Station over Apo

"Amazing how quickly they decided to confess when there's a Krogan in the room," Joker quipped as we approached the Matano system at FTL speeds.

"Yeah, you'd think we were prone to violence or something," Wrex chuckled.

"Not to mention an awful temper," I threw my hulking friend a sideways glance. The corner of Wrex's mouth turned up as he smiled happily. While I had been interrogating the two Asari, the Normandy had received a message from Matriarch Irissa stating that she was eager for an update on our progress, and if there was any information we could pass along. I had a brief conversation with her and gave her all the Intel we had.

Irissa found the station over Apo of particular interest and asked how soon we would be making our attack. It was hard to read the ice-cold Asari's face, but I figured she was pleased with the progress we were making and ended the call soon after. I always felt funny after speaking with Irissa. Something about her made my skin crawl. I was sure that it was the way she remained almost completely emotionless no matter what we were discussing. Even the Geth with their emotion emulators expressed themselves more vibrantly than the Asari Councillor.

We were a few hours out from entering the system where the Normandy and the Tibmius would stealth up and move in search of the space station orbiting Apo. While scanning the station and formulating a plan based on its layout and defences, we would then wait for backup in the form of Liara's special forces. If this was the headquarters for the Blades, then it was sure to be heavily guarded. I wanted to end them as quickly as possible by applying maximum force.

We had all the Normandy veterans and the Spartans, but still I wanted more and requested that Liara bring in Ludwig Von Engel and his men to help in the assault. Liara had gladly agreed. He and his soldiers were professionals. What is more, Ludwig had sworn to help me with this mission. Tali might have been safe now, but we still had to deal with the Blades and I knew he would want in on the action. Ludwig and his team were to rendezvous with the Tibmius, which would then follow the Normandy to the Matano system.

The more men we had, the more we could afford to separate our forces and attack from multiple entry points. I already had a vision of what our attack might look like. Most likely we would use explosives, or even the main guns of our warships, to blast holes in the hull of the station and fight our way in. Multiple teams assaulting from multiple directions, herding our enemy into one central location, and then dealing the death blow.

Tali and EDI would set to work hacking their computers and databanks to gather every shred of Intel there was. There was no doubt in my mind that the Blades would have other operations in progress somewhere in the galaxy, and if we could find out what they were then we could deal with them. Hopefully before their plans were put into action. As I pondered the possibilities of what lay ahead, it suddenly occurred to me that I had not addressed a very serious issue.

Leaving Wrex and Joker on the bridge, I headed for the lift and took it down to the crew deck where I knew that Tali was chatting with Ashley, Liara and Zaeed in the starboard observation lounge. She felt much better and it brought great joy to my heart to see her recovering so quickly. She was always a resilient one, but I knew that having so many friendly faces around her, people who cared for her like family, was a huge help. All of our friends had been amazing in aiding in looking after Tali without crowding or molly-coddling her.

The doors to the lounge slid open and I went in, hearing Zaeed's rough voice as he bragged about one of his contracted missions that he had taken on a year ago.

"… So the one of the fuckers, a Krogan biotic, brought the whole goddamn roof down and nearly buried us. Crazy!"

"How did you take down a Krogan Battlemaster?" Tali asked, clearly enjoying the tale.

"Turns out we didn't need to," Zaeed laughed. "The big guy was our anonymous contact within the pirate cell and had brought the ceiling down to block off their escape. After the bastard exposed his identity to us, we were pretty quick in cleaning the place out. The amount of explosives, firepower and Red Sand we found there was… insane, to be honest."

"You certainly live an interesting life, Zaeed. I'm glad you've been keeping busy," Liara said. Zaeed gave her a humoured look,

"Don't pretend you don't keep tabs on all of us, Miss "Info Broker". Probably know how many times a day we go for a piss."

"It's a useful indicator of your health. The onset of many illnesses can result in increased number of trips to the bathroom. I like to know my friends are alright," Liara replied, her face straight and serious.

The room went silent as we all looked at our Asari friend with confused looks.

"You're joking… right?" Tali said as she cocked her head to the side. Liara simply smiled and remained silent as she acknowledged my presence.

"I wish I hadn't heard that," I laughed as I joined them.

"Same here," Zaeed said. "Now I'll think someone's spying on my tackle every time I take a leak."

We all shared a laugh before I cleared my throat and moved on to the reason that I was there.

"I hate to kick you guys out, but I wanted to talk to Tali in private."

"Really? Here? On the goddamn couch?" Zaeed took a swig of his beer with a look of mock disgust. "I know you two want to "reconnect", but other people use this room you know."

"Just get out," I grinned at my friend as Liara simply shook her head and sighed. Ash, Zaeed and Liara took their leave and left Tali and I alone.

For a while the two of us simply sat looking out of the bay window, watching the stars blink away quietly. It was a comfortable silence and Tali cuddled into me. Her hands found mine and I held them close, never wanting to let go.

"So," Tali said after a short while, "what did you want to talk about? Is it about how to tell everyone that I'm pregnant? 'Cus I've been wondering about that myself. It was so hard not to spill it to Garrus and Liara first. But I thought it would be better to do it together."

My gut suddenly twisted as I closed my eyes and cursed heavily with my inside voice.

"Umm, no," I stammered. "I wanted to talk about another matter, but while we're on that topic… they all kind of already know."

"What?" Tali looked at me, "you told them?"

"I did. Before we found you on Sanves we were on Thessia. I told them just before that. I was making myself crazy worrying about you and Javik… sensed it. He offered to help and "read" me, that's how he found out. After that, I decided I needed to tell them everything. You matter a lot to all of them to begin with, but after they found out they were even more determined."

I looked at my wife apologetically, still holding her hands.

"I'm sorry, Tali. I know you were excited to break the news in your own time. But… circumstances. You know? I needed everyone to know the stakes."

"These Blades ruin even the little things!" Tali said in anger.

"Believe me," I replied, "I've said those exact words to myself numerous times."

Tali rested her head on my shoulder and stroked my hand,

"You did the right thing, Scott. I'm not mad. And our friends have the right to know as well, considering everything that's happening."

"We'll put an end to them, Tali," I swore to my wife.

"Damn right we will!"

Tali and I touched foreheads. Whatever happened, wherever we were, whatever obstacles the galaxy raised in front of us, Tali and I could overcome everything so long as we had each other. There was nothing in this universe that could stop us. We had proved that already.

"So what was is it you wanted to talk about? When you first came in, I mean," Tali said. I still had her wrapped in my arms and she pressed her body as close to me as she could.

"Oh right," I came out of my blissful state. "It's about the mission. I know full well you'll want a part in it, but…"

"If you think I'm going to sit this one out then you're in trouble, Mister," Tali cut in, a mild warning clear in her voice.

"But…" I emphasised, "I know how useless trying to get you to stay would be. You know the risks involved in these kinds of missions, especially ones with me. I need to know that you're safe."

I moved off of the couch and knelt down in front of Tali, holding her hands and looking into her eyes.

"I need you to promise me, Tali. I need you to promise me that you'll keep to the rear. Stay out of the line of fire as much as you possibly can. When the bullets start flying, you keep to a strictly support role. Will you do that for me? For us?"

I could see that she wanted to protest, to say that she and her shotgun needed to be in the fight. Eventually, with a heavy sigh, Tali relented and agreed to my request.

"Ok. I promise."

"Thank you, Tali," I breathed a sigh of relief. "You can still send in Chatika, if that makes you feel better."

Tali laughed at my stupid joke and it felt nice to share a little moment with her like that again.

"As an added measure of security," I said to her, "you'll be supporting the Spartans."

"No better shield than four walking Human tanks, right?" Tali was smiling behind her visor.

"Exactly. The Blades will be done soon."

With the serious stuff out of the way for the time being, I hoped that Tali and I could just relax for a few moments and talk about other, more pleasant things. To help both of us forget about everything that was currently going on, I was about to direct the conversation towards what it would be like when our child came along. That was before EDI's voice suddenly stole my attention away.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but Liara has received new Intel from Alec Ryder and Kasumi that you need to hear. She is waiting for you in the War Room."

Both of us sighed before looking at each other.

"It never seems to end," Tali said.

"Just as we were about to "reconnect"," I gave her a wink. Tali gave me a playful slap on the shoulder and chuckled,

"You wish, Mister."

"So do you, Missus," I quipped back.

"Hmm… true," Tali laughed. We headed to the War Room at each other's side and the professional side of my mind came to the fore again. If Liara had Intel so urgent, then that had to mean it was bad. Just as we were about to find the Blades' HQ and shut them down for good.

"What've you got, Liara?" I said as I entered the War Room, Tali right behind me. The Shadow Broker turned to face me, while holographic images of Alec Ryder and Kasumi were visible on the QEC behind her.

"I'm afraid we have good news and bad news, Commander," Alec said before he could even see me on our side of the QEC.

"Bad news first," I said wearily, "everyone knows I love it."

"That's what we're counting on, Scott," Kasumi said, her face shrouded by her hood as always. "The bad news is that we lost Tolan's trail. That Salarian is one slippery bastard. Too slippery even for me to track… Sorry."

I raised a hand for her to stop,

"No need to apologise, Kasumi, he's a hard target. What's your best guess as to his location, or intended location?"

"It's difficult to say. He passed through the Parnitha Relay and we completely lost his trail. However, the good news, if you could really call it "good", is that we found out what Tolan was acquiring from the Blades."

At first, I was eager to hear what Alec and Kasumi had found, but their expressions changed very rapidly into something very sombre and disgusted. Liara's head dipped and our two informants seemed like they could not speak of what they had found.

"Test subjects, Scott," Liara eventually said, her voice so soft and saddened that I almost missed it. "Human test subjects."

Silence filled the War Room. Nobody spoke. Nobody moved. All were in shock from what we had heard. For my part, I thought we were done with these kinds of horrors since the galaxy destroyed the Reapers. Once the grotesque machines were annihilated, I had tricked myself into believing that such despicable acts of cruelty and all-out malice would not be seen again in the Milky Way. Not in my lifetime, at the very least. Liara's words shattered that illusion. What could Tolan possibly want with Human test subjects? Where were the Blades getting them to trade to Tolan for their weapons? Tolan's hatred, as far as I understood, was focused on the Krogan. So why Humans?

"None of this makes any sense," James said after a time. "This Salarian hates the Krogan, is experimenting on Humans, and is supplying a terrorist group intent on murdering Asari officials. This is almost as crazy as all that Cerberus bullshit back in the war."

"Agreed," I muttered. "This means that we may have an extra objective once we reach the space station. If they are keeping Humans, or prisoners of any race, there then we need to rescue them. Clear?"

All present nodded in agreement. I needed to have another chat with Lia and Leena, and I was going to take their favourite Krogan with me. I called Grunt and told him to meet me at the Starboard storage room, and be prepared to keep Leena's damned mouth shut again. Together we stormed into the room, Grunt grabbed Leena roughly around the head and I knelt down in front of an unnerved Lia.

"The Humans," I growled at her, "the Humans that you are trafficking to Tolan. Where are you kidnapping them from? And where are they being kept? What is Tolan doing with them?"

"We… we don't know what he's doing with them," Lia squealed.

"Well then, I'll tell you. He's experimenting on them, using them for tests. The nature of which I don't imagine to be good. Where are you getting them?"

"From all across the Terminus Systems," Lia told me. "Teams snatch strays and outcasts from smaller colonies and Omega."

"This team based on Omega?"

Lia nodded quickly. To my right, Leena began to struggle and strain against Grunt's powerful grasp. I took this as a good sign, as it meant that I was being given information that she did not want me to know.

I stood before the team back in the War Room once again, relaying what Lia had said to me. Tolan was supplying the Blades of Retribution with weapons and ordnance in exchange for Humans. Tolan would send them coordinates on barren, uncharted worlds to send shipments. Shuttles full of these people would be left for Tolan to pick up later, once the Blades operatives had left the system. After that, the Blades had no knowledge of what befell the Humans that they had kidnapped from their homes.

These poor people, stolen from their families, friends and their lives. All to be experimented on by a deranged Salarian with a twisted agenda that we knew nothing of. After I was finished explaining this to my crew, Joker called over the comm to tell us that the Normandy had entered the Matano system. Stealth systems were engaged and we were burning straight for the coordinates of the Blades' station.

"Get in range for passive scans, EDI," I told her, "no active scans yet. Don't want to give ourselves away. We need to know layout, power systems, emergency protocols, et cetera. You know the drill. How long until the Tibmius catches up?"

"The Tibmius will arrive in approximately 20 hours time," EDI answered. Javik shook his head and commented,

"The Turian is eager to fight, he will be here sooner than that."

"Agreed," Miranda chuckled. "Once we're on the station, we're going need to hack their systems and get all relevant data regarding other Blades sites, current operations as well as info on their teams operating out of Omega."

"I'll send Alec Ryder and Kasumi there immediately," Liara said. "They've lost Tolan's trail, but now we have a way to find him by following the shipments of subjects…"

We all stopped and looked at her with worried expressions. Liara paused when she noticed the change in atmosphere.

"Forgive me. In my line of work, it gets easy to speak in… callous terms. What I meant to say was that all we need to do is search the base's database for the locations of previous drop-offs and see if I can find any connections using my own info-network. Another option is to wait for Tolan to put in a request for more Humans and we follow that straight to him, or his people at least."

"Then we have to jam their comms so they can't get an SOS out that Tolan might pick up on. It would tip him off," Tali said.

"Going back to the Blades for just a moment," I said. "Once we have every scrap of data on them, we can pass the information on to all the major military powers so they can plan joint strikes to take them down. Pretty sure the Asari would be quite upset to be left out of taking these fuckers down. That only leaves the teams on Omega and, fortunately, we can consider the Pirate Queen amongst our allies. We let the militaries deal with the Blades of Retribution so we can focus all of our efforts on Tolan, and stopping whatever mad scheme he's planning. Everyone in agreement?"

"Yes Sir!" came the replies from the team. Tolan might still be out of our reach for the moment, but the Blades' end was approaching fast.

The Tibmius arrived in the Matano system, two hours ahead of schedule. Stealth drives were engaged and our two vessels closed to within range for passive scans. EDI was able to pull up basic schematics that gave us a general idea of the layout of the space station. Jack was quick to point out that it reminded her of Purgatory, the prison ship that we had recruited Jack from, and the station we destroyed in the process.

The differences from Purgatory lay in a bigger central core and less arms sprouting off of it. Six arms came off the main body, three on each side, and EDI deduced that the command centre for the whole station was near the top end, relative to our position. One of the arms was a dedicated hanger and EDI informed us that the base had a tram system in operation along the central body. The favoured plan was to break our forces up into teams and attack from multiple directions.

The strategy was to herd the Blades' forces together and surround them before finishing them off. Those that surrendered would be taken prisoner, those that fought would die.

"The first team will attack the hanger and keep the Blades from being able to use it. Stop any from escaping," I explained as everyone gathered around the strategy table in the war room. Garrus and Ludwig's soldiers had come over from the Tibmius for the briefing as well.

"Miranda, I want you to lead that team; Fireteam Hotel (H for Hanger). Take Ashley and Ludwig's Bravo team. John Price, your team will be under Miranda's command."

"Yes Sir," the gruff-looking Englishman replied, itching his big, bushy moustache.

"Your job is simple; secure the hanger and block all access to the enemy forces."

"Won't be a problem, Commander," Ashley said, Miranda nodding in agreement.

Next, I allocated the main assault forces. The true vanguard of our attack. The Spartan team, Fireteam Sierra (S for Spartan), would attack from one end of the main body. Meanwhile, Wrex, Grunt, James and Javik attacked from the direct opposite end under the callsign Fireteam Kilo (K for Krogan). These two powerful forces would punch through the enemy lines and send them into disarray, shepherding them into a kill-zone in the middle.

"EDI, you'll provide tech and hacking support to Wrex's team. Tali, you'll do the same for the Spartans," I told her. Tali, who was already standing in front of Mace and Misha, who towered over her, agreed and I could tell from her eyes that she gave me a smile. I sensed a slight change in the mood of the room as the others questioned my logic in bringing my pregnant wife along on a high-risk mission.

"I told Scott that if I got left behind then there wouldn't be any "reconnecting" for a while," Tali chuckled. Liara, Ashley and Zaeed all laughed in unison as they had been privy to the joke from before. But the others sniggered as well as they got the gist.

"She drives a hard bargain, Scott," Garrus put in without missing a beat.

"You have no idea," I joked back with a wink to my Quarian wife.

Ludwig Von Engel's A Team, including himself, would be bolstered by Samara to make use of her immense biotic abilities. Their designation would be Fireteam Lima (L for Ludwig). I would lead the last team and have Liara, Garrus, Jack and Zaeed under my command. We were Fireteam Alpha, myself being the one in overall command. The responsibilities of our two teams were a bit more varied and flexible.

Whereas the other three teams had one singular objective they were not to deviate from until they were complete, the last two teams were basically going to be roving slayers who would go wherever the fighting was thickest. If another fireteam needed support, then either Alpha or Lima would answer the call. If the main assault teams needed a flank secured, Alpha or Lima would be there.

"As previously stated," I addressed everyone, "Fireteams Kilo and Sierra will place high-powered breaching charges at either end of the central structure and advance headlong for the command centre. Fireteam Hotel will assault and secure the hanger and set up defensive positions to deny the enemy any further access. Fireteam Lima will attack through the station arm opposite the hanger, secure it and then fall in behind Fireteam Kilo. Be ready to answer any requests for fire support or med-evac. The same is said for Fireteam Alpha, only on the side that Fireteam Sierra is tasked with. This means that my team has two arms to clear before we fall in to back up the Spartans. All being well, only the command centre and the two central arms will remain in enemy hands. EDI, be sure and shut down the tramway as well."

I took a pause as I summarised the plan, looking at all my friends as they took in all the information. Garrus stepped in and took over the summary.

"We hit the three remaining positions in simultaneous attacks. Kilo and Sierra hit the command centre while Lima and Alpha take the remaining station arms. Once all resistance has been subdued, the priority mission is gathering any and all Intel that we can use to destroy the Blades of Retribution. Any locations of more Blade's bases will be passed along to the militaries of all races so they can coordinate their own simultaneous strikes. Hopefully, we can clean our hands of the Blades and leave them to the fury of the galaxy."

The Turian equivalent of a grin came to Garrus' face as he said this, and it spread throughout the rest of the team. We could sense our victory nearing. The only detail that remained to discuss was Tolan. But we had to take the base in order to have a plan for the terrorist Salarian, so the matter could wait until then.

The shuttles, including two from the Tibmius, spun up their engines and prepared to launch. They would deliver all of us to the station, along with our demolition charges for breaching the hull. EDI had plotted a course for the shuttles to follow to the station which minimalised the chances of us being spotted out of the station's windows. Everyone was doing one last, final check of their gear before we began the operation. I slyly slipped away from Tali and left her in conversation with Garrus and Wrex, and headed over to the Spartans.

"Spartans," I announced myself quietly and they snapped to attention. I quickly told them to stand at ease, lest they attract unwanted attention. "I just wanted to have a quick word about the mission."

I leaned in and motioned for the Spartans to do the same so I could lower my voice even further.

"I know how capable you guys are, and I want you to know that I trust you. But I've put Tali with you for a reason."

"We'll take care of her, Sir. We'll do everything we can to keep her safe," Mace told me confidently. I clapped a thankful hand on his shoulder,

"Thanks. Let me be clear, I don't want any unnecessary sacrifices being made. Just make sure she sticks to her support role. She can be stubborn and will want to get in on the action."

"Much like her husband, it seems," Misha attempted a quick jibe. There was a short round of laughter, but I got back on point.

"Guilty as charged," I admitted, "but I've not got a child growing inside of me. Tali does. I'm charging you guys with protecting two lives, not just one."

"Understood, Commander."

I nodded my thanks and headed off, stealing a quick glance back at the mighty men. I told myself I need not worry. The Spartans would be slaying their enemies too quickly for any of them to even have a chance of taking a shot at Tali.

"What was that about?" Tali asked when I returned to her side. "Thought I heard the Spartans laughing!"

"That surprise you?" I smiled. Tali looked over at the walking, armoured tanks of soldiers.

"Well… they just seem so… restrained, emotionally."

"I think that has something to do with the chemical upgrades they received," I rubbed my chin thoughtfully.

"I wonder if it's worth it?" Wrex said as his red eyes stared over at the super-solders.

"How'd you mean?"

The big Krogan seemed to be in a very contemplative mood as he watched them finalise their weapon checks.

"Is it worth being augmented so much if it means you're stripped of emotions?"

"Almost," Garrus added, "almost stripped of emotions."

"Well, according to Miranda, they're all volunteers and were made fully aware of what they were signing up for," I said. "Though I see your point. Don't know if I could do it."

Garrus, Wrex and Tali all gave me a look and I realised the irony of what I had said. With a grin I said,

"Yeah okay, I know. I'm augmented as well. But that was done under very different circumstances. Those guys over there didn't have to be literally stitched back together."

My friends agreed and continued to watch the Spartans with many questions circling around in our minds.

Moments later, the signal went for the teams to embark on the Kodiaks and go. The Normandy had left the Tibmius behind and closed in to the space station. With the stealth system engaged they were never going to detect us, and Joker was holding position just out of visual range for deploying the shuttles. The Kodiaks followed EDI's course to the station and skimmed skilfully across the silvery surface to the respective DZ's.

Lima was deployed ahead of my team and soon Jack, Zaeed, Garrus, Liara and I sent ourselves floating the short distance across empty space until we landed delicately on the surface of the station. We moved as softly as we could. The mag-boots were not the stealthiest of equipment, each footstep making a loud clunk as we moved.

The five fire teams were in position, the breaching charges were in place. As soon as I gave the go ahead, the space station would be rocked by explosions and our elite team would storm inside. EDI, having monitored the Blade's communications, confirmed that they knew nothing of the impending fight.

"All teams: Go!"

The breaching charges exploded in a beautiful display of twisted and bent metal, the force of the demo charges blasting through the hull of the station. A random assortment of utensils, furniture and other things came flying out of the hole as the inner atmosphere was sucked into the emptiness of space. Shields appeared to seal the breaches and stop the sections of the station from being vented entirely.

That was our moment to go. Always needing to be the first in, I dropped in through the hole, Harrier at the ready, and was immediately met with incoming fire. Liara and Jack dropped in behind me and instantly raised biotic barriers around us, allowing Garrus and Zaeed to join me in the furious firefight. The enemies were piling out of what looked like an accommodation block.

"Fucking typical!" I growled as I loaded a fresh thermal clip into my rifle, "they'll be swarming over us like locusts."

"Like what?" Garrus shouted to me as he sent a bullet crashing through the brain of another Turian.

"Locusts… wee bugs that move in massive swarms, they strip fields of crops bare in hours. Bloody pests!"

A huge wave of biotic energy slammed into the front ranks of enemies and sent them flying backwards. Jack, barely breaking a sweat after such a big attack, raised her Carnifex and started blasting rounds down range.

"Lucky locusts are easy to kill!" She grinned.

"Zaeed, you're with me," I ordered. "Move forward and drive them back. Garrus, Liara, Jack, keep any reinforcements from attacking us from the central body."

Zaeed unleashed a torrent of bullets from his beloved Jessie and moved up while I covered him. Then it was my turn to advance. My Harrier roared, spitting bullets at our enemy and taking down a couple of Humans. The enemy troops, visibly panicked, retreated before our onslaught. A few of them were cut down as they ran, but many escaped into the barracks.

"Grenades ready," I said.

"Way ahead of you, Scott," Zaeed replied. He already had one primed in his hand and launched it through the doorway. We stacked up outside and waited for the thud of the explosion. There was a bang. There was a scream of pain. Then there was gunfire as Zaeed and I rushed the Blades.

All of our enemies had the sense to grab their weapons when our attack began, but not all of them had had the opportunity to don their combat gear. Some of them were still only half-dressed. A Human man popped out to take shots at me with only a t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts on. At least he had buttoned up the fly.

Zaeed and I repeated our cycle of hitting the enemies with grenades, leapfrogging forward and gunning down any troops dumb enough to try and hold us off. We were fighting in very close quarters now, ducking and weaving between bunks and lockers. I was finding enemies appearing on our flanks at an increasing rate as it became harder to keep our fire covering every direction.

"Jack, we need some backup here. Close-quarters fighting and the enemy are slipping behind us."

"On my way, Commander," Jack confirmed over the comm.

"Destructive bitch'll soon have 'em crying," Zaeed chuckled. I released a burst of fire at a Batarian, sending him to the ground, and ducked back into cover.

"That's the hope," I said. "The sooner we clear this section, the sooner we can clear the next arm of the station."

While we fought on, the other fire teams checked in every so often with short updates on their status. The hanger was almost cleared with several prisoners having been taken. Ludwig and Lima team had already cleared their first objective. They had fought a very stunned force in a make-shift training area. Gymnasium, firing range, armoury and a combat simulator had been sparsely populated, thus Ludwig's team had managed to eliminate resistance very quickly. Naturally, Kilo and Sierra teams were meeting the bulk of the enemy forces, who were increasingly more organised. But, considering the might of our assault teams, the Spartans and Wrex's team were powering on at a good pace, leaving many enemies dead in their wake.

The fighting was becoming ever more chaotic and frantic in the cramped crew quarters. My Harrier, after having done a fantastic job at killing a score of Blades, was now on my back and my Paladin was now my primary weapon. My Omni Blade was seeing a lot of use as well. I had a hairy moment when I was confronted by a Krogan who exploded through a unit of lockers like it was made of paper. He bellowed and roared in fury as he made a beeline for me.

Instead of manoeuvring around the bunks, chairs and desks like the rest of us, he smashed his way to me with a Raider shotgun in his hand. Up until now, my new Hyper Guardian armour had resisted everything that had been thrown at me. Then the Krogan's fist collided with the visor of my helmet and threw me back onto my arse.

However, he had not come away from the attack unharmed. Just as he slammed into me, my Omni Blade had sunk deep into his body, slicing right through his rudimentary armour. To make it worse, when I was thrown backwards, it caused me to slash upwards and open a wound on the Krogan from his abdomen up to his neck.

Blood poured from the Krogan. He blasted his shotgun in my general direction as I rolled into cover. From the side, Jack bowled over the hulking killing machine with a fast biotic attack. The Raider was turned towards Jack, but she ducked out of sight just in time for Zaeed to appear from the opposite side, his rifle unleashing a storm of bullets at the Krogan. Jack and I covered our comrade as he unloaded his entire thermal clip into the Krogan, green blood spurting and splashing all over the place.

"Stay down you bastard!" Zaeed yelled at the hefty corpse. The Krogan took one last glance at his killer before his strength failed, and I saw his pupils fully dilate when his life ended.

Once the Krogan was down, the rest of the fight was more of a clean-up. The last remaining survivors threw down their weapons and surrendered to us, realising the futility of fighting on. We bound their wrists and ankles, disabled their omni tools and put a biotic dampener on the Asari and a Human who, to his credit, admitted to being biotic.

"All callsigns," I announced over the comm, "Alpha's first objective cleared. Moving to second wing now."

"About time, Gardner," Wrex's rumbling voice replied without missing a beat. "You're slowing down in your retirement."

I grinned as Jack, Zaeed and I jogged to rendezvous with Liara and Garrus.

"Careful Wrex, you should hear how bad your bones creak just getting off a chair!"

There was no response, but I knew that Wrex would be laughing away while he was blasting Blades with his shotgun.

The mirth, however, did not last long. EDI reported in with new news that could completely change the parameters of our mission. The wing that my team was moving to clear was being used as a containment area for the Humans that were being sent to Tolan for his experiments, the nature of which we still did not know. Worse, the Blades could vent the prison cells any time they liked.

"Fuck," I growled. "All tech specialists, do what you can to prevent them venting those prisoners into space. New priority mission is to save those people first. Fireteam Alpha is on mission."

"Got it, Commander," Tali's voice came over the comm. "I'm at a console now. Doing what I can."

"EDI, how many prisoners are there?"

"I can confirm thirty-eight people."

I felt sick to my stomach. Why did Tolan need that many people? Was that one batch? Or multiple that the Blades would send to the slimy Salarian? It confirmed one thing for me, people were dying in whatever experiments were being inflicted upon them. That was the only explanation.

As my team bolted over to the containment block, I had time to pass a glance along the spine of the station and saw the Spartans fighting their way forward. There were two levels of walkways above their heads that ran along the sides of the central body. Enemies were trying to establish fire teams above us. However, Axel had managed to climb up the support struts on one side, while Dexter had made the same move on the opposite side.

Together, the two Spartans made life hell for the enemy troops. Their cat-like reflexes allowed them to nail any Blades fractions of a second after they attempted to peek over their cover. Down on the ground level, Mace and Misha were simply a blur. One would cover while the other moved up before switching roles. They advanced at such a rapid pace that many enemies were caught completely out in the open as they tried to retreat and would meet their end with bullets in the back.

Behind the magnificent Spartans was Tali. As promised, she was staying further back from the bulk of the fighting, unleashing bursts of fire with her rifle and hitting the enemy with overload and energy drain attacks. She was trying to get back to the computer console, but was receiving bursts of fire from a troublesome marksman located up on the highest walkway further along the station.

The Spartans could not get a LOS on the bastard, so I made the decision to stop, draw my Black Widow and line up the shot. The enemy Turian popped up once again with his Incisor rifle and scoped in on Tali's position. But this time he never got a chance. With its signature, resounding boom, my Widow jolted back into my shoulder and my shot struck the Turian right in the neck. Such a powerful round did not simply pass through a target most of the time, and this time was no different. The Turian's head blew clean off and blue blood sprayed everywhere as the body jerked and fell backwards, tumbling down to the floor below with a satisfying thud.

Tali, free from being targeted by the Turian, was able to resume her task at the console and threw a thankful wave in my direction. I shouldered my Widow and set off again with my Harrier ready to go. As soon as I ducked down behind cover next to Liara, she informed me that the situation had worsened.

"They've brought out some of the hostages and are using them as shields, Commander."

I believed her, but I still had to look and see it for myself. Sure enough, further along the corridor I could see Blades troops taking cover behind the roof supports along the flanks. Many of them had grabbed themselves a Human prisoner and hid behind them like cowards. The view infuriated me, no true soldier would ever use innocents as distractions or as bullet shields. For any soldier who had a sense of duty, who wanted to uphold the honourable trade of soldiery, what the Blades were doing was abhorrent.

I ordered my squad to keep up the fire on the enemies who were not holding a person in front of them, and some of them were dropped. Over the cacophony of gunfire, I saw a Batarian push his prisoner out into the open with his gun trained on him.

"Cease fire!" He screamed towards us, "or the Human gets it! Don't think I'll hold back."

I had a moment of hesitation as I mulled over what to do. Despite his attempts to hide, the Batarian was exposing himself slightly in order to aim at the poor prisoner. The man stared out at me with pleading eyes. He wanted to get out of here alive.

"Liara," I said to my Asari friend, "stasis field around the prisoner. Garrus, you've got a better angle on the target. When the prisoner's safe, drop him!"

"Got it," Liara and Garrus both replied.

It took a grand total of two seconds for Liara to bind the hostage in a stasis field and for Garrus' bullet to smack into the Batarian, blowing his lower jaw and lower right eye off. I bounded forward with my squad supporting me. I managed to reach the confused man as he lay quaking on the floor. My shields flared time and time again as they neared depletion, but they held true and I managed to secure the prisoner.

"When we put down suppressive fire, you run back and around the corner. Get out of the line of fire. Do you understand me?"

My voice was firm and authoritative. I did not have time to be sympathetic with the withering number of bullets whooshing past us.

My team fired in unison and put down a barrage of bullets as the hostage made a runner for safety. Without any orders from me, Jack and Zaeed advanced and took up forward positions. Garrus assaulted on the flank while I covered him, nailing a Batarian in the shoulder. The bastard did not die, but he swiftly retreated though to the next compartment.

"EDI, are there any hostiles in the containment cell with the hostages right now?"

"Negative Commander."

"Ok, then you or Tali need to lock down and isolate the cell immediately. Prevent the enemy from falling back and using any more of them as human shields."

"Nothing ever goes as planned, does it," Wrex laughed over the comm as I heard his shotgun bellowing and a terrorist meeting an early demise. Ignoring the comment and staying on task, I asked for a sitrep on the command centre,

"Teams Kilo and Sierra, status on the command centre?"

"We're at the doors, Sir," Mace replied, "preparing to breach."

"We're there too, ready to crack some heads," Wrex announced, not wanting to be outdone by the Human super-soldiers.

I felt the whole space station shake violently beneath my feet as Kilo and Sierra teams detonated their charges. The explosions from the charges would be directed into the control room, and since there were no hostages held inside, the charges had been set to maximum lethality. Anyone caught near the breaches would have been eviscerated instantly. The rapid fire of assault rifles, booming of shotguns and short, sharp blasts from handguns were heard from the centre of the station as Wrex's team and the Spartans went to work. They operated with deadly efficiency and, barely a minute later, Mace reported in telling me that the enemies had been dealt with.

"Ok. Tali, EDI, get in there and start getting any and all relevant data you can. I want info on personnel, their leader and any chain of command, ongoing operations, bases, outposts, ship movements, possible targets! Move it!"

"Yes Sir!" replied the synthetic and the Quarian together.

"Commander, Miranda here," my comm buzzed, "the number of enemies trying to get into the hanger has really dried up. Permission for Hotel to start pushing into the central complex from our position?"

"Granted," I said, "the operation is moving into the clean-up phase now. Secure prisoners and eliminate any further resistance. Our new priority is rescuing the hostages."

"Affirmative, Gardner. Hotel out."

I looked back towards the containment cell and the hostages. The enemy numbers had been drastically reduced, but all it took was for one to be lurking out of sight. If we started escorting the hostages to the hanger and an un-spotted enemy opened fire, it could be a massacre.

"Shall I bring down the barrier isolating the containment cell, Gardner?" EDI asked.

"Hold on that," I ordered. "I want one more sweep of the entire station for any remaining hostiles. The hostages don't go anywhere until then."

Zaeed and Jack stood guard at the containment cell while the rest of our strike force made a further search for any remaining hostiles. Miranda's Hotel team came upon two who were trying to slink their way past us. Knowing they had been spotted, the Blades decided to go down fighting rather than surrender. Their last stand did not last very long as Miranda swiftly dealt with them, her lethal biotics making short work of them.

Every team soon checked in confirming that there were no further enemies present on board the space station.

"Excellent job everyone! Now let's get these poor people out of here," I said with a relieved sigh. This was such a huge win against the Blades. Surely, the sheer wealth of information that we were sure to score from this attack, not to mention the rescue of dozens of hostages, gave me such a huge rush of success. I was so elated that I failed to notice a message that had begun playing across every screen on the station. There was no sound, simply words that passed across the screens saying,

"YOU ALMOST SUCCEEDED, COMMANDER GARDNER… ALMOST."

We were given no time to ponder the meaning of the message when Zaeed yelled out in alarm. Rushing to see what was going on, I was horrified to see that there were barriers of energy sweeping across the containment cell. The sterilisation protocol had been engaged and the beams were incinerating all organic matter that it touched. From inside the barrier, we could hear the muffled screams of the prisoners as the barrier caught up with some of them and turned them into ash statues in milliseconds.

I was about to shout for the barrier blocking the prisoners' exit to come down, but Tali was way ahead of me and the blue wall of energy in front of me disappeared.

"Come on! Come on, hurry!" we all shouted to the fleeing prisoners. The nearest man was twenty feet from me, nineteen, eighteen, seventeen. The sterilisation beam was hurtling back towards us far quicker than the man could run. I saw three people behind him get turned into charred wrecks in quick succession. I ran forward with my hand out-stretched, hoping to grab the man and pull him away from the deadly beam.

He stretched out his own arm, mere seconds remained before the beam would catch him. With pure terror in his eyes, he lunged towards me, crossing the final few paces between us and his hand landed in mine. I pulled with all my might, not caring if I accidentally yanked his shoulder out of its socket. But when I landed on my back, just out of the energy beam's reach, I looked down only to see the blackened, broken remains of the poor man. The hand that I held in mine was untouched, but just past the wrist the skin was burned and ragged, and stank to high heaven. I had been too late. They were all dead.

I released the severed hand when Wrex moved over to pick me up, ushering me away from the sterilisation beams that continued to wash over the room, going back and forward over the dozens of bodies that now littered the floor. Their faces were twisted with fear and misery, their last moments spent hoping they had been rescued only to end up dying in such a horrific fashion. We all stood silently for a few moments, taking in the terrible view of the murdered souls before us. Our victory had suddenly become a very pyric one.

"Get every scrap of information there is about the Blades, then we're out of here," I grunted. "We'll pass the information along to every military in the galaxy and tell them to work in concert with each other. We'll end these bastards in one stroke."

"It's long past time we did," Liara growled in agreement.

I turned around to see the one surviving prisoner we had managed to save. His eyes were wide with anguish, and no doubt some guilt.

"Did you know any of them?" I asked him, carefully. He shook his head slowly, still too shocked to speak.

"It's ok," I reassured him, "we'll get you to our ship and look after you. What's your name? Where do you come from? We can take you home."

The man remained quiet, his eyes still fixed on what was left of the other abductees. The best we could do for him was get him away from the station and give him time to process everything.

The Normandy docked at the hanger bay and we embarked together, the mood amongst us was less than exuberant. Garrus stayed on the Normandy for the time being as we planned our next move. I had Samantha and EDI collate the data we had taken from the station, everything related to the Blades. EDI organised the data based on importance, the current operations and locations of bases of the Blades. Whatever the militaries of the galaxy would be most interested in.

With the data sent away, I composed a mission report that I attached to the files. Knowing that the Blades were about to have their comeuppance was a comfort, but what I had just seen on the space station hung over me. It was strange, in retrospect. The horrors I had seen and experienced during the Reaper War, and before, should have made me indifferent to such a sight. However, the fact that there was no galactic scale war raging right then, no Collectors abducting hundreds of thousands of people or insane Turian Spectres on the loose, made what happened to those people all the worse. It should not be happening in this post-war age.