SHOT GLASS

The Jeeya appeared, shining like a brilliant stone, accelerating out of the white flash of a light speed jump, skimming across the void, diving into a direct crash course with the speeding torpedo. The missile was homing in on the vast, navy bulk of the ancient relay, and as it crossed a line of metallic debris dust hanging around the behemoth's frame, it cast a shadow. The impact was but a moment away. But a moment it ever remained, because before the galaxy defining strike, a second-hand, unwieldy star freighter ran across its path. And the ship's shield vaporised Arturus' dream in an instant. Then the Jeeya came about to face his dreadnaught, and it seemed to laugh, as he zoomed in on its image on his monitor, to stare back in disbelief and horror.

Arturus shook and his shoulders sank. His hands squirmed on the edges of the control station. Behind him, his enemies looked just as nonplussed and stunned. Their emotions quickly turned to relief and joy, however. Arturus, less so. He felt as though his very life's blood had just been drained. One moment everything was there, proceeding in a pristine white blip on his radar, flicking on and off, rapidly closing on its final destination. His monitor, above the radar, showed the relay as it sat waiting. But then all was gone. The radar was blank and the relay remained. It still just sat there, undisturbed, untouched. All that had changed was the small ship being there. It had intervened. Everything was finished. Everything was undisturbed. He found himself empty and devoid of thought.

Finally, he turned to face Shepard and her Quarian lackey.

Emily heard Joker's voice crackle over her com, a burst of levity through a time of.. she didn't know what.

"Thank Zeyah, Commander. He said we couldn't leave, even if he wanted to. And damn but I think he really did!"

"Jesus I thought it was over. I owe you two big time."

"That stealth ship need any working over?"

"No, I think it's already damaged. We'll make sure it never recovers. We have one other matter to deal with here, too. How are you? Will that ship hold together? Shields must have taken one hell of a hit there."

There was a brief pause. "Well, we calculated they'd be 25% now. But Zeyah says they're 5%. So… yeah, we're pretty banged up."

Shepard kept her eyes fastened on Arturus, who looked broken. "I'm going to lock this place down for good, Joker. There'll be a shuttle on this thing, I'm sure, so you get out of here and we'll jump back after you, and as I said, rendez-vous at Omega. Don't worry. We won't need saving again."

"You got it. See you soon, commander."

The communication crackled off.

Tali muttered under her breath and gestured towards Arturus. "What about him, Shepard?"

Shepard took a step towards the Turian, and raised her rifle. Neither moved a muscle more, but their eyes locked on one another harder, though only one set had real life behind them.

"You destroyed something great, Commander. Damn you."

"No one's going to hear about this, Arturus, so no one's going to care. And I doubt there's going to be any notices about you on Palaven."

Arturus angered back to life a little at this. "You'll remember at least. So will your friends."

"You are a footnote. Trust me when I say we have more important things on our minds."

"So, how does this story end?"

"You know how."

Arturus snorted. "Ha. I'm unarmed, Shepard. You're a paragon of virtue." He found a smile now. A nasty, mocking one, that would leave a sour taste.

Shepard blew a hole through his head. She watched his body crumple, falling backward, bouncing off the control pedestal as it went down.

She looked at the corpse and shook her head. "Fucking renegade."

Carefully, they emerged back into the Mass Effect Drive's damaged control centre. Bodies and broken metal lay everywhere, and a jaunciced yellow light rolled around the place. Everywhere else was smoking, shadows and dark corners.

Tali took one look at the drive and swore. "We need to move, Shepard. That things damaged, badly. I'd say there's an internal issue - a terminal spiral to self destruction."

"Poetic," Shepard said, and they ran for the area of wall that concealed the door to the elevator back up. No one stopped them as they ran, and no one was waiting inside the lift.

"You think there are survivors waiting for us?" Shepard asked.

"I think some of the scientists were still alive when we left the drive control room, yes."

"They're going for a shuttle ou of here too, aren't they?"

"I would imagine."

"No one can get off this ship to tell the tale," Shepard muttered.

"Except us," Tali added.

"True. And we need a shuttle too."

Shepard had a thought. It was so simple it might work... "Uh, shuttle bay."

The elevator seemed to change direction back down. Then the doors opened to reveal a pristine blue docking bay, with a thin, twin engined Asari bullet-shuttle. It's rear ramp was down, and several Turians were pulling boxed equipment inside, one barking at them to do it faster.

"I should have known voice commands were also available," Tali said, and they both walked towards the crew, firing precise shots as they went. Each found its mark, and in a moment no Turian was left alive.

The ship shook violently as they dragged the bodies clear of the ramp and went inside. Tali stumbled forward towards the cockpit. Shepard rocked on her heels, found the raise-ramp switch, and flicked it. She joined Tali and they strapped in, making final flight checks, then firing up the engines.

Bring us about.

"Get the doors open, Shepard."

"I got it. I know how to do that in any language."

There was another seismic shock around them, and the shuttle slid to one side a little.

"Now, Commander!"

"Cool your jets, Tali!"

"What?"

"Now light 'em up!"

"Akh, humans. We're leaving." Tali flicked a particularly purple switch overhead and they burned out of the Commando transport and away, just before its Mass Effect drive went critical and consumed it in a ball of blinding white flame.

They began preparing for the jump to FTL in concentrated silence. Tali had probably viewed Shepard's parting with Arturus as a bit too close to execution. Emily got that. Tali was at heart a better person than she could be. Or at least, than she could afford to be. They'd probably talk about it later. But for now, survival and mission accomplished were the main thoughts in her mind. And Tali's, even if she wasn't a fan of how Arturus' had found his demise.

"Make sure we don't leave any trace of our flightpath."

"Shuttle's got the same stealth tech as her mother, Shepard; She's doing that job for us already."

"You're a star, Tali."

"Bright and shining," Tali agreed.

Then they jumped.

Leaning over the rail of a wall, looking down into the vibrant, multicoloured labyrinth of Omega's interior cityscape, Shepard thought about Zeyah. In many ways, it had not been herself who had ended the most recent threat to this particular universe. Rather, it had been a rookie quarian going against their own better judgement and asking Joker to "go back and do something", because otherwise he could only have wondered if he might have done more to avert disaster. Emily Shepard had, this time, failed to stop her quarry. So, that had been a good call.

Tali and Zeyah had destroyed the charts and all other evidence pointing the way to Arturus' relay. It would never be found again. Intelligence reported the Turians said Arturus had never existed and that Cerberus had similarly forgotten about him. And other events, incoming, would soon take up everyone's time and resources.

Tali had just left on a ship bound for the Citadel. Shaking hands, she said she was going to help Zeyah find a new engineering placement there. Zeyah, for his part, had no intention of saying anything to anyone about any kind of adventuring he had done at any time. Tali and Shepard agreed it was unlikely he would be believed even if he did. And Joker? Joker was around here somewhere. Watching Verren races.

Now Emily straightened as familiar sounding footsteps approached. Some were Turian, a couple were definitely Krogan, and one lighter pair were Asari.

"Shepard, I came all the way out of my office to see you."

"Aria."

The queenpin folded her arms across her white and pink striped chest plate. "You followed up on that lead I gave you, then?"

"I did."

Aria narrowed her eyes a fraction, then stuck out a palm, demanding something more. "And?"

"Didn't go anywhere. A Cerberus spy with nothing to tell me."

"Disappointing," Aria sighed, then eyed Shepard a little more keenly. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Hm. Whatever." She looked down at the city too. "I love that it's mine," she said, a typical arrogance in her voice, even if Emily found it something approaching amicable. "Are you staying this time?"

Emily shook her head. "I'll have a drink. Then it's Earth."

Aria looked at her with surprise and annoyance. "But… why? My crime empire is so much more interesting."

"You should leave this place, Aria. Head back to your real people. Hell, maybe even Earth, we could use another gun."

Aria laughed sharply. "Shit, Shepard, that's just crazy talk. Seriously."

"Something's coming even you won't be able to control, Aria. My best idea would be to hide and hope it… doesn't all end."

Aria shook her head. "When I'm in a mood like yours, personally, I go where there's some action." She glanced over her shoulder at her entourage. "Find a revolutionary volus or someone wanting my chair."

"A revolutionary volus?"

Aria slapped Emily on the back and span away, strolling towards the markets. "You never know! Enjoy Earth, Shepard. I'm sure it'll be wonderful!"

Emily watched her dissipear into the warren of stores and alcoves and wondered if she would see her again. She fancied she would.

A short walk later Emily was sitting on a stool at the bar in Afterlife, its neon pink glaze discolouring her skin. The clamour of the throng was loud and heavy around her, and their cumulative heat combined with industrial humidity to form a veil of sweat that hovered over every patron. The dancers continued their endless dancing, and the mercenaries continued their endless boasting.

"You want another?" the Turian barman asked, putting a fourth shot glass down in front of her.

The face reflecting back concluded one more wouldn't hurt.

"I'm bored of that blue stuff you keep giving me," Emily said, frowning, and looked over his shoulder. "You got anything else on that shelf?"

The Turian came back with two bottles. One had a black syrup of some sort in it, the other a ridiculously bright orange liquid, bubbling very lightly.

"What are those?"

The Turian didn't answer, but poured half a shot of the evil looking syrup and topped it up with the day-glow the two liquids met, though, the mixture sparkled and swirled, and their colours changed entirely.

Emily examined the creation. "Interesting. What's it called?"

"An experiment. I'm not sure if it'll taste good. So I thought I'd test it on you, Commander."

She downed it in one and blinked. "Damn. That's good."

The Turian cackled. "Well then, you can have the honour of naming it."

"Give me another first."

The Turian did so, and watched her raise the glass to him with satisfaction.

"Colour's something else, huh?" She downed it in one again and this time she slammed the glass down hard. "The Scarlet Chaser," she announced loudly. Then, when the barman wandered off, smiling, and the haze of alcohol began to shroud her head, and images of death and destruction came forth, Commander Emily Shepard repeated the name to herself quietly. "The scarlet chaser."