Man off the Moon

by FiendLurcher

A rusted hero let loose in a galaxy of myriad grays, walking the familiar steps and seeking answers beyond death at the end of that long, ever-winding road. (Currently editing ch22, took a break last month cuz of flu&brainfog)

26. Escape from Parnitha

Nihlus inhaled slowly, blinking twice as he stared at the main screen.

There was an absolute silence across the CIC, as if no one dared to so much as to breathe. They were all staring at the direct visual feed of Thessia, where the great spiraling shell of light was expanding outwards from where the orbital station had simply vanished. Nothing had shot it down; no one had managed to do anything. Yet it was gone. Had vanished before their eyes as it hadn't ever even been there.

Everything was wrong. Absolutely everything about this situation was utterly wrong.

Was he relieved that Thessia was safe? Or was he... disappointed, that after he had managed to resolve himself to bear the burden of a bad choice, that the situation was utterly taken out of his hands? Confused? Or even guilty about his confused feelings now that he realized everything was...? Was what? Somehow, despite this almost miraculous ending, none of it felt real.

Nihlus realized that beyond anything else, in this moment he felt frustration. At his own helplessness. At the unreasonableness of this entire situation. At how none of them seemed to be able to affect reality anymore. Cause and effect had lost their meaning, reality was but a whirlwind of possibilities beyond their knowing. Lost and adrift on an ocean of circumstances beyond any of their control.

"Rep..." He had to clear his throat, realizing it was as dry as sand. "Report. Someone tell me what's going on."

But no one spoke. It was as if no one knew what to say, all equally spellbound by the lights before them.

"Report!" He repeated, more loudly and finally someone answered.

"Orbital station has been destroyed and Thessia appears... to be fine."

Nihlus exhaled. "Yes, I can see that. But what happened?"

Jondum Bau cleared his throat, having muscled his way to a terminal. "The orbital station must have been destroyed before it hit Thessia. Visual feed is too obstructed by the light phenomenon, but radiation sensors report relatively normal temperature and atmospheric pressure outside of the immediate range."

As if released from a spell, the others joined in.

"Composition of light phenomenon is unknown; does not match that of recorded magnetospheric phenomena. AI analysis pending."

"Communications are still down. Weapons system back online. AI analysis regarding intrusion pending."

"Two tightbeam modules unresponsive, cause unknown. AI analysis pending."

"One comm buoy missing, no logs regarding disappearance available. AI analysis pending...?"

As the reports began to pour in Nihlus frowned. "What is wrong with the artificial intelligences?"

"Both are in a state of standby—correction, unresponsive and appear non-functional."

Jondum frowned at that, giving the Spectre a questioning look.

"Reboot both of them, we can figure out what happened later. Just get them back online first," Nihlus ordered before turning towards the salarian by the sensors terminal. "Do we have any visual recording of what happened? Bring it up if we do."

"Affirmative, bringing up on main screen."

As the recording played out in slow motion, for one frame they thought they could see something blooming outwards beneath the orbital station. But then the next instant it was all lost in the light that would not have come second to any star in brightness, the burning ball of metal erupting and vanishing in the space of a handful of seconds.

And in its wake remained that film of light; the burning rainbow aurora that separated the earth from the sky, through which they could no longer see the surface of Thessia.

"Analysis?" Nihlus called out, hoping someone had something to say.

"It does not appear to be emitting any harmful radiation?" Someone called out after a few awkward seconds of silence.

"Visuals are blocked; tightbeam may potentially suffer disruptions. Impossible to tell at the moment due to comm blackout."

The turian sighed, turning to look at the Spectre-candidate next to him. "Keep at it. Get those comms back and then figure out what the hell happened. Jondum, you're in charge. I'm heading down with a shuttle."

"Sir," the salarian acknowledged with a nod.

Nihlus nodded back and turned to leave the silent CIC behind. He just hoped he wasn't flying into hell.

---

;

---

Pain.

Excruciating pain. That was usually good for him. Emiya groaned, trying to open his eyes. Well, I'm still alive at least.

It didn't quite work, for some reason. Just the effort of having tried left him exhausted and enervated, so he focused instead on trying to figure out what was going on.

He realized after a moment that he had blacked out at some point, his memories of where he was and how he had ended up there coming up quite a bit too short for his liking. Trying to open his eyes again he had a bit more luck, and he realized that he was lying on the ground.

Inhaling slowly, his lungs felt like they were full of sand as everything continued to hurt. No, not sand. Ash. The nothingness that his material body would turn into upon his death. He was leaking magical energy, causing his material body to waver and slowly dissolve.

My spiritual core is damaged, he realized slowly.

He had a moment of utter absurdity as he began to recall what had happened. The realization that he could transport himself onto the station through passive sensors, his quick foray through the computer systems and finally his slapdash plan to blow up the station with Caladbolg. Short, hacking coughs that ought to have been laughter wracked his body as he managed to open his eyes and looked up at the burning sky finally. Should I be glad that it took me so long to top the most foolish thing I'd ever done, or be exasperated that I actually managed to out-do the time I broke into a nuclear power plant in meltdown?

Raising a hand against the golden-red sky, he noted that he could see through the limb. Its outline was hazy and shedding blue motes of light, indicating how tenuous his existence was at the moment. Trying to shake his head, he closed his eyes again and focused inward to stabilize himself.

It was to be expected; everything had a price. To manage a feat like that, he had to sacrifice something of equal worth.

That said, there was something to be said for not throwing broken phantasms at fusion reactors and then attempting to re-direct the resulting blast with a shield that reflected the damage it took on him. Was it the destruction of the shield, the momentary output of the fusion reactor, the raging mass effect fields of the eezo being scattered or the broken phantasm exploding that had left him in this state?

He couldn't remember.

It was probably a bit of everything.

Things were still more than a little hazy... But even so. It had worked.

It worked.

Gripping his fist as he grinned, he focused on his whole body. Even if he died here and now, it had all been worth it. That much he could declare without hesitation.

He hadn't so much stopped the orbital station, or shielded Thessia while it burned in orbit, as he had blown it up with a Caladbolg and merely held off the worst off the blast with Rho Aias. It had gone off perfectly, causing most of the orbital station to be stuck between the explosion and the shield, grinding it into a fine and hopefully-harmless dust. That was the safest option he had been able to come up with, lacking any kind of experience with matters of this scale and unable to rely on anything else. Most of the energy of the station had been directed away from Thessia, hopefully sparing the planet from the worst of the damage. The shuttle Hosin and his family had been in had nearly not been so lucky, given the time frame he was working with.

Emiya had barely had enough time to chuck them into the shuttle and get the hangar doors open in time for the shuttle to get out before the station had fallen too far into Thessia. The plan had been to activate Rho Aias from the shuttle, keeping himself at a safe distance from the exploding station.

Well, that hadn't quite worked as the first petal broke far too easily. Realizing that it wouldn't hold, he had jumped back to the station and shield, intent on Reinforcing or using Broken Phantasm on the shield.

And that was roughly where his memory turned fuzzy. Still...

He had to laugh. It actually worked.

That hurt quite a bit more than simply merely existing did, causing him to wince. He tried to run a check on himself, but beyond the understanding that his whole physical body was broken and that his spiritual core was damaged, he couldn't gather anything in detail. Even moving was difficult, thus he instead focused on his recuperation.

Without the Independent Action skill, he would have already vanished, he knew. Hell, even with it his shape was wont to grow indistinct and weak. If he let his focus wander, he might well turn to dust and disappear here. But it was much like how projections functioned; as long as he could simply maintain his self-image as something that belonged there, then he could maintain himself somewhat. He reasoned it was somewhat similar to how deluded wraiths managed to extend their existences despite their shuffling off the mortal coil, or by becoming so utterly one with nature that their presences become one.

As his managed to plug up the biggest of his wounds, he finally exhaled and rolled to attempt sitting up. Looking around, he realized he was sitting in a crater. Not a particularly large one, but an undeniable crater nonetheless.

His cloak was in charred tatters, his armor in pieces and he must have been little more than a bloody mess before he woke up. At least there wasn't a pool of blood where he was, only the fine dust that was nearly indistinguishable from the dirt. He'd had plenty of magical energy when they day began. Reserves that would have let him fight for days on end more.

It was almost all gone, now.

How the hell would he get back to his body now? Running right out was out, it would only hasten his demise. Spiritual hacking would also require magical energy, which hadn't been a problem before. But with his unstable spiritual core, did he dare to try another long distance jump? And with the comms still down, it was probably not even an option.

Besides, which way was it? And how far? He had no idea, given that he could have fallen anywhere on this side of Thessia.

He blinked as he heard the sound of something. Looking up, he could see in the distance a shuttle. His brows rose up as he recognized it and realized it was moving closer to land near him. Hosin. Guess that solves that problem.

They must have seen him fall. He couldn't have been out for too long, then. Nodding at that conclusion, he closed his eyes and waited as he merely breathed while healing.

"Fujimura?"

He perked up at the question, looking up toward the direction the shuttle had landed in. There the form of Hosin could be seen, hesitating as he stared down at him. Their eyes met and he raised a hand in greeting, not having the strength to do much else quite yet.

"...It really was you," the quarian sounded as if he couldn't quite believe it. "How, how are you still even alive?"

"Is he there?" Roane's voice could be heard, slightly further away, behind Hosin.

The quarian turned around, nodding at his wife.

"Yes. And it is him. I mean, aside from the hair and skin..." Hosin seemed quite confused by that, looking up at the sky for a moment. "It really is him."

Emiya's eyes followed the quarian's gaze, staring up at the sky again. It was as if a whirlpool of light shone there, beyond even the cover of clouds as it obscured everything beyond.

"Did the... station do that?" Hosin muttered, too quietly for it to have been meant for Emiya's ears.

Still, he hacked a coughing laugh as he shook his head at Hosin. Talking was still a bit of a problem.

"He looked like that when he broke me out from Ulee. When he took off his helmet," Roane noted as she came to stand next to Hosin.

There was an awkward silence as they merely stared at each other, a dozen meters between them. The confusion and hesitation in them was plain to see, even as they understood that they were only alive because of him. Even so, it was beyond their comprehension.

The sound of running feet broke the silence and Emiya's eyes rolled over the husband and wife to spot Hoana coming towards them. As she spotted him, her eyes shot wide open and she broke out into sprint.

"Hoana!" Her mother shouted in alarm, but the littlest asari did not even notice as she shot past her parents and came to a skidding halt in front of him.

"Saiga! Did you really do that!"

She pointed up at the sky, their eyes almost level as she jumped in place. Emiya looked up, raising his eyebrows as he did.

"Suppose I did," he finally said as he tried to get up. But his legs didn't seem to want to support his weight, forcing him back down with a stumble. "Ow."

Hoana blinked at him, her mouth hanging wide open. "Did it hurt?"

He looked at her, then at Hosin and Roane who had walked closer to him to come stand behind Hoana. "Yes, I wouldn't suggest trying it yourself."

She frowned, before nodding seriously. Then she stepped forward and place a hand on his head, gently patting his messy hair with a smile.

"Wha—"

"Hoana, that's not—"

Emiya blinked, completely stunned for a second before he had to laugh at the expressions Roane and Hosin were making at him. Glancing at Hoana, he had to return the serious praise with a nod of his own.

"Happy to see you too, Hoana."

She nodded, humming happily at him. "Oh! Kurinth!"

The asari child turned on her heel and dashed back to the shuttle, leaving behind the three adults as if a hurricane had passed over them. But somehow the strange tension had abated and the two standing adults finally managed to relax.

"You really did save us, then? It was you on the station? How did you even get aboard?" Hosin asked, shaking his head.

"Who's to say I wasn't there the whole time?" Emiya shrugged and he could see the quarian rolling his eyes behind his tinted visor.

"Fine, don't tell me. Nothing new there! Never could get a single straight answer out of you!"

Emiya grinned. "So you liked the mass effect field pressure cooker then?"

"You bosh'tet. You knew Roane wouldn't let me take it apart, didn't you?" The quarian said, throwing up his hands. "How did you even put it together? There weren't any seams, screws, welds or holes anywhere! You must have known!"

"H-Hosin?" Roane seemed to be panicking, her eyes jumping from one to the other as she didn't know what to make of their exchange.

"Yeah, yeah. I knew you'd be going crazy at wanting to take it apart. But," he looked at Roane. "I also knew she isn't the type to take any risks, either. So she'd never let you break it."

Hosin let out an explosive exhale, raising a clenched fist at Emiya as he tried to think of something to counter with. Emiya merely laughed quietly at the fuming quarian. Somehow this exchange of barbs and quips was enough to make the entire days worth of tension simply melt away.

"We could have made millions with that thing," Hosin huffed, finally deflating a little as he sat down on the ground. "Sheesh... What a mess this all turned out to be."

"Yeah, you got that right." There was an unspeakable exhaustion in Emiya's eyes as he said that, as if he was feeling the loss of that other possible future more keenly now than ever. "I'd figured we could have started small. I'd supply some capital and you'd handle the practicalities, then expand as demand exploded."

"Hah, as if. We'd have gotten a loan and started big right off, before anyone managed to snag the blueprints. Get a foot in the market with a bang and keep up the momentum the whole way to the top," Hosin groused, shaking his head before he began to laugh too. "Millions? Billions, more like."

They laughed for a moment together, before the mood turned solemn once more. It wasn't the time to be thinking about could-have-been's right now.

Yet, they sat there in silence as Emiya focused on recuperating and re-consolidating his remaining magical energy. Flesh was easily mended, bones were relatively quickly set and blood vessels were of minor importance to a Servant. But the increasing expenditure of magical energy from his core was all the more worrying as he attempted to plug the numerous leaks in his body with the utmost care. At this rate he had less than a half hour left before he vanished, the Independent Action skill and his own mental focus barely able to hold him together.

Roane frowned as she dusted the ground before sitting down as well, her asari sensibilities telling her to join them as she had no idea what else to do.

"What happens now...?" She asked in a quiet voice, not looking at either of them. "What will happen to us, I mean?"

Emiya said nothing, lowering his eyes to the ground again.

"I had thought to grab the both of you and get you out of council space. Maybe Illium. Omega if they were really desperate and kept chasing. You two would have been too small to really worry about—there just wouldn't have been worth the effort for them to chase you all the way there. You would have probably been able to start over... You'd never hurt anyone, not that I'd been able to tell. Sure, you flaunted the law and made a profit however you could, but you weren't bad people. That much I was certain of." He looked up, locking eyes with Hosin and managing to project such intensity that the quarian unconsciously took a step back from him. Gesturing up at the sky, he continued. "So what the hell were you thinking, Hosin?"

Even Roane had to take a step back at the sheer anger in his voice, her eyes wide as she reached out to hold Hosin's hand.

"I..." The quarian began, but hesitated as his mind had suddenly blanked totally. Stumbling with his words, he couldn't quite manage to say a word in his own defense.

"He—he didn't do it! Hosin, tell him! Tell him about the, the thing!" Roane finally jumped in, unconsciously placing herself between them as if to protect her husband.

"That's..." Hosin blinked, before nodding slowly. "That's right—I didn't do it! No, I mean. I, I set it all up so it looked real. But I didn't mean for it to really happen. I made sure that it wouldn't happen, even on accident! I made sure that it wouldn't. But someone hacked my systems, locked us in and made it all happen! I wouldn't put my family in danger like that, you have to believe me. I managed to copy their code, it's right here on my omnitool! I can show you! I swear I didn't do it!"

Emiya exhaled, closing his eyes as he raised his hand to his brow. He had figured as much already and it hadn't been what he was angry about. Having been inside of the orbital station's systems, he had had a good look at everything there. It had been an external program, something that had come through the STG's communication channels. Even the encryption methodology was the same.

But it hadn't originated from the STG's vessel either—he should have been able to tell that much while he had been there, himself—which left him essentially without leads.

Which left him with just Hosin as effectively the sole perpetrator.

Meaning Emiya didn't know what to do. If it was just him, then it might not have mattered; he was already the galaxy's most wanted man one way or another after this... But Thessia's governments and the Citadel would be out for blood; an incident of this magnitude could not go unanswered. And if no convincing evidence could be presented to them, then it was entirely possible that they would merely pin it all on Hosin, while the true mastermind would walk free.

Of course, Hosin was in no way innocent in all of this.

The quarian had been the one who had made this all possible; he had set the pieces in place for Thessia's destruction to be more than a mere novelty or flight of fancy. And the excuse of not having had any intent to truly do it or not, Hosin had with purpose and afterthought made it all possible of his own free will.

Not that he didn't understand Hosin's actions; the desperation and zeal of a father protecting his family was not entirely alien to him. If the situation was right, wouldn't Emiya essentially do the same thing? Threatening to do something horrible to achieve something else—to protect something he thought greater. Wasn't that exactly what he had and would do? Therefore, no matter the results, he couldn't bring himself to be truly angry at Hosin.

So he would seek out the true perpetrator, not only to bring them to justice but to protect Hosin. Rubbing at his temples, he tried to sort his thoughts. So what, another mystery player on top of everything else already going down?

It appeared that Emiya would have to be on the lookout for clues for now.

But what about Hosin and his family? Citadel territory was never an option, and I doubt the Quarian Flotilla would be willing to deal with them. Omega and Illium are right out. Too many eyes looking for a quick credit for something of this scale...

Even if he managed to find some distant corner of the galaxy where they could be safe, he would have to babysit them for the rest of their lives, wouldn't he? Having drawn them into this and having already saved them more than once, how responsible was he for them from here on?

It was just another headache on top of a mountain of headaches.

Hoana returned then, wholly unaware of the tense stand off as she dashed back to Emiya with the strange lizard-creature in her arms. "Kurinth had run off! Can you believe it! But she came back when I called for her, see?"

"I can see that. Quite like you, huh?" Emiya huffed with a slight smile and then inhaled slowly as he got up. There wasn't any more time to be lying around now.

Someone was drawing near now, probably having come to investigate.

He could hear engines in the distance behind him. Dusting himself off, he looked at his limbs to note that his clothes were in complete tatters.

Turning towards the east he narrowed his eyes as he spotted the hovercraft flying their way. It was still twenty kilometers away, little more than a speck in the sky. But it was already too close to be outrun with the shuttle Hosin had flown here with. By the time they boarded and got in the air, it would already be on top of them. And he was in no condition to fight.

Which meant... I'll have to talk my way out of this. Wonderful.

"Mama, look!" Hoana excitedly pointed out the approaching vessel, causing Roane to grow anxious. They didn't have any allies on Thessia. It didn't matter who it was, it would be bad news.

"Honey, come here alright?" Roane said as she hurried over to her daughter, hugging to protect her as she glanced hesitantly at Hosin and Emiya.

As the hovercraft drew nearer, Hosin and the others finally noticed it. It was larger than Hosin's shuttle and probably much faster as well. Not that it would matter, given that Emiya was fairly certain he could see a panel where a mass accelerator had been installed on the side. If they tried to escape they would just get shot down from behind.

Before the hovercraft had even had time to land, the door on the side opened up and three asari commandos jumped down and landed shrouded in the telltale blue glow of biotics. Armed with rifles, the commandos drew a bead on them.

"No one move!" One of them shouted.

"Ground clear for landing," another said in a quieter voice, likely to a short-range comm. "Target spotted; he is unarmed."

Or rather they aimed at him, as none of them bothered with the panicking family behind him.

They aren't shooting, he noted.

And the moment the craft had set down, a familiar face appeared as Miranda strode out with slow, deliberate steps and wearing a mask of cold professionalism.

Except for a moment as their eyes met, he saw a spark of burning anticipation there. Keeping his poker face as he turned to look at the worried Hosin, he considered Miranda's appearance here. Was she the person behind the orbital station's malfunction? He entertained the possibility only for a fraction of a moment.

But no—she must have been on Thessia. More than that, she had been within the area of immediate danger if she had managed to make it here nearly as quickly as Hosin had. She would have been caught up in the immediate effects of the station crashing. Miranda was many things, but stupid enough to be planetbound during an event like this was certainly not one of them. For now, I can write her off that list.

Had she tracked him here, then? No, that made no sense either. Not unless she had the technology to trace his movements through spirit hacking. She's probably here due to the shuttle, then. Curious as to who might have been on it when it escaped the crashing station. Maybe she thought I was with Hosin or Roane.

That made more sense; their meeting here was thus more of a unlucky coincidence than anything.

"Well, well. I didn't expect to run into you of all people, here," Miranda spoke as a pleased smirk broke out, crossing her arms before addressing one of the asari. "Shoot his legs, search him and then haul him to the ship. Don't give him any outs, he's tricky."

One of the asari commandos obeyed immediately, lowering her rifle's barrel to put a hypersonic round through his leg and pulling the trigger.

The sound of the shot echoed through the clearing, sending wildlife scattering away in all directions at the loud report.

Tearing through the physical body, ripping muscle and shattering bone, the round was quite painful as it punched through just above his knee. Or so it would have if he were flesh and blood. At this point he was little more than a weak wraith; the bullet acting more like a gust of wind dispersing a form wrought of smoke than anything else as it passed through him.

Roane and Hoana flinched at the loud report of the gun and blinking as they realized he had been shot in the leg, gaping in growing panic at the display of violence. But he didn't so much as blink, even as it caused a noticeable dip in his magical energy reserves.

Fifteen minutes left now. Less if I have to move.

The asari commando blinked, certain that she had hit him right in the bone.

There was no way he should have been able to remain standing with a wound like that. Licking her lips, she looked over at her comrades and then at Miranda, as if asking for new orders. But even she was stunned silent by his utter nonchalance, leaving a strange tense silence as the asari commandos looked at each other with growing apprehension.

"Hosin," Emiya said, completely ignoring the asari and Miranda. But the quarian's eyes seemed glued to the bullet wound in his leg, forcing him to speak more forcefully to the mechanic. "Hosin."

His eyes snapped back up to Emiya's.

"The fact of the matter is that you placed millions in danger. Whether you meant to or not, you're not going to be able to just walk away from that."

Those words left them all quiet; Miranda and her party more from confusion than anything else, but Hosin and Roane both understood what he meant.

"I... Yeah." The quarian nodded, deflating with the admission.

Emiya could feel Miranda's cold eyes on his back along with the wavering intent of the asari behind him now. The commandos were confused, certain that they had the upper hand against a group of unarmed civilians despite how he seemed utterly unfazed, even if they were a bit surprised and unsure . Yet they weren't acting. Miranda is in charge of them. How curious.

Which meant even if he couldn't fight properly, he still had a way out of this.

"As long as you understand that. Anyhow," he began as he turned around to face the dark haired woman. Their eyes met and he smiled, donning a mask of pleasant surprise at having run into her. "Miranda. Took you long enough to show up."

The asari commandos seemed taken aback by his knowing of her name, hesitating as they glanced at the still quiet woman. She hadn't expected this and was trying to decide on the best course of action. She was surreptitiously eyeing him, his ragged gear on his otherwise spotless body. The family behind him. The crater he was still standing in.

And the wound on his thigh that wasn't even bleeding, supporting his weight without issue.

She had had a plan when she had landed.

But now she was flapping; all of her designs knocked completely off track with his non-reaction to the force she could bring to bear. Really, it was the same for him in regards to her showing up. He didn't have time to waste here. If he didn't get back to his body soon, he really would disappear from this world without leaving anything behind. If a fight broke out, he could simply astralize for immediate safety. But then what would happen to Hosin, Roane and Hoana? Additionally, without any idea of where he was or a means of getting back to his body, he was still screwed.

He had to avoid a fight at all costs.

Too bad she didn't know that. Hosin and Roane might be scared of the asari commandos, but Miranda wouldn't be as certain of their odds anymore.

"...What is that supposed to mean, Emil?" She finally asked warily.

He raised an eyebrow at that, smirking at her as he crossed his arms. "'Emil', huh. You're still calling me that?"

She blinked and licked her lips, glancing at the guards with her as she realized she wasn't sure how to handle him now. She must not have truly expected to run into him, having brought just three commandos with her. And where did she get them? They don't look like any hired gun outfit...

"Never mind that. What is that? What have you done?" Miranda pressed on, motioning at the sky. It seemed as if the STG information suppression had been quite effective after all.

In the hovercraft that Miranda had arrived in was one more asari; the pilot it seemed. He couldn't see her but he could hear her inside of the craft, where she was fiddling with the comms.

"Matriarch Trellani, this is Falarn, come in, over..." The pilot repeated several times, before complaining to herself as she gave up and returned to staring out through the window at them. "Tch, still dead. I hope she won't have my hide for this..."

Emiya was the only one who could hear the grumbling asari pilot, outside of the craft. No reason not to use that to his advantage.

"Ah, that. It's nothing, just ask Trellani. She's old enough to be in on the loop, no?" He shrugged with a glance to one of the asari.

Miranda blinked as if she had been slapped, glancing at the asari commandos who seemed equally surprised at having been recognized. "How did..."

He didn't bother explaining himself, figuring the air of mystique and nonchalance would play off better with leaving it at that—he didn't actually have any clue as to who this 'Matriarch Trellani' was and why she was working with Miranda, after all. "But if you don't have any actual business with me then I'll be taking my leave, I've some last minute business to still take care of."

"Wait, Emiya," she called out, only to pause for words as she tried to think of what to say.

He smirked, pausing in his step as he turned around and tilted his head at her, projecting amused exasperation at her. "Well, what is it?"

She hesitated for just a second as she reached for something to work with, before she licked her lips and glanced at Hosin and Roane. "I would like to propose a trade. An exchange of favors."

He raised an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms as if saying 'oh, this I have to hear' silently.

Reassured by his attention, even if his expression seemed to sprout some doubts in her, she continued. "You've gone to great lengths to protect those people behind you. I can get them out of Thessia. I can give them new lives. Away from the Citadel, away from all this."

Emiya blinked at that, saying nothing.

She hadn't said what she wanted in return, but even so he knew it wasn't a very good option in the long run. Certainly the organization she was a part of had the means to hide Hosin and his family. But at what cost? Just as she said, he had gone to great lengths to protect them.

To her and her organization, surely that made them great leverage against him.

He glanced at Hosin, noticing that the quarian had perked up at that. As their eyes meet, the unspoken prompt passed between them. Well?

"It's your choice," Emiya said and crossed his arms again, sighing and gesturing with one hand at Miranda. "She's a part of a secret organization intent on human supremacy in the galaxy. They'd have the means for it."

Hosin nodded slowly, glancing at Miranda after a second. "And do you trust them?"

"Her? She's good for her word. Exactly that and no more. The rest of her organization? About as much as I'd trust your scratch warranty."

The quarian scoffed at that, shaking his head. There was a tense silence as Hosin held hands with Roane who was still holding Hoana. Finally, looking up at the sky, he seemed to have made up his mind.

"If I turn myself in—to the Citadel, I mean—do you think... They'd let Hoana and Roane go, like we agreed to before?"

"Hosin! You, you can't, not again..." Roane immediately protested, grabbing her husband by the arm.

"If I give them everything. The code sample on the person who hacked my station, I mean. They'd agree to that much, right?" Hosin said, putting a hand on Hoana who did not seem to quite understand what was happening.

Emiya said nothing, sighing after a few seconds.

"Oh, I meant, everything except what I've got on you. I don't mean I'd rat you out or anything, that's not what I meant at all—"

"Do it."

Hosin froze. His blinking wide eyes visibly behind his visor, the surprise obvious on his face.

"Everything you know about me would probably be a sweet enough a prize for you to manage a good deal with them," Emiya shrugged. "So do it."

"Wait, this isn't—" Miranda protested but quieted at Emiya's look at her.

"But, I mean... Wouldn't that be bad for you?" Hosin asked.

Emiya shook his head. "No, at this point the cat's out of the bag already. It's better if they get a slightly better handle on me, before they get too antsy about everything they don't know about me. It would be better if they don't adopt any over-enthusiastic policies just to see if something will stick. So go ahead."

"Then," Roane began, faltering for a moment as his eyes turned to her, but forging on after a second. "Then can't you just make up with them? If you just join hands with the Citadel, couldn't you negotiate it all yourself? You have the leverage for it, don't you?"

He inhaled, then shook his head.

That wasn't what he wanted at all; it wouldn't do.

She licked her lips, looking as if she wanted to say something but was unable to. He had proved himself to be something utterly beyond her understanding already so many times today. What did she understand of him? None of them really did, did they? So what right did she have to try and tell him what to do? Faced with that, what could she say?

Closing her mouth and looking down at Hoana, she sighed and deflated with defeat.

"That's that, then. Well, I'm sure if you entrust it to your wife, you can get decent enough conditions out of a deal like that," Emiya said with a nod. Turning to look at the obviously frustrated Miranda he shrugged. "There you have it. I've no need of your services at this time, Miranda."

Perhaps rebuffing her so quickly wasn't the best idea, but it was Hosin's decision in the end. And it wasn't like he had no cards left for placating her, so it was not as if he was leaving her desperate and out of options here. Stick and carrot, carrot and stick. Besides, this would work out even better for him.

"But, I'm sure Emiya Shirou would be interested in what you have to say." Miranda perked up at that, more confused than anything else. "Well, I have to go now. Goodbye, Roane, Hoana. Hosin, can you handle it from here?"

"Umm, buh bye, Saiga!" Hoana waved at him and he had to huff to repress the smile that it generated on his face.

"Ah, uh... Yeah?" Hosin answered, but as Emiya raised an eyebrow at the hesitant tone, the quarian nodded with more confidence. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I've got it from here. Thanks for, well... Yeah. If you ever need anything, I'm sure you can find me."

Emiya nodded at that, then turned to look at Miranda. "It was nice seeing you again, Miranda."

And with that he simply astralized, disappearing from sight in plain view. The asari commandos who had been well beyond confused at the utter lack of tension all swiveled and began looking for him all around them. Expecting a short range Blink, they were left utterly lost as he failed to appear anywhere in the vicinity.

It was better if he left now.

His presence was drawing too much attention and conflict already. From now on, he doubted there would be any more calm days. Just staying on the move and doing his best from one struggle to another.

It felt almost nostalgic.

Jumping into Miranda's omnitool, Emiya sent her a message and disabled the silent mode she had it engaged on. At the soft chime, the dark haired woman was startled out of her confusion. Opening the omnitool, she blinked at the message displayed.

It was a set of coordinates on Thessia along with the words, 'Chop chop, the clock is ticking.'

She frowned, staring at the omnitool before shaking her head. Looking up at the confused and lost asari commandos, she barked a command. "We're leaving!"

"Huh?"

"What about them?"

She shook her head, not even bothering to consider trying to grab the family anymore as she with hurried steps made for the hovercraft they had arrived in. "Forget it, there's no time. Get in or I'll leave you behind!"

The three asari looked at each other, leaving Emiya tense for a moment as they gave a lingering look to the quarian and his family before grimacing and letting them go.

As the four hustled into the craft, Emiya jumped back out of the omnitool. Invisible, he gave Hosin, Roane and Hoana one last look before he stepped into the hovercraft that was taking off. He probably wouldn't see them ever again.

Good luck Hosin.

---

;

---

Nihlus exhaled slowly.

These shifting lights, a pattern of swirling rainbow-hued aurora dancing in the sky, were beautiful despite how ill at ease they made him. He had been flying through it for a while now, taking samples and attempting to disperse it in various ways to allow visual surveillance of Thessia to resume. But so far he had little luck with it.

The origin of the lights, while something of a mystery, was also patently obvious. The orbital station was gone without a trace. Not even minor debris remained of KX-0331. No one could have survived whatever had happened to the station.

At least Thessia was alright, the comms notwithstanding. Not that the damage was insubstantial or anything; the repairs alone would cost millions, without even considering the losses to various businesses and public unrest from the lack of comms.

According to the reports that had been able to get through from the surface, it did not seem as if any major catastrophes or riots had occurred. Countless people had come out into the street to gawk at the strange phenomenon, but aside from that it seemed as if things were mostly fine.

For the moment at least.

Perhaps it could be explained as a rogue high-velocity comet on collision course with Thessia? A public statement explaining the lights in the sky and communications jam from unexpected radiation on impact with a new type of kinetic barrier? He shook his head.

There was plenty of time for excuses later, for now he had to —

"Bau to Kryik, come in."

The Spectre flared his mandibles with irrational annoyance, his bird of prey instincts protesting at being broken out of his hunt. Shaking such petty emotions aside he returned the call to the STG ship.

"This is Kryik."

"We've received an FTL communique that Councilor Tevos is arriving to Parnitha and that she is looking for Spectre Vasir, but she is still unreachable. Can you advise as to her possible current location?"

Nihlus paused, staring at the comm panel for a second in surprise. Why was the Asari Councilor here? This was still an active danger zone; all VIPs had been advised to remain out of the system since Hosin'Reegar had made his demands. And even before that, it had been made clear that Redhax might attempt to take a hostage to break out of the quarantine.

And again it was Tela Vasir—what was the asari Spectre doing and where in the spirits' name was she? He would make sure to report her utter disregard for the mission and Thessia's crisis once this was all finished and done with.

"Negative. Last communication was following meeting with the assembled Matriarchs. Why is the Councilor here? Wasn't she notified of the quarantine?"

It took a moment for his reply to arrive, during which time he began to fly lower and lower towards Thessia's surface.

"I queried the Councilor but she deflected. She seems insistent on landing in Thessia as soon as she arrives," Jondum said over the comms, somehow sounding both annoyed and defeated at the same time.

"Stall her as long as possible; we don't need this situation to get even more out of hand anymore. Failing that, send for all available units to be added to her security detail."

"Understood."

"And get me in touch with Vasir, I need to figure out what's going on with Councilor Tevos and she's most likely to know."

"So far she has remained out of contact, but I will put a priority notice through to all comms that come online. Shall we attempt an analysis on the results of your samples?"

"It seems benign enough. Let it wait for now, focus on restoring comms for now."

"Roger. One last thing, the visual feed of the station being destroyed revealed something more under a more thorough inspection. I've forwarded the relevant data; it appears that the shuttle managed to escape before the explosion."

"Wait, which shuttle? The one Roane Lorrais used?" Nihlus opened the video file and noted the time-stamps marked for him. His mandibles flared as he leaned back in his chair, not certain what to make of the video. "It couldn't have escaped the blast that late; it would have been too close."

"Indeed, but it may have well been able to land on Thessia nonetheless. A potential lead to follow up on, sir?"

Nihlus inhaled slowly, closing his eyes before he nodded. "Yes, I'll start on it immediately. See if you can get anyone else in the area to start looking for the shuttle. Once Thessian Airspace Control is back online, see about cordoning off the system."

"Of course."

"Good, keep me posted. Nihlus out."

The call cut off and the turian exhaled as he returned his attention to Thessia. He had a shuttle to find.

The surface was closing fast as he began to make a circuit towards the rough center of the aurora. If he assumed the shuttle was on a rough parallel course with the falling orbital station, then he could cut down the amount of area he would need to search by quite a bit.

Of course finding a single shuttle on a planet would be nearly impossible, he would need to—

Nihlus blinked, pausing and slowing down the shuttle as he stared at the notice on his terminal. Someone was broadcasting on a radio frequency. Inhaling slowly, he patched a call through on the frequency on the broadcast.

"Spectre Nihlus Kryik speaking, who is this?" He asked, more suspicious than anything else. This was probably just a waste of time...

"Ah, yes. Hello. This is Roane Lorrais... We never met, but you must know who I am."

Nihlus blinked, stunned despite himself. He stared at the terminal, before clearing his throat and answering.

"Yes. What is this about?"

"My husband would like to turn himself in, and I've contacted you to facilitate that matter. Could we perhaps meet somewhere?"

"...Very well, forward me the coordinates and I'll be there," the turian managed to say, almost not believing what was happening. Even as he received the next reply, he was already sending a notice to Jondum Bau for backup.

Still, it seemed like things were finally starting to work out for them.

"I'll be there in three minutes."

---

;

---

Even before the hovercraft began to descend and look for a suitable place to land, Emiya jumped straight out and into the water.

He was running on fumes already, wasting no time as he dived right in and found his body. Ignoring the strange schools of fish that had gathered around the stone coffin, he let out an exhalation of relief as his spiritual core ceased leaking the moment he was back inside his body. Opening his eyes, he groaned at the headache that assaulted his senses. Trying to raise a hand to his temples, the hardsuit's helmet got in the way and the thunk of his gauntlet against the visor only made him feel even worse.

Right, won't be able to walk like this. I'll need to rely on Miranda, again. Shaking his head, he glanced at the HUD read out for how the hardsuit was holding up. Power and oxygen was still fine, though his body was starving on top of everything else. As he jumped off the muddy sea-bottom and began to swim upwards, he focused on breathing and the sensation of his limbs.

Breaking the surface of the water, he spotted the asari commando who had been scanning the ocean. She jumped back, raising her rifle and shouting out for the others.

"There's someone here!"

Walking out of the water, he reached up to take off his helmet. The brightness of daylight would have been blinding even without the great dome of light in the distance. Shaking his head, he eyed the armed asari until Miranda arrived.

Alright, she thinks I'm a different person. Act surprised but wary until she mentions me.

"Miss Lawson," he said as he blinked at her. "What are you doing here?"

She smirked then and he could see that she was far more comfortable dealing with him like this. Presumably believing that with comms down, she had an edge here.

"I heard you were in a tight spot and came to help, Shirou."

Well, that's a 180 of her earlier attitude. Is she taking a more cautious approach after what happened earlier? Shaking those thoughts out of his head, he nodded slowly.

"I see. Well, I wouldn't object to a ride to civilization."

Both of them ignored the asari commando who were completely baffled by their conversation. Boarding the hovercraft, they settled down by the back. The asari pilot gave him a once-over before scoffing at them as she took off, while the three asari commandos seemed almost unsure of whether they should be keeping their rifles aimed at him or collapsed on their backs.

Strictly speaking, judging on how they had handled the situation earlier, they were here to kidnap him. Or him, whichever they could manage. And while he wasn't as vulnerable anymore, it was in his best interests to keep things from escalating for the moment.

"Where to?" The pilot asked.

"Ulee," Emiya immediately suggested before Miranda could say anything. "Tela Vasir was being directed by someone to kill a famous Matriarch's daughter and to frame me for it. I think there's something more going on there."

There was only so much room on the playing board, he reasoned. It was not as if someone capable of hacking the orbital station could simply appear out of nowhere. Even he had left traces of himself as he acted. Thus, the mastermind had to be someone who was connected to the existing factions.

And his first lead at the moment was the mysterious man behind the scenes who had been directing Tela Vasir and that young Justicar he had killed.

He would entrust the rest to the turian Spectre and the STG for now. How they handled it would also be telling of their priorities and loyalties, if nothing else.

"As in Tela Vasir, the Spectre?" Miranda blinked, frowning at him as whatever she had been about to say was forgotten. As he nodded, she continued. "You're sure she wasn't acting on the Council's orders?"

"Yes; or at least the other Spectre knew nothing of her activities. I couldn't find any leads on her, but someone else who was acting as her backup had received instructions from a location in Ulee. The specifics don't matter, but she received a mail with a link that no longer works from a server."

"I see." Miranda nodded slowly, her face revealing nothing as she peered at him with suspicious eyes.

Well, even if she didn't take him to Ulee it was fine. As long as he got to a city, then he could find his way forward. Of course, losing her trail would be a pain, but—

"You heard him; to Ulee."

He blinked with some surprise, just as the four asari did.

She took the bait, he thought with an exhale of relief. While he wasn't entirely sure, he had the feeling there was something more going on than obvious on the surface. Something which an organization like Miranda's would be both aware of and interested in.

While the three commandos were baffled by this turn of events, the pilot only shrugged and took a heading.

The flight was quiet and more than a little awkward, but Emiya had no complaints. The downtime was giving him time to focus on his spiritual core and focus on planning ahead. The first thing he did was attempt to reach out with his cybernetics and get a handle on what was going on. But aside from the hovercraft itself and a few omnitools, hardsuits and guns, there wasn't anything for him to really connect to.

The Thessia local extranet was effectively down, leaving him just as uninformed and in the dark as the rest of the planet. Every once in a while he could sense another local short-range signal, before it would fade again with the hovercraft moving by. I'll have to wait until we get to Ulee, then.

Which left him with plenty of time to worry about himself, then. As a Servant—as he had been in the Moon Cell and before he had been given his mission by Archimedes—he didn't normally have a 'material body' as such. Rather he existed as a spirit that could exert itself on the world akin to a poltergeist and materialize. This was possible due to the spiritual core keeping him together.

It was his heart and the container of his magical energy, the one thing that allowed him to exist. The boundary between the self and the outside that kept his mind and soul from fraying into nothingness.

And it was broken now. Or there was a crack in it, anyhow.

It was like an egg whose contents were already seeping out. It was only a matter of time before he vanished if he remained in such a state. Losing limbs and taking immense damage was trivial to a Servant as long as they had the magical energy to maintain their integrity, but the moment the spiritual core was damaged it was game over.

Emiya exhaled slowly, noting how it was somewhat stable now at least. Though with his other problems, it put a severe damper on what he could do. His physical body could supply enough pressure to keep him stable. Perhaps it would heal in time. Perhaps it wouldn't.

It was a crippling wound, anyhow.

He'd be stuck in his body for the foreseeable future.

It doesn't matter, he thought as he looked out through the side of the hovercraft, watching Thessia's landscapes rolling by. He would have done it again, in a heartbeat.

Of course, that was only the most recent of his problems. The buzzing headache at the edge of his consciousness that was threatening to knock him out the moment he lost focus; the numerous small glitches still in his cyberware; the ever-escalating situation with the authorities. There did not seem to be an end to his problems.

Slowly but surely, he was being cornered and running out of options. Somehow it felt nostalgic. Hadn't it been just like this, back then?

"Something on your mind?" Miranda asked, staring at Emiya with a raised eyebrow.

Broken out of his thoughts, he blinked as his face went carefully neutral. "Hmm?"

"You were staring at me. And smiling?" She half said, half asked.

He blinked again, clearing his throat after a second. "I was just thinking about something."

"Hmm..." She didn't pry deeper, inhaling slowly and crossing her arms as she leaned back to regard him coolly. Or rather, it felt like she was holding herself back. Once or twice, he caught her surreptitiously glancing at the asari commandos.

Arriving in Ulee, they headed for the outskirts of the city. Unlike Serrice and many of the other cities, Ulee did not hold its appearance in quite as high a regard. Thus there weren't nearly as many hidden underground parking halls and there certainly wasn't one here. There were dozens of skyscrapers and another dozen long warehouses, with large parking grounds sprawling the grounds between the various buildings here.

There was a continuous stream of asari walking to and fro, bustling between the various businesses and their parked vehicles. Coming and going in a steady stream of blues and purplish hues.

Finally as they found a free spot and landed Miranda addressed them, specifically eyeing two of the commandos. "You two; go and see what you can find out at the place. Do as thorough a search as you can, but do it quickly."

Emiya moved to stand up, intent on leaving the hovercraft, only to be forcefully pulled back down into his seat.

"And where do you think you're going?" She stared at him. "You do remember you are a wanted man, don't you? Besides, I still have questions for you."

He shrugged at that, settling back down into his seat.

"You two, go stand outside and keep watch. We don't want anyone nosing about and getting an eyeful." Miranda said, nodding at him meaningfully. The pilot and the last commando grumbled, getting out of the hovercraft all the same and leaving the two humans alone.

"Why are you still on Thessia?" She asked as soon as the asari were out of earshot.

He considered the question, trying to think of something to say. But even a second's hesitation proved too long, it seemed. She smirked, nodding her head.

"You're stuck here, then. Or at least waiting for your brother to show up. But he's too busy right now, isn't he?"

Emiya inhaled slowly. "Well, say I was. What of it?"

"Then I would suggest that we can help each other out. There is no reason for us to continue in such adversarial roles, Shirou. If you wish, I can arrange for a way off Thessia for you. I can help you, we can help each other."

He said nothing, simply staring at her.

"Look at you. You're a mess, don't try to hide it. You're tired, beat and alone Shirou," she continued, leaning forward ever so slightly.

She must have realized that because I directed her to my body. She thinks we're essentially alone, then. He sighed, noting that it was essentially true.

Interpreting his action as repressed frustration, she continued on a different tack.

"Or, if you truly wish to leave on your own, go right ahead. I won't stop you," She said. The glimmer in her eye told her that she knew she had him, turning her words from fair to almost teasing.

He was wanted on all of Thessia. It was just a matter of time until trouble found him again if he tried to strike out on his own.

Sighing again, he crossed his arms. "And what do you want in exchange. Skip the 'nothing, nothing'-assuring bit and just get to it."

"You're certainly direct. Well alright then; this does concern you after all more than it does him," Miranda said and nodded. "Do you remember how you escaped from Mars, years ago?"

Emiya blinked, his expectations entirely side-stepped. With a frown, he nodded. He felt like he was forgetting something here. Something that would change everything about the situation.

"My organization... Cerberus, managed to obtain that skycar after you abandoned it." She paused, staring at him to see if anything she said was eliciting a reaction. "Our experts took it apart and tested the various components, hoping to understand how you managed to do what you did."

Ah. That was it. He had been rather careless in merely thinking it would be enough to dispose of the skycar by flying it into the ocean. It did cause a huge incident, but why would they be interested in the projected eezo? But wouldn't it all have vanished by now?

Did they think it was possible to mass produce eezo? Perhaps to break away from dependence on existing sources? But that idea was flawed from the beginning, even disregarding his own output as a constraint. Regardless of how much of the matter he created, it would never managed to match that of dedicated mining operations. And unlike such operations that could continue pumping out material in perpetuity, he would eventually reach an equilibrium where what he created could only keep up with what was disappearing.

"I see that you know what we found, then. That makes this simpler." Miranda smiled, leaning back as clasped her hands on her lap. "What would it take for you to hand over the production method for creating artificial eezo."

"...What makes you think there is such a method?"

She scoffed, her long hair fluttering with the motion. "If it was a naturally forming substance, how would you have smuggled it onto Mars without any ever being found elsewhere? And so much of it? No. It is artificial in nature, I am sure of it."

"And what is your interest in it? Why so much effort for merely some eezo?"

Miranda stared at him, her eyes narrowing thoughtfully. There was something about all of this that he was missing again. His projected eezo played a part in all of it, but he couldn't see how. It must be related to what I did back when I got off Mars. Right?

The only thing that came to mind immediately was how he had managed to disrupt Earth's airspace control with the projected static dump swords. The giant blades he had left behind and then dispelled, to manage the skycar's static build up. Something like that could be weaponized into large volume high-static zones to restrict mobility in space, couldn't it? Controlling the areas around a Mass Relay; limiting how fast ships could fly should be possible with something like that. But that's not a property of the projected eezo, right?

He was probably entirely off base. Without looking into it himself, he had no idea what they were thinking and why they would want the stuff.

"What do you know about element zero?" Miranda finally prompted, the calculating glimmer in her eyes receding.

"...The usual."

"So nothing, really." She nodded, stating it with no malice or mockery. "Much like everyone else in the galaxy. There are numerous theories that explain the many effects of eezo, but the fact of the matter is that no theory today can accurately model all the disparate parts of its function."

Her hair wavered as she shook her head with another scoff.

"One theory explains perfectly how mass effect fields may lighten and heaven objects, yet when that theory is observed more closely it fails to account for numerous other applications. The changing scale of observation alone disproves most theories regarding how eezo supposedly works."

Emiya frowned, not entirely unfamiliar with the issue she was talking about. He had looked into various eezo theories early on, only to find that many of them didn't quite accurately describe the various phenomena he had observed with eezo. There was a theory for starship eezo cores; there was a theory for biotics; there was a theory for artificially induced biotical abilities such as implants and eezo drugs and more. There was even a model to explain how biotic cooking worked.

And none of them quite fit with one another, even as they could explain their own niche of reality. Like puzzle pieces that made a picture that made sense but as a whole did not fit together at all.

It was somewhat reminiscent of the grand unified theory problem back in the 21st century, where the larger-scale theories of the known universe did not fit with the theories of the small-scale. He wasn't an expert on those subjects by any means, but the way he understood it, the general theory of relativity is utterly incompatible with any of the quantum theories. And that was even without bringing in the magical side of reality into the equation.

Apparently it had something to do with gravity and intersecting parallel realities, according to some magi. But he had never had any real interest in that subject.

And now they also have eezo to fit into the picture. And my projected eezo. He almost felt guilty about it; throwing in completely contradictory pieces that could easily throw back scientists for decades like that.

"And this is where the exotic variant eezo comes in to the picture. Its effects are similar to regular eezo, yet pronounced in different ways. As a research material, its worth cannot be understated."

Emiya raised his brow, curious that she would be willing to admit how valuable a card he apparently held. Yet given that he was their only lead to the material, tempting him like that might be the best way she could think of to ensure success. But it still doesn't explain why they're so desperate for it.

"Of course, beyond that it is nearly worthless. After all, what use is there in an eezo core that will vanish with use?"

Something about the way she said that piqued Emiya's attention, but there was still something missing. The something he was still missing was somehow related to his eezo disappearing, then? But what use could that possibly have? Like... Making a gun and committing a crime with it, only for the eezo to vanish and thus turn the weapon useless and proving somehow that it couldn't have been used as a murder weapon?

That was about the only thing he could think of, but it didn't seem enough. Besides, regular eezo also disappeared when it was used so he failed to see the point. Really, it was a shortcoming with his projection and nothing more.

Not that it mattered. There was no way for him to really divulge the method of creation for the eezo. Miranda was certain that she had him dead to rights; 'he' wouldn't have directed her to himself if 'he' had other options—or so she must have thought.

The side-door of the hovercraft opened then and one of the asari who had left to investigate stepped in. "The place was completely clean. Asked the neighboring businesses and checked the tapes, but aside from the three separate moving firms that brought in and plugged the gear, no one seems to have been in the rented locale."

Emiya didn't react, having confirmed much the same himself while he had been sitting in the hovercraft with Miranda.

"And what about the money trail?"

The commando shrugged. "Unmarked credit chit, apparently."

So essentially a dead end, he noted to himself.

"Hmm, I expected as much." Miranda scoffed, shaking her head as she leaned back and crossed her arms. "There has been a string of anti-human activities recently. Very public incidents pinned on human perpetrators, flaming of tension between humanity and the other races, business deals being called off inexplicably and the like..."

Sighing, she shook her head which made her long dark tresses of hair swaying and bobbing with the motion and drawing in the eye. Even the asari's eyes seemed glued to her as she raised a hand while continuing.

Noticing the asari, she offered a professional smile motioning for the commando to leave them. After they were alone again, her gaze returned to him.

"There's been no direct proof, but circumstantial evidence has linked to a certain commonality in all these incidents." Her cold eyes burrowed into his, narrowing ever so slightly at her next words. "How familiar are you with the Shadow Broker?"

Emiya frowned, his brows scrunching up.

He had run into the name before, but never before had he had a direct link to the entity. It seemed like after a number of minor operations had been burned by Emiya, the Broker had decided to change tack and avoid him altogether. While the somewhat legendary and infamous figure had his finger in many a pie, few of them were of real interest to Emiya. The mysterious entity was merely an information broker, and one who seemed to value the status quo above everything else.

Therefore he as 'Redhax' and the Shadow Broker had reached a sort of equilibrium, where neither bothered the other since their areas of interest simply did not seem to intersect.

"Five years ago, after your brother dealt our organization a rather crippling blow, we sought to reinvent ourselves. And in the process, we discovered how insidious the Broker's agents had been. All things considered, it turned out that one disaster might have helped avert another greater one down the line."

Emiya blinked, not having expected her to smile wryly at him at that comment.

"After dealing with them in our own organization, a great deal of effort has been dealt in combating similar subversive elements in the rest of human territories through various means. The results of which you have recently witnessed; the Citadel cybersecurity bill was a blow aimed directly at humanity's budding cyber-independence."

Emiya's brows rose up into his hairline at that statement. Wait, wasn't it aimed specifically at me? Or... No, of course. Why aim such an overt move at merely one enemy when it could be poised at a whole slew of troublemakers.

"The death of a asari spiritual leader's daughter at the hands of a human would fit his MO so far," she concluded. "And you know what they say, don't you? 'The enemy of my enemy'...?"

The Shadow Broker... What would he have to gain in destroying Thessia? No, no. The most likely scenario would have been that the Spectres managed to take a shot, which would prevent the worst of the damage. It would have been a major catastrophe, one that would have affected millions of lives. Does the Shadow Broker find Cerberus or humanity that worrisome?

He didn't know the mysterious figure well enough to think that. But neither did he really trust Miranda completely on the matter. It seemed like the only option was to take her on her word for now and verify later himself.

Well, what's one more double-cross at this point? He sighed, before finally nodding.

"Alright, I'll show you how to make the eezo."

Miranda's smile was as bright as it was crooked; he could almost see the numerous small wheels turning in her head, thinking of how she should continue pressing him. How to ensure he kept his word, and did not change his mind after the fact.

As it was, this entire discussion had been a subtle power play. By keeping him in such a public place, hidden only by the darkened windows of the parked hovercraft, she was subtly enforcing how she was the only thing keeping him from being found. Or something to that effect, probably. In contrast to himself earlier where she had gone for overt force to quickly subdue him, she seemed to be working on a subtler tack now.

Too bad he meant his words entirely and utterly literally; he would show her exactly how he made his eezo once all was said and done. That, and nothing more.

"But only once I'm out of Parnitha."

"But of course." She nodded, not at all bothered by the condition. Letting in the other commandos and the pilot again, she said "Get us off Thessia and towards the rendezvous point by—"

"Actually, Matriarch Trellani wishes to see you. Immediately," the asari pilot said.

Miranda frowned, closing her mouth as she stared at the pilot for a second. "In Usaru? That will take at least half an hour. How did she even call you?"

"She's here, in Ulee."

Emiya said nothing, watching the curious byplay by the sidelines. It was obvious that Miranda wished to leave immediately, but that the asari commandos were adamant in obeying their actual boss.

Finally, she nodded. "Very well, then."

---

;

---

Tyra blearily opened her eyes.

Everything was dizzy and confusing; a runny oil painting of whites and brights, dancing shadows in front of her eyes and whispers behind her ears.

"Guh..."

She shook her head, feeling an extreme lethargy still hanging over her mind even as her sight grew clear enough to make sense of. She was lying in a bed, in a featureless room with white walls and ceiling. Looking around, she spotted another bed next to her, with Liara lying there.

Their eyes met.

Both blinked, more surprised than anything else.

"Huh."

"Nn."

"...Where are we?"

Tyra shrugged, looking around as she tried to sit up in the bed. There was a window, but it could not be opened and she recognized it as ballistic glass, the kind of material sufficient to defend from most small arms. How do I know that...?

Shaking her head, she noted that the door was closed and that Baliya was nowhere to be seen. Or that commando Liara had recognized earlier. Or Tela Vasir. Well, she's dead so that only makes sense.

And suddenly she realized what she had done. Nausea welled up, but she held it down as she closed her eyes and balled her fists.

It wasn't the deed that managed to unsettle her so much, not by itself. It was do or die, she understood as much. It was the hot blood, pouring onto her. The stiff body relaxing as it died on top of her. The fading mind's horror and panic as it slipped away...

Tyra raised a hand to her mouth, fighting back the sickness.

"This... Is a hospital, isn't it?" Liara quietly noted as she looked around. "Then, we are safe now?"

"I... guess," Tyra responded. "But where are the rest...?"

Liara had no answers, no doubt wondering much the same.

The door opened and someone walked in, surprising both of the Maidens. They blinked at the stern and stone-faced Matriarch, wearing a hardsuit and armed with a pistol on her hip. The two exchanged glances, completely at a loss.

"My name is Okama, a servant of the Justicar Code."

The two Maidens immediately perked up, both equally wide-eyed and surprised.

"Ah, uh..."

"Right, uh, is this about... Saiga again?" Tyra asked.

The insusceptible Justicar said nothing, merely walking closer until she stood between the two beds. "For now, I wish for both of you to recount what has happened in the last week. Do not lie, for I shall know it."

They hesitated for a second, before Liara began to recount her first meeting with Saiga, only to realize it had been Tyra who had actually first met him, causing some confusion as they fumbled with who should tell what.

Moving on to the dinner he had made, and finally how they had gone to his apartment the first time, they explained the events that already seemed like they had occurred years ago by now. The Justicar said nothing, merely listening and motioning for them to continue as she nodded on occasion. Even as they explained meeting Tela Vasir and the subsequent days under her watch, followed by the arrangement to head for his house at a seeming whim, the Matriarch said nothing. Finally when they began to describe how Saiga handled the situation, his various idiosyncrasies and hidden weapons, did the Justicar show a reaction. It was almost as if she was confirming something to herself, nodding almost instinctively to the words she was being told.

Tyra hesitated a moment as Liara explained Saiga leaving them behind, but decided that perhaps there was no need to reveal her gaffe. It wasn't that important, right?

Except...

What if he's dead? What if he hadn't been able to survive the encounter? He was a human; Tela Vasir had been a Matron and she hadn't been able to resist the intensity for long. But hadn't he seemed just fine, though?

Regardless, by the time she managed to shake herself free of her own confused thoughts, the timing for sharing that tidbit had already passed.

It was only when they got to the part concerning their escape from Tela Vasir in the museum that she began to ask them questions.

"Are you certain those were her exact words?"

Liara hesitated. "Umm, not verbatim... But...Yeah?"

The Justicar nodded, letting them continue until the fight was about to break out in their telling, at which point she raised hand to silence them.

"Will you agree to a meld, to verify the truthfulness of your statement?"

"Umm, that is..." Liara was obviously hesitant.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Tyra refused, causing her roommate to blink and stare at her in surprise.

The Justicar's eyes narrowed and Tyra felt like she was being weighed down by a biotic field due to the intensity behind those eyes alone.

She hesitated only for a moment, before exhaling and revealing it all. "I—I think that would be a really bad idea... I don't think it would be a good idea for you to meld with me. Or... Or anyone, really."

She looked down at her hands, scrunching up the blanket with her fingers as she realized she was scared. Scared of what she was becoming; what she might have done; what might happen to her. It was all threatening to overwhelm her.

"I am surprised you admitted it so easily. Very well, you are both innocent enough in all this, it seems."

"Huh? What?" Liara asked as Tyra looked up, wide-eyed.

The door opened again and in hobbled Baliya, relying in a crutch to keep off her other leg. She smiled and nodded at the two wide-eyed maidens.

"Huh? Huh?"

"Matriarch Baliya woke some hour before either of you and managed to prove your innocence for the most part in what has transpired," the Justicar explained, as stoic as she had been the whole time until now.

"I figured a recording might help out if we managed to survive Vasir's wrath, and what do you know, it did..." The curator chuckled easily.

"But, but I thought the museum was locked down, and that you couldn't access its systems?"

Baliya shrugged. "And I couldn't. But, well. Any good archaeologist always brings along everything they need for taking notes and recordings. My omnitool managed to record the whole thing from start to finish."

Liara's mouth hung open as she blinked, while Tyra swallowed as she realized that the Justicar had been attempting to see if she would attempt to lie her way out of this. A glance at the Justicar was enough to confirm her thoughts as the Matriarch's eyes hadn't left her form once, boring into her with unwavering steadiness. She flinched, looking away.

Noting that with cool indifference, Okama turned to look at Liara instead.

"For now, it has become apparent that you are mostly innocent in all this. Liara T'Soni, you are to remain here until the various authorities have interviewed you and see fit to release you. The Sisterhood of Justicars has no outstanding issue with you." The Justicar paused, looking back at Tyra. "Tyra T'Sanis, you however will be placed under custody and transported to a monastery where you shall remain in seclusion until the Matriarchs there deem otherwise."

Tyra felt the world crumble away beneath her, but managed to steady herself by holding onto the bed for support. She blinked, not quite understanding what she had just heard.

"What? What do you mean? She hasn't done anything wrong, she's—" Liara however immediately leaped to her defense, shocking Tyra with the vigor with she was staring down with the apathetic Justicar.

It was Baliya however who spoke next. "It's for her own good, Liara. Tyra, you understand, don't you? How dangerous your condition is?"

"I—" She tried to say something, anything. But the thought of being locked away in some distant corner of the galaxy, trapped and hidden away...

It terrified her.

"Condition?"

"Yes." The Justicar finally answered again. "But I suspect it will not be a very long stay. Your condition is quite severe, but not one that requires more... permanent solutions."

Tyra shivered at that, even as she felt hope and relief welling up in her chest at the realization of those words. "It's... It's that 'ardat yakshi' thing, isn't it?"

"Yes. You must have gleaned it from Tela Vasir's mind, no?" The Justicar spoke and continued without waiting for a reply. "Tyra T'Sanis; during your stay in the monastery you will be taught about your condition and how to handle it, assuming you do not prove a danger to society at large. But for the sake of Liara T'Soni, I shall explain it here and now in broad terms for your benefit."

Liara blinked before she nodded once, glancing at Tyra out of the corner of her eye.

"Among asari there exists a genetic condition that causes severe side-effects to occur while melding with another. At their most severe, these effects will effectively always kill the other partner in the meld, overloading their nervous system and ending their life before the meld is ended. This condition has never been common due to the obvious limits it places on reproduction, but it has nonetheless been seemingly always present among asari in one way or another.

"The term most commonly used today to refer to it is that of an 'Ardat Yakshi', referring to an old dialect and meaning 'demon of the night wind'."

"But, I thought those were merely myths; bedtime stories and folk tales to scare children with?" Liara cut in.

"Indeed, that is the result of several thousand years of propaganda to hide this condition," the Justicar spoke with candor, causing all three in the room to mentally stumble over the sentence.

"Excuse me, what?"

"When it was discovered that when melding and creating offspring with members of the other races the likelihood of an Ardat Yakshi being born sank, the Matriarchs of the time decided that as a whole all of asari ought to stray away from marrying their own kind."

"Wait, wait... Are you saying that the prejudice against purebloods is because of some, some genetic disease?" Liara was shouting now, having stood out of her bed and getting right in the Justicar's face.

"Yes."

She stepped back, blinking as if she been struck by those words. Her eyes sought Tyra's and for a moment as their eyes locked, there was a wisp of something behind those eyes. Of old pain and anger. But then it was gone as Liara sat down on her bed once more.

"But, but Tyra isn't a pureblood. How come..." She motioned with her hand, trying put her jumbled thoughts into proper words.

"We do not know. Perhaps the systematic outbreeding has not been going on long enough, given how long lived asari are. Perhaps there is more to the matter than just genetics. There are theories that it might be a epigenetically triggered condition instead; something in the environment triggering a change in an adolescent asari. And since the first and only sign of the condition is upon the first meld, it is nearly impossible to pare down possible causes. Regardless, it is a matter that must be handled with extreme care."

"How bad is it?" Tyra finally asked, looking up. "My case, I mean...?"

"You appear to be a borderline case. There are only a handful of 'true' Ardat Yakshi, with most only causing varying levels of discomfort and pain to their partners and no permanent damage. But you will have to wait until the monastery to know for certain. I am only an expert in finding your kind."

Tyra nodded, breaking eye contact with the Justicar as she felt some hidden intent behind those words. Almost a warning, even. Do not give her cause to hunt me down, is that what she's trying to say?

There was a long silence, as all present simply digested what had been explained.

Finally, Baliya broke the silence. "Well, I have to go. I've been trying to get into contact with Tevos to get everything sorted out. Liara, did you hide the gun somewhere during the fight? The Serrice Guard haven't been able to find it yet."

"Huh? No, it was... Umm, it must have fallen at some point..."

Baliya blinked.

"Huh. Did he take it when he—no, never mind it's nothing. It doesn't matter, they'll find it I'm sure." Heading for the door, she nodded and left.

Leaving the three asari in an awkward silence. The two Maidens glanced at the Matriarch, not entirely sure what was going on.

"Was there something more...?" Liara hesitantly asked finally.

"...For reasons that you do not need to be concerned about, it has been decided that you two will require an armed guard for the time being. That is all there is to it." Justicar spoke with a tone of almost anger, which only served to further dampen the mood.

"Ah, I see..." Liara nodded. "Umm, would you happen to know what happened to the fourth asari who was with us? She is a commando by the name of Shiawe and—"

"She is in another room," the Justicar answered curtly.

Liara closed her mouth with an audible click of her teeth and nodded.

Suddenly the Justicar looked up to the door, obviously noting something even if she wasn't quite surprised or wary about it. A second later the door slammed open as someone rushed inside.

"Where is Liara! Is she alright!" A Matriarch shouted as she barged in, a nurse holding onto each of her arms and trying to keep her from running inside in vain.

"Ah... Yes?" Liara blanked, staring at the complete stranger.

Their eyes met and suddenly there was another layer of awkwardness in the room. The Matriarch blinked, licking her lips and then suddenly declaring. "Ah...Wrong room—no, wrong hospital!"

As she turned around and marched right out on stiff legs.

The two Maidens blinked, utterly at a loss as to what had just happened. They looked at each other, asking silently whether the other recognized the stranger, but neither admitted to such an acquaintance. Suddenly they realized someone was chuckling. Tyra and Liara both stared at the Justicar who had for the first time cracked a smile as she shook her head.

"Little Aethyta hasn't changed a bit, has she?"

---

;

---

Emiya blinked as he stepped out of the hovercraft.

It was a walled garden, lush and perfectly maintained. Some of the flowers and trees here were probably worth more than the hovercraft he had just stepped out of. And up ahead lay a palace so opulent as to shoot straight past being merely extravagant into territories obscene. Looking around, he figured they were to the east of Ulee proper. Not that far away, but enough that the sounds of the city had muted into a distant and indistinct murmur.

Right. Matriarch Trellani, he reminded himself.

Having finally gotten something to work with in terms of his cybernetics, he familiarized himself with the asari into whose abode he had stepped into. It took a certain kind of person to work with Cerberus and his expectations were quickly proven true as he went through some of the more recent activities of Trellani.

Outwardly she was an outstanding and metropolitan patron of the arts, whose holdings in the industrial sector were enough to allow her to patronize—matronize?—some of the biggest names in music, vid and literature when it came to Thessia. But once you scratched the surface, a history of blackmail and industrial espionage revealed itself. More than half of her famed artists had been poached through various means, ranging from honeypots to substance addictions of all types.

And beneath that lay an extensive and deep connection with the Eclipse sisters, one of the premier mercenary outfits in the galaxy. Glancing at the two commandos escorting him, he noted their connection to that organization some two decades prior. They were stone-cold killers.

He was broken out of his thoughts as the dancing troupe of scantily-clad asari greeted him the moment he entered the palace proper. Sashes of a silk only available on Sur'kesh and smelling of scents only available through batarians, the sheer face value of this welcoming committee dwarfed anything he had seen before.

Glancing to his side, he noted the annoyance on Miranda's face and figured she must have been already through this spiel once before.

Ahead at the end of a hall stood an elegantly dressed Matriarch, whose entire appearance was crafted in such a way that the rest of the hallway would inevitably draw the eye to her and her alone. That, or the dancers and hall are all coordinated to match whatever dress she decides to wear.

She clapped once and all movements ceased, the dancers falling gracefully down and disappearing beneath their dancing silks and sashes, creating a winding path that drew the eye up to the Matriarch.

"Greetings, I am Trellani and I welcome you to my humble abode, Fujimura Saiga. Though I would have wished to greet you in Usaru, I hope this affair stands acceptable," she began and paused for effect. "Consider everything you see around you my treat to you. Be it food, drink or something... more exotic, do not hesitate. It has all been brought out just for you."

He cleared his throat before answering. "Thank you, your welcome does me honor, Matriarch Trellani."

"Shall we head for the dining room and partake in the feast that has been prepared for your arrival?" She continued, motioning for them to follow her deeper into her palace.

Beside him, he could see Miranda frowning in the corner of his vision. Obviously she was not happy with this arrangement, but it appeared that neither did she wish to object outright. So the alliance is tenuous at best, then.

"Lead the way," she said through a put-upon smile that barely veiled her annoyance.

Walking through the hallways overflowing with art pieces and various works, Emiya was even fairly surprised to spot a genuine i'usushij in a display case along the way to the dining hall. He would have liked to take a closer look, but it wasn't the time. Overall it seemed as if the Matriarch had gone to great lengths to line up the route they took with dazzling pieces and staggering works of all sorts. There was not even a hint of restraint to be seen anywhere.

Arriving in another spacious hall with the already somewhat familiar brazier and arranged dishes all over the middle of the room, he spotted another quartet of dancers sashaying among the various ingredients and spices arrayed on the floor. Just like with Benezia, back on the ship. Only the amount and variety of foodstuffs on display absolutely dwarfed the first display of biotic cooking he had witnessed. Just the amount of spices and herbs available made him almost dizzy from the smell—though how much of that was due to his lingering condition he didn't know.

Somehow the lack of windows and natural lights made him feel queasy, where with Matriarch Benezia it had managed to set a mood.

He realized right about then that he hadn't eaten in hours—probably days counting the time out of body—and that his body was screaming for nutrition and energy. Not just due to the exertion and strain he had put himself through, but also due to his body struggling to keep up with the demands on his life energy that his spiritual core was making. And his cybernetics were energy hogs in their own way as well...

I really shouldn't have put off self-maintenance for so long...

"Matriarch Trellani, is this really the time? We are on a rather tight schedule, and..." Miranda finally protested as she realized that the asari truly intended to throw an absolutely massive feast just for them.

Trellani spoke unhurriedly, gesturing at Miranda as she did. "What hurry is there? Especially without your companions?"

Emiya blinked, glancing at Miranda who was reigning in her annoyance with an almost admirable alacrity. "Their presence is irrelevant, your guards proved sufficient guides and I can handle it from here."

"Oh, then you intend to leave Parnitha? I'm afraid the Asari Councilor Tevos has arrived with much of the asari fleet stationed at the Citadel as her honor guard. There is no way to leave Thessia now," Trellani said before she smiled, spreading her arms in a welcoming manner. "Let us not make haste in waste, but sit down and consider matters with the proper time and care they deserve instead. Come, sit, eat, drink and rest."

Miranda blinked, glancing at Emiya as she frowned. This revelation was obviously not to her liking.

Well, it seems like I'll have to figure my way out on my own then. With communications down, then my best bet is probably that ship, then... His stomach chose just then to growl, causing the two women in the middle of their powerplay to pause and glance at him.

Even the dancing biotic chefs' looked slightly surprised.

Shrugging, he sat down and looked up. "Well, I'll eat at least."

The Matriarch looked torn between being offended at the breach of etiquette and pleased that she was getting her way, finally choosing a false smile as she nodded for the cooks to prepare something. He was certain their skills were first-rate, but he had no attention for anything beyond the food placed before him right then.

Not having recognized any of the ingredients or dishes presented to him, he did cursory checks to figure out what he was being given. It wasn't as if he could use Structural Analysis on food, or anything. Somewhere around the third portion he realized that Miranda had sat down as well, looking at nothing as she seemed deep in thought.

No doubt she was trying to figure out how to get them off-world and to the Mass Relay at the edge of the star system. Well, he wasn't too worried. Tela Vasir's starship was still parked in Serrice, sitting in lockdown and without an owner, with a large enough eezo core and fusion reactor to make a run for the Relay. Without any FTL communications or faster ships to outrun it, he should be able to get out if it came down to a race to the relay.

And then what?

He paused. What should I do right now?

Liara and Baliya were handling the Mars ruins now, which meant there was little point in him wasting time with it. Hosin would be working with the STG and hopefully convincing them of the truth behind the orbital station's crashing.

Therefore, he should...

Look for the Shadow Broker, then? He frowned. No, I still don't know if it was the Broker who did it. And it can wait for now since everything seems to have ended well enough. I should instead continue tracking down Henell; she might still be alive and she'll be able to help Baliya.

Nodding to himself, he decided on his general course of action.

It would also get him far away from everything, allowing tensions to cool down after everything that had happened. If he simply left for another system and was discovered, he felt fairly certain the situation would immediately explode out of hand.

Beside him, Miranda and Trellani were discussing plans to get him off-world. But to him it seemed as if the Matriarch was unwilling to act, hesitant at being noticed even in all the chaos that currently reigned on Thessia.

"No, I am afraid that is impossible. With everything that has happened, all flight off of Thessia has been banned. The Council of Matriarchs agreed that it was necessary, given everything that has happened," Trellani said and glanced at him. "I would have objected if I believed it could have helped of course, but it would have done us no good. You must understand."

"Then what do you suggest? That we stay here until they leave?" Miranda asked, obviously only holding onto her temper by a thread at this point. "That could take weeks. Months, even."

Having noticed that he had finally looked up, the Matriarch smiled pleasantly at him as she ignored Miranda.

"I trust that the fare is to your liking?" She inquired.

"It's quite good," he noted, before amending his opinion slightly. "Not as good as Matriarch Benezia's, but quite good nonetheless."

He could make better.

Definitely—there was a taste that was throwing the whole out of balance. Even he, despite never having tasted any of the dishes before could tell that much. But he dismissed it as he simply focused on filling his stomach, which slowly began to settle down.

"I am glad," Trellani said with a another smile that managed to hide the twitch at the other Matriarch's mention quite well. There was a glint of something in his eyes and the hairs on the back of his neck rose.

Something is wrong, he realized then.

Emiya paused, raising a hand and blinking at it. It's outline was hazy and almost bending in his vision. Huh. I'm being drugged again. Which was about when his face hit the table in front of him, barely missing the plate that had been in front of him. Really should have seen that one coming.

It was the fact that the food was being prepared before him and that they were all eating essentially the same foodstuffs that had lowered his guard; neither of the others had shown any symptoms. He had certainly gotten himself into another troublesome situation again, in trusting Miranda's word as being the word of her allies as well.

And with his spiritual core the way it was, simply hopping out wasn't an option.

"Huh?" Miranda perked up, finally noticing what had happened. "Shirou?"

"Finally. Goddess, but does he put it away," the Matriarch said and sighed. "Any more and I would name him an elcor on two feet."

"Madam, it was a six-stage dose; it could not have worked before he had consumed all of the dishes. It only took so long as we had prepared the last dose in the dessert, which he declined. I had to re-dose one of the other dishes. Apologies for the unforeseen delay," one of the chefs defended their work, by which the Matriarch seemed slightly more satisfied.

"I see, that does explain it."

Miranda stood up abruptly then. "What is the meaning of this, Trellani?"

"I should be the one asking you that, Operative Lawson. Did I not make it clear that none of your actions could be traced back to me?" The Matriarch answered Miranda's accusatory tone with one of her own. Even in his unconscious state Emiya could feel the flare of biotics.

"...The quarian?"

"Yes the quarian, you fool! You just let them go! Right back into the Spectre's waiting arms!? Goddess! What were you thinking? If they investigate it will lead them right to me!" Trellani exploded and Emiya could hear the table being slammed so hard several platters and utensils clattered from the impact. There was a loud exhale, though he couldn't tell who it was. "Well, no matter. He is here now and it will be fine. You should be glad that your subordinates aren't nearly so incompetent, else-wise I would not have hesitated to cut this little alliance short."

"What?"

He could almost hear Miranda's teeth grinding, no he actually could now that he focused. This was certainly an interesting turn. That, and annoying. Well, my cybernetics still work. Guess it's time to call in the ride and get out of here.

"To think so many faced such trouble with this little man. Well, the Ulee police will be here to take him away shortly. Overall, this day has shaped out to be rather productive. With so many Matriarchs disgraced and my catching of this most heinous of criminals, it would seem my star is only beginning its ascendancy..." She laughed as she continued talking, either unaware or uncaring of the annoyance Miranda was exuding.

She must be having an interesting conflict of interests now. Well, that was none of his concern right now. Instead he focused on trying to figure out what he had just eaten. He had given everything a cursory scan and had watched the cooking process out of the corner of his eye, but he hadn't managed to catch anything. That was probably another dimension of biotic cooking he hadn't even considered yet; the ease with which any number of substances might be included and mixed right under the victims nose. It was probably some form of compound substance that only took effect when digested all at once.

Miranda seemed unaffected despite having partaken in the cooking, for starters.

"That is not acceptable," she finally said and the silence was deafening in response as she continued. "The Illusive Man will not agree to this."

"...What?" Trellani's voice was much acid as it was a question when she finally spoke.

"He's a priority VIP that I need to get off Thessia. I can't let him be caught here."

The silence stretched, until finally Trellani sighed. "Fine."

He could hear her walking away as Miranda let out a quiet, relieved sigh of her own.

"I'll just have to figure what to tell him later, then. Kill her."

Oh, shit, he had time to think as he reached out and acted.

Four asari guards who had been hiding in the periphery of the room stepped out, pulling out their guns at the same time as the chefs who had been standing on the opposite side of the room readied their biotics.

Miranda reached for her pistol and her own biotics instantly as she realized what was happening, but she also realized that she was outnumbered and outgunned. "Trellani!"

She must have known she wasn't going to get out of this alive as she took aim at the Matriarch's back. The eldest in the room cared naught, trusting her biotic barrier to protect her as she walked away.

Triggers were pulled.

But only a single shot fired as the lights went out. Miranda blinked, realizing that she was still alive in the darkness. A second later she realized the beeping alarm sounds all around here were from the overheating warnings in the various guns of the armed asari around her. Then an omnitool lit up in the darkness, only bright enough to light up the outline of the surprised owner.

"What the—"

Miranda didn't hesitate to put six rounds into the asari as she dodged for cover in the darkness, cursing as she banged her knee into a chair on the way.

"Get the lights back on!"

"What's going on?"

The asari around them were all shouting, confusion and hesitation plain to hear. At the same time, Trellani was roaring for them to get Miranda before she escaped.

Through all this, Emiya let out a mental sigh of relief. That was a close one.

Turning his focus back to his own body, he tried to force himself back awake but to little luck. But he did still have control over some functions of his body, like the gag reflex.

Flipping the mental switches and forcefully pushing the change through, his body convulsed once and then he heaved out the contents of his stomach. That should quicken my recovery. As long as I don't choke on my own puke, at least...

Noting that one asari had turned her back to Miranda while being in the human's line of sight, he turned on her omnitool as well and giving Miranda just enough light to gun her down as well. And just when the last bullet broke the biotic barrier, he turned off the omnitool to deny Miranda her guiding light as he set the hardsuit to plug the downed asari's wounds without patching her up enough to be in fighting order any time soon.

Patching through Miranda's omnitool at a low enough volume to not surprise her, he scoffed. "You certainly know how to pick them."

"Emiya...!" She grit her teeth, uttering his name like the foulest curse. "This is all your fault, you son of a bitch! You're the one who blabbed Trellani's name!"

"Hey now, don't blame me on her sordid affairs and paranoia."

"You... Did you plan this from the beginning? Sending me after your brother?!" She hissed a little too loudly, causing a nearby asari in the dark to turn her way.

The asari peered into the darkness, certain that she had heard something. Mere meters and moments away from stumbling upon Miranda. So he took the audioclip and played it on another asari's omnitool, behind the one who had heard Miranda.

"This is all your fault, you son of a bitch!" Echoed loudly and a second later three asari had shot the surprised commando with enough shaved iron to cause acute poisoning, including the one who had nearly stumbled upon Miranda.

Close one.

"What the...?" Miranda whispered heatedly, realizing what had just happened.

"You might want to grab my bo—rother now and head for the exit. I'll guide you," he said hoping that she did not notice his hasty correction mid-sentence.

Whether Miranda noticed or not, she listened to his quiet orders and grabbed his unconscious body. Stopping and moving as he told her, he freely used his connection to everything around him to guide them out while numerous asari shouted and ran around like headless chicken.

"What does he eat, he's so much heavier than he looks..." Miranda complained, despite the mass lightening field she had used on him.

"Down the hall and hug the wall," he instructed while ignoring her muttered complaints. "Wait four seconds, until they pass by. Then continue—"

But she interrupted him. "No, I'm not going anywhere. We're staying here until you tell me what the hell you're doing! Why put your brother in danger like this?"

He paused, trying to think of something. It wasn't like he had had a plan since arriving here. Not like she was imagining, anyhow.

"So, you're really..." She shook her head and then instantly pulled her gun to aim at him, pulling the trigger. The gun that had been working perfectly fine until now overheated instantly, failing to fire as expected. "You're really here."

As she started looking around, ignoring her pistol he felt a cold shiver run down his back. She had been aiming for his head, too. I'd forgotten how intense she could be.

"Show yourself! Emiya!" She was shouting now, too incensed to care about being discovered by the asari all around them.

"If you're just about done with that, then continue to the left," he coolly continued.

"Emiya! I know you're here! There's no way you'd let him get into a dangerous situation like this without being here yourself! I don't know how—but you did it on that starliner, five years ago! So show yourself!"

"Unfortunately, that's not possible. As for Trellani," Emiya paused, grasping for words.

He had made a mistake, not having understood how careful Trellani was. He hadn't even been aware of the Matriarch in any meaningful capacity before Miranda had showed up. But this wasn't the kind of relationship where honesty would be worth a damn. If he gave her an inch, she would no doubt take all the miles she could.

So he had to fib and put the blame on her.

"I had expected you to take the opportunity as it presented itself, but you disappoint me," he fibbed with words as vague as possible.

Miranda paused, obviously not having expected his tone. "What? But...?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, just get a move on," he urged.

"...Fine. But this isn't over, Emiya." Without further grumbling she holstered here pistol and moved to pick his body up again. Following his instructions, they ran down hallways and hid around corners as more and more asari were pouring in through the various exits. "Wait, are we heading for the landing pad we arrived through?"

"Yes. I imagine your plans have taken a sudden change with Trellani's change of heart, so I took the liberty of drawing a plan for getting off Thessia."

"You have a ship?" She asked with a startle.

"Yes," he said and checked his progress. So far, no good. "But it's not in Ulee and it'll take a few minutes to get it in the air."

She said nothing, probably merely nodding at his words while re-evaluating their positions. With the loss of her allies, she no longer had a position of strength to negotiate with. But on the other hand, with his body unconscious he needed her to keep him safe for now. Thus he had to make sure she didn't try to take him hostage against himself, or decide that she had to give up his unconscious body.

Therefore he had to give her enough rope that she felt she could still hang him without having to let go herself.

"I assume you have measures in place to get through the blockade by the Mass Relay," he spoke as he focused on trying to get a connection to Tela Vasir's starship.

Finding a connection to Thessia had taken a while, but he had managed as some of the major connections were already getting back online. However, getting around the starship's lockdown continued to be an issue. It was sitting behind the museum, powered down and locked without Tela Vasir's authorization to get it moved. Despite his best attempts, it wasn't responding to anything he could do from here.

Which meant he had to actually dive into the route he had managed to find and then in his spiritual body dive into the ship's computer to manage it. But could his spiritual core handle that now? He might vanish the instant he stepped out of his body, regardless of whether it was in cyberspace or meatspace.

"Yes," Miranda answered. "Of course we came prepared. Once we pass through the relay, I have a signal that will let us pass through. But it won't be any good if we can't get to the relay itself first."

"Leave that to me. For now, I have to attend to something else. Be right back," he said as he decided that there was nothing to it but simply doing it.

"Wait, what did you mean by disappoi—"

Whatever she had meant to ask him was cut off as he jumped out of his body, diving through his cybernetic implants. He had calculated the most direct route to Serrice, no simple feat given the sporadic communications coverage Thessia supported right now. He could feel the seconds shaving away at his life, the clock ticking on his existence as he popped out into the real world back in the University of Serrice's Museum. Leaping through walls and then the hull of the ship, he dived right into the ship's computer.

Yeah, the comms are fried and there wouldn't have been any other way in, he noted as he fired up the engines and set the autopilot for his actual location. A third of a second later he phased down through the floor of the ascending ship and leaped right back into the museum, intent on heading back to Ulee. All in all, it couldn't have taken more than twenty seconds.

Yet as he fell back into his body, it was pure exhaustion that overtook him. He was dry; completely and utterly empty now. A handful of seconds more and he would have vanished completely. Need to be more careful with leaving my body, huh.

Focusing inward, he tried to wake up but to no avail. Giving up, he instead focused on his external senses. Dismissing the notices of the cyber-bill signal as he couldn't do anything about the spreading signal anymore, he connected to the surrounding omnitools and security system again. As long as he wasn't here once it reached anyone then it was fine.

"The ship is on its way, it will be here in fifteen minutes. Head for the landing pad outside."

"Huh? Right," Miranda blinked, as if she had been so deep in thought that she had utterly forgotten about him. Grabbing his body again, she moved out.

---

;

---

Baliya sighed as she stared out of the window of her room.

Nominally she was a patient, merely assigned to a private room, but in practice she was still being kept under watch. She had managed to clear most of the problems with the video she had had the foresight to put into recording, but there was still so much more to be handled that it felt overwhelming.

Not least of which was the realization that Fujimura had come back to save them.

She had realized early on that there was more to the man than met the eye, but she hadn't thought much of it at the time. He was a good-natured and honest man—if a bit clumsy and thoughtless at times, and stubborn and headstrong to a fault—thus she hadn't had many worries. Humanity's history was as short as it was tumultuous, so she was certain he was a veteran of some such or other bloody conflict. A man tired of war, seeking respite in a distant land where nothing would remind him of the past. Asari Matrons had a tendency to settle down in places they hadn't visited much in their youths, especially those who had seen much conflict, she knew.

It made sense to her, that he had merely wanted a fresh start.

Of course, as it had turned out he was something much, much different.

Fujimura Saiga was a man who had brought all of Thessia to a standstill at the revelation of his true nature. Even now she could see the throngs of asari just outside still gawking at the horizon, could see the burnished golden seven-armed spiral in sky. He was someone who would without hesitation take on everything the galaxy could throw at him and not even blink as he accepted the challenge.

But that didn't change who he fundamentally was.

A good-natured and honest man.

So she had put a priority call through to Tevos. She needed to explain that, before things well and truly went out of hand. He had no malice, yet he would refuse to give up until the bitter end. His bitter end, specifically. Because he was a stubborn and pig-headed fool of a man, who wouldn't blink even if the rest of the galaxy tried to stand in his way.

Baliya sighed again, rubbing her head.

"Tevos, where are you..."

As long as she could get those two to sit down and simply talk, she was certain that it would all work out. He was circumspect and had an annoying fondness for misdirections and half-truths if he thought it necessary or expedient, but if pressed he would not lie. Not to those whom he respected and liked.

"And how am I going to make that happen? Simply message him and tell him to come for a talk? Start a social media campaign?" She shook her head, chortling at a strange thought.

If she told him the water boiler for her coffee broke again, could she and Tevos ambush him when he came to fix it?

Somehow, she couldn't deny the possibility.

"No, I should ask those two. I may have known him for longer, but they would know," she mused out aloud. Those two were at a more sensitive and curious age, after all. They reminded her of a young Henell, the two of them.

Young T'Soni with her shy, asocial stubbornness, born of as much her pureblood heritage as their obsession with the ancient past. And T'Sanis, so full of life and hope. Or had been, anyhow.

That thought brought another pang of sadness as she remembered what had happened at the middle of the video she had recorded. What had happened to Tela Vasir. What Tyra had done. Baliya had instantly realized what it was, having seen it before, right down to not quite being dangerous to overwhelm her partner in the meld and kill them.

In a sense, true Ardat Yakshi—those few and all the more dangerous for it—were arguably better off. The first true meld of an asari would stay with them for their whole lives; that first love which they would never forget. For a true Ardat Yakshi, they would remember the bliss of their partner and their own ecstasy, only realizing once it was over and done with that they had slain and devoured their partner.

For Tyra there would be no such mercy, merely the shock and horror, only agony and desperation and the memory of the memory of the asari she had killed. Nothing to dull the memory, nothing to veil the pain, no excuse or justification to hide behind. Only that ugly memory and truth of what they were. It was theorized that Ardat Yakshi went as much mad with the grief as they were overcome with the addiction their first kill brought. But those merely on the spectrum had no such refuge.

Tyra would bear that memory with her for the rest of her life. Just like so many other asari over the millennia had.

Baliya shook her head.

The door behind her opened and she looked over her shoulder. Spotting the nurse, she opened her mouth to question her, but upon spotting the food the nurse was bringing in she understood that it was merely lunch time.

"Thank you, leave it by the bed. I'll eat it soon."

The nurse nodded and then left, leaving Baliya alone once more with her thoughts.

She had faith in the monastery. She had lost a friend to the condition once, but she had come back all the stronger for it. Tyra would be alright, eventually.

But she herself needed to focus on the the findings they had made. Liara understood them as well, but only she could explain them to anyone else with any credibility; so incredible were the findings they had made. And with the disappearance of the Prothean gun itself, all that remained of that was their word and experimental records.

There was still a mountain of work to be done, but one thing was certain. Parts of the gun had matched a very specific range of dates and imprints, specifics only seen in a handful of items that had been found here and there around the galaxy. Their planet of origin was not known, per se. But records and external evidence was clear on the matter, meaning even if they did not know where or which planet it was that those priceless artifacts had come from, they knew its name.

Even Liara must have recognized that as they had finished the experiment. The Prothean gun Fujimura had brought in from Mars had been originally made on the legendary lost world of Ilos and it had been repaired and used well after the end of the sixth age.

It was the find of the millennia, something that would throw nearly everything they knew about the Protheans into question. Just thinking about it made her heart beat a little faster.

No, no. Stay calm.

Hadn't she spent centuries arguing down those who had tried to piece together fanciful tales of a mystical seventh age of the Protheans? She had to be careful with this matter. Methodical. Exact.

With those thoughts she turned to the meal. Sniffing at the instant meal's quality, she scrunched her nose and ate. She would need her energy for when Tevos arrived. So much depended on her now.

"What did they spice this with?" She muttered, pushing aside the platter after a handful of bites.

Well, maybe if she could handle this quickly enough, she could have Fujimura's cooking before the day was even over. He couldn't have left Thessia yet, right?

---

;

---

Emiya's finger twitched.

He was starting to regain conscious control over his body. Already he had some measure of control over his breathing and he had raised his pulse and metabolism to help flush out the knockout drug.

Minutes passed as he divided his attention between his own recuperation, guiding Miranda and keeping a thumb on the various computers around him. Without his constant attention, Trellani would have already long since found them. He was seeing some odd movements, but for the moment it seemed as if it was still working, leaving him time to focus on himself.

"...Guh..."

Miranda stopped immediately, rocking him which only made his perceptions swim even more. "Shirou?"

"Good, then I don't need to do this any more," he said and cut the connection to her omnitool. No point in dividing his attention between two supposedly separate people if he could help it.

"Hey, wait a minute, Emiya!" Miranda objected, setting him down as she began to fiddle with her omnitool. "Emiya! Tch, he's gone. Where the hell... Damn it, he bounced the trace right back to me?"

Emiya blinked as he finally got his eyes open again. Wait, what trace?

As he tried to sit up, his limbs felt like jello and only responded after what seemed like an eternity. Still, he managed to get himself somewhat facing Miranda. Even without the lights, they were so close to the external windows that some of the daylight was peeking in. Just enough for Miranda to notice his movements, beyond the range of her omnitool's immediate illumination.

Hastily tucking the display away, she turned to look at him. "Oh, you're awake. Can you walk?"

Already used to her rapid changes in personality, he merely shook his head. "No, not yet. What happened?"

Miranda frowned. "Trellani double-crossed me; she wants to capture you. No doubt she thinks it would be an excellent way to bolster her reputation."

"...Right. No wonder the food tasted off. Thank you, Miss Lawson," he muttered as he leaned back against the wall and pushed himself up to his feet. Satisfied that he could at least stand, he nodded. "Should we get moving? Where to?"

"Your brother called us a starship for exfiltration, do you know anything about that? And don't worry about it, we made a deal didn't we?" Miranda said with a crooked smile he could barely see in the dimness.

"A starship? No, nothing on Thessia at least."

Taking a tentative step away from the support of the wall, he breathed slowly as he fought the wobbliness of each action. It was getting better, but he wasn't in any condition to fight.

"Hmm, I see..." She opined as she walked up to him to offer a shoulder. Glancing at her, he didn't say anything and merely accepted the proffered support.

They started walking down the hallway, both noticing the familiar decorations on the walls and floor from when they had been lead to the dining room before. Finding their way back to the landing pad from here wasn't a problem.

"Shirou... Did your brother tell you anything about Trellani?" Miranda asked out of the blue as they continued walking.

Ignoring the sensation at his neck from her breath, certain that was just a side-effect of his myriad conditions, he shook his head after a second.

"I had never even heard of her before you showed up," he said truthfully.

Miranda made a thoughtful hum at that before they returned to their silence. She was deep in her own thoughts while he was busy trying to figure out where the asari around them were going.

But it wasn't to last.

"They're here!"

The shout echoed through the hallway and even before Miranda had drawn her pistol the asari had vanished behind a corner, leaving only the echoing sound of her running feet behind.

"Damn it, Emiya. Couldn't you have continued for a little while longer?" Miranda cursed under her breath, but Emiya heard it anyway. But the fact was that he hadn't noticed anything; the asari hadn't had any armor, gun or omnitool on her person. "Let's hurry!"

"Yeah, I can move now," he said and managed to get himself into a jogging pace.

"Good!"

But a mere twenty meters later he could already hear the approaching steps of numerous asari from two of the hallways ahead.

"Incoming, at least five asari."

She slowed down, glancing at him with a scowl before she raised her gun. "Stay behind me. We'll break through them."

"Right," he nodded.

It was the right choice; Trellani had spread her personnel out to find them, meaning that the longer they tarried the more of them would show up. Without hardsuits and guns, it should still be possible as long as none of them were very skilled biotics.

"There they are! Get them—" The first shouted as she rounded up on them.

But three reports from Miranda's pistol put her down; two impacting against her barrier and the last one punching through.

The second asari raised a hand and sent a Pull flying at Miranda, forcing the human to step aside and respond with a biotic attack of her own as a Shockwave followed from the third asari, all coming prepared having heard the gunshots. Forced to stop, Emiya jumped to take cover by the wall as Miranda shot down another of the asari while struggling with the biotic output.

As he did, he realized they were being flanked and trapped as he could hear running footsteps from behind them as well in the narrow hallway. He grit his teeth, unarmed and weak as he still was there was no way he could hold off an attack.

Isn't that...?

Except, perhaps if he bluffed. Reaching up, he fumbled with the lock on the case for a moment before he managed to take out the i'usushij he had seen while coming in.

Holding it gingerly, he took a closer look at it, even before considering using Structural Analysis.

Just from the surface patterns he could tell that this was a rare piece. It had rusted gracefully, forming a coating of patina that did not affect its original dimensions much at all and barely eating into the metal. The style of the blade was an older one and evidently from one of the western city states, with the hilt and pommel displaying the swirling waves and patterns that were a commonality among the smithy-states lining the coast of the Serrinan sea. If one squinted and turned the i'usushij in the hand, one could almost see something reaching out, grasping for the wielder's hand by the hilt among the patterns and figures.

Shaking his head, he muttered the words under his breath.

"—Trace, on"—begin synchronization,

Luckily his oldest spells required minimal effort, even in his current enervated and exhausted state it wasn't a problem as his magical energy flowed out and into the ancient blade. The internal dimensions, metallic alloy make-up and the internal void all lit up in his mind's eye as nodded to himself.

Eezo by itself was a remarkably inert element, the name element zero as much for its mass altering potential as for its lack of reaction to most chemical solutions or processes. It did not rust or degrade, meaning that even ancient caches of refined eezo as on Mars were still perfectly fine after tens of thousands of years.

But that was only when it lay inert and untouched.

It had been found that with hundreds of years of use, eezo cores on ships would begin to degrade and slowly decay. But aside from a few attempts at exploring the cause behind the unknown phenomenon, no real answers had been found as to why this happened. It was also why many of the ancient i'usushij were also no longer functional. With the built-in circuit that worked through the interaction with the planetary magnetosphere, there was always a current running through the eezo, even if very small.

Thus given the minimal amounts of eezo used in the internal line used to form the activation 'circuits', in the modern era all of the blades would have become useless and non-functional. Even his best attempts at deciphering the complex and multi-layered circuits of the numerous blades in the University of Serrice Museum had met with little success beyond figuring out the simplest of functions for activating specific biotic functions.

Repairing blades was nearly impossible, given that to gain access to the internal structures to observe and attempt fixing it would require that the blade be effectively completely destroyed. There had been some petitions to attempt cutting a single i'usushij into sixteen cross slices for further study, after which the blade would be vacuum welded back together. But that motion had been shot down rather adamantly in a joint move by the conservative majority of the Serrice University board and the Citadel Committee on Paleotechnology.

Of course it was a different matter to him, since Reinforcement was utterly devoid of such issues. Though he hadn't done so with any of the museum pieces, beyond tampering with his own replicas. As long as he could recognize some of the patterns in the blade from his studies, he would have a biotic weapon to use against the asari.

Emiya blinked as he realized that this i'usushij was different however. There's so much eezo! The circuit looks like it's still mostly functional, beyond one part where it's cut off.

It wasn't a particularly impressive piece overall, nearly only a third as complex as some of the most intricate examples in Serrice were. But a fault in the eezo circuit had cut off the loop, meaning that no electric current could flow. While it meant that the i'usushij was broken, it also meant that most of the original circuitry still remained.

Meaning...

He exerted another minimal bit of his willpower and life force, reaching out to mold the insides of the sword as he closed his eyes. Exhaling slowly his breath came out as metaphorical smoke, his lungs having transformed into his bellows. Molding the two ends of the broken loop of eezo together, like pulling two broken metal wires and connecting them once more, he pulled his magical energy out and opened his eyes.

This was a rather easy fix.

And given that he had already tampered with it, he might as well take it with him, right?

"There they are!"

The shout broke him out of his satisfied reverie, raising his eyes from the blade in his hands just in time to see three asari come sliding around the corner of the hallway. They were now trapped, Miranda still struggling with two in front of them.

She heard the shout, nearly turning around to look behind her in what would have been a catastrophic opening either of the two asari biotics in front of her would have gladly taken use of, but...

"I've got it," he said as he raised the sword into a high guard.

He was still weak, but that was alright. To create a current against Thessia's magnetosphere caused it to be resisted, like a magnet being pushed against another repelling magnet. Thus, none of the maneuvers used to activate the circuits were the same moves as used when using the i'usushij as a mere blade. Rather they were curious blade dances; moves one would never normally put the sword through. Only this way could one reliably use it as both a biotic implement and as a blade.

"Haaah!" One of the asari rushing at him shouted, throwing forward a concentrated biotic lash.

Certain that it wouldn't hit Miranda behind him, he leaned out of the way and spun on his feet as he made a figure eight twirl with the i'usushij. This thing better still work...

Finishing into the spiraling reverse, he imparted all the momentum into the blade by making it spin around itself like a drill bit in his hand as he thrust the tip straight at the asari who had thrown the first punch. The circuit is just like in the i#41 find from Trelle, meaning that this should—

The biotic throw shot forward like a lightning bolt, catching the asari square in the chest and sending her flying back all the way to the end of the hallway where she hit the wall with a loud thump. The two other asari came to a skidding halt as they realized the one in between them had been blasted back. They blinked, staring back with their mouths hanging wide open in surprise equal to Emiya's own.

"Holy..."

Glancing down at the i'usushij, he blinked. He hadn't ever seen a throw that strong before; it was easily beyond anything any of the Maidens he had seen could dish out.

As the two asari turned back to look at him, he had already recovered his wits and stood in another similar guard. Taunting them with his eyes as he smirked slightly, he relished in the sudden hesitation in their eyes; his heart was beating a mile a minute already from all the running and that one move.

Tense seconds passed and then he heard the last asari Miranda was dealing with get thrown into the ceiling. Miranda turned around and seemed surprised to see them merely standing there.

"...Let's go," she said instead of wasting time with questions and he nodded. The two asari gritting their teeth, hesitating at what to do between the pistol and the i'usushij pointed their way.

Turning the corner away from the hallway and leaving the slowly trailing asari behind, they turned to run full tilt down the hallway. It was a long way anymore. Getting to the massive entrance hall they had arrived through, coming in this time by a side-entrance, they made for the outer door that led to the landing pad.

The sunlight blinded them for a moment, just long enough for them to get five steps outside and realize that they were surrounded by asari on all sides. Ahead of them by the middle of the landing pad itself stood Matriarch Trellani. Having changed out of her flowing dress with bright, sashaying scarves, she was wearing a purple hardsuit lined with golden engravings.

"Fufufu, as expected. A trapped animal will always seek to run away the way the came in," she crooned as she stared down at them.

Miranda gritted her teeth beside him, eyes scanning the yard as she took in their welcoming committee. None had guns, but most had hardsuits on. Even with the pistol and i'usushij, they were outgunned given that each of the asari around them was no doubt a veteran adept. And in his current condition he wasn't in any shape for a prolonged fight.

Two minutes and the starship should be here. The comms might be back online, I might be able to use its main guns. Or just bluff them by saying it's waiting for our signal. Failing that, I could just give up. Is there any point in hurting any more of them? There's certainly none in a bloodbath... He thought as he breathed slowly to even out his heartbeat.

"Trellani, you're here. Good," Miranda replied with a confident tone of voice as she holstered her gun. "That saves time."

The Matriarch was no impressed, raising a lone brow at the human. "Oh? Did you mean to be caught?"

Miranda merely smiled, crossing her arms over her puffed out chest and rolling her head to make her long dark tresses sway in the air. "You'll want to let us go now, Trellani. Elsewise I'll have to reveal to the galaxy at large your dealings with Mirala."

Trellani stilled.

"...You most certainly will not, especially once I have you beaten down and locked away," she finally snarled at Miranda.

"Come now, think this through calmly. Or has age only parted senility and arrogance into you, Matriarch?" Miranda mocked her, smirking with savage joy. "Your dealings with myself and with him are of little consequence, given that you have your whole staff to testify to your good nature in this regard."

She motioned to all the asari around them, causing many to blink at the gesture.

"They, and your security recordings will be proof beyond question that your intentions were only to capture him. That he somehow managed to escape while disabling all of your security systems is no shame, given he has already eluded the best and brightest of the galaxy today. No, rather! You managed far more than either STG or Spectre could, did you not? Who could argue against that?"

Trellani actually seemed to be considering that, but her eyes still gleamed with suspicion.

"How about this, Matriarch Trellani..." Miranda proposed. "I shall stay here while our friend leaves. Then, when the police arrives you may hand me over to them."

"Hah, what use would that be?" Trellani barked a laugh. "At this point, I cannot let either of you go."

Emiya glanced at Miranda then, certain that she had been here on some mischief or other in her organization's attempts to grow closer to this Matriarch. Miranda's arrest would only most like reveal Trellani's own culpability in something else, even if Miranda did not speak a word and the silence stretched for another moment as she tried to think of something to say. She had managed to get a foot in through the door already, now she only needed to convince Trellani to let them go.

Easier said than done.

Trellani smirked, opening her mouth to speak. "Then—"

But she was cut off by the starship that came barreling from the sky, coming to a hover some twenty meters above the landing pad, going from full atmo-speed to a complete halt nearly instantly. It was enough to cause a massive gust of wind to blow, shaking trees and knocking over several asari. Even Trellani almost fell over, only balancing herself with a quick use of biotics.

She turned around to stare at the ship, freezing completely.

Even Miranda beside him was staring at the starship with her mouth hanging wide open in shock and horror. "That's... Tela Vasir's...!"

"Hmm, ride's here," Emiya noted dryly, causing Miranda's head to whip around to look at him.

It was especially small for an asari ship, but then again it had only been built for the Spectre's specifications. Fast, faster and faster still—it was built to fly anywhere and everywhere before anyone had time to react he guessed. Not exactly famous per se, it was still a unique craft that many would recognize from the various interviews the Spectre had given over the decades. Though it had the usual flowing lines and organic design of asari starships, the lack of the usual long vertical 'fins' made it stand out.

Miranda had an indecipherable look in her eyes for a second before the cogwheels began to spin in her head. Adopting a mask of arrogant joy, she turned to look at Trellani who was backing away from the slowly landing asari corvette.

"Well, Matriarch? How will it be? Let us go, or will you tangle with our pick up?" Miranda asked, as if things had been progressing along the plan the whole time.

Trellani turned back to stare at them, backing away from the landing vessel with slow steps. Her eyes were uncertain, flickering between them and the ship as she gritted her teeth.

Though nothing was said, Miranda nodded and began to walk forward, Emiya only a step behind her. The walked past Trellani who seemed to have resolved herself to the perceived fact that there was little to nothing she could do.

The corvette landed softly with the nose facing away from the manor itself, allowing both the rear end ramp to open up to allow them to board the vessel and for the main gun of the ship to be facing away in a gesture of lack of hostility. It was just small enough to fit on the landing pad, though which meant for shuttles and skycars was made wide enough to fit several of them at the same time, though the ground beneath it cracked and gave way nonetheless.

At the edge of the ramp, Miranda turned around. Her eyes had been darting at the insides of the ship to see if anyone was coming out. At this point, while the ship's arrival was a welcome surprise, she did not wish to actually meet the Spectre who owned the ship.

But none of that showed on her face as she turned around to face Trellani once more. "We'll be in touch once everything has calmed down, I'm sure. Thank you for your hospitality, but we'll be taking off now."

"...We shall see. I will not hesitate to throw you to the officials if my reputation and self shall be on the line," Trellani finally spoke with a disdainful but slight nod.

Miranda nodded and boarded the ship.

Meanwhile Emiya's eyes were poring over the insides of the ship due to one simple reason. The comms on the starship were still fried, meaning that unless they could manually get the ship into the air they were dead in the water. And the longer they tarried, the more likely it was that their bluff would be called. Alright, where the hell is the cargo bay hatch's operation panel...?

Finally spotting it after his sixth step up the ramp, his steps hastened only the slightest bit. Getting inside, he calmly walked over and with only a moment's hesitation pressed a button to close the hatch they had entered the cargo bay through. Letting out a sigh of relief as it worked, he glanced at Miranda.

She had drawn her pistol as soon as the line of sight to the asari outside had been broken and was now surveying the ship's insides with caution. Their eyes met and she frowned.

"It's empty?"

"Seems like it. I don't think the autopilot was set for anything more than to just land here. Let's hurry to the CIC and get out of here," he said.

It was a good thing Miranda had been able to stall and distract Trellani; he had hoped the reboot of the comms he had started would have been enough to clear the system for his hands-free use. But it hadn't, and he wouldn't have had any use of the starship as backup if it had come to a clash.

"Oh. Oh." Miranda blinked, holstering her pistol. "Can you fly this thing?"

"Probably," he said as he jumped up the access stairway towards the CIC.

Though technically corvettes were only slightly smaller than frigates, according to most definitions they were the smallest proper warship, this vessel was quite a bit smaller than the usual. It seemed as if the ship had been designed to be able to function with minimal personnel, with a great deal of the functions being automated and much of the ship's size stemming from various redundancies and fail-safes. The maintenance costs for this ship must be something else...

"She really was that easy to push, huh... How much does that guy know?" Miranda said suddenly and Emiya paused in his run to look over his shoulder. It seemed as if she hadn't meant for him to hear that, thus she blinked as he stopped in front of her. "What is it?"

"...Just thinking which way to go. This way, yeah," he responded and continued. What was that about?

Getting to the cockpit—as it turned out all of the ship's functions were essentially slaved to a single seat, rather than a complete Combat Information Center as was usual in warships—he jumped into the chair and looked over the controls. There was no way he'd be able to fly away from here without messing something up; there were way too many systems and controls here and they appeared to be heavily customized by Tela Vasir. It was really just another anti-theft measure when he thought about it. Much more effective than merely having a key.

But he could get the autopilot on again, having roughly figured it out from his dive into the systems.

"Straight for the Mass Relay?"

She nodded. "That would be the smartest thing to do."

Nodding he fiddled with several of the haptic adaptive displays until a map of Parnitha system appeared. Pushing on the highlighted orbit of the Mass Relay, currently behind Athame, the autopilot began to calculate a route immediately.

"It's done," he said and looked up. "But the comms are offline."

"That's no good. We need to be able to show the signal to the fleets blockading the other side of the Mass Relay if we wish to get past them."

He nodded. "That, and the Mass Relay won't activate without the comm protocols."

Fixing the comms would also allow him to use the corvette without having to be in the cockpit. A second later the mass effect field of the starship flared again and it began to take off. Even as it began to take off the planet's surface, it's internal gravity remained the same.

Putting down the i'usushij he had been carrying, he nodded to himself. The Janiri's Sickle, huh. It's not a bad ship.

It would probably be enough for a clean getaway, even. Of course, what he did after all of this was something entirely different.

---

;

---

Nihlus paused, his mandibles flaring as he glared at the quarian sitting opposite him.

The mechanic was an annoyance, but at this point that was nothing. Taking a calming long breath, he glanced down at his omnitool and frowned at the message. Looking back up, he spoke up as he stood from the chair.

"Excuse me, I have to take this call." Moving to the door, the asari commando let him leave and locked the door behind him as he left. Finding a secluded enough spot, he pressed the buzzing alarm on the glowing haptic adaptive interface that allowed the call from Jondum to come through. "Talk to me, keep it short."

"Tela Vasir's ship just left Thessia on a beeline for the Mass Relay; three of the STG's ships are in pursuit and were ignoring my hails."

The turian paused, feeling his headache return with a vengeance. Taking another breath, he ground out the query. "It's him, right?"

"Who else could it be? Tela Vasir is dead—he's the only one who could probably get it off the ground on such short notice."

"Yes, I thought as much," the Spectre answered as he reached for his waist compartment to take another energizing tablet. Tossing it into his mouth and swallowing it dry, he continued speaking a second later. "Send one of the Councilor's escorts to the Mass Relay. The fastest ship they've got—have them inform the blockade of the situation. See if you can find anyone trustworthy to send after them."

To think we're being forced to use couriers for communication now. What a ridiculous oversight. I'll have to petition the Council to implement a secondary communications system; we're far too vulnerable to an attack like this...

"Sir?"

Nihlus blinked, realizing he had spaced out. It was probably due to the tablet he had taken; at least the headache was gone. The exhaustion was getting to him. Rubbing his eyes, he continued. "How is the Councilor?"

"...Calm, but clearly something is on her mind. It's unusual to see her this restless," the salarian answered after a second's pause.

"Right, well keep her safe. With everything already shot to hell, the last thing we need is for her to get put in danger as well. What's the timetable on support?"

"Two hours for the closest Spectre, still. They're coming, sir."

Nihlus scoffed. Being reassured by his subordinate was quite something, still he said nothing. "If that's all—"

"Spectre Kryik!" Someone shouted.

"I have to go," he finished lamely and cut the call. Turning to face at whoever had called out, he glanced at the asari with a tired expression.

A Matriarch? She's...

She seemed vaguely familiar.

"Doctor Aurana T'Meles, University of Serrice, may I have moment of your time?"

He blinked at her introduction, before curtly replying. "What do you want?"

"I will only need a bit of your time, it has to do with the classified tapes at the University of Serrice's Museum earlier toda—"

He was already walking away, ignoring the Matriarch. She squawked behind him, trying to catch up to him but he was already beyond her reach as the door closed to the impromptu-interrogation-slash-negotiation room.

"Please excuse the delay, now where were we?" He asked through an all too false smile.

"No problem, I believe we were discussing the terms of living regarding our extended incarceration?" Roane Lorrais said with a smile just as false.

He scoffed. "I believe we settled on calling it 'protective custody' already."

"Ah, right you are."

Nihlus hated these types; scavengers, who only negotiated when they had a strong card to deal with. The kind who would settle if they weren't in a position of absolute advantage and who would take every mile with the inches they were given when they could.

But it wasn't like the family were holding out on him; they had freely given everything that could have been considered pertinent. But following the immediate things, they began to talk about everything else they knew about the man they had known as 'Fujimura Saiga'. The turian would have felt revulsion at their easy manner of selling out their comrade, if it didn't turn out that the damn human had told them to do it.

He could already feel the headache coming back.

I need a bloody vacation.

---

;

---

"Mass Relay in 200,000 kilometers. Initiating transmission to relay," Emiya said as he flipped through the numerous screens and controls deftly, seated in the cockpit. It was a little cramped, as he was quite a bit taller than the average asari, but it wasn't unmanageable. "Connection established. Uploading transit data."

"Good," Miranda approved.

In the cockpit, he could sit but she had to stand behind him.

They had fixed the comms by just switching out the hardware, the entire module made in a way that made hot-switching not only possible but much easier than attempting to repair the busted comms unit. With his ability to directly access the ship, Emiya had reached out and gotten more familiar with the other systems now that he could.

And, of course their departure and radio silence had not gone unnoticed.

"And our pursuers?"

Glancing at a screen, he replied. "Estimated distance... four light-minutes and growing. Still no direct signs of them, the tightbeam hails from earlier that we're catching up to aside. We appear to be faster."

Their ship could not detect the pursuers while they were in FTL behind them, but neither could the pursuing ship do anything until they slowed down. But since the Janiri's Sickle appeared to be much faster, by the time they arrived at the Mass Relay the distance would have grown enough that there was nothing the STG could do.

Miranda nodded behind him.

He was a bit surprised those two would still be chasing after him given everything that had happened, but it gave him more options. He could predict their actions to an extent already, meaning if it came down to it they could actually be quite useful. Especially since he had no idea what Miranda was really planning.

"Are you sure this will work?" He asked, looking up and over his shoulder.

She smiled down at him reassuringly. "Of course; the ship whose captain we've bought should be right in front of us as long as you do not deviate on the exit too much. You only need to adjust our course a slight bit once there. Once we transmit the signal and let them board us, the boarding party will let us get aboard and hide on their vessel while they search this ship. To the rest of the galaxy, it will merely appear as if Tela Vasir's starship had flown through the Mass Relay on autopilot without anyone on board."

"Hmm..." He voiced noncommittally.

The asari military was loose enough that corruption of this scale was believable, but he wasn't entirely certain of the trustworthiness of Cerberus' captain. To buy someone who captained a major warship would require deep pockets. Was he really worth that much to Cerberus? There has to be more to this than just some experimental eezo...

If the galaxy could be fooled to believe he hadn't been there, then what stopped Cerberus from simply taking him while they could?

"Of course, we will only have minutes to act on the other side of the Mass Relay until our pursuers catch up. In the worst case scenario it will be a Spectre, meaning that we might have to hide until they are satisfied with their search. Otherwise the captain's word ought to be good enough to dissuade our pursuers."

He inhaled and nodded. "Sounds simple enough."

"Then, let's do it," she said with a confident tone as she crossed her arms.

He said nothing, merely monitoring the progress towards the Mass Relay. Finally, the autopilot began lining up with the Mass Relay lengthwise. Already the mass and other relevant information had been transmitted, allowing the relay to have booted up for them by the time they arrived.

"Lining up... Entering transit, hold on," he said and took a deep breath as he repressed the nausea building up his gut.

It's no worse than any time before, but with everything else... His head swam and his eyes felt like they were blurring out. The bright streams of light spun around and for a moment he felt as if he had fallen out of his own body. The momentary worry that he had exited his body in the astralized state and fallen behind the speeding starship ran through his mind, but as he gripped the cockpit's seat so hard that he tore the lining he realized it was nothing.

Exhaling slowly, he ignored his senses and focused on calming his body down. He had never had seasickness, but he figured it was similar to what he was feeling right now, that or perhaps virtual reality nausea. With his senses still a mess, all of them reported slightly differently what was happening, with all the conflicting sensory information messing with everything else.

He counted down the seconds as he could feel the ethereal wave of space-time warp reversing. Halfway there already.

"Are you alright?" Miranda asked suddenly and he looked up at her. She seemed to be frowning at him. "You're pale."

"Yeah," he nodded and turned to face forward again. "It's nothing."

She put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry. This will soon be over."

Nodding, he focused on the readouts again. "Exiting relay transit in five seconds."

The starship slowed down, exiting the tunnel created between the two massive relays, settling down to speeds that were merely preposterous. The Janiri's Sickle reversed thrust as he scanned the numerous warships that were waiting on this side. Half a dozen cruisers and at least a dozen frigates had formed a bubble of sorts around the Mass Relay to block it from all directions. Already the biggest of the ships was opening up and fielding a handful of star fighters by the looks of the read out as a response to their unscheduled appearance.

"We're being hailed. No electronic intrusion attempts so far."

She nodded, he could feel the bobbing of her hair as she did. "They wouldn't dare attack a Spectre's ship, regardless of their orders. Broadcast the signal now."

Emiya inhaled and pushed one of the haptic adaptive interfaces, sending out the signal that they had uploaded from Miranda's omnitool onto the ship's systems. It was a modified automatic mayday signal, with some static and distortion added in. Most would probably assume it was just due to poor reception, but he figured the captain of the cruiser ahead had been told to expect it. Adjusting their course slightly so that they were heading for the marked ship in a slow drift, he made sure to avoid powering any systems.

Depending on how jumpy their reception was, they might get shot for one wrong power spike on the sensors.

Furrowing his brows, he listened passively to the comms. Looking up at Miranda, he nodded. "The cruiser ahead is broadcasting its intent to board us. One nearby ship is objecting, but none seem to be stopping them."

She smirked and leaned back.

"Good."

As the cruiser approached, it continued to grow in size, turning from an indistinct speck on the wide-screen to a massive behemoth that could swallow the much smaller corvette whole. What struck him most about it however was the state it was in; it was falling apart by the seams, held together by little more than paint and willpower.

It must have been centuries old by the looks of it. And it's still in use?

"Let's go," she said and offered a hand.

Accepting it, he gingerly extracted himself from the cockpit with her help. Getting to the doorway, she motioned for him to go ahead.

"Go on, I'll be right behind you. I just want to check one more thing," she said with a reassuring smile.

He blinked, holding a carefully neutral and tired expression as he nodded. Leaving the i'usushij behind, he began to walk toward the side-docking hatch through which they would be boarded. While the cargo bay also had enough airlocks that it could be opened in space without problem, it probably wasn't compatible with whatever the cruiser could board with. Through his cybernetics he could sense that she was powering down the eezo core and engines, and a few seconds later Miranda was walking up behind him.

"It was nothing. Let's go," she said with the same reassuring smile as she noticed his staring.

Saying nothing, he merely nodded and continued walking. It'll take a minute to start up the corvette again. So, she's sabotaged the ship to make sure I don't try running? Or a condition with the captain they bribed?

Walking to the hatch, he could feel her eyes on his back the whole way. She was keeping her distance and though her pistol was still by her hip, he could sense the biotic tension rippling just beneath her skin.

She was getting ready for a fight. Was she nervous about the boarding or him?

Hmm...

Clenching his fist to test his condition, he estimated himself to be at about a third of his usual at the moment. But his stamina was likely to be terrible, meaning he couldn't afford getting into a protracted fight.

Arriving at the double set of airlocks, he could feel the larger ship pushing against the corvette. Already they had heard the sound of the magnetic anchor locking onto the corvette, rumbling through the chassis of the entire ship. The sounds of a vacuum seal could now be heard being applied to the hull.

A second later he sensed a ping to the Janiri's Sickle to open the hatch and he allowed it to process without interfering. With a hiss, the first airlock opened to reveal a team of three asari commandos all armed and ready. Behind them, just beyond the immediate range of a grenade was another team of three and behind them yet another team in one long staggered chain.

Miranda raised her hand in a greeting, speaking up. "Bringers of trouble oft come unabated, lo the eastern skies have yet naught but sorrow."

Glancing at her, Emiya wondered where she had gotten that phrase from. Regardless, the asari all flooded into the ship as the second airlock opened up to give them access.

"Is there anyone else here?" One of them inquired, looking them up and down as the others kept an eye out for anyone else.

Miranda shook her head. "No, just us."

"Alright, get onboard," the asari said and nodded for them to head the way she had just come as even more asari poured into the corvette.

Nodding, Miranda looked at Emiya. "Let's go."

Not waiting for a reply she lead the way onboard the cruiser. He followed three steps behind her, already reaching out with his cybernetics to figure out what was going on. They were walking through a long extended tube of sorts, supported by a piston to which the magnetic anchor that had locked onto the hull was attached. It gave them a walkway between the two vessels in space, without having to use a shuttle or flying into the other vessel. Thirty steps away, he could just hear the asari behind him speaking again in the corvette.

Barely above a quiet comment, it must have been to a short-range comm. "None onboard, repeat none onboard, over... Two entering, second is priority target, handler advises radio silence."

Emiya exhaled slowly, relaxing as from the cruiser an acknowledgment returned which only seemed to have heard the first half of the transmission. Guess that one's for the records, they can just cut off the later half and say they saw nothing. But what was that last part?

Entering the cruiser just behind Miranda, he blinked as he noticed that the lead starship of their pursuers had just come through the Mass Relay.

It was the STG vessel and it was sending a tightbeam communication to the cruiser they were boarding to cease all activities and to let them take over. The asari captain responded by telling them that there was nothing aboard the Janiri's Sickle, so they needn't bother.

Inside the cruiser no one seemed to pay any particular attention to them as they stepped aboard. Miranda nodded at the head of the commando team standing by as she walked past them, and he followed after her.

"So what happens now? When do we leave?" He began and Miranda paused in her step to look at him. The friendly smile, one of relaxed camaraderie and relief at having survived a common ordeal, did not reach her eyes.

She hadn't been nervous about the boarding then. She hasn't been told about the STG either, so it's me she's worried about, huh.

"What's the hurry? We'll have to wait at least a day here and we're already safe. There's no need for rushing, is there?" She asked with a teasing tone.

"Hmm," he voiced noncommittally before stopping and crossing his arms. "And if I choose not to come with you after this? Does the offer of letting me walk still stand?"

She blinked, narrowing her eyes at him as she turned around to face him. They stood alone in an empty well-lit corridor, with five meters between them.

Slowly the pleasant expression drained out of her and what remained was only a cold calculating stare.

"That's no longer an option, Emiya."

And there it is. Okay, time for plan B. He raised an eyebrow, not exactly surprised that he had been found out but neither willing to simply take the bait. He did though focus on the cruiser's security systems, pulling out a short recording of him and Miranda entering the cruiser from the corvette and sending it out as a tightbeam transmission to the STG starship. A second later it was hailing the cruiser he was aboard again, no doubt making inquiries as to why they had been lied to moments before when they had asked about Tela Vasir's ship.

"And why not? The deal was simple, wasn't it? You get me out, I show you how the eezo is made."

"Don't bother, I know it's you." She shook her head, ignoring his words. "I wondered, why would you send me away to pick up your brother if you had a ship. It only started to make sense afterwards. You were actually stuck where I picked you up. That white-haired you was nothing more than a mirage, a projection of some kind.

"It clicked when we made it to Ulee, once the trace on you came right back to me. The way you managed to become 'Redhax' was due to the operation you had on the Citadel. Even if the salarians have kept a tight lid on the specifics, I think I have figured it out. You can hack things without an omnitool, can't you?"

He blinked and she laughed.

"Surprised that I knew about that, are you?" She smirked.

Actually, he had forgotten that the STG had tried to cover up the entire incident. The fact that she hadn't even known about his cybernetic implants was what was surprising, since after their first meeting on Thessia he was sure she should have suspected it.

"And then the incident at Trellani. I thought at first—for just a moment, mind you—that you had some profound insight to offer about her when you said you were disappointed. That you had expected something of me. But no, you were merely bluffing, weren't you? You have a bad habit of telling the truth when you should lie, you know? You admitted to never having even so much of heard of her before, didn't you? You went in completely blind, trusting me to protect you. I am really quite flattered that I managed to make such an impression," she said with a laugh.

Huh, she really is gloating, isn't she? She's had this chip on her shoulder for a while. Well, that's fine by me, he thought as he said nothing while putting the finishing touches to his counter-stroke.

"You were there the whole time, awake through it all, weren't you?" She asked, gleefully drilling with her eyes for a reaction from him. "Weren't you, Emiya?"

"...Not really following you here, Miranda. What's your plan, exactly?"

There was a second's pause and then she sighed with a shrug.

She raised her arms, showing the hallway's walls. "I'm sure the asari captain would also like to know, given that she must have no idea what's going on right now."

Emiya glanced at the terminal by the wall, one of many throughout the ship through which any other part of the vessel could be contacted through an internal system.

"Captain, he is able to access and hack systems wirelessly, activate the radiation contamination protocol!" She shouted, before looking at him again. "See, this asari cruiser is rated for nuclear waste and weapons disposal, meaning that it has sections where..."

Emiya blinked as his sense of the various systems he could sense with his cybernetics vanished around him. A second later a blast door behind them closed with a whir, leaving him with no way to return to the corvette. Ah, so it wasn't just for the sake of talking. She was informing the captain they had paid off as to what was going on.

"All radiation is shielded and contained here, moreover on a lucky coincidence this ship is quite old. Most of it isn't even compatible with modern omnitools! You can't pull any of your tricks here," Miranda said as she finally drew her pistol on him. "And that's the end of the line, Emiya."

They stared at each other, until finally Emiya sighed and raised his hands for a shrug.

"Well, you've caught me. There's just one thing..."

"Oh?"

He smirked and opened his mouth—

And then the floor vanished beneath him as everything was plunged into darkness, as an booming thunderclap echoed through the hull of the ship. It felt as if he was inside of a church bell, as the air itself shook so strongly that he could feel it right down to his bones.

Three seconds later the emergency power kicked back in and Emiya realized the artificial gravity was gone, as was all life support.

He blinked. Wait, what?

"Emiya! What did you do?!" Miranda shouted, somewhere behind him suddenly.

Kicking outwards to reach the ceiling, he spun himself around and then kicked off towards another wall in the zero gravity. Lacking a down, movement turned into something entirely different. He needed to get out of Miranda's eyesight before she thought to use her biotics or shoot him.

At the same time he reached out with his cybernetics to figure out what was going on, now that the containment field was down.

"Everyone put your damn weapons down and lay on your stomachs before I blow your heads clean off! This is Spectre business! You're all under arrest for suspicion on high treason and sedition!"

The soundclip of Tela Vasir he had picked out and set to play after a timer was still playing out, just as he had intended.

But why had the power gone out?

"Oh," he muttered as he realized the cruiser had been shot by the STG ship that had been in pursuit. The fusion reactor was gone, life support was dead and there was a massive hull breach.

Several of the other starships that had been participating in the blockade were now closing in for rescue operations but the STG were apparently declaring it a theater of operations. They were boarding the cruiser and sending out warnings for everyone else to steer clear on the Citadel's authority.

"Oh shit..." He finished.

"Emiya!"

He wasn't sure which came first; the impact of the gunshot to his back that sent him flying through the zero gravity hallway bathed in a dark red light, or the angry shout.

But the biotic throw came definitely after both, as he kicked in the air desperately to gain enough spin to avoid the blue projectile by a hair's breadth.

Trying to control his rotation he barely managed to reach a wall enough to himself towards the opposite side—the ceiling, previously—and propelled himself forward. Without gravity to pull him towards any one surface, the danger of getting stuck in the middle of nothing again was very real. At least the corridors were small enough that the risk of that wasn't that great.

With the power out, none of the major blast doors can be opened. But there's a panel by the end of the hall where I can break into the labs and continue through, he thought as he continued moving. He still had a basic map of the cruiser in his head, plotting out his movements to escape. It wasn't exactly how he had envisioned this going down, but it couldn't be helped.

The problem was that Miranda was keeping pace with him. No, rather she was slowly gaining on him. Having to conserve his stamina, she was able to kick off more strongly to move forward even if her movements were less efficient overal. At least she wasn't shooting at him anymore.

"Emiya!"

Though she didn't seem intent on staying quiet.

I'll take what I can get, he thought as he rounded the hallway corner and managed to retain most of his momentum despite the ninety-degree turn. The panel was just ahead, he just needed to—She's building up a biotic attack.

Rolling himself up for impact, he halted for just a second. Wait, if I roll with the force at the right point, then...

He kicked off a wall instead of ducking for cover and a second later the biotic attack blew past him. In its wake he was pushed with thrice his previous speed towards a wall at an oblique angle as if gravity had suddenly struck a hold of him. Reaching out with his arms he rolled against the wall as if it was the ground and retained again the momentum and turned it into the jump towards the ventilation panel at the far side of the long hallway.

Just as he impacted against the thin grate covering the panel, he could hear Miranda's incoherent scream of rage behind him, blending together with the crumpling metal almost seamlessly.

Diving into the darkness of the air ventilation system, he followed the claustrophobic straight path until he found the labs. It was lucky that the asari built their ships over-dimensioned since they had always had such an ample supply of eezo. Any other race would have handled ventilation through much smaller pressurized vents or by making each room its own contained system.

As he pulled himself out into what was marked as the laboratory, he blinked as he realized it was just being used as a storage compartment currently.

Not giving it a second thought, he kicked out and moved to the door leading out into another hallway. Disabling the locks while listening for Miranda on his trail, he exhaled once as just the last set remained. Behind the door would be a hull breach, meaning he would have to hold his breath while he passed through the next sections. If only Miranda hadn't left his helmet and backpack behind at Trellani's.

I'll have to project a helmet to seal myself in, but I'll just be holding my breath with that... Lacking the system for ventilation and using the air capsules, it wasn't much. But it was better than nothing at least.

Focusing on oxygenating his blood, he uttered the words of power under his breath. "—Trace, on"—begin projection,

I don't have much more magical energy to waste. Maybe three or four projections?

Dismissing those thoughts for now and taking one last great gulp of air he created the sealing helmet to complete his hardsuit. It had none of the more advanced functions, but at least it would keep him separated from the cold of space. At the same time he pulled open the sideways rolling door just enough to be able to slip through. He had to keep a tight grip to keep himself from being pushed out by the rushing air that was escaping through the now open door.

Once safely on the other side, he repeated the process on the other side in reverse to close the door and to re-apply the vacuum seal in the section he had just left behind. It was an expenditure of oxygen, but he didn't know how many asari were still there along with Miranda.

No point in letting them all die.

Done with that, he turned around and kicked off as he continued his way through the cruiser's insides. He would have to take a slightly roundabout way, which was a slight annoyance given that the cruiser was rather large. It was such that the largest sides could already be measured in kilometers; not a distance he could cross in one lungful regardless of how trained he was.

Finding a sealed room with oxygen still inside, he headed right for it. The trick wasn't finding a room; it was finding a room that he could enter and exit without having all the air escape when he tried to open the door. Luckily a few of the rooms had double airlocks for whatever reason, giving him way points where to take short breaks and open up his helmet.

Five minutes had already passed since he had left Miranda behind.

It seemed like he had completely lost her, which made sense given that she hadn't brought a helmet with her either. Though with the vacuum he wouldn't have heard her coming either way. But that also went for the asari chatter on the comms. There were reports of the STG boarding the cruiser, yet no one seemed to have seen them since, nor were there any reports of casualties either.

It was he was making his way down another long dark corridor that he realized that his suit was actually leaking. Pausing to check whether it was his helmet, he realized it was the spot where Miranda had shot him in the back.

I'll have to fix it in the next room with air I find, he thought as he continued jumping forward. Stopping now wasn't an option, especially since he had even less air to go with now than he had previously thought.

Something flickered at the end of the hallway and Emiya paused, narrowing his eyes. He continued floating through the air, the lack of air or gravity meaning his momentum continued to carry him until he hit the wall again.

What was that...?

And then the three round burst hit him in the gut and sent him spinning backwards. The hardsuit held, but lacking any hard plates the impact was still considerable. Almost losing his breath, he spun and realized he was about to hit the ceiling headfirst. Bringing up his hands for protection, he performed a back handspring to recover and push away back towards the safety of the corner.

There's no one there!? But how—Cloaking? But a second later another three round burst clipped his shoulder, skimming layers of the protective hardsuit off. He realized just then that the rounds he had taken to his chest had torn open a bigger hole and that he was leaking oxygen rapidly now. Pressing his right hand flush against the hole to seal it in, he grit his teeth as he stared to the direction the shots had come from. Lethal force—no attempt at negotiation—physical fatigue and weakness—hampered mobility and detection—running out of air. The factors ran through his mind in an instant and the conclusion was reached. He couldn't hold back if he wanted to survive. The point of origin was the same between the two bursts; almost like someone was walking along the floor.

Magnetic boots?

Peering even more closely, he couldn't see a thing. But maybe if he touched the floor? Pushing off until he was kneeling on the floor, almost as if artificial gravity was back online again. Putting his palm flush against the floor, he stilled his breathing. Stilled every muscle in his body, stilled the very heart beating in his chest and closed his eyes.

In his mind's eye, a blade was chosen.

Thunk—A boot against the floor. The arm shot upwards from the ground, drawing the line and a he shouted, "—Trace, on!"—begin projection,

Three feet of tempered high carbon steel shot out like a bolt of lightning from nothingness, crossing the hallway only to suddenly stop as it impacted against something. As the green liquid began to pour out and coat the slowly floating away blade, the form of the cloaked salarian finally became distinguishable. A second later the cloak failed as the shields of the suit failed.

Emiya exhaled as he opened his eyes. Glancing at the salarian he weighed attempting to save the salarian despite everything, but seeing his condition he gave up. The blade had punched through effortlessly, only stopping once it was deep enough for the crossguard to hit. And the impact had been enough to crush the salarian's rib and snap his neck instantly.

Shaking his head, he moved on before any of the salarian's comrades might show up. He needed to fix his suit first and then re-think his plan. If there were more cloaked salarians on the cruiser looking for him, then this wasn't going to work.

Ten minutes later, he had dragged the salarian with him to another air pocket, fixed his suit and figured out a handful of things.

Judging by the omnitool the salarian held, the STG had essentially put the entire asari cruiser into quarantine to catch him. Since the asari captain had refused to power down her ship due to his Tela Vasir broadcast, the STG had just blown out the engine and now had most of the asari under arrest in specific sections of the cruiser where they still maintained life support. And now they were combing through the rest of the cruiser for any traces of him while making sure to cut off any avenues of escape and turning off electronics to hamper him.

They were using both the drones from before and cloaked salarians, with even more to come as backup arrived. All the while, the other ships around the Mass Relay had returned to their blockade. Sending that confirmation of his presence on the cruiser had really gotten the salarians up in a tizzy, he realized now.

That he hadn't run into anyone was half due to Miranda's scheme to isolate him and half due to luck. I have a cloaking device and a pair of magnetic boots that don't fit me.

That said, he still didn't have any means of resupplying his oxygen beyond taking off his helmet, he was trapped on a cruiser dead in the water and being hunted down by the STG, running on fumes and without any of his most effective tricks available.

"Well, at least I'm out of Parnitha," he muttered with a weak laugh. Getting up, he shook his head. Enough of that.

Since the way up ahead was probably going to only have more opposition, he decided to double back through sections he knew were still safe. Since the inside of the cruiser was no longer safe, then the solution was obviously to head outside the ship. With the magnets, he should be able to stick to the hull on the outside and get to the corvette that way. Which meant that he had to find the airlock nearest to the Janiri's Sickle, preferably with a pocket of air nearby he could normalize in before he tried to go out.

And it was only as he reached one such airlock that he realized how he hadn't quite thought that choice through.

The lack of oxygen, the darkness, the cold and the vacuum. At this point they were no longer entirely alien to him, as he had on multiple occasions gotten familiar with it all. But the conditions of space were one thing when you had a working hardsuit or a starship as a boundary.

But as he held on at the threshold between the cruisers inside and the nothingness just outside, he realized it was something quite different to leap out with nothing to hold onto.

The Janiri's Sickle was no longer tethered to the asari cruiser. The salarians must have thought it too risky to leave a ship they knew to be able to outrun them within such easy reach. He could still barely see it in the distance, the weak blue glow of the Mass Relay just enough to light it up against the darkness of space. Miranda's sabotage must have left it dead in the water, so they had simply pulled it loose and left it there.

How far away is it?

Twenty kilometers? Thirty? Fifty? A hundred?

Without anything for proper reference there was no way for him to really tell. It seemed to be roughly moving parallel to the cruiser at least. If it was drifting away, he couldn't tell. Yet, it was his only way out. He couldn't turn around anymore and the longer he stayed on the cruiser the worse his odds became.

"Guess I just have to jump."

If he didn't have to move or strain himself, he could hold his breath for fifteen to twenty minutes. Whether or not that would be enough to get him all the way to the corvette...

He would just have to find out.

Sitting down and crossing his legs, he took off the helmet and set it aside with the two magnetic boots. He would need those, too. Starting with slow, deep breaths he focused on relaxing every muscle in his body. As the minutes rolled by, and he continued breathing more deeply with each inhale and more shallowly with each exhale, until he could feel his limbs start to tingle.

And once the stomach cramp began, he exhaled completely. Grabbing his helmet and putting it on and the two magnetic boots. Just before sealing the helmet, he took one last deep breath as the tingles had turned into a sensation not unlike an electric charge in his limbs.

Opening the airlock and putting one magnetic boot against the hull, he swung himself out until he was crouching against the hull while holding with one hand onto the boot. Looking up, he could see the corvette. It didn't seem any smaller, nor had it seemingly changed relative position much. The boots worked through a simple switch, but they were strong enough that he could hold on and even tense up quite a bit without them giving way. That was good since without something to hold onto for the jump, he probably wouldn't be able to get enough power.

Like a coiled spring that slipped free, he sprang off the hull off the cruiser. His body straightened out, and he activated the cloaking device he had gotten from the salarian.

As he continued gliding through the nothingness of space, he closed his eyes. Now, all he could do was wait. His heartbeat slowed down as his every muscle relaxed. The mind and spirit became as still as mountains, as his body sailed towards the corvette.

Time passed, but lacking any frame of reference he couldn't have told how much. It was unlike yet quite similar to his dive through the oceans of Thessia, in many ways. Obviously it was nothing like swimming, as there was nothing pushing against him in any direction. There was no resistance to his movements and it felt more like falling than being pushed or pulled toward any direction. Merely a uniform motion as a sum total of all the forces that had interacted on his body as he had kicked off the cruiser.

Slowly exhaling to manage the build up of carbon dioxide in his blood, he kept himself from attempting to count the seconds passing by. Any mental effort would only be wasting oxygen—he had to be perfectly relaxed to minimize its consumption.

An instant was an eternity and an eternity was an instant, until finally after an indescribable amount of time he opened his eyes as he began to sense something with his cybernetics, and he saw the corvette looming ahead and growing bigger fast. Exhaling the rest of the air in his lungs and drawing what he had in his helmet and suit to replenish what he could, he extended his arms and prepared to latch onto the hull with the other magnetic boot he still had in his hand.

Without it, he would probably fail to stop and just bounce off into space.

The impact against the corvette's hull almost drove all the air out of his lungs, but he managed to latch on with the magnet. Without a frame of reference in the void it was hard to tell, but he had jumped off the cruiser's hull with all his strength. Consequently, he had slammed with all that strength into the corvette's hull. He even managed to scratch the paint with his helmet.

After that, all that was left was to pull himself back towards the nearest airlock.

Even though the distance left was minimal compared to what he had just crossed, it was a hundred times more excruciating. His lungs screamed for air, the burning pressure seemed enough to make his chest explode. Having to slowly pull himself forward, inching along the surface of the corvette was draining what little strength he still had. Every step was equal to a mountain in effort, as he continued moving.

At the end, his legs were cramping and his fingers were having trouble holding on, but he kept going.

Only as he finally entered the airlock, flooding his surroundings with air and dispelling his helmet, did he let himself breathe. The exhalation came out as a whooshing breath and as he inhaled he almost lost control over his legs. Sitting down—or collapsing, really—he rode out the lightheadedness and the various visual and tactile sensations as he simply breathed.

And before he knew it, exhaustion had overtaken him, and he had fallen asleep.

---

;

---

Shepard opened her eyes, exhaling as she pulled herself out of the sleeping pod.

"Nnnh... What?"

She rubbed her eyes, feeling as if she had been seeing a very peculiar dream just a moment before. But with the world of waking, that vision she felt she had been having had already disappeared. The darkness of the crew's resting bay was comfortable to her eyes as she shook her head and got onto her feet. There was a slight crick in her neck from the size of the pod leaving the molding at an slightly uncomfortable angle. It couldn't be helped; one size fits all sleeping pods for all crew was simply how it was.

"Lieutenant Shepard," the non-commissioned officer whose bed-shift was coming up spoke with a salute towards her.

She mumbled something, waving a hand as she yawned. Not the most proper of appearances for a ship's second-in-command to have, but she didn't particularly care at that moment. Switching out and letting the chief get into the sleeping pod she had just been using, she headed out to prepare for the day.

Or rather, her shift.

As aboard a starship day and night lost most of their meaning. Lacking any celestial object for reference, the day rhythms of each Navy vessel depended on a myriad of other factors. On the SSV Tokyo they used a three-shift divide for one standard galactic day, with one third spent resting and the other two working. On patrol ships there might have been time for R&R hours, but on this mission there simply wasn't time for that.

Even with computers handling the biggest share of the nitty gritty work, every man-hour was worth hundreds of thousands of credits out here in the beyond the fringes of the galaxy. Hopping back and forth between the Skyllian Verge, the Attican Traverse and occasionally dipping into batarian space, it had been one lightning raid after another. They had been following the trail of four bands of batarian pirates, tracking and analyzing their movements for well over a month now.

And all that work would be culminating in one final operation before they would return to base. Perhaps they would even go all the way to Arcturus Station, if their findings proved what the Alliance Intelligence had been suspecting for years now.

After a shower and some grub, with a cup of coffee in hand she began to make her way towards the CIC. Spotting the wide and straight back of her mentor as soon as she finished walking up to the CIC, she walked forwards.

"Good morning, Shepard."

She smiled, walking next to him and setting down her coffee. "Captain Anderson, good morning. Anything catch fire while I was gone?"

The Captain huffed despite himself, shaking his head.

"No. But we will be arriving at the designated gathering point within a few hours."

She nodded, glancing at the galaxy map and perusing some of the astrogational and communicator notes by the terminal. This far out in the black of space, very little information could be exchanged in real time. Even with FTL tightbeam technology, it was practically impossible to maintain a regular communication with larger bases. At best they could drop off and fly near communication buoys that would allow them to exchange information with other starships in the area.

And one such message had been received through the tightbeam while she had been asleep.

Shepard grinned, showing teeth as she turned to look at the Captain. "Torfan, huh?"

---

;

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Thanks to Olive Birdy and Tactical Tunic up at spacebattles for proofreading.

Whew. Took a mite bit longer than I'd wanted. Mainly because BABYLONIA WAS FUCKING AWESOME. Also, SOLOMON GET YOUR SHIT READY, I'm COMING FOR YA! That said, I think we're all in agreement that thank fuck we're off Thessia, eh? Also, I would like to thank all my patrons up until now one more time. Their support has been really inspiring, but now I'm going to stop using pattreon because I'm getting tired of their shit. This shouldn't affect anything, and I'll keep the page up so if any of the patrons still want to throw the requests at me then I'll see what I can do to make it happen. For now, I'm not going to look for any alternatives either, so let's just keep going like before all that stuff, yeah?