A/N: This will probably be the last chapter for a short while. Updates are likely to slow down again as a result of life getting a bit more hectic, which is unfortunate. Still, I have no intention of abandoning this story, so I'll continue to send out chapters whenever I can.

Reviews:

AnarionRising27: I'll try to keep them coming. I hope you have a great year!

Etain-SheWolfOfThePicts: I can't tell you that, I'm afraid. Need to keep any spoilers to myself!

seabo76: Thank you. The next chapter is here. Stick around for more!

Chapter 12: The Calm

The conditions had been very reasonable, all things considered, Kasumi thought to herself as she piloted the batarian ship to their destination. The ugly but functional craft, painted in black and grey, gliding silently through the void of space. Keeping an eye out for any sign of trouble, the thief allowed herself to reflect on what she had promised the other two occupants of the ship half a day prior.

Firstly, she had agreed that she wouldn't steal anything belonging to either Shaela or Rassen. In fact, she had even gone so far as to agree to not steal anything from anyone while they were helping her. It was probably a testament to just how worried she was about Shepard that Kasumi had accepted that demand, given that her tendency towards kleptomania tended to kick in within hours of inactivity. In truth, that was one of the issues she had been forced to deal with on board the Normandy during the mission to stop the Collectors. Having to remain confined to the ship for long periods of time, since Shepard had a tendency to bring only two people with him at once, had often meant there were week-long periods where she had to find her own entertainment.

That hadn't been a problem whenever they had docked with the Citadel, but when in remote areas, it had proven maddening. It had only got worse as they drew closer and closer to the inevitable trip to the Omega 4 Relay, since the Commander had, for some unexplained reason, stopped picking her to go with him as often as he once did. That was not to say she had been his most frequent choice. Garrus had enjoyed that distinction, often making sure to mention it to the rest of the crew with his trademark sarcastic sense of humour.

The second term had been that while both Rassen and Shaela understood her need for urgency, they had insisted that they should at least notify anyone who could help them. Both had also insisted that they rest for a short period, hence why they were not already at their destination. When she had tried to protest, the two of them had explained that while they both agreed the three of them needed to get Shepard free as soon as possible, all three of them were exhausted and they might not be able to find a way to rescue him that they could pull off on their own. She had eventually agreed, having sent Liara a message explaining the entire situation and asking her to send whatever help she could. Shaela had muttered something about her family and an asari matriarch, and had likewise sent a request of her own.

The final condition had been that the three of them needed to come up with a plan. They had examined the previous locations the ship had visited and come up with the most likely one where they could find more answers. When she had seen it, Kasumi had almost laughed in disbelief.

Aratoht, in the Bahak System.

The planet as it had once been no longer existed. The destruction of the Alpha Relay had resulted in a massive explosion, the biggest she had ever seen. They had all thought that the entire system had been destroyed.

Apparently that hadn't been the case.

Aratoht and its fellow planets had been blown to pieces, many of which had been instantly vaporised. A number of those chunks had survived though, drifting aimlessly through space as asteroids. The ship she, Rassen and Shaela were on had visited the largest surviving part of Aratoht multiple times, according to the ship's log she had continued looking at after accepting the latter two's terms, in fact spending the longest amount of time there compared with any other destination. The implication was clear; the batarians, presumably with the Mandalorians, were based there, meaning that Shepard was probably being held somewhere nearby, possibly even in the same facility. If so, that was a mistake. Kasumi couldn't help smirking slightly at the thought. Having Shep close enough to keep an eye on him was smart. Having him close enough to keep an eye on and then him finding an opportunity to escape meant you ended up dead.

The plan so far was for the three of them to head directly to the coordinates provided by the ship's log. Though she had thought the mass relay in the system itself had been completely destroyed, the log claimed it was still part of the relay network, though how that could be the case Kasumi hadn't a clue, given the scale of the explosion. That was something they would clearly find out more about when they got there. Rassen had continued to examine the datapad and had found that identification would be required before they would be allowed within a certain range. This would be twofold; the ship's profile had to match one of the ones on record and they had to be able to successfully answer a security question of some kind. The first was already sorted, since they were currently flying a batarian ship which they knew had already gone there. As a side note, she didn't like the name. Bo'slaak. Still, they had the ship, which was much more important than any problems she had with the previous owner's taste in names.

The second would give them more trouble, since the datapad held no indication of what the question could be. Assuming they answered it successfully though, they would request permission to land, and she would then leave the ship to scout out whatever facility the batarians and Mandalorians had. Once she had found what they needed, they would attempt to break Shepard out if he was there and it was possible, or if not, they would have to wait for help to arrive. Kasumi hoped it wouldn't come to that though. Still, even she had to admit that while she was good, sneaking out with Shepard would be much more difficult than simply sneaking in by herself. There was a contingency plan though, just in case they had a good opportunity to free the Commander but she couldn't do it alone or ran into trouble. Unsurprisingly, she and the person who had come up with it thought it was a good idea, but the third among them had not.

She had spent more than twenty minutes arguing with Rassen and Shaela, explaining that she was fine and would be ready to infiltrate whatever base there was as soon as they arrived. Neither had been keen on letting her go off alone, and both had initially tried to dissuade her. After she had managed to convince them that it was the best course of action, one of the couple had put forward a suggestion.

Kasumi watched Rassen as the latter nodded slowly, clearly beginning to accept her proposal. The slight frown on his face though, gave away that the Jedi was not happy about it. Before she could open her mouth to assuage his fears as best she could, he spoke first.

"Very well," he relented. "I agree with you, Kasumi. If you say you have done this sort of thing hundreds of times, I believe you. I do have one concern, however."

She frowned, sitting up more in her chair. The two of them were currently seated opposite one another, in the room behind the cockpit of the ship, which seemed to double both as a mess hall and armoury, though there weren't as many weapons as was probably normal. Presumably the batarians needed them elsewhere. "Go on," she ventured, glad he had finally relented but still slightly suspicious.

"During an inspection of this ship's supplies before you regained consciousness, I discovered that there is a suit of Mandalorian armour in storage," Rassen elaborated, "and it appears to have been measured for someone relatively tall. Chances are that it might fit me."

Naturally, the implication had not gone down well with the quarian piloting the ship, who had been contributing to the conversation through the open door of the cockpit. Eventually however, she and Rassen had managed to convince Shaela that of all the means they currently had at their disposal, the Jedi being on standby would be the best backup plan. Shaela herself could not leave the ship, being unable to pass as a batarian or even a Mandalorian, since the armour would not fit her. She had therefore very begrudgingly agreed to remain on the ship and support them from a distance. Kasumi had promised to provide the means for her to do so.

As well as Rassen wearing the armour so he could be there should she need him, his plan also had the benefit of reducing the suspiciousness of their arrival. It would look very bizarre if they were to land and no one appeared to leave the ship. That meant that once they landed, he would disembark in the spare armour, claiming the other crew of the ship were currently being decontaminated, having somehow encountered a dangerous pathogen that could survive Watchman's lethal conditions. Rassen would still try to remain near the ship, diverting anyone who approached it in order to buy her the time she needed to find out everything she could. Kasumi hoped she wouldn't need any help and could get Shepard out without any complications if he was indeed there. Still, knowing help would be available certainly felt… nice. When she stopped and thought about it, she hadn't really worked with anyone since the Normandy SR-2. The Crucible didn't count; she had made a point not to get too close to anyone while contributing to the project.

Kasumi sighed slightly as she angled the ship towards the system's relay, Watchman now little more than a small orb behind them. Hopefully this time they would not have to worry about being shot down. There was no obvious reason for concern, given that the batarians were unlikely to simply fire on one of their own ships for the sake of it. Anyway, examining the ship more closely had revealed to her that it was almost certainly the same one that had shot them down earlier, meaning there was no reason to believe another batarian ship was somewhere in the immediate vicinity. Furthermore, since it hadn't even been a day since they had been shot down, chances were that the batarians and Mandalorians had no idea one of their vessels had been stolen. The odds of them being fired on again were non-existent but Kasumi couldn't help but feel a small amount of worry. Being shot at while on a ship was never a fun experience.

A sudden feeling of faintness caused her to blink sluggishly several times, and the ship around her seemed to spin for a moment before stopping. Kasumi shook her head in frustration at the sensation. Despite Rassen's earlier concern, she had insisted on flying the ship to Aratoht. She needed to be doing something and flying was a productive activity. This was the first serious sign since waking up that she wasn't at her best though, which caused a stab of frustration. She needed to keep her head in the game, if the people holding Shepard were to suspect anything was out of the ordinary… that didn't bear thinking about.

Both of them knew Shaela wanted to ask him something.

Rassen remained where he was as he felt the quarian's frustration continue to mount. The Jedi breathed in deeply through his nose before exhaling through his mouth, posture straight as he knelt on the floor of the small storage room, each of the lights above him on but barely providing any illumination. Shaela was currently watching him; he could practically feel those silver eyes, wide with concern. He knew her so well despite all of the time they had been apart, seen the look of anxiousness when he had provided only minimal detail to Kasumi about what had occurred to him over the last few years. A large part of him wanted to tell her, knew he should tell her. A larger part didn't want her to worry about him, to risk something going wrong in the near future. The obvious counter was that she would worry about him regardless, so why not tell her?

Because he was afraid that she would more worried actually knowing what had happened than she would be if he kept silent.

"Rassen?" Her voice gently pushed his thoughts aside, the interruption of his meditation somehow both frustrating and welcome at the same time. "Rassen, we need to talk."

He nodded slowly, opening his eyes to see the quarian sitting opposite him, cross-legged instead of kneeling. That had been one of the obvious signs she knew something was wrong. He had been expecting her to ask him to continue teaching her about the Force ever since they had been reunited, and now was a perfect opportunity; they had a few hours, even if that was only a little time. Instead, he had sensed her sit down opposite him and give no indication she desired to learn at the moment.

"Of course," he replied. "What would you like to talk about, Shaela?"

The quarian seemed unsure of herself as she looked round the room, eyes moving over metal containers filled with cheap rations before replying. A small smile worked its way onto his face despite the seriousness of what he knew she was about to ask. Years later, she was still the same person she had been when they had been separated.

Shaela returned her gaze to his own, shifting slightly in position in that way that was so typically her. After a minute or so of silence, she went straight to the heart of the issue, but not in the way he expected. "You've been different," she paused, and he knew she had seen him tense almost imperceptibly. "Over the last few days, I mean."

Rassen sighed slightly before replying. "It has been a trying few days for all of us, Shaela. I'm sorry if I have worried you. But any difference in my behaviour has been the result of the strain we are all under."

The quarian nodded slowly, light-blue visor catching the dim overhead light. "That would make sense," she said gently, "but that's not actually it, is it?"

"What do you want me to say?"

Shaela moved closer, firmly wrapping her arms round him. "I've seen you under immense pressure before," she whispered, mouthpiece near his ear. "Back when we were worrying about Zaressh. It was never as bad as this though."

"Like I said, I'm sorry to have worried you," he whispered back, his own voice having dropped to match hers. He felt her arms tighten as he returned the gesture. The tension in her muscles was palpable.

"Rassen," Shaela's voice was pleading now. "I know that something happened to you during the last few years." He was about to reply, but the quarian pushed on before he could. "If you don't want to tell me about it," Shaela said hurriedly, "that's fine. Just… Just remember that I'm always here when you need me, okay?"

Rassen was very glad she could not see his face. "I know, Shaela," he whispered. "But again, you do not need to worry."

The sorrow in her voice very nearly caused him to tell her everything. "Okay," she breathed sadly. He was about to try and reassure her again but then Kasumi's voice reached them from the ship's intercom.

"We're just coming up on the mass relay. We'll be in the Bahak system at any moment."

Rassen slowly pulled away from Shaela, finding himself unable to look the quarian in the eye. "I need to change into the Mandalorian armour," he muttered. He quickly stood, nodding in response to the quarian's whispered acknowledgment before leaving her alone in the small room.

The armour was substantially heavier than he was used to, even though he had not yet donned the helmet. Kasumi had spent less than five minutes alone with it when he had first told her his suggestion, before triumphantly announcing she had installed a small communicator. This, she claimed, would allow him to speak to both her and Shaela without arousing the same suspicion as having an active omni-tool out. The thief herself claimed she did not need one, something about the trademark orange glow being easy to conceal if you knew what you were doing.

Rassen rose to his feet from where he had been sitting in thought. He then detached his lightsaber from the belt that was a part of the armour set, slowly lifting the unignited weapon, noticing how the motion was fractionally but still noticeably more difficult than normal. He mimed swinging the weapon diagonally through an enemy, the heavy plates of blue and white armour fortunately not cumbersome enough to prevent him from executing the move as normal. Also fortunate was that the suit was a standard Mandalorian set, rather than one like the commandos had worn on Watchman. The blue and white sets were much more common, meaning he was less likely to attract attention. Commandos were less numerous than regular Mandalorians, meaning that if he were wearing one of their suits, someone was more likely to realise he was an imposter.

The Jedi nodded to himself in satisfaction before glancing at the black and steel-coloured cylinder in his hand, approval quickly vanishing. There had been a rather serious flaw with his contingency plan, and he was looking right at it.

Mandalorians did not normally carry a lightsaber. On the rare occasion they did, it was as a trophy.

The commando leader had made it clear that his people knew at least one Jedi was at large, though they likely believed there was more than just one. If he brought the lightsaber with him, then he would attract all sorts of attention. While he could indeed claim it was a memento taken from a Jedi, that would only lead to the question of why a standard Mandalorian had been allowed to keep the weapon, while none of the half a dozen commandos had claimed it for themselves. Furthermore, the suit he currently wore was of the same design as the one worn by the Mandalorian he had found with the batarians aboard the ship, meaning he had presumably been ordered to stay there and ensure the batarians did not leave the commando squad behind on Watchman, having conveniently 'forgotten' about them. Passing for the one standard Mandalorian who had been on the ship would be difficult if he kept his lightsaber.

As well as a blaster pistol he had also found in storage, there were two pouches on the belt, but neither was large enough to house his lightsaber. If he wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible by passing for a blue and white armoured Mandalorian, there were only two choices.

Firstly, he could leave it on the ship. Doing so would separate him from the weapon he was most comfortable with, if he needed to move away from the craft for whatever reason. It would also separate him from his best defence against both blaster and even mass accelerator fire. In an ideal world, Kasumi would find out where Shepard was, and if it turned out he was indeed nearby, find a way to get him to the ship without attracting any suspicion. That seemed unlikely though, and he would probably have to do something, even if it was only distracting some guards, in order to enable Kasumi to bring Shepard onto the ship. If he was forced to fight, which was certainly a possibility, then it would be foolish not to have his best weapon close at hand.

The second option was simple; give it to Kasumi.

In the event that something went wrong and the thief needed help, the armour would likely fool anyone he encountered on his way to her, provided of course he did nothing to draw attention to himself. Once he had reached her, Kasumi could then hand over the lightsaber if they needed to fight, sufficiently boosting their chances of making it out alive.

As he had told Shaela; that Kasumi was a thief did not entirely sit well with him. Still, he did not doubt her desire to save the man their enemies held captive, which meant he could see no reason why she would try to sabotage any rescue attempt by refusing to hand over his lightsaber if he needed it. Of the two options, the second definitely seemed to be the best one.

He felt the arrival of another person before he saw them, causing him to glance over to his right. No one appeared to be there, but he knew that was not really the case. Rassen allowed himself to smile slightly, the expression visible to the cloaked woman, since he felt a stab of frustrated confusion from her. He found himself unable to prevent a small amount of mirth from rising up when he sensed that.

"Hello, Kasumi," he smirked. "Are we almost there?"

The air seemed to shimmer, the now familiar black and grey bodysuit appearing as Kasumi pouted slightly at him. "How did you do that?" She demanded. "If I'm slipping then I need to know, particularly considering that the answer to your question is yes."

Rassen finally managed to change his look of amusement into a knowing glance. "I was considering our current situation," he explained, "which meant I was thinking about you, actually. Given that my thoughts were not too distracted, I was able to tell you were coming."

Kasumi whistled in appreciation. "Wish I could do that. Think you could teach me if we get the time some point in the future?"

"That is unlikely. I do not sense any Force-sensitivity from you. To my knowledge, Shaela is the only inhabitant of this galaxy who can use the Force. Even then, that is because of the accidental Force bond between us we mentioned to you during our discussion earlier. "

"Hmm." The thief looked a little put out but quickly turned serious. "Shaela is bringing us up to the asteroid. We'll probably receive an incoming call any second now."

Rassen nodded, picking up the helmet from where he had left it sitting off to one side. "We should join her," he said. "The batarians and Mandalorians will probably pick up that something is wrong if they realise a quarian is on one of their ships."

Kasumi began to leave, only to turn back as a thought seemed to occur to her. "I know Shaela is a bit… unsure about me," she ventured, "so I might be imagining it, but she seems upset about something." The thief shrugged. "Did she seem sad about anything to you?"

The reminder seemed to twist a knife through his stomach. "We discussed something… difficult," he explained lamely.

"Ah." He could tell Kasumi was interested and was silently grateful the woman across from him did not press for more information. After a moment, she changed the subject back to what it had been before. "So… are we going?"

Rassen nodded again. "After you, Miss Goto."

"Well, there's Aratoht… or whatever's left of it." Kasumi had retaken the controls from Shaela once they had reached her, the other woman gently guiding the ship towards their destination. Ahead of them lay a large asteroid, the rock a dark brown overall but with large sections that had been scorched black from the explosion of the Alpha Relay when Shepard had destroyed it. The thief had examined the relay itself when they had emerged from it to find it intact, telling him that someone called Admiral Hackett had pushed for many other ones to be repaired after the war with the Reapers had ended. Clearly, though, that the one they had used was functional was the batarians' doing. Moments later, Kasumi spoke again. "We have an incoming call; you want to take it, big guy?"

Rassen slid the helmet onto his head, obscuring his features behind the thick metal and T-shaped black visor. "Admittedly no," he replied, voice coming out harsher than normal as a result of the vocabulator built into the area in front of his mouth. "Though of the occupants of this ship, I am the most likely to pass for a Mandalorian."

Kasumi turned her head round to glare at him slightly. "You could have just said yes," she frowned. At his shrug, she turned back to the controls, fingers moving swiftly across them. "I'm connecting the call… now."

A voice came from the interface in front of the thief, a hint of distortion present in the Mandalorian's voice. Rassen nodded slowly. That was a good start; the helmet he wore would help him to sound like a Mandalorian. If a batarian had contacted them then it would have been much more difficult to convince them nothing was amiss.

"Bo'slaak, this is control. Your ship has been successfully identified. Are you ready to receive the security question?"

Rassen glanced at both Shaela and Kasumi, who were looking back at him. He returned his attention to the person on the other end of the conversation. "We are ready," he replied, doing his best to keep his accent to a minimum. While his voice lacked some of the cultured edge it had possessed several years ago, on account of his time exploring so many parts of his own galaxy in an effort to find a way back to this one, it was still noticeable. A Mandalorian might be able to pick up on it, which would set alarm bells ringing.

"It will only be asked once." The voice went silent for a moment in order to ensure it had their attention. "Who is most responsible for saving our legacy after the events of the Mandalorian Wars centuries ago?"

He could feel the tension in the room skyrocket. Kasumi was already preparing to turn the ship round just in case, despite her desire to save the man possibly held on the asteroid they were currently looking at. Shaela had begun to shift her weight nervously from one leg to another, her nervous tic reappearing. Neither of them knew the answer, which of course was the point of making the question that one. Only a Mandalorian would know the answer to a question about the Mandalorians themselves, or a group that had been told would, like the batarians.

Or someone who had spent years of their life studying in temples. Someone who had spent a great deal of time examining different cultures and history, among other things.

Someone like a Jedi.

Rassen took a moment to consider the question. One name leapt to mind, one name truly fit as the answer. As the tension mounted, he spoke, keeping his voice clear and free of any doubt.

"Mandalore the Preserver."

There was a moment of silence, and for one terrible moment, he feared he had got it wrong. Then the other voice returned, the tone now more friendly than before.

"Acknowledged. Proceed to Hanger D3 immediately. Someone will be through to meet you shortly."

Everyone in the room seemed to take a deep breath at the same moment, the tension returning to more acceptable levels. "Affirmative," Rassen said. "Heading to Hanger D3 now." The person at the other end severed the line. He turned to Kasumi who nodded, familiar small smile present as she began to guide the ship towards Aratoht once more.

"You had me worried there, big guy. Don't do that again, okay?"

Rassen stood next to Kasumi at the still closed loading ramp, the two of them waiting for a moment before opening it. Shaela was currently in the cockpit. As planned, the quarian would monitor things from there, letting them know if there were any signs of trouble. Kasumi had someone managed to give her access to all of the security cameras within the facility within moments of their landing, claiming the system they were tied to was "child's play" to infiltrate. He glanced over at the thief, who was almost as pale as she had been immediately after her injury. "Nervous?" He asked gently.

She jumped slightly, that he caught her off-guard instantly proving just how on edge she was. "Normally I wouldn't be," Kasumi replied. "But normally I'm not trying to save people I care about." Her gaze fell to the floor. There was obviously history there, but Rassen chose not to ask about it. Kasumi needed to remain focused, they could not afford for him to distract her.

"Here," he muttered, holding his lightsaber out to her. At her surprised glance, he elaborated. "I have no way of hiding it from sight. If any Mandalorians spot it, they will be instantly suspicious. Hopefully there will be no trouble but should anything go wrong, chances are that we will have to meet up. You can conceal this on your person until then, at which point you can give it back."

Kasumi nodded slowly as she took the lightsaber from him before smirking slightly. "I'm a little unsure how to feel, Ras. Normally when I see something interesting I have to take it rather than wait for it to be offered."

Rassen crossed his arms, total seriousness present in his voice. "Look after that," he said. "I am more proficient with that than any firearm; not having it with me puts us at a disadvantage if a fight should occur."

The thief nodded again; though this time he could tell she was more serious herself, even though her tone remained light. "You've got it, Ras. I'll keep your magic glow-stick safe.

May the Force give me strength.

"One last thing," Kasumi raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Rassen gave her another serious look; though he had the distinct impression she saw that this one was not quite as sincere. "Please do not call me 'Ras.' It does not suit me."

"Is 'big guy' okay?"

"I can tolerate it."

"Heh, understood."

He nodded towards the still-raised ramp. "Ready?" He asked her, genuinely serious once more. He saw Kasumi square her jaw before nodding determinedly. She vanished from sight a moment later.

"Ready."

Rassen turned to the control panel and prepared to lower the ramp, a saying he had never actually used before but always found inspiring rising to the forefront of his mind.

"May the Force be with us."