Are We Alone

by JMB Fictional Writing

What if gods were real? Many have wondered what would happen if these all-powerful beings were proven to exist, and what would occur if they ever stepped free from the ether. What would those who had once worshiped them do? How would the other races of the galaxy react, knowing that these gods existed? What changes in fate would occur if one of these gods appeared on Elysium?

15. Chapter 15

Hello everyone, I hope everything is going well for you all.

Sorry for the delays, things have not been easy for me these last few weeks. Not easy at all. Not going to go into detail about this, so instead I am going to just leave it off and give you the chapter.

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Are We Alone

Chapter 15: Worth a Price

Zakera Ward

It was all wrong.

That was all that Ichigo could think as he bore witness to the travesty before him. He had seen strife and unrest before, both as it unfolded and the devastating aftermath, and knew when a place was on its tipping point. Chaos ran rampant, unchecked by those who were meant to maintain order, the world slowly killing itself day by day and approaching a society-suicide.

The Citadel, a station cradled in a nebula some fifty thousand lightyears from Earth, was one of the few things in the Galaxy he knew all about. He may not know much about the galaxy as a whole or the many races that lived in it, but he at least knew about the Citadel. How could he not, when it was the very heart of Council Space, the mass conglomeration of the allied races? The station was meant to be the heart of all politics of the galaxy and thus governed the everyday life of the races present, including humans. It prided itself on allowing all voices, of any race, to be heard on the galactic stage. None would be overshadowed and looked down upon, all were equal and had their place here. It was somewhere that was meant to be safe, a place immune to harm, and a pinnacle of strength.

That was obviously a lie unraveling before his eyes.

There were people fighting in the streets, words and fists thrown in equal turns, the police force overwhelmed and openly disrespected. With justice undermined, crime and injustice ran free, with clear targets in mind. Humans turned into scapegoats by aliens in an attempt to relieve the fears they held in weak hearts. He couldn't help but think back to the words he had heard on Eden Prime just a few hours ago.

"…no one knows who you are and what you represent, and as much as you want to keep away from the spotlight, your presence is causing problems for the Alliance and human race. We're being oppressed by the other races because they're afraid that one of you will suddenly show up and start obliterating their worlds because they overstepped some invisible line!"

Gritting his teeth, he once more peered over the chaos as it spread throughout the massive arm of the station. And yet for as far as he could see, what laid before him was only a tiny section, the rest hidden from his eyes. Crimes, suffering, hatred, all hidden from him simple because it was so spread out, breeding in dark corners and tainted minds. There were a few times he had stepped in to stop it, rules be damned, but for every crime he stopped another was just down the road, in an endless trail. He had to get away from it before he lashed out, so there he stood atop of building, watching as the city around him tore itself apart.

There was nothing short of putting the entire city under the thumb of his spiritual pressure that he could do, and he had already delayed his search for Zangetsu for too long. He could feel his blade as a clear and calm beacon in the very heart of the chaotic city, tinged with irritation at being ignored, being separated, being touched by the unworthy. Well, he had been stuck in space for what had felt like several hours (though it couldn't have been more than ten minutes if he was stretching it) so the sword could wait and let him get his bearings since charging straight forward meant going through a couple hundred buildings and walls. And if he ended up saving a few people on the way, well wasn't that a happy coincidence?

Ichigo's arrival had been…loud, and he would rather avoid causing even more ruckus than the plaza he had leveled when he had quite literally landed in a brawl. Or terrorist attack, considering the way those gun-toting thugs had tried to shoot the hostages. And it turned out that that was hardly a rare occurrence.

There was no way he could count how many robberies, violent attacks, and outright brawls he had seen. Even the most peaceful of them, a rally or two, always protesting against the Council, had turned into brutal melee matches. Every single direction one turned in they would find something happening, none of it good, but all of them had a single trend.

Humans were the ones being victimized, banding together to protest, and then the target of mobs.

"What the hell is going on here? Did I do this by just showing up?" He though aloud, but that couldn't be the case, he hadn't even been here an hour! Besides, only a few had seen him and half of those people didn't even think he was real!

No, there was animosity here; a miasma that choked the city and poisoned reason.

Ichigo realized that Shepard was right, that what was happening here was exactly what she warned him of. People were being targeted, oppressed by everyone else, and soon they got fed up with the feeling of their freedom being trampled on. So they trampled over someone else's, as it boiled over. The cause of it all, wasn't because of racial prejudices born of ignorance or misguided grudges, but simple and not entirely unfounded terror. Fear of the forces of nature given form that, where they walked, the earth trembled. A fear they took out on the one race that shared an uncanny likeness with them, the humans. The only race that they could vent that fear on and not feel so powerless and at the mercy of the new creatures.

Just how was this happening, how could it be allowed to happen? Things like this didn't just spring up overnight, no, it had to fester for some time.

But most of all, why didn't he or anyone else know about this? The Gotei has been making observations of the World of the Living for years now, trying to find the Horsemen and predict where they would go. They should have known what was going on here, what was happening to the humans on this station, and likely dozens of other planets where humans weren't the majority. Mayuri may be batshit insane at times but he wasn't a fucking idiot, and even Ichigo could see that the current state of things was a disaster waiting to happen.

They were afraid War would become a major threat after soaking up all that negative energy brought about by the Blitz, but the conflict had be successfully mitigated. No, not mitigated, but pushed back and allowed to fester. The Blitz was going to look like two kids hitting each other with foam bats compared to an all-out war between humanity and every other race that had decided to piss on them. If that happened then War would have a field day, soaking in all that violence and death and becoming a legitimate threat again. But that also made him easy to predict. Always near a battle or massacre, feeding off the death of others, that was his modus operandi. So they just had to stake out the larger scale battles with their best and strongest and hope that they got lucky.

But it was different for the other two- their powers were less obvious and easier to mask.

The trickiest of them all might very well be feeding on the chaos Ichigo saw spread out before him, and he had no way of telling. Humans were deprived of their rights, starved to have them back, and drawing another Horseman right into their laps to consume their desires.

Famine.

There was absolutely no way they could track him, his own powers were so obscure that it bordered on impossible to really scope out and narrow in on. Because it wasn't the simple depriving of food or resources that drew him, it was something more conceptual. Instead of lack of physical needs like food and water, it was easier to say that a lack or even loss of anything that held worth was what he fed from. The burning desires and envy of someone who would frantically seek that thing to fill their heart, that was much stronger than mundane hunger. If an entire race had its freedoms stripped away and were prisoners in their own space, then they would damn well want what is theirs back. And Famine would be there to take it, and make it their own.

All of this was just him thinking off the top of his head, so the Gotei had to know a lot more than he could even fathom about the Horsemen, so why were they so blind? It wasn't hard to figure out why he hadn't been told the extent of the unrest (bleeding heart and all), but that didn't mean that they had to do nothing! Because of the same goddamn traditions and laws, they didn't interfere with the World of the Living? "It wasn't their place to meddle in the affairs of humans" when it was their job to balance the cycle of reincarnation?

Same old hypocritical bullshit.

'Is this why they didn't put me on any assignments?' Ichigo mused, did they think he would bring this up? Because he had learned at least a few things, like how to file a formal report before he took things into his own hands! But now it was probably too late.

If he had known then he could have given them a bit of advice, just like how he'd told them to have a little more foresight when humans started poking around space. It was only because he pointed out that humans would be traveling the stars soon that the Gotei 13 wasn't caught completely flat-footed! Ichigo had to wonder where standing around with their heads up their asses would do them any good.

"You really shouldn't be out here, Kurosaki-san."

Ichigo glanced over his shoulder, not surprised he didn't sense that man's approach.

"I heard a few things through the grapevine, and it says that you lost your Zanpakuto. For shame!" Urahara said, mocking him as per usual.

Ichigo didn't take the bait, or even question how the man knew (Urahara knew everything, accepting that was just common sense) and wouldn't allow himself to be distracted.

"If you were serious about that joke you would have snapped your fan open and you wouldn't be hiding your eyes." Ichigo said, cutting to the heart of the matter.

"You are getting a lot more observant aren't you Ichigo," Kisuke mumbled, a little disappointed, "that's a little worrying! Usually I like the old naïve student I took under my wing. Much more fun for me."

"I also think that you liked me more back then because I didn't figure you out as quickly."

"Yeah… that would be about right too." Kisuke replied, giving a smile that seemed closely tied between genuine and reluctant. "So, I bet you already know then?"

"I'm guessing that the Captains didn't want me around here to see just how fucked up the situation is, right?" Ichigo said, unwilling the other to be open or honest. It just wasn't the type of person he was.

"You know that we cannot do anything about what is going on here." Kisuke replied, sighing tiredly.

Ichigo wanted to as well, the conversation giving him a strong feeling of déjà vu. A very strong feeling, considering that he'd talked to nearly every other Captain about this. No one was to interfere with the affairs of the World of the Living, under any circumstances.

"Kisuke, we need to talk about this, right now."

---

Doctor Chloe Michel's Clinic

Getting a suite puncture was never an experience you want to endure, especially if you were a Quarian. Any sort of exposure, even minor and for a few seconds, to a hostile environment would result in disease and damage. And for Quarians, everywhere was a hostile environment.

Tali's condition was a whole lot worse than just exposure: she had been shot and had lost a good deal of blood. By some stroke of luck she wasn't dead yet, but the cramps and soreness seemed to exist solely to remind her that miracles weren't free. But she was far from being safe and out of the woods, an infection festering just beneath her skin and threatening to run wild as time went on.

"I have been doing a bit of research and I have a few drug cocktails on hand to help slow the infection. Also, I have a friend who can get me an immune booster, but it won't be ready for a few hours." Doctor Chloe Michel said, looking over her Omni-tool and observing the charts regarding Tali's current state. "But by then all it will probably do is help you get over the infection rather than stop it from taking hold."

"Thank you." Tali replied, groggily pushing herself up into a sitting position. "Thank you for everything."

Another bit of luck was that the clinic was still empty, not another patient in sight. But it still left her in a very precarious situation she didn't know how to deal with, one that had been at the forefront of her mind. It even overshadowed her fears of the mercenaries and trained soldiers after her.

"I am sorry, but I don't have any way to pay you." Tali said, hoping to avoid this woman calling C-Sec on her.

The people on Illium were of no help, denouncing her claims or outright ignoring them, and she doubted anyone on this station would be any different. But the last thing she needed was to be arrested, held captive and unable to run. The authorities wouldn't be able to protect her, not if the person chasing her had as much pull as she suspected.

"I'll give you what I can, but it isn't much."

"No need, you were in very bad condition and the last thing I would want to do is take whatever little money you have. Being human here has given me a good idea as to what it means to be looked down on, so call it looking out for a fellow outcast." Chloe replied, giving a hollow smile as she continued going over her Omni-tool.

Tali would have thought it was some crude joke, pretending that other species could understand what it meant to be hated for something out of your control, but the woman's smile was…bitter. And Tali remembered the things she had both seen and heard, and realized that, while the stigma was different, it was there all the same. Tali's people didn't deserve what happened to them: they may have created the Geth and been unable to stop them from taking their homeworld, but it didn't mean her race deserved to be ostracized by all other species. And the doctor's species might share an uncanny resemblance to the terribly powerful creatures that had emerged, but that didn't mean they should be a target for fear.

"But, I would like to know how you got shot." Chloe asked, "I just heard about a massive shootout not that far from here. If there's another riot going on, I would like to know if I should seal the shop up and wait out whatever's going on."

Tali was taken aback a bit. If the doctor considered a massive shootout to be part of another riot, the key word being 'another', then she had somehow wondered into the most dangerous part of the station. Either that was good for her, being able to hide in a chaotic region of the Wards, or bad, because now she was in the most violent place on the Citadel where shootouts and riots seemed to be a normal occurrence. Or at least Tali assumed it was normal, considering that the doctor here was acting very blasé about it.

"No, I'm being targeted by a group of mercenaries." Tali replied, though she wasn't sure if she should really be telling the doctor this.

But Tali had her attention now either way, and there wasn't anything she could do to take her words back. She may owe the woman, yet revealing that kind of information would get her savior killed quick.

"I got caught doing something I shouldn't…I know things that I shouldn't, and they're going to kill me for it." Tali said, carefully vague.

"It must be pretty bad if you can't tell me." Chloe said. "You definitely need help."

"I don't know where to go, or how I'm going to find anyone that can protect me when I'm surrounded on all sides by people who want me dead. Every person I meet could be the one that will end up killing me!" Tali said, some strength coming back to her as she let out the curse, a sharp shooting pain through her side for her trouble.

"Maybe…I can help you."

Tali found that a little funny.

"I hope that beneath that good bedside manner is a skilled soldier that could take on a few dozen mercenaries."

"Not me, no, but I know someone who can help you. If you have something valuable, that is." Chloe said. "Payment doesn't have to be in credits, because sometimes information is worth even more. Ever since this chaos with the Anomalies happened, humans have been targeted by all kinds of aliens, you know. Most want to bash our heads in, or at least to hurt us. So someone decided to set up a network of protection across the wards."

That sounded like a racketeering ring to Tali, and if the state of this clinic was anything to go by that means that money was tight or protection wasn't that good. But it was her only lead, and if the doctor says that this benefactor of her could protect her, what choice did she have?

"Still, I don't have anything I could really give him. What I know would cause more harm than good if I tell people carelessly."

"Not a problem when you are an agent of the Shadow Broker, and to them information is very valuable." Chloe replied.

The Shadow Broker was indeed very powerful, a wealth of knowledge and resources Tali couldn't even begin to fathom. Yes, he was powerful and cut-throat, and paid well for valuable information. The information she had on her Omni-tool was incredibly valuable, something that the Broker would be more than willing to protect her for if she didn't pry too much.

"Then I have something he'll definitely want." Tali said, finding some strength as she looked up at Chloe. "Can you organize a meeting? As soon as possible?"

"I can. Just wait here and I will contact him." Chloe replied, turning around and moving back towards her desk.

Chloe was already at her terminal and likely getting into contact with this agent; whoever he was Tali hoped that he could keep her safe while on this station. Who she was dealing with wasn't some random thug or a run of the mill mercenary, not if the information she had extracted from the Geth's core was anything to go by.

Maybe it was foolish, but as she waited, Tail started to search the extranet with her Omni-tool. She had only done the barest of research when she discovered the names of those after her, Saren Arterius and Matriarch Benezia, and had realized she needed to be on the other side of the Galaxy yesterday. So she hadn't looked too deeply into what had gotten everyone around her killed, but now Saren was in custody, even if another had taken over his role. Going by a name she could only find in mythology, he bore the name of a monster that had nearly brought down the gods.

How fitting, considering the Anomalies seemed to go by the name 'Shinigami'. Death Gods.

It had been something she had thought about for a while, even as she ran for her life, because it was something to cling to. Something solid, defining, about the group that had caused the massive uproar felt across the galaxy, even if it was just a name. It made them more real, better grounded even with such a lofty name, though Tali knew that such things were a bit too late. Their arrival had not just spawned a new faith in humanity, but created great schisms in other religions. When 'gods' existed and they weren't the ones you preached, it tended to cause some problems.

There were rumors on the Flotilla that the Anomalies were being prayed to with small offerings and ceremonies. But they were not called as such, instead they were known as Juresh'yilah, the Dark Ones of Greater Planes. They were thought to be powerful spirits from the world beyond to enact vengeance against those who have done wrong. Some even whispered their name instead of 'Keelah Se'lai', and it was causing a stir within the Migrant Fleet.

But she had to guess that with other races it was just as large, she wondered how the Asari were taking it now that there was a divide in their religion. That their Goddess was being forsaken for gods that have shown their faces, likely it was causing problems for more than just them. It still raised an important question, however.

What kind of being were they worshipping?

With a name now linked to them, she could search and figure that out. She could be the first person in the galaxy to know for certain what kind of beings the Shinigami were. Now she had a chance to see, to understand what kind of beings these humans considered their divine protectors.

'Not what I was expecting.' Tali mused.

Very little information existed on them, details were scarce in terms of what they were and sometimes even contradicted each other in some places, But, just as their names would imply, they held strong connections to death.

"Gods of Death." Tali muttered, letting the words sinking in. It was fitting, at least.

She would have preferred if there wasn't one running around the station, even if he had helped her.

But it was incredibly strange just how small Shinigami's seemed to play in human history and folklore compared to typical deities in mythology. What was known didn't paint a pleasant picture of what these Shinigami were like, with strong links to suicide and killing people. Although some of that was surely hearsay and superstitions, it was impossible to ignore that they had descended onto worlds and slaughtered thousands. That was proof enough that they were at least worthy to being called Death Gods, for they inflicted it wherever they went.

"I need to get off this station soon." Tali thought aloud.

If one of them was here there was no telling on how much damage would be done. From the little Tali had seen, the Anomalies seemed to respond to violence with violence, and there was no shortage of that here. The entire station could erupt into chaos if someone provoked it, and there were plenty of idiots who were willing to try their luck. Nothing could be done about that, unless she somehow found a ship lying around flew it to relative safety. But that was never going to happen, so she was stuck waiting and hoping the Citadel doesn't become space debris.

"Alright, I sent the message." Chloe said, rising from her seat. "I told him that you needed protection and have information to trade for it, so he'll contact you with the details of where the meeting is being held. But first, you will need this."

Tali closed her Omni-tool and waited, hoping that this agent was willing to see her.

Looking it over she found a few things, including a guidebook on information that the Shadow Broker was to collect. It was oddly professional, as expected from the biggest information network in the galaxy, but she didn't expect forms and legal documentation. That was certainly strange for someone who traffics information to almost anyone who can pay, good or bad. She would have thought that the Shadow Broker would try to avoid a paper trail, physical or digital.

"Just fill that out and transmit it to Fist when he asks for it, and then he will tell you where to meet. I know it may be strange, but the Broker is very thorough with the information he collects and doesn't like be left out or tricked, especially with fabricated information. So whatever info you can cough up I advise you make sure you can back it up with proof." Chloe warned, and Tali knew better than to make an enemy of someone possibly worse than those after her.

She would fill this and send it to the contact- later. Right now though she needed to get out of the clinic. The doctor may have saved her life but she was still being hunted, and staying here would just put both their lives in more danger.

"I think staying here is not a good idea, they know I was hurt and if any of them survived…" Tali went quiet. What are the actual odds of surviving against an Anomaly that seemed to be actively targeting you? "… anyway, if there's any chance they could track me down, it's best that they don't find me with you. They shot up an entire plaza to get to me, so they'll definitely kill you if they have to."

Tali could only hope that they weren't the type to kill all witnesses, no matter how insignificant.

"Thank you again Doctor Michel, I am in your debt."

"You're welcome, but make sure you visit my friend in the market- his name is Rupert Raines." Chloe called out as Tali made for the door. "He can get you that immune booster!"

Tali nodded as she exited the clinic, an immune booster would be good to make sure that an infection didn't grab hold when the medications wore off. But that would have to come later; first, she needed to find some place to hide. Once she had a nice little place to crawl into and not be found, then and only then would she risk a venture.

---

Citadel, Docking Platform

Wrex had a good view from where he was perched on a maintenance walkway above the docking platform. Specifically, docking platform 250, nestled near the Wards and innocently between other, nearly identical docking platforms. A perfect place to test his new sniper rifle, thank you Jasox, and see just how good the site was when he peered down at the only two ships on the entire platform.

Barla Von had come through for him at least. He recognized the Turian Light Frigate docked at the far end of the platform. It was hard not to, what with its the shitty paintjob that peeled away in patches and made the entire thing look like a huge joke. It didn't help it was an old ship too, likely a Predator-Class Frigate, that hadn't been in service for the last fifty years.

The only thing that Wrex cared about was who owned it, he recalled the same ship –shitty paintjob and all - that Jacobus had used when they raided that Volus cargo ship a couple years back. To think that that guy had been on Saren's payroll all this time and still hadn't upgraded his ship…Well, Wrex never took Jacobus for a stingy bastard, maybe a greedy one, but not stingy.

"Same old piece of shit, as always." Wrex muttered.

If that had been all there was too it, then he would already be preparing to get his paycheck-raiding a ship full of cheap mercenaries wasn't exactly hard. Easy pickings really, he had done it a dozen times already and he was still alive, but the real problems was parked less than fifty meters away from that Light Frigate. It was an Asari Republic 'Shivius-Class' Heavy Frigate, and it was a beast compared to the stunted Turian ship down the lane. They were a comical contrast, ill-suited and mismatched.

Turians liked their ships like they liked their knives: sharp and pointed forward. Asari on the other hand liked their ships like they like their men: long and thick. There was a joke he had heard more times than he cared to remember: Which was bigger, a Krogan's brain or his Quad? Well, it doesn't matter, both were equally as useless!

Said the punch line ended with that particular idiot getting his head caved in.

'Good idea not coming up the service lift.'

That Heavy Frigate had enough guns on it to take down a light Cruiser if it wanted, and as tough as he, was he wasn't a literal battleship. So that meant he had to sneak around and look for a way to get down there and onto one of those ships. Sad to say, getting into either of them was going to be a problem. If he stormed the Turian Frigate the bigger ship would just blow it up and leave, but the heavy frigate probably had a whole lot more crew in it than just five Commandos.

And he still didn't know if Fist was here or not.

"Urgnot Wrex… I have the IFF transponder frequency." Barla Von chirped into his ear, right on time and with something that might just be the break he was looking for.

"Good, send them over."

Wrex was getting some intel on nearby IFF markers, and quite a number of them at that. IFF frequency worked through radio waves, often transmitted between shared comm systems so that the suits didn't need to be configured. Luckily for him, Jacobus and V'naria had already linked up their comms, meaning that he had a lead on their own men right now.

"I got a lot of mercs and soldiers down here, got any leads on Fist?" Wrex asked. Sorting out the IFF would be tricky and time consuming, and something he really didn't have the patience for.

"Sadly no… but I can determine that neither he…or any of his men, are on those ships… it's likely that they are still in Zakera Ward." Barla Von replied, and he went quiet for a moment. "They are possibly your only lead right now… see if you can get access to their systems and check their logs… if you can track down Fist that way… all the better."

"I got two Frigates here, what do you expect me to do?" Wrex barked.

"Storm one or the other, it never seemed to fail you before… or you can wait for those detectives to finish their investigation… but I am sure you don't like waiting around."

Barla Von cut the transmission.

That annoying little gasbag wanted him to play nice with two assholes playing at being good cops? Hah! None of that was his problem, but if keeping some Quarian alive somehow prevented Fist from leaving the station, then he wasn't going to pass up the chance to keep him here a little longer. If things went south he could use this vantage point to assassinate him, but that was always risky.

He may need to disable those two ships.

His Onmi-tool flared and he realized that the carrier wave from the IFF receivers was detecting a signal from a matching transmitter. That had to be Fist or one of his men.

"…you cause quite a ruckus down in Zakera Ward, C-Sec will be causing problems for us soon. It would have been better had you kept this quiet." A rough feminine voice hissed over the line.

"I had no choice! Someone sent a damn Krogan Battlemaster after me! And I know that guy too- he's a monster." Wrex knew this had to be Fist, with how scared he sounded it couldn't be anyone else. He knew that kind of fear, ad it was the kind you only got when you realized just how the shit you were in was.

"How does that account for shooting up an entire Block and mowing down civilians? Worse yet, I got word that two of your men are missing." That was Jacobus, definitely him, and it looked like they were going at it. "If they figure out who we are they might detain us, or lock down our docking privileges, especially if they realize I am affiliated with Saren."

That was interesting, why would being one of Saren's cronies get him into even more trouble? Something was definitely up here, and he had to wonder if his contact was holding out on him.

"Then let's go. I have the information right here, all of it! So what if a Quarian knows that you helped that Spectre slaughter some backwater colony, who gives a fuck? From what I hear they were human, some might say you're doing the galaxy a favor. But me? I just want off this station before I'm murdered!" Fist yelled back.

The fourth voice came from nowhere, but it was old and…calm. No, it wasn't calm, but instead cold, like a soul had withered and frozen over some time ago. Immediately Wrex knew who that was, it couldn't be anyone but the Matriarch, Benezia.

"We are not leaving, I need her silenced and that information to advance our goals. Saren may be gone, but the mission remains! That data is important, and I advise you send it to me immediately."

"Do you understand what I have stolen from that man? Selling secrets to you about Prothean artefacts got me marked for death. What I am giving you now? I'm looking at having the Hegemony and about a dozen different organization on my ass, plus the Shadow Broker!" Fist said. "I need to get off this station, no, out of the fucking known galaxy! I have a goddamn hitman after me! He's already killed most of my men!"

"And that is why I have my captain, along with her entire squad, protecting you." Benezia replied.

"This is a waste of time, if you can't provide anything, then the deal is over. We'll leave you here to rot." Jacobus warned.

"I can do my job! I called you up because I know where the Quarian is." Fist said, silencing the line for a few moments.

"He isn't lying, I have coordinates on a clinic where she is being treated. She was trying to organize a meeting to trade information for protection. Luckily for us she didn't realize Fist is the one trying to kill her." The other female voice spoke up.

"Captain V'naria, sent someone out to deal with it. Jacobus, send a squad to rendezvous with her. I want that Quarian dead and that data retrieved, understood?" Benezia replied.

"Yes Matriarch." V'naria replied. "Jacobus, here are the coordinates, a few men would be appreciated."

"Coordinates received. I will send some of my men out to meet you at the clinic." Jacobus followed up.

"Good, now, Fist, I need that information now." Benezia spoke up.

There was a moment of silence, Wrex watching the data link and observed the stream of information over the line, before they spoke up again.

"Excellent, my new colleague will be pleased. I will be departing immediately." Benezia said, her words not shifting a single decibel as she spoke.

"What? You're leaving? We had a deal, dammit!" Fist yelled, the comms whining at his exclamation.

"You will be departing with Jacobus once the mission is done." Benezia replied, tone carrying a sharp edge that threatened to have Fist's neck opened if he made another sound. "Captain, make sure to collect the package on Therum, after that you know where to find us."

"I understand Matriarch." V'naria replied.

From there the communications cut off, and within a few moments the Asari Frigate was released of the gravity tethers and already backing out of the bay. In a few minutes it was free and speeding off towards the vast oblivion of nothingness.

Wrex furrowed his brow, not believing his luck but unwilling to turn his nose up at such a golden opportunity. Looking down at the log, he actually had fished more than just them talking, and also had copies of the data Fist had sent along, both on the Quarian's location and also what he had stolen from the Broker.

"Hey, Barla Von, got something for you." Wrex said, opening communications with his contactor.

As he was waiting for a reply, he saw four mercs already moving for the service elevator. He was getting a reading from inside the ship still, fourteen tags to be exact, he smirked as he already figured out his plan.

"What do you have?" Barla Von spoke up, finally.

Wrex turned around and started his descent to the platform.

"Fist was just talking with Benezia. She was on the ship that left." Wrex said.

"That is not unexpected… it is her ship after all…It's surprising she didn't reveal her presence though…" Barla Von, there was a pause. "I also see that she has left… was Fist aboard?"

"No, he wasn't. He'll be heading out on the other Frigate once he hold up his end of a deal, but I plan to make sure that doesn't happen." Wrex replied, jumping from a catwalk and down on top of a cargo container. The metal dented under his weight, but the six-meter drop put barely a hiccup in the steady stride of the Krogan as he kept walking towards the ship.

"He's still on the station, and I plan on finding out where and making sure he doesn't have a way off this shithole." Wrex replied. "But he knows where the Quarian is, so I'm sending over the info now."

If that bastard was hiding out somewhere, he wasn't going to move from his hold until the exact moment he was sure he could make a clean escape. So, the longer the Quarian was alive, the longer he had to make sure Fist didn't have a chance to make his way down to the docks to do just that. And the best way to do that was to put people between her and the mercs after her head.

"I see… I will send those detectives there immediately… but this other package…" Barla Von said, sounding disturbed. "Oh dear… this could be very bad… he has sent it along?"

"Yeah, he transmitted it to Benezia before she left." Wrex said, turning and moving up the platform along the side of the Frigate.

"Dammit… nothing we can do for now… but the Shadow Broker will not be pleased about this… finish your mission Wrex… make sure they all die." Barla Von said.

Maybe someone else would have been curious enough to ask just what had been sent, but Wrex both knew better and had a mission to complete. Information worth killing over wasn't the type of baggage he needed.

"No problem." Wrex said.

His shotgun was in hand, and his biotics flaring Wrex was more than ready to meet out death onto these poor bastards.

A door blocked his way, but a few commands from his Omni-tool had it opening. A nasty little jamming signal flooded the suite's IFF transceivers, isolating them all from the rest of the world and, more importantly, Fist. If Fist and V'naria didn't know that Jacobus and his ship were gone, then they wouldn't have reason to run, wherever they were hiding.

He charged into the ship, his first victim only just turning around to see who had opened the door. The Turian balked when he saw Wrex charging him, and that left him open to being pinned to the wall. Struggling for breath after being rammed with the force of a car, Wrex had all the time in the world to flip free his shotgun and bash it the merc's face.

The Turian was out cold, probably with no small amount of brain damage too, but Wrex didn't have time to admire his word. Another merc had stopped mid-stride with surprise, but flinched and reached for his pistol, mouth opening to shout. Wrex stopped him before he could finish either raction, a Biotic pull and he was at the Krogan's feet. With a raised foot, he snapped the guy's neck without a single ounce of effort.

Two down, twelve to go.

Wrex wasn't like most Krogan, he didn't rush in guns blazing and screaming at the top of his lungs like some fucking idiot- which was probably why he was a Battlemaster when most Krogan weren't. That was how you got shot dead, gunned down by the dozen enemies you thought you could take all on your lonesome like some kind of badass. Honestly, the Anomalies were probably the worst influence on Krogans to date.

But Wrex was old and experienced- had been around since the Rebellion, he had fought through it and been a mercenary for centuries, and he knew how to fight and how to survive. It was why he considered himself to be quite calm: he didn't get angry (much) and didn't allow his temper to rule his life. That was how he survived, by being methodical and practical in his approach and it was surprising just how much could be done even when all alone.

A quick check of the Omni-tool informed him that a good number of the remaining mercs were in the ship's information center, just down the gangway he was standing in. Their IFF transmitters were still offline, but he could still track them, which made his job a whole lot easier. He also knew an interesting thing or two about this type of ship, so, if he was smart, he had a way to deal with all those idiots with only a single bullet.

"The fun begins." Wrex muttered, stepping towards the doorway.

As it hissed open, the Turian ahead of him didn't realize he had walked inside yet, he was too busy listening to the other mercs bicker about the communications being down. The suite to suite communications were faulty, which was good for Wrex- he didn't need them calling for backup or putting out a warning.

"If the radios don't work, use the ships transmitter! By the Spirits, are you idiots that…"

Wrex had already walked up to his first target, reached around and snapped his neck with a quick jerk. As he fell, the Krogan raised his shotgun and at pointblank range blew another Turian's head right off. Both bodies clattered to the floor behind Wrex, leaving just four others in the room. All of them were surprised by his intrusion, and subsequent execution of their comrades, and didn't react as fast as they should have.

Wrex didn't even comment on it, just aimed his shotgun at the nearby wall and fired. A conduit that had been partially exposed from the decaying plating, exploded and released a burst of dark energy towards the poor saps working at the command and control center in the middle of the room. All were thrown aside, some going towards the far wall and lingering there as the dark energies kept their bodies afloat.

One got impaled onto the nearby console with a fragment of debris that was flung from the explosion, gurgling as he bled out. The last one was dead, having broken his back against the edge of the terminal station. Wrex turned to the two still floating Turians and executed them both, two blasts each and let their bodies slowly drift to the floor.

"What the hell is going on up here?!" Wrex turned and glared at the loud bastard, "Jacobus, been a while."

"Urgnot Wrex, I'm surprised that you aren't dead, but a hard bastard like you doesn't go down eas,y now does he?" Jacobus said, glowering at the Battlemaster.

"Can't say the same for you."

But before Wrex could fire, two more mercs came running out behind their boss, rifles in hand and aimed square at him. Narrowing his eyes, he quickly used a biotic push to stagger them, Jacobus being thrown backwards and his too goons stumbling aside. Wrex charged in, shoulder bashing the first into the wall, shattering his barriers and leaving him wheezing. Turning, he reached out and grabbed the rifle the second tried to point it at him, ripping it from his grasp and grabbing the bastard by the throat.

The Krogan fired a few shots into the down merc he had shoulder-bashed, finishing him off, and then turned the gun towards the second in his grip. But before he could pull the trigger, Wrex heard the all too familiar sound of a shotgun being pumped. Jacobus stood there, at the top of the stairs, with a massive shotgun in hand, one definitely too big for him.

A damn M-300 Claymore.

Wrex twisted and used his captive as a shield, but even that did little to stop a blast from one of those bastards. The guy he was holding literally exploded, blood and guts blowing out his chest and caking Wrex in it. With the body thoroughly dismembered and having no more use as a shield, Wrex threw it and rushed towards cover.

He fired his pistol towards Jacobus and quickly ducked behind the CIC platform, even as a shot grazed him along his hump as he took cover. How that bastard was able to carry and use a damn Claymore boggled the mind, you needed some pretty good augments to handle the recoil of that thing. You had to have the strength of a Krogan to hold and use that thing, or you would end up shattering every bone in your arms with the first shot.

"Come on out Wrex! I'm going to paint my ship with your insides!" Jacobus yelled out.

"Keep dreaming moron!" Wrex barked back, raising his rifle over the edge and blind firing in the bastard's direction.

A Claymore may be a shotgun, but it had some surprisingly good range to it: even if he was over twenty feet away, that scattershot would tear through his armor and hide easily. The fact he survived a near pointblank shot, even with a living shield with armor himself, he was lucky he hadn't been taken out by it. He had to handle this fast since it was only a matter of time before the rest of his goons showed up. Sad to say, but the time it took to realize that was all the time he had- the doorway opened on the opposite side of the Command Information Centre. Three Turians stepped out, all with their guns raised and ready to fire.

Wrex wracked his brain to figure something out. With Jacobus just around the corner of the CIC and these idiots on the other side, he was surrounded. He recalled a few things about this ships design and what kind of things you don't want to do when something happens. It was why he knew to blow out that conduit along the wall- there was no real protective plating along it to prevent a rupture from being contained. He glanced up, looking at a ceiling, the curved roof bent inwards at the middle between the CIC and outer wall.

Corners cut were corners that could cut your own throat.

He grabbed an explosive charge and threw it at that curvature, the disk hit its mark and exploding spectacularly. Jacobus gave a shout as the ceiling collapsed, power conduits falling from it and sparking wildly. Those types of structural designs were always weak, they held up when pressure was forced down on it, but when blown up from the inside they crumbled.

Jacobus was likely half buried under power conduits and ship plating right now, and if he wasn't already crushed then he would be dealing with highly volatile powerlines. With the biggest threat dealt with, Wrex turned to the other three, who had been quite reluctant to come around to where he was crouching to stay hello.

Rising up, he fired his Shotgun, blowing one apart in a shower of gore. Wrex shoulder charged through him and, with a biotic encased fist, nearly decapitated the guy behind him. Releasing that biotic energy Wrex tossed the third and final merc into the wall, before executing via shotgun to the head, plastering his brains across half a meter of steel.

With that out of the way, Wrex believed he had dealt with all the crew, until he heard a familiar shotgun being cocked. It looked like his hopes that Jacobus had been crushed electrocuted had be wishful thinking. A shotgun blast he couldn't react to tore through his shoulder and arm, his own shotgun falling from his grasp as he abruptly lost most of his motor control. With a hiss he turned to glare at the attacker: Jacobus was singed but otherwise unharmed. Slippery bastard didn't know when to kick the bucket, but neither did Wrex. The Korgan dove back towards the CIC, but not before he threw another charge around towards the roof and trying to bring it down on top of the Turian.

"Won't happen again you bastard!" Jacobus said, firing towards Wrex as he crashed into cover. "I am going to murder you slowly! You hear me? I will blow your fucking useless quad off and make you lick the splatter off the floor!"

Those were some colorful threats, but Wrex didn't have time to waist trying to be witty and thinking of a retort. His shotgun was out of his hands, too far away to retrieve without being blasted to pieces, and his other weapons wouldn't do the job quick enough to murder that Turian before he could get off another shot.

"Wonder if this will work." Wrex mused, drawing his brand new Sniper Rifle, courtesy of Jasox.

In these close quarters and with no real room to get it lined up, he would probably end up dead- if he used it in the traditional sense, that is. He looked to the far wall, one where he knew there were some conduit lines running behind there. But since it was ahead of him he knew that rupturing the damn thing was a bad idea, no, he was more interested in the plating that was covering it.

Jacobus wasn't going to give him much time, so he lined up a few shots and started firing. Blowing off the clamp bolts that held the plating to the wall, a few more shots and the thing finally collapsed onto the floor. But by then Jacobus had whipped around the corner and was taking aim. Wrex leaped aside, avoiding the first shot that tore through apart the steel plated floor where he was crouched like cheap plaster. He rolled back up and used his Biotics to pull that armor plate towards him, bringing it in front of him just as another shot went off. The pellets dented the metal, nearly tearing right through it despite the reinforcement.

"Were you trying to rupture that conduit?" Jacobus said, sounding like he wanted to bark out a sarcastic laugh. "You idiot! When one conduit is rupture on a deck the rest shut off! Why do you think that little trick with the roof didn't fry me?"

"Wasn't what I was going for actually." Wrex intoned, readying his Sniper Rifle.

"Then hiding behind that piece of scrap won't save you!" Jacobus said, pumping his shotgun.

"Not from you, no." Wrex replied, aiming his weapon around the shield and started firing.

The next four shots were quick and fired in a general direction, only stopping as his gun sent off an alarm when it overheated. But instead of pained screams or dying gurgling there was a laugh, obnoxious to his ears.

"What was that? You didn't even aim!" Jacobus yelled.

"Wasn't aiming for you asshole." Tossing aside the rifle and grasping the metal plate with all his might, he dug his feet in.

Wrex would have loved to see the look on that bastards face when he realized where he was shooting, but he had to imagine that he was shocked when the dark energy started to build up, and the Drive Core threatened to rupture. Wrex braced himself.

It didn't do him much good.

He was catapulted off the ground and slammed into the wall, the plate he was holding digging into his body as the explosion of dark energy and force nearly crushed him. But after a few seconds it abated with a thunderclap of returning air. He feel to the floor, bruised and hurting, but otherwise alive.

Looking up he found the entire room had been warped and melted by the energies, which was to be expected from out of control dark energy. It warped the space and gravity around it, and the rising temperatures due to the core caused things to melt and disintegrate. Even the metal plate he had been behind that was designed to protect against those energies had warped and was ruined. The bodies…. well, the less said about what was left of those, the better.

"Idiot. I wasn't aiming for the channel, I was aiming for the dam." Wrex muttering, looking at the smoldering and warped Claymore on the ground.

The thing about these Predator Frigates, was that they were quick and easy to build and often cut a few corners. One being the exposed conduits that run along the outside of the room, and the next best thing was that the Drive Core was located just beneath the CIC. And as shown, protective plating doesn't hold up well to high velocity rounds. A few shots with a sniper rifle and that core would rupture spectacularly. Granted, that probably hadn't come up in safety testing, but the results spoke for themselves.

It would leave behind nothing but warped metal, and piles of ashes.

Ignoring the destruction he had wrought, he looked for the nearest working terminal. It wasn't easy to do when you blew out conduits and actually ruptured the ship's Drive Core, but he managed all the same. The helm's terminal was still at least functioning, which was all he needed thanks to the programs he had, courtesy of Barla Von.

"There you are." Wrex growled as he finally had a location.

Now to ground this piece of shit ship permanently.

"Hey, Barla Von, got a lead on Fist." Wrex said, pulling out a few charges and dropping them down through the large hole in the middle of room.

The Drive Core may be damaged, but there was enough eezo still inside there to go off and take this ship out completely.

"Excellent… be sure to get there quickly… those detectives are likely not going to do well… considering they are going against an Asari Commando…" Barla Von replied.

Wrex expected as much, since there wasn't much a couple of C-Sec mooks could do about a Commando. They would probably get their asses handed right back to them and be a couple more bodies to be cleaned up within a few minutes. But that was their problem to deal with, he had his mark and he was going to find Fist and murder him. Turning around, he thumbed the detonation trigger as he strolled out of the ship.

"I'll be dealing with Fist soon, keep me updated if shit starts to hit the fan." Wrex replied, turning off the radio and detonating the charges.

The ship exploded behind him, showering the dock with debris and smoldering metal. Wrex ignored the pyrotechnics as he stepped onto the loading elevator and took it down, slipping away from the chaos he had created with ease. Fist was within his sights and he was going right for him.

---

Upper Zakera Ward

Garrus and Chellick had been searching for leads on their missing Quarian for the better part of an hour yet had absolutely no results to show for it. They'd been wandering around a human dominated district for some time now, and the naked tribalism was really starting to grate on Garrus' nerves by the fifth time he was told to 'fuck off'. But he didn't dare push, not when it was dangerous to be a different species, and he had little doubt that he was being ignored instead of harassed simply because of his position. Honestly, this was the Council's fault, their little crusade to 'put humans in their place' had just led to the entire species circling up to protect itself from the threats it felt were pressing in from all sides. And it wasn't like they were just being delusional and paranoid- the rise in hate crimes against humans was staggering.

He didn't want to go into the politics of it all, but this entire debacle had done damage in more than just Alliance Space. The only good thing that has come from this was that humans were more united than ever now that they had a common enemy. It was funny, in a sad way, when compared to the Council races that were splitting apart from the moral pressure as splinter groups demanded better treatment for the humans.

Now if only the in-group out-group mentality didn't seriously affect his ability to do his job. No one would willingly talk to him or answer his questions, not when C-sec was known to sometimes ignore calls from the more human-populated areas. Some of it was because of an actual threat to their officers, but most of it was the breeding racism. So it was no wonder why people didn't like talking to him or his colleague, not when they were guilty by association.

Garrus gave Chellick a hopeless shrug as his own attempt to talk ended with a loud swear and a fuming human. "That's the ninth person I've talked to and they gave me nothing but a few curses and something they hack up from the back of their throats."

"This is getting us nowhere." Chellick said.

"We have to keep looking." Garrus growled. Maybe speaking with some of the local C-Sec guards in the area might help.

It was hard to find any though, since C-Sec had a rather noticeable low percent of human guards that could safely patrol these streets. There were still some in service, but they were the ones that had been lucky to keep their jobs, and most of those were desk jockeys. The ones that stayed on were now working as damn patrolman in human controlled areas, but that didn't mean much when you yourself were just as reviled as any other human, like some sort of race-traitor. But it was worth a shot to at least try talking to one.

"What are the chances she's even still alive? A wound that bad in her side? She likely has either bled out or on the verge of going into shock from an infection." Chellick grumbled.

"We move under the assumption she's still alive; we don't stop looking until we find her." Garrus said. "If she was hiding, then we find out where she is."

"What if we don't find her alive?"

"…Then we do what we can when we get there."

"…All units report to the Upper Wards…!"

Garrus shut off the coms- the constant panic was starting to grate on his nerves even more than the search.

Word had gotten out about the Anomaly, or at least whispers were starting to spread across the station, threatening to ignite. Pallin was using all his resources to try and get the Citadel ready for a massive evacuation once the docs were prepped as best as they could. The Council had to be in near-hysterics since it was almost impossible to track him except for the random scuffles that he had gotten into with some bystanders causing trouble.

By the Spirits, Garrus was glad he wasn't on clean-up duty.

But now he had gone and vanished again with that superspeed some twenty minutes ago. Which was the equivalent of losing an entire stockpile of nukes, so whoever had been in charge of tracking him must have been sweating bullets. Pallin was massing C-Sec for some valiant effort to save the Citadel, and Garrus was concerned he might actually try rallying every single officer together to actually try and fight the Anomaly. That was utter suicide. There may be two hundred thousand officers on this station, but that meant nothing shy of a nuke could even unbalance the think you were targeting.

"Sounds like he's going to the heart of the Citadel, you think he is after the Council?" Chellick inquired.

"What if he is? What are we going to do about it?" Garrus asked. Even if the Anomaly was back on the radar it wasn't Garrus' issue: either the station would explode or it wouldn't, and he would keep on with his life until he reached the end.

Besides, maybe he should just jump on the fanatic train and declare these things gods. Because if they were, and one was here to exact righteous vengeance for the treatment of their servants/worshipers/children, then they probably wouldn't blow up the Citadel and needlessly kill a who bunch of them. No one could stand up to any of the Anomalies, so you might as well get out of the way and work on picking up the pieces instead of dying needlessly.

"Officers, I may have a lead for you…" Barla Von's voice suddenly crackled to life over the coms, catching Garrus' and Chellick's attention.

"What do you have?" Garrus quickly asked.

"A location, recently a contact on the Citadel sent a message to Fist… regarding the Quarian, she was being treated at her clinic… in the Upper Wards…"

"Where?" Garrus shouted, if Fist had been contact than that Clinic would likely be already crawling with people.

"Eastern district, sixth floor commercial district, the clinic is owned by a Doctor Chloe Michel's." Barla Von replied. "I advise you hurry… this communication came in a few minutes after the fact…"

Garrus and Chellick were already running- they had a destination and they had to get to it as soon as possible. That Quarian was dead if they didn't reach that clinic, along with their chances of figuring out what those mercs were after. It could be massive, detailing a possible conspiracy that involved the Council's best Spectre, and they had a job to find out what it is. For once luck was on their side as they were already in the Upper Wards, saving them precious minutes as they shoved past humans without a care.

Just like many of the other stall around the borders of the Upper districts, the clinic was vandalized, graffiti and burn marks from possible arson attacks painting its sides. The holographic interface showed that it was locked down despite it being the middle of the day.

A very bad sign.

"Get ready." Garrus said, overriding the doors and opening it.

Both moved in low and quiet, and immediately they heard the low threatening words of some woman, "Where is the Quarian, I do not have time to interrogate you!"

"I don't know! I treated her and she went on her way. Please let me go! I didn't do anything!"

That second and very panicked voice cut off with a gasping gurgle that Garrus recognized as strangulation.

Garrus quickly pulled the scope from his sniper rifle, and slowly moved it around the corner. His personal interface allowing him to see what was around the corner, and he saw the back of someone's legs. Quickly realizing that it was a Turian, not a human as the other mercs, the mystery seemed to thicken. From what Barla Von said, Fist had lost all his alien allies, bailing on him as prejudices started to rise. Further in the back were five more people, three Turians (one who was choking a helpless doctor) and a dangerous looking Asari decked in military issue black armor.

"Five hostiles, four in the back room. One has the doctor." Garrus whispered. "Stay low, move on my signal."

Garrus slowly crept around the back of the reception desk and behind a merc that had strayed from the group- likely to watch the door but now slacking on his job to watch the show. Quickly stepping forward, he snaked his hand around his neck, jamming his gun into his side and dragged him off into an enclosed cubical.

"If you don't tell me, I will flay more of your skin off! Do not test my patience, it is the only thing stopping me from…" The Asari started, before stopping. "What is it?"

Garrus quickly choked the suspect into unconsciousness, laying him down onto the ground.

"Where's Sertus?" Someone said, likely one of the other mercs.

There was a moment of silence between the mercs as they became hyperaware while Garrus held his breath. He knew they didn't think their buddy just took off to take a leak, he was missing and that had them on edge. If he was alone he would be in trouble, but he wasn't, so when that guy came around to the reception desk to see him inside the cubicle, his partner acted.

Chellick reached over the reception desk, grabbed the guy by the rim of his neck guard and dragged him over the table like something out of a horror movie. That, and the resulting thunk of a heavy rifle meeting a skull, got the rest of their attention. The other two came charging up to try and figure out who had done it, and Garrus scoffed, readying his gun. These guys may be mercs, but they were as dumb as they were green- they didn't check their corners properly and it was Garrus' job to teach them cost of their mistakes.

As they turned their guns over the desk, Garrus rushed them and clubbed the first guy in the back of the head with his pistol. He slumped forward, and his friend tried to turn his weapon, only for it to be seized and to be used to push him into the far wall. Garrus held him there, placing his pistol against his stomach and unloaded until the barriers broke and he had a few holes in his gut.

That left only the Asari, who was the only one not dumb enough to blindly charge an unknown enemy. She had seen their hand and was ready for Garrus when he tried to point his gun at here, biotic energy crackling in her hand. The Turian dove away just as a wave of energy passed, flattening the dying merc under its might.

Rolling back to his feet, Garrus and Chellick raised their pistols and took aim just in time for the Asari to round the corner, another wave of energy exploding free from her fingers. The reception desk upended and flew at their heads at deadly speeds, nearly decapitating Chellick as he ducked low.

'She is not going to go easy, is she?' Garrus thought.

He turned back, and, to his surprise she, was right in front of him already with unnatural speed. He tried to pull the trigger, but with deft swiftness she pushed his gun to the side. Her follow up strikes were biotically empowered and almost tore through his protection, driving the breath from his lungs and nearly breaking his jaw.

"Dammit!" Garrus cursed, staggering into the wall.

As he pushed off and tried to turn she slammed into his back, pinning him against the wall and slammed his arm against it until he dropped his pistol. With that done, she pulled him back and tossed him to the floor, leaving him prone and at her mercy. The pistol in her hand was ready to end him, until she looked up, and saw Chellick aiming his own weapon.

She shot at Chellick a dozen times in half as many seconds, popping his shields and forcing the pistol out of his hands.

With the gun gone and her own overheated, she threw herself at Chellick like a rabid animal. Chellick swung and missed by a mile, and she ducked in his guard, smashing her elbow into the side of his face. A three-hit combo followed to his stomach and face, dropping the Turian to his knees.

This woman was damn good and there was no way she was just some normal merc. She had to have special training, Special Forces or something, maybe even a damn Commando.

"Garrus!" Chellick yelled, calling for help.

Garrus didn't wait, coming in fast and able to slug her across the face, and giving his buddy a moment to get back to his feet. She staggered away and he had to keep himself on his feet, dizzy from being thrown around so much. But he now stood there his partner stood beside him, and hopefully this time the both of them could fight together rather than getting their asses handed to them one by one.

"She hits hard." Chellick said, staggering a little.

"That's because she's probably a Commando."

"Great, just my luck I get dragged into something like this. Thanks, Garrus."

"Well, you can't complain this isn't interesting." Garrus quipped, taking in a few breathes as he tried to keep himself steady.

The Asari didn't move a muscle, instead only kept a stoic expression in spite of the bruises blooming across her face. It was worrying how…stoic she was, refusing to say a word. She was all business, all danger.

"Let's take her out." Garrus said.

Both he and Chellick charged her at the same time, bringing their fists up for what was to be a very painful ass-kicking. Sadly, it didn't go quite as planned, because it didn't take two seconds before she already had them on the defensive. A fist met Garrus' face that he hadn't even seen sent him stumbling away. Chellick didn't fair much better, missing entirely as she sidestepped him and elbowed Garrus' face when he turned back towards her. His partner tried to retaliate, but the stars cleared from Garrus' eyes just in time to see the other take a stunning right hook to the jaw.

Jumping back in, Garrus grabbed her from behind, wrapping his arms around her torso and trying to keep the Asari immobilized.

"Chellick! Get over here!" Garrus yelled, struggling to keep this Commando from escaping.

Especially when she slammed the back of her head into the front of his repeatedly until he tasted blood. Chellick was up and taking a swing, a few pot shots at her gut and then he tried for her face. He shouldn't have given her even a second to recover because the wretched to the side suddenly, and Garrus ended up taking a fist to the face.

"Dammit Chellick!" Garrus cursed.

His grip loosened, and she attacked. Garrus wasn't sure what happened, but next thing he knew Chellick was on the floor and she had hit him so many times that his vision was doubling worryingly. She tossed him into Chellick and then threw both against a wall with a flash of biotics. Garrus propped himself against the wall, he could barely feel anything at the moment, almost completely out of it.

"How are we doing Chellick?" Garrus asked, slurring a little.

"Not so good, got any plans to get us out of this?" Chellick replied, groaning as he tried to stand back up, failing every attempt to rise.

"No… not really."

She raised her retrieved shotgun, and it looked like he was going to be the first to go.

He never expected it to end like this. Oh sure, he knew he was mostly likely to die in the line of duty, but like this? He hadn't achieved anything, not anything significant despite his best efforts. Yet he was going to be gunned down like a crippled varren.

The Asari jerked forward, grasping at her neck weakly. She stumbled, drunkenly, ad tried to turn her gun on the sudden attacker…only to fall without any ceremony or fuss. Behind her, terrified and wielding an injector like a knife, was Doctor Michel.

Of all the things to happen, two C-Sec detectives being saved by a tiny clinic doctor was probably only slightly less strange than the Anomaly that fell from the heavens.

"Hey, look… we're gonna live." Garrus said, letting out a pained laugh.

"Great…"

"Hey! Stay awake. You have a concussion, just give me a minute."

That must have been the doctor, but Garrus was having trouble doing that. Well, until something stabbed into his arm and his reflexes demanded he pull whatever it was out. Not that he could properly move, so he just ended up weakly spasming in a way that was perfect for agitating his wounds.

"That… really hurts." Garrus groaned, yes, he groaned and was most certainly not whining. That was undignified.

"Sorry, but it'll bring down the swelling and also help with the concussion. Just give me a few minutes to help. Last thing I want is the people who saved me getting a brain injury." Michel said.

That would certainly be bad, so maybe for the next few minutes he would just sit back and rest. He wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, so why not listen to the good doctor and do nothing? With the day he was having, he couldn't exactly find it in himself to complain or protest: A god on the station, a conspiracy involving a Council Spectre, and an information leak that had even the Shadow Broker sweating?

All in a day's work he supposed. But the only thing he could think about was just how good the meds kicking in were.

---

Zakera Ward

"I wasn't told because they knew I would make a fuss?" Ichigo asked, letting out an indignant huff. "I can't really blame them, because right now, I'm seriously pissed off. After everything I just said, after all of that and even you won't budge?"

Ichigo gritted his teeth and controlled his tempter as best as he could. He had spent the last few minutes with Urahara discussing just exactly what the hell was wrong with the world right now. He had given the man a clear account of what happened on Eden Prime and his own suspicions, and he was told to keep maintain the status quo? Bullshit.

"We felt that not telling you was probably for best for all parties involved. We didn't want you to go off and do any more harm than you already have." Urahara replied, trying to be airy like usual, but even Ichigo could hear the way he was trying to pacify him. Manipulation, diplomacy, they were both basically the same, and because of that, he could tell when the older man was trying to artfully skirt around Ichigo's biggest point.

"That right? Maybe the fact the entire fucking station is tearing itself apart at the seams didn't register to the Captains. How about the glaring fact that it was us that caused this mess in the first place?" Ichigo said and steamrolled over Urahara's attempt at a counter. No, he wouldn't let this man sidetrack him anymore, "And don't go pointing your finger at me here, I'm just one of dozens of sightings that have been happening for a while now. I might have been the catalyst with Elysium, but I'm sure and shit not the only one to blame. This day was going to happen the moment humans started stepping off-world and we had to adapt, and you know it."

Ichigo knew his actions on Elysium had been the turning point for when everything started to go to hell for the System Alliance and even the Council. But he had just sped up the slow process of humans slowly but surely collecting information about them as their technology evolved farther and farther. Someone would eventually discover spiritual energy and figure out how to measure it, and it would have been a runaway reaction from there that Shinigami couldn't overcome. Mayuri predicted it, Urahara predicted it, fucking everyone predicted it would happen with the way they were going about things.

"But there would have been less bad press for everyone if no one had seen just how dangerous we are. You may not be fully to blame, but a good share of it does rest on your shoulders." Urahara replied, his tone brokering no argument on his statement.

"I've gotten that lecture enough times already, and I get it. But we both know that we're missing a major problem here. We're," Ichigo gestured broadly, and it was clear he meant the entire Soul Society, "not taking this seriously enough. We're not owning up to our mistakes and fixing them, and most of all, we're not acting because of some old, outdated rules that don't even matter at this point!"

How long has the Soul Society kept their business out of the World of the Living, even though they were so tightly entwined? Thousands of years they had made executive decisions to better the Soul Society and protect that precarious balance. They made hard but needed decisions that had forced them to manipulate the World of the Living directly and interfered daily against the Hollows. But when it comes to actually fixing the problems they caused with their harsh hand and unyielding policies, they turned away. Maybe because it was on some level they thought that all they could do was break the fragile and mortal creatures, but those days were long past.

The different races were at humanity's throat and were unwilling to let go, even as they hurt themselves in the process. It was anarchy in all but name, and no one was doing anything, no actions had been taken in the last half decade to try and fix things. It wasn't settling like it should have but instead getting worse, building and swelling like an infection poisoning the very blood of the galaxy: Just what were the monsters that so resembled humanity? As long as they remained a mystery that doubt and fear wasn't going to go away, and it would keep eating at the foundations under their feet until they all fell.

Perhaps they knew and realized that and just didn't care or want to acknowledge it. Change was scary to normal people, so they didn't want to tell him and have him drag the entire society kicking and screaming into the modern world. It would be painful, it wouldn't be pretty, but once Ichigo got any sort of momentum going he was an unstoppable force, and Soul Society wasn't even close to being an unbreakable or even unmovable object.

"What I want to know…is why you didn't tell me?" Ichigo asked, eyes narrowing.

"I just told you: The Captains thought that…"

"Not them. Why didn't you tell me?" Ichigo glared hard glaring hard at Kisuke, and he was pleased to see that he was hesitating to answer. "I want an answer, Kisuke."

The shopkeeper was silent for a while, looking out over the city that was slowly unraveling beneath him. It took some time, but he finally let out a long sigh and, after a moment, removed his hat so he could look Ichigo in the eyes.

"I knew that as soon as you found out you would charge off to solve the problem whether anyone wanted you to or not. But I also knew this would only cause further problems." Kisuke started, slow and careful, "The Alliance and Council are at each other's throats and have let things only get this bad out of pure spite. If you came charging down and did what you always do, you would only incite them to push back even harder. I didn't tell you because, as bad as this is, it would be much worse if we started making demands."

Ichigo glared at him, his eyes narrowing. He had gotten his answer, but he wasn't surprised or even angry about it, just…disappointed. The response was just as he expected it to be. It only irked him that it came from Urahara, the one person he expected out of all people to understand his point of view.

"You really have that little faith in me?" Ichigo asked. He didn't wait for an answered and instead turned with a scoff. He should have gotten Zangetsu back already.

Ever since he had become a Captain he was getting shit left and right from people. Suddenly he couldn't do anything right just because he didn't worship the very idea of the archaic laws that ran the Soul Society. But by all accounts, his own father had been just as much of a pain in the ass as he was being now, the only difference was he didn't chase women around or laze about. And apparently taking charge was a problem.

Shinigami may not change much over the centuries, growing comfortable and complacent in their positions, but he wasn't just a Shinigami. He grew up as a human and he remembered his life fondly where he, and all other humans, had to push forward and do something with their too-short lives. Time had changed him, tempered his blade and restraint as he grew wise and calmed down a bit once the world was finally at peace, even if that human spirit refused to leave him. It was insulting that Kisuke was treating him like he was that same brash fifteen-year-old kid who didn't know what he was getting into and was hopelessly in over his head.

Everyone thought he was the same and that he couldn't change simply because they themselves took a hundred or more years to grow at all.

"It's not about faith, it's about what…" Kisuke started, but Ichigo was already on the war path.

"I know what it's about- you guys have been complaining about it to me for decades now. It is about my sentimentality towards humanity, my humanity." Ichigo replied.

Shinigami were, fundamentally, not humans. They may have once been human, but they had lost their bodies and ties to the mortal world. It was engrained into recruits at their academy that they should not hold attachments to humans with their short lives, and that duty came before all else. If they wanted to help the mortals, then they should focus on slaying Hollows instead of protecting individuals, for the whole was more important than the parts. That didn't always work, after all Kisuke was never a good Captain in terms of how he mingled with the troops and neither was Yoruichi if she willingly gave up everything to save two friends when, by all accounts, she should have captured and potentially executed them herself.

That was the thing about the Gotei, about the Soul Society itself in some ways; it was all about giving up personal and human attachments and dedicating oneself fully to the cause they served. To preserving the balance.

But Ichigo never gave up on his humanity, his human nature to not let an injustice stand or to allow innocent people to get hurt when he could stop it. He would sacrifice his blood and body to protect everyone he cared for, to turn his back on his desire to protect those around him and focus solely on the defense of the balance- it went against everything he knew.

"Ichigo, that sentiment is probably the one thing I respect about you, you know. Some call it being stubborn, but I know it is more than that. If it wasn't, you would have died a long time ago." Kisuke said, following after Ichigo as he approached the edge of the building. "You have the strength of will to see any obstacle and opposition overcome, regardless of the odds. But this is no battle, this is a theater that is not fought blade or fist, but with words and charisma. You need to step back and let things play out as they should."

"No." Ichigo replied. "With everything I told you about Eden Prime, about that Beacon, the vision, and the fact War was there, you're still going to sit there and do nothing?"

"We cannot do anything. The World of the Living is not…"

"I am not going to sit back and let a goddamn galactic war erupt because some traditionalists think that they shouldn't mingle with the lowly mortals!" Ichigo shouted back, his temper was starting to flare and he was truthfully on the verge of actually lashing out at the man. "Of all the people I know, I thought you would be the one to actually want to do something."

That seemed to catch Urahara's attention, a perplexed look on his face betrayed his cluelessness on the subject and his connection to it.

"Just because I lived in the World of the Living for a century doesn't mean I love it and want to see it prosper or anything like that… I didn't really set up that candy store to make money, you know. In fact, the only time I ever made a profit in these last two hundred and fifty years is when I started selling Shinigami merchandise." Urahara replied with a halfhearted shrug.

"…I'm surprised you still don't seem to get it."

Ichigo was disappointed. Of all the people he knew, he felt like Urahara would have been the one who could actually sympathize with him. But perhaps, like always, it was the Soul Society that he cared for. The two of them were polar opposites superficially, but deep down they both shared a very defining trait. One that, when Ichigo came to realize it, was probably the reason why, despite Urahara's penchant to annoy him and do stupid things, that he respected the man.

They both cared about the wellbeing of their home. It was just a matter of which world they considered 'home'.

It was the only chasm that prevented them from having true common ground to let them work together. In the past he hadn't really had his own thoughts and feelings that couldn't be directed, and so he had been directed by Urahara into dangerous fights that just so happened to both endanger the Soul Society and his hometown. It might have been manipulative, but it was still a mutually beneficial deal. After so many years working together Ichigo had hoped that there would be…more between them. That there would be some sense of comradery that would give Urahara reason to help him, even if it wouldn't directly benefit the other man. a mutual thing, but after so many years working together, Ichigo had hoped that there would be some leeway on his part.

But, like all things, it could all be boiled down to one thought that echoed in Ichigo's head bitterly as he leapt off the roof.

'All for the good of the Soul Society.'