In which the action starts, OCs appear, and I start naming things that aren't named in ME proper. Because they don't exist.

Chapter 2 – Palaven

Three days had accomplished nothing. Kolyat was just as angry as he'd been before, maybe even more. Thane was usually to be found in the library, flipping slowly through that book of photographs. That was where Irikah found him around noon on the fourth day. He didn't need to see her hand to know the phone was in it. Her face was enough. He silently closed the book and held out his hand.

The phone was lead. "Thane Krios."

"Thane, you know what I'm going to say."

"Yes, sir. I'm on my way." End call and leave the damned thing on the table. He stood. "Irikah, I-"

"You're going."

"…Yes."

She threw her arms around him. "Come home safe."

"I will. I promise." The same words. Always the same promise.

Irikah let him go and stepped aside. "Say goodbye to Kolyat."

"No need," from the hall. "He's leaving again. So what? That doesn't change a thing." And the slam of a door.

Thane closed his eyes for a moment. Then, it was down the stairs, pick up the keys, put on the jacket, out the door. The desert offered him no awe as he hit the highway; he could drive the route blindfolded. He didn't need to read signs to find his exit, and all he could bother to think was how long it would take to get an army from the western border here, to this gleaming forest of towers that had sprung up around Rakhana's largest oasis. It was only natural for Ikhan to become the capital. How easy would it be to tear those towers down?

He turned off just as the sun began to cast Ikhan's silver towers in gold. He'd never been inside city limits, not once. He probably never would be. Never see the heart of the nation that he gave his all for. That he left his family behind for. His destination was the same as always: Fort Genna.

The guards let him in without an I.D. He was a familiar face. His car wasn't locked, and he left the keys on the seat. It may as well have been locked in a bank safe. In the side door, and… "Sir."

"I haven't been waiting long. You're entirely too predictable, Thane." …This wasn't good. He was always more casual when the odds of survival were low.

"Sir, where am I going?" Thane knew he was looking quite unfriendly. He didn't care all that much.

"Please, Thane. We've known each other long enough to be on a first-name basis, haven't we? What's it been, twenty-two years? Twenty-three?"

"Fine, Razh. Where am I going?"

"Thane, just settle down a moment."

"Razh Larin, where am I going?"

Razh's smile and pleasant demeanor vanished. He put a hand on Thane's shoulder. "You're going to Palaven, Thane. You're going to Oclus. The capital."

Silence, then Thane, quietly: "Sir, that's suicide."

Razh sighed. "I know, Thane. I feel like I'm putting a gun to your head and pulling the trigger, but I have no choice. This comes straight from the top. We need this data, Thane. It's just too vital. That's why it has to be you. You're the only one with a chance." His grip on Thane's shoulder tightened. "Do it again, Thane. Do the impossible."

"…I'm nothing but a man, Razh, but I know my duty, and I'll do it." Thane had gone completely stoic.

Razh let him go. "The full briefing and all of your equipment are in the car at the west gate. Arashu bless your path, Thane."

"Arashu bless us all." He left Razh, moving deeper into the base, heading for the westernmost exit. Autopilot. In the car and on the road before he realized he was driving. He let out a breath and turned on the CD player.

"Thane Krios," the female voice began, eerily level, "Your destination is Oclus, Palaven. Your objective is to infiltrate Hierarchy Command and retrieve data on the type, number, and position of every arsenal in Palaven. If possible, you are to record this data on the provided USB. As a backup measure, should the USB be destroyed, you are to personally review the data. Your eidetic memory will remain as an accurate record in such an event. Please destroy this recording immediately. Amonkira guide your hand."

"Amonkira, Lord of Hunters…" Thane took out the CD and snapped it in half, then snapped the halves in two and tossed the pieces out onto the roadway, barely hearing the crunch as the car to his rear left rolled over them. He rolled up his window immediately; it was freezing now that night had fallen. It would get warmer as he got closer to the border, where desert shifted to dry grassland, then to forest as he made his way into Palaven. But that was a good three hours away, and it was already nine. He'd need to get some sleep at the border before he continued the mission. Had to be in top shape for this to work. And he had a promise to keep.

He reached the border just past midnight, showing the guards his I.D. and parking right beside the wall. He reclined the seat and lay back, sleep hitting like a brick the instant he closed his eyes.

He dreamed of a funeral, hearing nothing but Irikah's sobs.

Thane rose before the sun, leaving the outpost behind and walking along the wall until he hit forest. It had been cleared away immediately next to the wall, of course, but there was no outpost in sight and no sounds of a patrol. Thane backed up to the edge of the foliage, then took a running leap at the wall. His fingers caught the edge, and he vaulted himself in an airborne somersault over the coils of barbed wire at the top before he could lose his grip. Easy enough. He ran into the forest ahead. No sign of a patrol, yes, but he couldn't be too careful.

Now, from here… He took out his compass. A GPS signal could be traced, and he remembered the map perfectly. There was a community about fifty-six miles northwest of here, one just big enough for there to be a chance of finding what he needed. He slipped the compass into his pocket, adjusting the small pack on his back as he started walking through the underbrush. He would only be here for two or three days, if all went well, a week or so if not, so he carried next to nothing: three bottles of water, a pair of energy bars, and a toolbox no bigger than a composition book. All he needed, really.

Hours of trudging through the woods annoyed him more than it tired him. He had no idea how the turians could stand living around all of these trees. It made him claustrophobic. He was relieved when the trees opened into suburbs, though not enough that he didn't heighten his guard. It was late afternoon. Still light out, and people would still be awake. Thane backtracked until he could no longer see the neighborhood. There was nothing left to do but wait for an ungodly hour to arrive. One AM, perhaps. He casually sat, took out a bottle of water, and waited.

Once he deemed it sufficiently late, he packed everything away and ventured out into the streets. He checked the windows of each and every car that he passed, looking for one that he couldn't see into. He tried to stay within range of escape routes, but there were tense moments when he saw none. Time marched dangerously on as he searched, before it finally paid off. Tinted windows.

It was easy enough to get in and start it; it wasn't like Thane hadn't stolen cars before. He pulled away from the curb and headed for the main road. He didn't need the compass now. The maps in his head were serving him well. As the sun came up, he pulled off at a convenience station and leaned back. He needed sleep. He couldn't afford to be anything but his best.

The same dreams made him toss and turn.

The next night found him in a disused lot in the heart of Oclus, about a mile from Hierarchy Command. It was midnight, and the city was still alive with turians. Of course, it was the capital, why would it ever slow down? Thane sat in the car, staring down an alley in front of him. How was he supposed to get from here to Command without being noticed? He sighed and looked to his right, at the fire escape on one of the squat old apartment buildings that filled this part of the city.

Wait. Fire escape. The roofs.

He got out of the car, pack secured to his back – with nothing but the toolbox in it – and USB in his pocket, and quickly, quietly climbed the fire escape, jumping from the top level to the roof. He looked around. All of the buildings between him and Command were within a few feet of each other in height and distance. Perfect.

Thane took a breath, then began his dash across the roofs. He had to catch the edge of a building and pull himself up several times, but always made sure that he would be out of sight of any windows. Most were dark, anyway. He reached the edge of the last roof, looking across a road and down a hill at a seven-story, U-shaped complex surrounded by a fifteen foot, chain link fence topped with barbed wire. Not an obstacle. The problems were that grassy, open hillside before the fence and the half-empty parking lot beyond. The lighting was terrible, but it wasn't bad enough to obscure his silhouette. The place was sparsely guarded, though, so as long as the guard at the entry gate didn't spot him – and no one else entered the lot from the building – he would be able to make it to his target entrance. The hill… He may just have to chance it.

He crept down the building's rickety fire escape and stood in the narrow path between it and the other apartment block at its back, looking out over the road to where the hill began to drop off. No sounds of people or cars… He bolted, not slowing when he hit the slope. His aim was a patch of shadow along the fence, and he skidded to a stop right before he crashed into it. He had no idea if someone had seen him, but he set to work, anyway, pulling out the toolbox. He chose the pliers, which had small sections of blade near the handles. Chain link was too easy to cut.

The toolbox went away, before Thane carefully peeled open the gap he'd cut. Barely big enough, but all that mattered was that he was inside the fence. He took one look at the guard; the turian's back was turned. Satisfied, he darted across the darkened parking lot until he was in the shadow of the building itself. He crept along the wall until he found the entrance he wanted: an emergency exit. The toolbox came out again, and he held a screwdriver in one hand as the other forced the door open.

The alarm was the last thing on Thane's mind as he dashed through the nearest closed door. An empty office. He grabbed the chair behind the desk and placed it beneath an air vent in the ceiling, unscrewing the vent and climbing into the ducts above. He could hear people in the hall he'd just escaped. The noise they made, on top of that of the alarms, would obscure any he made crawling through the ducts. He looked down through each vent he passed over, studying the rooms to check his position. After a few turns and a long, cramped crawl, he was unscrewing another vent and dropping through the ceiling. A room full of computers… Pay dirt.

Thane snatched the USB from his pocket and shoved it into the port of one computer as he turned it on. He tried to be patient as it started up, but he was on a timer, and he had no idea when that timer would hit zero. Finally, it had started. The file was encrypted, as expected, but it was easy for an experienced hacker to pick open. He started reading the figures, not taking the time to think on the data flowing into his head. Minutes passed as he soaked in the numbers. Then, the scroll bar hit the bottom, he read the last figure, and he copied the file onto the USB. It was big; this would take a few moments. He wasn't paying all that much attention to time as the file finished copying, and he ejected the USB, putting it back in his pocket.

He'd just placed a chair under the air vent so he could climb back up when a voice stopped him cold: "There's no fire."

Thane turned to the turian in the door with a stone face. "No," he said. "There isn't."

I know it doesn't seem very sci-fi-y. It isn't. Yet. Be patient. Ferret out.