Note: Hello all, hope this all reaches you well. Sorry about the delay, as always, work fairy just keeps piling on. New games don't help either. Thank you for all the favorites and follow. Feedback is always appreciated and I do want to thank all of you for your patience. I know I'm not the fastest writer at times.

This chapter is written to a lot of The Heavy. Namely Everything I Got for Ruvvak and What Makes a Good Man for Cerrus.

Thank you for reading, please enjoy Chapter Seven: Everything I Got

Mass Effect
"Foreign Relations"

Chapter Seven: Everything I Got

Victus reassigned Blackwatch to the Defiant, he was worried about his son but as the Primarch he had to remain as objective as possible. Tarquin would be fine and he'd heal but after a failed mission like that it was going to take time for him to build his leadership confidence back up. He knew Sevescus personally and felt that her ship would be the best fit for his son's demoralized unit. It also set her up as an asset later.

Everyone was given two hours to do whatever they needed while they were on the Citadel. Mostly people checked on information about missing loved ones. Nov's cousin, Kaius was still missing, Cerrus' brother also missing. Sidda's mother was put in command of the Shield fleet guarding the Crucible and Nov's Aunt was safe and sound and on her way to the Citadel. The Citadel was exceedingly crowded with refugees and displaced warships.

Cerrus listened to the chatter around him outside the Human Spectre office. People were missing and families torn apart. It was tough to listen to no matter the species. Refugees and families were begging for anything, there was another man getting loud on the call he was on about his missing son. A female soldier trying to figure out what to do for her Asari daughter. He could imagine the scene was the same on the Asari, Turian, and Salarian levels.

He watched the kids and was thankful that he never had any, never wanted any and the only person he would have had them with was Anara. He sighed heavily and looked away, C-Sec was everywhere and maintained the aura of business as usual.

"Tyr," a familiar voice said his name and he turned his attention to it. The familiar voice was Kaidan in the black Alliance duty uniform. He looked different, a little more weathered but otherwise okay. They'd worked a lot together over the past few months, Cerrus wasn't a biotic but he was a great teacher and Kaidan used him to help with his Biotic Units. Cerrus' first day was an eyeopener for the Human soldiers…Cerrus was a tough teacher.

He stood up straight from his position leaning back on the wall. "Spectre Alenko," Cerrus greeted and extended his hand to his friend. "congratulations by the way." The last time they were on the Citadel, Cerrus didn't get a chance to talk to him.

"Thank you." He replied.

"You're perfect for it."

He waived him off. "Sid set the bar pretty damn high but it's better than infantry." He commented with a shrug and opened the Spectre office. "Thought you were getting out."

"Reapers had other ideas." He replied, curtly. "How's your family?"

Kaidan hesitated and then answered. "I heard from my Mom…Dad is still missing. You?"

"My brother's missing. Taetrus was hit hard. Tali's with the Flotilla, which is one of the reasons why I'm here." He said. "Nov and Shepard have enough on their plate. Last thing I heard from her was that the Flotilla was up to something and that coming from the Quarians is never good."

"You want to know what they're up to. Did you ask Tali?"

"Haven't heard anything back. With everyone concentrated on Earth, Palaven, or wherever else the Quarians might have picked this time to do something stupid."

Kaidan actually had the resources now to help. He wasn't sure exactly how he was going to do it but he was going to help Cerrus.

Garrus didn't escape the reach of the Reaper chaos. His father and sister were missing somewhere on Palaven. He hadn't heard from either of them since a few weeks before the Reapers hit. He tried not to think about it as he made a horrifying trip to the Docks that had been converted to emergency housing. The Reapers didn't take prisoners, they just pacified by force. Most of the Turians on the docks were badly injured both physically and mentally. He promised all the aid he could and even pulled some strings with Bailey and Dr. Michel to make sure everyone was taken care of.

Nov had his feet up and was twirling a knife that seemed too small for his hand on the table. Garrus recognized the knife, a small boot knife that belong to Sidda. She gave it to him before he tangled with Samara and he'd been using it ever since.

"Thought you'd be on the Citadel." Garrus commented to him.

"Why. Nothing's changed. Kaius is still missing and my mother and cousin are still dead." He said and Garrus couldn't fault his bitterness. There was enough pain to go around and no one was untouched by it.

"Where's Sidda?"

"With Victus." He replied flatly and checked the edge on the knife. It was sharper than it needed to be and new knew that he was just bored.

They were no doubt being chewed out in some way shape or form by the Council for action during a War. "You still okay with that?"

Nov twirled the blade in the tabletop. "What do you think?" he replied with a growing irritation with his countryman. "How'd you feel if Isla banged Zaeed."

"Nah she'd never cheat." Garrus answered. "No reason to."

Garrus could hear Nov's mandibles click. "Are you saying I gave her a reason?" Nov was armed and still extremely grumpy so Garrus kept his guard up. "I don't know, maybe I did. Always fucking deployed, unresolved issues with Victus, too fast too soon, I don't know."

"Well you did jump in right away." Garrus pointed out and heard Nov growl.

"Are you trying to piss me off, Vakarian?" he snapped as he was beginning to lose his temper.

Garrus, like Nov, wasn't in the best of moods and it showed. "Spirits, will you fucking grow up?" he snapped back in kind. "Sitting here, screwing with a knife like you're the only one who has shit on their mind. You keep checking that edge…who are you planning on using it on?"

Nov jammed the blade into the table as his irritation with Garrus reached its peak. "Getting a little tired of you."

Garrus looked down at it and then to Nov. "That better be a flourish." Garrus commented. It wasn't. Nov was on his feet glaring down at him.

"It's a challenge, Archangel." Nov hissed back and stood tall to assert dominance over the other male in the room. Garrus rose carefully, not timid but he had a different type of projected dominance, cool and comfortable, learned behavior over time because he used to be just like Nov. "You've been nothing but a cloaca to me lately and quite frankly, I'm fucking tired of it."

"You clearly haven't grown up." Garrus said and only served to inflame the situation.

Nov bared his teeth and his mandibles clinched. "Flight Deck, now."

Jack answered the message that she got, Ruvvak was persistent but not to the point of pushy. Zakera Café was still the best food you'd find on the Citadel. She found that out the last time she was here. The Normandy wasn't going to be there long, just long enough to offload and regroup. The Citadel set the kids up in lodgings and engineering kids would be sent to help in the Crucible.

Ruvvak waited, he'd been given two hours to do with as he pleased, and this was as good a time as any to buy a girl he was interested in a drink.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that." She said drawing his attention to her. Jack had delt with Turian males before, mostly they were prisoners or guards and none of them were particularly kind, but she didn't hold that against Ruvvak.

"Told you I'd buy you a drink." Ruvvak said and wasn't put off by her derisive expression. He tapped the bar twice with his finger telling the tender to pour a drink. It wasn't a bar they were at, but they had a decent Brandy.

"Shot of Whiskey." Jack said after a moment and move up next to him. "Why are you doing this?"

Ruvvak got the sense that she wasn't used to positive attention. "Because I like you." He answered honestly. He liked females that had spirit, that weren't afraid to deck him, or bark at him…he drew the line at shooting him but he felt that Jack would just unleash her biotics and that would be the end of everything.

The shot glass we set down in front of her and she twirled it nervously for a moment. "Why?"

He shrugged, there was a simple answer so he gave it to her. "Because you don't make it easy. I like that…and I get the distinct impression that you've never been treated like you should be."

Jack rolled her eyes and downed the shot. "Oh God, spare me the sap." She scoffed and Ruvvak chuckled.

"That's what I'm talking about right there." He told her and finished off his drink. "Alright, look. One date, if you don't have fun with me I'm promise you never had to see me again."

Jack wasn't sure if she wanted to never see him again, Ruvvak was trying harder than most people she spoke to. She listened to the voice that normally remained hidden one that didn't trust anyone. "Okay…better be good."

He chuckled again and stood. "Come on."

Jack blinked. "What, right now?"

He nodded as she settled the bill and gestured for her to come with him. "I was given two hours and I'm gonna use them."

The Citadel didn't seem like there was a war on. Aside from the influx of refugees and ships looking to dock for repairs nothing had really changed. The Silversun Strip was busy and Ruvvak landed the Skycar at the lot next to the Armax Arena.

Jack observed him closer than she had when they fought side by side on the derelict Reaper or when he saw her briefly in Sidda's Earth apartment. He was heavier than most Turian's she met; he was shorter too. His stocky build showed his strength, strength she witnessed on the Reaper.

"What are we doing here?" she asked and Ruvvak took them into the arena and up the stairs to the main lobby.

"We're gonna have a little fun." He replied and activated the VI. He got the feeling that Jack wasn't a high maintenance type of female, at least not prissy high maintenance, there was trauma in her past but that was nothing a good counterpart couldn't fix.

She narrowed her expression, so far he was off to a good start. She preferred watching a fight to watching a movie or a game.

"Welcome back, LiVak, would you like to activate your User ID at this location?" the VI asked.

"Yes. With a guest as well."

"Very well, your account has been activated for this location. Thank you for being a member of the Armax Arsenal Arena."

They only had two hours before the Normandy jetted off again so she assumed they would be watching. "You're competing?" Jack asked and looked the Turian up and down. "What about your injury?"

"I'm tougher than I look. I'll be alright. Plus, I have you there to protect me."

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Keep talking like that and I'll shoot you myself."

Ruvvak loved the Armax Arena, on Palaven he competed often. Some were puzzled by the fact that his downtime recreation was very similar to his day job. It almost got him forced out of Black Ops, his previous commanding officer worried he'd burn out but Ruvvak's evaluations always returned the same thing: a solid soldier physically and mentally.

"You ready to kick some ass?" he asked looking down at the small human to his right.

The half-smile she returned was just what he was looking for, Jack was troubled but not broken. "Hell, yes."

Ruvvak made sure the Arena had a little difficulty to it, easy wasn't in his nature, he wanted a challenge and felt that Jack would appreciate it to. She was carrying a combat shotgun and he had his rifle. Easy enough to kick the crap out of digital Geth. Normally, he liked picking the Palaven option of evil Mercenaries which had a mix of all the galaxies species but given the galactic events that might be considered poor taste.

Jack was like watching a violently choreographed dance, she was something to watch while in combat and he was mesmerized for a moment. The blue aura from her biotics as she smashed a prime with a violent roar. She was precise but devastating and he loved every moment of it. Turian attraction was different from Humans, obviously, Turian's admired strength, mind, body, and spirit. He thought Sidda was the strongest female he'd ever met but when he met Jack he discovered something new.

Ruvvak being wounded didn't appear to slow him down any, for as big as he was he was nimble and fought with brutal precision. He was proficient in every weapon especially bombs and blades. Jack watched him fight, injury or not he was good, very good. They started to work together and the score climbed quickly.

It didn't top his highest score, but it came pretty close. The two of them reached a maximum kill streak at least three times.

"Where did you learn to fight like that?" he asked as they casually walked out of the Arena lobby.

Jack didn't like talking about her past and sidestepped the answer. "Shepard didn't tell you?"

Ruvvak shook his head. "But I guess it has something to do with those scars." Jack's nerves must have shown, and he shifted from the topic. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer. 'Linus, shut up.' Is all you need to say. Me…I'm a colony ward…I've been training to fight since I could walk. Not as gracefully or beautifully as you do but I get the job done."

"Linus," Jack began.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Shut up." She added and he chuckled.

"So, how'd I do? You had to have enjoyed yourself at least a little."

Jack leaned against the railing and got a look at the people down below. "Alright…I'll admit, you know how to show a girl a good time."

Ruvvak's pleased expression was endearing. "I'm glad you had a good time." He said with a polite purr in his tone.

The Omni-tool interrupted him. "Normandy personnel, returned to Bay D-24 for departure." Traynor's voice came through the device.

Ruvvak tapped it to silence it and returned his attention to Jack. "Providing I don't die out there, would you be interested in having dinner with me?"

Jack though it over. Ruvvak wasn't a bad guy, she generally didn't go for Turians but his species aside, he was a genuinely good person who was interested in her and very patient. "I think I'd like that."

Ruvvak did an internal happy dance but maintained his outward composure. "Excellent." He replied and opened the door to the skycar. "Need a ride?"

"Nah, I'm good."

"Oh, and feel free to use my login in there." He said and a message was received on her Omni-tool. "Might boost my score."

Jack scoffed. "Me help you? No fucking way…next time you come back we'll see who's better."

Ruvvak laughed. "Oh, I do like you." He chuckled as the door to the car closed.

The sparring between Garrus and Nov was getting heated and they'd drawn an audience. Cortez and Vega looked on at the two Turians did their level best to inflict whatever harm they could. It didn't even start friendly; days of stress and worry reached the boiling point they lashed out at whoever they could. Each other.

Nov barked in pain as Garrus knew his weak point, his shoulder. He roared in anger and punched him in the face. "What is your problem, Vakarian?" he hissed and rolled his shoulder.

"You think you're the only one going through a hard time." He snapped back as he wiped the blood from his chin. "The whole galaxy is stuck in the same shithole and you think you're unique."

Nov was confused, aside from a minor temper flare on the Citadel and then again with Victus, he'd handled the bad new parade surprisingly well. "I haven't done anything." He replied with a very confused tone. "Victus is still breathing, that's a huge fucking step." Garrus was irritated with something and he wasn't talking about it. "What's going on?"

Nov stepped closer to him trying to be non-threatening, he was trying to help, Garrus wasn't interested and popped in him in the mouth.

Sidda and Victus arrived in time to see the punch from Garrus that had enough force behind it cause Nov to stumble away. This spar didn't look friendly and she glanced over to Victus who's expression was passive. He was used to watching Turian's spar all day… some more heated then others.

Isla was seated on a crate fiddling with the Omni-tool settings and Sidda figured the best person to ask the obvious question was her. "Okay, what'd I miss?" Sidda asked watching the heated sparring between Nov and Garrus.

Isla thought a moment of how to explain it all. They were being idiot males with no testosterone outlet aside from sex. Sparring would resolve the issues between them…normally…so long as no one took it too far. "Well, let's see…Garrus pushed the Victus button, Nov insulted me, Garrus called him a child – among other not so nice things –, Nov pulled a knife to challenge and here we are."

Sidda's expression flashed confused, shocked, and irritated all in one moment. "What?"

"Nov never really did learn." Victus muttered and was immune to the glare Sidda fired at him.

Isla had experience dealing with Turian males, same as Sidda. They were typical males no matter the species, testosterone fueled frustration fight. "I think it's best to just let them be. Garrus is irritated with Nov being too rash for his own good."

Sidda hawked a laugh. "Big talk coming from that hot head. Cal's been through enough lately so he's every right to be a little rash."

"So, the rest of us have been in a vacuum this whole time?" Isla snipped in return. Sidda gave her a flat expression.

"That's not what I meant." She replied with a growl. Nov was thrown and hit the deck hard, they weren't trying to kill each other but they were trying to inflict pain. Sidda turned to Victus. "Get in there and break it up. They'll listen to you."

Victus scoffed and though of all the ways that could go wrong. "I am not getting in the middle of that. I'll probably make it worse." He said and walked away toward the lift where Cerrus was. Given his history with Nov, stepping between he a Garrus right now might not help.

"Adrien," she called, and he ignored her. If he went whatever issues they were working out might just blowback on anyone who had a grudge. Nov wasn't going to forget Victus' indiscretion any time soon.

"No." he replied and press the button for the lift. "Let them sort it out." Grudges in Turian units were handled this way, Sidda knew that.

Sidda growled not satisfied with Victus' response and disturbed Cerrus, much to his chagrin. "Cerrus,"

"Commander," he greeted flatly. "Nov's lost a step. He's better than Garrus but Garrus is landing more hits."

"Terrific. Go break it up before one of them lands in medical." She ordered. In a minute she was going to step in but she'd rather have the Turians handle it.

Cerrus hesitated and backed Victus in this case. "I say let them fight it out. This is normal behavior, Commander, you should know that. They need to fight it out."

"What like you and I did?"

His mandible ached for months after she hit him with a tactical helmet. "Preferably with less broken bones."

Sidda was fed up with Turian's telling her what to do and growled like a Turian would. "Major!" she barked her frustration and Cerrus dropped the modification with a growl of his own. The look he gave Victus made the Primarch cave too and they both went over.

Nov's swift leg sweep landed Garrus on his back with a hard thud. It was hard to identify what the problem was, it wasn't just one thing. Pent up frustration, fear, and worry…and this war was far from over.

"Alright, that's enough. That's enough." Both Victus and Cerrus said to their charges. "I said quit!" Victus boomed and the Primarch became the biggest figure in the room. His last bark was mostly aimed at Garrus but they both cooled and let their aggressiveness subside. "We're fighting Reapers and Cerberus and you two want to lay into each other?" he questioned but this was no question. This was a lecture. Victus had been through war and understood what this fight was about. "We are all missing someone, something, or someplace." He pointed to Cerrus and Nov. "His brother is missing, part of your family is dead, and Garrus, I know your father's residential block was bombed. I understand it's frustrating…no one likes War but you need to take this anger and point it at the enemy." The Primarch was the Primarch and despite anyone's misgivings both Garrus and Nov were paying attention. "Don't let me catch another fight like this."

It was a speech not only for the two stubborn Turians but for anyone else present on the flight deck. There was no pep talk like a military one. Victus brushed past Sidda looking a little annoyed. "Happy?" he asked rhetorically but didn't hang around long enough for a response.

Nov bypassed being treated by Chakwas but was left with the bedside manner of his wife. Sidda observed the sparring match between him and Garrus and didn't approve. Garrus wasn't tolerant of Nov's behavior but Nov wasn't acting any differently than you would expect from someone who had been through what he had. In all it created significant friction. The weird thing was that Sidda and Cerrus were getting along.

"You should see Chakwas for some of these." She commented as Nov perched on the edge of her desk.

She cleaned the cuts on his face and dabbed medigel on them. "Too crowded in there." He muttered.

"What's going on with you and Garrus?"

Nov shrugged; he really couldn't say that is one specific thing. Victus was right. "Nothing. It's settled."

He heard her sigh and identified it immediately as a sigh of dissatisfaction. "What was it then?"

"Just stuff that boiled over. Victus was right."

"Cal," she pressed with an irritated tone.

"It's fine, Sid, it's done." He replied firmly trying to end the line of questioning and convince her that everything was fine.

The door chimed and Sidda was still unsatisfied with his answer. "Saved by the bell, Nov." she admonished and waggled her finger in his face playfully. He chuckled and pushed her hand out of his face. "Yeah?" she answered with a huff.

"Sidda," Liara began. "I've received word from a colleague on Eden Prime. They've found something Prothean that we must see." She said.

"Why?"

Liara wasn't sure, the message didn't say. "I don't know, they didn't say but they know we are looking for anything to gain the upper hand against the Reapers."

Sidda looked down at Nov who gave a side look to her. "Here's to fighting something other than Cerberus."

Cerrus stepped off the shuttle and into the flight deck of a familiar sight. The Defiant wasn't the Lante but it still felt like home, it was the architecture that made him feel at ease. The Lante was old but the Defiant was only five years old, the spiffy new Lycan class, Fast Attack Frigate, and sister ship to the Currazza. He'd never been on a Lycan class before and he was quite impressed.

The Defiant's commander was Dureena Sevescus, she was average height for a Turian female with familiar colony paint; Taetrus. Honestly, it felt nice to see someone from home even if he'd never met her.

"Captain," he began. "thanks for the pick-up."

Sevescus blinked as she looked the tall male up and down. He was strikingly similar to Lorn. "Our pleasure, Major."

"To be honest it's a little bit of a surprise. Any idea why the assist?" he asked and observed the female before him.

"Whatever they are doing on Eden Prime is taking longer than anticipated. The Primarch sent us. You from Ramad?" she asked, and he cocked his head slightly.

"Accent give me away?"

She chuckled. "Can always recognize that subtle clip of your kind."

Cerrus laughed softly, the speech pattern was unique to Ramad in the northern part of the central continent. "Thought I'd been gone long enough I lost it. You?"

"Madra. You guys set? Need anything?"

"We should be alright. Maybe a raid of your ammo stores."

Vega had never been on a Turian ship before, the Normandy was as close as he got and that was just a hybrid. The basic layout was the same and he looked over at Ruvvak. "Boy, this is shiny." He commented.

Ruvvak shrugged. "She's brand new…ish." He said. "Never seen combat until now."

"From what Nov says she mixed it up over Rylo." Vega said as Isla stretched her back after stepping from the shuttle. "Pretty bad ass."

Ruvvak snorted as he saw Vega checking Isla out. "The ship or her?" he asked with a smirk. "Careful. Turian's do not share."

"Humans don't either. I'm not looking for that but there's no harm in looking at a pretty girl." He commented as Isla did an exterior check of the Kodiak. She wasn't military but she had a work ethic that would make any Alliance commander jealous.

"Might want to make sure that gear is stowed, Sir. The Major is a bit of a stickler."

"Yeah, though I think Lola refers to him as Major Asshole."

"Well, he is that too."

Isla saw Vega looking at her, before she met Garrus she may have welcomed his attention but now she just kept working. Doing her routine, the Blue Suns were paramilitary and despite their recent behavior acted military, that included procedure. Her Omni-tool beeped and showed an incoming transmission to the Kodiak. Inside, the communication station was indicating an incoming scrambled transmission. "Cerrus," She called from the door of the Kodiak. "incoming encrypted Alliance transmission."

Cerrus' expression narrowed and he walked away from what he was doing then jumped into the shuttle. He did like Isla, she did her job and didn't pester him+. "Put it on."

Hackett's face appeared on the monitor and Cerrus' posture straightened. Human or not Hackett was a superior. "Major Cerrus," he began and Cerrus blinked.

"Admiral,"

"Major, I'm afraid I have to ask you for a favor. The colony of Benning, are you familiar with it?"

Human colony…of course out in the middle of nowhere. "Yes, Sir."

"We've received some disturbing distress calls and I don't have any ships in the area to look into it."

Cerrus tapped Isla's shoulder but she already had the course plotted. "Bit of a stretch but doable." She commented.

"It's at the limit of the Kodiak's rage, Sir, what kind of disturbing distress calls?"

"Reports indicate that the Reapers have attacked the comm buoys but haven't attacked the colony directly. Rumors though, Cerberus is there supposedly aiding the colony, but other reports say that they're being taken against their will."

"Terrific." He muttered. Wrecking Cerberus was now his second standing order.

Hackett didn't know Cerrus' entire service record but he had a good enough relationship with the Primarch to know the highlights of the people under his command. Cerrus' aversion to humans was a topic. "I know we're not your favorite people, Major, given your history but these people are innocent."

Cerrus had grown over the years and humans were still not his favorite people to deal with. Some he tolerated more than he thought he would but, the people were innocent and to him it didn't matter the species after that. Just because he didn't like Humans didn't mean he would watch an innocent one die. "We'll go immediately, Sir. The warship Defiant is in the AO, Sir, we're actually onboard as we speak. I'm sure Captain Sevescus would lend a hand."

"Thank you, Major. I owe you one. Hackett, out."

The feed cut and Cerrus sighed. "Gear up. I need to talk to the Captain."

Sevescus was more than happy to accompany Cerrus to Benning. Human or Turian it didn't matter right now and she needed to keep herself busy. No one had gone without loss lately. With Blackwatch now at her disposal she actually had help for Cerrus beyond orbital support. Valerian was the acting leader as Tarquin wasn't cleared for duty yet.

As the Defiant neared the planet the LADAR did confirm a report. Cerberus was present. "Major, do you copy?"

"Go ahead." He answered a second later.

"Cerberus presence confirmed. We're trying to make contact with colony officials, stand by."

"Captain, emergency transmission from Heclin, it's a small town to the south."

"Major, Lieutenant, you're cleared for launch, feeding you coordinates now. I want to find out what that Cerberus ship is up to."

"Understood. Good hunting, Captain."

Heclin was a small town on the outskirts, they were an industrial town and it showed. Lots of crates, pipes, heavy equipment, no vegetation in sight.

"Major, I'm getting an avalanche of civilian 911s." Isla said and Cerrus secured his helmet. "Everything from a terrorist attack to gang hits. Where do you want me?"

"Anywhere to set us down?" he asked over her shoulder as Ruvvak and Vega finished getting set up.

"Yeah, landing pad right there."

"Great, you get to join the party this time, Dev." James commented.

"Set us down and grab your gear." He ordered. "Valerian, find a spot to set down, something's wrong down here."

"Understood, Sir."

Cerrus' impression of Benning was that it was dirty, it had just rained so that didn't make it look any cleaner. He took his team to the right through buildings looking for where the gunfire was coming from, and they were hearing gunfire…and screaming. Valerian went to the left to do the same thing.

All the buildings they entered were empty, signs of a struggle, and obvious forced entry. "Vega, point." Cerrus ordered and the line shuffled.

After passing through the first set of buildings the yard outside revealed a struggle. Cerberus was indeed present and they had a about five colonists in tow. This was an abduction, they had them all under guard and were threatening to shoot one.

There was a 50/50 chance they would fire on them, but he followed his training. "Drop it!" Cerrus ordered. He cursed himself for being right all the time and his team returned fire. Panicked, the detained colonists either tried to run or take the weapons from Cerberus and shoot back.

"No, no, no!" Isla yelled. "Don't do that! Friendly!"

"We're Alliance, relax." Vega added as he was only Alliance officer present.

"A lot of Turian's for Alliance." One of them commented and Vega scoffed.

"Beggars can't be choosers." Vega replied and both sides lowered their weapons. "What's going on here?"

"Everything was fine until Security sent out an emergency alert. They said that there were armed soldiers in the town then everything went to hell." He explained. "They started rounding up people…holding them. They even shot a few."

"So Cerberus is abducting people?" Cerrus questioned as Ruvvak and Isla kept an eye on the surroundings. The location was terrible, too many places to hid and too many shadows.

"Yeah…they shot my wife right in front of me."

Cerrus and Vega looked at each other. "I really hate Cerberus. Get ready to move." He muttered and activated his Omni-tool.

Sevescus followed protocol, she spent plenty of time as a peacekeeper so she understood how to go about handling a situation on a non-Turian colony. She didn't engage the unidentified ship without speaking to the Colony first. No need to start an international incident when she didn't need to. The colony had no idea what Cerberus was doing there so now it was on for the Defiant.

"Do you have a read on that ship?" she asked her tactical station.

Varris shook his head. "Mid-size, armed but not military, registration shows a common Cerberus code." He replied and Sevescus sighed.

"Ranna, hail them with hostile greeting, I want to know what they're doing here." She ordered.

"No response, Captain." Ranna reported after a moment. Her hostile greeting was met with silence.

Sevescus sighed and took it on herself. "Open the channel. Attention, Cerberus vessel, this is the PFS Defiant, Palaven Imperial Navy, state your business immediately." Sevescus ordered but there was no reply and her comm officer confirmed it with a shake of her head.

"Incoming transmission from Major Cerrus." Ranna said.

"Cerrus, to Defiant."

"Go ahead."

"Cerberus is abducting the colonists. Reason unknown."

She sighed. "Do what you need to, Major, I'm gonna give this Cerberus ship something to think about." She said and signaled her comm officer again. "Cerberus vessel, this is your final warning. State your business or you will be fired upon." Still no reply, the ship hadn't even moved. "Ready weapons. Tactical, shoot to disable, if there are colonists onboard I don't want them hurt."

"Still no response, Captain." Ranna said.

Sevescus weighed the options. The colony officials had no knowledge of Cerberus activities and that included aid from them. Cerrus reported abductions from a small settlement. She'd done her term as a part of the Peacekeeping corp fulfilling the Turian duty for centuries. "Weaps, fire a warning shot."

"Copy that, Captain, 'getting their attention'…now." He said and fired a low yield from the Thanix.

The comm station blared a moment later and Ranna giggled. "Congratulations, Sorren, you got their attention. They are hailing, Captain."

"Defiant, you have no authority over a human colony. How dare you fire on us."

"We are here at the behest of Fleet Admiral Hackett and Primarch Victus, I have spoken to the Colonial Governor and they have no request for your assistance. Stand down immediately and prepare to be boarded under Citadel Treaty 12 section 5: Slave Trafficking. If you resist, we will disable your vessel and take it by force."

The comm line ended as the Cerberus ship didn't like what they heard. "Energy spike. They're charging weapons."

Sevescus sighed. "They never learn. Battle stations and get Lieutenant Victus up here. Tactical,"

Varris didn't let her finish her sentence. "Firing solution on weapons and engines, Captain."

"Fire." As the Defiant fired the Cerberus ship did too, both ships scored a hit and both barriers held. The ship to ship combat continued as Tarquin entered the CIC steadying himself on a railing when the frigate took a second hit.

"Captain," he greeted.

"Lieutenant, you up to lead a boarding party?" she asked and the younger Victus nodded.

"Absolutely." He replied confidently.

He was still recovering but she needed him. "Then gear up. First I need to convince Cerberus we're coming in."

"We'll be ready." Tarquin was just happy to be of use and trotted off to the lift happy to be in the action again.

Urban warfare wasn't Ruvvak's favorite part of combat. Way too many places to hide…Cerrus on the other hand loved it. Seek and destroy, Heclin was small and he stashed the civilians in a safe location. They weren't alone in the hunt, Heclin had a small police force. Isla was used to combat like this, she spent more time on Omega then anywhere else so she had a unique understanding of the being an abductor and an abductee. The Blue Suns started legitimate but branched out into other shady affairs.

"Isla, Ruvvak, left. Vega with me." Cerrus ordered and this team silently complied. Cerrus was a good leader, in combat he didn't care who you were so long as you did your job.

Isla was used to working with Turians, the Blue Suns were crawling with them so working with Ruvvak wasn't an issue. The big Turian dwarfed her in size but he'd never seen her actually fight. Sentinels were incredibly useful but over the past few months Isla had gotten an upgrade from Palaven no less. There was a benefit to being Garrus' shadow. Lots of cool toys to play with.

Cerrus' team made contact first as they found a gaggle of Cerberus clearing a home trying to take prisoners. Rather than open fire Vega and Cerrus went with a stealth approach and then went to small arms. Blackwatch was on the far side and engaged as well, Isla and Ruvvak kept quiet. The quiet was interrupted as Cerberus nearly got the drop on them. Troopers and Centurions descended on them and they scrambled into cover.

Ruvvak dove into cover and was promptly shot at by a Turret set up at the end of breezeway. Isla's Sentinel shields shoulder the hits easily and managed to cover Ruvvak. Her Omni-tool produced a personal defense shield that she stayed behind as she practically walked up to the turret and bashed it three times before it exploded into shrapnel. Ruvvak helped cover her and took out a few more troopers and he gave Isla a snort.

"Where the fuck were you on Tuchanka?" he asked and she chuckled.

"What is it with you a turrets?" she rebutted and he laughed. "You okay?"

"Yeah, you were on it, thanks. You sure you're not military?"

"Better, mercenary. Less rules."

"Dev, Blackstone, on me." Cerrus' voice came through their comms. Blackwatch and Cerrus wound up meeting in the middle at the very end of the residential compound. No one went up the middle because the ambush hazard was suicidal.

"We have about 30 colonists total that were out in the open and being hassled by Cerberus. Heclin's security force is guarding the rest in bunkers." Valerian briefed.

"They called for backup so there's another wave coming."

"Cerrus to Defiant. Status?"

"Ship is disabled, Blackwatch is boarding it now. You?"

"We have most of the town population under guard but not all of them. Things are about to get messy down here, Captain. They want the colonists and we don't know why."

"Do what you need to, Major. Full discretion. Defiant, out."

Cerrus sighed heavily and looked over to the group. "Dev, ETA?"

"Two minutes…maybe."

Cerrus cursed, not much time to prepare but Cerberus wasn't coming with an entire army, just enough people to subdue a tiny little outpost. He was tired of running into Cerberus as every turn. "I want to land on these guys with both feet. No quarter, intel will come from the ship in orbit. Blackwatch, take the left. My team with me on the right. We'll funnel them down through here and take them out. Security teams, keep the civilians safe until we give the all clear."

The boarding pod hit the side of the Cerberus ship harder than Tarquin remembered it would, maybe it was the injury feeling every bump and certainly slamming into the side of a spaceship counted as a bump. "Check your targets. We are looking for civilians abducted from the planet below. Redanin, Sullus with me."

They took fire immediately, the ship they were boarding was frigate size and Cerberus already proved they would fight for their right to keep doing shady shit. Sullus' Tech armor was perfect for stopping fire and the Turian practically waltzed up and made the Cerberus solider pretty much eat his gun.

Tarquin wasn't so keen on redeeming himself that he put himself on the front line, he was still injured and therefore a liability. Redanin and Sullus were a hell of a team and they had done this before. Tarquin was still the boss and they protected him. He was blessed that Valerian took who she'd taken, the two best boarding party team members in Blackwatch were Sullus and Redanin.

The boarding party swept through like a wildfire. They came in strong and stayed that way. Cerberus seemed more concerned with destroying files and computers which afforded the boarding party the opportunity to practically walk through them.

"Hey! Hey!" he barked to the three Cerberus members trying to wipe the main computer. "Get away from that!" He ordered. They gave him a defiant look. A look he'd seen before. "You touch it and it better be worth your life." He warned. "On your knees, hands on your head."

They reluctantly complied and Sullus secured them and their Omni-tools. "Secure."

Tarquin nodded. "Redanin, status?"

Redanin split from Tarquin and Sullus once they entered the command deck and he led the lightening chaos as he and his assumed security team blew through the control center. It was over in less than a minute. "Secure, Sir."

Tarquin looked over the console after taking the main center. "Can you get anything off it?" Sullus asked as the prisoner were lined up on their knees.

"It's corrupted." He replied as whatever Cerberus started to do was halted but damage had been done. "We'll get something though. What were you doing here?" he directed toward the group of prisoners.

"We don't have to tell you anything. This is a human colony; you shouldn't even be here." One of them snapped back and Tarquin snorted.

"Fine…you can talk to the Alliance then…" he said and then leaned closer to the one that spoke. "They're the ones who sent us."

"We have full control of the ship, Lieutenant." Hittarus reported from across the command deck.

"Hail the Defiant." He ordered and turned from the Cerberus prisoner. "The ship is ours, Captain."

"Well done, Lieutenant." It was good to know that some rumors were true, Blackwatch, even at half capacity was invaluable.

Funneling Cerberus worked but it wasn't as easy as Cerrus explained it. Cerberus wanted the civilians and were a little surprised to see a squad of Turians doing their level best to ruin that for them. Cerrus went up again a Phantom, Cerberus' cloaked assassin. They carried a sword and were very quick. Too quick. She hit him with an overload and his shields were nearly exhausted then a glancing blow from the sword and Cerrus landed hard on his back dodging away from it. Before the Phantom could kill him something got in the way. The Paladin shield belonged to one person, Isla. The ex-Blue Suns mercenary had enough power behind the shield to not only take the thrust from the Phantom's blade but stop them cold their tracks. It had an elemental aspect to it as well. It burned anyone she smacked with it and while the Phantom didn't hit her the sword disintegrated again the top of the line Alliance Tech. The shield collapsed afterward but by then the Phantom was pushed back and Isla redeployed the shield a second later. Isla fired several shots from the Phalanx she was carrying and additional shots came from Cerrus who helped the person who saved his ass.

"Major," she called back. "you alright?"

He very nearly bought it, all the Phantom needed was one more hit and he was done for. "You can call me Tyr…and I'm buying you a bottle of whatever you want." Isla's prowess on the battlefield was something to see, she wasn't trained military she was paramilitary but the stigma that usually came with that was out the window. She was a beast and what was better, to Cerrus at least, she listened. Isla understood military tactics and what she didn't understand she learned quickly.

Securing Benning wasn't hard once Cerberus was out the way. Security teams from the capital arrived to help clean up the mess and there was the Alliance cruiser Brisbane was on the way to help secure the prisoners and the ship taken as a prize. There had been an Alliance detachment that had been completely taken by surprise and decimated, a few had survived but were injured. He knelt down near where the Phantom nearly skewered him and picked up the shiny glit that he saw before. Sidda called them Dog Tags, military identification. Turian's has a chip that identified them. He'd have to find the family of the soldier.