Edited 31.05.2021 for grammatical, stylistic and logic errors.

26/01/2174 Maroon sea, Caspian, Almarcrux, Former Pirate base

The story of the almost slaves was quite simple. They were part of a colonization cooperative that bought and outfitted a standard Kowloon-type freighter. A couple of months ago fifty seven people, the first group of colonists reached their destination and set up a simple mining colony. They started making regular cargo runs selling off the metal they mined. Someone must have talked to the wrong person and when the ship was away on another run the pirates attacked. They had nine people armed but the outcome of fighting twice that number of batarians in armour was obvious. But they fought bravely anyway and killed several before being overwhelmed. Batarians angry with their own losses executed the injured or the ones too old to sell well.

Then they brought them here and I showed up a few days later. That was their story as told to me by Jason Nguyen and Frederica Powels, Jason was a mining foreman, wiry and medium height his Vietnamese ancestry gave him jet black hair despite being on the north side of 40. Frederica was a mechanic as she described herself, she was somewhere in her 30's, she was short but the combination of close cropped dirty blonde hair and hands that were clearly no stranger to hard work she looked far more like a miner should than Jason.

These people were highly motivated to get some payback against the slavers and I was in the position to give them first part of the plan was simple and straightforward and my role in it was actually minimal. As soon as the batarian cargo ship showed up on the sensors of the GARDIAN tower I let it get close enough and then powered it up and clicked on the wide band broadcast on the comms.

"Batarian ship, land immediately and do not resist the GARDIAN laser is fully charged and is locked on to you." I said as the barrel of the laser pointed towards the ship a few kilometres above me. At this distance the laser would punch through the ship, there was no way to evade for something bigger than a shuttle.

"Who is this? Kharn is that you with your stupid jokes again?" the batarian captain presumably replied, one of the advantages of translators, it was easier to pass as someone else using audio only as the translator would simply use the closest approximation of the voice when translating. It's why turians didn't sound like vorcha when talking despite their languages being very similar to human ear when heard without translation. Vorcha sound like they do because there was no real effort to translate their language properly so they get by with the simplest phrases and idioms. Turians have spent time and effort getting their languages properly translated and not sound like like they were angry snarling or squawking when talking to other species. Only Asari and quarians had vocal cords close enough to human that their language actually sounded like a language.

"Batarian cargo ship, I repeat, land immediately, do not resist or I will burn you out of the sky." I commanded

"You will pay for this whoever you are. You won't get out of this system alive. I will spit in your eyes when Horsha strings you up" the stupid batarian answered.

"You asked for this." I said and pressed the trigger. I had turned the power down as low as I could. A few dozen kilowatts, just enough to burn some plating but hopefully not hit anything important. A laser is invisible but the gas in the atmosphere glowed as the energized particles passed through it connecting the ship to the tower with an easily visible line.

Telescopic camera on the tower wasn't in good condition so I could not aim it precisely but I saw a glowing dot rake across the belly of the ship.

"Batarian ship, next shot will be full power. Respond." I tried hailing them again.

"Don't shoot. Don't shoot. We are landing." I heard a different voice say after about a minute of silence

The rest was easy. The ship landed, it reminded me of a brick laying flat with the quad engine assembly sticking out the aft. There were six crew on the ship not counting the captain who had been promptly relieved of command after my demonstration, armed colonists boarded the ship and a few minutes later they brought the batarian ship crew out and locked them in the cages. Then the colonists started loading it up with everything that wasn't too hard to rip off. And the ship could fit a lot, it was twice as long as mine and a good ten meters wider. Jason said it was a common sight for Traverse and simple enough to operate. At first I wanted to send the colonists back in a loaded freighter, set the GARDIAN IFF to see pirates as hostile and leave on my own ship but Frederica found something among the supplies looted from another Alliance colony. Two standard shipping containers of LOKI mechs, 60 mechs in each.

"Why didn't batarians use these? Even I would have had issues getting through so many of them." I asked as Frederica was showing me an open container with another one right beside it.

"These are standard colonial defense issue. Unlike generic LOKI mechs these are already programmed with friend or foe identification. Batarians are a foe by default same as anyone with a valid Alliance ID is a friend. As basic as these are they are new so they likely didn't have anyone familiar with the system to reprogram them." Frederica answered

"Activate one, I want to see how it reacts to me." I said and nodded at the nearest mech. Frederica shrugged and went through the activation sequence on her omni-tool

The mech's eye lit up blue and then it unfurled itself standing up straight. The eye flickered for a few seconds before it's head turned toward me.

"Automated security protocol engaged. No hostiles found. For other commands enter authorised ID". It stated.

"List authorised ID types." I said

"Alliance military ID, Alliance civilian ID, Hahne-Kedar employee ID." it replied and having the first one I simply sent my almost genuine Alliance ID.

"ID accepted. Sam Knight, Staff Lieutenant N5, retired. Command authority established. Full functionality enabled." it stated and I grinned. That was exactly what I needed. One hundred and twenty LOKI mechs with my support was enough of a force that I was no longer concerned about the returning batarian slavers on a frigate. All I needed to do was to convince the cargo ship crew to help me and I had just the right thing to say on my mind.

29/01/2174 Former pirate base, Almarcrux, Caspian, Maroon sea

I was getting tired of waiting for the batarians to return when the GARDIAN tower's sensors pinged the frigate. The tower's VI identified it as Tor'vak-class frigate. I had been waiting aboard the cargo ship with a hundred and twenty of my new metal best friends. The ship had been moved so that it's cargo doors were pointed towards where the frigate would be landing. There just wasn't space for it to land anywhere else. Our captive cargo ship crew were going to talk them through the landing so as not to arouse any suspicion, I had to rely on them because I knew that I simply could not pretend to be a pirate long enough to do the job and if my own efforts to make them do what they are told were not good enough, there was a colonist with a gun pointed at each one of them to motivate them properly. When it would land Jason up in the tower would use the GARDIAN laser to keep it on the ground. My part was to storm the ship and take it.

As the seconds counted down I felt the tremor when the ship landed. It was a delicate procedure when landing on planets as the pilot and the VI had to be very precise when approaching the ground and at the same time reducing the power fed to the mass effect core as that was the only thing keeping it flying. Waiting for the go-ahead from Jason I flicked through the orders given to the LOKI mechs. Twenty five of them would storm the cargo-hold to make sure any people taken were kept safe and batarians could not use them as hostages. Another twenty five were storming the engineering deck. The other fifty would be going through the ship with orders to detain anyone and if resisted then lethal force was authorised. That left twenty that were going with me to the bridge.

"It's down. Give them hell." Jason said over the open comm-channel and I sent the activation command to the mechs. The tarp that was hiding them was thrown away, they unfurled and their eyes flickered blue.

"Phase one start" I said to the mechs

"Roger, Roger" they replied in unison. That was my fault. I modified their responses to commands when I had been particularly bored. I knew no one else would get the joke but it was funny to me.

Their eyes turned yellow, they turned and stomped shakily towards the ship. Each one was armed with a weapon from pirate's own stash. The sound of over two hundred metal feet striking the ground in unison as they rushed the ship was loud, unmistakable and brought a grin to my face. I stepped out of the ship and followed them.

The mechs got halfway to the ship when the shooting started. One LOKI went down and then a chorus of 'Target Engaged' sounded as the other LOKI mechs started shooting. Batarian pirate turned into a stain as dozens of LOKI mechs shot him with pistols, assault rifles and submachine guns that they were armed with. It briefly made a horizontal rain of tungsten that simply swept away the pirate. More return fire came from inside the ship and LOKI's started falling but the distance was covered and a couple of pirates couldn't stand up to the firepower of dozens of guns. I rushed forward into the ship holding my Katana shotgun. Narrow confines of the ship would make it deadlier than any other gun I had.

"Phase Two start." I shouted, that gave them the command to divide into separate teams.

"Roger, Roger" the mechs replied making me smile again

The sound of gunfire in the ship was deafening, rapid fire patter of assault rifles and submachine guns, single punctuating rapport of handguns and shotguns. The stomp of metal feet on metal floor panels, batarians cursing and shouting. Mechs proclaiming loudly that targets are engaged and hitting the ground with a loud clang. It was a cacophony of violence unleashed and I was right in the middle of it, grinning under my helmet. It was a just reward that the mechs and the guns they stole were now killing them.

Marching along the passageways my reaction time gave me an edge. A batarian stepping out of a side compartment got shot in the chest by me and finished off by the mechs. Three batarians crouching, trying to make a stand in the galley were quickly dispatched as I overloaded their shields by rapid firing my shotgun and the mechs syncing their targeting solutions followed up by riddling them with bullets. The door to the bridge greeted me with a red lock light so I slapped a disposable digital pick on it. It pulsed into life, made a digital whirring sound and then puffed with smoke as the lock light turned green. The pirates must have relied on standard security protocols. It wouldn't have worked otherwise. Tapping the door to open I darted in low to make myself a smaller target but still my barrier caught a few shots. The mechs coming in after me made the four batarians switch targets giving me a golden opportunity to return fire. Fifteen seconds later they were dead and I sat down in the captain's chair.

Bringing up my omni-tool I went through the status of the other mech teams and was glad to see that the cargo hold and engineering teams were finished and reporting all-green status. A couple of minutes later the ship was clear of hostiles and I had the after-action report.

Out of 120 mechs fifty two were mostly intact with another twenty missing limbs, thirty four dead batarians, seventeen dying, two captive. Captain and purser. The captain had been caught in his own quarters enjoying himself with a captive while the purser simply didn't put up any resistance when he was found by mechs.

I briefly thought of giving the order to kill the captain but decided to first get any intel out of him and then give him over to the people he had captured. The purser however was worth having a nice long talk with.

Sitting there on the bridge of a captured frigate I knew that this had been pure luck. I didn't plan for this, I just rolled into the situation and did my best and somehow it all worked out.

Next time. Next time I would be more prepared. I needed people to crew the ships, I needed people for combat, I needed people to manage supplies. This reminded me of a conversation I had with Miranda almost three weeks ago.

Flashback

"You want to establish a mercenary company?" Miranda said her skepticism clear from her expression

"Not quite. It will be registered as such but it won't be taking contracts the same way as the others. First of all it will be doing it's fighting against pirates and slavers in Attican Traverse and Terminus systems. Batarians have basically turned part of their navy pirate and are selling weapons and ships to anyone in Terminus as long as they cause trouble for humans or other Citadel species. Which means there is plenty of trophies to be had. No one likes batarians, not even the other criminal warlords in the Terminus. By establishing ourselves as trustworthy, as an independent force against pirates we will grow our operations. I know there are enough independent colonies in Terminus space that would welcome someone not affiliated with Citadel or Alliance, providing security without asking for their independence. That way we get friends. " I explained my thought process

"And you get their loyalty in exchange, they will be joining your ranks to protect their own worlds. But since it's not a government you can control it the way you wish with no need to give representation to the people under you. Clever. Using their own self-interest to gain control. And since you don't control how they live their lives on their planets they feel free while you control the space around them. All trade and travel go through you since you will be providing security." Miranda said impressed with the idea

"That sounds evil the way you say it. I don't intend to control the worlds we will be protecting or the people on them. The loyalty that will come from this friendship will be payment enough. Safe harbour and recruits I know I can trust." I said shaking my head with a smile. What Miranda said wasn't wrong but the way she said it. Makes it easy to believe that she would become a right hand woman to someone like Illusive Man.

"And what will you be calling this organisation? White Knights?" Miranda quipped making a pun on his last name

"No, that would be silly. And since you seem to think that a colour is required in the name…" I went quiet for a moment and then my face lit up with a mischievous grin, "I think I will call it Grey Wardens."

Flashback end

Returning to the present I thought that despite my initial reason to call the organisation I was going to build because of a game I had played by the same developer that made Mass Effect I did think it made sense to call the organisation Grey Wardens. Grey would mean that we are not pretending to be good, it would symbolise the resolve to do what is needed and wardens is another word for guardians, as to ward something means to protect it. It is a name that seems humble and it would imply that our actions even if it's an attack are meant to protect.

I had underestimated the amount of piracy because official news sources belonging to Citadel species or Alliance prefer to downplay that. Small things where a few dozen people disappear are seen as not important enough to cause a fuss. Only larger attacks where the count of victims goes into the hundreds or thousands get screen time.

And it was all because Citadel really hated anyone that rocked the boat. That was practically their whole attitude towards the Alliance, humans wanted things to change, they wanted things to get done and instead they were being given a run around.

Now thinking back it really was their only modus operandi. The Council was against any change of status quo that they themselves were not in control of. Making quarians outcasts not just from their own planet but from galactic society was their doing. Abandoning any attempt to help krogan into galactic community, no attempt to educate, no attempt to heal the wounds. Instead they put up the DMZ so that krogan can't rebuild their civilisation and be anything but big scary brutes to the galaxy at large.

Even their refusal to declare Skyllian Verge a region of batarian interest had the goal of preserving status quo. Council correctly assumed that neither humans nor batarians would back down and with how stubborn both are a conflict was inevitable. Humans and batarians in the mid to late 2160's were roughly equal in fleet strengths, even now humans had only a slight edge in technology but not numbers. Citadel Council must have thought that Alliance and Hegemony would fight a mostly quiet war, bleeding each other, focusing on each other while the Council would wait for the right moment to step in and show everyone who is the top dog in the galaxy.

But if I did what I intended to then Grey Wardens would be in the middle. Securing the region against batarians and giving the Alliance an easier time to develop their own colonies. How would the Council react to this was easy to predict. They would send a SPECTRE to 'investigate'. Maybe I would get lucky and they would send Saren so I could shoot him without putting any effort into locating him. But before that I had to deal with this mess of my own creation. Standing up I decided to go see the new people I had freed. Maybe there will be at least a couple people who knew how to fly the frigate.

Secondary Codex Entry/Batarian Ship classes/TT300 type freighter

TT300 is one of the most ubiquitous batarian cargo ships with atmospheric landing capability. First ships launched in 2129 by Lorek Shipbuilding Consortium and it quickly gained popularity due to it's simplicity and a large cuboid cargo hold. In fact it's a ship designed around the cargo hold that was made to fit four standard batarian shipping containers. Being shaped as a brick makes it rely on it's mass effect core for atmospheric flight but leaves plenty of space for all the equipment. It's four main drive units are simple fusion torches fed by the primary reactor which makes it quite fast both at sublight and FTL. LSC heavily updated the design in 2160 and started selling the new version as TT400 boasting a higher lifting capacity due to upgraded mass effect license to build the older ship was sold to several batarian and Terminus shipbuilding corporations which keep churning out their own modified versions.

General characteristics

Length:68m

Width:23m

Height 19m

Empty weight:290t

Max takeoff weight:890t

Powerplant: STS55C fusion reactor coupled with KFY18 mass effect core

FTL endurance:48-72 hours at maximum cruise depending on modification

Maximum FTL cruise: 8ly/24h

Secondary Codex Entry/Batarian Ship classes/Tor'vak-class frigate

Tor'vak-class torpedo frigate entered service in 2144 and continues to serve in Hegemony's forces. The design is unusual as instead of going for a spinal mounted mass accelerator like all the other batarian ship designs it uses a turreted dual cannon underslung on it's main hull and for it's main armament uses two torpedo launchers located at the 'roots' of it's large crescent shaped wings. The wings are actually used to store the torpedoes safely away from the hull. This left a larger than usual cargo hold. In military service the cargo hold can be used to store two APC's or two shuttles or a combination of both. This feature is also what made the frigate popular with the pirates.

General characteristics

Length:150m

Wingspan:100m

Height:26m

Empty weight:2500t

Max takeoff weight:4500t

Powerplant: STS120A fusion reactor coupled with KFY25 mass effect core

FTL endurance: 86-108h depending on modification

Maximum FTL cruise:11.5ly/24h

And this chapter is done. It shaped up more or less like I planned it would be and I am pretty happy with it. I am also finally relearning the skill of sitting down and writing for longer stretches. Although Stellaris was doing a good job of distracting me. I included a bit of technical data on the ships because why not? Obviously it's not canon but there really are not a lot of detail given and we have never seen batarian ships in the game. if anyone wants to see what the Tor'vak looks like google Orion interceptor. The model made by Robert Bonchune is especially good looking.

Silverwolf227 - thank you, it is always nice to hear that

RIOSHO - Is this the royal 'we'? I have thought a lot about how weapons in ME are supposed to work and really there are a few things that I will expand, probably write a few codex entries explaining how I see it as well. Hopefully this chapter answers your other questions.

NazgulBelserion - the whole Tau Volantis episode was an improvisation, but I did hide a few clues there. As for Tali vs Miranda I understand both sides of the argument although I have come down on the Miranda side in my later playthroughs of the game. Miranda I find is a more fun character to write and she just works with what I plan to do next.

And thank you all for the views, favourites, follows. It does lift my spirits every time I see that email notification come through. Makes me think and plan on the next chapters knowing that people are waiting.