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Troll in the Reviews-

Still suffering from review trolls. Ignore 'em though your kind words are always welcome to counter them.

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"We board and pass through to collect Subject Zero." Shepard explained once her team had assembled in the Normandy' airlock, linked directly to Purgatory by a long, stressingly thin and lightly armored docking arm. The kind often used by older stations like these, which often left her feeling more than a little put out and anxious. Whatever the case, they had work to see to. "No complications, no interaction with the guards, nothing. In and out with the package, hopefully without any trouble."

"Got it, Commander." Garrus, always trusty and ready to come with her, grunted. A click and hum followed and, voice muffled for armored metal, he murmured, "Hopefully these specific idiots don't recognize me…"

"Or me." Zaeed laughed, scratching at the old scar that made up much of his face. "Though, doubt any o' these are any o' my old boys."

"They didn't recognize you on Omega, they won't here." Shepard assured him, hefting her Mattock meaningfully. A gift from Garrus, it and the heavy barrel on its end, to let her keep her sharp-eyed edge even in close combat. "If they do, then I can try this out."

"And the darker shade of blue and helmet should hide your identity, friend Garrus. I doubt the paint was even required, but it is a fine safety net to use before going on a mission." Penny assured the older men, clapping excitedly behind her. "Oh I cannot wait! Though I wish best friend Pyrrha were able to accompany us..."

"Doc Chakwas wants to make sure that leg heals up fine." Shepard lied smoothly, "And I'm not going to wait for her. Normally, time is money. Now? Time is lives, for us."

"I know, Commander. I know." Penny assured her, sounding genuinely saddened in a way an artificial person shouldn't. Or an indoctrinated one...

"Trust but verify, Jane." She reminded herself as the airlock slid open in front of her, stale and faintly rank air wafting in from the prison. "Especially with Reapers and the Geth involved."

"Behind me, Polendina. I lead, you follow." She ordered quietly as, excitedly, Penny started to edge ahead of her and into the boarding arm.

"I-I know, Commander!" She nodded, eyes bright and bouncing on her heels innocently. "I just… Wanted to get a peek into the prison. I have never been inside of one before!"

"It's a prison ship, Penny. Cells, walls and lights, exactly the same as a planet-side one, except this one floats." Shepard noted drily, though she couldn't help but smile at the girl - real or not - when she smiled slightly and nodded, still clearly excited and smiling infectiously.

Thankfully, her helmet hid her face, and so she only had to affect the proper tone to keep the discipline in her words.

"Come on, then." She ordered, not missing how Penny perked up as she stepped by, "Let's get on with it."

At the end of the thin, dreadfully spindly walkway suspended in the docking arm they found another airlock door. It opened at their approach and they stepped through, into a small entryway with only one exit. A heavy, armored bulkhead, made as much to protect the further halls and decks from an atmospheric breach at the airlock as to keep escaping prisoners from finding an easy way onto a docked ship. Seven Blue Suns mercenaries waited there, weapons out and ready and reminding her readily of Zaeed's presence. As they formed up to meet them so did her team, stood below the landing that the mercenaries were on.

Zaeed, smart man that he was, didn't make a move once he stepped up beside him. At least, aside from very slowly, pointedly flicking his safety off.

"Commander Shepard?" She nodded and the Turian, her own face hidden by armored metal and impact resistant glass, ordered, "Helmet off. I'm to verify your identity before you head on."

"Is this really something we need to-"

"Yes, Commander, we do." The Turian grunted, the four mercenaries to either side of and behind her turning slightly in case they needed to raise their rifles. Hearing them, or the actions all as rote as her voice made it sound, she raised a hand to calm them. "Releasing Subject Zero is dangerous, Commander. More dangerous than starting a fight with you, if you're the real you. Which is all we want to know."

"Fine." She sighed, turning and handing her rifle off to Penny, her hands empty for her unique armaments. Pulling her helmet off she stepped forward, "Get this over with, then. And if you try anything, my team will make you wish you hadn't."

"I'm sure." The Turian nodded, Vindicator hanging by her side while the Omni-Tool on her other arm scanned her. Up and down it scanned, just under a dozen times before the Turian nodded and stepped back. More respectfully, the Turian spoke, "You're verified now, Commander. I'm sorry for the inconvenience but with stakes like these… She could rip Purgatory apart. You know?"

"I know." She lied, thankful for the mask of her helmet as it slipped on again. In truth, she knew only the scant details Cerberus had forwarded to her. Taking her rifle back she sighed, "Well, let's go, then. I haven't got all day to waste around here. Unless you need a fingerprint or something, too?"

"No, Ma'am, no fingerprints." She shook her head, "Just your weapons."

"Yeah…" Shepard laughed and shook her head, using the movement to glance to each rifleman to either side of her. Garrus sighed, but she ignored him, turning back to the Turian guard and answering, "That's not happening, mercenary. So sorry. My friend, here, see he's got this..."

"Allergy." Zaeed grunted, "Bit allergic to handin' my rifle off to no-name mercs runnin' a slavin' barge."

"It's a prison ship, not a-"

"And I'm an Asari." Garrus cut in, rolling his shoulders to mask the slight raising of his rifle. None missed it, though, and her gaze snapped between the suddenly anxious guards as he went on. "You have any idea how many slaving rings I've seen that tracked back to this ship? And others like it, of course."

"Listen to me, all of you." She sighed, taking a breath and lifting her rifle, letting it sit back against her shoulder, muzzle towards the roof, while the mercenaries turned their attention on her. A flick of her hand ordered her fellows to relax and space out at the same time, Penny slower to copy but following suit swiftly enough. "There's four of us, and more of you in this room alone. Are you honestly telling me the Blue Suns can't handle three well armed soldiers and one girl on a simple pick-up?"

"I have my orders…"

"Yes, and those orders are about to lose you a deal. And me my package." Another lie, but the Turian stiffened tellingly. Either knowing the lie and the Shepard shaped threat behind it, or believing the lie and fearing her superior's ire for it. "So, bend the rules. Or don't. But stop wasting my time and either make it interesting, or send me on my way."

"Fine." The Turian sighed, shaking her head and running her talons over her helmet's front. "Weapons on your back, though. I'll let you pass here. The warden might try and take them, though."

"Works for me." She smiled, almost hoping the man would try that with them deep enough in the ship for them to be able to fight without breaching the ship's hull integrity.

Through the door a pair of Human mercenaries waited who, silently, turned to lead them through the central halls of the old ark-ship. More heavy bulkheads spaced out along a hall that stretched to either side of them, but they didn't go that way. Instead, they went in, through the great round passageway that dominated the ship's spine. It seemed they'd been ordered to dock at the main dock, as she'd expected from its placement on the spine and the tight fit.

It hadn't been meant for even a ship as relatively small and narrow-keeled as the Normandy was.

"Wait here, Ma'am." One of the mercenaries ordered quietly, "Warden Kuril will be here shortly and he'll see you through."

"Normandy, warm up the point defense lasers." She ordered quietly as the soldiers left, leaving her team standing in a crossroads of identical halls deep in the ship. Her helmet sealed against her voice breaking free, she continued, "Wait for my mark, though. If trouble starts, rip the docking arm off to pull away if you need to. We can use the shuttle to embark."

"Aye, Ma'am."

Strictly speaking, the prison's escorts had enough tonnage and firepower to outfight the Normandy. Light scout ship that it was, even Purgatory itself should have been able to keep it at bay. Its kinetic batteries and barriers were simply too light, designed for reconnaissance and only equipped for basic, emergency defence. But in the adept hands of EDI's predictive algorithms and Joker's piloting skills, the little ship could and would punch well above its weight class.

"Commander Shepard, I presume." The typical, almost vibrating voice of a Turian pulled her attention from her own thoughts. The slightest bit larger than other Turians and more heavily armored as though to match, the warden approached them without a care in the world or guards, confident in his position in the center of the prison.

"You presume correctly." And loudly, too, his voice carrying up and down the halls to who knew how many guards. And so, after Korlus and Omega both, her secret could be very well assumed to be out… "This is Garrus, Mason and Penny. Warden Kuril, no?"

"Correct." His eyes landed on their weapons and she saw them narrow, mandibles flicking slightly in displeasure. Then, curiosity, his head cocking to the side as he looked to their apparently youngest forth. Curious enough to ask, he gave Shepard a look, "All but her refused to disarm?"

"Warden, she is probably the most heavily armed of all of us." Penny flushed and Shepard actually laughed, the sound barking out before she could contain it. Both for the little joke and for the truth behind it, knowing the kind of damage her strange energy blasts could do. "Please, Warden," she prompted, before he could press for an explanation Shepard would refuse to give, "we have business to see to."

"Right." Kuril nodded, "That we do, Commander. If you would just follow me."

With a curt, cautiously optimistic nod, Shepard bade her team to follow the Turian.

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Penny knew something was wrong when the warden left them, citing an incident elsewhere on the station he wanted to handle. That and the overly-staffed halls they were guided through, deep into the station's heart, she had suspected something untoward. From the way the Commander had been looking around, and how tightly she held her rifle, she imagined the woman was of the same suspicion. But Penny remembered, Shepard led and Penny followed, and so she stayed quiet.

Though she made sure her strings were straight and ready to pull her blades free at a moment's notice.

Still, the halls were interesting, to say the least. Alien mercenaries of every species bar Volus and Elcor patrolled the halls and filled the cells they meandered by. Through the windows she could see down into wide working and communal sections adjoining the spine they walked through, separated by the windows and sealed bulkheads. A nice, secure path for the guards to patrol and watch for trouble. She didn't like the 'venting troublemakers' aspect, of course, but these were dangerous criminals.

If she ever returned, she would love to tell Father about everything she'd seen. Even this, as unfortunately, tragically necessary as she'd been told it was.

"I'm sorry, Commander." The unsurprising words came as the door to the cell slid open, the foursome turning with tired, resigned sighs as machines filed in the door they themselves had come through. "Thawing Jack out of stasis is just too dangerous for Purgatory. And frankly, I'll get more out of you than Cerberus was willing to pay for her anyway."

"And my team?" Shepard asked, motioning her two more regular fighters forward and into cover behind one of the metal half-walls that broke up the space. "What happens to them, Kuril?"

"Your ship is surrounded, but your team will live." He assured the woman, sounding genuinely hopeful that she would stand down. Penny of course knew Shepard wouldn't. How could she consider it when they knew they could tear through the droids sent to capture them? "I'm sure they have family for ransom, or credits to buy their own way out. And if not, well… The Batarians are always in need of labor and pretty young women."

"That's not happening, Kuril." Shepard answered coolly, as though not having five sets of weapons trained on them from across the room. "And this is your only chance to hand over Jack, get paid, and live to see tomorrow. Neither I or Cerberus are enemies you want to make, Kuril. Be smart about this."

"Threatening me? Now?" The Warden laughed, a harsh and fake sound even to Penny's untrained ears. "Lock down the decks. Neutralize the Commander and her team. Bonuses will be paid for each one brought in alive."

"Yeah, figured that would be your answer…" Shepard sighed, "Penny?"

"Yes, Ma'am?" The woman gave her a look through her helmet, shoulders sagging and head cocked to the side, and Penny blinked her realization. "Oh! You wish me to clear the room with my energy blasters, yes?"

"...Yes, Penny." The woman nodded, ignoring Zaeed's amused little snort as the machines began to lumber toward them, closing the distance for their less accurate weapons. And, probably, since they weren't firing back yet and their programming dictated so. "If you would please do that, it would be appreciated."

"Of course!" She smiled, turning and flicking her hands to either side.

Her swords sprang free above her and, smiling, she stamped a foot down and her hands up to bring them to heel above her. Curling her hands into points had her swords answer, two sets of several blades spinning to life as the droids began to fire on them, knowing at least that she was a threat. Her own weapons returned fire to far greater effect, melting through their torsos in short, concentrated bursts of energy. As they fell four more came through the door, their little rifles spraying inaccurate fire that did more damage to the walls than to any of them.

Each of them, too, fell in heaps of molten metal inside a few seconds.

"Commander, I am pleased to report my success!" She snapped a salute, smiling, and then winced as an energy blast slammed into the ceiling. Blinking, she tried, "I believe there was an enemy on the ceiling, Ma'am! Hic!"

"Did you just…"

"I recommend we proceed to rescue Jack, Ma'am!" She answered, ignoring Zaeed pointedly. "Preferably before more enemies arrive to attempt to capture us."

"Not a bad idea, Polendina." Shepard nodded, rolling her shoulders and raising her rifle as a blue-armored mercenary poked his head in the door to see how they were. The round caught the Human's helmet and he snapped back and away with a quiet, barely audible 'oof' sound. "Polendina front, take the hits as long as you can and deal with their mechanised units. Their armor can be annoying to deal with for us."

"But not for me." She nodded, knowing that this also meant she could avoid targeting any biological targets in their way. A kindness from the Commander, maybe? Or just an efficient usage of her energy blasts? Penny couldn't be sure. "I understand, Ma'am. Whenever you are ready."

Outside in the hall they found half a dozen droids arrayed in the open, with just as many mercenaries behind, using the support struts of the station for cover. The machines opened fire as soon as Penny was through, though to no avail. Rounds sparked off Aura as she knelt, arms stretched back and fingers splayed like the blades that hovered at the end of her fingers. So close she could feel the strings, coiling in the air beside her arm for the spare length in them, and the heat of her energy beams.

Using them like thrusters, she shot forward, flipping into the air so her feet could slam home in a Loki's chest, hard enough to hurl it back down the hall, smashing across the ground and into the wall. Using it as a springboard she leapt up, arms flicking forward as her feet scraped across the ceiling. Her swords answered her order, slamming into the necks and chests of another pair of mechs to either side of the spot left vacant by the first. As they fell, she yanked on her strings, pulling herself towards the ground and rolling on the metal decking, coming up on her knees.

The last three turned to her, prioritising the threat of the lost flank and the close enemy, but never got the chance to fire. Fists outstretched, she cut through each of them with short bursts of energy blaster fire that melted armor and seared the electronics under it. As they fell she stood, turning at the last second as footfalls charged her.

Surprised, the Turian was able to bowl her over and onto her back, sword strings going limp as her hands caught his by the wrists. Trying, and failing for her now useful strength, since his surprise had worn off, he tried to press his talons towards her throat. She looked to them, and then to his face, snarling behind his helmet.

"Are you trying to kill me?" She asked curiously, head cocked to the side. "I've not had many people try to, so I need to ask."

"Wha- Yes!" He snarled, shaking his head and sidling up so his knees rested to either side of her small chest, putting all of his considerable weight into pushing his talons into her. "What are you, you little bitch? How are you so strong?"

"Oh. Okay then." Raising her hips and digging her feet into the decking she smiled, fully ready for the move she'd been hoping to use ever since watching Friend Pyrrha spar with the Commander through Joker's recorded security footage. "And since you asked, I am Penny Polendina, Sir. And what I am is combat ready!"

"Wha-" Pushing off the floor she hooked her legs under the pits of his arms and over his shoulders, wrenching back as hard as she could.

Her monstrous, cybernetic strength involved, he was pulled back, eyes wide in surprise. He slammed into the metal decking hard enough she heard it, and him, groan from the impact. Kneeling on his chest she straightened and flicked her hands, calling her swords back to action and letting a blaster formation hover over his head. He looked to it and grimaced, lashing out with a hand that she allowed to spark uselessly across her chest.

In answer, she fired one burst with precision aim, cutting away a small chunk of his helmet and slagging the decking beneath. "Please do not resist, friend. I do not wish to hurt you."

"...Fine." He sighed, letting his head loll to the side and his arms flop on the ground beside them. "I tried, at least, and I yield now. No one can say anything against me."

"Nope." She smiled, standing as the others joined her, reloading their rifles and watching the Turian groan and sit up. Blinking, she turned and asked, smiling, "New friend, please, do you know where we need to go to release the person we came to get? I would appreciate it very much if you could help us."

Asking nicely was always the best way to get what you needed. Especially if you had floating energy blaster blades spinning over your shoulders when you did.

"Down there." He sighed, unafraid of being heard by anyone with all the others dead or dying around him. Standing, he explained quietly, a wary eye on her blasters, "Perry should be in there. He can unlock the cell and let her out, though… I don't recommend it."

"Why not?" Penny asked before she thought about it, turning an apologetic smile on the Commander.

"Why not?" The woman repeated with a sigh and a chuckle, "Answer the question and then get gone, Turian. And thank your Spirits we're so charitable."

"Gladly." The Turian nodded, pulling on his harness to readjust it on him. Probably because she'd made it shift, and he found it uncomfortable. Something she felt… Slightly bad for, at least. "She'll tear this station apart with or without your input on the matter. And if she sees your ship, she'll see Cerberus. She sees Cerberus, and you won't see anything but blue. She has a hatred for your bosses like the Krogan have a hatred for anything breathing."

"Let 'er rip it all down." Zaeed grumbled, hand patting his rifle affectionately. "We can use all the noise to kill that bastard Kuril."

"Fair enough." The Turian shrugged, half turning to leave and pausing, as though wary of being shot in the back. Smiling, Penny waved goodbye to the Turian and he shook his head, sighing, "Crazy damn Humans… Spirits preserve me, but you're all insane."

"Lead the way, Polendina."

Perry was not happy to see them, to say the least, his heavy pistol barking shots at them so accurately as to be useless. Penny crossed the room in short, simply strides, ignoring the shots that sparked off her Aura and batting aside his weapon with one of her own. It clattered away and she flicked her hands up, sword to his throat while she smiled and let her team file in behind her now that it was safe.

"Hello, new friend!" She cheered, "We would very much like you to release Subject Zero for us, if you don't mind."

"And if I do mind…?" The man asked quietly, pressed back into the console that overlooked the room by her blade. A mostly empty threat, though she knew he was unaware of the fact.

Why would he doubt the sword pressing against his throat?

"If you mind terribly then I will just have to insist." She answered simply, smile dipping slightly at the way his mouth flattened and his eyes hardened. Even she could see the denial, there, without needing to ask again. Instead, she stepped to the side, "Then I shall let Commander Shepard ask you for the third time. I do so hope you listen, before she gets… Rough with you."

"R-Rough?" Shepard, stood at Penny's side, very quietly checked the safety of her rifle in answer and the man paled. Suddenly even more anxious he turned, working at the controls animatedly, Penny finally letting her swords drift back to hang behind her while he worked. "F-Fine! I'll let her out! B-But it's on your head, whatever happens next!"

As he saw to his task, murmuring all the while aout how terrible he idea was, alarms began to sound. Below, the little pod hanging over the room lowered and a platform extended, steam hissing as the lot worked. Finally, after a long moment, steam hissed free of the pod and the door shot open, sizing for a heartbeat before sliding up and away.

"Oh!" Penny gasped as the woman fell down, "Subject Zero is a woman! A half-naked one, too."

"Wait, really?" Zaeed grumbled, stepping up on her other side while the woman staggered drunkenly. Turning for the door that, presumably, led down and into the room, Zaeed grumbled, "Bah, flat as a plate."

"What do you mean, flat as-"

"Her chest." Shepard explained simply, tapping her own armored breast indicatively and chuckling when Penny flushed. "How innocent are you, Polendina?"

"Woah, she's moving!" Garrus' voice cut her off, the entire room shuddering as something below was seemingly ripped to pieces. Shaking his head, the Turian filled in for her, "She just ripped a Ymir apart… A couple of 'em, from what it felt like. We should move, before she gets too far away."

"Right." Shepard nodded, waving Penny forward, "Front and center, Polendina. You know the drill."

"I do." She smiled though, idly, she wondered why the commander seemed so intent on having her take the front when Garrus was the more armored of them… Her Aura, she supposed, shrugging the curiosity off and moving for the door. It was no matter, really.

She had a new friend to capture. Rescue?

Both, she supposed, but a new friend nonetheless.

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So with this done, I hand the planning for the next chapter to you. The people. This mission, much like Korlus, will proceed almost wholly in a vanilla way with sprinkles of comedy and tweaks where I can fit 'em. So it will be treading almost entirely already known grounds.

On the other hand, I could simply skip to the end and move on to what would be the chapter after, where Automata will end. Or, well, where I plan for it to end. Might end up a two parter, but it really, really shouldn't.

So, an action packed but wholly unchanged, kind of boring, chapter or skip that and get to the MAIN PLOT. This is what I ask you.

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Lil Nightshade (Guest) :

Happy you're enjoying!

Ehhhh (Guest) :

Pyrrha spent multiple chapters getting through, as best she could, what happened. And there are plenty of changes made already, Garm being alive a good example of it. More will come, but Pyr and Penny are two people in a vast galaxy.

Also, I added Penny before V7 came out, so… Nothing I can do for it.

Gun Gun Missile (Guest) :

Yes, actually. As soon as I can get him in and not have Shepard want to delete him.

ZR Stein :

Right? Getting relations where THAT goes well is… Tricky.