Author's Note:

Sorry it's been a while. This chapter elaborates on some elements of human politics and the technical capabilities of humanity, so I had to check over some things to make sure they were consistent.

Also, to clear up some confusion, the drell situation is unchanged from canon. I was getting at the fact that the drell in canon were saved by the hanar in the 1980s, therefore humanity could not interfere. Any assistance provided to the drell and Rakhana will occur in the future.

So without much further ado, I don't own the ME universe. Bioware does, and I thank them for creating it. I also thank the creators who I provided the occasional shout-out to for their creations.

Citadel Security Headquarters
April 2nd, 2087

"So there we are, in the middle of the base, and the ConFed commander rushes out of his quarters in his pants! Needless to say he was both embarrassed and confused when he realized who we were and why all the guards were unconscious on the floor."

That elicited laughter from both the story teller and the only human female in the room. Though one of their companions was chuckling slightly it appeared.

"I don't understand. What's so funny about the guy being in his pants?" The strange drawl was amusing in its own way, but the confusion was clearly from some slight cultural difference than from any lack of intelligence.

Pausing to catch his breath the storyteller explained with a grin, "Whereas you uncultured Americans use the term pants to refer to the outer-garments which cover our legs, those of us who learned to speak English properly understand they refer to one's undergarments."

"Ha, real funny there Marcus. Quite the laugh. Remind me again who developed electro-gravitics? Oh, and who provided the strongest base of support for the Alliance in its early days?"

"I do believe Jim, that would be you Americans on both counts, but recall that I am not from Great Britain proper, unlike the good lieutenant. I simply had a proper education."

Avictus wondered if all humans got along like this. It would certainly explain why they seemed to baffle every other species they encountered. Ah well, that was another question to add on to the growing list they had.

Turning to his companions, Avictus motioned for them to enter the room the human Spectre candidates currently occupied.

As the door opened with the characteristic whoosh that all doors on the Citadel showed, the five humans inside turned and looked at the new arrivals.

"It appears lady and gentlemen that we have some guests. Or perhaps they are our hosts."

Avictus gave the turian equivalent of a grin, "Indeed we are, though before we get to the purpose of our meeting, we should wait for your Counselor to arrive."

The quiet human, Apollo, spoke up at that point, "He's been delayed by a meeting with the hanar ambassador, though he'll be able to appear through my holographic suite."

At that moment the figure before them disappeared, before it reappeared once again with the human Counselor by its side.

Avictus' companion Badau couldn't let that go without comment, "I doubt that will cease to be disturbing."

Turning to face the cadre of Spectres, the human Councilor Publius chided, "I believe you'll find yourselves eventually coming to terms with it. But that's neither here nor there."

"Well lady and gentlemen, I'm sure you've discussed why you're here before you started swapping war stories." Turning to face the humans, all five nodded their heads. "As you probably guessed, you have been selected as humanity's first set of Spectre candidates. You are among the best humanity has to offer. As such, you will be equipped with the best humanity has to offer."

The holographic image shifted to show the video feed from a nearby storeroom, where several suits of armor and an impressive selection of weapons was to be found. "Alliance Command has seen fit to grant you access to Project Valkyrie equipment." That pronouncement was met by some form of high-pitched noise from two of the humans, but it was stifled with a wave of the Councilor's hand. "I'm certain that you'll make good use of it, when appropriate."

At that point several C-Sec officers entered the storeroom and began moving the equipment. "You'll be able to suit up in the room you're in currently. I understand that the Spectres here would like to run you through C-Sec's training course, just to get a feel for your individual styles."

"I don't need to remind you what is at stake here. Do your best. And congratulations." And with that the holographic display shifted once more to only show Apollo.

At that moment the first C-sec officer wheeling the new sets of armor entered the room. And while each of the humans eyed it greedily, Avictus decided that now would be the best time to get introductions out of the way.

"Before we get to see you geared up and in action, perhaps it would be best to introduce ourselves?" Once again the humans focused on the Spectres before them. "I am Avictus Aurensus, and I will be the one overseeing your Spectre candidacies in a general capacity."

"Next to me is Badau Jon Vadoo." The pale salarian nodded in greetings at his introduction. "He is perhaps the most gifted of the current Spectres in the realm of cyber-warfare and espionage, and is former STG."

"Though I'm sure that your companion Apollo may take that title from me should he become a Spectre" the salarian added with a smile.

"Finally, let me introduce Fiora D'Tonis. One of the strongest biotics I have ever met. She is also very good at wheedling information out of those who aren't inclined to give it out freely."

The sole asari in the room gave a curt nod. "I look forward to working with you all. Hopefully your skill is able to match the edge your technology gives you."

At that, the apparent leader of the group of humans stepped forward. He was probably the thinnest of the three organic human males, but it was a lithe form. His dark hair was longer than what most human males seemed to possess, with a trim beard framing his mouth. All of it seemed to frame the slightly angular, pale face drawing attention to the strangely expressive blue eyes.

"I'm sure you already know all about us, but let me begin. I am Captain Marcus Cole. My specialty is in close-quarters combat, which given my capabilities and training in the vanguard biotic specialization makes considerable sense. I hail from the colony of Chiron, the first of humanity's colonies in the galaxy, and was part of the diplomatic delegation to the Citadel a year prior."

Next to step forward was the one they had called Jim. Larger than the other two, he carried a burly sense to him. Almost like a Krogan, if a bit more peaceful. He too had longer brown hair and a beard, though the rugged face and brown eyes did not convey the same warmth that Marcus possessed.

"Captain James Traynor at your service, formerly of the 101st Orbital Drop Troopers. I'm probably the heavy hitter of the group, with a focus on front-line combat. Probably better with a gun than old Marcus here, but seeing as how I hail from Alabama in the old United States, that's to be expected."

Next was the lone female. Short and with longer blonde hair, she had a pair of green eyes that seemed to follow everything in the room at once.

"Lieutenant Jennifer Smith by your leave. I'm from the territory of Great Britain, specifically Cardiff. As for my specialty, I followed the sentinel biotic specialization. I'm a bit more technically inclined than the good Captain Cole here, but I focus on the more long-ranged biotic powers."

Leaning against the far wall, the redheaded Apollo was the next to speak. "As you're aware, I'm Specialist Apollo Laurensis. I'm from the Alteran colony of Caprica, one the first in the Alteran Republic. I'm a sniper by training, though I am a capable infiltrator. The holographic suite probably helps with that."

Finally the largest figure in the room spoke up. Almost as tall as Avictus, and with a light brown skin tone, he was an intimidating figure. Chiseled would be the word to describe his facial features as well. His eyes were smaller than the others, but they had a strange sort of compassion to them.

"Lieutenant Jorge Maxwell, hailing from Altera proper. I'm an engineer, so if its a piece of tech or something that needs fixing, I'm your man. I tend to prefer the heavier weapons in the field, all the better to cause a little chaos in the enemy's lines with the turrets and tech I deploy."

Avictus had to hand it to humanity, they had chosen a wide variety of soldiers for their initial Spectre candidates. Now to see how they interacted with the old guard.

"Very well then, lets get you suited up to run the course. Though I have to ask, what was that sound you and Jim made earlier when the Councilor announced where your new equipment came from Marcus?"

Even as they went to inspect the armor that had been laid out before them, Marcus turned to answer "You mean whistling? It's just something most humans can do. Generally we do it when we're surprised or impressed."

Badau, who was inspecting the equipment even as the five humans began putting it on and running various checks on it asked the next logical question, "Why would you be impressed that you were getting new equipment? Or was it the source that was a surprise."

Jorge answered that question. "Project Valkyrie is one of the Alliance's weapons programs." Snatching a gauntlet from Badau, he continued, "Its goal is to integrate various electro-gravitic and element-zero technologies. Basically take the best of both worlds, while figuring out why our tech responds so poorly to element-zero."

"We weren't sure they had made significant progress in Valkyrie, which is probably why the Captains were surprised," Jennifer stated while running some diagnostics on what appeared to be a human version of the omni-tool. "Most of our armor uses kinetic barriers to some extent, mostly because kinetic-barriers have the least impact on shield strength."

Avictus knew that humans didn't use element-zero extensively due to the way it interacted with the rest of their technology, but it was surprising to see where it was used. "And why is that?"

Again Jorge answered, "That depends on what you mean. Why does our technology have trouble dealing with element-zero? You'd have to ask a physicist that question, though my understanding is that even they don't understand it fully."

Frowning as he inspected some piece of what appeared to be his armor's shield generator system, Jorge continued, "As to why barriers don't have that big an impact, I believe it has to do with the resonance pattern our energy shielding forms." With that Jorge looked up with an almost apologetic grin on his face.

"Though that sentence was probably meaningless if you haven't had a basic primer in electro-gravitics. Right, to start, remember your electromagnetism. Electric charges and magnetic dipoles generate electric and magnetic fields. The same thing occurs with mass and gravitational fields. Now of course, these types of fields aren't exactly real. They are how we describe how energy flows from one location to another when under the effect of mass or electricity. But for the purposes of this explanation field terminology is useful."

Pausing Jorge turned to Apollo. "Perhaps you can throw up a holographic display of an energy shield's field lines."

Simply nodding as he inspected one of the pistols that had brought in, Apollo made a small motion with his free hand. Shortly afterward a holographic image of a suit of armor appeared in the middle of the room surrounded by a series of lines."

"Right, as you can see, here we have a piece of armor. Our shields work by forming a barrier of energy around the object we wish to protect. To accomplish this, we essentially fold the electromagnetic and gravitational field lines generated by our shield generators into one another at the desired distance. What occurs is a buildup of energy at specific frequencies and energy levels that prevents objects with similar levels of energy from penetrating. The best analogue would be from quantum mechanics: the infinite well. Obviously this setup is not perfect, so our equipment tends to require better electric shielding than yours does as a result."

Gesturing towards the various pieces of armament and armor being investigated by his companions, Jorge continued with the explanation, "The interesting thing is what shield frequencies block what. For example: kinetic shielding has a similar frequency to the type of shield we use to disperse thermal energy. As such we are unable to operate those together as they interfere and reduce the efficiency and strength of both fields. Kinetic shielding and energy shielding however do not operate in a similar range, and therefore can safely be used with one another. Some frequencies block energy transfer in both directions, some only in one."

Badau, seemingly finished inspecting the various pieces, chimed in, "Hmm. So your ships must constantly balance what weapons and defenses they are using at any one time? I can see why your military prides itself on flexibility then."

Smiling, Jorge nodded, "Precisely. There are limits of course, especially with our weapons. Our blasters' hardware is designed to operate optimally at certain frequencies. Changing the frequency a blaster fires at can be done, but oftentimes it comes with some form of drawback. Usually decreased range or increased heat generation. Though all blasters are able to switch between a more potent damaging mode and a stun setting similar to a taser."

Fiora chose to interject at that moment, "So why then do barriers not have the same impact that other uses of element-zero do?"

"The simple answer is that barriers are static in nature. The use of eezo in generating the barriers causes some localized issues around the emitters, which is most noticeable on our powered armor. The more active uses of eezo however create shifting dark energy fields which create problems for our systems."

Fiora frowned, "So why use barriers if they even have an impact on the rest of your equipment? It seems like that introduces a weakness your opponents can exploit."

James chose to respond to that question while stripping apart one of the new assault rifles, "The thing with barriers is that because they create what is essentially a wall, they cover a weakness our shields possess. Basically because our shields create a shifting energy barrier thing, there are weak points that form. We call them resonance nodes. A well placed or simply lucky shot can penetrate at that location. Barriers provide a defense against that."

"I take it you went through a great deal of testing on this matter?" Badau once again chimed in while looking at one of the pistols, "This is apparently something you've given thought to."

Marcus spoke up for the first time since they had started to work through their equipment, "A bit of testing in labs is responsible for it. But the last major war we experienced on Earth also filled in some details."

That was something Avictus had become interested in. Humanity had fought a civil war similar to the Unification War the turians had experienced before discovering the rest of the galaxy.

"I've heard a lot about this World War, but never any real details. What exactly happened? I've been to Earth, and it doesn't appear to have caused any significant damage."

Marcus again took the lead in explaining what had occurred, "Well it wasn't our most damaging war. It wasn't a triumphant struggle of good versus evil like the second World War was, but it was ideological in nature."

Pausing his activity, Marcus gave the story his full attention, "The Alliance had been split into two factions once we had discovered that other civilizations existed in the greater galaxy, and that the rest of you used element-zero which has some considerable weaknesses. The first faction, dominated by the old western powers of Earth and their allies across Earth saw peaceful coexistence as the best path forward."

"The second faction was the Confederates. Despite the name, they wanted to establish an "Empire of Man" across the galaxy. They were led primarily by the People's Republic of China, which was essentially an oligarchy that had been positioning itself as an alternative to the form of democracy practiced by the rest of the alliance."

"Surely they didn't believe they could succeed?" Avictus knew that humanity had some skill at war. But to take on the entire galaxy? Only the Krogan and Rachni had managed that through their insane population growth. "Yes you had a minor technological edge, but they must have known it would be insane to try."

Marcus gave a humorless laugh at that statement, "The colonies and the rest of the Alliance understood that very well. But the Confederate leadership had convinced itself that not only could it take on the rest of the Alliance, but that the other races would fall to us once they had established a firm grasp on humanity."

"In the early days of the Alliance they couldn't make a move against the rest of humanity. Our economies were intertwined with one another to such an extent that war was practically unthinkable. Furthermore, the western powers that made up the majority of the military strength of the Alliance also held onto the schematics for much of the electro-gravitic technology that had already been developed."

"But as the decades passed they slowly managed to make it so that their economies wouldn't simply fall apart if war was declared. It didn't help that with an increase in mechanization of the work force and the rapid development of the colonies that the rest of the world became more self-sufficient. Throughout this time, what would become the Confederate leadership used the Alliance fleet as a test-bed for training their own forces and figuring out how things would shake out. Not to mention the possible saboteurs."

Shaking his head with a laugh, Marcus continued, "Of course, that's where things fell apart for them. Many of their double-agents turned on them. Most were simply discovered and drummed out or assigned to non-critical positions, but the rest were turned. So when the first strike came, the rest of the Alliance was prepared."

"June 2nd, 2041 was when they chose to attack, resulting in the Battle of Earth. The Alliance at the time possessed two fleets, though the largest class of ship we had operational at the time was the battle-cruiser. The Einstein was still in dock, though it was going through its final checks and so was able to launch its fighter squadrons. So all told, the Alliance had about 150 ships available."

Jennifer, having managed to get the majority of her armor and gear on, took over the explanation, "What the Confederate leadership did not count on was the Alliance fleet knowing when the attack would come. They had managed to secretly build a fleet out in the asteroid belt and man it at the same time, or at least they thought it was a secret. We knew they were building something out there, but didn't know precisely what or where."

"Well when then chose to attack, both Alliance fleets were in orbit above Earth. The admiral of the Confederate fleet actually had a son aboard one of the Alliance ships who was supposed to be a saboteur. Well, turns out he had been turned early on by the ship's captain. He managed to talk his father into surrendering, and most of the Confederate fleet did as well."

"What nobody had counted on was a second Confederate fleet, this time based on element-zero. You see, while ships utilizing hyperdrive can be tracked through hyperspace by the 'wake' they create in hyperspace, eezo-core ships cannot be tracked. And with the Centauri system nearby being a major source of element-zero, they had managed to build an impressive fleet. Though nothing that could compare to something the turians or asari would be able to make."

"But this is where we found out just how much ships that used both eezo and electro-gravitics were affected by dark-energy. When the second Confederate fleet began opening fire, their shield strength dropped almost immediately, both energy and kinetic shielding. So when the Alliance fleet returned fire, a sizable chunk of that Confederate fleet was rendered inoperable."

"The battle lasted around three hours. Where the Confederates had started the battle with around 125 ships, only 10 made it away from Earth. The Alliance in comparison gained 25 ships from those that had surrendered, further strengthening the Alliance fleet's hold of the space over Earth."

Shrugging her shoulders, Jennifer gave a small smile, "The war proceeded much as could be expected. The bases that had constructed the Confederate fleets were destroyed, and Earth was blockaded. The colonies backed the Alliance fully, and so those ten ships that managed to escape couldn't find any safe harbor. With the orbitals controlled by the Alliance, the Confederate ground attacks stalled and were picked off before they could make any major headway."

"The war lasted about 3 years nevertheless, mostly because the Alliance didn't adopt a total war posture. And because of the way most of the Confederate governments were spread about, the Alliance had to make sure that several loyalist governments were not invaded. Fighting in South America lasted for around a year and Africa took about six months to fully secure. Asia was the most difficult continent to take back, even though India and Japan had remained loyal, simply because China was so large and powerful at the time."

"Ultimately the Alliance had to turn several Ion Cannons, the main gun our battle-cruisers and dreadnaughts carry, against several military bases. With those assets terminated we were able to attack Beijing and bring about an end to the war."

James decided to chime in, "The war actually changed how the Alliance operated. Because it came about in part due to several nations using their own military forces, countries on Earth no longer maintain control of their military forces. National sovereignty is effectively a thing of the past. Earth's exemptions from the initial Alliance charter were revoked, and in the process the United Nations was turned into the official governing body of Earth. Earth is now just another world in the Alliance, though it does have a few special conditions being the homeworld"

"Not all of this was well received mind you. A lot of groups found this abhorrent. Socialists, anarchists, libertarians all decried the "New World Order". Fortunately because of the hyperdrive technology, most were able to leave Alliance space. A few groups remained, though we're seeing them beginning to settle in the Terminus Systems and Attican Traverse."

Fiora perked up at the mention of these rogue colonies. "Where did those initial colony ships go? They must not have settled near in any systems near the Alliance if they didn't want to be forced into it simply through expansion."

Apollo answered that question, " Most of the colony ships headed towards the several of the dwarf galaxies orbiting the Milky Way. Their journey should take about 20-30 years given the speed of their hyperdrives. We believe another few are en-route to the Andromeda Galaxy. Those ones will take around 150 years. They should have the supplies to reach their destinations, but we certainly hope they don't wind up annoying the neighbors."

Avictus noticed both Badau and Fiora frowning. Given what he knew of the speeds hyperdrive could attain, those time-estimates were far too short.

But before he could bring it up, Badau beat him to it. "I'm sorry, but your ships aren't capable of the speeds necessary to make such trips in such a short period of time. So how is that possible?"

Jorge chuckled even as he picked over the rather large light machine gun in front of him, "You already know that dark-energy has a negative effect on our technology. It's the answer to that conundrum as well. Our ships' travel speeds in the galaxy are limited because of the fact that other civilizations in the past used element-zero extensively. Once ships escape the galaxy, their speed increases by a significant factor."

"Surely the protheans didn't cause that much of a problem for the rest of the galaxy by creating element-zero technology. Our estimates say that they couldn't have explored more than 20% of the galaxy by the height of their empire." Avictus said with a frown.

And then he noticed how tense all of the humans had gotten. Each one was looking at the others, almost waiting for the others to explain. He'd seen the behavior before, always when the subject of the protheans or the origins of their technology came up.

It was Apollo who answered the question, if reluctantly, "We think that other civilizations predated the protheans, and that they too used element-zero technology." Pausing, he continued, "We aren't sure however. Though it would go a long way towards explaining why there is so much dark-energy build-up in the galaxy."

Interrupting, Marcus clapped his hands together with a loud bang and several sparks from the thrusters mounted on his gauntlets, "Right then. It looks like we're all suited up and sufficiently satisfied with our equipment. How about we go and test it out then, hrm? Perhaps we'll even deign to show off our combat skills a little bit."

Fiora had to admit that humans certainly could talk. She had thought that salarians could talk someone to death, but she was now starting to think humans could give them a run for their money. In the ten minutes it took to reach the C-Sec training course, the group of humans had managed to cover no less than six different subjects and express almost three times as many opinions as there were members of the group.

It was impressive.

Fortunately it all ended when the entourage reached the training course, meeting up with the other two Spectres who would be overseeing the human candidates. Harra T'Velos was probably most similar to the only female human in the group with her specialization and would be overseeing that bubbling personality. She had, along with Korvin Facinic, been overseeing the course setup.

First to go through would be the young lieutenant herself. There had been some jockeying for the honor, though all had agreed that Traynor would go last. Apparently no one trusted him not to simply blow up the course before the others had a chance to run through it.

It was a simple setup. Four rooms had been arranged. The first had several turrets in-place defending the entrance to the rest of the complex. The next room had roughly a dozen mech guards in place, patrolling through crates and other assorted obstacles. The third and fourth rooms had similar setups in place, though they also contained several turrets as well,though the fourth contained a special holographic target that the subject had to eliminate in order to complete the course. It wasn't a particularly difficult course, but it would be useful to see how each human operated in a combat situation.

"So I assume that the Confederates no longer exist as a viable organization?" Avictus appeared to be returning to an earlier topic, probably trying to determine just how divided humanity was.

It was Marcus who answered yet again, "Actually there are a whole host of splinter cells throughout human space. Mostly on frontier worlds or worlds that have not been colonized. That op I was describing before you met with us took place about four years ago in fact."

"So is your government not taking measures to ensure that the Confederates don't regain their strength?"

"It'd be more accurate to say they make up a small minority of humans at best. Obviously some will always sympathize with their goals, but most humans don't. Even Terra Firma, which advocates an isolationist position, doesn't support the Confederate ideal of a human run galaxy."

And there was the lieutenant entering the course. Wisely taking cover immediately, she lobbed some sort of device into the center of the room. The turrets which were guarding that particular location locked on to the device momentarily before resuming their scans of the room.

Which turned out to be a mistake when Jennifer took out one turrets shields with some form of EMP grenade and followed that attack with a warp field, rendering the turret inoperable. Shifting positions, she opened fire on the second turret with her pistol, reducing its shield strength significantly as well, and scoring some minor damage to its armor in the process.

The other turret however had managed to lock onto her position and was beginning to pour fire onto it slowly but surely. The lieutenant responded by throwing a singularity into position close to its line of fire, managing to redirect the fire.

"It would appear that despite the fact your species doesn't use element-zero extensively you have managed to create some impressive biotics," Harra observed.

"Well, our nano-technology aids us in that matter to an extent." Marcus responded with a smile as the lieutenant fired off a shockwave at the offensive turret before disabling the other turret and making her way towards the exit.

"I assume it fills the role of a biotic amp?" Harra pressed further.

"To an extent yes. Us human biotics have to have a bit of additional cybernetics to make our abilities useful on the battlefield, but the medical nanites do regulate the element-zero a fair bit as well."

Chiming in with a smile, though whether it was due to the fact that Jennifer had managed to enter the second room by hacking the door or with the upcoming cracks Fiora had no idea, James continued. "Though given how much more you have to eat because of your biotics, its important that we get some use out of you."

"Yes well, given how the caloric intake of all humanity has increased with our utilization of nano-technology, it would be nice if you did not begrudge us an extra thousand calories."

Badau looked away from the sight of three mechs being torn apart by a singularity at that revelation, "I had wondered how the nanites power themselves. The most obvious solution seemed to be using the body's natural thermal energy."

Wincing at the sight of a warp-shockwave combo eviscerating a small cluster of mechs, Jorge took up the technical explanation yet again. "Yeah, the nanites use the thermal energy our bodies produce in order to run. An unanticipated side-effect was that we now need about 50% more calories to live. Biotics need even more food, upping their calorie requirements to around 6000 a day to maintain their weight. And given the rate at which Jen is tearing through these mechs, I better go get ready for my turn."

"That's why you see so many farm worlds in human space," James elaborated, "We eat a lot. We can reduce the amount we need to eat by running our nanites in emergency mode, but for us soldiers that's not a good option. Though with the new crops we keep developing with genetic technology, we've managed to keep pace pretty well."

After signaling the repair crews that they'd need to replace another turret, even as the lieutenant took out another in the third room, Korvin piped up for the first time, "So the nanites provide something besides protection from biological and chemical warfare?"

"Right. We've seen an increase in both strength and stamina since we started using the nano-tech system, with a small measure of improved physical regeneration to boot. And mental acuity has been increased by a small measure as well. We find ourselves able to think faster, absorb more information quicker, and react faster. All things which, for a soldier, are indispensable."

With that, the lieutenant found herself in the fourth room. The mechs this time opened fire on her position almost immediately, and she found herself throwing a barrier up immediately and taking cover. Throwing several more EMP grenades out, she managed to disable the majority of the mechs long enough to throw a singularity and shockwave out, scattering the remaining force. Followed by several shots to the holographic target, she completed the course in a decent time.

After the course had been reset and the defenses inside repaired and rearmed, Jorge entered. Where Lieutenant Smith had moved with an almost acrobatic grace, Lieutenant Maxwell took a different approach. Instead of immediately taking cover as Jennifer had, Jorge simply tossed out two small turrets before boosting his shields and pulling out the light-machine gun he carried. Swiftly taking out the turrets before him, he strode up to the door, simply slapping some form of explosive on the door, blasting it into the second room.

"Had I realized it was a race, maybe I wouldn't have taken cover so much." Jennifer said with a slight smile, sipping some form of energy drink.

Fiora couldn't help smiling at the comment, even as Harra opined, "You showed a degree of finesse which is lacking in your companion there. Though his method is certainly effective."

Marcus chimed in at that point, "I quite enjoy a good show of fireworks, though your biotics were impressive Lieutenant. Jorge there just has to show how our engineering corps gets the job done."

Fiora was forced to admit as the human engineer deployed yet another set of turrets in the third room, finally taking cover as well, that it was an impressive display of force. It was interesting how focused it was however. Despite having a rather disturbing amount of firepower at his disposal, Jorge didn't appear to waste any of it.

Ultimately it didn't take much longer for Jorge to muscle through the third room. And after deploying several turrets and grenades in the fourth room, rather unceremoniously took out the target with his pistol.

Once again the course had to be reset, though it took a little longer due to the damage caused to the structure itself. Next up was the Artificial Intelligence infiltrator, Apollo.

"Twenty creds he makes it through without destroying a single thing." James said to the other humans in the room.

"That's a fools bet James." Marcus said with a smile, "In fact, I better go get ready for my run through, given how fast he'll likely get through this opposition."

Korvin frowned at that, "Why do you think he'll get through without destroying anything?"

Jorge chose to respond, "Because you have a series of Virtual Intelligence mechs and turrets up against an AI. It's no contest. Apollo will spoof their sensors and simply walk right by them, if he doesn't just cloak himself."

And with that pronouncement, the group watched the scene below them unfold. Entering the room quickly, Apollo did indeed simply cloak himself. However, the turrets then proceeded to open fire on each other, even as the door popped open and a shimmer passed through.

The next room erupted into chaos as some of the mechs simply fell down, with others opening fire on their compatriots before an EMP grenade took them all out. Again the door to the third room simply popped open.

"Well now I'm glad no-one took me up on that bet." James said with a wry smile, "Damn show off."

The third and fourth rooms erupted into chaos in much the same way as before. Finally the AI reappeared behind the holographic target, taking it out with a shotgun blast from behind. Setting the fastest time yet for the group of prospectives, and giving the techs responsible for resetting the room the least amount of work yet.

With a smile on his face as he re-entered the room, Apollo did at least look apologetic. "Sorry, I'm sure that strategy wouldn't work against organic foes. But it was fun."

"Show-off," was all Jennifer said before sticking her tongue out at the infiltrator.

"Right, lets see how Marcus tackles this situation." The AI responded simply.

As Marcus entered the corridor leading into the course, Fiora's attention was drawn to the object he held in his right hand. "Is that a staff?"

Peering closer at the display it was Jorge who responded, "Yep, looks like Marcus is that type of vanguard. I think tackle was the right word to use there Apollo."

"Indeed."

And with that, Marcus entered the first room. And immediately disappeared in a biotic flash and bang as he reappeared on top of the first turret, slamming the staff through its control panel. Satisfied he had disabled it, he then flashed towards the second turret, unleashing a nova at its location before cracking its barrel with his staff. Throwing a quick warp at the final turret in the room, he charged once more at the final target, causing a small biotic explosion as the energy fields warped around his impact.

"I take back my claims of you being a show-off Apollo." James and Jennifer said simultaneously, even as Marcus made his way through the door.

The next room saw Marcus charge straight into the middle of the assembled mechs. But instead of unleashing a nova as Fiora had expected, he proceeded to tear through them with the staff. Bouncing around like some sort of hopped up pyjack, it was like watching some form of violent dance. Only after the last mech fell did he stop moving, and only then to compose himself as he strode to the next door.

"I take it he follows some form of martial arts?" Avictus asked.

Shrugging his shoulders, Jorge responded, "Every Alliance soldier learns some form of hand-to-hand combat. I think Marcus follows one of the Asian forms of martial arts, but I can't be sure. I know that some groups of vanguards have revived the European martial arts which used staffs extensively."

"Not all vanguards use a staff then?"

Jennifer responded to that, "No, most use guns to a large degree. Some use swords. They are all focused on close-quarters combat however."

The next two rooms fell quickly to the biotic onslaught. Fiora was intrigued by the shockwave the human vanguard created. Instead of a thin path of biotic energy, he created a sweeping wave with his staff as some sort of focus. This let him take out the mechs in one swift movement before he turned his attention to the turrets. In the end he took out the target with his pistol, the only shots he fired from the weapon in the entire span of time.

"He was part of the diplomatic guard when your species arrived at the Citadel last year?" Badau asked when it was all over, "I'm rather glad we didn't come to blows that day if he was there."

Fiora had to admit a small amount of sympathy for the poor techs who had to replace almost every piece of combat equipment after each run through. And then she remembered why they had saved Captain Traynor for last.

"Just how much damage will James likely be causing?" Fiora found herself asking.

"Well that depends on how he decides to take on this course. If he looks at it like a race, it will probably be minimal. Maybe. If he sees it as a chance to show off, well, Alliance Command may not like the bill you'll be submitting to them." Jorge stated with no small amount of apprehension in his voice.

Korvin grimaced at that. "Well this should be interesting to watch at least."

With a chipper smile, Jennifer replied to that comment, "You'll see how our Drop Troopers enter the fight at least. Kinetically."

All eyes turned to the behemoth making its way towards the course. Fiora had to admit that it was a scary amount of armor, but the strange thing was the pair of jump-jets on its back. She didn't see how they could be useful in close-quarters situation like this.

Of course, as soon as the Captain entered the room she understood how. Engaging the jets on his back, he literally threw himself at the first turret, simply removing it from its position through sheer kinetic force. Landing with a crash, he started opening fire on the other two with his assault rifle, tearing through the two turrets with ease.

He then proceeded to align himself with the door, before once again engaging his jump-jets and crashing through the door and the next line of cover, finally coming to a halt in the middle of the mechs.

"Kinetically. Yes, that is quite apparent." Badau stated with a shocked expression on his face.

Once again he started tearing through the mechs, this time using the shotgun at his disposal. Supplemented with his fists when a mech got too close.

Proceeding into the third room in the same manner, he didn't even stop to engage the forces in it, simply deploying a series of grenades from somewhere on his suit before tearing into the final room. Taking cover, he proceeded to start taking shots with his assault rifle at the turrets in the room, deploying several more grenades to thin the mechs that had begun advancing on his position.

Finally sensing an opening, he glided into the center of the room with his thrusters before taking out the target for the final time. Leaving behind him a large amount of debris and smoldering wreckage.

"Well at least the walls are still standing." Jorge stated simply.

Fiora could only shake her head, as the techs once more entered the room, this time with fire-fighting gear.

"I think we've seen enough here, lets all make our way back to the meeting room where we can discuss who will be assigned whom." Avictus stated simply after eying the mechanical carnage.

"I'm sure you're all excited to get out into the field. But before we do so, you'll have to be assigned an observer." Avictus began once they had reconvened.

"Marcus, Fiora will be your observer. She's a vanguard as well, so she'll be able to keep pace with you in combat. Besides, it will be interesting to see how your biotics interact with one another."

Both nodded at him before glancing at one another. Marcus flashing a brief smile.

"For similar reasons, Harra will be your observer Jennifer. Harra is a former huntress, so you should be able to pick up some interesting biotic skills. And I'm sure you'll be able to teach her a fair bit of the new gear that will be hitting the rest of the galaxy shortly."

Giving a quick smile and extending one of her digits up in his direction, Jennifer quickly made her way over to the asari.

"Because of your shared technical expertise, Korvin will be working with you Jorge. I'm sure you'll be able to bring him up to speed on the pros and cons of your equipment. And I'm sure he'll be able to push your destructive capabilities to their limits. When necessary."

Sharing a chuckle, the two figures turned to one another and entered into quiet discussion.

"Apollo, given your rather unique perspective amongst those of us assembled here, Badau will be your observer. He tends to take the more technical or sensitive missions, so I feel you'll be a good fit with him."

Simply nodding their heads, the two figures began typing into their omni-tools. Or at least Badau was, Apollo was probably simply providing a holographic display of such activity.

"Which leaves you to me Captain Traynor. I'm sure I'll be able to find some use for your talents. But we'll save that discussion for later, right now we have a ship to catch."

Standing up, the armored human followed Avictus out of the room. "So where we headed boss?"

"Illium." Glancing at his omni-tool, Avictus made some mental calculations. "You've got an hour to grab your stuff and meet me at dock D-35. We're meeting an acquaintance of mine who has some information we may find useful for our first mission."

"An acquaintance huh? Some kind of merc or something?"

Nodding, Avictus continued, "Yes. He's a krogan, but he's one of the best krogan mercs there is. Smart sort, we've formed some form of mutual respect in our run-ins."

"Well then, I can't wait to meet the fellow. And the chance to explore a world full of asari. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll head off to grab my gear."

"Of course." Turning to face the human, Avictus extended his hand to the hulking man, "And let me extend my personal congratulations. I look forward to working together with you."