Disclaimer: I do not own or make any claim to the Mass Effect universe or the characters contained in this story, all of which are owned by BioWare and Electronic Arts.

Redemption: Come What May

Chapter 4: How do you Separate Wheat from Chaff?

Systems Alliance Heavy Frigate SSV Gallipoli, Brahe System (October 18, 2177, 0810 hours, Colony Time):

"Pick up the pace up marines, we'll be entering Akuze's orbit in 5 minutes! Get your gear stowed and your weapons locked!" the Commander ordered, explaining as he went, "Alpha team will be taking the shuttle down once we're in orbit. The Gallipoli will go groundside 15 minutes after that, then you move!"

Commander Mitchell Hynes surveyed the Hangar Deck, watching as the fifty marines under his command prepped for landing; variously checking and securing their weapons, loading their packs with rations, medi-gel and weapon mods or sealing their hard suits and checking systems and barrier functionality.

It was a varied group, as was common on these mission.

The Alliance couldn't afford to dedicate a Company's worth of trained marines and ships solely for responding to anomalous occurrences on their numerous colonies and instead threw together teams from a variety of specialties when such events occurred. The Akuze mission was pretty standard in that respect; it was comprised mainly of the usual 'meat' of the Alliance ground forces; A, B and C code marines, General Infantry Riflemen, Arm's Masters and Reconnaissance respectively, with each squad lead by an early grade N code Officer, the Special Forces vocation within the Alliance, with support from a squad of F code Combat Engineers and a tank crew manning their Grizzly IFV.

Pleased with his inspection, Hynes nodded approvingly as they moved purposefully, preparing for mission ahead.

They were ready to go.

Hynes stepped into the shuttle to find Alpha team already there. They were ten of the most senior men and women in the platoon. It was mostly experienced NCO's, but there were a couple of N4's that Hynes had specifically requested .

As well as being it's Commanding Officer, Hynes was also the only N7 in the platoon. That wasn't much of a surprise given how rare N7's are; in fact, the presence of an N7 made this hastily assembled platoon a true rarity in the Systems Alliance. N7's tend to work on their own or in small squads of their peers during combat missions, as they are generally entrusted with the most sensitive and high-risk missions.

So why then was an N7 brought in to command a quick response team that was ordered to investigate the sudden comm loss with the pioneer team on Akuze?

The reason was simple; this wasn't Hynes' first rapid-response landing.

Hynes had been involved in five previous missions of a similar nature throughout his career, the two most recent he had commanded and had acquired a reputation for efficiency and professionalism when it came to dealing with and commanding the often disparate groups brought together for these types of missions.

Only two of them had actually resulted in combat, his second and fifth, the others were a result of technical difficulties or a cosmological anomaly that interfered with the comm buoys. He hoped that this would just be another routine check-in but he knew better than to drop in unprepared; bored marines were better than dead marines any day.

Hynes' musings were interrupted by the squawk of his comm unit.

"Commander Hynes, we're in a stable orbit over the colony, you have a go," the voice of the Gallipoli's Captain came through Hynes' radio.

"Roger sir, depressurising the Hanger now," Hynes replied, as he activated the de-pressurising sequence.

Warning klaxons leapt into life, casting the entire hangar in harsh red as a twenty second count-down initiated, warning the other marines in the hangar to leave or seal up their suits.

A quick rap on the cockpit door let the pilot know they were ready to leave. The dull thud of the docking clamps releasing was the only sound audible within the shuttles troop bay, before the pilots directed power to the engines and put the shuttle in a stable hover within the hangar bay.

The Hangar bay doors finished opening, and the shuttle slipped out into the vacuum of space without sound.

Shepard watched the shuttle leave and waited until the hangar was pressurised again, then he went back to weapons prep.

Collapsing his newly reassembled M-7 Lancer, he placed it on the magnetic attachment points on his hard-suit. Then he took his Firestorm Shotgun from its place in his gear locker and began to inspect the weapon, checking the field generator, ammo block and his personal modifications. Satisfied, he collapsed it and attached it to the hard-point on his lower back.

It was one of the benefits of being an N-Class, you got to use more specialised, and expensive, weapons, as well as being allowed to add modifications of your choosing. Members of the Special Forces had a bit more freedom with their gear than other vocations, but that came at the price of far more being demanded of you. Just to be considered for the N vocation, you had to be an elite, able to pass through Officer Candidacy and show aptitude in a number of skills, ranging from asymmetrical combat to advanced physics and software engineering. It only got harder with every grade increase from there.

He quickly finished his inspection of his Kessler M-14 pistol, the standard issue sidearm for all Alliance personnel, when a preliminary report from Commander Hynes was broadcast to the Squad Leaders of the Platoon.

In short, the situation was not good. No sign of the colonists, heavy damage to the colony site and a completely dead radio frequency band never boded well.

With his weapons stowed, his suit sealed and its systems running nominally, Shepard joined the other five members of his squad who had also finished their preparations.

"Lieutenant," Corporal Toombs greeted as he turned and saluted Shepard as he approached. The rest of the squad did the same.

"At ease," Shepard replied with a quick salute. "I trust you're all ready to move?"

"Yes, sir!" They replied in perfect synchronisation.

Shepard could see the slight ticks they all had, nervous habits unique to the individual. Some re-checked their weapons, others fidgeted slightly, while others still scanned the room, even though the cargo bay was quite secure. For his part, Shepard tended to rub the back of his neck, though he had to mentally restrain himself now that he was in a position of command; no sense in making your squad doubt you.

'Good,' he thought to himself, 'they're not taking this lightly, they'll be ready if we have to enter a combat zone.' While the preliminary report didn't make any mention of hostiles, it was never worth not preparing.

"Good to hear, the Gallipoli will be landing in five; the Commander will be dispensing orders once we touchdown. I want all of you to be at the top of your game. The commander hasn't reported any hostiles but he also said that there is no sign of the pioneer team. We're here to secure the site for the rest of the force arriving in three days, and until they arrive we treat this as hostile territory."

The other five members of Delta squad nodded.

"Any questions you might have will have to wait until we're groundside," Shepard stated, pre-empting the couple of younger marines who would inevitably have questions. "All we know is that there is no sign of the Pioneer team, Alpha team hasn't reported any hostile contacts and the area is currently secure. Now make any last minute preparations you need, make sure you've been to the little soldier's room and get ready to disembark!"

A chorus of "Sir, yes Sir!" Greeted the lieutenant as his marines snapped into action.

Systems Alliance Heavy Frigate SSV Gallipoli, Akuze (October 18, 2177, 0830 hours, Colony Time):

Hynes walked over to the Hanger Door once the Gallipoli had landed, making sure to stand just far enough away so as not to be hit by the door as it lowered towards the planet. He was pleased to see that the marines still aboard the Gallipoli were alert and ready to disembark, no trace of the flippant or disinterested attitudes that often plagued these missions… and got people killed.

"Marines, listen up! Bravo and Echo teams, link up with Alpha and secure the perimeter. Teams Charlie, Delta and Golf, prep the supplies and get them off the ship. Foxtrot, get a comm link to the buoys set up. Hotel, you've got the Grizzly," the Commander suppressed a grin as the squads went straight to the tasks they had been assigned.

After Bravo and Echo had left the Hangar bay and Hotel squad had driven the M29A 'Grizzly' IFV off the ship, Hynes moved back on board to update the Captain on their progress and report to the brass about the state of the colony. He nodded to the marines unloading their supplies, which mostly consisted of rations and communication equipment as well as mini-facturing equipment and a not-insignificant amount of omni-gel for repairing any damage to critical infrastructure such as water mains or power generators.

As the elevator began its ascent, his mind began to run through the extra logistical details he'd need to ask the Captain about once he reached the CIC. He would need to ask for use of the ships comm room until they could get comm gear working on the planet proper. Hynes was also going to suggest that the Gallipoli wait in orbit until they were ready to leave, once all the supplies were unloaded and separate comms had been established. The elevator pinged and allowed him to step out into the CIC, where Hynes found the captain surveying status reports in the centre of the mass of consoles that acted as the nerve centre of the vessel.

"Captain," Hynes stood, saluting. His heavy armour and the veritable arsenal of weapons attached to his back made a lot of the bridge crew stare. The crimson stripe over his right arm and the N7 insignia emblazoned on his chest only added to the effect. The Captain turned and shut down his omni-tool, returning Hynes' salute. "I assume that you're here to update me on your team's progress and the state of the Colony?"

"Yes sir," Hynes replied, before bringing up his own omni-tool and describing what Alpha team had found upon landing.

Shepard surveyed the colony, or what was left of it, which wasn't much. Wide depression, troughs and mounds of dirt littered the colony, prefab buildings were strewn all over the place and some of the walls looked to have acid scarring across them. He had never seen anything like it. There was no evidence of a fire fight, no mass accelerator scoring, no bodies or blood stains, no explosive damage, nothing.

They had finished unloading supplies a few minutes ago, so his squad had formed a perimeter around their camp as they waited for new orders.

"Think the SIU might have trying out some new toys?" Corporal Toombs practically spat the name out as he surveyed the acid damage. The Special Intervention Unit was the infamous Batarian Special Forces group, renowned for their brutality. They were also the only members of the Batarian Hegemony allowed to leave Hegemony Space. There was a lot of speculation that the recent increase in surprisingly well armed and trained pirate attacks on human colonies and interests in the Verge were a result of covert funding and training by SIU units.

"I'm not sure, there's none of the typical evidence of a pirate raid, no evidence of a fire fight. We can leave the sleuthing to the experts when they arrive in a couple of days, until then we just need make sure that whoever attacked this colony doesn't come back."

Hynes strode down the Bay Door, the red and white stripe on his armour gleaming in the harsh lights from the cargo bay. This time none of the marines saluted, they were On Mission and highlighting to an enemy who your commanding officer is tends to be considered poor form, even if his N7 decals would make him a priority target anyway.

Noting the nearest Officer, Commander Hynes walked up to Shepard.

"Lieutenant, sitrep."

"Sir, all supplies unloaded and stored; Alpha, Bravo and Echo squads report Perimeter Secure and motion sensors active. Foxtrot is calibrating the comm array, it should be ready with-in ten minutes and Hotel is finishing a grid sweep looking for survivors, none found so far though," John rattled off as he recalled the status reports from the other squads.

"Good, good. There's a briefing at 0900 in the Operations Tent, don't be late," Hynes concluded in his traditionally blunt manner.

"Yes Sir," Shepard replied with a nod, before returning to his squad, while the Commander resumed walking, presumably to meet with the other Squad Leaders.

Over his squad's comm channel, Shepard relayed the update.

"Squad, hold position for now, we'll have our new assignments soon. Chief, you've got command while I'm at the briefing."

The usual chorus of 'Acknowledged' and 'Roger' came back through his helmet's speakers. Shepard began to head off towards the tent, eager to get his latest orders so he could give his men something to do or at least let them get some food and rest.

Entering the Ops tent Shepard found Lieutenant's Zhu and Treyn, leaders of Foxtrot and Echo respectively, already present. The state of the Colony had everyone on edge and until they were told otherwise this area was still technically hostile territory, so no one was being particularly talkative. Shepard nodded to them as he entered and took a seat, waiting for the remaining squad leaders and the Commander himself. The remainder filed in over the next five minutes until finally Hynes arrived, right on 0900.

Tapping a couple of keys on his omni-tool, Hynes brought a up a map of the colony with patrol routes marked on it and threw it onto the big screen whilst simultaneously sending a copy to all of the marines in the room.

"The Colony is secure for the moment, no signs of hostile activity or evidence of any survivors. Now we need to keep it secure until the main force arrives in 64 hours. Until then I want Bravo, Foxtrot and Hotel manning the Grizzly. One member of Hotel will be with the tank at all times while Bravo and Foxtrot can divide into two teams of three each. That gives us four teams of four. Each team will be on three hour rotations patrolling the outer perimeter; I'll leave you to work out the roster. Charlie, Delta, Echo and Golf will alternate on guard duty around the camp proper, four hours each; Charlie squad will be first, then Delta. Alpha squad will be on constant patrol around the camp perimeter for the duration of our stay. I want any squads not on active patrol to be combat ready and able to enter a fight within two minutes. Motion sensors are rigged at extreme range and drop ships are hard to miss so we should know if anything is approaching the camp. I'll be taking Alpha out in 30 minutes; Staff Lieutenant O'Connell has command of base operations if I am out of contact. Any questions?" He fired off, surveying the officers before him who all shook their heads.

"Good, go and get your squads ready then, we'll be here for a while yet."