Ayita ignored the flaring pain in her back as she walked.

Cato was beside her, pointedly trying not to look at her sides. The Wool Poncho was great, but the shirt was not so good; It was old, degraded, and worst of all it was a white shirt which meant that it was practically see through.

She didn't begrudge Cato for it though since there was no way he could have known that; and he was clearly regretting it judging by the way he was trying not to look under her Poncho. In some ways she felt like the shirt made it worse because it just made it more obvious she wasn't wearing anything underneath.

The Poncho at least kept her warm and covered; and the hood did a great job at hiding her face.

The two of them entered the big room where everyone else was lazing about. According to her internal clock, Ayita had been asleep for about six hours; meaning that everyone was at least somewhat rested.

Wincing again, she snuck her uninjured hand under her shirt and rubbed her back.

The Poncho hid the action from everyone else, but Cato noticed and tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

"My back hurts if I move certain ways" She admitted; "And I think I twinged my lower back muscles too, but I'm not sure."

Cato flashed her a look of concern, "Is it something that's long term?" He asked.

She gave him a tiny smile; though her face was almost entirely hidden in shadows from the hood of the Poncho. The others could only see her chin, the tip of her nose, a little bit of her hair, and her glowing Emerald green eyes. "No… the muscle cramp can be fixed here if someone massages the inflamed area; as for the cuts… I'll just have to tolerate it until we find a Xen pool or we get back to base."

"Xen Pool?" He questioned.

"I'll explain later, the others are staring at us." She replied.

Cato shook himself and looked back at the group, and fought down a blush at seeing the shit-eating smiles and Nihlus and Garrus's faces, and the reproachful look Tali was giving him.

Ayita ignored them and stepped into the middle of the group; pointedly avoiding looking at Skreech, who just glared at her. Taking a breath, she reached out her mind to everyone; including Skreech, since she needed to know what was being said.

"Alright… We have rested enough it seems; so now we need to get moving. There is one other obstacle that must be overcome before we reach friendly lines. And that is the Domain of the Rat Queen." Ayita informed them.

Everyone looked at each other, before Tali raised her hand like a schoolgirl and asked; "Um… Who is this Rat Queen? And why does it feel like you're radiating death?"

Cato and the others shuddered as they felt the feeling of dread and anger from Ayita; "She… she is a Vortal that was banished from the Hive by the Collective; in exchange for allowing her to live, she cannot contact anyone through any means unless given permission by one of our Mentors or by the Collective. We have both in this case, to my surprise as the Collective and us do not… get along with each other."

Everyone looked at each other, then Garrus asked; "What did she do to get exiled?"

They felt one emotion from Ayita, Disgust; "She engaged in some activities that I shall not name; but it is certainly clear that it was a crime she enjoyed considering the amount of pleasure she took from it."

Cato blinked, as he was able to interpret the waves of emotions better than the others; and he got a faint sense of what Ayita was talking about, as she recalled the memories of what the Rat Queen had felt when committing her crimes.

He narrowed his eyes, as a faint feeling of ecstasy trickled into his mind from the Rat Queens past emotions. It was… sexual based…

Shaking his head, Cato asked aloud rather than telepathically; "What did you and the Hive do that caused the rift to form between you two."

Ayita growled, and her hands sparked; but nonetheless answered, "We wanted to destroy her Mortal Frame, and then Banish her soul to the Vortessence; where she would have languished for… an unknown amount of time. Either she would have repented and reincarnated into a new Mortal form, or she would be repugnant with even the idea of admitting fault; and eventually, her soul would drift away and simply become another voice in the Vortessence."

Ayita growled and punched a nearby locker; denting the metal inward as it sparked from her energy; "But the Collective saw differently on the matter; and instead opted to Banish her in her Mortal Frame. She cannot break any of the rules set out for her; and she is permanently cut off from the Hive.

"Naturally enough she resents this turn of events and blames us for turning her in; She will poke and prod you to try and determine any weakness, and above all she will try and goad you into killing her.

"Short of her attempting to control you, or attacking you; under no circumstances are you to attack her first. Am I clear?"

Everyone nodded and gave their word that they would follow Ayita's instructions; though Nihlus asked, "Is there another way through?"

"You do not understand, our Mentor practically ordered us to confront her; I suspect to reinforce our point that she is still exiled. We must go to her den… Now lets go."

"Are we there yet?" Wrex's voice echoed through the caverns as he absently chewed on an antlion leg.

The group trudged through the cold tunnels under the mountain. The break in the locker area had mitigated, but not resolved the mental and physical exhaustion the survivors felt. The weight of the events was starting to catch up with everyone.

"Are we there yet?"

Cato could feel the rising tension in Ayita the deeper they went. He'd only had a glimpse of her thoughts before she'd shut everyone out, but what he'd felt was horrifying. He gazed sideways as she stalked down the path.

"Are we there yet?"

Shephard stopped and turned. "NO! NO! AND NO!" The double shock of both the verbal and mental shout halted the group. She glared at everyone for a moment, then spun on her heel and continued on.

"Ayita?" She tensed as Cato brushed against her mind. "I know you're angry at this, 'Rat-Queen'-"

"Do you?!"

He hesitated at her sharp response. He would have let the matter drop if he hadn't felt the twinge of regret that flashed across her mind in that moment.

"Yes. My people, the Quarians; we have no home world. We wear, wore, the suits because our immune systems are so weak from centuries of being denied the chance to colonize a world. Mothers," he balked for a moment, "mothers can't even nurse their children without fearing they will both die. It's the Citadel Council that has prevented us from settling on a world." He mentallypointed to Liara, Mordin, Nihilus and Garrus.

"Their governments have prevented us from finding a world that could support us. Before the Geth and the Morning War there were 13 billion Quarians, and now there are less than 20 million of my people left. I know what betrayal feels like. I know the pain of losing friends to pirates or Batarian slavers that the Turian Hierarchy can't be bothered to rein in because, 'They're just suit rats.'

"I only know my own mother through stories from my sister; she died of an infection she got giving birth to me. I know anger. It's why once my Pilgrimage was concluded, I intended to join the Migrant Fleet Marines; to protect my people, and give them a chance for a better tomorrow.

"So I know your's, even if I don't know why." He took the wildest of chances and reached out and grasped her hand. "Can you tell us, or at least me why?"

To his relief, she didn't yank her hand away; but merely stared off into the distance, clearly thinking. After a long moment, she sighed; "If we are to confront her, you all deserve to at least know some of it…" She decided, though clearly reluctant to do so.

It was difficult to make out her face under her cloak's hood; to the point that Cato suspected she was manipulating the shadows in real life to hide her face.

"The Rat Queen… Jack… and I met a couple of years ago; we had raided one of the Combine's Vortal Education Camps, which was just the public relations term for where they torture and experiment on Vortal children. She was the only survivor of their experiments; She was so angry, but also so powerful.

"My Mentor placed her training in my hands, and so I trained her; I thought we would be peers, that my loneliness would end. She felt something different and she had expressed interest in 'Courting' me." Ayita looked down while Cato's eyebrows shot up like rockets. "I of course told her that I was not interested; and… she did not take it well."

Wrex snorted, "So we're dealing with an Ex-Girlfriend; great."

Everyone winced as they felt an explosion of anger from Ayita; "WE! WERE NEVER! TOGETHER!" She bellowed in their minds, to the point that Skreech started to silently cry; prompting Liara and Tali to awkwardly pat her on the back in an attempt to make her feel better.

Wrex gave Ayita a cold glare, and they all felt a flash of regret and remorse from her; "I apologize… But you do not understand what she did after my rejection."

Nihlus shook his head while Garrus raised his hand timidly; "You never told us what she did, what's so bad that even mentioning her elicits such a-" He stopped himself for a moment, almost saying 'Tantrum'; but decided against insulting an incredibly powerful Alien that could kill him with her mind, "-Extreme response." He finally decided.

Ayita sighed, and crossed her arms over her stomach and shuddered.

"She…at first she said it was something the Combine must have done to her; that she didn't blame me, though I didn't understand at the time. She left to join the Resistance cell in City 39. Three months later we lost contact with the cell." She finally said.

"The Collective sent me there to find out what had happened, and to try to mend our friendship; to let her know there wasn't anything wrong with her. When I got there, it was chaos. The Resistance was rounding up collaborators and bringing them to Jack; she'd use what I'd taught her to strip them of their wills, then send them back out as suicide troops. Combine troops themselves were made into mindless animals who fought in a pit for the Cell's entertainment. I trained her so she could defend herself, and instead I'd created a monster no different than the Combine."

The group balked at the concept.

Both Cato and Ayita noticed how shaken Liara seemed, and not merely due to the incident at the cave mouth; there was something deeply personal in her fear at Ayita's story, but Shephard pressed on with no regard for the others around her.

"When I confronted her, said I forgave her and asked her to stop, she laughed. She called me weak: weak for not using the Vortessence to its fullest potential, weak for not making the Combine pay in suffering for all they had done. Then, she tried to do the same to me. She nearly succeeded, but my Mentor must have sensed, or perhaps even foreseen what she intended because he broke her hold over me. He had also sent Anderson behind me in secret. It was a good thing too, since the Cell didn't understand that what she was doing was so far beyond wrong. They attacked me while Jack was reeling, and that was when Anderson came in."

"I'm sorry," Nihlus interrupted her, "who's Anderson?"

It took Ayita a moment to remember she hadn't told them. She shook her head in chagrin."Anderson is the commander of the Resistance cell I belong to; the one where we are going. Anyway I was ready to deliver the final blow and yank her soul to the Vortessence; but the Collective stayed my hand and forced me to simply cut her off from the Vortessence and seal her here in this old Coal mine.

"To this day I cannot…"

Ayita began to shake, and Cato glared at the others; who with the exception of Skreech, got the hint and moved off into the distance. Wrex simply dragged the Woman Child with him, his centuries of life having trained him to know when people needed time alone.

Once they were gone, Cato took her other hand and said telepathically; "You're afraid that she'll do it again… take control of you and make you her slave; that she'll take all of us."

"Not just that… I worry that she will see us together and will try and kill us both. She wants to die, but she also fears dying by a Vortals hand because she knows that her soul will not pass on to the afterlife and will instead be forever trapped in the Vortessence.

"Ordinarily, seeing me would stay her hand; but seeing that I have taken a new Apprentice and when she sees how… close we've become, I suppose that may drive her over the edge. And I worry Cato… that by training you I am creating a new Jack."

Cato knew that she was airing her worries and fears; but he couldn't help but feel hurt and a little bit of indignation that she worried he would sink so low.

He must have done a bad job of suppressing his emotions, because her eyes widened and he immediately felt panic and shame ebb from her; "N-not that I think you would!" She exclaimed, "It's just that… your people's situation is eerily similar to mine, and I would not blame you for being angry and wanting to fight back."

Cato struggled to think of something to say; when Ayita suddenly tensed. Then he felt it… the foriegn presence at the edge of his mind intruding on their conversation.

Ayita whipped around so fast that her Poncho was a blur of fabric as she built up a charge of Energy; and lashed out at the ceiling. A Controller Antlion shrieked as the beam of Emerald Green Energy struck it right in the head; exploding into gooey yellow chunks of Antlion Carapace.

The two Vortal's glared at the dead Antlion; both knew what Jack had done, and both felt extremely violated at the breach of privacy. The others came running back, weapons drawn; and spotted the dead Antlion.

"What happened?" Nihlus demanded as Mordin walked up to the dead Controller to take samples.

"She knows we're coming; let's get moving, I don't want to spend any more time down here than I absolutely have to." Cato replied, surprising everyone with the coldness in his voice.

Ayita watched him go, and lowered her head; "I hope you're happy Jack…"

The Rat Queen opened her eyes and smirked from her throne of rocks and bones.

So… She's finally found a replacement for me? Perfect, I can twist him to my way of thinking; so much resentment against this 'Council' that I can use. She thought, smirking as she ran a hand along the Carapace of one of her pets.

The cold did not affect her, despite the fact she wore only a loincloth and a tattered hooded poncho; her tattoos were plainly visible, and her bald head and face was shrouded in shadows by the hood drawn over her head.

Then her smirk twisted into an inhuman scowl as she thought about Ayita hooking up with that other Vortal. He was an Alien, a Vortessence damned Alien; and she felt more for him than she had felt for Jack, perhaps one of the strongest Vortal's in existence.

Jack sneered as she walked around her throne room; her Antlion subjects cowering as they felt her anger. Antlions may have been Sapient creatures at best, but even wild animals learned to avoid more powerful creatures when they were angered.

An Alien… she picked an Alien over me! She roared mentally, lashing out with her electricity into a nearby wall.

The Antlions near it scurried away in fear, as one particularly fat Antlion didn't get out of the way in time; exploding like a water balloon filled with chunky soup as the beam hit it. Jack ignored the hurt and betrayal she was feeling and focused on her anger; because it was anger that had given her power, not love or friendship like she had believed.

When Ayita had rejected her… The anger that Jack had unleashed had provided her more control and power than she had thought possible.

She had turned her hurt towards the Combine, the oppressors and the collaborators together; and vented her pain, vented her hurt, vented her anger on them. She was justified, no… She deserved to make them hurt for everything they had done to her; for all the suffering that the Combine had inflicted on her, on all of them.

And the Collaborators were just Combine who were too cowardly to admit their allegiance.

Anyone that didn't fight the Combine in some way was a collaborator to her; and any that stood against her was a collaborator as well.

Jack stopped her pacing and took a deep breath; trying to dispel her anger somewhat so she could think. As much as she tried to get away from Ayita and her ideals, Jack couldn't deny that she was a good teacher; and Ayita's own temper had matched well with hers.

She had helped teach her calming techniques, as being calm did allow for better control of the Vortessence; in exchange for restricting the power you channeled.

And while power was all well and good, she needed to play this smart if she wanted to finally end her miserable and lonely existence; without being cast out into the Vortessence to be just one voice and personality among millions.

If nothing else, if she could goad either Ayita or that… thing with her into killing her; she could at least be cast away into the Vortessence content with the knowledge that Ayita and her new Apprentice would be banished from the Hive and other sentient contact just like her.

Yes… she could fade away with that knowledge.

She just needed to play this right; and as for the others, they were just non Vortal Souls and Aliens. What would the Collective care about them anyway?

"Hm…" Dr. Henry Lawson stared at the plexiglass tube filled with amniotic fluid, where the tiny poppy seed sized clump of flesh that was the fetus floated peacefully. "Fascinating…" He murmured.

There was no way to tell what it looked like or what features were currently; but he could at least project what it would look like through simulations and using the DNA he'd obtained.

"What is so fascinating Doctor? It's not as if you haven't seen this process a hundred times before." Eva asked, somewhat impatient as she stared at the developing fetus; memories of M-91811441, her daughters, failure.

No… she is not my daughter for allowing herself to be bested by that mongrel. Eva sneered internally. "In fact, you are using our DNA in the 'Grandparent' fashion; so how does this make O-1891141 better than M-91811441?"

"Very simple, I've manipulated the Vortal's DNA and Genes so that she retains her own traits, looks, and whatnot; but also made it so that some of our traits were implanted with hers, then used all that to create an egg." He explained, "And then I took the Aliens DNA and created sperm, from there I made sure only the X chromosomes made it through and implanted in the egg."

Eva just looked at him blankly; in the prewar day's, everything he had just said would have sounded insane and like some make believe child fantasy. But the Combine was nothing if not advanced in biological manipulation; still… "You have yet to explain what is so fascinating Doctor." She noted coldly.

"Yes, I suppose I haven't; well, I have been looking at the projections of what this model of Assassin will look like and… well see for yourself." He gestured at his screen.

Eva tilted her head and walked over to it.

What she saw definitely was the definition of 'fascinating' as the good Doctor had put it. O-1891141 either took after its Vortal 'mother' in terms of body shape, or the Aliens species females looked a lot like human females. What was she thinking, they had to; they had both seen the footage, the male could very easily be mistaken for human and the female had an eerily similar body shape to the Vortal.

Lithe, coiled, attractive; clearly O-1891141 would be quite useful as a honey trap to rebels once she sexually matured. Although they would have to look past how 'Exotic' she will appear; Eva noted with narrowed eyes as she took in O-1891141's future appearance which, like all of Lawsons 'projections', stood in a T-pose, absent any clothing allowing Eva to examine and determine what type of males and homosexual feamles would find her attractive.

Hm… slightly smaller breasts than an average human but wider hips; same type of sexual organs as humans, so no worries about there being some kind of tentacle or anything like that involved with mating. Either has human hair or the Aliens have hair also; no hair around the body except the head. She noted, already categorizing O-1891141 into a few categories. Grey-Light Purple Skin, Raven Black Hair, Glowing Silver eyes…

"Tell me what is Human, and what is Alien Doctor." Eva ordered, looking away from the naked projection and turning her attention to the Scientist.

"I'm so glad you asked, externally it has its 'mothers' facial shape; but all the rest are it's 'fathers'. The exception of course is its hands and feet, since the 'father'-" He gestured to another monitor, where a similar projection of the Vortal and the Alien had been set up. "Has two toes and three fingers.; although O-1891141 has its 'fathers' legs."

Eva immediately took in the images, Mother: Native American descent, approximately 52 kilograms and 1.65 meters. Standard human female physique if slightly underweight, average breast size, Chocolate Brown hair, standard Emerald Green Vortal eyes, extremely dangerous.

She shifted her gaze to the left and blinked in surprise, Father: Alien, approximately 1.71 meters and 56.7 kilograms. Raven Black Hair, Grey-Light Purple skin color, Glowing Silver eyes. Legs bend backward, shared trait with 'daughter'; three fingers and two toes, trait not shared with 'mother' and 'daughter'. Genitals, unknown average size for Aliens; slightly above average size for human males.

She shifted her attention back to Lawson who was positively beaming with pride. "You got all this from their DNA?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well I grew clones of them in an Experimental Maturation Chamber; how do you think I got the sperm and egg?" He replied, shifting the view of the two 'Parents' to a view of their organs, muscles, and skeleton. "And before you ask, no I cannot speed up the process; that chamber I only use when I need body parts or want to see how something will look grown up. It damages the experiments mind, and they die immediately after removal from the chamber. I used a different chamber for the egg and sperm of course."

Eva turned her attention back to the image of the 'parents' and 'daughter'.

While the experiment looked almost entirely like its Alien father externally, internally it was a different matter. Pretty much all the Organs were human, as were the bones; with a few exceptions.

The leg bones were harder, and the legs were also more muscular than a humans; likely on account of the Aliens backward shaped legs. And as for the Organ exception…

"What is that?" Eva asked, pointing to the Organ anomaly.

Lawson grinned, "Glad you noticed that luv, this one-" He pointed to where the human appendix would be, which had been replaced by the Alien Organ, "Seems to produce the same kind of amino acids as what Vortigaunts and its 'father' produce."

Eva blinked, "You mean-"

"O-1891141 is dual Dextro-Levo based. You know that while all dextro foods are edible and even tasty to us Humans and vice versa, we gain no nutrients from them. I even did a weight loss Experiment at Aperture Science, but Mr. Johnson wasn't interested in an alternative to his damned 'gels'; so I took it to Black Mesa. If you eat a Dextro-Chocolate Cake, you might have a stomach ache for a bit, but you won't gain any weight or calories from it." He explained.

Eva blinked, "I… think I understand It." she said slowly, frowning heavily.

"Yes, well it seems O-1891141 would need to develop a different diet plan since it would make no difference if she ate a Levo Cake or a Dextro Cake, she would still get all the nutrients and fat from them." He said excitedly.

"Ahh…" Eva sighed in understanding; "Perfect, then it can sustain itself in nearly any environment." She noted.

"Exactly!" Lawson grinned, "Now then-" He closed the three images, "I'll let this one sit, I have already completed the designs for this 'Battlecruiser' the Consol wants; and I need to start building it as soon as he gives approval. I have Aliens to interrogate as well, so i'd best get started."

Eva looked back at the poppy seed sized fetus; "How long until O-1891141 reaches the biological age of ten? I want to begin her training as soon as possible." she asked impatiently.

"About ten weeks give or take a few days; it'll be one year old biologically by the end of the week, around the same time we launch the Battlecruiser." Lawson replied, already setting everything to automatic. "Now then luv," his never ending smile taking a manic edge to it, "shall we introduce ourselves to our new guests?"

Ayita couldn't remove the feeling of foreboding from her mind.

As much as Ayita tried to hide it so that Jack wouldn't detect it, she knew that she was only semi unsuccessful. Everyone was fidgeting with their weapons and looking over their shoulders in anticipation of an ambush. Even Skreech was tense and ready to fight something other than her.

That tension paid off as Mordin, Wrex and Nihilus all suddenly tracked to something.

It turned out to be an Antlion drone. It hissed and buzzed it's wings just before a series of deep electrical buzzing sounds caused it to pull back. It turned and headed down the tunnel while periodically hissing at the group that followed it. They came to a large cavern filled with decrepit mining equipment, as well as a huge nest of Antlions.

Several Warriors moved to attack the group just before another series of buzzing tones sounded. Those tones came from a bald and heavily tattooed human sitting on an overturned drilling machine turned throne. She extended her arms out and green lighting arced around the cavern, giving off the electric tones.

She wore a Poncho like Ayita's. But it was tattered and falling apart, barely reaching past her breasts; and she only wore a simple loincloth around her waist. Like Ayita, her hood was drawn up, but it did nothing to hide her face; in fact, her face was highlighted by the sparks of Energy jumping from her palms, revealing a cocky smirk.

"I thought you said she was cut off from the Vortessence!" Cato frantically asked as he charged up his own power.

The bald human laughed. "Is that what she told you? That bitch says a lot of things." She leaned forward and absently petted a worker's head. "You'll learn real quick not to trust her." She then flicked a hand towards them and launched a green spark at Ayita's feet, causing her and Cato to jump away.

The entire nest began buzzing and hissing, causing the survivors to raise their weapons.

"Now now, you don't want to do anything that would agitate the nest, would you?" Jack brought her hands in front of her. Green sparks leapt between her fingers creating an eerie, nearly musical sound. The hive settled almost immediately; but no one dared relax or lower their guard in any way.

Ayita hissed softly, sending a very firmly guarded link to everyone, including Jack, so they could hear her speak; mostly out of pragmatism, as Ayita wouldn't admit it, but her yelling at Wrex had thrown out her voice and it was unlikely anyone would hear her unless she spoke telepathically.

"As if causing violence and death would be of any concern to you Jack." Ayita spat, everyone able to plainly hear and feel the bitterness and disgust in her voice. "Or was I mistaken and it turned out that you actually cared about what you were doing and caused in City 39?"

Jack just laughed in reply; a laugh that sent chills down Liara's spine.

It was not an amused or sad or even angry laugh; no it was the laugh of a person who was insane. She had only heard the laugh once before, and it was one that she had hoped to never hear again. Any doubts to the plan that Liara had formulating in her head was cast aside; she knew she had to do this.

If not for Shephard's sake, then for her own.

Jack's smile was pure malice as she looked down on the group of assembled Aliens, but her focus was split between Cato, Wrex, and Ayita. "Oh really? All high and mighty are you? As if you never controlled or manipulated anyone in your life." Jack sneered.

Everyone looked at each other, then at Ayita as they felt guilt flash from the Vortal for a brief moment; before she clamped it down, "Your words have no weight, I never led you on or manipulated you Jack. I never felt the same way about you and-"

"Don't you dare lie you Bitch!" Jack roared, her malicious smile replaced by unknowable fury. "You led me on! You took me from that camp! You taught me everything I know! You held me back, you kept me sane!" She spat angrily. "Then you threw me away and what? Found yourself a pet Alien!"

Everyone took a step back, as the musical tones being emitted from Jacks palms took on a darker quality. To Wrex, it was quite plain he was dealing with a nutcase stalker with a crush; and as much as he wanted to, there was no way he could biotically charge the little bitch and kill her.

Whether or not Shephard's 'Mentor' had said they could not kill her, his biotics would probably agitate the nest of Antlions past the point of Jack's control.

While the crazed female ranted, he frantically drew on his centuries of experience to think of a way out of this situation since it was quite clear that talking was going nowhere, when Liara touched his hand; whispering, "I'm in a private comm with you and the others; don't react or tell Cato and Shephard, but I have a plan."

"Judging from the fact that you don't want the two Vorpal's or whatever to know, I assume they won't like it." Garrus mumbled, careful not to speak too loudly.

Wrex didn't say anything at all, he just did what he'd always done; watch and listen carefully without comment as Liara told them her plan.

"I'm going to meld with her, the rest of you need to keep the Antlions away from me." She explained.

"And what about my brother?" Tali hissed, "This bitch really does not seem to like him."

"Trust Shephard to keep him safe from the Queen, and Wrex will keep the Antlions away from him. He'll be fine Tali." Liara said in rassurance.

"Yeah, trust the electric girl who is barely his age yet is a master of anti-biotics to keep him safe from her crazy jealous ex; I feel so much better." Tali replied sarcastically, but nonetheless drifted her hand down to her Combine Pulse SMG.

Cato heard the others whispering, but didn't dare turn his attention away from Jack as the Emerald Green electricity began to turn Crimson Red. "And now you've gone and replaced me with someone else? With a Vortessence damned ALIEN!?" She roared.

Ayita growled, while Cato began building up energy in preparation to jump in between them.

"You act as if you were the only person in my life that I could or would interact with. You pretend that which you engaged in was just and right simply because they were Combine, or because they didn't agree with your insane beliefs; and then you tried to do the same to ME!" Ayita snarled back, and Jack actually winced and took a step back; before seemingly re-finding her courage.

"Ha! And you pretend what you did with the Resistance Cell in City 39 was not worse than taking the Combine slaves and appropriating them for our own use." Jack sneered, the sparks and bolts flying from her palms getting brighter; the musical tones taking a sinister note.

Ayita narrowed her eyes, "Anderson and I did them a favor… rather than let them be turned into Combine Synths or continue being slaves to you." She said, and everyone except Jack shivered involuntarily at the coldness of her tone.

Cato took this moment to step forward and speak, sensing a major fight was coming if he didn't do something; "Look, we don't need to fight; just let us through and we'll be on our way." He said telepathically since he knew she wouldn't understand him if he spoke physically, "No one needs to die today."

That was apparently the wrong thing to say, as Jack's manic smile returned; "No… What you fail to realize Ayita's Pet; is that everyone needs to die!"

Cato barely managed to telekinetically pull a metal pole in front of him as a bolt of Crimson Red Energy slammed into it, absorbing the majority of the shock and power; but some of it still hit him.

And by the Ancestors did it burn.

It was not like Ayita's or his own Energy, where it felt like regular electricity when hit by it; no this Energy burned like plasma or fire, and Cato had to bite down on his lip from crying out in pain.

"NO!" Ayita screamed, firing her own bolt of Emerald Green Energy while telekinetically lifting sheets of metal and assembling it around herself and Cato like a shield wall; while Cato, working off of pure instinct, pulled more metal poles, rebar, from the walls and concrete pads in the room.

Assembling them like spears, he quickly began to impale them into Antlions as they tried to swarm the group. Wrex meanwhile had used his Biotics to gain the Antlions attention to keep them away from Cato and Ayita; and unbeknownst to the three Vortals, away from Liara.

Jack meanwhile had gathered spheres of the same Crimson Red Energy in her palms, the inhuman sneer and disgust on her face was clearly highlighted by the red and green light that had befallen the room.

"SHEEEEPHAAAARD!" She bellowed telepathically, breaking her Vortal blocks in her anger and fury; lashing her arms to the side, Cato and Ayita jumped away as over a dozen balls of Red Energy slammed into Ayita's makeshift barriers. They melted into puddles of liquid metal; but they stopped Jack's attack.

But the fight was only just beginning.

Liara bobbed and weaved between the Antlions as they swarmed Wrex and the others. Dropping to the ground and rolling onto her back, She pulled out the Combine SMG and began firing at the underbelly's of the Antlions as they flew overhead.

The Rachni Knockoffs were so crazed by their Masters' anger and Wrex's Biotics, that they didn't even notice Liara as she settled into a divot on the floor. Liara turned her attention back to Ayita and Cato; whom Jack seemed to be entirely focused on, letting her enthralled minions keep the others at bay.

Her gut sank.

While Ayita was clearly holding back to focus on protecting Cato, and Cato mostly focused on just staying alive; Jack was clearly not holding anything back, and was hammering them with everything she had.

All the while chuckling mockingly at them with Telepathy.

Liara had once heard a tale about two Old Matriarchs that got into a feud; and ended up doing battle in the younger Matriarchs Castle, and how while the younger one could have won handily she nearly lost because she was mainly focused on getting her family to safety.

And Jack hadn't stopped with taunting them Telepathically, though her voice was strained from fighting through the 'Vortal Blocks' set upon her mind.

"Deceive You… She Will Deceive You…"

Rather than trying to directly hit them with her Red Balls on Energy like before, Jack directed them upwards; hovering close to the ceiling as she sent more bolts of her Crimson Red Energy towards Ayita and Cato, both of whom were doing more dodging than attacking.

Then Jack made a similar motion that Cato had done earlier when he had created that shockwave attack during the Antlion ambush.

Liara yelped and hopped behind a stalagmite as the spheres of energy at the roof began to rain down like artillery. Exploding as they hit the ground, and leaving the rock cherry red from the heat.

Cato and Ayita had taken to launching their own bolts of Energy towards Jack; who would simply draw upon one of her enthralled Antlions to take the hit for her. The only brightside was that Jack seemed to be running out of Antlions fast; to the point that most of the other survivors had begun to take potshots at Jack.

Beyond telekinetically lifting rocks and launching them at anyone that took aim at her, Jack didn't pay them much mind; her eyes were on one prize, and one prize only.

At least, until Nihlus used another one of those 'Energy Pellets'.

That seemed to catch Jack's attention; as she snarled and called upon more Antlions to take the blow for her, but there were so few left that she was forced to duck under the pellet. Snarling, the Rat Queen telekinetically ripped a sheet of metal off a piece of equipment and quickly caught the Energy Pellet in it.

She looked around and seemed to realize that she was practically out of Antlions.

That just seemed to make Jack angrier, and she immediately telekinetically pulled away everyone's weapons from them; while forming more balls of energy and throwing them at everyone, though her focus was still on Shephard and Cato.

"Now Die… Now Die!"

Liara needed to make her move, or they would all be killed by Jack; or Jack would accidentally collapse the whole damned mountain on them. She pulled on all of her Biotic strength, extended her hand toward Jack and engulfed her in a hyper-dense Mass Effecting field. The raging Vortal was trapped in a Stasis field; her face was twisted in nihilistic hatred, frozen in a moment of time.

Without active control, the red orbs burst into lightning that crawled along the roof. The few remaining antlions were swiftly dispatched by Wrex and Skreech. With the immediate danger passed, Liara stood up while concentrating to maintain the Stasis. She spared a glance at Shephard and Cato just as Tali rushed over while everyone else retrieved their weapons.

She arrived at the bubble and paused. "Wrex, if she should break free..." The alien cannon being primed was her only answer.

"What are you doing?!" Liara felt Shephard's conflicted emotions.

"What you should never have been made responsible for." She released the Stasis and grabbed Jack's head while she was still disoriented.

"Embrace Eternity!"

Jack staggered as she floated in nothingness. She drifted in a hazy void as half remembered conversations and desperately repressed nightmares flitted across her senses.

"So this is it huh? I'm finally free?" She chuckled. "She'll get hers now. I lived this hell, I can put up with its ghost until I fade."

"You're not dead, and you're not free. This is not the Vortessence." Another voice intruded on her solitude, while new experiences flitted across her senses: an alien sky, a swell of pride from parental praise.

"Who's there?!" She spun in place. "The fuck am I thinking; I know it's you, Shephard! Come out and face me bitch!"

A flicker of purple light drew her attention, and she saw a sultry but alien figure appear.

"Wrong Bitch I'm afraid, My apologies for disappointing you."

Jack snarled and reached deep inside for power and lashed out at the blue woman before her, only for nothing to happen. The flickering memories mocked her in Control's voice. "Weak! Useless! Try again!" Jack lashed her fist out and screamed, banishing the memory.

The alien appeared next to her. "I told you this wasn't the Vortessence." Jack faced the blue-assed bitch again. "This is your mind; and for all you have mastered your body, you have never mastered yourself. I on the other hand," Jack was suddenly overwhelmed as nearly a century of memories flashed past her all at once, "have long since mastered my mind."

Jack reeled from the assault of emotions; most crippling to her were those of a happy childhood, of the bright promise of the future laid out before her. Still, she was Jack; Dr. Lawson's precious Subject Zero! She wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Yeah, well keep talking bitch. I'm a fast learner."

"Show me." Jack was brought up short by the almost conversational tone. "Show me how much you have learned," Jack's own mind wandered to City 39, "who taught you," memories of Ayita's warmth and hesitancy, and then her rejection, "and who shaped you into the woman who stands before me."

Jack's memories broke free of her desperate hold, and the whole of her life rushed forward; fleeting memories of the time before the Combine, the devastation of the Seven Hours War, seeing her parents killed by Combine troops she knew had once been their neighbors and friends. She relived her time as Subject Zero: the first Vortal human the Combine had captured.

She remembered Ms. Core and Dr. Lawson stripping her of her clothes, her dignity, her humanity, and nearly her identity. She remembered the endless tests, and how nothing was ever good enough. Finally, she remembered an alien presence; a special experiment conducted by Dr. Lawson to retrieve the consciousness of something ancient from the depths of the Vortessence.

Now, Die!

It whispered on the edge of her memories.

Now, Die!

A nightmare amalgamation of alien technology and biology, languishing in the purgatory of the Vortessence.

Now, Die!

She remembered being forced over and over to commune with the malign creature, both to learn how it had been defeated and to bring at least a fragment back.

Now, Die!

She remembered nearly losing herself to it, just as Ayita and Anderson stormed the facility.

"NO!" Jack's shriek, banishing the nightmare. She heaved ragged breaths as the mists swallowed up her past.

Now, Die!

Jack pinched her eyes closed. "No! This is my nightmare! You can't use it against me!"

"But you're wrong. This isn't your memory; it's mine." Jack snapped her head up and saw herself through alien eyes: red lighting arcing around her as she stared at the survivors, devoid of any thought or emotion but unreasoning malice. She saw a deep, alien hate from her own past shining out from her own eyes.

"NO!"

"NO!" Liara watched as Jack collapsed backwards onto her makeshift throne, tears streaming down her face. She was physically and mentally drained from what she had attempted, so when Ayita spun her around it caused her to gracelessly fall onto her backside.

"What did you do?!" There was fire in Shephard's eyes, but hesitancy in her thoughts; a personal confliction at seeing who she thought of as her foe suddenly so vulnerable. Cato arrived just behind and pulled her back.

The rest of the survivors rushed up, split on whether to remain on guard with Jack or confront Ayita for apparently throwing Liara to the ground.

The Asari waved everyone off as she stood on wobbly legs. "I did what your Hive should have done from the beginning: forced her to confront herself." She turned a sad gaze on the weeping woman. "You cannot heal a wound by ignoring it."

Liara shifted her gaze back onto Ayita. "There is something... dark inside her; she was made to contact it, and I think she may have brought a piece of it back from wherever your kind can go."

"That's not the only thing that was inside her." Nihlus pointed a tallon at Ayita. "You lied to us."

A wave of indigence rolled off of Ayita at that declaration, though Nihlus scoffed. "Oh don't give us that! If we'd known she was still hooked into the Verboseness-"

"Vortessence!" Ayita all but screamed in everyone's heads.

"Whatever!" He cut his talons through the air. "If you'd told us she was still empowered instead of saying she'd had her talons pulled, we could have planned better instead of stumbling into... this!" He gestures around the cavern where shattered antlions lay strewn everywhere.

Ayita squared her shoulders, shrugging Cato's hand off her shoulder. "She is cut off! She's been severed from the collective! You cannot imagine what that is like!"

"That has no bearing on the situation we blundered into," Wrex growled out. "Her not being able to commune with the ether or whatever certainly didn't affect her ability to command an army of Rach-nots or fire lightning at us!"

Ayita looked around at the group, trying to find some support. She turned to Cato but balked when she saw the scars from their recent battle: burns from Jack's red energy, as well as cuts and bruises from the attacking antlions.

Cato turned an icy stare at Ayita. "You should have told us. Was your vendetta against her," he thrust his chin towards Jack, "worth nearly killing all of us? Was it worth nearly getting my sister killed? I can survive your world, but she can't. I told you as much, but you left us in the dark."

The words were accompanied by an emotional wall around his thoughts. His look of anger as he took in his own sister's scorched and scratched suit was like a knife to Ayita's heart. She had been so fixated on her impending confrontation with her first failure as a teacher, that she very nearly got her second apprentice killed.

"Perhaps the cultural differences can be forgiven," Liara's voice was quiet, but far from soft, "many people misunderstand my people's abilities." She fixed Ayita with a cold stare before the young woman could respond. "That is still no excuse for not recognizing the psychic trauma this woman suffered." She pointed back to Jack. "She has shown me the nightmare she suffered, and the scars she still bears. Still, your people cast her aside and cast her out and left this spiritual wound to fester. That I find worse still."

"Uh..." Garrus hesitantly raised a tallon from where he was bandaging a fidgeting Skreech.

"The red power." Liara commented over her shoulder without breaking eye contact with Shephard. "That isn't natural for your people, is it?"

Shephard visibly shuddered; "I… you must believe us when I say that none of us knew…"

"None of you knew what?" Tali demanded, practically trembling with anger.

"The Slavemaster… The Nihilanth," Shephard said the name with a level of fear that made the rest pause, even as Jack flinched at the word. Everyone was shocked at the person who minutes ago was on the verge of wiping them out, cowering in fear of the mere mention of the name. "He was... is supposed to be dead; The Freeman killed him. You must understand just how powerful he and the rest of his race was. They were so powerful the Combine hunted them to extinction; my power and even Jacks and Cato's is a mere candle light, our Mentors are that of a campfire, and the Nihilanths are that of a burning Star." She explained.

"If that's true, how did this Freeman guy kill him?" Garrus asked, crossing his arms.

"We do not know, that is why he is so revered amongst my people." Shephard replied, actually looking embarrassed at not knowing something.

"Well he clearly did not do a good job of killing it if that thing was still lingering around in her head!" Tali snarled, pointing to a still somewhat catatonic Jack.

Shephard snarled, her eyes flaring emerald as she shot up; "Do not dare insult him! He saved us all!" Everyone cringed as images flashed in their minds of that same hard suited human wielding the hooked cudgel tearing through anything that stood in his way.

Liara recovered first, "Whether he did so or not does not excuse the fact that this Nihalang thing was in her mind and just how damaged her psyche is; and how you all cast her out."

They felt a brief flash of guilt from Shephard, before that turned to rage. "We had no way of knowing because to find that out, we would have first needed to tear her mind apart!" She practically roared. She jabbed a finger at Liara. "You may be fine stripping her soul bare for your own curiosity, but We Aren't!" She swept her hand wide, taking in the whole group. "The Collective, the Hive; we live halfway between this world," she stomped on the ground, "and the Vortessence. We can't escape it, can't avoid it anymore than we can escape the pull of gravity. We see everyone as souls first, and hers," she pointed to Jack, "has always been that way to us! We never knew her otherwise, and we didn't pry any more than you yank someone's shirt open to see if they're a woman or not!"

For all she knew she had failed these people with Jack, on this point she would not budge. The survivors sensed this, and even in their anger about the fight they could recognize this was a line she would not, could not cross.

Still, both she and they didn't want to back down.

"Riveting social dynamic. Would love to observe further," Mordin's unflappable calm startled everyone from their detente, "but perhaps we should move before the swarm returns." He pointed a horn at one of the adjacent tunnels.

Wrex huffed after a moment. "Are there any other surprises along the way we should know about?"

Ayita closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. "No." She turned and began heading down the main shaft. She paused for a moment to allow Cato to catch up to her, then noticed he was pointedly hanging back with his sister. She felt slightly hollow at that. Is this what Jack felt like? She shook her head and buckled down to her task as guide.

At least that wasn't a task she could make any worse.

Everyone slowly filed past the fallen Rat Queen. A few spared her a second glance, but not more than one. Finally it was just her and Liara. The maiden considered the poor soul in front of her for a moment before walking up to her once more.

"What?" Jack tried to muster some rage and defiance, but was too spent to do more than sound petulant.

Liara took something from her arm. "A wound cannot heal until it is acknowledged, cleaned, and eventually mended with care and attention. You have now acknowledged your wound. Maybe now you can begin to heal." She placed the object on Jack's wrist, which immediately lit up with orange light. "Press this, and as long as I am on the same hemisphere we can speak."

Jack considered tearing the device off, but the promise of any contact beyond the swarm was too great. "The Collective won't like that; I'm not supposed to have any human contact."

Liara arched an eyebrow. "First, I'm not human. Second, I'm not a part of this Collective and as such, do not hold myself bound to their rules. Lastly, your isolation is what led to our current predicament. I feel justified in defying such an unjust ruling. Take care."

Liara left Jack to ponder the tantalizing gift on her wrist, one she hadn't had in a very long time; the gift of hope.

Ayita kept her head downwards, like a chastised child.

The tongue lashing Wrex, Liara, and Nihlus had given her still stung heavily. And while they had relented and apologized for accusing her of not seeing the 'infection' in Jack's soul, they were adamant on being left in the dark regarding Jack's power.

But it had been Cato's anger that stung most of all.

He had sealed his mind off from her's, and was in the back of the group with his sister and Mordin; quietly conversing with Tali in their Native Language. Ayita continued to lead the way, but hadn't said a word to any of them; telepathically or physically.

The worst thing was that they were right.

She hadn't told them about what Jack had been subjected to, hadn't told them that she had only been cut off from the Collective and the Hive; and had let her personal grudge get the better of her.

It was all her fault.

She had long since closed her emotions off, and hadn't even turned back to face any of them to make sure they were keeping up; trusting the others to stop her or help the others keep up. She hadn't noticed that while the others were in a loose cluster, she had drawn ahead a little bit.

An Antlion appeared out of one of the many adjacent tunnels, dragging the corpse of a headcrab Zombie. She was drained emotionally, mentally, and physically, and didn't feel like using any of her more flashy powers.

So Ayita simply opted to telekinetically snap its neck.

She didn't slow down or even look at her handiwork as the others shifted uncomfortably at her notable lack of flair; just kept marching on the path towards the base. She felt a brief touch at the edge of her mind, but didn't bother answering it, like letting a phone go to voicemail as Anderson had compared from time to time.

She sighed softly, and lowered her head further.

Anderson and Ulysses would be ashamed of her, for letting her anger and her not so petty grudge get the better of her; she had nearly gotten herself and everyone else killed back there, and had allowed Jack to be possessed by a fragment of the Nihilanths soul.

Another Antlion, and this time she didn't even bother with killing it.

She gave a halfhearted slash and blew it backwards; not looking back as Garrus shot its head off with his sniper rifle. If this was the best she could do then she truly was a failure like Jack and the Collective had claimed; by the Vortessence, why was she Cato's teacher?

Why couldn't Ulysses do it? Ayita had been just fine under his tutelage.

The others had long since gone back to conversing with each other, but since Ayita had closed her mind she couldn't understand them; nor did she really want to, they were probably talking about all the bad things she had done and wondering why she was considered a Master in the first place.

"Huh… the way she's been acting you'd think she'd never been in an argument or been disciplined before in her life. I've seen fledglings and hormonal teenagers act this way but not adults." The lighter flanging voice told her it was Garrus speaking; and she could hear the judgement in his voice.

"If it looks like a Pyjack, runs like a Pyjack, and yaps like a Pyjack, then it's probably a Pyjack." The deep throated growl that rumbled the ground told her it was Wrex. She couldn't tell what tones his voice held, it all sounded aggressive to her.

"And what does that pearl of wisdom mean, oh Mighty Battlemaster?" She could detect the slight sarcastic undertones he used when telling a joke or something. Were they joking about her?

"It means that, in finest Turian fashion, you spotted the target in the open and then shot right past it."

"Still not really getting your meaning there Wrex."

Another set of flanging vocals entered the private conversation, "He means that she's not much older than Cato back there, if not younger." probably Nihlus interjected.

"Only a little younger than me." The voice that spoke sounded far away, but to Ayita it sounded almost like a human male; Cato most likely. "She's fought her whole life from what I could find out. Lost both her parents, raised in a rebel cell by soldiers. Tali and I might have had a more normal childhood than her."

Ayita squeezed her eyes shut, she could hear the slight reproachful tone; he was likely defending her again when she didn't deserve it.

Another Antlion, another squeezed fist, and another snapped Antlion neck.

"Must not be good soldiers if she was raised to withhold Intel." Nihlus again.

"There is a vast difference between training a soldier and raising a child. Even your own conscript forces serve with the expectation of recompense. She has none." Wrex again.

Ayita felt another attempt to contact her again; and this time she did open her mind enough to let a sliver of her emotions go through, and kept it open long enough to say, "I'm sorry…" before she closed it again.

She blinked tears out of her eyes, as she felt Cato's surprise at being kicked out of her mind.

As she walked, she couldn't shake the feeling she was forgetting something important; but with how close they were to the base, it likely didn't matter much. She quickly fired off a message to Ulysses, a contained one that didn't require her to directly link with him; she just wanted to be alone for the time being.

She just hoped whatever she had forgotten wasn't life threatening or anything.

Cato staggered slightly as he felt the very tightly controlled strain of emotion from Ayita.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered, before sealing her mind off again.

Tali shot him a concerned look, making sure she spoke in Kheelish while turning off her translator, "Are you okay, you look like you're ready to cry." She noted.

Furiously rubbing his eyes, he said; "I'm fine, but she isn't." he gestured towards where Ayita was walking, far ahead of the group; far enough that they couldn't really converse with her in physical conversation, but close enough the group didn't have to run to keep up with her.

Tali narrowed her eyes, "That Bosh'tet nearly got you killed, and you feel sorry for her?" She hissed.

He couldn't help but give a light smile, "I thought father and I were supposed to be the ones chasing potential bondmates away, not the other way around." He joked.

His smile died when she tensed in preparation to smack him, and he just sighed and looked down; "If it makes you feel any better she feels really bad about it. I mean really bad, worse than whenever we disappointed father."

Tali's eye's flashed behind her mask, "I find that hard to believe." though he could detect the uncertainty in her voice.

After a moment of internal deliberation, he fed her what little he had gleaned from Ayita.

Tali staggered like him, and he could see her eyes dim to almost nothing; he heard her sniff quietly, which no one but Skreech heard. Screech did turn to look at them, but then shrugged and turned her attention back forward. "That's… Kheelah, that's outright depression almost." She gasped.

"Not quite, but I think it's best we don't tell her about this. She screwed up, she knows it, and us trying to tell her otherwise will probably just make her feel worse." Cato said.

Tali gave a reluctant nod, "It'll make her feel like we're just pitying her; like whenever Auntie 'Raan tried to tell us that we hadn't screwed up too badly when we did." She agreed.

The two were so focused on their conversation that Tali accidentally stepped on something that was not rock.

Squish.

Tali and Cato looked down, and stared at the glowing bug that Tali had stepped on. Cato looked up to see that Tali was already beginning to breath faster. "Sis…" He started slowly, turning his translator back on; "Don't freak out, it's just a bug and you're in your suit."

Tali took a breath, "Okay… just a bug…"

Right then Professor Solus, who'd been bringing up the rear, showed up. "Best hurry along, falling behind. I'll grab samples, you must move." He ordered.

Tali gulped and lifted her foot up, quickly shaking her leg to get the glowing goo off; before the two Quarians jogged away to catch up with the group. Mordin quickly took his samples and a clump of flesh that had been squeezed out of the worm like creature; before hurrying along to catch up with the others.

He didn't notice the shriek of anger from down the tunnels; he and the others continued on their 'merry' way, unaware of the disaster Tali had just started.

Pilot A/N: A Lot to unpack here.

First up, Lawson being a creep as usual; yeah he probably got off on seeing those fast grown clones of Ayita and O-1891141, and the naked computer models he took of them. Probably even wished that he could take them out just so he could 'use' them without the clones dying; but as much as Ian and I push the limit of the 'Hard-T' rating we've been going for, neither of us I think, would want to write anything like that.

Eva is just a straight up Sociopath, to the point that she isn't even bothered with the pictures Lawson showed her; she probably wouldn't even take pleasure in… 'engaging physically' with Cato if he were her age.

Next is Ayita and Jack's 'Relationship'... This is something that, again, I was on the fence about; because I Know that there are going to be people saying 'Ayita and Jack should be together! Because I want my Lesbian Relationships and Sex Scenes'.

My only regret is that Fan fiction dot net does not allow bigger text to make my "NO!" Larger.

One, there will be no 'Lemons' or anything like that for the foreseeable future between any characters; because I want to keep this a hard 'Teen' rated.

Two, I don't plan on having Ayita be in a relationship with anyone besides Cato; reason being is that, the way Quarian's work is that they kind of 'Bond/Mate' for life. The other reason is that Homosexual and Lesbian relationships are not really my thing; if they are, more power too you. Granted, if they aren't the focus of the Fic, I can tolerate it if the stories are good enough; but they tend to have to work harder to keep my attention.

Three, NO HARAMS! I hate those kinds of relationships so much; to the point that even REALLY good stories are instantly blacklisted for me if it turns out it has one. It's a sick fantasy that's always awkward, weird, and oft-times the basis of a Porn/Crack Fic.

Urgh… Alright, tangent over.

Back to more serious matters; Jack will be back, just not in this act. Her being Connected to the Nihilanth will come up again later of course.

Tali stepping on an Antlion Grub of course will bring more trouble for the gang.

Cato being angry at Ayita for putting everyone's life in danger is probably the first time we've really seen him stand up for himself. I kind of see him taking after his mother and Admiral 'Raan (who pretty much is his adopted mother) by being non-confrontational unless you really piss him off; just as how Tali always stands up for what she believes is right in Canon, just like her father.

Ayita's Depression and Self Loathing regarding her failure is rather self explanatory since she's really had no interaction with other people her age; and she's not really used to people being angry with her, just disappointed.

Alright, enough from me.

Take it away Ian.

Ian A/N: For all the 'Action' in the middle of this chapter, I feel the real weight of it came in Liara confronting both Jack and then Ayita. The fight was important, both for pacing and character establishment, but the true confrontation was in facing the Nightmare that was Jack's life.

We have, until this point, dealt relatively roughly with Liara. There is a reason for that, but it should not diminish the character of young Dr. T'Soni. As Pilot said, Jack will return in later installments, but first she must heal. That has finally begun, and just as the death of the Nihilanth at Dr. Freeman's hands set in motion the chain of events which will eventually topple the Combine, the redemption of Jack will be important to the eventual liberation of Earth.

For now, enjoy the story, and know that we do have a plan.

Pilot: And on that note, head to my profile for the link to our discord.

Be sure to check out our other Mass Effect story, A Ghost and A Spectre.

Leave a review, and tell us what y'all think.

And we will see ya when we see ya.