With a low whine of powering circuits, the single yellow eye slowly blazed to life. Crimson groaned, blearily looking around as his systems grudgingly rebooted. He was in the burned out bedroom in their apartment. But that didn't seem right for some reason. The last thing he remembered was hunting down Titanus and then...

Crimson stiffened, vents stalling as the last few moments of his memory came rushing back. The Krogan's grin, the Carnage shot and then... floating in... wherever, or whatever, that place was. Then the creatures. Kajiu; there was nothing else they could be.

But then what was he doing back here? They would have destroyed him for sure.

So why didn't they?

Looks like you'll be here a while.

The words of the creature rang in his head, sending a shiver down his struts. So some time had passed since he had... died. Again. But again, why was he back here?

He crossed his arms, mulling over the implications. Suddenly something occurred to him.

Gipsy.

Was that where she had gone? She never talked about it, and maybe that was the reason. Goodness knows he was having a hard enough time wrapping his head around Kaiju heaven, if that's what it was. But that brought up a thousand new questions, none of which he could answer.

Sighing, Crimson got off the bed, noticing for the first time his incredible sense of well being. He felt like he could take on a whole army and not break a sweat.

Technically that was true.

The door to the main room opened as he approached, revealing one of the strangest sights he'd seen so far.

Gipsy and Striker sat on the broken couch, sleeping soundly, if the purr of their systems was any indication. But what took him by surprise was how the two Jaegers leaned into each other, with Gipsy's arm wrapped around Striker's shoulders in a hug as their heads pressed together.

Crimson blinked, then a smile slowly crossed his visor. The couple looked rather... cute together. Well, as cute as two war machines of death and destruction could be.

Without thinking he raised his omni-tool and snapped a quick picture. He wasn't a sadist by any means, but that didn't mean he'd let them forget this either. Besides, it would be nice to have something to hang over Striker's head when he got unbearable.

Taking the thought one step further, he saved no less than a dozen photos of the couple at different angles. But as he moved in to take one last close up, the unthinkable happened.

He tripped.

With a startled yelp he flew into the couples lap with a mighty clang of colliding steel that sounded a lot like the opening notes of the Kaiju alarm back at the Shatterdome.

To their credit, Gipsy and Striker reacted appropriately.

"Battle stations!" Crimson heard Gipsy scream before he was sent flying across the room as the two jumped their feet.

"I see it!"

Crimson could only blink once in confusion before two meteorites of vengeful steel jumped on top of him, yanking him up and pinning him against the wall. The last thing he remembered after that was a blue fist heading straight for his eye.

-Linebreak-

"I'm sorry," Gipsy whimpered, wringing her hands.

Crimson glared at her from the couch, massaging the dozens of new dents on his chassis.

"I just heard the alarm and panicked," she continued weakly. "And you kind of looked like a Kajiu, all red... and big... so I... sorry?"

He blinked irritably, then turned his half murderous gaze to Striker, who shrugged. "I regret nothing, wanker."

"He meant he's sorry," Gipsy pipped up quickly.

"Fuck off."

"I suppose that's as good as I'm going to get," Crimson muttered. "Still, did you have to try to kill me?"

"Says the fucker who scared Gipsy shitless. Seriously, wha'd you expect?"

"He scared you too," Gipsy pointed out.

"Again, fuck off."

"That's not important," Crimson said, getting up. "I can care less about who scared who, but you two almost killed me! Again!"

Striker shrugged. "Not our fault. Blame that bitch Titanus. We slotted the bastard by the way."

"But would it have killed you to check who it was before pummelling my face in?!"

"Sorry," Gipsy whimpered, wringing her hands again. "I panicked."

"And I forgive you," Crimson nodded to her before pointed to Striker. "You on the other hand!"

"Ah, fuck you too."

Crimson growled irritably. The only thing stopping him from wringing the Australians neck, besides his self control, was the Jaeger's potential embarrassment at the pictures he had taken. But that could wait for another day.

"Lets just move on," he groaned, looking about the apartment. "Where is Cherno? There's something we need to talk about."

Gipsy shrugged. "Ah, well... he kind of snapped when you didn't come back and just walked out."

"And when was that?"

She looked at her omni-tool. "About ten hours ago."

"Ten hours? How long was I gone?"

"About nineteen, I think? What do you think Striker?"

Striker gave her a look. "Does it look like I care? He's back now, big fucking deal."

"It wasn't-"

She was cut off as the front door suddenly opened and Cherno Alpha stomped in. He was covered in blood and dozens of new dents and scratches covered his plating. Most worrying of all was the bluish gas that leaked from a deep rent in his reactor tower. But if the Russian noticed his injuries he didn't show it. A low rumble of anger came from his insides, one that could scare off a Thrasher Maw.

Jaegers on the other hand.

"Cherno?! What happened to you?" Crimson cried, rushing forward to look at the rent.

The Russian stopped dead in his tracks, taking in the sight of his crimson companion, alive and whole. A questioning whimper worked its way out of his system.

"Yes, I'm alive," Crimson said. "But what happen-"

He cried out as two olive green arms wrapped around his waist and crushed him in a bear hug that only a true Russian Jaeger could give. The sound of Crimson's hull creaking was muffled by Cherno's happy cooing.

"Yes!... I'm happy to be alive too," Crimson gasped out as he was slowly crushed. "Just... please don't kill again by accident. Please! My waist isn't supposed to be this narrow!"

It took a minute to pry the unfortunate Jaeger from the happy Russian, but when he was released, Crimson still demanded to know where Cherno had been. He had only chuckled and told them of how he had single-handedly demolished an army of Maws. All of Omega knew of his deeds by now, a fact he was especially proud of. But then the talk had turned to Crimson and what he had experienced in 'the fucking afterlife' as Striker called it. He told them everything, laid down a few theories, gave his own opinions, then sat back on the couch and waited.

The three others stared at him blankly, trying to absorb the technical jargon they were just exposed to.

Finally.

"That's fucking retarded."

Cherno crossed his arms and growled at Striker.

"You tell me if it makes any damn sense! Why the fucking hell would fucking Kajiu bring us back from the fucking dead?!"

Cherno thought about it for a moment then rumbled with a shrug.

"Fuck you! I'll swear as much as I want."

"Do you have any better theories then? Because I would just love to hear them," Crimson demanded, crossing him arms. Or rather, just two of them. The third couldn't find a comfortable place to fit in and instead just scratched his chin as Striker bristled and sputtered. But he could come up with nothing halfway intelligent to counter Crimson's statement. "Exactly. So, as it stand, we know that the Kajiu brought us here. We don't know how or why, but here we are. So, any ideas?"

"To get them out."

It was barely a whisper, but all three turned to Gipsy who looked like she wanted nothing more than the floor to swallow her up under their inquisitive gazes.

"And how would you know that?" Crimson asked slowly.

"Um... they told me," she said miserably, wringing her hands. "Just before I came back... they told me."

They blinked dumbly at her, then Striker exploded. "Then why the fuck didn't you tell us earlier?!"

"Its not the easiest thing to talk about, alright!"

"Both of you calm down," Crimson interrupted, jumping between the two before fists were brought into play. "Just calm down and we can talk about this like the civil beings that we are."

Cherno snorted.

"You be quiet. Now Gipsy, what did they say to you. All they told me was that I'd be there a while."

The female Jaeger shifted on her feet, wringing her hands again and looked down to the ground. "Well... they said... we escaped, or something. Don't know what that meant. But they also said that we're their ticket out. That we can somehow open a breach... and that's it."

A stunned silence stretched between them. Then Cherno let out a low, angry rumble.

"I don't think that matters now," Crimson said quietly. "Either way, we can all agree that, even if we could, we won't help them escape. We all saw what they did to earth, and I won't let that happen here. We won't let that happen, right?"

The three all nodded firmly.

"So... what do we do then?" Gipsy asked.

Crimson shrugged. "We live, I guess. What else can we do? They may have dropped us here, but I'm certainly not going to play their game. They can rot in hell for all I care."

"Good fucking riddance."

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Now, what do you say we liberate this station, huh? There are still Maws about, unless Cherno got them all."

Dark chuckles and cracking knuckles was his reply as the Jaegers once again prepared for war against the falling Krogan empire.

-Linebreak-

The shuttle door opened onto a blasted wasteland, filled with the skeletons of old ships, left to rust on the planetary junkyard of Korlus. Xran breathed in deeply, taking in the smells.

Home. His birthplace.

Oh how he hated it.

He jumped out of the shuttle and went to meet the single Krogan who emerged from the tangled wreckage around the landing platform. A G1-T was tattooed on his headplate.

They exchanged a quick greeting, then together headed deeper into the wreckage toward the literal birthing place of the Rising Maws. When they reached the facility they were met by a dozen more Krogan Templates, all armed to the teeth. Xran nodded in greeting then entered, the others falling into step behind him.

Bodies filled the rooms he passed. Failed experiments or guards who didn't agree with their mission. But Xran ignored them all, pushing on to the last room on the top floor. At the door he readied his shotgun, then hit the controls and stomped inside.

On the other side of the room next to a single bio-tank stood the mad Krogan Doctor Okeer himself. He was hunched over a terminal, typing furiously. He didn't seem to notice them at all.

"Okeer," Xran growled, stepping forward.

The Doctor paused in his typing, but didn't even glace their way. "I knew this day would come," he said quietly, resuming his work. "You were always jealous of your higher brothers."

"Jealousy had nothing to do with it," Xran said as the others filled in after him, pointing their weapons at the mad doctor.

"Oh, but it is," Okeer laughed. "You just couldn't bear the fact that I came up with something better." He reached out and lovingly rested a hand on the tank. A single Krogan floated inside, large for someone so young. "This is our future. Our species perfected. Even the Genophage couldn't stop the Maws and now it can't stop this. This Krogan... this Grunt, perfect in every way."

"You're insane."

"It is our legacy!" he screamed, whirling around to face Xran, uncaring of the guns pointed at him. "This is only the beginning! A new generation of Maws will rise under us with his genes leading the way. All these rejects I've made pale before him. You, all of you, are nothing before him! He is Krogan perfected, the ultimate blow dealt to the Genophage, for even it couldn't stop me!"

Xran blinked at his monolog, then leaned over to one of his companions. "Has he been hitting the red sand?" he whispered.

The Krogan shrugged. "Dunno. He wasn't like this yesterday."

Xran nodded and stepped forward, cutting off the mad tirade. "Okeer! We have all made our choice. The Rising Maws are Finished, the invasion of Omega has failed and your leaders are dead. Now we declare our allegiance to the true Krogan race that you have abandoned. We won't let tank rejects rule our proud species. But you? You're the biggest threat to them so far. You've made the vast armies, and you could do it again."

His shotgun levelled at Okeer's chest. "So tell me, are you for your race or against it?"

Okeer bristled, drawing himself up to his full height. "Your true Krogan crawl in the dirt like animals! My legacy will-"

The shotgun fired, blowing a hole clean through his body. Okeer shuddered once, struggling to get his last words out, then collapsed to the floor, dead.

"And that," Xran said, going over and nudging the body with a toe, "is how you save a species." He pointed at the others. "Get on the shuttle. We have a lot of work to do."

"What about him?" one of the Krogan asked, pointing to the one in the tank.

Xran scowled at the perfect creature inside. "Leave it. If this thing was Okeer's legacy then it will die along with him."

And so they left the damned planet, leaving the lone perfect Krogan to die.

And Crimson is back. Yay!

To be quiet honest, out of both TJ and CR... I think this is my best written chapter so far. Everything flows smoothly, characters are on point, nothing unnecessary save a few barbs, to the point without dragging on... maybe a little rushed? But hey, what can you do?. But overall, I'm proud of it. It feels professional. I really hope I can make this the standard in the future.

But yes they will be meeting Commander Ros- I mean, Commander Shepard very soon. Just one more thing needs to be set in motion. Something involving a three headed dog.

And Shepard? Oh boy, prepare yourselves because he will be... awsome.