Battery looked around the Marvin's interior as we secured everyone's gear. "I was really hoping to get one of the Longswords."

Frans paused to snort a laugh. "Yeah? Well I was hoping to be balls-deep tonight-"

Hans dope slapped his brother, setting him to spin. "Not cool Bruh!"

Battery chuckled. "He's not the only one." Everyone paused and looked at her. "What? Because I'm a woman, I'm not allowed to have a libido? Fuck that and fuck you," she pointed at Hans, "if your 'bro' joins in." The brothers sputtered while the rest of us laughed and locked our gear down.

Juan and Ezio had moved up the boom to the sleeping cabins while the brothers were trying to figure out if Battery was serious or not. I looked at Min-ji and Rambro. "I need to see about our Hopper salvage shuttle. Want the Nickel-tour?" They followed me to the airlock and we suited up for a space walk. We climbed to the module docks where our Delphi probe, landing craft and the Hopper were attached.

It was an ungainly thing; a conical control module reminiscent of a Mercury Space Capsule sat atop a squat cylinder that housed the units small industrial ME core and hoisting cables. Four articulated, latticed booms were arranged equilaterally around the base, each with a Nuclear Lightbulb engine and clawed landing strut on the end. All in all, it looked like a steampunk spider had latched onto our ship.

Rambro scowled at the monstrosity. "What a goffel! We're not riding that down are we?"

I glanced up from my checks of the connections. "No, we'll be taking the Pinnace over there." I pointed to the white cone just forward of the spin arms. I saw the look Rambro and Min-ji passed each other. "It'll carry 10 without a problem, so the six of us should be fine."

"Six?" Min asked as we headed back to the airlock.

I nodded, then realized they couldn't see it in the bulky EVA suit and turned around. "Frans is the better pilot, but Hans has more medical training so he's bringing the Hopper while Frans minds the Marvin. The rest of us are coming down on the Pinnace. Juan, Hans and I will be trying to salvage the shuttle. I imagine your team has its own orders and I won't pry." We cycled through the airlock and unsuited. "Whatever your job out there is, if you happen to see me running, it means something's chasing me. Please kill it."

Rambro barked out a laugh while Min-ji smirked at me. "Gwaenchanh-a."

The Star-Bug's cramped nature was exacerbated by the additional four bodies, but our target was less than two days travel so we all coped. We dropped our Delphi off as usual and moved into orbit of the target moon. Our reports on it didn't do the harsh environment any justice as we all crammed into the CM to get our first glimpse. Ezio began poetically intoning.

I glanced over. "I didn't catch any of that except Malbolge and Cocytus."

Most of the teams looked at us oddly until Rambro spoke up. "The Eighth and Ninth Circles of Hell, according to Dante."

Juan adjusted the video feed to focus on a spot near the equatorial mountains and zoomed in on a black and silver triangular shape. "Well Ezio gets to name this one when we get back. Let's suit up and get what we came for people, before El Dioblo comes for his due."

Juan and I, as well as Fire Team Ezio were the first to descend. We would be evaluating the safety of the shuttle and the site itself before Hans came down in the Hopper. This was the first time I had been on a natural celestial body since leaving Illium. We landed a kilometer from the crash site in the lee of a large projection of ice. Mine and Juan's suits were a great contrast to those of the Ghosts who favored sleek lines and maneuverability over sturdy utility; though I imagined either of our suits could support the Full Ghost Teams weight if needed.

The atmosphere at the equator was only slightly thicker than at the top of Mt. Everest, so we kept our suits sealed as we trudged into the bleak, icy terrain. Though there were signs of drifts, there was no wind to speak of. The gouge left by the shuttle was only slightly filled in, so we thought it was a good sign for the weather.

The Ghosts immediately cloaked and moved on, while Juan and I trudged towards the crash.

Both Juan and I were running continuous scans for radiation, fuel leaks and Eezo. We were a hundred meters from the wreck when the muffled shot rang out, kicking up a puff of ice in front of us. We both bounded over the ridge of the gouge and hunkered down. Juan threw a handful of Micro-drones. They showed a pair of almost gaunt humanoids in form fitting suits with single piece face-plates by an open hatch on the shuttle's port side.

One pointed at the drone swarm and did something with their Omni-tool before the feed went dead.

Ezio cut his link before they could back-hack into his suit. "Ezio, this is Juan. Looks like we have a couple of Quarians at the crash site. We'll see if we can get them out ourselves, but be ready to intervene. Out."

I looked over the ridge with the site on my canon. "How do you intend to do that El Jefe?"

"Creatively. Hans? Can you hear me?"

"Yep. Is my landing zone safe?"

"Not yet, but it will be once you touch down. Set down just to the left of the crash; we'll work on proper placement later." He rolled over and looked at the shuttle.

I shook my head. "He's gonna be pissed about you lying to him like that."

"I didn't lie; the site will be safe once he lands. Nobody in their right mind would attack the Hopper with anything less than a Bazooka."

"Well let's hope our friends don't have one." I switched my suits loud-speaker on at max volume. "Kids, I don't know if you can understand me but you might want to get under cover right about now."

I could see them looking our way and gesticulating until the sound of the Hopper's Nuclear Ramjets drew their eyes up. Even at this distance I could see the confusion and fear in their body language. One hauled the other inside and the hatch slid mostly shut. After that, we saw nothing except the steam and lightning kicked up by Hans' landing.

Juan and I ran up to the shuttle. "Hans, stay in the Hopper for the moment."

"What's going on guys?"

"Just stay put." Juan knocked on the hatch. "Alright nińas, playtime's over; time to come out."

I retracted the canon and kept Juan covered with my equally new pistol. I had no desire to hurt these two, but they had already shot at us once. A few seconds later, the hatch creaked open and two quarians, one male and one female, stepped out with their hands raised. They were shivering, but I couldn't tell if that was from exposure or fear.

"Dude! You said the site was secure!"

"I said it would be once you touched down. You're here, it's secure. Lets' figure this out." He must have noticed a heat ripple on the roof of the shuttle, because he turned and talked to what looked like nothing to the Quarians "Anything your team need from the shuttle?"

Battery's voice sounded from the empty space. "We saw tracks before you erased them, but we've got the trail."

The kids flinched and bumped into Juan and I when the Ghost pulled her hood back, revealing a death-mask floating in air. "It leads into the mountains. Min and I are staying here on overwatch while the boys track our pilot." Juan nodded and we shuffled the two Quarians back inside the shuttle as Battery resumed her post.

Once inside, we tried to shut the cabin door but it jammed as it had earlier. There was drift ice in the cabin from Hans' landing. I was looking over it as Juan was sitting the two kids down to talk. "Hey Lt.? If you think you're good, I want to see if this is going to be a major issue. I'm gonna have Hans lift this bird off the ground; when I give the signal, try to extend the landing gear. Hopefully the hull is just under stress, and not twisted."

He looked at me, then the two across from him. "Alright, just warn the Ghosts before you do anything."

"What? I'm not allowed to surprise the faceless killing machines we brought with us" I chuckled at the reactions of the Quarians, but then that had been part of the point of saying that. I saluted and headed outside and looked at the shuttle's roof. "Ladies, you might want to find a different perch. Hans is about to mount this bird so we can move it." Their only response was a rippling effect as they moved away. I tried not to flinch when one of them tapped me on the shoulder to let me know they were clear, I really did.

I signalled Hans, and he walked the Hopper over the fallen shuttle. Despite its ungainly appearance the Hopper was a very nimble craft, which made it all the more disturbing to watch. Once he was in position, I attached the hoisting cables to what I assumed were major structural members. Once I was certain the ship was secure for the lift, I hopped down and rapped on the shuttle door. "Take a seat in the middle; we're starting the lift now."

"We're all set. Go ahead"

Rather than have Hans translate my orders into actions, I remotely operated the hoists one at a time to lift the ship to a level position, then had Hans hoist all the cables at once. It took 30 minutes, but the shuttle was finally a good two meters off the ground. "Alright, extend the gear."

It was a testament to Turian engineering that, despite the crash, the landing gear all extended smoothly and locked into place. Hans slowly lowered the craft to the ground. As soon as all the cables were slack, the hatch shut and locked automatically. Juan cycled it a few more times just to be sure, but it appeared the shuttle was intact.

"Jawa, Ezio, this is Marvin; Delphi just picked up a contact coming through the relay! ETA is 10 minutes!"

The hatch slid open. Juan stepped out with the two Quarians following close behind. "The kids say it isn't theirs; they're supposed to fix the ship and bring it back as their Pilgrimage Offering."

I looked at Juan. "Maybe they're here for the wayward pilot?"

Juan looked skyward for a moment. "Whoever they are, I don't want them seeing us. Hans?"

"I could get into space, but not into a proper docking orbit before then."

Juan thumped his fist on the shuttle. "Alright. Frans, take Marvin to the farside from where they'll exit and keep radio silent. We'll relay through Delphi when it's clear. Hans, walk the Hopper over to our casule and be ready to launch for survival. Hiram, myself and the nińas will move to that ice out cropping due north. Ezio, you found our runner yet?"

Ezio's reply was almost drowned out by the Hopper scuttling away. "Non, mon ami. We did find a campsite with used medical supplies, but the trail goes cold on an ice shelf. We're on our way back. ETA, 12 minutes."

There was a short exchange between the Quarians and Juan as we moved. "The nińas say they can remotely activate the K-Barriers on the shuttle if you need more substantial cover."

"Merci."

Once under cover of the ice outcropping, we waited.

It felt like an hour of laying on an enormous shard of ice, but when I checked later it was only fifteen minutes. Finally I saw a faint fiery streak heading our way. It resolved into a squat 40 meter oval shaped ship with a boxy command module in the front, a cluster of engines in the back, and a gun turret on top. It's other defining feature was its red and white paint job depicting a stylized human skull being punched.

I knew I recognized the image, but I couldn't place it.

"Mierde!"

I looked at Juan. "You know them?"

He nodded. "Si. Blood Pack; they're mercenaries, and loco hombres at that."

I watched as the ship settled on the ice near the crash. "You think they're here for our runner?"

"If they are, it's not to pick him up. Blood Pack doesn't take jobs that don't involve a body count."

My heart leapt into my throat. I was not thrilled by the idea of another firefight, especially with the new cannon. I had only run a few tests in the playpen with the design. I had been genuinely surprised when the Armory had approved it for production.

After a few seconds of St. Elmo's fire, the side hatch on the ship opened and two squads of demonic looking creatures came out. It took me a moment to remember what they were called: Vorcha. They were followed by a pair of massive Krogans, one holding the leashes for four vicious looking animals. The bizarre fish/dog creatures immediately sniffed the air and started pulling their leads.

Their handler simply yanked and smacked them into submission. Whatever orders they were yelling were lost to the thin atmosphere, but the entire troop advanced towards the shuttle as the ramp closed behind them.

I settled in again. "Now we wait for the 'Ezio Show' to begin."

"I think it already has." Juan nodded towards the ship.

That's when I saw flashes of light from the command module. A few moments later, a second hatch on the ships belly opened up "Millenium Falcon" style, complete with heavy machinegun. The weapon immediately opened fire into the Blood Pack. The Vorcha and Varen scattered as the two Krogans were cut down. Most of the Vorcha managed to scurry over the shuttle for cover, while the four Varrens simply ran off.

I gently tapped the Quarian boy on the shoulder. He flinched and looked at me as I motioned to the shuttle. "You said you could turn that things barriers on remotely, right?"

"Y-yes?"

"What are you thinking pendejo?"

I switched the canon to pulsed plasma mode. "I'm thinking we just got that junker off the ground, and I don't want to wreck it again."

Juan thought for a second, then nodded at the two. There was a faint screech of alarm from the Vorcha as the shuttle powered up. I stood up and opened fire. Perhaps it was a bit of a vanity project, but I was quite pleased with the rapid stream of vibrant purple bolts that sent the Vorcha scurrying in every direction. As soon as they were out of the shuttles cover, Ezio's gunner opened up again and finished the creatures off.

The four of us slid off of the outcropping and headed over to the larger ship. Juan and I kept our weapons trained of the carnage in the event any of the vicious creatures were less dead than we thought. I noticed the Varrens had returned once the weapons fire had stopped. They seemed content to circle the battlefield and scavenge the Vorcha corpses. We were cautious when the Blood Pack ship's ramp lowered, but it was Ezio's team that sauntered out.

Rambro looked around at the mess. "Jislaaik! These skebenga gave us a time." He kicked one of the downed Krogan. Said Krogan didn't appreciate that as much to our combined surprise, he snatched Rambro off his feet and tried to use him as a shield while yelling.

CRACK!

The first Krogan I'd ever faced hadn't been impressed with the weapons I'd had on hand. This one was much more impressed, or would have been if his head had remained intact. Rambro looked back and forth between my smoking pistol and the now certifiably dead Krogan. "Thanks boet." I nodded as Min-ji helped him to his feet. "Boss, I'm officially gavtol this hell hole. We're leaving now-now, yes?"

"Tout à l'heure." He walked over to the pair of young Quarians. "I have a proposition for these two."

While Ezio talked to the two Pilgrims, I headed over to the recently fallen Krogan. His Omni-tool had been damaged in the fighting and was flickering an image. I waved Min over. "You're better with computers than me. Can you help me get this thing to stay on? I want to see what they were so keen on." It took a little while, but we managed to salvage a text message and a picture.

"Ezio/Lt.!" we both called out. When they both arrived, we showed them the message; a contract to assassinate an STG officer, with coordinates and a time table before the official retrieval team would arrive. "Bring the Salarian's head to the Starburst Lounge in Saefos Valley, Illium and ask for Drick. Full payment on confirmation of ID." There was an attached hologram of a Salarian.

Min stood up and addressed everyone. "If we read this right, we have half an hour before the Citadel retrieval team arrives."

Ezio snorted, then looked at the two kids. "Well? You have very little time. Which will it be: take the nearly empty shuttle that the Council is looking for, or the Batarian Corvette?"

In the end, it wasn't even a choice. Ezio's team collected the Omni-tools from the Blood Pack and copied all the data from the corvette's computer, while Juan, Hans and I secured the shuttle for transport. Juan and I watched as Hans and the Hopper took off with the shuttle clinging to its belly. A rumble from behind us signaled the corvette's departure.

As our teams made our way to the Pinnace, I saw a glint from the ridge line to our east. "I wish Frans was over us so he could train the Big Eye on the ridge over there."

Everyone looked over for a moment. Juan chuffed a laugh and kept on. "Not our problem anymore, pendejo. Let's go home." We were in orbit with five minutes to spare. It still took us an hour to dock and secure the shuttle, during which Ezio's team managed the Marvin.

A Salarian frigate arrived and remained in orbit for an hour. We made a single micro-jump to the farside of the Gas Giant which Ezio had named "Dante". We waited there until the Salarians left. After that, we picked up the Delphi probe and cruised on to Beta Site for a very long debrief.

Capt. Saelen Varn watched as the unidentified group left in stages: the Blood Pack transport, the odd, but quite efficient salvage transport, and finally the teardrop shuttle. Once he was certain they had truly left, he went back to the crash site.

There was significant carnage; Five Krogan and twenty Vorcha in Blood Pack regalia were strewn about, with no signs that their adversaries had so much as scraped a knee. It was interesting to him that there seemed to be multiple methodologies at work, based on how various groups had been dealt with.

Three of the Krogan were dead with almost surgical precision, while most had been subjected to support weapons fire.

Of note were a group of Vorcha between an ice outcropping, and one of the Krogans: they had all come under fire from something with both significant heat and kinetic energy, if the trauma done to the Krogan's crest plate was any indication.

Additionally was the almost kindly handling he'd seen of the Quarians. No species in known space, not even the humans with their penchant for softheartedness, would simply give the superior ship to a pair of juvenile Suit Rats; not without significant expectation of compensation, or a deep seated cultural reverence for the same. It painted a disturbing picture, one colored in the hues of Tikkun's orange light.

It was unheard of, but it fit the profile: unknown ship designs, exceptional intelligence and counterintelligence capabilities, highly advanced propulsion and weapons designs, and close association with Quarians.

He looked up as an STG frigate descended on his position. He needed to report directly to the Council: if the Geth had come out of isolation in the Perseus Veil and were making overtures to the Quarian Migrant Fleet, then the entire galaxy was in grave peril.

A/N: More great work from Ian as always; next chapter will be two at once.

One will be a post citadel Mission Briefing akin to something from Ghost Recon Wildlands.

The other will be from one of the Ghosts that was injured and was recovered after the attack. The mission briefing will have been written by me; the Ghosts internal recovery was written by fan mp07.

The entrance code to my discord server right now is; /U9vgbyx

Check my profile if it does not work, as I keep that link up to date.

I hope y'all enjoyed.

Leave a review as always.

And I will see ya when I see ya.