Artkel, Part One

The CFC Insaaf hung in the dark space above the planet Artkel. From the cramped conditions of the bridge Miranda could barely see out of the forward view-port. But what she could see chilled her blood.

Twelve ships, each a different size and make. She couldn't clearly see what, but even from this distance she could spot the distinctive profile of each spacecraft against the backdrop of the mining station.

It didn't even look like a station, not really. More like a city that had been built in space. Spires and exhaust ports jutted from its rounded surface like skyscrapers. Alteia sighed next to her, "It's never easy, is it?"

Miranda didn't respond, her eyes were locked onto the mining station. She placed her hand on the headrest of the pilot; a young man with short, cropped black hair, "Take us in. Spool up the weapons. Be ready for trouble.

He turned back to face her, "Ma'am, we're outnumbered..."

Miranda nodded slowly, "Then start praying as well."

The pilot opened his mouth to protest, but Alteia silenced him with a swiping movement of her hand, "Do as she says."

The pilot glanced between the two of them, then at his co-pilot. He gave a long, exhausted sigh as he turned to his controls and began to carry out his orders, "They ain't paying me enough for this shit."

Miranda stepped out of the cockpit and into the CIC. Technicians worked tirelessly at blue-backlit consoles all around her. Automated sentries patrolled the area, sweeping their guns across the long, narrow corridor to the command console in tight, robotic arcs. Alteia followed behind her.

Captain Athwart was waiting by the elevator. He snapped off a quick salute as Miranda approached, even as his eyes followed Alteia warily.

"Yes, Captain?" Miranda asked, reaching past him and hitting the button to summon the elevator.

"Thought you might want to see this, Operative," Athwart explained, drawing a data-slate from his coat's pocket, "News report handed down from The Illusive Man himself. Karnak's men struck again two days ago. They destroyed a human trade envoy headed into the Terminus systems."

Miranda's eyes narrowed as she read the data-slate, "Son of a bitch. Thank you, Captain."

She pushed past him and into the open elevator. Alteia gave an annoyed grunt as she did the same.

"Problem?" Miranda asked as the elevator doors closed.

"Cerberus ship. Cerberus personnel," Alteia shrugged, "Not my biggest fan-base."

Miranda nodded, "You don't have to worry about them. They're just a means to an end."

The ship rocked as something impacted against its hull.

"Here we go..."

"You think they'll be able to stop this bird?" Alteia asked, glancing uneasily upwards as the elevator descended.

Miranda shook her head, "No. Karnak's men aren't trained pilots, for the most part and their ships, while large, are little more than retro-fitted junk-heaps."

"Reassuring," Alteia murmured.

The elevator doors slid open with a hiss.

The armoury was bereft of personnel. The Insaaf was running a skeleton crew, most of whom had been assigned to gunnery roles for the time being. Miranda glanced around the armoury, walls lined with all manner of weapons and armour stared back at her.

"Nice," Alteia whispered, pleased.

"Say what you want about the people that work for it, but Cerberus supplies them well at least," Miranda smiled.

Alteia nodded appreciatively, running her hand along a rack of assault rifles, "Yeah. Think I might apply for a job interview after this."

Miranda stopped dead in her tracks, her hands were halfway to a armoured vest she'd been about to lift off its shelf, "Alteia, we need to talk."

The Asari women was busy checking the sights on a short barrelled carbine, "Yeah? About what?"

"About Cerberus and about you," Miranda's voice fell quiet as she stepped toward Alteia, her hands trembled slightly, "They're not just going to let you walk away from this. Cerberus is Cerberus. To them, you're just another deniable asset."

Alteia smiled ruefully, "You think I don't know that?"

Miranda stepped closer, her whole body trembling now, "It's not something to laugh about! A week from now, maybe two, you'll get a message. It'll tell you to go some co-ordinates on the ass-end of space for your payment and they'll be waiting for you!"

Alteia placed the gun she was holding aside and closed the distance between them. A hair's breadth was the only thing separating them now, "Well, little Ms. Lawson, this is conduct very unbecoming a Cerberus operative."

"Shut up," Miranda hissed, "I'm doing this because I thought we were friends. Because I thought we trusted one another. Because you don't deserve to be another body in a shallow, unmarked grave."

"Well thanks for that, Miranda," Alteia pressed forward, her arms grabbed Miranda and pulled her tight against her. Her lips pressed against the young human woman's. She broke the kiss off a second later, "But we could be dead in an hour. Hell, if these Cerberus cronies fuck this up we could be dead in a minute. We'll deal with that bridge when we burn it, I think."

Miranda gasped once, then pulled away, "I can't help you, Alteia, I can only warn you."

The Asari shrugged sadly, "Should have known. Cerberus through and through, even after all we've done together."

"It's not that," Miranda said, turning away, "I just can't leave this. It's a part of me, as sure as my DNA is."

Alteia nodded, then smiled again, "You know, for someone so perfect you're a terrible kisser."

Miranda laughed at that, then felt a single hot, wet tear roll down her cheek, "Well if we make it out of this alive, maybe you could teach me a thing or two."

Alteia smiled as she pulled on an reinforced combat suit, "I'd like that, Miranda."

The ship jerked once more and Miranda stumbled slightly with the motion, "We're going to be going in soon."

"I know," Alteia said, her face suddenly impassive, "You ready?"

Miranda slid on her armour's gloves and gave a slight, relaxed sigh as her personal shield activated, "As I'll ever be."

The insertion pods were a floor below them. They lined the starboard and port sides of the ship. Large, round openings that gaped like hungry mouths. The doors closed and locked behind them as they got in, sealing the atmosphere in the small craft.

A comm. device on the wall crackled to life, "Operative Lawson, this is Athwart. We've disabled two of the enemy ships and destroyed a third. We're bringing the ship around to get you a better shot now, but we're taking a pounding. You need to insert now, or damned soon or we're probably not going to make it out of here. A lucky shot took out our entire aft-gun system, we're blind on that front."

Miranda picked up the comm. device and responded, "I understand, Captain, we're leaving as we speak. Good luck."

She hung it back up on its rack.

"So how does this thing work, exactly?" Alteia asked, patting a hand against the metal wall of the pod.

"Well, it's kind of like an escape pod," Miranda explained stooping over a green console, "Except, we're firing it through the wall of Karnak's station. There's thrusters that'll activate once we get clear of the ship that'll take us in and a shaped charge on the nose will blow a hole in the wall of the station once we hit it. Then, we just extend the hooks, the outer shell of the pod will inflate and seal the breach in the stations wall and we exit through the nose."

"Through the nose?" Alteia asked, her eyebrows rising upward in disbelief.

"Yeah," Miranda turned back to face her, "Put your helmet on."

Alteia glanced down at the curved, round helmet that locked onto her armour, "Why?"

"Because if the explosive charge detonates too early, we'll be floating in space instead of walking about in the station," Miranda explained without looking back. She slipped her own helmet on and locked it into place with a click.

Alteia lifted her helmet up, but paused before putting it on, "How often does that happen exactly?"

"Statistically? About fifty percent of the time, depending on speed and angle of approach," Miranda's voice sounded crackled and distorted through her helmet's mic.

"Fifty percent?" Alteia murmured in disbelief.

"Depending on speed and angle of approach!"

"Let's just do this," Alteia sighed.

"Three," Miranda counted down, tapping in commands as fast as her fingers would move. The pod doors closed behind them.

"Two," There was a harsh mechanical screech as the pod disengaged from the Insaaf, Miranda and Alteia slowly floated into the air as the ships pulled away, it's gravity compensators no longer holding them down.

"One!" Miranda shouted, wrenching down hard on a large, red lever. The pod wrenched forward, it's thrusters exploding into life as it launched them towards the station. They could feel, but not hear, flak bursts explode all around them. The pod jostled and bumped as it rode the aftershocks of the explosions. Miranda was pressed flat against the pod wall by the force of the movement. Alteia was thrown against the floor.

Miranda counted down the seconds until impact inside her head. One, and the pod spun as it was hit by a starburst of light and energy. Two. She flew across the width of the pod with the force of it, slamming into the opposite wall. Three. The pod smashed against metal, grinding screeches echoing all around them as the pod slid along something and came to a halt.

"What the hell?" Miranda groaned as she pulled herself to her feet. The nose of the pod was still there. That was bad.

Alteia slowly stood up behind her, "I thought you said we'd either get spaced or go out through the nose."

"Yeah, well, this is new to me too," Miranda responded as she turned and pushed past the Asari, moving over to the pod's controls. She brought up an image of the outside. The outer camera on the port side had been burnt off. The starboard one however gave her a clear view of the pod's surroundings.

"What is it?" Alteia asked, drawing her rifle.

"We're in the goddamn cargo bay!" Miranda growled, "The bastards opened up the doors we were headed for! They let us right in."

"Alright," Alteia sighed, "So what's the good news?"

"They've got us surrounded," Miranda slammed a hand into the console and instantly regretted it as pain flared up her forearm, "Must be at least twenty of them and they've all got their guns trained on the door."

"The door?" Alteia turned to look back at Miranda, an inquisitive eye roaming across the inside of the pod.

"Yeah, the door," Miranda said, rage filling her voice, as she banged on a removable panel of metal, "In case the nose malfunctions, you hit the thrusters again and it'll burn everything trying to force you through whatever it is you're trying to crack. The charge still doesn't detonate? You go out through the door."

"Clever," Alteia nodded, a smile playing across her features.

"What?" Miranda asked, noticing the look on Alteia's face.

The Asari jerked her thumb over her shoulder at the nose of the pod, "There's got to be some way to activate that charge from in here, right?"

Miranda nodded, an understanding smile appearing on her face, "An Elcor sized flashbang and a breaching charge all rolled into one. Impressive, Alteia."

"Well, I'm no Cerberus lackey, but I do try."

"I think I can do it through this console," Miranda tapped away at the controls, "But it'll be loud. Be ready. We'll only get one shot."

Alteia raised her rifle and aimed it at the nose of the ship.

"Here we go," Miranda said, her attention focused on the console, "I'll reroute an electrical surge through the charge and set it off. Should work. In theory."

"Sounds promising," Alteia murmured as she tightened her grip on her gun.

"We got ten seconds," Miranda said, standing up from the console and taking up a position by Alteia's side, her own gun raised.

"Listen, Miranda, about before," Alteia began, but Miranda silenced her with a glare.

"Not now," She said quietly, her jaw tightened and then set still.

The charge exploded. Sound and light filled the pod as the nose of the craft was torn away under a burst of explosive force.

Alteia leapt out first, her gun blazing. Miranda followed.

Karnak's men had been arrayed in a rough semi-circle around the pod. There was no cover in the cargo bay, what had long ago been filled with mining materials and equipment was now sparse and empty. There was nowhere to go, nowhere for them to hide or duck away.

Time slowed, or at least appeared to, as Miranda opened fire. The Batarians were staggered and falling every which way, clutching their ears or covering their eyes. Two of them had been outright vaporised by the blast. Her rifle kicked back against her shoulder as she dropped to a knee and began firing. They cut them down with ruthless efficiency, their guns stuttering out rough, staccato bursts of gunfire as they swung back and forth.

Bodies jerked backwards as they were riddled with slugs. Alteia let out a whooping cry as she pumped bullets into the stunned warriors. Miranda swung her gun around in a wide arc. One of the Batarians had found his footing. He raised his rifle up to fire. His head snapped back, dark blood sprayed backwards as the bullet shattered his skull.

"Clear!" Miranda barked, sweeping her gun back around to cover Alteia's rear.

"Clear!" Alteia responded, her gun dropping slightly as she swung her head around to scan the room.

Miranda stowed her file on the mag-holster on the back of her armour and activated her omni-tool. A map of the station appeared before them.

"Here we are," Miranda said, pointing to a large open space near the bottom of the station, "Control centre's up here. Engines and other essentials are down here."

Alteia took a long look at the station, paying particular attention to the engine room, "I can deal with the engines. Couple of grenades on a time-delay, throw them down these vent hatches here. Should take them out."

"Those engines are the only thing holding this thing up, as soon as they go, the station will be dragged down into the atmosphere and enter freefall," Miranda tapped the control centre with her index finger, "I can reroute all power to the shields from here. This station wasn't designed for re-entry. But with those shields boosted it should be able to hold together."

Alteia nodded, "Sounds like a plan."

Miranda shut down her omni-tool with a flick of her wrist, "Keep your helmet on, I'll need to use the life-support systems power as well. When I do that, I'll vent all the oxygen too. That should take care of anyone left alive."

"Like Karnak," Alteia smiled.

"No. He'll likely be in the control centre, I'll deal with him," Miranda's lips tightened into a grim smile.

"Good luck," Alteia said with a nod.

"Of course," Miranda smiled, "You too."

Alteia's smile stayed on her face until her human companion had left.

The knock at the door almost made Kelly jump out of her skin. She set the data-slate aside with a heavy sigh and rubbed her eyes as she yawned. She'd lost track of time again. They'd probably be wondering why she hadn't shown up for dinner down in the cafeteria. She stood up behind her desk and quickly made her way to the door. The knocks were growing in intensity. She hit the door release button and waited as it slid open.

"Where the fuck is she?" Jack pushed past Kelly and stepped inside, her eyes glancing around the room in short, frenzied movements.

Kelly reeled back, jerking away from the crazed biotic, "Who?"

"The bitch. Where. Is. The. Bitch." Jack enunciated slowly, thrusting a hand that crackled with biotic energy underneath Kelly's nose.

Kelly stared down at the hand, confused, "Miranda? You're looking for Miranda?"

Jack nodded slowly and moved the hand closer to Kelly's face, "I know she isn't on vacation. I'm not as stupid as the rest of these Cerberus drones so you either tell me where she really is, or I get violent."

"Jack, calm down," Kelly inched backwards and felt her back press against the wall of her office, "She's just gone away for awhile. Nothing important."

Jack's lips turned upwards into an angry, snarling mess, "Fuck you and fuck your excuses. Where is she?"

"You really want to know?" Kelly asked quietly, leaning forward into the biotic field around Jack's hand. Her eyes glinted in the blue light.

"That's what I fucking asked for, isn't it?"

"On shore leave," Kelly laughed, looking past her, "Now I bet you can't crush my head quicker than Shepard can shoot you."

Jack's head cocked to the side, confused.

"Get away from her Jack," Shepard's voice spoke up from the doorway. There was the sound of a pistol being racked and then silence except for the crackling biotic energy in Jack's right hand.

Then that disappeared too, "Fine. Fuck this shit. She's lying, Shepard. It's their way."

Shepard lowered the pistol as Jack left and then stepped inside, closing the office door behind her, "Kelly, are you alright?"

"Of course, Commander," Kelly said, fiddling with her collar, "Just a little shaken."

"I'm sorry about that," Shepard said, holstering her gun.

"Not your fault, Commander."

"She's not wrong, is she Kelly?" Shepard said, looking up and transfixing Kelly with her gaze.

"Commander?"

"She's not wrong about where Miranda is, is she Kelly?" Shepard asked again, closing the distance between them.

"What do you mean, Commander?" Kelly asked, stepping to the side.

"I looked up Artkel," Shepard said, pulling a data-slate free from her pocket, "It's a wasteland. Not a vacation spot. Miranda and Samara are on some sort of mission, aren't they Kelly?"

Kelly looked away, her mouth quivered as she answered, "Yes."

"You lied to me," Shepard said slowly. She threw the data-slate aside. It smashed against the wall, "You've helped endanger Miranda and Samara's lives Kelly. I trusted you in your capacity as our psychological consultant and not only have you betrayed that trust you've endangered my crew. Our crew. Why?"

Kelly looked up into the Commander's eyes. For a second she could have sworn they flared a deep, dark red, "Because Miranda asked me to. Because I thought it was important."

"You're on lockdown," Shepard said quietly, steadily, "You stay in this room until I tell you otherwise."

Kelly nodded slowly, "Commander, I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as I am, Kelly," Shepard responded, forcing open the door and stepping outside.

Kelly slumped behind the desk, her shoulders rising and falling steadily with the soft cadence of her sobs. She rubbed a hand over her face and sighed heavily. She looked down. The data-pad on her table stared forlornly back at her. She picked it up and continued reading.

Gunfire shattered the windows all around her. She dropped to a knee and continued firing. Two Batarians collapsed like puppets with their strings cut as Miranda's rifle barked and stuttered. The Control centre was directly above her. But the only way up was the stairs at the other end of the hallway. Karnak's men had dug in hard, setting up rockets and sentry turrets at the other end. There was no cover down where she was, just a long series of windows lining each side of the hallway.

She pressed her back against the nearest wall she could find and poured rounds down the corridor. Figures ducked and weaved to each side as they tried to find something to hide behind; the lack of cover worked both ways, Miranda was exposed, but so were they.

She tore a small, disk-shaped grenade free from her webbing and hurled it over-arm. It landed amongst the panicked soldiers and detonated with a sharp bang. Glass once again flew in every direction, but now there was blood and body parts mixed in too.

The turrets hadn't spotted her yet, she was too far outside their range. They stood at the bottom of the staircase, sweeping their guns back and forth across the hallway. Miranda raised her omni-tool and sent a burst of blue light down the hallway. It struck one of the turrets on the side and blew it into pieces. The second turret swung around to locate her and put a burst from her rifle into its side. It exploded a second later, metal fragments showering the hallway as its ammunition stores ignited.

Miranda dove forward, just in time. A shard of jagged steel sliced open her leg and left a long, bloody slash down her thigh. A second slammed into her rifle and knocked it from her hand, sending flying away. She drew her pistol with a pained grunt. No time to waste, and the side-arm would kill Karnak just as easily.

She leapt up the stairs, stopping briefly to put another round into a twitching body. An explosion sounded far below. Alteia was hard at work. She brought her gun up and stepped neatly up the stairs. All emotion, all concern seemed to float away and be replaced by cold, machine-like precision and purpose. There was nothing else, nothing but the gun in her hand and the obstacles in her way.

A clawed foot swung out from the side of her vision and caught her in the chest. She fell backwards, crashing back down the stairs. She tucked her body into as round a shape as she could as fell. Her gun-hand smacked into the edge of one of the steps and her pistol bounced away, rattling off across the floor. Miranda rolled to her feet and stood slowly, staggering slightly on her wounded leg.

Arctys stood at the top of the stairs, his hands rested on his belt, "You're going to die here, human."

He raised a single hand and gave a satisfied grin as biotic energy swirled and formed around it.

Miranda smiled grimly, "A Turian biotic, this should be fun. I've never killed one of those before."

"You never will, human," Arctys retorted and flung his arm forward.

Miranda threw herself to the right as the ball of biotic energy crashed into the ground. It exploded and she rode the shockwave of energy through the air, she landed cat-like, on all fours. Her own hand came up and thrust forward, Arctys ducked under the biotic surge as he leapt down the stairs, charging right at Miranda. Miranda smacked him aside with a rush of biotic power. He slammed against the wall and fell there, crumpled in a heap. She stepped toward him, pulling her knife free from its scabbard on her thigh. She twirled it around in her hand, positioning it for a downward stab.

Arctys lunged into action, tearing free his own knife from its place on his chest, "Die!"

She turned the blade aside with her own, parrying it away an inch from slicing into her chest. She lashed out, her knife opened a ragged cut in the Turian's jaw. He roared in pain and slammed a biotically-charged fist into her chest. Two of her ribs cracked as she was lifted into the air and thrown backwards. Her knife slipped from her fingers as she sailed backwards through the air. Her back slammed into the wall and she took in a sharp, pained gasp of air as she landed.

Arctys was on her, lightning fast, his hand closed around her throat and lifted her into the air with ease. His other hand drew back, the knife flashed as it stabbed at her side. She brought her legs up, hard, into his chest. He staggered back, choking and gasping for air. She dropped to the ground, landing uneasily on her wounded leg.

She swung a fist at Arctys' head and gave a grunt as it connected. The Turian staggered back, she chased him, swinging again and again. He reeled back, stunned by the blows. She drew back and threw her whole weight behind the next punch. It shattered his jaw. The next one she added a burst of biotic energy to it and caved in his flat, bridged nose. His head gave a wet crunch as Miranda drove the hardened bones in his face back into his skull.

She gasped for air, winded. He simply gave an empty sigh as he collapsed backwards against the wall. Dead.

She swung around, found her pistol and lifted with a miniature biotic field. Karnak was waiting.

She found him alone in the control centre. His back was too her. His attention was filled by a bright yellow console.

"Have you satisfied your bloodlust yet?" He asked without turning.

Miranda kept her gun aimed at his back, "Just one more left on my list, Karnak."

He turned around to face her and for a second Miranda thought she could see a pained expression on her face, "I knew you would come to kill me. But I still do not know why, do you?"

Miranda shook her head slowly, "You're a murderer. You've earned this."

Karnak nodded, "Yes. A murderer. But it starts and ends at the same place."

"Enough riddles," Miranda stepped forward slowly, her eyes scanning the room for ambushes or traps.

"I became a killer because of your species aggression," Karnak said slowly, sitting down in one of the chairs by the console he'd been looking at when she'd entered, "If you kill me, you only perpetrate the cycle. Perhaps you will, perhaps you won't. But always know that putting a bullet in my brain will make you responsible for the lives that are lost as a result."

"I came for justice, not metaphysical nonsense," Miranda hissed, tightening her grip on her gun. Her hand was beginning to tremble. Wether with the pain of her wounds or something else she wasn't sure.

"So did I, originally."

"This isn't justice you're propagating," Miranda hissed, the gun trembling in her shaking hand, "It's revenge. Petty, misdirected revenge."

Karnak threw his arms wide, "What is the difference, Ms. Lawson?"

"Motive," Miranda spat, her finger tightening on the trigger.

"And what would you claim is the motive of this?" Karnak asked softly, gesturing to the gun in her hand, "Justice? Or revenge?"

Miranda blinked once.

"Let's find out," She whispered, her finger tensing on the trigger.

She fired.

Alteia's voice burst over her earpiece as Karnak slumped to the ground, "Is it done? Are we ready?"

Miranda gave a trembling sigh and keyed her earpiece, "Yes. It's done. Blow the engines, I'm at the control room."

"On it. Let's get out of here."

Kelly set the data-pad aside with a shaking hand.

Whatever Miranda was about to walk into on Artkel, she hoped it would be okay.

But more than anything, she hoped that Shepard would get them there soon.