Remnants

by General Rage

From Halo's ashes, a mismatched Alliance is born. UNSC soldiers now serve alongside both Batarian deserters and shifty Jackal Space Pirates. Now Shepard and Master Chief have to keep these strange bedfellows from killing one another before they can stop an emergent new threat to the galaxy. The Next Swashbuckling Chapter of the Wormhole Chronicles.

37. A Bigger Boat Part 2

Chapter 35 Part 2: A Bigger Boat

This Shark... will swallow you whole.

Shaking, Tenderizing, Down you Go.

- Captain Quint

The hovering transports were racing up the road to their position. According to UNSC files, these were "Shadows" primarily used to get vehicles and infantry into the fight quickly. In this case, it was pirates, loaded onto an open cart strapped to the belly of the vehicle. They were approaching fast, flanked by Ghosts and one Spectre.

Clearly, they had a rich choice of targets. Garrus had already picked out his and fired on the main gunner for the Spectre. As the Jackal manning the weapon slumped away from the gunnery position, Jacob let loose a rocket that collided with the lead Shadow's cockpit. The vehicle's front end exploded and nosedived into the ground as its anti-grav failed. The pirates inside were either killed by the blast, flung free to crash onto the ground, or had to crawl out of the wreckage. A second rocket destroyed the Spectre as it attempted to get into a defensive position.

The watchtower within the processing plant's perimeter was clearly the best defensive option open to them. They had a wide view of the main entrance and the road leading to it. The flaming wreckage on the front step was a clear indication of that fact. Garrus was now in the process of picking off Snarlbeak's pirates as they tried to rush for cover, of which there was little in the open road. Any who stopped to return fire ended up getting gunned down by Garrus with ease. Jacob had already loaded another pair of Rockets into his launcher and was taking aim at the now besieged convoy.

"Aim for the Shadow at the back," Garrus said. "Box'em in."

"Way ahead of ya," Jacob assured him, firing the next rocket.

The projectile flew towards the back of the pirate column, striking the Shadow and destroying its top frontal turret. A second rocket struck the Shadow dead center, with enough force that the vehicle toppled over.

However, despite the success of the strikes, the Pirates were rallying and moving toward the entrance. Jacob, noting this, moved to descend from the tower and defend the main gate properly. Garrus remained in the tower, firing on the Pirates as they made their approach. Their confusion and panic made the road a target-rich environment. Garrus nabbed a Ghost's operator as they tried to get through the wreckage. The top turrets of the remaining Shadows began to open fire in kind, trying to cover their occupants as they made a run for the gate.

Those who reached it though, found not only Jacob and a few ODSTs who had stayed behind to assist in the defense, but also Zaeed. The old mercenary was laying down a torrent of fire with a machine gun turret they had quickly set up. The rattling of ejected bullets and the spin of the motorized barrel was only matched by Zaeed's laugh as he laced the entrance with fire. The Jackal pirates formed into shield pairs and trios to try and weather the storm, However, there was only so much punishment their shields could take of course.

In the midst of the fighting, Garrus contacted McKay.

"We've engaged the Pirates at the front gate," he reported. "How goes things inside?"

"Steady, we're getting charges on every major support we can and some of the tanks," she answered. "But it's looking more and more like we should not be anywhere close to this place when it blows. A lot of this shit is toxic as hell. I don't think we're gonna be taking our hazmat gear off anytime soon."

"I'll be sure to pressurize my helmet just in case," Garrus told her. "Just keep going, we'll keep them out."

"You and everyone else, they're already hitting the secondary entrance, Marines are holding but they're swarming the area."

That just meant they had to be faster and maybe find a way to slow the attack on this end of the plant. Garrus took aim again to take out a few of the Jackals who were breaking the outer perimeter. One had his shield up as he ran, so Garrus aimed ahead at his legs. Garrus missed a few shots, but a fourth nailed him in the knee and caused him to fall to the ground in a heap. Jacob also managed to pull another Jackal out of cover for the ODSTs to rake with fire.

However, Garrus suspected that his vantage point would be compromised eventually. It came earlier than expected when one of the Shadows pushed the wreckage in front of it out of the way. Its top gun started raking the watchtower and Garrus knew it was time to leave. He vaulted over the side near the back of the structure and dropped to the ground. Just seconds before plasma lit up the nest. ODSTs helped him to his feet and they all moved to Zaeed's position.

"We're gonna need to slow this influx," Garrus told him. "We're getting hit all along the line!"

"I'm noticing a lot of movement in the drug fields too actually," Zaeed warned. "Seems they're pushing up through their product just like we did. Might be a way to close that avenue though and make the main road a bit more treacherous."

"You want someone to take over the gun?" Garrus asked.

"Just for a bit," Zaeed promised. "Be right back."

Garrus called Jacob over, who quickly took over the turret, firing in short bursts. Together they covered Zaeed as he advanced up to the gate, firing on a few pirates as he went. A concussive shot from the old merc actually knocked one of the hostiles right back out the entrance and into the drug fields. Zaeed's bold advance, bolstered by some ODSTs assisting him, forced a number of Jackals into the only cover available near the road, the drug fields.

This was what Zaeed wanted because at that moment he began chucking something into the fields themselves, Inferno grenades. The thermal blasts ignited the drug plants almost instantly, the clusters of fire only causing the flames to spread more. To assist further, Zaeed brought out the Firestorm and moved out somewhat into the road itself.

Jacob let loose on the machine gun to keep him covered, as Massani sprayed an infernal torrent across the fields. It wasn't long before the plants were going up in a fireball, along with any unfortunate pirates caught in it. As soon as it looked like he had done enough damage, Zaeed pulled back into the processing plant perimeter and ran back to Garrus and Jacob.

"Well, we're gonna have to likely burn those anyway," he said.

"True, just try not to breathe anything in," Garrus cautioned. "We have no idea how potent that stuff is for non-Jackal consumption."

Zaeed checked his biohazard mask directly, just to be sure.

The fires seemed to do the trick, the attacks started to slow. The only consistent enemy fire came from the Shadows and those were soon silenced once Garrus got a bead on them. He popped the heads of their gunners one after the other. The pirates were soon abandoning this end of the assault, likely trying to reposition to the secondary gate.

"I'll move to the secondary position, shore up their lines," Garrus said. "Hold the fort here in case this is a feint."

"No worries, Garrus, we got this," Jacob assured him.

Maybe, but they were still dealing with a volatile drug processing plant that was about to explode. Holding this place was going well so far, the real question was if the escape from it would go just as well.

---

Retz kept watch out the window, his focus split between the road and the distant processing plant. Mostly because the fields were now on fire and you could see the flames and smoke for miles. Part of him hoped that meant they'd divert more people over to the plant rather than the distillery as a result. Not out of any personal bias, it was just the ODSTs and Marines were more equipped to handle the influx of troops, they were not. They were a smaller Commando team only slightly boosted by Varvok's squad of Batarians. They could hold, sure, but not indefinitely. So far though, nothing had come their way.

Zix had tried to reassure him that she had sent an all-clear signal over the security channel. That it would shield them from a full-fledged assault of any kind for a while. It wasn't verbal though, eventually, they'd send someone to check up on things. Or at the very least to reinforce the area. They had taken care of the guards at the front gate, well, Keth had and then Krez went out and dragged the bodies out of sight. It had to be done of course, but it meant any reinforcement would figure something was up.

The best chance they had was to appear bigger than they were. Their defenses were rather spread out as a result. Keth on the roof, Batarians taking positions in the garage, Zhad setting up a plasma cannon nest over the front door, everyone else spread out among the various windows keeping watch on the road. It would repel a small force at least. Retz held no illusions though, once Snarlbeak's people realized the Distillery was in enemy hands, they'd send more people their way.

He knew that because Zix was here and she wanted something that was in here and that meant it was important to Snarlbeak because the Syndicate wanted it. Whatever it was. By now Retz suspected Zix knew he was onto her. She wasn't going to confess to anything of course, but she was waiting for an excuse, something to distract him. Long enough for her to find what she was looking for.

'What could it be?' He wondered. Snarlbeak's Ichor recipes? No, she wouldn't need transport to get those out of here. A special shipment of rum? Some new flavor or product they were going to steal? Maybe the Syndicate just wanted all the Chorka for themselves. It would allow them control over a market that Snarlbeak otherwise dominated in this sector of space. Who could say? What was really bothering him was what made her think she could hide whatever it was she wanted so badly.

Maybe she wasn't going to. Maybe she planned to spring it on him at the last second. Force him to go along with whatever it was she was after. And, in a small way, gain the satisfaction of getting one over on him and forcing him to accept that she had played him once more. Used him to get what she wanted and he could do nothing to stop her.

Retz wanted to believe he was above such petty bullshit... but this was Zix. She was just that petty and she knew how much it hurt him. How it galled him to know that he was her tool. Maybe he was just taking it too personally though. Her presence here was throwing him just a bit off his game because he was thinking more about her lies than actually doing the job. It wasn't how he liked conducting business.

It was why, in the end, he had contacted Shepard. Although, with just a little prodding from Kasumi.

"You can't do it all on your own this time," she had told him in private once Zek had gone out on the water. "Luckily you aren't. You have more friends here than you think. Wouldn't hurt to use them."

It wasn't easy to admit he needed help untangling this, but Ms. Goto was correct. He had other resources, other eyes out there. He needed to use them. So he called up Shepard and told him everything that was worth telling. Which was pretty much everything he knew. The Commander would find the ship, the one Zix knew was here, and then he'd find out what it was really for.

Course, that wasn't the only thing on his mind.

"Keth," he said into the comm. "How's Zek doing?"

There were a few seconds before a response.

"Boat's heading for the shallows and rocks," the sniper reported. "They ain't sunk yet."

Retz just hoped that remained true. He thanked Keth and then instantly encountered his current headache. Zix, standing nearby, looking smug.

"What?" He asked.

"I was just wondering if you've seen your little human thief friend," she told him. "She seems to have... vanished."

"Ms. Goto prefers to remain rather... incognito," Retz replied astutely. "She's here. She's reliable. Even if you can't see her."

"Oh I'm sure, you picked up your eye for talent from me," Zix said insistently. "I suppose you would manage to make... a few friends outside of the family. At least a few worthwhile ones anyway."

Retz knew what she was goading him towards. He resisted it.

"I don't get you, Retz," Zix sighed after a moment. "You could've had everything the Syndicate could offer you. You were a prize agent, a magnificent example of us, the best of the best... because I made you that way. And yet you prefer to be among the... riff-raff if you will."

"I don't expect you to understand anything," Retz snorted. "And you're not going to convince me to come back."

"Oh perish the thought, why would I do that?" Zix laughed. "As if I'd ever invite more competition. But really, Retz? These people? Your affection for that idiot notwithstanding, why you've... let him continue to entangle himself with these humans is... beyond me."

Retz just snorted, of course, she assumed that. She didn't know as much as she claimed to.

"It's a partnership of convenience," he said in a correcting tone. "It would've been over and done with long ago if not for a few other things popping up along the way. Taq, the Relics, the treasure hunt, the whole Astral Cutlass business. We're not in it for anything beyond that. We haven't lost sight of that goal."

"Oh of course and you so needed these humans to accomplish any of that," Zix scoffed.

"Taq wasn't really interested in Zek being the sole partner, her deal concerning the relics is with the humans more than us," Retz stated.

Zix's smug grin just seemed to grow.

"Oh, so what is this? You trying to help your friend hook back up with his ex then? Is that all this is?" She prodded. "You're sticking with them in the hopes they'll get back together?"

"That's beyond my abilities," Retz claimed. "Zek wants the Cutlass, Taq wants the Cutlass, the humans want to keep the relics involved with the Cutlass out of Covenant hands, Snarlbeak wants to hand them over to the Covenant essentially, and no one wants that. That's all this is."

Zix nodded, seemingly accepting the answer, but it was a nod that said she had just confirmed what she suspected.

"So you've entangled yourself with humans to meet a certain end," she summarized. "Honestly, I think that's how this started... but frankly I doubt that's why you've kept it going like this."

"Whatever you've concluded, you're wrong," Retz told her flatly.

"Am I? You have a place at their command table, they semi-listen to you, or at least pretend to," she listed off rather haphazardly. "You broadcast that ridiculous radio show to them. You watch vids. You hang out with a human constantly."

Retz narrowed his gaze.

"Don't be surprised, the infiltration team sent more than a few reports before you killed them all," Zix explained. "And I've gained some insight into your logs since I was aboard your carrier. It wasn't hard really."

"Make your point already," Retz said curtly.

"My point is you're soft, Retz, always have been, that's your key weakness," She sneered accusatorily at him. "You get attached to people. It always happens with you. It's what happened with Zek and it's happening again now. Even if you don't realize it. You like these humans, admit it! You're starting to see them as crew."

Retz huffed and looked away. As if she could read him so easily. She didn't know a thing.

"Fine, deny it," Zix scoffed. "But this is your problem. You can't disassociate. It's why you took my teaching methods so personally. I don't know where it started, but it is very clear to me now. All kig-yar are greedy, it's in our nature. But you have a very particular greed for something, something that makes you weak. You want belonging and envy it. When you couldn't find it in us, you found it in Zek and you tossed away everything else."

"I wanted trust," Retz shot back. "Which is in short supply among the Syndicate. Always has been, because you hoard it."

Zix looked at him crossly, tapping her foot.

"Well... go on, let it out." She implored.

Annoyed by the consistent and constant nagging and prodding, Retz relented. She wanted it? Fine. She got it.

"You keep calling us family, but family trusts each other, family can rely on each other," Retz said, letting it start to spill before he could stop himself. "I knew from day one with you I could never rely on anyone in the organization. I could rely no one. I don't need to belong, I don't need your respect. I needed to know that when the chips were down I could rely on people. And instead, all I could rely on is the knowledge that you'd never be there. Is it any wonder to you that I took the first escape exit I could find? You were suffocating me in doubt. I couldn't live like that."

"We're kig-yar," Zix said, rolling her eyes and snorting. "That's just natural. As if you're any more trustworthy than me. As if you're better than me. Or any kig-yar frankly. All that shit... it's built-in. It's who WE are. It's what the Syndicate protects, our heritage."

"It protects a bastardization of something, an imagined ideal," Retz argued. "In a storm or a fight or just in plain life, you should be able to trust your crew. That's what piracy should be... not this perversion you hock."

"Oooooohhh," Zix said, sounding sickeningly sweet as she did. "How cute. Some idealism in there. Hmm, I suppose you'd need it to stick with the imbecile. You might have his trust and maybe you think you can rely on the humans in some small way. But the cold hard reality you're going to end up facing is this, Retz. Your crew will eat each other given the chance. And Zek... well... he's a whole other problem. But you can keep denying it. That's just what you do. It's clear to me now."

Zix trotted off, somehow even more self-assured and comfortable and smug than when she arrived. When she turned a corner, Retz finally exhaled. Seconds later, Kasumi de-cloaked beside him.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," she said. "She is a piece of work."

"She hasn't changed and she never will," Retz replied. "It's not important. Did you track her movements?"

"Yep, she's skulking about the upper levels of the distillery," Kasumi reported. "Keeps slicing consoles, trying to gain access to higher levels of security. Mostly, she's acting like she's just on patrol. But she's narrowing that pattern."

"She's closing in on what she's after," Retz reasoned. "We need to act fast."

"I can crack the encryption on the administration files," Kasumi assured him. "Faster than her anyway."

Retz nodded, good, that would help them immensely. Kasumi didn't leave to do that though. He could already sense what was coming.

"She's not wrong about one thing though," she said. "I do think... you trust us more. At least a little. We're like... an extended crew."

"What, the UNSC?" Retz said, holding back a laugh.

"All of us," she insisted. "Trust me, you can't go through hell with a group of people and not get a little attached. Honestly, when I joined Shep's crew I thought I'd be in for one big job and gone, slink out on the next port of call. Didn't. Couldn't. It felt... good... being with others. Having friends. I think we can at least agree on that."

Perhaps, Retz thought. However, that was as far as he was willing to go.

"Even so, you can't honestly expect me to convince Zek to throw himself and our people into a war we want no part of," he reminded her. "It's not our fight."

"Well, this whole thing with Snarlbeak isn't our fight either and yet we're here," Kasumi argued.

"It's mutually beneficial," Retz pointed out. "If you weren't getting something out of this, you never would've agreed to any of this. You wouldn't be down here."

"So is that it?" Kasumi asked. "It's all about mutual benefit? You don't think you can rely on us in the end? Is Zix right about that too?"

Retz paused for a moment. Not entirely sure what to say. He couldn't think of an angle out of that little trap. And he didn't have time, as out of the corner of his eye he spotted it. A single Shadow transport, gliding up the road. Snarlbeak's men were finally checking in.

He quickly moved to the window, Kasumi joining him. The pirates began offloading from their vehicle, starting up the path to the front door. He could already tell that they sensed something was wrong. It was in their posture, their gait, and their hesitancy to move urgently.

"Keth," Retz said over the com. "Take out the gunner on the Shadow first. Not going to get a second chance, we need the big gun gone. Wait until they're lined up for Zhad. Then let loose."

The pirates were closing on the front door, perfectly in sight of Zhad's turret. Retz waited a bit more, just to try and ease their tension a little, make them think perhaps this was just in their heads. Nothing was wrong. Just get closer, he thought, close enough that there's no way anyone can miss. Already they seemed to relax, surely if something were to happen, it would've happened already as they were now practically on the doorstep.

"Zhad, now."

The Plasma Cannon sprung to life, letting loose a torrent of bolts. At the same time, Keth fired off his shot, killing the Shadow's turret operator. The two pirates on the main path up were gunned down and the others began to flee. They lifted their shields in front, trying to block the incoming fire. Keth had them zeroed though, shooting for their legs as they ran for safety. He managed to nab one, and then gunned him down as he fell, his back exposed.

The remaining hostiles tried to find cover among the trucks outside. They fired back on Zhad's nest. Kasumi used the opportunity to toss out a flashbang. It exploded in the faces of the pirates, preventing them from seeing. In their helpless state, Keth gunned them down. Zhad had already turned his plasma cannon on the Shadow, blowing out the cockpit before raking it along the length of the vehicle's body. Eventually, a missile launched from below struck it, the Batarians no doubt. The Shadow split in two as it exploded, debris flying everywhere.

"Well, they know they've lost this place now," Kasumi said. "Question is if they can do anything about it?"

Again, Retz thought, it depended on how valuable whatever was in here was. He also realized that Kasumi had a point. He was relying on the other teams more than he probably would've liked. Every part of this plan required them to cause as much havoc as possible that it split Snarlbeak's forces up considerably or tied others down. No one could marshal a big enough force to go after every location all at once.

All the same, he hoped they wrapped matters up on their ends soon. He also hoped that Zek would finish those damn Razors off already so they could work on getting the hell out of here.

---

They came to a stop near the rocky shallows, jagged stones jutting from the water, waves lightly crashing against them. A good place to deal with Razorfins, as the lower water level and craggy reef robbed them of speed and maneuverability. Powerful as they were, in low tide they were as vulnerable as any fish. Their advantage was deep water, where they could swim fast, hide in the dark and come at any angle. The shallows presented them with more than a few challenges.

Not that it was now a cakewalk, but at least they had better odds than they had previously. There was one nagging question though.

"Are they going to fall for this?" Varvok asked.

Zek looked out onto the water, seeing some of the fins of their quarry in the distance. They hadn't left, but they were scoping the situation out. They knew the shallows weren't really their domain, they knew their weaknesses. Smart fish, maybe, but not smarter than Zek.

"We just need to lure them in," he insisted. "Make 'em take the chance."

"They're not going to fall for the chum again, you said it yourself," Varvok reminded him.

"Nope, but a kig-yar is too good a meal to pass up," Zek assured his batarian friend. "Get us closer to the reef."

Varvok did so, taking up the wheel. Reluctantly he piloted the boat close enough to the rocks that were still above water. Or at least high up enough that it would only come up around your ankles. There was a big somewhat flat rock among the rocky shoals. When they were close enough, Zek stepped off of it, keeping a Needler Rifle with him.

"I'm already hating this idea," Varvok told him.

"Trust me, it's fine," Zek said reassuringly. "I make a little splash here and there, they come in to investigate, they see me, they see the tide, they figure they can wait it out. You keep the boat clear a bit, you make 'em think you've lost the scent, they'll race on over."

"And when they do I have to rush in before they drag you into the deep for a snack," Varvok warned.

"When you see them start trying to lunge at me, open up on them with the plasma cannon," Zek explained, trying his best to bleed his own confidence into Varvok. "They'll be so focused on me, you can probably gun down one easy. Come on, we don't exactly have a lot of time here to argue this."

Varvok grunted in frustration.

"The second something goes wrong, and it will, I'm coming to pick you up," Varvok said. "I'm not going farther than necessary."

The batarian also tossed the pirate a plasma grenade.

"To scare them off when this goes belly up," he said.

"Very apropos phrasing, Four-Eyes," Zek snickered.

With that, Varvok piloted the boat away, but only a few feet. Enough to create a sizable gap between the boat and the rocks. Zek trotted about the area, taking in the surroundings. He had a large jutting boulder to his back, several pointed jagged crags surrounding the outer perimeter, and a few half-sunken stony outcroppings to jump about. As well as sandbar that had accumulated among the rocks, but was still slightly beneath the water between the rock ledges. There was some coral beneath the waves, some poking up above it, and possibly a few fish here and there. He had a good space here, some places to move around and protection to his various flanks. Now he just needed to lure the Razors in.

Only one surefire way to do that though. Razors had very keen senses of smell and kig-yar smelled very good to them, delicious even. It was probably their natural musk. It didn't matter, once the Razors smelled a kig-yar in the water, they'd be drawn to it. And, to sweeten the deal, he made sure that they got the extra incentive. A kig-yar in the water was one thing, but how about a wounded one?

Not a real wound of course, nothing that would debilitate him. A little cut along the palm, not with his energy-based weapons of course that would just cauterize the wound. The rocks would do. He reached out to one of the jagged ones near him and dug into a sharp edge enough to make a small cut. He then stuck his hand right into the water and swished it about. The sting of the saltwater in the cut was more painful than the initial slash to his skin.

When he felt it was sufficient, he pulled it back out and activated a bit of medi-gel with his omni-tool. Bless Varvok's universe and their medical tech. Sealed and sutured everything up nicely. Now he just had to wait for the Razors to make their move. They'd smell his presence, his blood and they'd make a beeline for him. Any sec-

Zek felt the rock rumble suddenly. He looked down and he could already see the Razorfin knocking into the slab, twisting its head around. That had been faster than expected. He thought they'd be more cautious or a little apprehensive at first. This one was just diving in at the first scent of blood.

And then the Razor stopped. It stopped moving its head, thrashing its tail, twisting its body in a frantic search for the injured kig-yar. Razorfins' eyes were all black and it was believed they had perfect peripheral vision, enabling them to see all around them all at once through their large bulbous ocular lenses. But in that moment, when Zek was looking at the Razorfin, he could've sworn... no, he knew... he could see all four of the monster's eyes turned towards him. Looking directly at him from below the waves.

And in an instant, Zek believed he knew what the beasty was thinking. 'I see you.' That's what those eyes said. Sinister. Deathly. Fatally. 'I. See. You.'

The water exploded upward as a gaping maw tore away the waves, and the Razorfin lunged for his head. Zek dove backward, firing his Needler Rifle at the monster's mouth. The pink shards embedded themselves in the creature's nose, chin, and upper jaw. The subsequent explosion of color would've usually spelled doom for most living things, but the Razorfin only seemed enraged and slightly singed. It snapped at Zek's legs, trying to push itself onto the rocks. Its terrible teeth were just inches away from the kig-yar's toes.

Zek was about to keep shooting when several plasma bolts struck its side. Now those injured it, because it slipped back into the water. Zek turned to see Varvok already getting down off the turret and back on the wheel.

"I'm coming back!" He called.

"No!" Zek replied. "No! We've wounded it! It will come up again! Just stay there and-"

Another Razorfin lunged at the side of the boat, smacking it off course with its nose. Varvok jerked against the wheel and started coming about, as another Razor smacked into his side.

"Peel off! Don't get closer! They're gonna bump you into the rocks if they keep doing that!" Zek cried. "Peel off!"

Varvok did so, but called back out again.

"I'll come around!" He promised.

Fine by Zek, so long as he didn't get sunk in the process. He peered into the water around him with his scope, that beast was around here. He knew it and it wasn't leaving now that it knew he was isolated. The rock was its silver platter and the Razor was gonna finish what was on it.

"Come on, beasty, come on in," Zek said, scanning the water. "Ol' Zek's on the menu, all you can stuff into you two big fucking mouths. Come the fuck on in, you primordial fucking nightmare. Come on in to get fucking skewered, you fucking stupid fish."

He heard the water splash behind him and turned as the Razorfin once again lunged halfway out of the water and actually roared in his face. A shrieking, gargling, wretched roar. Zek could see inside the monster's maw, its second mouth snarling at the back of its throat, chomping at the bit even now at the prospect of its meal. Zek wasted no time, he fired into it several times, letting the Needler Rifle just perforate the beast's gums and tongue. The blast elicited a painful roar from the Razor and it turned suddenly, smacking its tail into Zek as it dropped back into the waves.

Zek was thrown from his rock, splashing and crashing down onto a nearby one. He heard a crack and then a painful ring in his skull. He opened his eyes seconds later to get a wave of seafoam in them and he sputtered away, wiping at his pupils in pain. He felt at his head as the sea water had stung it as well. Recognizing the pain, he drew his fingers back to confirm what he already knew. Blood stained his talons. Damn it, he was bleeding and it was in the water now. This meant the Razorfin knew he was bleeding and that meant was going to frenzy.

He scampered away from the edge of the rocks as fast as possible. Sure enough the Razorfin came charging back, lunging across the partially sunken rocks and snapping at his heels. Varvok had been right, this plan had gone south fast. He reached for his plasma grenade... and it wasn't there. Frantically looking around, he saw it in the surf. And then not even seconds later... he saw the wave carry it into the Razor's mouth. And then the sea beast swallowed it.

"Oh fuck me," Zek growled, watching the grenade disappear down the monster's gullet. He half hoped the second mouth would puncture the thing, set it off, no such luck.

Of course, the damn ravenous thing kept champing at the bit to get at Zek. The pirate now stumbled through the water, trying to get away from the lurching beast, flaring its gills to suck in the little water roiling over them. Its nostrils flared wildly at the smell of kig-yar blood. Zek kept lurching back until he felt a sudden terrible pain in his leg.

Fuck, no! He thought it had bitten his leg off! Bitten it right off! He looked down in fright, horrified at what he'd see! But the leg was still there and the Razor hadn't gotten to him yet. Well, why did it hurt? Why did it still hurt? And then he saw it... the coral. The coral was digging into his thigh and it hurt like a motherfucker. That was when he got an idea.

Zek grabbed for the coral. He didn't know his sea life or oceanic biology, but whatever this shit was it fucking stung! Like hot coals and acidic plus a thousand needles poking into his skin. He broke it off, hard and turned to the Razor, still pushing itself onto the rocks, still biting desperately at the air as it closed in.

"Here! Appetizer, you fucking shithead!"

Zek threw the coral at the Razorfin and, just his luck, it ended up in the beasty's mouth. The next time the monster closed its mouth, its whole attitude changed. Suddenly its ravenous hunger turned to panicked horrible rage. The Razor shook about on the shoal, frantic, maddened, practically foaming at the mouth. It smashed its head into the rocks about it, shrieking aloud. Blood started pooling from its maw as it kept ramming its face over and over into the stone about it, trying to dislodge the coral in its gums.

Zek stood up and began shooting at the monster's eyes, face, and nose. In an instant, the Razor started shimming itself back along the reef, trying to edge itself back into the water. Zek didn't let up, practically laughing and screaming as he did.

"Taste good, don't it, asshole!" He laughed. "Tastes real fucking good, huh, you mother fucking piece of shit! You want more! You wanna know what else is on the fucking menu today, you son of a fucking bitch!"

The Razorfin soon reached the deeper water and slunk backward into it. It kept hitting its head on the rocks below before finally swimming off. Zek could see the coral floating free, dislodged. At least it had worked when he needed it to. He headed back to the main rock, where he could see Varvok rolling in towards him. The boat had seemingly shaken the other Razors and was closing in on him for pickup. Zek waved him over, a clear enough signal that he had given up on this plan now.

That was the moment the Razor chose to come back, racing head-on at full speed back at the shallows. Zek saw it breaching the surface, mouth open wide. He ran back along the rocks and dove sideways as the massive fish slammed onto the rocks and then smashed into the massive boulder that had been directly behind Zek. Now the Razor was beached on the shallows, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. The monster's sharp fins and wicked tail continued to trash about, which said nothing about its jaws of course that continued to snap.

Zek knew he couldn't stay here. He made his move. He jumped towards the boulder, digging his talons into the rock and forcing himself to climb atop it. The Razor was now directly below him, thrashing on the rocks in anger and impotence, desperate to wrench itself free. Behind the beast, Varvok and the boat closed in.

"Oh this is fucking stupid," Zek groaned. There was only one way back to the boat now.

Zek steeled his nerves and jumped from the boulder, landing on the back of the Razor's head. It tried snapping up at him, but of course, couldn't manage to reach him. Zek ran across the monster's back, panicked screaming the whole way before diving towards the boat, crashing down onto its deck. Sitting back up, he could see the Razorfin, still thrashing about, trying to slink back into the water. They couldn't let that happen.

"Now's our chance!" Zek declared. "Pour it the fuck on!"

He opened fire and so did Varvok. The plasma cannon and needler rifle lanced across the Razorfin, pelting it with bolts and needles that exploded and scorched the creature's hide. It bellowed in pain and rage, thrashing and screeching as it kept trying to get out of the line of fire. It looked like they were home-free... until a new wrinkle appeared.

Jumping clear out of the water, a Razorfin, the one with the scorched face from their first kill attempt, flew across the top of their boat. One of its fins was angled towards Varvok. The batarian ducked below, just as the sharp-bladed edge cut clean through the plasma cannon's barrel. The Razorfin crashed down into the water, while Varvok quickly rushed up to the cannon. The fin hadn't ruptured the power cell, but the gun was now clearly useless, its barrel shorn clean off.

With the beached Razorfin still alive, Varvok quickly made for a substitute. He grabbed at the Kishock Harpoon Gun and began shooting, switching to armor-piercing rounds. The weapon cut deep into the creature's hide as it tried to turn onto its stomach and wiggle itself away.

Zek kept shooting his Needler Rifle, aiming for the soft underbelly as he and Varvok poured on the fire. Eventually, Zek realized the Needler wasn't giving him the penetration he needed, so he quickly ran to grab a Beam Rifle from among their stolen armory weapons. He took aim towards the stomach once more, fire one blast, then a second... and then the Razorfin's stomach just exploded.

The blast was enough to knock the boat away from the shoals and both of its alien crewmembers down onto their backsides. When they stood back up, they saw the Razorfin on the shoals, a gaping hole torn through its stomach and the beast itself dead. Its head drooping into the water, and the two eyes they could see glassed over.

"What the fuck?" Varvok asked in disbelief.

"It... it swallowed the grenade you gave me," Zek confessed. "I... I guess I hit it. Or one of us did anyway."

They kept staring a little longer, taking in the kill. Varvok eventually broke his eyes away to see the sliced-in-half plasma cannon. It was sparking a bit, but that was all.

"So much for our... big gun," he sighed. "Now what?"

"Well, one down, two to go," Zek stated. "We just... need to pull that off again."

"Oh sure," Varvok said sarcastically. "You wanna go back on the rocks then?"

Zek didn't waste any time in answering that query.

"Fuck no."

---

It had been a long while since the frequent bio-weapons drills in basic. The mask over Kowalski's face felt constraining, yet surprisingly comforting like a warm snug hug for your face.

Well, at least at first. After a few minutes, he was now feeling his hot breath coming at him. The filters kept the visor from fogging of course, but it still felt like a sauna in here. The processing plant's interior did not help in the slightest.

This place was just brimming with furnaces and chemical fumes. The iridescent lights beat down on everything constantly. He was grateful that the visor cut out the glare because it would hurt his eyes otherwise. It made fighting in the biohazard garbs all the more stressful and sweaty.

The alternative of course was choking to death on whatever it was the Jackals used to cook their recreational supplements.

The last thing Kowalski needed was to get high in the middle of a combat zone, or potentially worse. What could give a space pirate a buzz could just as easily fill a human's lungs with fluid. Despite the oversized chemistry set around him, Kowalski had no interest in playing scientist right now. He was more than ready to just blow this place sky-high.

The thing was, this plant was big and it had a lot of rooms, all of which needed to be cleared, checked and so forth. This place needed to go up all at once, nothing left, which meant getting a demo charge on every critical system and structural support. And right now, Kowalski and his squad were headed to a sub-basement below to check on what, according to their new Syndicate friend, was a special lab beneath the main floor. What for? Zix either didn't know or more likely, hadn't said.

Pearson was on point as they moved through the lower halls, low-light vision gear equipped around their heads. It was dark down here, likely the Jackals' doing. They could see just fine in the dark, they were built that way. They weren't about to give the humans attacking them any advantages. A course that came with its own set of challenges, especially in a place like this.

Pearson stopped momentarily, raising a fist as they closed in on a corner. He pointed to something ahead and motioned Agley to move on his left. They advanced cautiously, mindful of their step. As they closed the distance, a plasma shield lurched around and needler shots rang out. Agley fired first, wildly as the bullets struck the shield and disrupted the Jackal's fire. Pearson aimed more carefully and shot the Jackal's hand and then head in two clean hits.

"Agley, short controlled bursts," Pearson scolded at the jumpy private. "We don't know what the hell is down here."

"Right, sorry," Agley apologized.

They moved up to the corner together now, Ellingham kicking the needler away from the dead Jackal while Ramirez secured it. Kowalski stayed close to Pearson in the meantime as they got close to the large door. Pearson gave it a once over.

"Hmm, locked down," he grumbled. "Gonna have to bypass."

"Could just blow it off," Ellingham said.

"Yeah and blow our asses off with it for all we know," Pearson told him. "What did I just tell Agley? Ramirez, get ready with a flash. Kowalski, Agley position left, Ellingham, with me on the right. And be careful what you shoot in there. Short. Controlled. Bursts."

"Since when are you so goddamn serious?" Ellingham asked.

"I don't like the idea of exploding prematurely in a goddamn alien meth lab," Pearson replied. "Now shut it already."

It didn't take long for Pearson to remove the electronic lock on the door. The great thing about omni-tools, besides quickly injecting that very soothing medi-gel and being a little personal computer for everything, it could make anyone a hacker. At least in the sense that every door was a lot easier to unlock now. Pearson lucked out, he was a bit more of a geek than most of them. With a bit of fiddling with the commands, the door slid open, revealing the room beyond. The Marines were then instantly welcomed by a cascade of Carbine rounds and Needles flying at them. Everyone pressed into the door frame tightly.

"Flash!" Pearson called out.

Ramirez chucked in the banger and everyone looked away. Their night vision gear was not the kind that took sudden bursts of light well. They wanted the Jackals to go blind, not themselves. Sure enough, the enemy fire halted almost instantly and they could hear groans and panicked screaming. The detriment of being a species with such good eyesight that you were premiere stealth operatives, marksmen and assassins was that your sensitive eyes made bright strobing lights ten times worse.

Kowalski leaned in quickly into the room, noticing three Jackals to his immediate front. He fired of a few quick shots, taking down each cleanly. Agley and Ellingham moved in to clear the other end of the room. They took down a good chunk of the Jackals as they rushed inside, taking up positions behind some barrels and overturned tables, but there were still a few left and they were recovering from the flash.

"Remember, watch your fire!" Pearson warned as he joined them.

As if to mock the statement, a Carbine round struck the pillar Pearson took position behind, causing a sudden spark.

"You gonna tell them that?" Ellingham asked. "Cause I'm kinda wondering if they care!"

Ramirez had already tracked the shot that had been aimed at Pearson and fired on the Jackal, taking them down with a few shots to the torso. A second Jackal lurched up to let off a few needles, briefly illuminating the darkened room in pink.

Agley fired on its cover, a desk of some sort. Kowalski looped around the room while the Jackal was suppressed, trying to get a better angle. A third Jackal must've spotted him because as he was rolling into cover behind some barrels, a few shots laced toward his feet. Ellingham opened fire on the attack in turn. There was the sound of shattering glass and Kowalski took a brief look up to see his friend had blown apart what looked like an alien chemistry set.

"Keep going, I got him!" Pearson called out to Kowalski, moving around his own pillar to flank the offending Jackal.

Kowalski kept crawling through the dark, keeping his head low should there be more Jackals about. He managed to get on the flank of the suppressed alien, Agley still keeping his head down. Kowalski quickly yanked his pistol out and fired two shots into the back of the pirate's head. He heard another burst of bullets and Pearson called out. "Tango down!"

Kowalski scanned his surroundings and spotted another Jackal, at the back of the room hunched over near some very large crates. The space pirate let loose with its Carbine, snarling aloud in anger. Kowalski dove to cover behind a table and flipped it over. The carbine rounds struck the table hard, creating indents in the top.

Kowalski didn't wait to find out how penetrative the gun really was. He jumped up at a lull in the shots and fired off two shots from his pistol. One of them hit the Jackal in the shoulder. The private quickly moved up as the pirate tried to crawl back up into a firing position. Kowalski fired two more shots into the downed pirate and the alien stopped moving. He took a breath and scanned the area.

"Vector clear!" He called out.

"Clear right!" Ramirez reported.

"Alright, someone find a light in here or something already!" Pearson asked.

"I think I got it!" Agley reported after a few seconds.

They waited for a second to flip up their night vision as Agley activated the switch. The lights in the room activated, although it wasn't exactly that much brighter. The purple hue was rather sickly and some of the bulbs were even flickering. Although they still got a better look at their surroundings, this place was indeed a lab of some kind and still packed with stuff. Including smaller vats, industrial centrifuges, and more chemistry sets that looked both professional and jury-rigged. And those barrels they were around had some rather explicitly dangerous-looking symbols on them. None of them understood alien, but the universal sign of a bony hand drenched partially in liquid or what looked to be imagery of a Jackal gasmask or a jackal skull and crossbones said it all.

"Christ, they packed a lot into such a tiny space," Ellingham noted.

"They have a whole processing floor upstairs, why do they need a sub lab?" Agley asked.

"Well everything above it is about to violently join it down here after a little aggressive remodeling," Pearson claimed. "So let's not waste time. Find those support beams and arm the charges. And stay clear of these barrels, no idea if anything leaked in the firefight."

Kowalski kept taking in the scene, noticing the discarded bags on the floor where the table he overturned once stood. Apparently, they had accrued quite a stockpile down here. For what purpose though, Kowalski didn't understand. This lab wasn't exactly high quality and they had better facilities upstairs.

Agley was right, why set this place up down here? And what was with all these chemical barrels lying around? Why were their tubes hooking some into those vats? Come to think of it, as he got a better look at the Jackal he killed, he noticed the pirate was wearing a pressurized helmet. Was he that worried about getting a contact high off their own supply?

That's when Kowalski's eyes were drawn back to those large crates and he got a better look at them. For one, he noticed they too had some ominous-looking warning signs on them. He couldn't read the Jackalese, but those Jackal Skulls and Crossbones and what looked to be biohazard labels were printed very clearly on the side. Despite who they were dealing with, given the similar imagery on the barrels of toxic shit around them, Kowalski didn't think it was Space Pirate branding.

"Pearson," he called over. "I think you need to look at this."

Pearson joined him, and while he was covered in as much biohazard gear as Kowalski, he could tell the Corporal didn't like the look of it any more than him. He was already bringing out his omni-tool, trying to get a scan.

"Ah shit, this crap is toxic," he said. "Like... probably more so than any of these barrels. What the fuck?"

Pearson closed in on the top of one of the crates. Kowalski, sensing he needed help, assisted him in carefully opening the lid. Inside, they didn't find drugs. They found what looked to be covenant explosive casings. Not loaded with the usual plasma though, whatever was in these things was green and much more gaseous looking.

"Oh shit, is this what I think it is?" Kowalski asked.

"Yeah, it is," Pearson confirmed, glaring at what could only be described as some kind of crude warhead. "This isn't a drug lab, beneath a bigger drug lab. It's an entirely different operation, military kind."

Pearson was on the horn to the others upstairs instantly as they backed away from the crates as best they could.

"Sergeant Johnson, Corporal Pearson, we have uh... a major fucking problem down here, sir," he reported. "That Pirate Spy Lady wasn't telling us the whole truth, just as we all knew it. We got chemical weapons of some kind down here. No idea what exactly, but my hunch says nerve gas of some sort."

"Aw hell," Johnson's voice called back. "Secure the ordinance and hold the area. I'll be down in a minute. This shit just gets better and better, don't it?"

---

Sweeping through the docks proved to be a challenge, but not in the respect of difficulty, just in the sheer amount of area, they had to cover. In all honesty, Shepard had been hoping one of the other teams would've been able to finish up and move back to their target by now, most likely Zek's people at the distillery. Apparently, there was a delay on that, so that left them with a lot of the grunt work. Holding the docks was going to be a bit more of a challenge. At least clearing out the initial defenders was doable.

The Normandy crew had cut its teeth on being outnumbered and outgunned. Shepard had no concerns about running roughshod through these pirates. But there were a lot of them and they were determined to hold their ground. The defenders had set up various lines of defense along strategic chokepoints, hoping to slow the incoming attackers.

It certainly did that, but it wouldn't stop them. Shepard had Legion and Thane on sniper duty, carefully overwatching their advance. Jackals of importance were removed from the equation at a hundred yards or so, as Shepard's team pushed through the lines. Or more accurately, Jack pushed herself through their lines, sending pirates flying when she did.

It took time, but they managed to make their way to the shipyard hangars Retz had suggested they head to. If nothing else, securing this location was a priority, it would have the vessels they needed to get off this rock when they were done. And now that Retz had clued them into a big ship somewhere in this place, that just made it all the more appealing of a target.

Finding that particular ship would have to wait though. They still needed to clear out the hangars. Amidst the spaceworthy freighters and haulers, the pirates had dug themselves in. They were swarming in every little dark corner and behind every crate. They took to the upper rafters of the hangars and catwalks just below. Only constant vigilance kept them on the wrong end of a needler rifle striking from the black.

Vigilance and Shepard pulling the killer birds from their nests with his biotics. One of them got hit by a warp attack from Miranda as he floated in the air, quickly ending him. Meanwhile, on the ground, Jack had upended another Jackal strong point, scattering their little wall of shields.

"Keep pushing, but watch your corners," Shepard warned as Tali sent her combat drone ahead. "We have no idea how many more are in here."

"I feel like I've killed enough of the bastards at this point," Jack growled. "They're just not giving up, are we ever getting support on this?"

"We make it work for now, Jack," Shepard impressed upon her. "We clear these hangars up and down, push them back with each one."

He said that, but he knew it wasn't an ideal strategy. They could take the docks, they could the hangars. The question was holding it and Shepard wasn't sure they could do that on their own. They needed help, and soon before the pirates got their shit together and figured out where to prioritize their counterattack.

Behind the landing strut of a small hauler, another Jackal opened fire with his plasma pistol, shield held aloft. His pirate kin were nearby, letting loose with needler rifles behind cover or the shields of their fellows. A small roadblock in their progress, but one of many at this point. Miranda at least managed to snag one of the Needler Rifle users with her biotics. Lifting him in the air before slamming him back down, the subsequent shockwave knocking down the nearby shield wall.

Shepard used the opportunity to charge into the fray, striking one Jackal head-on, sending him tumbling into a wall. He turned and unloaded his shotgun into a second Jackal before they could get their shield up. As he moved for cover, the Jackal behind the landing strut let loose, angrily sneering as he did. Seconds later, he was set on fire. Mordin quickly finished the pirate off with a few clean shots as the hostile alien was immolated by the flames.

"Multiple minor defensive positions troubling," Mordin stated. "Likely delay tactic. Surmise more entrenched enemies ahead."

"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling too," Shepard agreed. "They've been trying to wear us down with bug bites, hoping we're exhausted by the time we reach their final stand."

The problem was, there was no really good solution to the problem. They had to keep moving and clear the area, secure the ships. Shepard, however, didn't intend to be forced to play this their way forever. He just needed to reach wherever they were focusing all their efforts on.

He didn't have to wait long, in the next hangar over they uncovered where the bulk of the pirates had held up. A large platform in the center of the hangar, with a hauler perched atop it and their forces lined along its edges. A miniature fortress of their own design. Sniper fire rained down on them, as they all sought cover. Tali fired up at them with her pistol, but quickly ducked low as several needles struck her crate.

"We can't move on them like this," she called over to Shepard. "They have every flank covered."

Maybe not every flank. The hangar door leading out into the dockyard was closed for now, but Shepard could see a switch from his position.

"Thane, Legion, you still watching our progress?"

"We are, Shepard," Thane replied back to the Commander. "We've got your transponders, we're in position across the dock... but we have no shot."

"I'll get you your shots," Shepard promised. "Jack, Miranda, cover me!'

Miranda and Jack were the only two who could effectively harass the platform fortress. Their biotics would keep the Jackals at bay for a bit, while he made a run for the door switch. Miranda let off a Warp attack on pirates that she could get a bead on, while Jack tried to pull some of the snipers into the light. Shepard made a run as they did, but soon found a few Needles nipping his heels. Luckily, a little combat drone rolled in and did its best to disrupt the enemy fire, letting off a blaze of shocks and energy bursts, trying to obscure any line of sight on the Commander.

Just another time that confirmed Tali would always have his back, a comforting thought in the middle of any firefight. Shepard let those thoughts embolden his efforts as he charged toward the switch panel and activated it. The hangar doors began to creak open, their massive frames slowly giving way to the light of day beyond.

"Legion, Thane, pick your targets!" Shepard ordered.

"Copy, Shepard-Commander," Legion replied.

In moments, the pirates on the platform got a taste of their own medicine, as the gunshots ripped through their ranks. They had some cover to hide behind, but Legion and Thane's shots kept them from fully utilizing their defensive position. Every wrong move cost them a man, or bird to be more accurate. Their snipers were among the first to get picked off, of course, bullets to their little brains splattering them all over their comrades. Their little fortress was now a free-fire zone.

Before long, the pirates were trying to hide behind the hauler on the platform. Shepard briefly contemplated taking the platform directly, but Jack had already resolved herself to another battle plan. She had spotted a crane with a large load of cargo in its possession. With her biotics, she reached out and began to pull hard on the large metal container. It was suddenly ripped from its mourning and crashed down on the back half of the platform. Some of it gave way, and the Jackals were either smashed beneath the container or the crumbling debris. The hauler took a bit of damage to its backside, of course, the container hit it so it was forced forward onto the platform a bit. Not an ideal plan, given that every ship in here was potentially a high-value escape ship, but Shepard accepted that some of these vessels could be damaged in the fighting. Even so, they needed everyone they could get.

"Jack, please try not to crush any of our ways off this rock," he cautioned.

"Honest, I was trying to finesse it!" Jack insisted.

"Finesse? You?" Miranda scoffed.

"Oh fuck off," Jack retorted. "It's nothing Tali can't fix!"

Tali merely grumbled, not really appreciating being saddled with extra work on Jack's behalf. Thankfully their biggest obstacle had been removed all the same. The remaining Jackals in the hangars weren't much of a fight to clean up. In fact, many seemed to be abandoning the hangars altogether, trying to regroup elsewhere in the docks. Shepard had time to chase after them, he had another objective to take care of while they were here.

While locking down and checking over the various assorted spaceships within the hangars, Shepard searched for any clues as to the location of a far larger ship. None of them seemed to fit Retz's criteria. Yes, they were big, but nothing that looked like it could carry several pods worth of Chorka away to safety. Shepard only had the babies aboard the cargo freighter to go by for reference, but he presumed that full-grown Chorka were far bigger than that. At least big enough to warrant the Jackals' obsession with the creatures. After all, you'd likely have to milk a lot of ichor from those cyst glands to support a thriving bootlegging market and that meant a lot of very big space whales.

So far, none of the ships they had run into really counted as "big enough." It was mostly cargo haulers, freighters, medium-sized or smaller ships built for smuggling runs, and the like. There weren't exactly a lot of destroyers or the like. Shepard assumed they were looking for a tanker of some kind, but so far there didn't seem to be anything like that.

That was until Tali found something while checking out the damaged platform. She had gotten into the system logs from a nearby console and what she found was interesting. She had to call Shepard over to check it out. Apparently, these hangars were bigger than they looked. There was a command in the system that would unlock a secondary level beneath the central hangar.

"It looks like it takes up the full length of this place," Tali noted. "As in... a whole other level below us."

This place was already pretty massive to begin with. If they were going to find their larger spaceship anywhere, it would be there.

"Open it up then," Shepard ordered.

"Just hold onto something," she warned. "This platform is going to move a little."

Sure enough, when she executed the command, the platform began to shift. The hauler resting on the platform shifted a little under the momentum, but it mostly stood in place. The platform itself had become magnetized as a result of the move, even Tali and Shepard found it difficult to lift their legs up as a result of this. They watched as the Platform moved away from the center of the room, revealing a long seam stretching the length of it, steam billowing up from below as the hydraulics moaned.

As the floor opened up, they got a peek into the lower hangar. That was where they found what they were looking for. A massive freighter, at least twice the size of what was on the main level of this hangar. It was as bulbous as any other ship of Covenant origin but seemed to be modified to a degree. It had a few more weapons on it than usual, obviously to protect what was ever supposed to be inside. Most likely several pods worth of Chorka, which definitely could fit on it.

"Yep, that's the ship Zix suggested was here somewhere," Shepard acknowledged.

"We'll need to get inside to really figure out what exactly she actually wants with it," Tali said.

"Let's make it fast then," Shepard told her. "We need to lock these docks down before reinforcements show up."

---

In any case, maybe they wouldn't have to steal all these ships after all. This thing looked big enough to carry a ton of freed slaves away from this rock with ease. So their escape was more or less secured, barring the Space Pirates managing to retake the docks of course. It just all came down to the other teams now, especially the Master Chief's and their attempt to rescue the imprisoned human colonists. Along with whoever was suffering in that pit.

Chief rushed up the hill towards the chattering of gunfire. He could hear spikers and brute shots going off, shortly followed by a brute screaming aloud as they flew through the air, smashing into a large vehicle.

When the Spartan leader crested the top, he saw Samara using her biotics to their full extent. She was tossing opposing Brutes left and right, her powers resonating across her body in a constant display of blue light. The only reason the Brutes kept coming was because they didn't stay down. One biotic punch knocked the ape-like aliens across the dirt and moments later they were back up against and charging. Samara had to keep moving to cover to avoid retaliatory fire from the other Brutes.

Kat was thankfully backing her up, letting loose shots from Battle Rifle, trying to pick off the Brutes while Samara aggroed them. It was working, but explosive shots struck her cover, forcing her down.

Chief quickly rushed into action, not even slowing down for a second. He opened fire on the nearest Brute with a bladed launcher. Bullets sprayed across the monstrous alien's armor as the Spartan closed the distance, vaulting over a barrier a she did. The Brute lunged forward, slicing at the Spartan, but Chief was already ducking low. He raised his pistol up into the alien's face and fired twice into it. As the body fell, Chief rolled into cover, close to Kat.

"Status?"

"Alive, for the most part," Kat said, taking the respite to reload. "Samara is drawing most of their attention. I think her biotics are making them prioritize her."

Made sense, the Asari's powers were probably the closest thing to magic these aliens had ever seen. Given the superstitious nature of most Covenant species, it was likely a blue-glowing strange alien would trigger some very primal instincts. These Brutes weren't Covies, sure, but Chief had learned pretty quickly that when it came to that very basic choice of flight or fight, Brutes always picked the latter. Especially with things that were new and strange.

Samara had rushed out into the open again, sliding into one of the Brutes with a powerful kick that swept him off his feet. A biotic throw sent the thuggish alien into a nearby stack of barrels. Samara then pulled out her rifle and let loose on a few more of the Brutes before rushing to an overturned table.

Lucky for her, she wouldn't be pinned there. Fred and Anton rushed into the fray alongside her, firing into the mass of Brutes. They managed to score a headshot as they pushed up, the bullets raking across the enemy squad.

Kelly and Grunt moved in next, the krogan acting as a moving shield for the Spartan as they slammed into the flank of the Brutes. The big burly reptile crashed down on his hairier opponent, smashing his head into the brute's face again and again before wrestling the Brute Shot away from the bloodied alien's hands. While Kelly's actions weren't nearly as impressively violent, she moved up to act as Grunt's shield in kind, firing off a pair of Spikers she had torn from the grasp of dead Brute from further down the slope. Her shots slammed into the eye of one opposing hostile and stuck in the neck of another. A Third Brute came charging at her like a freight train, but Kelly nimbly dodged and slashed down the bayoneted edge of one of the spikers into the beast's head. It stayed stuck there as the brute kept running along before smashing into a box and tumbling into the dirt.

It looked like the Brutes were on the ropes, but Chief knew better because they hadn't seen his real concern. Until now of course. Stepping out of the central hut in the camp, plasma cannon in hand, his two remaining men flanking him, was the Brute Chieftain. He looked about the area, no doubt gazing at his fallen pack about him.

He roared aloud in anger before letting loose with the cannon. Plasma bolts sprayed across the area in a wide berth, forcing everyone into cover, even Grunt who needed to hide behind another hut due to his size.

Samara answered the challenge of the Chieftain by extending her biotics to their fullest. She let loose a wave towards the enemy ranks. It struck all three Brutes directly, the two lackeys went flying, but the Chieftain stood. Apparently anticipating the Asari's actions, he had reached to the ground and dug his claws into it. The biotic blast knocked him off his feet a little, but he was soon up again. His lackeys, likewise, were still alive themselves and quickly moved to return to their leader. Or they would've, had two sniper shots not taken them down mid-run.

"Still got your back, John," Linda reported in.

"Thanks. If either you or Jun gets a shot, take it," Chief ordered. "No chances with this one."

Chief popped up, pulling out a shotgun to fire at the Brute. Two shots struck the monstrous Chieftain dead center, but he remained standing. He turned the plasma cannon towards the Spartan, forcing Chief into cover as his shields took hits. Anton rushed in to smash the Chief in the back with his rifle. The Brute responded by turning around swiftly to try and knock him away. Anton only survived by ducking at the last second, while Fred sprayed the Chieftain with bullets.

The Brute rushed forward slightly, trying to bring the massive weight of the plasma cannon down on Fred's head. Lucky for Fred, he moved his rifle into the path of the incoming strike, just enough to deflect it, although the weight of the hit forced Fred into a kneel. Kat quickly opened fire with her pistol, aiming towards the Brute's head, trying to shake him off of Fred.

"Sustain fire," Chief ordered. "Do not let up!"

"Don't intend to!" Kat assured, moving her robotic arm into position. "Speaking of fire..."

An Incineration charge fired off from Kat's arm, it struck the Brute and engulfed him. That only seemed to make him angrier though, he was just on fire now. His armor smoldered and burned, pieces of it falling away, but even while covered in flames, the Chieftain kept firing.

"Son of-" was all Kat could say before leaping away, ducking into a nearby tent as plasma bolts raked her position.

A sniper shot struck the Chieftain in the shoulder at this point, disrupting his attack briefly. He turned his cannon towards where the shot had come from and let loose.

"Repositioning!" Linda reported. "The hell is up with this thing! That should've at least made him drop the gun!"

Chief couldn't explain it either, other than pure fanatical rage blocking out the pain. At least Fred was able to retreat a little. Linda's shot had also distracted the raging space gorilla long enough for Grunt to get at him.

The krogan charged directly into the brute's back, slashing the full force of his newly acquired Brute Shot into the Chieftain's back. The Chieftain looked at least a little stunned by the strike, but just as quickly turned to swat Grunt off his. Kelly was quick to return fire, strafing with her rifle as she circled the area. Grunt, down but not out, let off shots from the Brute Shot that exploded around the Chieftain. With the Brute sufficiently preoccupied, Chief made a run for it.

Charging towards the enraged opponent, Chief made a running jump at the last second and came down hard on the monster's head. The Brute's helmet tumbled as Chief rolled off the Chieftain's back and landed directly in front of him. He fired his shotgun directly into him. The brute was injured, bleeding badly, part of his blown off.

That didn't kill him though, the Chieftain was already aiming his Plasma Cannon at the Spartan. He didn't fire it though, as a surge of biotic energy assaulted the monster. Samara had attacked him with Reave and the Asari followed it up by punching the Brute square in the jaw with a biotic fist.

The Brute stumbled away, almost tripping over himself. Chief got to his feet as Samara stood beside him.

"He will not fall lightly," Samara declared. "We must end this monster now!"

Chief looked around and spotted a dead Brute with a spike grenade in his belt. The Spartan quickly grabbed and armed it.

"Throw him on my go," Chief told the Asari, who nodded in response.

The Brute had dropped the plasma cannon and was already bringing out his Gravity Hammer from his back. Whether he was on his last legs or not, the Chieftain intended to flatten someone first.

Chief wouldn't give him the option. As the Brute charged close enough that there was no way for the Spartan to miss, Master Chief tossed the spike grenade, sticking it in the eye of the Brute. At the same time, he shouted to Samara "Go" and the asari complied, sending the Chieftain flying into the air. Moments later he exploded.

The remains of the Chieftain fell to the earth, impaled with several spikes. Chief thought he saw the Chieftain twitch a bit before finally ceasing. Grunt lumbered over first, Kelly close by. The others soon gathered around the corpse themselves.

"I've known Chieftains to be tough," Anton said. "I've never known them to be this tough. Any one of our hits should've crippled him."

"Blood rage," Grunt insisted. "Krogan can fight for hours even with ruptured organs and broken arms that they still move. Their anger compels them forward. These Brutes clearly possess similar qualities to my people. Heh, makes for a good fight."

Chief didn't doubt that something like a berserker instinct played a part here, but he imagined there was more to this. He knew one person here who'd probably be able to figure it out though.

"Cortana, can you scan this Chieftain?" He asked.

"Hold your omni-tool over him, it will be easier that way," the AI told him.

Chief did so, holding up his hand over the Chieftain's corpse. It took a moment as bright orange light shined across, scanning him up and down. Cortana's report confirmed the worst.

"I'm detecting a lot of foreign chemical agents in this Chieftain," she reported. "Pain suppressors, muscle boosters, reaction, and strength enhancements. I'm just speculating, but it looks like Snarlbeak has given these gorillas access to some of his, uh, product line."

"Brutes on Steroids, wonderful," Kelly groaned. "As if they're not bad enough sober."

"That's not all of it," Cortana cautioned. "These Brutes were far more jacked up than most of the ones you'd find serving in the Covenant. Even without the chemical enhancement, the armor, his combat prowess... he's not an average Brute, people. His ferocity was more unhinged, unmoored. All of them were. And I imagine the ones at the lockup with the human colonists aren't much different. I'm saying what we're all already thinking, these aren't Covenant and they're not some average run-of-the-mill mercenary band here."

Chief looked to the armor again, the crossed-out symbol on the Chieftain's shoulder. Behind the cross, getting a better look, it appeared to be some kind of upside-down triangle, split into threes by another upright triangle with sharp points coming off its tips.

"Is there anything in the ONI records that looks like that?" Chief asked. "Without the cross mark going through it I mean?"

"Nothing," Cortana reported. "I've been looking for it since we encountered them. ONI has very little on Alien Mercenary bands or non-Covenant organizations. The Covies don't want their people thinking there are other options it seems so they actively suppress this sort of information."

"Retz might know," Kat suggested. "Should we call him? Ask him to tell us what we've stepped into if he can?"

Chief would've agreed, had Cortana not spoken up again.

"Wait, I got movement, main hut."

Everyone aimed at the hut, although nothing emerged. Chief approached slowly, motioning Kelly to follow.

"Hold back," he warned the others. "Might be a straggler, one of the slaves, human captive, we need to check."

Chief and Kelly entered alone, finding a sparse hut interior. There was a cooking pit, some hunting trophies on the wall, and a small bed cot. The Chieftain was clearly not living large, but the bones around the area suggested he had been at least eating well. Master Chief then spotted a shadow in the corner, shaking and trembling. He approached slowly, Kelly backing him up.

As he got close the shadow lunged, and a large femur bone came crashing out of the dark towards Chief's head. The Spartan grabbed the bone and tossed it aside, turning his gun and its light onto the shadow.

He saw a lithe creature, with clawed fingers and digitigrade feet. The skin was darker grey, it was wearing tattered garb, but clearly not armor, it was civilian. And the face was unmistakably alien, with mandible jaws and yellow piercing eyes that looked at him with contempt. It was Sangheili, an Elite, but not like any Sangheili he had encountered. It was as tall as any of them but sleeker, smaller in stature, even just as toned and fit as any of its kind.

"Stay back demons," it declared. "Do not dare touch me!"

The sangeheili's voice was not the same baritone authority, the guttural commanding speech Chief had come to recognize. It was lighter, higher pitched, and younger sounding. This one wasn't the standard military age of their species, even if they looked just as tall as any Elite would. Kelly was already bringing out her data pad scanner.

"It's an Elite," she reasoned. "A female Elite."

"She can't be military then," Cortana chimed in. "The Covenant is highly patriarchal, they don't let females serve in most cases. And Sangheili society, as far as we know, doesn't usually train their females to be warriors, but house retainers."

That didn't seem to translate to meekness though, at least not for this Elite. Non-combatant or otherwise, she looked as ready to fight as any of her kind. She was snarling even now.

"I will not be defiled by you filthy abominations, even as these dishonorable thugs hold me captive," she declared. "My father will see your worlds glassed to cinders if any of you even dares to lay a hand on me! Do you understand, demons? Do you?!"

Captive? Then she was the prisoner of these Brutes. She was what they were protecting so fervently, but why? Clearly, she was important to some degree, she acted like it at least.

"You realize we just killed your captors," Chief told her. "You're welcome."

"As if your intention was to save me," the Elite sneered. "As such, do not expect thanks, demon. I will not be dishonored further by your insinuations that your help was needed or desired."

It was probably best not to antagonize the Female Elite more, clearly, she was not feeling particularly grateful. Most obviously because she was Covenant, or at least believed in their religious doctrine, and didn't want to give thanks to humans for her rescue.

To be fair, she was right, they hadn't been trying to save her. Although the Master Chief had the sinking suspicion that they had been unknowingly volunteered to do so without their knowledge. Two guesses as to who that was. Now they really needed to call their pirate friend.

"We have to contact Retz," he said. "This mission just got... complicated."

"That's nothing new to be honest," Kelly stated. "Even if this particular scenario is."

The Female Elite snarled again, still standing her ground and not backing off in the slightest.

---

While they kept the boat close to the shallow end of the bay, Zek opted to stay clear of the rocks. The blood of the dead Razor would likely frenzy the ones still alive. Razorfins didn't usually partake in cannibalism, but in special cases, they seemed to have a "waste not, want not" policy when it came to anything dead. The last thing Zek wanted was getting in between them and a potential dinner.

However, it seemed to be an unfounded fear. The two remaining Razors were avoiding the rocks for the moment. Perhaps they didn't want to end up like their friend. While they could scramble onto the rocky shoal to take a bite or two of the corpse, that would leave them open to attack.

For Razorfins kept as glorified watchdogs, Zek had been expecting them to be a bit more pampered, docile, fat off the easy chum feedings. Apparently, they hadn't lost their killer instinct. Perhaps the odd fish or sea creature that got through the net kept them sharp.

It was also possible that Snarlbeak had them fed live prey once in a while. If nothing else it would give his men some entertainment. Point was, any expectation that these Razorfins weren't a little bit rusty in the hunting game was long gone.

Varvok was readying his grenade launcher, setting aside a Concussion Rifle nearby as well. He too looked out on the water, using his binoculars to gaze at the twirling fins in the waves.

"We need to try and split them up," he suggested. "They're too difficult to handle at the same time."

"Easier said than done, they're sticking to each other like glue," Zek warned. "We need to plant a charge, right between them. Make'em run- uh, swim off in opposite directions. The question is, how do we keep the other off of us while we chase down our next target."

"We'll just to need keep depth charging the water I guess," Varvok offered. "Whenever it gets near, boom. Maybe we get lucky. One shot lands square on top of him."

"Yeah, let's not make assumptions about our chances," Zek warned. "I'll keep watch on our back, how do we kill the targeted one though?"

"I was thinking we'd scare it onto the shore," Varvok suggested. "It would be vulnerable there, like its friend on the rocks was."

As good a plan as any. The explosions and gunfire in the background, clearly closed in on the Distillery were evidence enough they didn't have time to think of something else. So Zek picked up the Concussion rifle, took up position and Varvok took the wheel.

They moved slowly up towards the Razorfins as they circled. If the creatures knew they were coming they didn't show it at first. Varvok moved up to the turret section of the boat. The plasma cannon was still useless of course, but it was a good place to shoot from regardless.

One clean grenade lob, right into the center of the Razorfins. The desired effect occurred as the predators suddenly launched themselves off in opposite directions. Varvok quickly dropped back down and took up the wheel, putting the boat into overdrive as its anti-grav propelled them across the waves.

They went after the one heading closest to the beach. Varvok fired off a grenade from the side of the boat, trying to shepherd the sea beast towards the shore. The explosive blasts ejected plumes of water into the air as the Razor shifted direction, moving to and fro, attempting to outrun the speeding vessel.

"We've got him," Varvok insisted. "He's heading for the beach. You see his friend yet?"

"Nothing," Zek replied, staring at the water. "No fin! He's not tracking us!"

Which didn't make any sense to Zek. If the Razorfin left his fellow sea monster to them, he'd lose the only remaining backup he had. They'd be alone and the advantage of numbers decidedly gone. These things probably couldn't plan the same way they could, but they could recognize a danger to themselves. They had to have some camaraderie, why else would Razorfins choose to hunt together when possible?

And that was when Zek realized their mistake. This was the open water again, they were headed towards the shallows once more, but the bay was dark below and offered many places for a predator of the deep to hide. He was expecting the Razor to crest the water to chase them, that wasn't its scheme. It knew by now that the fins could give them away.

"Varvok, he's under the boat," Zek warned. "I think he's coming at us from under the boat!"

"Then fire off around us," Varvok insisted. "Drive him off!"

Zek had no real proof that the other Razorfin was there, but he just had a feeling that the monster was on approach. So he let loose with the Concussion rifle, water exploding from each burst into the surf. He managed to get off three shots. On the fourth, the whole boat lurched suddenly upward. Something seemed to spark and burst, as they heard a loud bang from below. Then their side was pelted across the wave as something struck their anti-grav struts. Most likely the creature's tail.

Then, the Razor bit at the side of the ship. Zek got a good look at him, it was the first one, the one scarred by the plasma grenade. Zek fired off two shots from the concussion rifle, the blasts hitting the monster in the eye. The Razorfin roared and screeched as it let go of the boat and dove back into the surf. Clearly, that plasma scarring was still raw. At least there was a chink in the beast's armor.

However, Zek noticed something wrong. The boat was a lot more unsteady. It also felt lower than before. He looked over the side and noticed they were no longer hovering a few feet above the water, but were floating in it, directly. Varvok answered what the problem was before Zek could voice his thoughts.

"The anti-grav is out," he reported, tapping on the dashboard. "That bastard struck the generator and cracked one of the struts. The damage report is extensive."

"I'm guessing we can't reboot it," Zek sighed.

"The water shorted it out," Varvok groaned. "Even if we could get back online we'd still need to fix the strut. It won't spread the hovering equally, we'll be thrown off."

"Well at least we're watertight," Zek offered, trying to be optimistic.

A red warning light started flashing on the dashboard.

"And now we're taking on water, great," Varvok grumbled.

"I am not owning that, I did not jinx us there," Zek declared defensively.

"I didn't say anything," Varvok told him.

"I scared the fucker off. It probably would've been worse had I not started shooting-"

"I didn't say anything," Varvok repeated more forcefully. "Can we please plug the hole before this gets worse? As in, we're swimming with them!"

Zek supposed this wasn't really the time to shirk responsibility. He headed down below into the patrol boat's engine area. He found the leak, around where the now belly-up grav generator was situated. Some welding and sealant foam from his omni-tool and the boat's own emergency patch kit solved the problem, but it was really a temporary fix. These patrol ships were meant to hover above the water, they could move and float in it, but that wasn't really how they were designed. They had lost a significant advantage in maneuverability and a bit of speed. And there were still two Razorfins out there. As he got back up, he could hear the gunfight intensifying at the distillery.

Suddenly, he recalled a line from a certain human vid he enjoyed so much and was now somewhat reliving.

"Maybe we should've gotten Zix's bigger boat after all," he mused.

---

AN: Okay, this took a bit longer to get out, but I kinda wanted to see the reaction from the readers before I posted. Seems I'm still relatively popular enough to get responses, surprise surprise. I honestly worried I'd be forgotten after this long. Anyway, yeah, This is where we're leaving things for now, but don't worry, we'll see how Zek handles these last two sharks soon enough AND what the hell the deal is with this female Elite that Chief just accidentally rescued. Ain't that a gas?

The chapter notes should be up soon, check the profile when you can. Here's hoping the next chapter won't take me nearly as long to finish for you all. Again, apologies for this, I am intent on doing better.