they would have expected, given the security on New Republic worlds.

Security teams were also quick to respond, as were those loathsome Jedi. If not for the actions of this mysterious being helping them to flee, this squad would have been cut down like all the others were undoubtedly being.

And now, even as they were being guided by this unknown individual or individuals, the squad leader still had his doubts. It was possible this being was just like the Peace Brigade, and saw the futility of fighting against their might, but it was also quite likely that they were being led into a trap.

He wasn't sure what the purpose would be; if whoever this was wanted them dead, they could have just let security finish them off. It could be to capture them, but it seemed unlikely as well. At the very least, the Yuuzhan Vong warrior was sure that whoever this was was working at cross purposes with the rest of these infidels.

Especially if what she said was true, and that she could direct them to the leadership of the Nexus. True, that was not their objective of finding the Blackwing virus, but killing the leadership would still serve their purposes by demoralizing the populace.

Even their very presence on the station would already accomplish that much, revealing to the people of the Initiative that nowhere was truly safe from their might. Assassinating their leading Council, well, even if the Yuuzhan Vong didn't survive afterward, it would still leave the Initiative vulnerable.

The Yuuzhan Vong leader focused his mind on the task at hand when the voice of the unknown Benefactor came over the speakers again, revealing that they were close to where they needed to be.

"Just head out this door," The holographic light on the door they were in front of went from red to green. "and go to the left. Two guards will be waiting outside. Take them out and you will have a straight shot at the Nexus leaders."

"You are certain?" The Vong commander asked, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What about the interior of the room?"

"I'm not entirely sure." The Benefactor admitted. "Those camera systems are kept on a network that is isolated from what I can access. But I do know that is the only place they can be, especially with an attack like this."

"You don't truly trust this being, do you?" One of the Vong whispered to their commander, before the latter glared at him angrily and he backed away in contrition. "Forgive me for speaking out of turn."

"No, I don't trust this one." The Vong leader whispered in response. "But right now, we have little choice. Once the leaders are dead, we can deal with our circumstances later."

Sufficiently chastened, the Yuuzhan Vong warriors returned their attention to the task at hand. Following the Benefactor's directions, they arrived at the location. The Militia Guards were surprised to see them, and that surprise was certainly their undoing.

Even after killing the guards, they still had the problem of getting through the door. The metal was unsurprisingly rather durable, and the Benefactor was unable to open it for them. The Vong infiltrators had to resort to most of their explosive creatures to blast through.

And waiting on the other side was almost the entirety of Pathfinder Ryder's crew. The Krogan, the Asari, the Turian, the Angara and two of the humans (one male and one female) were present, all armed and waiting, with the Nexus leaders exiting through a hidden passage behind them.

"Hi there." The asari waved cheekily before she and everyone else opened fire.

...

When Scott, Cora and the Jedi finally managed to make their way to the bunker of the Nexus leaders, they found the Yuuzhan Vong infiltrators dead on the floor, while the rest of the team were scanning the area to make sure none of them had escaped.

"Did everyone-"

"Kesh, Addison and Tann are safe." Sara assured her brother, looking towards the hidden passage. "We got them out just in time." She looked to the two dead Militia guards in the hallway and scowled. "Though we didn't get here soon enough."

"There's no question that someone had to have told the Vong how to get here." Vetra said, kicking one of the Vong corpses angrily as she spoke. "There's no way they could have figured out how to even get to this room without an inside source."

"We know." Kota nodded. "And we're definitely going to find out who led them here."

"What about the rest of the attack?" Liam asked, a note of concern tinging his voice.

"These ones were the last stragglers." Ahsoka gestured to the bodies on the floor. "And Kandros is already working to figure out how they got on the station in the first place."

"I'd say it's pretty obvious how." Jaal said, looking over the living creatures that had disguised themselves as human tissue over the skin of the Yuuzhan Vong forces. "They have some sort of organism that can allow themselves to disguise as other living beings. The Moshae would definitely want to study this."

"And so do we." Cora admitted. "Biotechnology to this degree is unheard of."

"In both our galaxies." Kota agreed. "Which just makes these beings all the more dangerous."

And I think that's where I'm going to end it for the time being. Next chapter will explore the fallout of this attack a little more, as well as what the other Yuuzhan Vong are doing in Heleus. For now though, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to learn more in depth.

With that said, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and reviews are always welcome.