Hybrid

by Adams7

24 years have passed since the Reaper War. The galaxy is at peace. But when that peace is threatened by an unknown foe, heroes, new and old will have to step up to defend life as we know it. Gods will fall. Legends will be born. And the Fate of the Galaxy, will be decided. The epic final sequel to "One of Those Relationships" is here. Melodramatic enough for ya?

4. Reaper Brains!

A/N: Finally, some action this chapter!

4: Reaper Brains!

"Okay, everything you need is in here." Alice said, carrying a gigantic sack filled to the brim with supplies. "Chakwas is staying nearby if you need help. Don't hesitate to call if something's wrong, we'll be back at a moment's notice." John was pretty sure the entire Citadel shook when his sister dropped the sack in front of him. "Make sure to call us at night before they go to bed. And don't forget to give Mordin his meds in the mornings and evenings. Oh, and-"

John rolled his eyes as Alice kept prattling on, telling him to not swear around the children, keep them away from sharp objects, to not let Carn watch any of those violent shows Lily and Mordin like, blah, blah, blah. "Relax Alice." He said when Alice was starting to lecture him on proper nutrition. "I am a parent too you know."

Alice shook her head "Maybe, but I don't want Carn ending up like-"

"Yeeeeehaaaawwww!" Lily cried as she went charging past on Urz.

"…Like that." Alice finished lamely.

John sighed "It's only for two weeks Alice, we'll be fine."

"Just in case, I've compiled a few notes for you." At that moment, Garrus came up to them, carrying a stack of datapads.

John cocked an eyebrow "That's a bit more than 'a few' Garrus."

His brother-in-law just ignored him, giving John the datapads one by one, listing off what was on them as he did. "Here's a list of foods Mordin can and can't eat, and for your convenience I've compiled a schedule of how many calories of dextro and levo food Carn should eat each meal. And here are instructions on how to give him a bath. He should be molting soon so you'll have to scrub extra hard. Oh, and he likes to cuddle while he's drying off. Don't question it, he'll usually fall asleep then so that'll make your job easier. Mordin can clean himself, but make sure he takes these pills afterwards. Be warned, you may have to force them down his throat, he hates taking them. Here's a list of programs you can distract Carn and Mordin with when you have to work, just stay nearby in case something happens. These are instructions on how to administer Mordin's inhaler and epi-pen; keep them on you at all times. This one has notes on Carn's anatomy; if he gets hurt, this will tell you how to stop the bleeding. With Mordin, if he gets hurt, be sure to disinfect thoroughly before you slap a bandage on it. And this right here will-"

John sighed, sure it was nice that Garrus had taken the time to write everything down for him, but he was getting sick of being treated like a first time babysitter. "Garrus stop; I am perfectly capable of watching your children as well as my own." He put the stack of datapads on a nearby table and started pushing the couple towards the door. "This is supposed to be your honeymoon. Relax, have fun, enjoy yourselves, make passionate love for days on end, whatever! Stop worrying so much, Carn and Mordin will be fine."

"But you still have work." Alice pointed out "And Ashley won't be back for a few more days. Are you sure you can manage?"

"I'm taking the next two weeks off." John reassured them "They will have my undivided attention, I promise." He shoved the two out the door "Now get going!"

"Fine, but don't forget to-" Alice was cut off by John shutting the door in her face, locking it.

"Phew!" John breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against the door "Thank God that's over." He headed into the family room where Carn and Mordin were sitting patiently on the couch. Smiling, he put his hands on his hips and asked "So, who wants to have some fun?"

…

The first day went smoothly. Lily and Carn ended up playing with Urz; the once ferocious varren, John noted, was treating them with great care, like they were his own pups. He smiled when he saw how much Carn loved playing with Urz; he'd have to remember to back Garrus up when he finally suggested to Alice that they get a dog. David was easily distracted by his toys, and more than once John was sure the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end as his son unconsciously generated a mass effect field with his fledgling biotics. Nothing would come of David's abilities for years, but right now, the little control his son did have over his abilities filled John's heart with pride every time. The only one not playing was Mordin, who merely sat in the corner reading a basic level book on medicine.

Before long, it was time for dinner. John prepared several different entrées, some baby food for David, a strange sort of salad with a mixture of levo and dextro foods for Carn, a pile of diced salmon for Mordin, and a grilled cheese and green beans sandwich for Lily (that girl has some weird taste buds). Once everyone had finished eating, John distracted Carn with some turian kids' show while he put David to bed. Mordin was already taking a shower when John finally managed to tire the one-year-old out. Since his apartment only had two baths, John took Carn to the master bedroom's bathroom, telling Lily to take a bath once Mordin was out. He had expected the young hybrid to put up more of a fight like Lily usually did at bath time. He was therefore surprised, when Carn seemed almost excited to at the prospect.

At least until he saw the tub.

The master bedroom's bathtub was nearly three times the size of a normal one, and was usually used more like a Jacuzzi than an actual tub, with a separate shower stall nearby. Carn clung to his leg, eyeing the gigantic tub with suspicion. John filled the tub, smiling reassuringly at Carn all the while. Once the tub was filled to a safe level, John reached down to lift Carn into the bath.

"Alright Carn, it's time to-"

"No!"

John blinked as the toddler raced out of the bathroom in a blur. Sighing heavily, John ran after him, trying in vain to catch up to the unbelievably fast boy. It wasn't long before all he had to locate Carn by were his screams of "No! No! No! No! No! No! No!"

He followed the protests and was surprised to see that the front door was open, and Carn's shrieks could be heard in the hallway beyond. "Carn!" John cried out as he rushed into the hall. "Carn come back h-" he frowned when he saw that the hall outside his apartment was empty but for a small device lying on the floor. Puzzled, John bent over to the device. It was an old-fashioned tape recorder, the same old-fashioned tape recorder he'd gotten Lily a few weeks ago, set on a loop as it played back Carn's protests.

"What the…?"

John heard a swish and a beep behind him, and turned around in time to see the door to his apartment shut, glowing red as it locked him out. Realizing what had happened, John started angrily banging on the door. "Lily! Open this door right now! I mean it young lady! Right. Now. Lily! Do you hear me?!"

He got nothing but silence from behind the doors. Realizing he wasn't going to get any cooperation, John sighed and headed towards the elevator. He was not looking forward to explaining to the landlord how Commander John Shepard, Hero of Elysium, Vanquisher of the Collectors, Bain of Cerberus, Feller of Reapers, and Savior of the Galaxy, was outsmarted by a couple of little kids.

…

Carn's eyes fluttered open. He was lying on the bed in his quarters, facing the picture of Anna. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He'd had that dream again, the one where he was lost in a thick fog, embers falling around him as a soft weeping echoed from the mist. Still, it was better than having nightmares of the past. He looked at the clock and sighed, it was only 0300. They still had several more hours until they reached the Bones mansion on Elysium. Not exactly wanting to go back to sleep, Carn got up and went over to his terminal. Maybe browsing the extra-net will pass the time. He booted up the device, getting online. He considered for a moment before typing "Dread, Scourge of the Terminus" into the search engine. Lily still hadn't told him anything else about the mysterious pirate, and if she wasn't offering any information, then he'd have to find it himself. He came up with thousands of results, most having nothing to do with the man hunting his cousin.

He did uncover a few articles on piracy in the Terminus systems, but the only information he could find on the pirate was a single paragraph. "The most legendary of these notorious pirates is known only as Dread, the Scourge of the Terminus." Carn snorted "Real original" he continued reading aloud "Nobody knows where he came from, what he looks like, or if he is even a 'he'. What is known is that he appeared not long after the Reaper War ended, and has heavy influence in the Terminus. The Council has sent several Spectres to hunt him down whenever he ventures into Council space, but none have ever returned."

Carn was about to continue looking for information when his omni-tool pinged, signaling he had a new message. Opening it up, Carn smiled when he saw the person who'd messaged him was none other than Mordin. It read: I know you're awake.

Carn quickly typed back: What make you say that? For all you know, I could have just been soundly asleep and you woke me up.

Either way, you're up now. Was the reply.

Carn smirked and decided not to respond right away. Finally, Mordin messaged him again: I know you're still up.

Carn merely typed: Zzzzzzzz…

Ha ha, you're so clever. He could practically hear Mordin's trademark gruff deadpan.

I thought I was. Carn typed back. So what did you want?

Alice is throwing a fit looking for you. Despite all these years being raised by them, Mordin had never really gotten to calling their parents "Mom" and "Dad". She wanted me to tell you to come back home. And to "get the fuck away from Lily while you still have plausible deniability."

Carn sighed and replied. I think it's too late for that.

Figures. There was a brief pause before Mordin typed. So, I hear you're not wearing your colony paint anymore. What did you finally realize how girly it was wearing make-up?

It's not funny Mordin.

I know that. Garrus has been huddled in a corner crying himself to sleep every night.

No he's not.

He might as well be. Do you have any idea how depressing it is to be around him right now? Just looking at him makes me want to bawl my eyes out.

You're exaggerating.

A bit, yes, but you really did hurt him. Alice too. You should come home.

Carn felt more than a little guilty at this. I will, as soon as I can look them in the eyes.

This better not be some turian honor bullshit. Because I swear, I will come out there and throttle you myself.

Carn chuckled a little at this. No, not exactly. It's just… I need to think things through.

He could practically hear Mordin's sigh. Fine, but if you're going to stick around with that troublemaker, be careful. We don't want to lose you again.

I will be. I promise.

…

The Hermes flew down into Elysium's atmosphere, making for the Bones Manor in the countryside. Everyone was in the cockpit, staring out the viewscreen as they passed through large fluffy clouds and over rolling hills. Cyan's avatar popped up on her platform "I have detected a large number of Council ships near the Bones Manor. It appears the Spectres got here first and have quarantined the Manor."

Kal grinned "Looks like you're too late. There's no way you can get on the grounds undetected."

"The Hermes is equipped with a stealth drive" Mort answered, "They won't be able to detect us."

"Yeah, until they look up." Kal stated "There's no way you can avoid being spotted."

Lily shot Kal a grin "Nyn, activate the cloaking field."

"Yes Captain," Nyn said, her fingers dancing across the controls "Cloaking active."

"Cloaking?" Kal asked, puzzled.

"It's based on the same technology as the Infiltrators' Tactical Cloak, adapted for use by a ship." Cyan explained "They won't be able to see us."

Kal raised his eyebrows beneath his face-plate "That's… actually pretty cool."

Mars' avatar popped up, grinning from ear-to holographic-ear. "I know right! We can be all like 'Haha, now you see me, now you don't!' And they'll be all like 'What? Where'd they go?' And we'll be all like 'See ya suckers!' It's so fun!"

Kal thought for a moment before adding "But wait, wouldn't you need a significant amount of power to maintain the field for extended periods of time?"

"Go on…" Mars said eagerly, avatar propping his chin in his hands like he was resting his elbows on a table.

"So…" Kal said, thinking out loud "That means that you would need to siphon the power from somewhere else unless your core happens to be twice the size of the Normandy's." Kal raised his head and looked at Mars "Shields maybe?"

"BINGO!" Mars' avatar jumped with glee. "Can we keep him Cap'? Huh? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we? Can we?"

Lily shook her head "No."

"Awwwww… come on Captain!" With a flicker, Mars' avatar turned into a small terran animal with large, pleading eyes; a puppy-dog, if Kal remembered correctly. "Pwease…?"

Kal heard laughter and turned to see Carn entering the cockpit, wearing armor with an assault rifle attached to his back. "Sounds like you've made a fan Kal." He said between chuckles.

"Don't make too much of it." Mort said with a small smile "Mars impresses easily."

Lily swiveled in the Captain's chair to face Carn. "You ready?"

Carn nodded, unlimbering the rifle. "I've added stun rounds; anyone we encounter will be out like a light. Unless they're a krogan, then they'll just be pissed."

"Good," Lily stood up, her pistols already strapped to her thighs. "Mort, you're in charge until we get back."

Mort nodded "Yes ma'am."

Lily grabbed Kal's arm and lead him to the airlock "You better hope you can find the real processor with your tech magic."

Nyn expertly piloted the Hermes down to the manor, pulling up and landing in one of the estate's many docking bays. Once the Hermes was attached to the umbilical, Carn keyed the airlock open and stepped through, rifle at the ready, Lily pushing Kal along behind him.

"Where to?" Lily asked as Kal activated his omni-tool.

Kal shook his head "I'm not sure, I don't detect any Reaper signals. We must be too far away."

Lily nodded and drew her pistol "Then we'll head to the Gallery and work from there." With Carn taking the lead with his rifle, Lily bringing up the rear with her pistol at the ready, and Kal between them scanning with his omni-tool, they moved through the mansion's halls as silently as they could. Unbeknownst to Carn and Lily, Kal had already ordered Dex to find a way into the mansion's security systems and activate the alarms.

Finally, they arrived in the Gallery. "Get down!" Lily ordered, dragging Kal behind a wide asari pillar, Carn taking cover next to them.

They had entered the gallery to find it crawling with techs scanning the works for any trace of Reaper energy. Armed guards patrolled the rows of artwork, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Peeking out from behind the pillar, Kal saw that the room was dominated by a strange, twisted spire with so many angles and edges that it made Kal's head hurt.

Joining him, Carn's eyes widened "Hey, I recognize that statue. It's the Multara Virtium!"

Lily shot him a confused look "Huh?"

"It's probably the most valuable piece of turian art in existence." Carn explained "It was stolen from the Ciptrine Museum of Art almost 200 years ago."

Lily cocked an eyebrow "Why would anyone want to steal turian art. I mean, have you seen some of your drawings? A cuttlefish could do better than that."

"Hey!"

[As funny as Carn strangling Lily would be, perhaps you should intervene.] Dex noted.

Kal agreed, deciding to speak up "How did such a valuable piece of turian art wind up in a human's hands anyways?"

Lily and Carn both just gave Kal an incredulous look, before saying simultaneously "Kasumi."

Kal blushed a little beneath his faceplate. "…Right, should have figured that one out myself…"

Lily glanced back out into the Gallery, "Right, well enough about the poor excuse of a sculpture that turians called 'art'. Is the processor in here?"

Kal did a quick scan with his omni-tool "It looks like it. They must have hidden it somewhere in this room."

Carn nodded "Alright, how are we gonna get rid of these guys? There're too many for me to take out without drawing attention to us."

Lily grinned, "Leave it to me." With that she undid the straps keeping her holsters attached, followed by removing her red leather jacket to reveal the sleeveless white shirt beneath. "Hold these," she said, thrusting the jacket and pistols into Carn's hands. She stood up, straightening the creases of her shirt, tied her hair back into a small bun, produced a pair of fake glasses from seemingly out of nowhere and delicately placed them on her face before walking out from behind the pillar.

Carn groaned "Oh boy…"

Kal glanced at Carn "What?"

"She's gonna do something absurd."

"VHAT DO VU ZINK VU ARE DOING?!" Kal peeked out from behind the pillar to see that Lily had marched right up to the closest tech and was now screaming in the poor asari's face with a heavy accent. "ZIS IST EIN OUTRAGE! VU KANN NICHT JUST KOMMEN IN HIER UND ZTART VAVING VUOR OMNI-TOOLZ ALL VILLYNILLY! ZESE ARE PRICELEZZ VORKZ OV ART!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Kal saw Carn facepalm "Why is she using her 'German' voice? Nobody sounds like that!"

Lily's verbal assault on the unlucky asari and had earned her the attention of every guard and tech in the Gallery. Cautiously, one of the guards approached Lily. "Ma'am, this is a restricted area, please-"

"VESTRICTED?!" Lily erupted in his face "DO VU HAF ANY IDEA VHO I AM? ICH BIN HERR BONES PERZONAL ART CONNOISSEUR! I HAF EVERY RIGHT TO BE HIER!"

"If you do work for Mr. Bones then you know that Mr. Bones and his staff are under lockdown until we conclude our investigation." The guard said calmly.

"VELL ZOMEBODY MUST KEEP EIN EYE ON VU SCHWACHKÖPFE LEST VU DAMAGE ZE COLLECTION!" Lily snapped "HAF ZOME RESPECT! I ZOULD-"

Kal heard a dull thumping and turned to see Carn repeatedly banging his head against the pillar. Shrugging, he turned his attention back to Lily who had launched into a long tirade at the guard. This could take a while.

…

Javik stepped off the shuttle, Raskos at his heels, and marched off the landing pad into the manor. Following the directions given to him by one of the cops occupying the mansion, Javik made his way up to the Study, where Charles E. Bones was being detained along with his staff while the Elysium police force swept the house for the real Reaper processor. When he finally made it to the Study, he was greeted by an aging man with a plump belly and a beat-red face.

"You!" Bones snapped "Are you the one in charge here? I demand an explanation for this at once!"

Javik merely gave the human his most indifferent stare "You are charged with the possession of Reaper technology, a crime in Council space."

Bones bristled "Well you're too late! The processor was stolen last week."

"It was a fake." Javik stated "You made a forgery to put on display and hid the real one. Where?"

Bones' face was redder than a cherry "Why- you- I'm not telling you anything!"

"It would be in your best interest to cooperate with us." Raskos chirped "You could be fined millions of credits and even sent to jail. That's not even including the mandatory six months of psych evaluation to determine whether or not you've been indoctrinated."

Mentally, Javik acknowledged the young raloi's attempt to be diplomatic. Personally, Javik would rather have just hung Bones out of the large window in the Study until he snapped, but Shepard frowned on such actions, and it was best not to displease the Commander.

"Go back to your nest birdy!" Bones snapped "I'm not telling you squat!"

Raskos, admirably, but also foolishly, pressed his case. "Please sir, it will make things much easier for everyo-"

"I said NO, you overgrown chicken!"

Javik carefully watched Raskos' reaction out of the corner of his eye, ready to intervene if the raloi grew violent. "Chicken" had become a derogatory slang term for the raloi after the rejoined the Galaxy. Coined by humans, the name was taken to be extremely offensive by the raloi; not, as one might think, because it was a term for cowardice among juvenile humans, (although that was initially why the term was first used) but because the chicken was a flightless bird. Raloi took great pride in their flight, regarded as sacred in raloi culture. To compare one to something that could not fly was one of the most offensive things you could do, and almost unthinkable to a raloi.

Raskos tensed, but did not make any threatening moves. Bones nodded smugly at this perceived submission and looked at Javik. "I don't know who you think you are, but I have powerful friends, and they will not like this harassment one bit! I'll be seeing you in court!"

Javik smiled, baring his fangs "I'm afraid not; you see I am a Spectre."

Bones eyes grew as wide as saucers. Honestly, Javik was surprised the man hadn't figured that out already. There weren't exactly any other Protheans left. "Y-Y-You're a S-S-Specter?" the man squeaked. Javik's grin widened as Bones fell to his knees "Please! I'll tell you everything! Just don't hurt me!"

Spectres actually weren't allowed to assault people indiscriminately anymore since Shepard took command. Not that the rest of the Galaxy knew that. "Then you better get started."

…

"UND STAY OUT!" Lily shrieked as she kicked the last of the guards and tech out the Gallery, locking the doors behind them. Lily turned back to the now empty room, smiling broadly. "You can come out now!"

Kal and Carn climbed out from behind the pillar and joined her. Lily noticed with amusement that Carn was rubbing his forehead sorely, muttering to himself "I think I dented the pillar."

Lily smirked and slung an arm around Kal. "So Zorah, where's the processor?"

Kal activated his omni-tool "I can narrow it down; there's some sort of interference. I'll need to get closer if I'm to pinpoint its location exactly."

Carn nodded "Okay, then we'll need to sweep the room, checking each-"

"Carn?" Lily interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Let's just get started okay? We're kinda pressed for time."

With that they began their sweep of the room, stopping at each sculpture or work of art. Each time Kal scanned the work with his omni-tool, each time they scans came back negative. Getting impatient, Lily headed over to the Multara Virtium, looking up at the gigantic sculpture. "How much you wanna bet the processor's inside this thing?"

Carn cast an incredulous glance at Lily. "Seriously? This sculpture is absolutely priceless, there's no way an avid art collector would-"

"She's right." Kal said, scanning the sculpture with his omni-tool.

"Huh?"

"The processor is inside this sculpture." Kal said to Carn's disbelieving face.

Grinning, Lily took out her pistol "Chuck," and started moving away from the sculpture. "Well then, we'll just have to crack it open."

Carn's eyes widened as he saw Lily take out a small missile and attach it to the muzzle of her gun. "Lily wait, what are you-"

"FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

Without any other warning, Lily launched the missile at the sculpture, forcing Kal and Carn to dive out of the way. There was a loud BOOM, and when the dust cleared, they could see that the sculpture had been blown open to reveal a large, meter-long metal case, a little beat up, but no worse for wear.

Lily grinned, holstering her pistol "See? No problem."

Carn gapped at her "Y-You just…"

"Yep." Lily said proudly "Now help me with this case."

Once they managed to remove the case from the wreckage, Lily wrenched it open, revealing a shard of twisted metal identical to the fake processor that was back at the museum inside. Lily grinned and shut the lid "Jackpot."

At that moment, the alarms started blaring.

Swearing, Lily turned to Kal. "Zorah! You're carrying this back to the ship!"

Kal was frowning beneath his faceplate "What? Why me?"

"Because you're the hostage." Lily drew her pistol and pointed it at Kal's head "Now get moving, and don't even think of trying anything."

…

They were still in the Study, questioning Bones when the alarms blared. "That's not good." Raskos said.

Frowning, Javik activated his com "Report?"

The officer in charge of the investigation answered "We have intruders, it look like they're leaving the Gallery."

"Didn't we have techs sweeping that place?" Raskos pointed out.

"They say Mr. Bones' art connoisseur kicked them out for 'mistreating the artwork'."

Javik resisted the urge to facepalm. "You imbeciles, I should toss you all out the airlock! Where are they going?"

"The Docking Bays it looks like."

"Which one?" Raskos asked.

"Um… it looks like there's an anomaly in Docking Bay 4."

Raskos nodded "On it."

Before Javik could say anything else, the raloi raced to the Study's giant window, barreling through the glass and dropping into the open air. As he fell, Raskos spread his wings, catching the wind and turning his fall into a glide. Giving his wings a few flaps to maintain altitude, Raskos leaned into the breeze, steering towards the Docking Bays. The wind hindered his progress somewhat, but he had learned to fly in the turbulent skies above the Mesa of the Winds, the largest plain in all of Turvess where his tribe made its home, and where the gusts were constantly changing directions. He knew how to manipulate its currents, how to slip between the flow of the air. It was not long before he'd arrived at a perch above Docking Bay 4.

Odd. The umbilical was extended, but there wasn't a ship attached. He scanned the empty bay from his perch, searching for the intruders. He didn't have to wait long. Within a minute, the door to the docking bay opened and three figures raced to the umbilical. Raskos quickly activated his Tactical Cloak and watched the trio with his keen eyes. There was a human female, a quarian male, and a turian male. The quarian was straining to carry a long metal case, the turian was scanning the bay with his rifle ready, at the human had her gun pointed at the back of the quarian's head.

That must be Lily and Kal. Raskos deduced. That means that "turian" is probably Carn.

He unlimbered a boomerang from his belt. While his race had invented firearms, Raskos had been trained in the old ways of his people, the way of the Hunters of ages past. Thus, he used the weapons of his kinsmen instead of guns, with admittedly a few… modifications.

Aiming the ancient weapon, Raskos let the boomerang fly.

Down below, Carn looked up just as the boomerang appeared, seemingly out of thin air, and headed straight for them. "Get down!" he cried, tackling Lily just as the boomerang was about to hit them.

"Huh?" Kal, still standing, barely turned in time to see the boomerang flying right at him. Just before it hit, the boomerang split in two, an unraveling cord still connecting the halves together. Crying out, Kal dropped the case as the boomerang-turned-snare wrapped around his legs, tripping him.

Seeing this, Raskos winced. That backfired. Quickly, he dived off his perch and flew straight at the thieves. Carn was just getting to his feet when Raskos planted into him feet first, kicking off the hybrid and executing a backflip over the still lying down Lily as his cloak deactivated. Carn was knocked off his feet by the force of the impact.

Lily quickly scrambled to her feet as Raskos drew his compactable spear. "Stand down." He ordered, pointing his spear at her chest.

Lily eyed his spear for a moment before smirking "Nice spear. Compensating for something?"

Raskos cocked his head in confusion "Excuse me?"

Before he even realized it, Lily had closed the distance between them. Raskos had to duck out of the way as Lily brought her fist up in an uppercut. Spinning away from her follow-though kick, Raskos swung his spear like a staff, whacking Lily in the gut. As she doubled over, Raskos brought the shaft of his spear down on the back of her head. There was a loud crack and Lily collapsed, stunned.

"LILY!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Raskos saw a flash of silver and barely managed to duck out of the way as Carn's combat knife sliced where his head had been moments before. Raskos backpedaled as Carn began stabbing at him with the blade. Raskos quickly deflected a jab off to the side, taking the opportunity to slip under Carn's guard and count with an elbow to the face. Carn stumbled back momentarily but quickly regained his balance and, when Raskos tried to follow through with a swing of his spear, he quickly ducked under his arm, slicing at the hand holding the spear as he passed by. Raskos immediately switched hands and made a large sweeping slash at Carn, trying to get the hybrid to back up.

He knew that at close range, Carn had the advantage; he needed to get some space if he was to use his spear effectively. Apparently, Carn knew that too, because as soon as he dodged the swing, he immediately closed the distance between them with a lunge. Raskos sidestepped and tripped Carn with a swipe of his spear. Instead of face-planting like Raskos had hoped, Carn turned his fall into a roll, quickly coming back up, knife ready for any follow-through.

Before Raskos could act however, Carn was trapped in familiar light green biotics. "Drop your weapons!" Raskos turned to see Javik standing in the Docking Bay doorway, wreathed in light green flames and pointing his pistol at something behind Raskos.

"You first." Raskos spun around to see Lily standing by the umbilical, her arm wrapped around Kal's throat and pointing a gun to his head.

Javik stepped forward, keeping his pistol trained on Lily "Lily Shepard, you and your accomplices are under arrest. Drop you weapons and surrender."

Lily smirked "Do you see the hostage I'm holding with a gun to his head? You're not in any position to make demands."

Javik's four eyes narrowed "I could shoot you in between the eyes right now."

"Really?" Lily tightened her grip. "And what if you miss and hit Kal."

"I won't."

"Do you really want to take that chance?" Raskos stepped forward, and Lily trained the gun on him "Stay back."

Raskos did the raloi equivalent of a smile "You won't shoot."

Lily cocked an eyebrow "What makes you say that?"

"You're a better person than that." Raskos said confidently. Really, it was only bravado, but if he could just get her to lower her guard…

Lily's eyes gleamed "Really?"

There was a loud bang and Raskos felt something break through his shields and impact with his chest, knocking him off his feet. He was too surprised to even cry out as he hit the floor.

Distantly, he could hear Lily say "In my world, 'good people' don't last long."

"Raskos!" Javik started towards him but was stopped when Lily trained her gun back on Kal.

"He'll live," Lily winked "provided you let us go that is."

Javik snarled, there was a time when he'd have continued the stalemate regardless of Raskos' condition, but Shepard had rubbed off on him over the years. Reluctantly, he lowered his weapon and released Carn from his Stasis Field.

Lily smiled "Carn, grab the processor." She nodded to Javik as she started backing up into the umbilical, dragging Kal with her "Well Prothy, this was fun and all, but I gotta run." She pushed the door controls and Javik caught a glimpse of an airlock that shouldn't have been there. Lily saluted to him as Carn joined her in the airlock, carrying the processor. "A good day to you, sir."

Javik bared his fangs "This is not over-"

"I SAID GOOD DAY!"

With that terrible Scottish accent, the door to the airlock shut and Javik heard the roaring of engines. All four of his eyes went wide as the air shimmered in the vague outline of a ship taking off and shooting out into the sky.

A/N: Okay, I split this chapter in two because it was getting too long. I'm not entirely satisfied with how it turned out so feedback is greatly appreciated.