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"Ah, Shepard. Finally, I get to see the genuine article with my own eyes." The blue-skinned Asari commented with a smile as she entered the private booth, Miranda just behind her. The second smile was just as false as the first when the Asari crime lord registered the woman's presence and attire, all diplomacy at the barest level. "I was starting to get worried you'd gotten lost somewhere along the way."

"No, I just felt some urgency in saving the good doctor, since there was a plague going on. You understand." Shepard gave her the same smile and, without waiting for an invitation, took a seat on the couch beside the door. Stretching an arm back along the back of the couch and reclining comfortably, she kept her smile steady and diplomatic, though her smile waned somewhat when Miranda didn't take the perhaps too subtly offered seat beside her, thus undermining the confident and relaxed aura she was trying to exude. "Sorry I didn't come see you first, though. I hope you weren't offended."

"Offended?" She raised a spined brow and smiled that same fake smile again, showing the barest hint of teeth as a threat, "Why would I be offended, Commander?"

"Because I went into a district in your station without coming to see you first." Better to confront the issue on her own time rather than let Aria snake her way into it. Safer by far, to be sure. "I figured it might offend you, but as I said-"

"Yes, yes, you were in a rush to save the goody two shoes doctor from his clinic. I heard you the first time." The Asari's scowl told the commander that her play had worked, ruining whatever game of leverage the self-made monarch had aimed for. A small victory for the Commander, then. "And the answer to your question? Mildly."

"Oh?" As expected, but she smiled and blinked owlishly in spite of that. "Well, I'm sorry I offended you."

"You are?"

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be sorry? It wasn't intended." She nodded, letting the Asari's eyes rove over her and shifting uncomfortably under the appraisal.

A liar would always try to sit perfectly still, but she knew better than that. Anyone would squirm under someone's appraisal, and those who didn't were putting on airs for one reason or another. And in this game, the most likely reason would be that Shepard was lying, and meant offense. And giving a tell like that, regardless of if Aria already suspected it or not, or even meant to believe it and remember it going forward, could sink her plans. And given the scale that this game would, or could, play into in the future such a loss wasn't something she was very willing to stomach.

"I mean it, Aria." She said quietly, not moving from where she sat on the couch but nodding her head regardless. "I didn't mean to offend you. I only wanted to guarantee that I managed to get Solus' aid. If you knew how important my mission was, you'd approve."

"Would I now?" The Asari smiled, and Shepard already knew she'd misstepped when she let her head recline on her couch. "Then maybe, just maybe, you ought to tell me what it is you're doing. And maybe, just maybe, it'll be worth it. Like you said."

"Commander-"

"Miranda, go outside and wait for our other additions." She ordered simply, giving the woman a hard look when she didn't immediately move. "Make sure they are armed and ready for whatever the next leg of our operations here entails."

"Yes, Ma'am." She finally nodded, turning on her heel and taking her ordered leave.

"Interesting, you working with Cerberus." Aria pointed out, turning her head to watch the woman make her way to, and through, the main entryway. Turning back to give the woman a look, a spined brow rose, "Especially after everything you uncovered back in the day. What on this side of the afterlife could possibly have motivated you to work with them of all people?"

"They… Saved my life, a while ago, when an op went south on me." The woman had a full body-scan of her, she knew, and if she compared it to older biometrics then she'd see the cybernetic replacements that she'd needed in her, er, repairs. "I met with the Illusive Man himself and he not only assured me those cells were break-aways, but provided records to prove it. And offered his unconditional funding and support if I stop the disappearances of Human colonies throughout the Terminus."

"I've heard about that particular problem." Aria nodded, "Fitting that Cerberus would step in since the Citadel and the Alliance don't seem to want to."

"Or can't, for whatever reasons, good or bad, that keep them from doing anything." The Citadel, she knew, was bound by treaties not to intervene. Add the diplomatic pressure of that being applied to the Alliance since they held a seat now and it made sense. "I don't know and don't care. I've been authorized to work with them to deal with this by the people that matter."

"Which are?"

"Classified." She shrugged, smiling apologetically at the scowl she received. "Technically, I wasn't even allowed to confirm I'm working with Cerberus. Or that I'm alive, for that matter, though with the profile of what this job will entail I suspect that won't be on the table for long, now."

"I would expect not." The Asari agreed, giving her a once over and smiling knowingly. "But I suppose the injuries you referred to explain the extensive cybernetics my body-scan from before found. Why, it almost seems you were rebuilt from the ground up."

"Nothing that extensive, don't worry about that." She lied, smiling through her teeth as she did and adding a short, harsh laugh for effect. "Cybernetics were needed to help accommodate some of my injuries and their complications, though. Extensively, like you said, but I'm still Duman deep down."

"Mhm." The Asari seemed convinced enough, or simply didn't care, and shrugged with her response to show it. "Any clues on who is making your colonies disappear, then? I would imagine so, if you are willing to work with Cerberus and they are willing to give you free rein with who knows what else. Not to mention your ship that looks like the Normandy, but is clearly larger…"

"The Collectors are the ones taking the colonies." She answered, hoping the Asari would abandon other, more troublesome lines of questioning. Or take the hint that Shepard wouldn't be answering them, at least. "We have witnesses, biological evidence, and a few other things I'm not allowed to disclose. I will say, though, that the reason I rushed to save Solus and make sure he survived is because they employ some sort of… Biological stun weapon."

"Stun weapon?"

"Insectoid, we believe." She answered, "And through some mechanism, they disable a person's ability to move. How exactly, we don't know. But our witness saw them and says they were bugs. They touch you and suddenly, you can't move."

"And you're stuck until they take you to the goddess knows where… For them to do goddess knows what to you." At her nod, even the Asari seemed… Not quite vindictive as most would be, but perturbed at least. Which was probably the best she could hope for from a likely centuries old crime lord. "Fine, fine, I forgive you for rushing off without coming to see me. Solus' brilliance is probably a needed factor in stopping that."

"Crucially." She answered seriously, "Without him, we probably wouldn't be able to develop a countermeasure. And without that, fighting the Collectors would be suicide."

"Yeah, I bet." She nodded, resting her chin on a palm and her elbow on the top of the couch. With a sigh, she nodded again and waved a hand over her shoulder, "I had a sky-car held aside and ordered the gangs to hold on attacking Archangel in earnest until they had the manpower to win. Go now, I'll order them to finish this nonsense, and you can break them and escape."

"You have that kind of power?"

"Shepard, listen, I know you're too much of a girl scout to know, but…" Aria leaned forward and smiled, all teeth and frantic energy. "The queen always gets what she wants, or heads roll. They'll do as I say because they know I'll kill them all if they don't."

"I see…" She stood then and nodded to the woman, half turning and adding, "Then I better get going. Before something happens to-"

"And Shepard?" Aria interrupted, standing herself and stalking across the little room they were in until the soldier was within reach. Gently, and without a care in the world for onlookers or Shepard's consent, she ran a hand down the side of Jane's face and smiled. "So pretty, especially for a soldier. And so soft, too. Would be such a shame…"

"What would be a shame?" She asked, disliking the scaled touch on her cheek but neither flinching or pulling away.

"You insulting my intelligence and assets ever again, and making an enemy out of me." She answered, hand sliding up to run fingers through her hair and then settle a palm on her shoulder. Still smiling, the woman finished with a simple, "Because you do it again, and I'll space you myself. And this time, even Cerberus won't be able to find you."

That sent a chill she couldn't quite hide, flinching now and blinking at the Asari's words. The woman only smiled, though, and turned to return to her seat.

"If you understand, then you can go. Now." The Asari's bright, pale eyes met hers over her shoulder and the woman cocked a hip, smiling confidently and exuding authority. "You play the game well, Commander. But I've known people like you for centuries. And you lost this round. Well played, though."

And like that, she could feel the game ending, and with her the loser for a rare time in her life. How she reacted, she was sure, would decide their relationship going forward. And whether they had one.

"I guess you called my bluff well enough, yeah." She nodded, knowing when she was beaten and being called out for it. "You still understand I won't volunteer information either way, though, I'm sure."

"I do."

"Then have a good day, Aria. And… Good game." Shepard nodded, turning and stepping out of the little room before Aria's laughter really registered. Taking in and letting out a deep breath, the commander shook her head and murmured, "Good game alright…"

She wasn't angry, though. Not even remotely. No, she relished meeting someone that thought and planned the way she did, and played the game so well. It would be fun playing the game with Aria, and a welcome distraction while she dealt with the Collectors, even if the alien woman was no less dangerous than the Collectors were.

"Did it go to plan then, Commander?" Miranda asked when she joined her, standing by the sky-cars and waiting on her commander and the rest of their unit. Smiling prettily, and pettily Shepard could tell, the woman added, "Seeing as you elected to boot me from the room, I imagine you handled Aria quite well without me, after all."

Shepard could only sigh her suffering at the question, and then soundly, and no doubt tellingly, ignore it entirely.

XxX-XxX-XxX

It didn't take long for the two Huntresses to find their way out of the slums and back to Afterlife proper, at the bridge between the poor and wealthy districts, as incredibly indistinct as that delineation tended to actually be. And regardless of her lack of license or authority to grant the title, she considered them both fully fledged since they had fairly fully died in the line of duty. Deifically aligned and allotted resurrections notwithstanding, of course. It took almost as long to push their way through the meandering crown trying to get back into the slums, though.

As though they could unloot their homes by rushing back… Still, she understood the sentiment, even as she knew how pointless the effort was. And how frustrating it was to her own efforts to go the opposite direction, through the rough traffic.

Still, closer to two hours after they left than one, she could feel the uncomfortably familiar heartbeat thrum of Afterlife. And the murmur of the bickering crowd and guards as the former tried to heckle their way in, and the latter tried to do their jobs. A couple who recognized her for her armor and bright, red ponytail raised hands in greetings, and the crowd followed suit for just long enough to realize she wasn't their ticket into the club. And not a moment beyond that, which was… Painfully typical, but not something she was about to express anything but apathy towards.

"There she is, Friend Pyrrha!" Penny said suddenly, grabbing her hand and tugging her along like a child, towards the parked sky-cars that the patrons - wannabe or otherwise - had used to get here. "That is Commander Shepard and a woman that was with her from before."

The former was… Well, essentially a carbon copy of the pictures Legion had shown her, and those she'd seen online, albeit somehow paler and with odd, almost luminescent scars around the edges of her face. Sleek, almost wiry but with enough muscle - and armor, of course - to not be quite wiry, but still less stocky or build than she was. More akin to Penny in build, really, now that she got a good look at the woman, albeit with longer legs and shorter, darker red hair. A stocky, long weapon rested on her back and, from Legion's own cache of weapons, she recognized it as a Mantis model. The orange and grey pistol, though, she recognized from Mordin as a Carnifex, his favored weapon due to the Krogan presence around his clinic.

Because one needed something to deal with heavily armored, thick Krogan hide, and Mordin didn't exactly have an Aura or Huntress training to let him keep up with them.

The other woman was both undeniably beautiful and undeniably less armed and armored, but stood still with a kind of confidence that itself urged caution from the Mistralian. Long raven hair, and a body built like a mix of Blake and Yang's, slipped into a tight white catsuit and, again like the duo, visibly rippling with lithe muscle and confidence in equal measure, but only carrying a couple small weapons. A Predator for one, she could tell, and something equally small on the other hip.

"That one's a Biotic..." She murmured, certain after her curious study of it after her… Mild defeat against the Krogan.

Still, not an enemy, she reminded herself she was half-heartedly resisting Penny's tugs, like a parent would a child. The redhead, Shepard she was certain, saw them in the corner of her vision and turned, pushing off the sky-car she'd been leaned against. Smiling politely, she opened her mouth to say hello, but lost that race handedly.

"Salutations, New Friend Shepard!" The little android cheered before Pyrrha could say anything, stopping next to the taller woman and beaming a smile. Offhandedly, as though she'd forgotten until that moment, she added a small, polite, "Hello, Miranda. How are you two doing?"

"Better now you're here." The more armored of the duo said with a wide smile, reaching out with a hand to ruffle the smaller woman's hair and turning a look on Pyrrha while Penny blushed and grinned, enjoying the simple affection. With that same smile, she asked, "And you must be Pyrrha Nikos. No?"

"In the flesh and iron, yes." She answered, resting a hand on her hip and watching Penny straighten as the woman stepped back, returning to leaning against the sky-car comfortably. "And you're Commander Shepard. Savior of the CItadel and all that. Yes?"

"The very same, in the flesh and willing to sign autographs if you ask me cutely enough." The woman nodded with a smile, gesturing with a hand at Miranda across from her. "This is Specialist Miranda Lawson, my… Contact, I guess that'd have to be the word for it, with Cerberus."

"Liaison." The woman corrected, offering a hand that Pyrrha shook and giving the android a small nod. "What do you know of Cerberus, Miss Nikos?"

"Not enough to have a real opinion, unfortunately." She shrugged, answering honestly and giving Penny a questioning look to ask if she did. When the girl only shrugged in the negative, the Mistralian turned back to her. "Enlighten us, if you don't mind terribly. And we have the time, of course."

"Of course!" The woman smiled, something glinting in her eyes that put Pyrrha off even before she started actually speaking. "Cerberus is, simply put, an organization dedicated to the preservation and advancement of Humanity in every way. Technologically, politically, economically, whatever the case."

"And the other races?" She asked, laying a hand on Penny's shoulder to keep her still while the young synthetic watched the crowd behind them and listened to their conversation. "What of, say, the Turians? Salarians?"

"We-"

"If you aren't a Human, they don't care to help you unless you have something on offer." Shepard answered, giving the raven-haired woman a look and frowning. "They have a one track, completely racist mind."

"One, the term would be speciesist, Commander." Miranda offered haughtily, arms folded and an unamused, cocky smile spreading over her too-perfect lips. "Two, you speak as though favoring your own race and culture over a literally alien one is odd. Or something you can't understand."

"Understanding is one thing." Shepard answered dryly, "Just like I understand how disgusting your blatant speciesism is."

"Spoken like someone that fails to understand that all races are the same in that respect." Miranda commented, sounding tired and bored of the topic already, but seemingly motivated to argue the point regardless. "Every species has its own government, after all. And every species' government cares about as much for those not of their own species as Cerberus does. Criticize if you like, but we are the norm, not the exception."

"Then the world is broken and needs to be fixed, if people like Cerberus represent the normal trend of policy making. And I'm not about-" Green eyes snapped to Pyrrha's own, suddenly, and the woman frowned. For a moment, she was silent, mouth gaping and unsure. Then it clicked closed and the woman sighed, "And I'm not about to have an ideological debate in front of two people I want to recruit. Souring them to an organization I'm working with? Not the brightest move."

"Nor is biting the hand that feeds you." Miranda pointed out coldly, a vicious sort of pitch to her voice that ate at the Mistralian's ears like acid laced along each word. "Be that funding for your mission, food in your belly, or your pulse. All offered and accepted with a Cerberus brand right on the tin."

"Are you done?" The more armored woman asked implacably, offering naught but a small, thin smile for the other woman. Miranda scowled, but didn't respond, and Shepard added coldly, "Because we have a job to do, and arguing about your morality, or lack thereof, isn't part of it. You want to bicker, you know where I sleep."

The woman didn't respond aside from a small huff and, a moment later, a smaller nod. Still, the commander waited and the two Huntresses with her, having watched the exchange curiously and watching now for the same reason. Both of them, she was sure in spite of Penny's ever-present, beaming smile of pure, undiluted joy, gauging their new acquaintances. And their new acquaintances' opinions on certain rather obtuse topics neither new well, as well as how they handled an argument.

Still, she couldn't shake the strange suspicion she felt, nor could she place it. Something just felt off… Synthetic, in a way similar to something she couldn't quite determine at the moment. But one that filled her with unease she had to push through, for the greater good of herself and those around her, Penny and Legion especially. To that end, she took a small breath to force herself to calm and stepped forward, partially between the woman but quite clearly stepping into their conversation.

"We're going to be working together, I understand?" She asked, giving the black and red armored woman a look, one brow raised in question. "You mentioned wanting to recruit us, to some mission I presume."

"If you agree?" She preambled, speaking cleanly and clearly, and looking between the three of them so she was sure they all knew she was referring to all of them. And not just speaking to Pyrrha herself, "Yes. We will. And in combat, or on actual operational field duties and not waiting at the sky-car, everyone will get along. But people on all sides of the fence are free and expected to speak their minds. Strength through diversity is a thing I believe in."

"Then please, tell us what you need right now. Then, we can actually decide if we want to be with you. Fight with you." Pyrrha asked gently, giving the two a look and a small, admittedly patronizing smile. She, of course, already knew she would go with Shepard if only to help Legion find them, and for what little the God of Darkness had revealed to her about the galaxy's grim future. "What missions do you have that you need us for? And as importantly if not moreso, why do you want us?"

"The second question is simple enough." Miranda was the one to answer, for once seeming to brim with some modicum of respect instead of derision and attitude. "It's hard not to hear of the woman that can go toe to toe with a Krogan Battlemaster in melee for the average person. Rumors have even reached the Citadel itself, for as little believe of it."

"Truly?"

"Word spreads fast and people like weird distractions." Shepard confirmed for her, smiling at a joke she quickly explained, "Some online conspiracists have even suggested you and I are the same person. Even though I would… Probably die if a Krogan punched me, Biotic or otherwise."

"So for an organization like Cerberus, you were an easy mark, though not one we were sure we wanted on such short notice." Miranda continued, playing off the commander oddly easily now the ice had thawed between them. It was, of course, replaced by work, but still. It was interesting. "As for our mission…? Well, that one is a bit more complicated."

"In the short term, we want to save a few million colonists and change from a race called the Collectors." Shepard went on, "Long term? Well, we want to save the whole goddamn galaxy from giant, sentient death machines from a hundred billion or more years ago. Starting here, on Omega, with saving one trapped Turian that's pissed off way too many gangs and mercs."

"A Turian going by the name 'Archangel' has been trapped by the three so-called 'great' mercenary bands. His team is said to be dead, though we don't know how, and so he is alone." Miranda explained, "In short order, they intend to begin an assault so that he may join his cohorts in the grave. Our aim is to infiltrate them, sabotage them however we may, and aid the Turian before that happens."

"Garrus is in trouble…?" She murmured, not missing the way the other redhead flinched, as though struck, but unable to process it for her momentary surprise. Blinking it away and shaking off her tremor of anxiety she set herself again and sighed. Even with their relative strangeness he had helped her and she owed him, and now… "If he's in trouble, then we need to hurry. He's not the most reserved of men, and I fear he will grow impatient with no hope of rescue."

"Did you say…" The woman murmured, stepping close and into her guard, bending down and letting her head hang to the side oddly. Like some kind of doll, it's strings not holding it right, but its eyes cold and demanding, red hair falling loose across her shoulders and face. "Garrus? Archangel is Garrus? As in Vakarian?"

"Yes." She answered, "I did. Garrus Vakarian. I… Assumed you knew that?"

"Blue armor, likes long-rifles, kind of an ass?" She asked, head still hanging and eyes unblinking and… Glowing almost ethereally, like a demon had slid into her body, using it like a suit and speaking to her through it.

"Yes." She confirmed, stepping back only for the Commander to follow her in the same breath, lock-step with her to an eerie extent. "He helped Le- A friend of mine and I. Put us into contact with a woman named Liara T'Soni."

"I see." The woman hesitated a moment and then straightened suddenly, like the doll's strings had been suddenly tugged taut and upright. Turning to Miranda, she grunted a simple, "Miranda, get in the sky-car. And get Jacob out here, with some ordinance. Satchels and program bypasses for the Sun mechs. You are to return to the ship and get Solus and the mercenary, and use the shuttle to get in position to blitz in when the mercs are broken, and evac Vakarian while I make sure the mercs don't stop running."

"I thought we wanted subtlety, Ma'am…"

"We did." The woman nodded, smiling wide and toothily, like a mad predator ready and relishing a coming hunt. "But some dumb motherfucker decided they'd go after my crew. And that particular dumb motherfucker gets to see that Shep's back, and she's not gonna let anyone hurt her people."

Pyrrha felt a shiver crawl up her spine at that, but couldn't argue with anything the woman was saying. Instead, she only nodded and, when Miranda called over the sky-car, crawled in and settled in for a ride. And after that, a fight.

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StuG :

Thanks! The character selection is on Espa, the Supporter behind this, but I'm glad you enjoyed where I went with stuff.

*I'm glad that you like my choice StuG. I wanted to see something that hadn't been done before to my knowledge.* -Espacole

TheDoctor1998 :

Honestly? I don't. Had I known about the Dolt Interception Missile (DIM) before, I probably would have just ignored it going into this story. Now, I just have no option but to.

Paragade Question (Guest) :

To be decided, but probably more Paragade if you know what I mean.

OmegaUltima :

The idea of a Krogan Hunter is… Intriguing, actually. Not for this, probably, but who knows where the writing world will lead me?

JapaneseOptics :

Glad you are so intrigued! I want to touch on as many of these as I can, but dunno how possible that will be. We shall see!

Helljumper 206 :

*casually takes picture of comment and moves on, whistling nonchalantly*

Steelrain66 :

I am contractually obligated not to confirm or deny spoilers! XD

*I'm the spark for the idea and even I don't know what's going to happen. Then again I like not knowing the full plan.* -Espacole