A/N:

Garrus, Aria, and Mordin. Also Council Lulz, and Sparatus ascends to Greater Power of Trolls.

The section with Aria and Aethyta ... well, I am sure there will be raeg. That's what it's there for.

Thanks to the Editing Gang for their usual bang-up job, and to several of them for pointing out much needed clarifications. They are the real heroes of this work.


'Cerberus not expected environment. Low tolerances for failure, excuses, bad puns. Also subpar access to exotic foods. Other than, conditions excellent. Except for ... crazy associates.'

- Doctor Mordin Solus, recollections and notes, passed onto T'veah Solus.


"Easy, Garrus. Just... ease back. Let me get this shoulder piece off."

Garrus hissed as Melenis slowly began removing the SKYTALON armor, spurs tightening and fringe retracting in pain as she pulled the damaged shoulder section away. He managed not to cry out when part of his melted plating was pulled away with it, and sighed in relief a moment later when she injected him with a pain-killer.

"Guh... thanks." He hung his head, images flashing before his eyes.

The heat had turned up on Omega over the past week, the gangs finally beginning to seriously work together to try to oppose him. The situation was too dangerous now for most anyone but him to act directly – Erash had been detected by some Blue Suns on the last mission, ended up taking fragmentation grenades to the position he was in and barely getting out alive.

It was a sheer miracle Erash was able to escape and lead them to a sewage section where his blood trail washed away, but swimming through sewage had given him a life-threatening series of infections. He'd lost consciousness and was burning with fevers.

With Mordin Solus off station, and no other doctor they truly trusted, it was looking like he might not make it. Melanis was doing her best, but she was not a real doctor, and Ripper was out of options.

That was only the first of many things going south.

Butler and Weaver had been hurt badly in trying to setup a remote data pickup, routed by Blue Suns snipers. Angel had nearly been killed by a Blood Pack ambush, and Ripper's lab – until now, never connected to them – was under constant watch by Aria's people now, keeping him from meeting up with them. That meant Vortash's cybernetics were unable to be repaired, and he'd been forced to remain at the base.

Archangel's attempt at taking out Tarek had blown up in his face, resulting in Garrus having to battle his way across half the station to evade a very competent group of Blood Pack trackers working with Blue Suns techno-scouts. Eclipse sisters, using biotic jumps, had managed to get up on the catwalks of the manufacturing district and engage him there, while Blood Pack gunners shot ion bombards at him.

They'd been unable to take down any of the leaders, and already faint rumors were starting that Archangel's days were numbered. The gangs' numbers were being swollen by the fragments of other gangs and groups shattered by Archangel, and driving him off for the first time with no heavy losses had boosted their morale.

Today, though... today, things had blown themselves to the Ashes.

He didn't speak as Melenis continued to remove his blood-spattered armor. The words of his father, of his military CO, of his instructors echoed around his head.

The calm, tired voice of Pallin. "Your disregard for what you see as 'useless red tape' is going to end up with you getting an innocent person killed sooner or later, and you aren't going to like how that feels."

The clipped, concerned tones of his partner Forlan. "Garrus... you are too quick to anger. You react, sometimes without thinking of costs or consequences. I know Pallin seems like a bitter old cloaca lost in a world of doing things by the book to you. But sometimes, you have to do it the right way."

The hard, cool voice of Shepard, the blue eyes meeting his almost in despairing hardness. "Vengeance is satisfying. Doing things the quick way is satisfying. Blowing the no-good fucks away is satisfying. But it never stops them. You kill this one guy, and this one guy, and this one guy, and sooner or later someone innocent gets caught up in the fallout. You can get things done that way, by ignoring the red-tape. But the costs come back to haunt you just as much."

He gave a hollow, short laugh, and Melenis, working on the leg plates, frowned. "Garrus?"

He shook his head. "...nothing, Mel. Just... spirits." He let his head hang, mandibles loose for a long second. "I've become... something I didn't want to be."

She carefully lifted the last leg plate away and knelt directly in front of him, eyes gentle. "You mean the apartment tower."

He nodded. "I thought I had Tarek. I really did. Montague warned me – twice – that the explosives were powerful and going to cause collateral damage. I thought I was...I thought I'd set the trap up correctly. I was so confident I could take him – "

Melenis grabbed his hand, squeezing. "Garrus. You did what you thought was best. Taking out Tarek and Relli's Kiss at once was an opportunity too good to let fall by the tides. They've hurt and killed thousands."

Garrus sighed. "I know. But..." He closed his eyes, the images of the collapsing apartment tower flashing across his memory again. "I didn't kill them. I killed some flunkies...and sixty-eight innocent people. Eleven children!"

He trembled, hands shaking, voice flanging in ragged mismatch. "I was warned over and over that doing things my way, the quick way, would backfire. I always tried to be careful. Made sure no one else ever got hurt. But I let my anger get away from me."

Melenis gently lifted his chin. "No one is perfect. Do you think Angel never made mistakes? Do you think Krul has no regrets? Or Butler? Or I?" She sighed. "The deaths of the innocent are never something we should take lightly. The main problem I have with the stance of Sidonis is his belief that it is okay to kill ten innocents to save eleven others. But we do not live in a perfect world, or even a sane one."

She smiled sadly. "We live in y'hathaiel, that time between despair and death."

Garrus looked up. "And that excuses me incinerating sixty-eight people? How am I any better than a sirefucking gangbanger with that kind of excuse – that Omega is vile, so vile things happen?"

The anger in his voice did not drive her away, instead she answered with firmness and some heat of her own. "Fishbits! Garrus, you should already know the answer: when did any of the gangers have remorse over who they killed, accidentally or on purpose? They don't torture themselves over it. They don't cry out in their soul. They think the shit is funny."

He stood slowly, shaking his head. "And? It doesn't change what I've done."

Mel stepped back. "It doesn't change it. It does mean it is a completely different situation! I don't want any innocents to die! But even I, who have rejected violence myself, am not naive enough to think we can change Omega without there being costs we don't want to pay. Goddess, Garrus – people can walk the streets again! You don't have salarians being sold as cold cuts in the goddess-damned market!"

She got up in his face as best she could, given her shorter stature. "I don't understand you, Garrus. You're willing to commit atrocity after atrocity on those who are evil. Burn them alive. Pull them apart a limb at a time while they beg for mercy. A lot of them weren't murderers, they were associated with evil beings – but with no other options."

She gestured to the armor, now sitting on the floor, still needing cleaning. "That suit isn't Archangel. You are. If you're willing to act like a bloodthirsty lunatic to inspire fear, then you have to face the obvious consequences." She folded her arms.

"All they have to do to stop you is start using hostages. Wire up some little kids, set them to blow if you hit their operations. Like the Talons used to do. You didn't blame yourself for those deaths, why these?"

Garrus rounded on her. "The Talons killed those people. I avenged them. But tonight I made a mistake! I blew them to the Ashes with my own fucking hands! I could have waited – I could have found a better location, but I wanted Tarek dead in a way to mock him, and innocents paid the price." He stepped back. "It's not about... "

He broke off, and whirled, walking out of the room. Melenis almost went after him, then just hung her head, and began gathering up the armor to clean in the ultrasonic sink. Her features were set in a mask of despair and pain, as she wiped away angry tears, scrubbing almost without direction.

She had lifted the second armor piece to clean when she heard the heavy footfalls, and turned to see Krul, dressed as usual in layers of clothing. "Hey."

The krogan female leaned against the wall, her dark gray skin lined with intricate tattoos. "Another blow up with your would-be mate?"

Melenis found herself flushing hotly. "He isn't... he doesn't..." She sighed. "His only love is his dead wife." Her voice was bitter, and Krul chuckled.

"Pettiness, Melenis? Doesn't suit you." The big krogan came into the room fully, glancing over the armor neatly piled and ready for cleaning. "Then again, neither does subtlety. You've gone everything but strip naked for him and he continues to not respond. Does this not tell you something?"

Melenis ran the sonic wand almost savagely across the chest plate. "That he isolates himself on purpose? Why? So he can let himself stew in regrets? Goddess, I have done things in my past that would probably make him want to kill me, but I changed who I am. He's an intragalactic hero. He helped stop Saren and Benezia. He came here to save his friend, and even after losing everything he fights to save the innocent – and he is WINNING!"

She screamed the last word, hurling the armor down to whirl and face Krul. "And now he is going to be broken and destroyed over a mistake! Over a pack of people living in an upscale tower who were probably never 'innocent' to begin with! Gandu is full of parasites who made it rich off the blood of people in Vefu and the Lowers."

Krul nodded. "Perhaps. Darkness is in all of us. My people believe it is not whether you give into such darkness that matters, it is that you only do so when you must. He has not learned such a lesson – and does not want to. He wants to die, Melenis."

The asari slumped. "Why?"

Krul shifted her position. "...when I was young, I mistakenly thought I was destined to never bear live young. It turns out I was wrong, but at the time I felt the Genophage made me worthless. Many females give up hope on learning such a thing – some wander into the wastes to die. Others take up whatever useful work they can, trying to find a new purpose. Still others take up philosophy and trying to make the krogan a better people."

She smiled. "I, on the other hand, felt... free. I had no duty, no reason to care. The fate of my people did not rest on my hump. I had failed... and in failure, found victory. Later, when I found I was not infertile, my freedom became chains – and then it resulted in the events that drove me from my own home, my people. I was – ironically, because of my fertility – worthless. That insight has lead me here, to do something productive to those who still have hope – to aid those who cannot aid themselves, or free themselves."

She gestured towards the passageway. "Garrus, I think, once felt free when he was carving his own path. He is like no other turian I have met, and he does not accept the turian central truth – that the few are nothing to the many. He envisions crushing the unjust and evil, and then going off to do battle with the Broker in vengeance and wrath." Her smile widened. "Krogan would approve."

Melenis huffed. "You said he wanted to die. What does all of that have to do with dying?"

Krul's smile faltered. "He seeks out these goals because he feels he has nothing to live for. He has nothing to lose. Nothing else can hurt him. He wants to redeem himself and prove he was 'right', in some argument with someone from his past he has never spoken of. And yet, without his wife, he feels as if the argument – and any 'victory' – is ultimately pointless. He cannot see himself as a protector any longer, because he failed to protect that most valuable. So instead he became an avenger."

Krul shook her head. "Only to find out that he is a very poor avenger, as he still longs to protect and is horrified now that he had slain the innocent."

The krogan glanced up at Melenis. "Ultimately, Mel – Garrus will drive himself to a position where he can do nothing but die – and take those such as Tarek with him in said death. He has already given up on finding the Broker, I think. Angel's continued attempts at trying to talk him out of such may have worked, but as I warned Angel, doing so probably made him more unstable."

Melenis clenched her fists. "...there has to be something we can do."

Krul was silent several seconds, then nodded slowly. "Let me say this. You do not understand why he rejects you. It has nothing to do with his wife, or her death. It has everything to do with him...and you. Until you understand why he does not accept you, you cannot change him or reach him."

Melenis' face twisted with frustration. "Then tell me!"

Krul's answering smile was ghastly. "Do you really want to know? The answer will ruin you. I think Angel already knows the truth."

Melenis scowled. "I have handled hard truths in life before."

Krul laughed softly. "Very well. The noose is closing around us. There are strange new hunters and gangs in the Black Walk, and literally dozens of bounty hunters. Aria has coyly hinted that she is displeased with Archangel. We cannot strike at will any longer, and without Solus' clinic we have no place to take our wounded. With Erash down our hacking is weakened. Without Ripper, those of us with cybernetics will die by inches."

She stood, turning to the wall. "The gangs have united. They hunt us day and night. There is every likelihood we will be found. And if we are found, no matter how hard we fight, we will all die."

Krul's voice hardened. "All of us will fight. Save you. You have sworn your vows to never harm another being again, never to pick up a weapon. When that day comes, Melenis, Garrus will have to kill you to spare you from the horrors of being captured by the gangers - he will not have anyone else burdened with that responsibility."

The krogan's voice raised as Melenis's eyes widened in horror. "A turian, forced to mercy-kill his own mate, after failing to protect his first mate? His mind cannot even conceive of such. It is not that he is not attracted. He is. I smell it upon him every day, and he flees from you not because he is frustrated or angry with you but because he fears his own reactions and emotions betraying him."

She shook her massive head. "But what you ask of him – to take you as his, and then to murder you to protect you – is a sacrifice he cannot make. Perhaps a turian more devoted to the ideals of turian culture could do so - they might even see it as protection of what they hold dear. But to him - given what he has already lost - it would be a violation of everything he is."

Melanis's voice came out a hollow whisper. "...I... I just..."

Krul roughly grabbed the asari's hand. "Typical asari. Listen to me. You want to heal Garrus? You think he can win this? Then break your idiot vow. Show him he matters more than your own convictions. If you aren't willing to break yourself for him, why should he break himself for you? And if you are willing to shatter the core of what you are now just to be with him... that may make him rethink events."

Melenis swallowed. "...I don't know... if..."

Krul sighed, letting go of her. "That remains your choice, girl. I have nothing else to say that will help you or him. I do know one thing. You're the only person who can make him want to live again. And without that, we're all going to die. It's a pity he doesn't go for krogan." The last was said in a musing but joking tone, and Melenis sighed and answered with a weak smile.

"...as always, thank you for your wisdom, Krul. I... I have a lot of thinking to do. But you are right in that I can't expect him to brave the ocean storm if I will not. My vow was not made lightly, and releasing it..."

Krul shrugged. "Personally I don't see why your races make such a big deal over sex and romance. You don't see krogan doing that. This is due to krogan romance involving wrestling and very bad poetry, but still."

Melenis' expression flickered into something like amusement, and the krogan gave her a little push. "I can wash the damned armor for once, especially since I'll have to help Butler later on with fixing up the shoulder and knee joints. Go pull yourself together... and think about it."

Melenis almost protested, but then nodded. "...I will. Thank you." She left in a patter of soft steps, and the krogan grunted before turning to the mess in the sonic sink. She shook her head and tugged an embedded piece of what looked like a leg bone from the segmented edging on the torso armor.

"By Kalros, did he pile-drive someone?"

O-TWCD-O

"Don't you think you've had enough, boss?"

Garrus glared at Sidonis, before shaking his head. "Give me the bottle before I hit you."

Sidonis tossed it, before readjusting Mierin on his lap. "Spirits, grumpy like a vakar in whelp."

Garrus opened the bottle of turian horchess, drinking deeply and shivering as the power of the drink hit him, making his vision waver.

Angel sighed, rubbing both temples before looking up. "Garrus...I know today was not the best outcome. I know you need time to recover. But time is tight, and we need to discuss our next … perhaps our final options."

Garrus glanced over at the human. "You and the rest of the team get on the merchant's shuttle and get the hell out of here. I lure the bastards here, draw them inside, kill their leaders and blow the place up. Without their leaders and lieutenants and with almost all the gangs gone, Omega will be free of the worst of the worst."

He sipped again. "What happens after that isn't up to me."

Angel shook his head. "Garrus, we discussed this already. The shuttle won't make it out of system. And the Wind Dagger's ship is in the main rings and undocking it would require us to hack the system. With Erash that might have been possible. Without him..."

Garrus shook his own head. "Then sneak out one by one. No one knows who you are."

Sidonis snarled. "Maybe some of us aren't sire-fucking cowards. I didn't come here to run away."

Garrus gave him a flat look. "You have your life in front of you. Throwing it away on an empty gesture is stupid when it will just get both you and Mierin killed."

The asari in Sidonis's lap stirred. "Garrus, dear heart – please. I have offended the House of Storms and the Justicars want me dead. My own unit left me for dead and the 'strike' we were sent on was specifically to get me killed – and the Broker has a contract on me. How long do you think I will survive anywhere else? How long until they murder Sidonis to hurt me and draw me out?"

Butler sighed. "Some of us already lost everything. Me and Monty were restricted in the SA – going back will get us thrown into a re-education facility or just shot for desertion. If it's a choice between dying for something and running away to live for nothing, sorry, but fuck you, ain't leaving."

Garrus ground his fangs. "Don't you see? This is fucking pointless. We've broken them but they haven't given up. They're going to keep hounding us, and eventually we'll have to choose between taking them down and killing a lot of innocent people to do so, or being surrounded and destroyed." He exhaled. "I... you are all my friends. I've already lost one group of friends trying to fix what couldn't be fixed. I don't want to lose another."

Sensat snorted. "I'm fine with going. But..." He smiled, his four eyes gleaming. "...I don't have much problem with staying either. I am a worse batarian than you are a turian. With the Hegemony destroyed, I doubt any of my family survived – and if they did, I'd probably kill them myself. Rebuilding anywhere but Omega is almost impossible for me."

He idly adjusted the field on his impact maul. "And I, for one, do not think we have lost this. We have turned this warehouse into a fortress. If we can break the gangs here, it's over. Their image will shatter and Aria will mop the rest of them up to finally have complete control. We can win."

Garrus opened his mouth to speak when Melenis came into the room, a conflicted, angry expression on her face. She exhaled, closing her eyes, then snapped them open and turned to Angel. "I need a fucking gun."

Angel blinked. "...What?"

Melenis's jaw tightened. "I heard your discussion as I was walking up. We are not running. People need us. People who don't have anyone to protect them. This is fucking Omega!" She faced Garrus. "You think once we've fled and you are dead it won't sink right back into the black ocean hell it was before you started? You think those who cringed and submitted before will suddenly stand up for themselves? You think Aria will change?"

She took a step forward. "You're upset because you fucked up. Get the fuck over it. I gave up violence because I used to be a merc, and because I made a bad call, I got five hundred seventy four people killed. Because I thought violence solved everything."

She took a deep breath. "Today I figured out something else. Sometimes the only goddess-damned answer is violence, however much I hate that. Running isn't an option. We'll either be killed or give into despair and end up worse than dead. We fight. And I'm willing to do it as well. I won't let them take me alive, and neither will anyone else here!"

Vortash, silent until now, gave a sardonic clap. "Finally. The asari finds her spine. But is this mere talk or hard truth, I wonder?" He pulled out his pistol and tossed it in her direction.

Melenis caught it and with swift action disengaged the safety and flipped it to auto-fire mode before pointing it right at the batarian's face. "I don't know. I'll probably hesitate the first time I have to kill someone again. But what I won't do is let my vow cost people their lives, because that's what would happen if I stuck to it."

Vortash gave her a grin, tilting his head to the left. "Keep the pistol. I have more." He turned to Garrus. "I, for one, will not run. My blood is old and I am not some gutter-shifting savage. I would rather die than admit I am over-matched – and it will take more than three bands of morons painting themselves in primary colors to scare me."

Garrus was still staring at Melenis, who was meeting his stare with an even, calm expression. A second later, Sidonis broke into a cackling laugh. "So, now that Melenis has decided to get in on the Punisher action, what's next?"

Angel sighed. "I wish I had never mentioned that damned comic book. Turians."

Garrus's eyes finally flicked away from Melenis. His voice, when he spoke, was soft. "Why are you doing this?"

Melenis' voice was just as quiet, but firm. "I was there when you saved that small turian girl from the meat-catchers. She asked you if you were a spirit, and you said no, you were just a person. Remember? What you said?"

Angel smiled, dark eyes lighting up. Vortash chuckled. Mierin gave a savage nod. Sensat tilted his head to the left.

Garrus looked away. "...that all it took was one flicker of light to push back darkness."

Melenis clipped the pistol to her belt. "I take my vow seriously. But I know what we are doing – what we have done on Omega – is more important than my vow, or my ethics. It's more important than Angel's old regrets, or Butler's worry about his family back home, or Sidonis feeling he is a failure to his family. It is more important than any of our individual needs – because there are people who look to us to be that one light."

Garrus flicked a mandible. "And if I make a bad call again?"

Angel's voice was firm. "Garrus, no one regrets what happened today more than I do. But you made the call – and I agreed with it. Montague's plan would have left us exposed to counter-fire. More importantly – there's no goddamned book out here. We've slaughtered them for months, killed thousands of the vile assholes – and this is the first time we – WE – made any mistake that got an innocent killed. Before you came along, I was having to balance the good of saving people with the risk of detection and letting people DIE every damned day. Because I was scared to die."

Angel stood. "I didn't come to Omega to live. I came to die like a damned marine. Standing. On my motherfucking feet, screaming at the bastards who ruined my life, the lives of so many others, to come and fucking take me if they could. That is the opportunity you gave me, after I lost my courage for so many years. And that is what I'm going to do, by God and Victor. I'm just an angel. You're the Archangel."

He looked at Melenis, and then back at Garrus. "You want us to live? It's up to you to get us through this alive."

Garrus' shoulders slumped slightly. Vortash stood. "Come. Let us see how Weaver plans to kill us all with whatever he is cooking for dinner today."

Sensat grumbled. "What I wouldn't give for a trek-pa cutlet or three. Or pgash. Or some decent b'rath peppers."

Mierin slipped out of Sidonis' lap and pulled him up after. "C'mon, lover boy." They followed the rest out, leaving only Garrus and Melenis.

He looked up at her. "...why?"

She shrugged. "I'm tired of hurting. And... I had my eyes opened." She met his gaze as squarely as she could. "I'll kill myself, if it comes to that, at the end. I would never ask you to do that."

He flinched, and she walked away, stopping to pause at the doorway. "...as for the rest... I can't be anything you don't want me to be." She left, the door shutting behind her, and Garrus closed his eyes.

He wondered what Tel would think. He could see her in his mind's eyes, folding her arms, giving him her trademark smirking glare.

You already know what I'd say, Garrus. I told you to find a nice turian girl, but she'll do. Stop running from your past.

He opened his eyes. "I don't know if I can … risk that pain again."

When did you become a tide-fleeing coward? What did Sara used to say? Pain lets you know you're alive.

He gave a sad smile. "I must be crazy, having conversations in my head." He sighed, the dim light coming from the wall lamps casting long shadows into the room.

O-TWCD-O

Sparatus sighed as Tevos continued to bicker with Valern, but inside he was laughing his plates off.

The complete collapse of the volus attempt at restructuring the debt load of the Hierarchy failing due to, of all things, quarian investment, had created a great deal of extranet commentary and some pointedly hostile comments from Primarch Fedorian. The Hierarchy had, in a move that had shocked many, formally broken their relationship with the Volus – releasing them from their status as a client race, withdrawing all military support, and applying the normal rules to volus businesses rather than the relaxed ones that were used by a client race.

This disruption had caused even more economic upheaval in the Hierarchy, of course – but it had resulted in the asari having to scramble to shore things up. The humans, of course, had originally done nothing supportive, but the quarians were doing their best to invest and work with the Hierarchy, and their tight relationship with the humans had drawn in the Corporate Court of Sol to invest.

That, in turn, had reluctantly drawn in the asari on their side. It was all Sparatus could do not to grin ear to ear. For the first time in over a century, the Hierarchy had firm plans and targets to leverage itself out of debt.

Poor Valern was, to put it lightly, upset. Tevos was also unhappy - mostly, Sparatus suspected, because the asari could no longer gain much from their manipulation of the volus, and the quarians didn't trust them. He'd caught Udina and Thin'Koris having a drinking game over how many times they could make the normally unflappable and calm Tevos curse or Valern ball his fists up.

The only fly in the ointment, actually, was the news from the Traverse. With a sigh – he so hated to break up a truly good insult fight between Tevos and Valern – he cleared his throat. "Councilors. The issues behind the recent economic shifts are something better handled, I feel, by the members of the Subcommittee of Commerce. I will not say that I am displeased by events, but I do freely admit things might have been handled... better in some aspects."

Tevos narrowed her eyes. "The disruption this has caused is leading to a great deal of ill will."

Sparatus folded his arms. "Then, perhaps, someone should have considered the ramifications of suggesting certain actions to certain parties. I have warned this council before that there is only so much blatant provocation the Hierarchy will accept without acting, and as the saying goes, honor accrues only to those who display it."

He adjusted the fall of his robes. "That is beside the point, however. Aria is once again colonizing new worlds in the Terminus systems – six newly found garden worlds, and a dozen mining worlds. Her fleet is now larger than the elcor or human fleets and her people captured and are retrofitting a geth dreadnought. Spirits only knows what kind of technology she's acquired from such a thing. The chaos in the Traverse continues, with Doctor Okeer defeated in single combat by the Butcher and not a single trace of her location to be found."

He glanced at the cameras. "And the loss of the colony at Freedom's Progress has raised other, more serious issues."

He stood straight. "With the geth threat almost broken, it is time to consider serious action in the Traverse. We have deferred until now because of a fear that Aria would unite forces with the Hegemony. That threat has already been realized in some degree. And with the Butcher having crushed the Umlor Ring, other pirate groups may rally to her protection and rule in order to avoid a similar fate."

He wrapped his talons around his podium. "We should not wait until Aria grows too strong to oppose to do so. Killing a vakar cub is a lot easier than killing one that is fully grown after all, as the saying goes."

Valern's usual deadpan delivery held a sour note. "Your summation ignores the fact that most of the Citadel Fleets are still in refit from damage taken in the Geth War."

Sparatus grimaced. "Yes, this is true. It is also true that only a small minority of the asari and salarian fleets took part in those battles. The humans, quarians and my own people led those assaults. I think it only fair that your own more powerful fleets lead any action in the Traverse."

Thin'Koris sighed. "I would ask why we wish to antagonize Aria. She is, whether we like it or not, a galactic power. Open war only leaves us open to the threat of a geth resurgence."

Udina's eyes narrowed, as he considered Sparatus' words. "With the geth fleet so reduced and the destruction of the hubs at Haestrom and Hate's Point, there have been more than a few calls for a sharp reduction in military spending and investment. War with Aria would require an even larger dedication of GDP to such a thing."

Tevos shook her head. "We cannot afford such a large increase in spending."

Sparatus ground his heel into the decking. "I say we cannot afford not to continue such. This Council knows of what I speak of." He gave another glance at the cameras and the watching crowds. "There are other threats to consider."

Valern gave a sigh. "With all due respect, that issue has been addressed. The sensor coverage has found no extant threat."

Sparatus actually stared at the salarian for several seconds. "No extant threat? Oh, yes. The sensor net. The alleged device that none of us have ever seen, located in a system we are unable to find, providing – " he paused, using air quotes, "so-called 'unimpeachable' evidence of nothing happening. I have dismissed that claim. That threat follows no known rules , as we discovered to our sorrow."

Tevos tilted her head. "In what way?"

He tapped his omni-tool, sending her a one word reply: Feros.

She grimaced. "That may be true, but the intelligence we've received gives us little reason to doubt it. I understand that the Palavanus advisors to the Primarch feel this is a severe threat...but we are still recovering from the Geth War. A few years to rebuild – and let the fallout from this economic stunt settle – is not a mortal danger. And lowering taxes to allow business and commerce to flourish is a good respite."

She spread her hands in a gesture of siari frustrated. "As for the threat of Aria, I agree she must be dealt with. She will not be reasonable with the Council, Thin'Koris – we have tried in ages past, and her own grudges forbid any accommodation. Her power base is opposed to what we stand for and even if she wanted to interact in a more productive fashion, her hands are tied by the demands of her followers. We cannot allow a criminal organization to simply rule a fourth of the known galaxy and negotiations have … not worked well.."

Udina gave a chuckle. "You did let the Hegemony exist." He inclined his head to Sparatus. "I believe the point the turian councilor raises is rather valid – to a degree. My own government is not inclined to simply listen to intelligence of unknown provenance, but they have been doing their own investigations, and their conclusion is the larger threat is … not imminent." He sighed. "I do question depending so much on a single source of intelligence, but until certain projects are completed to verify such things we must wait."

He raised his chin. "Our lack of extant threats is not a reprieve, and the fact we have beaten the geth thus far does not mean allowing Aria to grow stronger is any less dangerous than allowing the geth to recover. Might I also point out that with the geth weakened there is very little from stopping Aria - or other bad actors - to infest the Perseus Veil? Digging them out of that mess would cost many more lives than acting now."

Thin'Koris shook his helmeted head. "I must disagree. While I understand Sparatus' point, finishing the geth once and for all strikes me as a better way to defuse the threat. And while Aria is disagreeable, we cannot risk the mostly undamaged salarian and asari fleets in such a way while our own are ravaged. Better that we refit and repair slowly, and let things stabilize. No matter how strong Aria gets, she cannot defeat or even hold off all of us."

Udina sighed. "Why is it that every word that comes out of your voder is 'geth geth geth'? We know the geth are a threat, they assaulted all of us. But I cannot go along with your statement that a broken and spent force is somehow more of a threat than Aria!"

Thin'Koris folded his arms. "Because Aria is a known threat. Aria, I might point out, has not expanded against the Council. She and her people prey on the weak and commit crimes and enable horror … but the Council has to consider larger issues. If Aria is engaged in expansion she is not engaged in war with us. She can be … negotiated with, if not by the asari then perhaps by the quarian people, who HAVE dealt with her."

The quarian sighed. "I don't simply take this stance to be objectionary. The Quarian people cannot afford the risk of a war with Aria since our newly settled planets and still fragile and damaged fleets are RIGHT in the path of any such war - and you will forgive us for being nervous that we will be protected. So, no. Let Aria do what she will. The geth are … a DIRECT extension of the larger threat - this is a known fact. Eliminating them will give the Council the same option - to settle the Perseus Veil, perhaps even allow my people to reclaim some of our old colonies."

He chuckled. "Besides, there is no surety that the Archangel won't decide to kill Aria next, neatly solving the problem."

Sparatus sighed. "Such spirited talon-gazing. I would point out this decision strikes me as both shorted sighted and militarily unwise."

Tevos gave a faint smile. "Perhaps. But economics have driven us to this point… so I must remind you that we can only work with the tools we have."

He snorted. "I suppose putting such a resolution to a vote is pointless then."

Tevos gave an insincere smile. "I will heed your words, Sparatus, and certainly, there are those of the Thirty who would no doubt agree with you. We are not ignoring Aria, but colonizing is a less hostile act than open war or assaults on Council wars."

She folded her arms. "This does, however, bring up another concern in the Terminus : the Butcher. Her most recent act is highly concerning. While no one will claim Doctor Okeer's survival after the Broker claimed to have killed him was unwelcome, I am aware there were still many questions about his acts, both in regards to Saren and later on. He had not answered such to our satisfaction - and now, we'll never know the truth."

Udina grimaced. "The truth? Really? We already know the truth. The doctor was clearly involved in the sort of things Saren and Benezia were in – have you suddenly forgotten Lenal? I dislike the idea of masked vigilantes running about and putting entire worlds to the torch for being involved with slavery... but you will forgive me if I shed no tears for Okeer."

Valern's voice was somewhat sharp. "STG has admitted Okeer was probably involved on some level with Saren. Need I point out that so was Cerberus, which later turned out to have at least a tangential connection to several important aspects of human businesses and a political party? Okeer has always been highly controversial - and on occasion, arrested. But that does not justify someone executing him for no given reason. If the Butcher discovered evidence of crimes he committed,then he should have been brought to justice."

Udina shrugged. "One could … suggest that your statements leave the Council open to a certain level of political risk. We have no clue what Okeer was actually up to. One could also argue it was hardly 'execution' - the Butcher fought him one on one. Ultimately, we are guessing at motive. The Butcher only communicates through videos – we should perhaps wait to see her rationale for the attack before suggesting reasons for said attack?"

Sparatus squared his shoulders. "Warmaster Okeer was the last recognized official of the Krogan Empire, and let us not forget his part in enacting the Genophage. He has committed - or was accused of committing - other, darker acts. But in my mind, anyone willing to sacrifice his own people for the good of galactic stability should be given the benefit of the doubt. The Butcher, on the other hand, despite killing off criminals en masse, remains of concern due to her possible sponsors and the... information she provided. Why are we even discussing this?"

Tevos frowned. "Because, despite the fact that some people approve of her, Okeer was a Citadel citizen, and still deeply honored."

Udina snorted. "This is an outrage. I will admit the krogan was more palatable than most of his kind, but have we already forgotten what he was involved in? Of the outcomes of his experiments? Doctor Thanoptis has already told us some of what he was up to. I have no problems with reining the butcher in, but over this? The man's a criminal and we're better off with him dead."

Tevos sighed. "Regardless of what you think, he was a long-time friend of the Justicar Mistress – do you think she would openly consort with a criminal for centuries? His grand-nephews are the bodyguards of Queen Thana. And alienating him was not a good option, given his suspected ties to P."

She gave a small sigh. "Before, our interest in the Butcher was mere concern. Now we must ask; do we formally turn the might of the Spectre Corps against her?"

Thin'Koris shook his head. "Antagonizing a figure that may or may not be hostile to us seems unwise."

Valern shrugged. "Yet, the fact remains: she is in violation of Citadel law. She has taken actions that violate the Citadel Accords. It was argued before that she had not killed anyone besides slavers – that is no longer the case. I, for one, suggest a vote that she be called upon to surrender herself and her forces to the Citadel authorities immediately or face punishment."

Udina raised both eyebrows. "Given her chosen role model, 'unwise' is not the word I would choose. 'Blatantly stupid', perhaps." He glanced at Tevos. "She's an asari – why not let the Justicars handle this?"

Tevos grimaced. "They have suggested we invite her to join the Order."

Udina smothered his laughter with a cough. "I truly regret Shepard is no longer with us. She would derive no end of amusement from this mess."

Surprisingly, Tevos' expression flickered to one of sadness. "...while I did not always agree with her, I tend to agree. The Butcher is hardly a fitting memorial to her, though – Sara Shepard was more than mindless vengeance."

Sparatus shrugged. "If you want to send the Spectre Corps after her formally, I have no objection."

Valern nodded. Udina shrugged. "I disagree."

Thin'Koris was silent for several seconds before also shrugging. "I have no real opinion either way. However, given we don't know if she will suddenly become hostile, I am not opposed."

Tevos smiled. "Then, by four to one, the measure passes. Have the Senior Spectre report to us at the end of this meeting. Is there further business we must discuss? I am fatigued."

Sparatus had no idea how she could be tired, given she spent the majority of the day on her back, but held his words to himself. The fact that the Council claimed to miss Shepard and yet trusted the Broker's blandishments that the Reapers were no immediate threat grated on him, but a public session was no place to argue the issue.

O-TWCD-O

Aria smirked as she entered the highest room of Afterlife, sealed behind a pair of security doors. "Good evening, matriarch. How's the back?"

Aethyta turned her lift chair in place, away from the wide panel of armaglass overlooking the entirety of the Black Promenade. "That shit wasn't clever the first time you said it, girl."

With exaggerated slowness, Aria reclined on one of leather couches in the room. "Ah. You must forgive me. I find that indulging in pettiness from time to time soothes my nerves. Bray tells me you did not eat this morning. Dieting or being stupid?"

The older asari gave a tired, almost weak sigh. "Neither. Just... worried. My daughter has shattered the Broker's power on Ilium. Let her go. Please. She's not... involved in tide-swirled mess that turned you into what you are now. She's hurting and breaking."

Aria was silent for several seconds, face a mask, before leaning back a bit more "There is a certain wisdom in taking care of a good tool. But when a tool becomes less than useful, such maintenance is often unneeded." Her lips slowly formed a smile. "There is also a certain irony in watching you, of all people, plead to me for the life of your child."

Her gaze met that of Aethyta. "Did you forget who lead that assault team on the facility, oh Black Blade? You were Thana's puppet back then, her iron fist smashing whatever she pointed you at."

She gave an almost vile smirk. "I always wondered why you would work for Thana. Everyone knew you and Benezia were an item … when she left you for that turian from the Palavanus, I was only a child. Were you doing it because you were crying over Benezia leaving you, I wonder? Or did you just act because the House of Storms valued you more than your own sister?"

The smirk grew mocking. "Then again... later on she ended up with Saren, another turian - maybe you just didn't satisfy her."

Aethyta closed her eyes. "Aria. I don't blame my actions on Nezzy. I was a fool. What happened that day I have... regretted for a long time."

Aria snorted. "Oh, dear. Regret. Well, that makes everything just fine." She stood, walking over to the small bar set into the side of the lounge, pouring herself a glass of batarian ale.

She half-turned. "Regret. How like you." She lifted the drink, sipping, then set it back down. "Do you even remember what I was like back then?"

Aethyta swallowed. "Yes. The second coming of Uressa. Kind. Gentle. Loving. Thana hated it. She said you made the House look weak."

Aria nodded slowly. "And that is why I ended up in that program. To boost biotic power, even if it cost a few lives. To harden me, open my eyes to – how did she put it? Ah, it comes back now, the realities of the galaxy. Those of the Thirty that were there would be the beneficiaries...the clanless there were all orphans, and no matter what dear mother claimed, I knew even then they would be test subjects. Sacrifices."

She drank again, her hand shaking. "I hated that. Hated how she used everyone. How the asari were nothing but a sick joke, the punchline of a dead alien bitch. No wonder Trellani lost her fucking mind when she found out."

Aethyta looked back up. "Aria, I – "

Aria held up a hand. "Be silent. I want you to remember. In detail. Of how sixteen of the clanless in the program died from those experiments. Of how Jona Sederis was the commando leader, teaching us the ways to fight that my mother found 'ungraceful and undignified'. How Urdnot Wrex was the only one of the guards brave enough to speak to me. How it was always the best of the Thirty – me – against the best of the clanless. Liselle."

Aethyta sighed, sagging in her chair. She had not thought about Liselle in a very long time. "...I remember."

Aria nodded coldly. "Oh, you do? You remember that thanks to mother's tampering with our biotic power, what should have been two young idiots fumbling about ended up with Liselle pregnant. A purebred child – from a clanless, and the highest of the Thirty."

Aria's face twisted into a mocking sneer. "Oh, the dishonor. The shame. My mother, may be she burned alive by Trellani herself, ORDERED me to have the child aborted. And when I refused, you know what happened next."

She walked over in front of Aethyta, and forcefully lifted her chin to stare into her eyes, her entire body beginning to shine with a faint biotic aura. "You lead your damned blades into that little facility of children. You slaughtered everyone who would know, and pinned the deaths on that Devir pure-blood, saying she was a fucking ardat-yakshi, and on Jona."

She snarled. "You damn near killed Jona, and I'm still convinced that head blow you gave her is what drove her fucking insane. You nearly killed Wrex with your fucking warp fire, remember? Couldn't have any witnesses!"

She backhanded Aethyta with all her might, knocking her to the ground, the lift chair falling, the older matriarch sprawled on the ground. "And then you shoved your goddess damned warp sword into Liselle – into her stomach, into MY CHILD, when I begged on my knees for you to spare her, that I would surrender, anything my mother wanted if you would just let her live."

Eyes blazing with rage, she lifted Aethyta up by the throat, tears leaking from her eyes, her voice thick with emotion. "And then, of course, you said I was an embarrassment to the Thirty, remember? That actions had consequences? Of course you remember."

She flung the Vasir away, watching as she hit the far wall and collapsed. "Regret. Fuck you and your regrets. I lost everything, and so did Jona and Wrex. Chased and hounded and lied about. Jona tried to get help for her issues and was nearly killed by mother's hounds that call themselves Justicars. Thana set up Wrex and I to kill each other on that station and when it failed sent fucking Nightwind after us both."

Aethyta shook her head, and Aria walked closer. "And of course, we all know Benezia went bad and almost fucking killed us all due to your weakness. I suppose you regret that too, huh?" She spat on the older asari.

"I already let you beg for the life of your daughter, and spared, her, even though you didn't do the same for me. And I have known all along that her mission was going to destroy her – destroy everything she was. Ilium, in its own lovely fashion, is worse than Omega. Omega admits what it is. Omega is that which it must be, that which it was forced to be. Ilium is the way it is out of self indulgent entertainment."

She walked over to stand over Aethyta, and then knelt next to her. "I find it delicious that your little pure-bred bitch is going to suffer. She's going to break, you old bitch. She's going to fucking come apart and lose her mind and I'm going to watch every single second of it, and laugh."

Aethyta managed to lever herself up. "...making you no better than me. Or Thana. Is that what you want... Aleena?"

The asari woman looked at her a long moment, before flicking her hand. Blue radiance enfolded Aethyta and her lift chair, the latter being positioned in its normal orientation, and Aethyta dropped into it none too gently. "Aleena is dead. Mercy, love, and kindness are words I now connect to betrayal, hypocrisy and grief. Wrex doesn't trust me. Jona can't decide if she cares about me or hates me and is so crazy she can't remember half of what we did. I can't even ACKNOWLEDGE the one child I have without her being a target for my mother's crazy Nightwind skanks to kill."

She let her biotics die. "I'm worse than you or your fucking Queen will ever be, because I choose to be. Because I will never let you and yours hurt me again, and I will hurt you over and over." She narrowed her eyes. "Regret. You'll regret when what was done to me is done to Liara. When she cries out asking why she is alone. When she slowly loses her faith in everything."

She turned away. "It's already happening. She and little Tel just blew up an entire restaurant trying to get at what turned out to be a body double of Tazzik, and in the aftermath killed a lot more innocent people. They don't even care. So, no. I will not remove her from Ilium. She's my sword, just like you were Thana's."

Aethyta's hands made fists. "Aria. Don't... do this. Why make her suffer for MY mistake? Why make her pay for my stupidity! She's lost enough, damn you. She's like you!"

Aria turned back to face Aethyta. "Because Omega does not feel sorrow or regrets. I have told you before. It has no heart. It is where the Light comes to die, where darkness is the only way. Your daughter got to live a life. She got a chance to love, to experience what it was like to be loved. I lost everything... my first daughter only got to experience your warp sword, my second can't even admit I'm her mother. My life is an empty exercise in survival and hate and bitterness that if I let go of for an instant will only result in my destruction."

Aria found her smile once more. "But most of all? The honest answer, old bitch, is that I'm my mother's daughter, and I'm doing it because I can. Next time Bray brings you something to eat, I recommend eating it. I'm not beyond making Liara watch me skin you alive to finish breaking her – her use is mostly expended, and the Council is too weak to attack me now."

She left, the doors sliding shut behind her with heavy booms, and Aethyta sat in her lift chair, alone and silent, the only sound the muted hints of the music far below.

O-TWCD-O

Mordin Solus blinked at the dry, smog-laden air of Therum before tapping his omni-tool and engaging his facial mask with a sigh. The mask filtered the worst of the pungent stink of fuel accelerators and sulfur, but did nothing to protect his eyes.

"Never think to bring goggles when needed. Oversight? Or prudent. Goggles probably useless."

Picking up his carry-pak, he began walking away from the landing pad of the small and obscure STG facility on the planet.

Given that Therum was an Alliance colony, the fact the STG openly maintained a presence there was surprising to most. The base was there as a rather cynical liaison station between the STG and the AIS, given the colony's location at the tip of where human and salarian space met.

Containing only an uplink, some landing and fueling facilities, and comms equipment manned by a pair of low-ranking agents, it was mostly used to route secure intelligence from deep within Alliance space out towards the more elaborate STG base in Knues.

The AIS probably tapped into such comms whenever they could break the encryption. As such, the base didn't even have living quarters for visitors.

Not that Mordin would have used such in the first place. He was interested and excited about the chance to learn more about Collectors and possibly Cerberus, and intensely worried about the Reaper threat. But the STG Master's roughhouse handling and forcing him into compliance had stirred his anger.

It didn't help that when he got a real communication from his sister, it was more of the same cant as usual. Mordin had long ago decided the sick game of power and dominance between the SIX and the Thirty could have no winner but billions upon billions of losers, and the less he contributed to it, the better off he was as a person. His sister had tried to argue that Mordin should simply return home – the 'proper place' as it were, for an older salarian.

Her arguments this time had truly infuriated him, however, when she had said he had a duty to come home and work on the Alteration Framework. That nightmare project was the main reason he'd lost all faith in his people and branded himself with the Lythari mark years ago.

The continuous shadow war between asari and salarians had resulted in many atrocities, but Mordin would not experiment on his own people to enhance the power of the SIX. They had killed off hundreds of thousands of salarians, and the fact that it was run by Anoleis was further proof it was completely immoral.

The code of ethics the humans attached to medical doctors attracted him strongly. He would not violate that, not even for his sister. And when she finally understood this, she had hurled hatred at him. Cursed him. Told him to never return.

He loved his sister. He had fond memories of her angry spirit, her refusal to be simply a breeder. He wondered where the bright little child who used to go with him to hunt down frogs and paint them with river mud or watch in fascination as their father experimented with chemicals in the lab had gone. Muvai was, in his opinion, in the thrall of that strange, dangerous asari of the Steelwatch, Thessial, and losing herself in darkness.

He hated turning his back on his own blood, his own family. Such was almost unthinkable. But Mordin prided himself on his objectivity. He could not stand by his convictions only to violate them out of love or blood ties. And he had given his contributions already.

The only upside to the entire sad mess was that he would find no difficulty in pretending to be angry with the STG or his sister.

He glanced around the terrain as he walked towards the silver tower that was the world's only hotel, a half-converted arcology construction compromised by rows of tall windows that ruined any stability and support it had once possessed.

Given that Therum had been savaged by the turians during the Relay 314 incident, and the majority of the mining operations were destroyed, the rebuilding of the colony into a mining concern once more was impressive. Still, the place was a smoky, hot, and unpleasant hellhole, inhabited by those humans too stupid to work in HE3 mining and too weak to be criminals.

Orbital bombardments had cracked open volcanic calderas and triggered devastating lavaslides. The atmosphere, tainted by volcanic activity and heavy mining, was not even safe to breathe by vorcha. Yet money had run out to finish the arcology over Therum's capital, so the half-done skeletal structure loomed over the town, augmented by jury rigged atmoshields and other contrivances.

Humanity seemed to have a bad habit of turning its worlds into polluted messes. "Conjectural connection: perhaps homesick for conditions on Earth. Possible. Must remember to research."

Being here was not something he enjoyed. It was never a good sign when a planet had stores devoted to selling breathable air, and as rule, he preferred not to visit worlds where the word 'lavaslide' was ever used in conversation.

But the STG shuttle he'd arrived on would attract far too much attention as it went further into the Traverse. Best to engage another trip on a bulk hauler or merchant ship. The STG Master seemed confident that he would be intercepted by Cerberus here.

The master was less sure that Cerberus actually wanted to recruit him. After all, if Cerberus was in league with the Collectors, then killing him and silencing his knowledge on the Collectors was hardly outside the realm of possibility. Even if they weren't, Cerberus might be looking to take sole credit for defeating the Collectors –eliminating him would remove any questions he might raise about such a defeat.

It did not help that his remote omni-drones scouting ahead towards the hotel had picked up a pair of figures in stylish black suits and long ballistic coats. The shorter of the two wore wrap-around sunglasses and carried a dog-headed cane, the larger man held a small valise and had deactivated his omni-probe about three seconds after it got into visual range.

Mordin was hardly dismissive of his own combat abilities, but fighting the Odd Couple – even if they were not wearing battle armor – wasn't a task he expected to survive. If they were hostile, there was little he could do.

He could head straight for the spaceport and leave, of course. Defy the STG master. Go back to the depths of Omega, or even deeper into the Terminus Systems. But he was old, and tired, and his many mistakes weighed on his mind and his will.

If the Odd Couple was here for his life, they could have it. It wouldn't be cheap, though. With a final glance around the darkened skies, he walked up the main tramway, sidestepping the occasional surly looking mounds of muscle on their way to their work sites.

The hotel itself, built into the side of the arcology framework, loomed above him. The lowest floor was an expanse of omni-field porticoes and armaglass around outside eating faculties and a handful of small restaurants. The two assassins sat at one such area, quietly bickering over something while eating.

They both looked up as he walked straight up to them. "Heard you were looking for me. Unusual assassination method."

Kai Leng glanced at Pel for a long second before wiping his mouth with a napkin, setting his ramen down. "Doctor Solus. You are clearly aware of who we are. Our principal wishes to consult with you on a matter of high importance. We are certainly not here to accost you."

Pel glanced over the doctor, then sighed. "Yeah. No telling what kind of bullshit you have ready for us if we tried that. Sides, I already tried to kill you eight years back."

Mordin's voice was sour. "Remember clearly. Impressive use of explosives. Captain Kirrahe was upset over loss of corvette. Also appalled at use of booby-trapped egg chamber."

Pel shrugged. "...they were duds, actually. I don't kill kids. No goddamned challenge."

Mordin found that quietly amusing, but instead turned back to Kai Leng. "Shadowed me on Omega, followed me to salarian space. Unexpected interest in me – Cerberus not known for collaboration with aliens, Trellani aside."

Leng grimaced. "...the organization has undergone many changes."

The doctor nodded. "Yes. Rumors of connection to Butcher, Archangel, Sisters of Vengeance. Still no hanar."

Pel smothered a snicker. Kai merely tapped the credit payment slot with his chit and slowly stood. "We have suitable transportation, and as I said, this is merely a consult. If you dislike the offer our principal has for you, we will be happy to convey you back to Omega."

Mordin pursed his lips for only a second, then his face split into a grin. "Very well then humans, take me to your leader."

Pel burst out laughing, and Kai merely sighed and gripped his cane tightly. "...the organization already has a problem with bad puns, doctor. Please do not aggravate the situation. Follow us."

Mordin turned to do so, when his omni-tool bleeped again, with an alert from his other omni-drone. Frowning he tapped it.

Three asari in black armor emerged from the spaceport main entrance, their leader a purple-skinned beauty with black dagger like markings along her cheeks. Solus hissed. "Problems."

Kai Leng glanced over at the hovering image above the omni-tool and sighed. "Pel. Sha'shira is here."

Pel looked up. "Oooh. Old girl still alive after the last beating we dropped on dat ass? Broker must really not like you, Doc. Or else he got wind of us being here... which is strange, given we've only been here four hours."

Mordin's mouth twitched. "Possible that departure from STG has already been discovered" Or announced, he thought sourly. "Unwilling to engage in dialogue with Broker representatives."

Pel coughed. "Sha'shira has no tongue, Doc. She ain't here to talk, if you take my meaning." He glanced at Kai. "You want me to handle this?"

Kai gave him a look of disbelieving disgust. "No, you idiot, we don't need half the city set on fire, this place is hot enough without it. You escort the doctor to the secondary meeting site until I give the all clear. I'll deal with the trash myself."

Mordin glanced over the assassin. "Without weapons?"

Kai twisted the the head of the cane, and a haptic camouflage field dropped, revealing it was actually a scabbarded sword, before he twisted it back to replace the image. "Hardly. Go."

Pel loomed over Solus. "We rented a place in case we had to wait, more defensible than this damned hotel. This shouldn't take long."

Mordin nodded, following along. "...unexpected for Cerberus to protect me."

Pel shrugged. "We got bigger problems to worry about, y'know? Besides, the agents you killed back on Veras were all assholes. Saved me the trouble."

Mordin blinked, then quietly decided that perhaps the stories of the Odd Couple being psychopaths were not totally inaccurate.