2-27-2157 0934 hours (Alliance standard time)

London

Earth, Alliance Headquarters

Naval Shipyard

Captain Murray tapped the thrusters of the Falcon shuttle. The small craft, in comparison to a true naval ship, rolled, bringing the UNASS Clarence E. Walsh into view. Normally, naval officers did not ferry themselves around Terran shipyards, but Murray had insisted. All unauthorized personnel were restricted to a narrow path around the ship; he wanted to take a careful look at his command before actually accepting the position.

While already one of the most advanced warships in the UNAS fleet, the Clarence E. Walsh was presently undergoing retrofits to install even more advanced systems, upgrading its arsenal to beyond cutting-edge capacity. The first thing that caught Murray's eyes wasn't the ship itself; but rather it was the sheer swarm of shuttles, construction drones, and engineers hovering around the destroyer. To the uninformed eye, it looked like every technician in the country was committed to the Walsh. Even with his personal experience piloting shuttles, Murray strained himself to avoid collisions in the immense traffic. Once he finally got in close, the captain got a good look at his improved ship.

It was worth the effort.

The destroyer was everything he had envisioned. The dual main Mass Accelerators ran nearly through the entire ship, giving it improved firepower over a standard vessel of comparative mass. Nearly a hundred 50mm Gauss broadside guns and 30mm Mass Accelerator defense turrets lined the entire hull. The engineers flitting around its surface were fitting thick layers of angular, stealth-coated armor. It looked as if the material was made of titanium, sheets of the strong metal being placed over the pre-existing ablative armor. The overall effect gave the hull a massive feel, making Murray worry the excess mass could slow acceleration. In this operation, taking hits would be secondary to avoiding them. But then, through the pods of Kinetic Rods and Patriot missiles being installed, he could make out additional thrusters, being fitted the hull.

'Well that solves that problem, but can the ship be able to handle the additional improvements?' Murray wasn't one to be paranoid, but he hoped the ship's reactor had been improved as well. There were definitely more than a few questions needing answers before the mission got underway.

He touched down on an automated landing platform and locked the controls down. Long moments later, the shuttle descended below decks and was cycled through the airlock. Captain Murray gathered his materials and stepped on the flight deck, feeling an internal buzz of distress as he stepped of the shuttle into the hangar of the ship. His boots seemed to cling to the polished floor and his intestines felt as though they'd been compressed under a stone. Artificial gravity was an old, familiar sensation, one he could recall from his first years as a cadet on the UNASS Ottawa. Looking back, he suddenly felt a little old.

"Captain Murray, sir! Welcome aboard." An ensign greeted him.

Murray acknowledged the ensign standing at rigid attention. The man's posture was adequate, uniform properly maintained, though his blood shot and sunken eyes betraying long hours of work without rest.

The two exchanged salutes. "It's nice to be aboard," Murray momentarily looked at his ship, silently admiring the craftsmanship that went into its creation. "I assume you are here to bring me up to speed on the ship's modifications?"

"Yes, sir! Your weapons officer is currently trying to familiarize herself with the new upgrades."

Murray felt surprised. His weapons officer was considered something as a prodigy when it came to naval combat, scoring among the top of her class. If she was still learning the applications of the ship's improvements, then it only meant he had a lot of work ahead of him.

"Please, allow me to give you the full tour." The captain nodded and ensign began to lead the way, briskly taking steps to cover large ground. For a moment Murray struggled to keep up, but managed to find an appropriate pace. The two proceeded to the elevators and once inside, the ensign punched in the buttons for engineering. The platform accelerated and the two men held onto the rails to keep their stance. "There's a lot to go through, Captain, but I believe engineering would be the best place to start."

"I must say that I don't recognize much on the subject."

The ensign gave a nod. "Yes, that is to be expected. The Walsh is very different from what she was a few months ago," the ensign politely did not comment on the ignorance. "Believe me when I say Captain that you're standing on the most advanced naval ship in the fleet."

A slight hiss from the opening elevator doors heralded their arrival. The engineer ushered Murray into the massive deck that was engineering. It easily stood five stories tall, with multiple catwalks and rails crisscrossing the space.

"And here it is the heart of the ship." The ensign pointed out to the massive reactor at the center. The main ring was nestled in the center of what appeared to be to smaller reactor rings, coiled upon each other like ancient monsters, waiting for Armageddon. Technicians stood watch along the catwalks, taking readings and monitoring the output displays from the terminals lining the walls.

"Well this certainly is an interesting design."

"Yes, the design itself is rather new. In fact, it had been in the prototypes stages until a month ago." The ensign smiled proudly, despite his weariness.

"I presume all bugs have been worked out?" Murray questioned. Technologies in the prototype stages always carried bugs needing careful attention.

The ensign hastened to reassure him. "Of course. The UNAS wouldn't bother installing it, if it hadn't been thoroughly tested. Um, highlights; the Walsh utilizes two Grade Three fusion reactors to supercharge the main reactor. Their overlapping magnetic fields can temporarily boost power to nearly three hundred percent."

"Such a design would be sure to generate immense heat and radiation."

"Exactly," the ensign nodded. "That's why the reactors themselves are both shielded by kinetic barriers, and have coolant pipes pumping chilled ions to neutralize waste heat. The more the power is cranked up, the more juice we have to cool the system. It is very efficient."

Murray whistled in appreciation as he scrutinized the room. While not capable of fully understanding the system, he appreciated the amount of planning.

"As I am sure you've noticed en route, the ship also has additional thrusters and improved maneuvering engines. In order for the ship to handle the additional upgrades, we installed a newer He-3 Fusion engine, the THX-1300 model."

Murray turned to the ensign with raised eyebrows. He-3 fusion was not new technology; in fact the Council races had been using it for millennia, powering their own ships. Per mass unit, fusion was both more powerful and efficient than the standard deuterium/tritium reactors found in early Alliance ships, models that could manage the vast bulk of its energy output in the form of charged particles. The drawbacks however were the manifold increases in critical pressure maintaining the reactions; in essence making it a lot hotter and a lot harder to contain.

"Tell me more about the engine." Murray asked. Making note of a rather basic technology didn't seem important – therefore it had to be noteworthy for a reason.

The ensign gave a nod. "Unlike like most He-3 fusion reactors that need to concentrate on power generation and containment, the THX model uses kinetic barriers around the reactors to focus solely on power generation. In simple terms, this allows generation of up to seven times the normal output, giving the engine a very high output ceiling. In combat situations, this improvement makes the Walsh as fast as a frigate."

Murray gave a nod while he stared at the reactors. This gave him more options when engaging enemy forces, options considered impossible before.

"I figured bringing you to engineering first would allow you to understand the other shipboard systems. It is also the perfect example of most of the other new advancements on the ship."

Murray nodded appreciatively. Doubts about fielding prototype technologies put to rest, he soon began thinking on the best ways to utilize these improvements.

"Why don't we go and check out the main guns, Captain." The ensign said as he gestured to the elevator again.

"Lead the way."

When the two finally arrived at the main guns, Murray once again found himself unfamiliar with the surrounding technology, not that he should be surprised at this point. For one thing, the normal casing-encircled coils at the emplacements seemed to be missing, replaced by massive circles inset to the walls. Standardized warning labels in four languages sat in the usual locations, over control panels that looked strangely familiar.

Murray checked himself. The controls were identical to the manuals on the sides of the weapons on other ships; these were the same, but larger. Much larger.

Correlation dawned on him, "Their capable of firing larger slugs." It came out more as a statement than a question.

The ensign gave a polite nod. "Correct, though that is merely half of the improvement. The other half is that the ship can fire larger slugs, at a higher velocity with only a moderate increase in recoil."

Murray nodded in comprehension. Ever since their inception, Mass Accelerators could propel a metal slug, using precisely-controlled electromagnetic attraction and propulsion, to great velocities but the recoil had always been the prime limiting factor. If this limitation had been worked around, then his ship was even more dangerous.

"Of course this does come with a slight setback." The ensign interrupted.

"And that would be?"

"Rate of fire." The ensign gave him a sheepish look. "While it's not too noticeable, the main guns are able to consistently fire once every five seconds, but that's to be expected considering. Thirty-kilogram slugs at four thousand klicks a second makes for fifty-four kilotons of firepower.

Murray felt a grim smile inch across his face as he realized the potential. Fifty-four kilotons was still less than a standard cruiser's capacity, but the moderate increase greatly put the odds of any fight in his favor. Especially when he could alternate between main guns, standard tactics, on any destroyer, to artificially increase the rate of fire. That meant his ship was no longer a destroyer, but a heavy destroyer; quite possibly the first of its class and type. Given the overwhelming advantages, Murray didn't mind the slight decrease in rate of fire. In waging battle, such a thing wouldn't be noticed outside of a prolonged fight.

"And that isn't all." The ensign flicked his wrist at a terminal, bringing up a holographic display of a rather unusual round. "This is the Mk. 2 round. Unlike most Mass Accelerators, which fire chips or pellets, these guns use serrated metal wedges. Good for armor penetration, and it really improves things for planet-based targets."

The captain raised his eyebrows. The upgrades he had seen thus far were very intelligent but this was trending into dangerous waters. "Is such a thing even legal?"

The ensign shrugged his shoulders. "Well we know it's not a hundred percent illegal."

Murray's brows rose on that piece of information. "That doesn't exactly make me feel any better."

"Well I doubt the Council could complain considering they've allowed a slaver nation to operate under their own flag. Besides on this operation you will need every advantage you can get."

Seeing his ship in a new light, Murray acknowledged that the Walsh was definitely packing a lot of offensive firepower. But he was curious to learn about the other upgrades. Ever since the war on Shanxi, continuous analysis of the engagements had been hotly debated. One thing, however, was clear: the use of missiles to overwhelm either the kinetic barriers or hull of the enemy ships proved highly effective. Council specialists had once theorized that in the age of space warfare, missiles would be relegated to a last ditch defensive role, since individual missiles lacked the necessary damage potential. But what theorists had failed to acknowledge was the simple fact that humanity never intended to just use a few hundred missiles, but rather employ them in swarms of thousands by whole flotillas in fleets to overwhelm the enemy.

"What about the secondary weapons? Were they upgraded as well?"

The ensign grinned. He definitely had more surprises in store for Murray. "Of course, Captain. Please, follow me to one of the missile pod A-Five."

Once again, the elevator collected the two men and disgorged them at one of the forward pods storing the heavy ordinance. Inside over a dozen technicians were securing missiles, locking them into heavily armored containers. The two began strolling among the men and women.

"Most of the missiles onboard are the standard kinetic rods that you North Americans are so fond of. We didn't want to leave you with nothing that was familiar to you or your crew." The ensign stopped by a blue-tipped missile, gesturing the technician aside for the moment. "This is the Mk. 4 ECM missile. It has no real offensive capabilities; instead it disrupts all electromagnetic sensors within a 50-km radius. The effect alters range, position, velocity calculations – and it generates thousands of ghost signatures to overwhelm enemy VI."

Murray was quick to see the obvious benefits of such a system. Nearly half of a kinetic rod salvo would be intercepted by GARDIAN lasers. Electronic warfare made things … different.

"That certainly is a game-changer. I could certainly use those. What else do you have?"

The ensign led him across the bay, this time to mostly gray-tipped missile with a blue fuselage. Murray instantly recognized them as disruptor torpedoes. What he also noticed was how the torpedoes were bolted together, each rounded cylinder as reflective as a mirror. The surfaces of the missiles were very clean and reflective as a mirror.

"This here is Mk. 68 advanced heavyweight torpedo, or as the Council races call them: Javelin missiles. For us, it's an experimental close assault weapon. This is another Council inspired piece of technology. Council races use these babies in place of actual missiles though. The difference here is ours don't have to be cold launched; each has its own propulsion system for faster target acquisition. They can also be fired on converging trajectories and detonate in a precisely timed sequence that allows the dark energy emitted by their warheads to resonate in a dis-harmonic field." The ensign took a deep breath after that extensive explanation.

"How do they compare against regular Disruptor Torpedoes?" Murray understood the basic concept of the weapon; they were considered standard load out for destroyers. It was possible these Javelin missiles had outright replaced the standard torpedoes, considering the ship wouldn't have enough space to carry the standard loadout, plus the modifications. Just by how the engines hummed, he could tell they were already stretching the carrying capacity.

"Well they are much more efficient, have more firepower, and with our antiproton thrusters are guaranteed to allow many more to reach the target. Of course, they cost more than a couple of hundred Disruptor Torpedoes so don't expect to see these in wide-scale production. Chances are you are the only one that will get to use these for this operation only. Once you expend these, UNAS may not even bother making more."

That was certainly true. A regular Alliance destroyer carried ninety torpedoes and often many didn't get to reach their target. Anything that required a long-range attack was usually followed by Kinetic Rods, Seeker Rockets, or Harpoon Missiles. Murray could see why the Citadel races would use these as a substitute for missiles as they did seem to get the job done, even if many more had to be fired. Yet, with the ECM missiles aboard, Murray could make extremely effective use of these Javelin missiles, keeping his Kinetic Rods in reserve. More importantly, he only needed to drain the kinetic barriers – kinetic rods have proven themselves to be quite effective against unshielded ships.

"How many do we have onboard?"

"For this operation, I got every single one we've made thus far. About eight hundred of them, but they aren't the biggest toy you have onboard. Please follow me." Once again, the ensign headed onward, and the two traversed to another missile. This particular missile was colored entirely red, and large; wider than Murray was tall. Most tellingly though was the familiar nuclear hazard sign on the missile.

"This little baby is one of the twenty Mk 23 Heavy Eraser Torpedoes on the Walsh. It packs an entire megaton warhead, but we managed to modify it to more … UNAS standards. It has a stealth system running cold enough to blend in with the background radiation. While slower than the high-yield thermobaric missiles, it makes up for that with raw power. It also features a biased tamper warhead design. The depleted uranium tamper is thinner on one side and is fitted on a concave tungsten tamper. When the torpedo is triggered, the biased tamper and exterior concave focuses both the radiation blast and plasma pressure forward."

Murray understood the principal design on the weapon. This focused blast at least partially alleviated the problem space-borne explosives: as distance increased, the luminosity decreased exponentially, making even the most powerful nukes impotent. While the focus blast design didn't necessarily solve the issue, it did extend the effective range of nuclear detonation.

"Very good. I can see these being incredibly useful. But what about defensive weapons?"

"Ah yes," the ensign shuffled his feet. "I'd like to show you to them personally, but … that would require a shuttlecraft, and I'm running a little short on time. So why don't we just go to the bridge and I'll show you there?"

"Of course."

Again, the two men entered the elevator. This time though Murray noticed that the lift seemed to be moving backwards.

"Um … we seem to be headed aft, ensign. Is there a problem?"

"Oh no. There was no mistake. The CIC is now in the center of the ship. We cleared out a cargo bay for the space."

"Ah." So now the bridge was in the center of the ship. While he could understand the practicality, Murray couldn't help but feel a little agitated. Every ship – until now – had its bridge at the bow of the ship. Admittedly, it was rather stupid to make the nerve center of the ship so exposed, but the view and romance of the stars was hard to ignore.

The lift finally opened. After a short walk, down a narrow – but very defensible – corridor, they arrived at the CIC. At once, the bridge crew dropped their current tasks and stood at attention.

"Captain on deck!" Lt. Aku announced.

"As you were." Murray responded. The crew turned back to their stations, save for the lieutenant. She looked pretty ragged with bags underneath her eyes. The last time Murray had seen someone like this was right before final exams back at the naval academy.

"Welcome aboard, Captain."

"Likewise, Lieutenant. The ensign here has been giving me a very informative tour of the ship. What do you think of the Walsh so far?"

"To be honest, I feel …" She took a deep breath before speaking again. "I feel like I'm back at the academy." She said as she tried to put wayward strands of hair back into their place. "These new modifications are a lot of homework. Don't get me wrong, I think they are absolutely worth it, but it's like I'm starting over on everything.

Murray tried to stifle a chuckle. Enjoying the crew's mental misery shouldn't be a visible thing. "Well I wish you a good night sleep after you're finished lieutenant. We'll need everyone at their best for the mission to come. In the meantime, I hope I won't be too much of a bother while I check out the ship's defensive systems.

Aku rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry, sir. What was the question?"

A pregnant pause hung in the air as the smile vanished from Murray's face as he eyed the lieutenant. "Got get some sleep," he said. "That's an order."

"B-but … I'm not finished with…"

"We can afford to lose you for eight or nine hours. Eagle Claw isn't set for another couple of days." Murray countered as he gently pushed her towards the door. By this point, the ensign had broken out into a laugh. Murray could only give him a disapproving glare, until the woman had dragged herself out. "You know, you remind me of an old professor of mine that enjoys torturing his students with excessive homework."

"Hehehehe. Well that is ironic considering its a vice I picked up from one of my own professors back at the academy. Well why don't we get back to business." The ensign moved to the main holographic display. It offered a wider view of all relevant information than the older screens, though there was a large backup monitor on the wall.

"The Walsh has three new defensive systems." The ensign began, bringing up a schematic of the ship. "The first layer involves avoiding getting hit in the first place." A close up of what looked like some of the protruding armored pods on the hull zoomed into view. "This is a ECM missile pod. They work in conjunction with the ship's sensors to disrupt enemy sensors and covers the ship in EM absorbing cloud. You can run this system while the ship is either hot or cold. During cold runs, you can mask the entire ship."

"You mean after I power just about every system first and find somewhere inconspicuous to hide?"

The ensign gave an irreverent snort. "That goes without saying. We did our best, but we're not miracle workers. Even we can't make a ship invisible. You can't hide out in the open, but you now have the option of hiding in the shadows. The batarians can bring entire fleet, but they can't hit what they can't lock onto. Within reason of course. They'll still be able to lock on to you if they or you get close enough."

Murray gave another whistle. This is certainly how they'll manage to pull off the operation. Not by fighting harder, but by fighting smarter. "I assume the ECM systems won't interfere with our own sensors?"

"Absolutely. We managed to install a newer IFF on your ship. The ECM systems will only interfere with ships that don't have it installed." The ensign changed the image to one of the exterior dual mounts. "The second layer deals with minimization. Should the first layer fail, the second is design to minimize the damage you'll receive. This is the Mk. 2 Ultraviolet GARDIAN laser system. We've replaced the ship's entire system with these bad boys."

Ultraviolet GARDIAN lasers? There were obvious benefits to these over the infrared version; an extended range six times that of the infrared models, for example. The new reactor certainly could provide more than enough power, but what worried him was reliability. While ultraviolet lasers certainly had higher performance specs, they were costlier to maintain.

"Lastly, the final layer of defense deals with absorption." The ensign brought up an image of another armored pod, though this immensely larger. "This is a prototype shipboard Cyclonic Barrier generator. It's the first of its kind. But don't be fooled, a sustained barrage will take it down quickly."

Understandable. No defensive systems were invincible to sustained fire. He shouldn't expect miracles, but by this point he could be forgiven the expectation. "How strong is it?"

"Well I could give you some numbers, but let's keep it simple. Enemy Disruptor Torpedoes, no problem. Swarm of Javelin missiles, not much so long as you soften them up with the GARDIAN lasers. A sustained barrage of Mass Accelerator fire, definitely will cause strain. Under no circumstance can you expect even this to completely protect you, but you do have one last advantage over regular kinetic barriers. With the improved reactors, this barrier will recharge faster."

"And I assume it will be used in conjunction with the angular armor? I guess that is the reason why the ship has had those sheets installed."

"Exactly, that and to reduce the electronic signature of the ship. No one in the fleet can dispute the advance electronics on the Walsh. Nonetheless, we reinforced the braces with sheets of titanium." This time, the holographic display showed a cross section of the ship's armor. There were multiple layers of composites. "This armor has layers of tungsten disulfide, carbon nano-tube weaves, and titanium sheathing that absorbs the kinetic energy of a Mass Accelerator."

It occurred to Murray the reason why the Walsh was selected for the mission was simply due to the already advanced nature of the ship, allowing the modifications to be installed fairly easily. With the increased armor, it wasn't an exaggeration to state that the Walsh could take a lot of punishment.

'Make sense. I doubt the UNAS would like that their most advanced ship be wrecked in the operation.' Murray thought as he looked around the bridge, noticing many of its new terminals and workstations.

"And that covers pretty much the combat essentials, though you will be happy to know the ship has had a new AI installed as well." The ensign checked his chronometer. "Unfortunately, you will have to become familiar with it at a later time because I am all out of mine. I am afraid this is where we part ways, Captain."

The two men shook hands before the ensign turned to leave, leaving Murray to admire his improved ship alone. He took a moment to look around once more before sitting down in the Captain's chair, noticing it too had been improved.

'Rich Corinthian leather, real nice.' Murray took time to really admire the unnecessary fit a lot better than the old one and gave him a good view of his crew and holographic display.

'Check one for captain's privileges.' He figured having some wouldn't be too much to ask, especially one commanding one of the most powerful ship in the UNAS fleet. He listened closely to the hum of its machinery and vibrations of its terminals. Each ship had its own unique characteristics and quirks, its own spirit that made it special.

"Well hello sweetheart. How are you feeling today?" Murray felt a little embarrassed talking to his ship out loud, but figured no one would mind.

The air itself seemed to fill with anticipation and he knew exactly why. The Walsh had never really proven itself in combat; its highly advanced nature making sure it was shelved for only the most critical of battles. Now not only was it going to see combat, but it was going to do so with some new teeth. It had the responsibility of being the vanguard for the attack force, carrying some of humanity's greatest heroes – and liked it.

'You certainly won't disappoint.'

"Oh, before I forget, you may have already realized this, but the UNAS naval command has officially reclassified the Clarence E. Walsh as a heavy destroyer." The ensign announced, doubling back through the door.

Most people would file that information in the back of their minds, but the captain was a learned man in regards to naval history, which was an expectation if one truly wanted to command a vessel of his or her own.

Destroyers were the greyhounds of the sea when first introduced after the emergence of the self propelled torpedo in the 1860s. In naval terminology, a destroyer was defined to be: a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet or battlegroup, defending them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. They were originally developed in the late 19th century as a defence against torpedo boats and by the time of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904, these torpedo boat destroyers were large, swift, and powerfully armed torpedo boats designed to destroy other torpedo boats.

By the First World War they were largely known as 'destroyers'. Soon, it was realized that destroyers could take over the role of torpedo boats themselves, so they became fitted with torpedo tubes of their own, as well as guns. At first their role was simply to protect and escort their own battle fleets, but competence extended that role into screening the advance of the fleet, searching hostile coasts, harassing the enemy, to finally attacking the enemy fleet itself.

Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels with little endurance for unattended ocean operations. Given their small size, lack of firepower, and position as the forward vanguard, casualties among the destroyers were among the highest. After the war, the advent of guided missiles allowed destroyers to take on surface combat roles previously filled by battleships and cruisers. This resulted in larger and more powerful guided missiles destroyers capable of independent operation. When the Alliance took to the stars, they seized upon the lessons crafted in the battles of the ocean, relegating the destroyer to the same roles but this time operating them in packs.

In this case, the comparsion was rather apt as the Clarence E. Walsh would be operating alone behind enemy lines. If everything went as planned, victory would be achieved without the Walsh having to fire a single shot.

"Good thing we have plenty of lessons to learn from the past."

"I see you are familiar with their history. I should also let you know given the mass amount of the space the improvements have taken up and the rest being occupied by crew, the UNAS naval command has authorized the UNASS Indepence and Freedom stealth frigates to accompany you on your mission. They'll take responsibility of any freed slaves as well as provide mediacal assistance."

'Ah, wolf pack tactics.' Murray altered his thinking slightly. Additional forces would relieve some of the stress, but not the anxiety.

Torfan

Criminal Moon Base

Edge of Attican Traverse

One could reasonably argue that Torfan was the safest, quietest, and therefore most lucrative base to conduct illicit business. It had long since been used as a safe haven for criminals, terrorists, and pirates operating in the nearby systems. The only traffic to and from the moon were fellow degenerates, looking to do business on site. It wasn't the best looking area for trade, but it was willing to do business without questions asked. Since it bordered the Terminus Systems, the Council never dared to send a task force to eliminate the stronghold, fearing reprisal. A large fleet would turn the Terminus into a hotbed of violence, while a small one would be vulnerable – rendering Torfan perfectly positioned for the role it had chosen.

If anyone actually dared to attack the moon, the anti-ship Mass Accelerator Cannons would wreak havoc on invading forces. There was a battalion always on the surface, scanning for enemy threats. Should the worse occur and the ground-based cannons be taken out, the pirates could always hunker down in the deep bunkers to avoid orbital fire. Should an enemy desire to evict the forces from the moon, they will have to venture down into the fortified underground strongholds, lined with barricades, weapon placements, and sentries and root the forces out from within. Minimal pay off, and the promise of massive casualties gave more reasons why the moon had remained relatively undisturbed.

The sense of serenity, however, helped hide the activity occurring on the moon in more recent history. This was mostly due to being occupied by batarian criminals, but the serenity shifted at the arrival of another species which wasn't local by any means. These unfortunate souls were humans, a newly acquired race brought by the infamous Admiral Ban just two months prior.

Some forty thousand former batarian military soldiers lived and worked within the moon. Their true purpose was to protect the merchandise, while the management sold its exclusive merchandise to those interested. Normally the profits would be split between the Hegemony and the slavers evenly, but after the diplomatic blowback suffered, the Hegemony allowed the slavers to three-fourths of the profits gained, provided they repaired Ban's fleet and transferred some of its best naval officers to fill the losses suffered. While such personnel were a significant loss, the base had little use for fleet officers. The majority of the security force consisted of troopers, excelling in ground combat – Hegemony fleets had an 'understanding' in regard to deep-space security.

Now, the criminals own interest was to line their coffers with the credits earned from the newest transactions. All in all, a very generous offer.

The leader of the entire criminal enterprise was a shrewd, business oriented thirty-something year old batarian named Solem Dal'Serah. Dal'Serah had once been a top intelligence operative for the Hegemony; much of his time had been spent operating outside of batarian space before pursuing more lucrative endeavors. In his role, he ran a large group of agents in the Traverse as well as around the Terminus Systems. It was his power and influence that gave the Hegemony reason to relieve themselves of their problem at his profit. It was also his connections that provided business partners, and access to the black market for the slaves finally available for sale.

Dal'Serah organized the men under him well; former members of the Hegemony military as well as current slavers and pirates, in a fashion much like a legal corporation. A marketing department found clients for the slaves, while a shipping and logistical department transported the slaves to the end buyers, and a material procurement department that handled transactions using valuable minerals, weapons, and soldiers for payment. He also had a robust corporate security office – stuffed with the luxuries expected of his position. While all the men working for him had military training, a single battalion was dedicated to security. These would be the first responders, in case anyone decided to arrive uninvited.

Due to his position of power, Solem Dal'Serah had many enemies, and as such, his organization was always under attack by overconfident pirates thinking they could make an easy raid on the moon. As a result, he and his security were always on guard. Every individual attached to the moon lived on it, turning much of the underground caverns into apartments, ammo depots, mess halls, and anything a virtual fortress needed to function independently.

While Dal'Serah and his men had great success selling slaves and other illegal materials, their highest priced item were the human slaves. They had already sold some humans in small quantities to several groups around the Traverse and Terminus Systems. On today's agenda, however, they would be meeting with two men who had traveled to Torfan from Zak'kon – senior leadership from the colony. Individuals from Zak'kon were usually some of the biggest players in the illicit trade, thanks to their deep pockets and benefactors from the Hegemony government.

Information from Dal'Serah's sales department's preliminary meetings gave hope that today's meetings with these principals from Zak'kon would prove fruitful. The secure nature of the moon meant that all meetings were conducted on-site. Today's meeting was to be held in a private room within the strong-hold. Four of Dal'Serah's security men had gone in early to make sure all accommodations were to stellar standards; after all he would hate to disappoint his guests.

Normally Dal'Serah would arrive slightly late to his sales meetings as if he did not care. It was a subtle way of showing dominance, since majority of his customers were the scum of society accustomed to inconveniences. An hour or two of sitting in a bunker, drinking the local brew was hardly a real annoyance for anyone living in the hostile environment of the Traverse or Terminus. But today's respective buyers were affluent business men, looking for a major transaction, and preliminary meetings with other members of his organization had shown Dal'Serah how serious these batarians were about striking a deal.

For this reason, Dal'Serah would not keep them waiting. He would arrive early, to demonstrate respect. The Zak'kon batarians were in the market for abled bodied slaves capable of doing extraneous work and he had just the right species in mind, quite possibly the most expensive items in the catalogue.

Between himself and his staff, Dal'Serah hoped to sell as many as two thousand human slaves, and had even arranged for that number ready for shipping via a refurbished freighter to the colony in advance of the meeting. At 450,000 credits each, a sale of this magnitude would garner his operation nine hundred million credits, and pave the future for more sales to Zak'kon.

Shortly before mid-day, a small dropship pulled in front of one of the moon's spaceports, landing on a landing pad. Two batarians climbed out of the vehicle before the pilot wandered off to pull security duty. The batarians were watched by no less than a dozen set of eyes from many angles, all belonging to trained killers. The guests were both rather young, but dressed professionally, indicating membership in higher levels of the caste system. Despite having supervising roles, broad shoulders and a lack of fat indicated fit and healthy individuals.

They walked up to the front gates, stepping inside as it opened. Inside the foyer, the two batarians from Zak'kon were met with smiles by four batarians in business suits. Dal'Serah and three of his armed guards then greeted their prospective clients with customary handshakes and gestures of blessings, followed by an exceedingly polite but thorough search for weapons or listening devices. Within moments they were taken into an extravagant room, where tea was poured for Dal'Serah and his guests while the guards spread into the corners of the room.

Dal'Serah sat on a sofa across from the two batarians, who had seated themselves in armchairs. The shorter of the two young batarians said, "We were informed to call you Dam'Solem."

Dal'Serah nodded with a smile, cheerful in anonymity. "That is correct. And I am told you are Cratin. Interesting choice for a name."

Cratin only said, "And this is my superior. You may call him Harom."

Dal'Serah turned to Harom and said, "I look forward to doing business with you, my friend."

The other man nodded, indicating he understood, but did not speak.

"Will you remain silent, friend?"

Harom did not answer, instead his colleague answered for him. "You can verbally communicate with me directly."

Dal'Serah nodded politely, smiling the entire time. "Very well then. How may I help you?"

He was not fazed in the least that one of the men would remain silent for the meeting. Dal'Serah had dealt with men like this for a quarter century, and a necessary part of dealing with terrorists, pirates, and slavers was the odd organizational structures, and their often overly dramatic personalities.

Cratin began explaining a need for many able bodied slaves capable of performing a range of tasks from general labor to more advanced duties. He hoped that they could begin a long business relationship with this organization located here in Torfan.

For his part, Dal'Serah just stared at the silent batarian while Cratin spoke. After a moment's more consideration, Dal'Serah called out to men in the next room. Within seconds two men entered, dressed in business attire, but instead of brief cases they dragged a chain holding a human slave prisoner. It stood at over five feet, but held quite an athletic build.

Dal'Serah said, "I give you one of our most prized possessions ever acquired. A homo sapiens slave or human servant."

Harom appeared to know about the human slaves, but seemed interested in letting Dal'Serah make his sales pitch.

"On average, they stand on five feet and ten inches and weigh about two hundred pounds. They are the newest sentient species of notable size to enter the galactic stage. Humans have a fairly robust physiology. Their internal makeup and reproductive processes are typical of most bipedal mammals, and their size and proportions give the appearance of being strong, fast and agile. In comparison to the Council races, humans are roughly physically on par with turians, but less agile than asari. The biggest difference would be the intelligence disparity between them and the salarians."

The Zak'kon batarians knelt near the slave and scanned his body as if he were mere livestock. After spending a minute inspecting the slave, the two Zak'kon natives sat back down in their chairs and faced Dal'Serah. The latter batarian could see that the mood had lightened perceptibly. These gentlemen were, at the end of the day, mere clients.

"So," he said. "Do you have any questions I can answer?"

The one called Harom said, "I will instead like to purchase a substantial sum of slaves from you."

Dal'Serah smiled, he had caught the fish by the hook. "That is great to hear. How many will you be interested in purchasing?"

"Six thousand, if you have them."

"Six thousand?" Dal'Serah said in disbelief. That was three times the number he had hoped for.

The batarian named Cratin gave a nod. "We will pay five hundred thousand credits for each."

Dal'Serah cocked his head, trying to read the batarian in front of him across the table. Finally, he softly said, "You are serious?"

Harom leaned forward. "Continent that the slaves provided are indeed useful for our operations."

Dal'Serah said, as much to himself as to his customers, "Three billion credits." That was half the cost of an entire Hegemony cruiser. Smiling like a madman, Dal'Serah shook hands with the batarian representatives. "Gentlemen, I believe this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." For a chance at three billion credits, he was willing to move mountains.

A/N: Here is the next chapter, completed about two weeks since the latest updates. Thank god for the extra time I have in the summer. Also, I have good news, more for me personally, I've just received my Associates in General Arts on June 23rd 2017 and have just now completed my requirements for my Associates in Science, so two degrees in one stroke. In other news, I've just acquired a XI computer labtop work station at nearly three thousand dollars for my future courses at my local university. It will help me with engineering design and drawing. Plus, I get to work on the story on my brand-new laptop.

Also, if you have not done so, feel free to check out one my fellow readers own story: Mass Effect: The Iron Heart of Man by Apollonir. The detail in regards to the story is very similar to that of my partner and I. The only big difference is the timeline is pushed up a little, just in case that gives you some confusion as it did initially for me. Also, Apollonir if you are seeing this I expect a review in compensation for the free publicity.

Trivia:

1. Murray's new chair is a reference to Deadpool, my god I love that movie, where our favorite anti-hero compliments the rich Corinthian leather as his face is pressed against it.

2. The ship of Murray's ship Clarence E. Walsh is a reference to Splinter Cell Chaos Theory where said ship is deployed to the South China sea, I believe, to help with diffusing the tension in the area. Fun fact both ships are considered highly advanced as well.

3. The frigates accompanying Murray is a reference to the newly commissioned littoral combat ships in the U.S navy: the USS Independence and the USS Freedom.

4. This is the first time we get to see the navy of a member state of the Alliance and see them about to operate on their own.

5. Solem Dal'Serah is a reference to the future 'leader' of the Blue Suns in canon. Here we get to see his first employment before it goes up in flames.

6. The chapter detailing the upgrades on Murray's ship was heavily inspired by Havoc-legionnaire's Halo Art of War. So be sure to either praise him or go and take a look at his amazing story. If you love this one, chances are you will also quite enjoy this one as well.

7. Dal'Serah's quote "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," is indeed a reference to the famous quote in Casablanca.