Disclaimer: I don't own ME or Crysis, that would be Bioware, CryTek and EA.

Opening A/N from DN7: Hey everyone, my OC (Ryan 'Atlas' Mitchell) from my story Mass Effect: The Unsung Hero makes an appearance in this chapter! Part of the perks of being a beta reader is working with the author to make things like this happen. While he doesn't make a huge entrance, it's enough to get you guys geared up for his 'mission'. Enough from me for now though, read on!

LEGION: Yes yes, as you can all see, DN7 is my beta for this so thanks to him for that. Anyway, on with the chap!

Upon boarding the Normandy, Shepard led Jones and Lee down to the armory in the cargo bay while I was quickly dragged into a discussion between Ashley and Kaidan.

Kaidan was giving his opinion that due to the fact that the Terminus systems were so splintered the only reason for them to band together would be if the Council spooked them enough to join together or someone with enough charisma would be able to bring them all together. Ashley on the other hand was more of the opinion that if they thought that they would get something worthwhile out of it they could easily start a war. Personally I figured that the Terminus wouldn't do much without Aria T'Loak, the "Queen" of Omega. Especially after the failed Skyllian Blitz, which was followed up by the Torfan and Theshaca raids.

"Wraith!" Shepard pulled me out of the conversation, calling from the entrance to the Captain's quarters "I think you need to hear this."

Tilting my head slightly I excused myself and walked over to her, "What is it?".

Walking into her quarters Shepard began explaining, "You remember Edolus?"

"Kinda hard forgetting being tossed around by a Thresher maw." I said dryly.

Shepard chuckled slightly "Right. Well, I contacted Admiral Kahoku. The marines who were killed by those maws were under his command. We just got his response and it's rather worrying." She then keyed up the transmission from her computer.

"Shepard. It's Admiral Kahoku. I got you're message. I did some digging and I found out who set that trap for my men. I really hope you get this message. It's important. It was a group called Cerberus. They were an Alliance black ops organization. Top secret, highest level security clearance. They vanished a while ago. No one knows where they went or what they were doing. They dropped right of the grid. They have gone completely rogue Shepard. Conducting illegal genetic experiments. I think they are trying to create some kind of super-soldier.

I don't have any proof, but I did find the coordinates for one of their research worlds. I'm uploading them with this message. They are completely out of control. Somebody needs to stop them. I've done my part. They are after me now, so the rest is up to you. I am also sending a message to CryNet. They are probably the only ones able to do anything about them. The Alliance can't - or won't - do anything. Neither will the Council. This is probably the last you'll hear from me. Cerberus is after me. I need to disappear before they find me or I will be dead. . . Or worse. Kahoku out."

"Cerberus." I hissed, narrowing my eyes.

"You know them?" Shepard asked.

"Not as much as I'd like. Just knew that they were a part of the Alliance's Deniable Black Ops Division. We know their leader is goes by the codename 'The Illusive Man' and that it consists of multiple cells. A few rumors here and there, along with a manifesto published after the first contact war that calls for a 'Cerberus' to defend humanity against alien threats." I paused for a moment to let Shepard process the information. "Honestly? This is the best lead we've gotten on Cerberus so far, and it makes me wonder how Kahoku was able to uncover it."

"Hmm..." Shepard thought for a moment before reaching over and pressing a button on her desk, "Joker!"

"Aye Commander?"

"Set a course for the Planet Binthu. Voyager Cluster."

"Aye aye Commander, setting a new course now."

"We're heading there ourselves?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah, I want to personally check this out."

"Fair enough I suppose. Just-"

"- don't let it get in the way of hunting Saren." Shepard interrupted me. "I know. But we don't have any leads on him at the moment anyway, so we might as well deal with this. Need I remind you that you were rather keen on us going to the Prism?"

"Alright alright. I surrender." I said raising my hands. "Although in my defense it was to get you free top of the line equipment."

"Oh shut it you." She smirked punching me in the shoulder.

"Gah! Violent woman." I muttered quietly.

"What was that?" She asked me innocently.

"I said that you're-" I was rudely interrupted when I was surrounded in a blue aura that yanked me off the ground and held me there. "Alright! Alright, fine! I didn't say anything."

"Oh good. I thought you had said something." She released me from her biotic field at the end of her sentence. "Anyway would you mind telling me about the GHOST armor?"

I tilted my head in confusion "Didn't they tell you about it at the Prism?"

"Oh they told us about its functionality in great detail. I want to hear about its origins, how it came to be, why did you create it... You know, the good stuff."

I chuckled, "Ah I see. And what prompted this curiosity?"

"I'm just interested in knowing about it from an inside source. There's the public knowledge but I want to know how it really happened."

"Fair enough I suppose. It's not like its top secret intel." I paused for a moment glancing around "Uh - is the room clean?"

"Should be. I swept it for bugs when we left the Citadel."

"Good. Good." I said raising my hands up to my head while disengaging the locks around my helmet and mask. Pulling the helmet away with a soft hissing noise I pulled a chair over and sat down placing my helmet on the desk. "Ahhh, that's better. Even with all the time I've spent behind a mask, it's nice to be able to take it off in front of others. Anyway, so what do you know? Its easier for me to work with that."

"Just what's available on the extranet, which is honestly merely a bunch of rumors. Essentially they all say an Alliance marine was on an op with a Phantom team. Having seen a nanosuit in action, he got the idea of putting armored plates on the suit and using it as heavy armor. The suit's strength would allow the user to wear armor that would normally slow them down and the plates themselves could be heavier and stronger than anything a normal person could wear. Where the rumors diverge is who approached who first. One theory says the marine went to CryNet. The other says that CryNet approached him. In the end, CryNet developed the prototype with his designs and following the development of the GHOST armor, the Inquisitors were created to use it."

Leaning back I nodded slowly "And most of that is correct, albeit extremely cut short and low on details. I suppose that I'll start with that they got the fact that he was a marine, but what they are missing is what kind of marine he was. He was an N7 like yourself. One of the best infact. You may have heard of him." I said looking at Shepard, "Ryan Mitchell."

"Mitchell? The Ryan Mitchell?" Shepard asked surprised.

"Yup. The one whose records you broke in training." I smirked, "Well, almost all his records. You never did beat his marksmanship records."

"Bah, I'm terrible with a sniper. Too much trying to thread a needle and not enough reward." Shepard grumbled.

"I'm offended Shepard. I seem to recall me sniping an armature down on Therum in a single shot."

"You had an overpowered sniper rifle. You said it yourself. Now, on with the story. How did you get Mitchell to join CryNet."

"Whoa whoa, hold on." I said raising my hand "From the beginning now. You see Mitchell and his unit had been stationed on a planet, I forget where. In any case, they were protecting some Prothean technology that had been found while waiting for a Council ship to arrive and pick them up. It seems that some pirates thought it would be profitable for them to assault the base and take the artifacts for themselves to sell on the black market. So they attacked the outpost. The pirates had landed in force and would have been able to overrun the base with sheer numbers. Seeing the odds were against even his own impressive N-squad, he managed to get off an SOS. Fortunately for him and unfortunately for the pirates, a Phantom team happened to be in the area."

I paused glancing over at Shepard "You've met that particular team by the way on the Prism. Raptor team. I suppose that if it had been any other team, Mitchell may not have gotten the idea." Shepard just raised an eyebrow, and I continued explaining, "You see, Raptor team has this brilliant shock and awe tactic that they've used for quite some time now. One of them, usually Prophet or Psycho, will grab a large plate of metal, or a crate or something big and bullet proof. Prophet, Psycho and Jester will then assault a position head on using the one carrying the plate as cover. Nomad and Aztec though will flank around and hit the enemy while they are distracted. It's pretty damn effective in nearly any situation. While I wasn't there, I've seen the reports and heard the stories enough to know that that's what they did to repel the pirates assault.

Anyway once Raptor had rescued Mitchell, and secured the artifact on the Council ship, they went on to assault the Pirate base that had been established on the planet. Mitchell and his squad went with them and together they took out the pirates main base of operations within the sector. With the pirates defeated Raptor and Mitchell parted ways and that was that. It was however a couple of months after that that Mitchell popped up on our radar again."

Flashback, September 2nd 2179

My eyes narrowed as I read over the report that had been sent to me by Axel not an hour before. Reaching the end of the report I sneered as I quickly sent a message to the rest of the board saying that we needed to have a meeting. Receiving three answers I stood up and walked over to the window and glared out at the distant stars. I didn't have to stand there long before I heard the buzzing sound of a hologram activating behind me.

"I assume this has to do with the report I sent you?" Axel asked me.

"That's for sure." I turned around to see his hologram standing in the middle of my office.

"You came to the same conclusions as I did then?"

"Of course. We can't just let some random guy break the Accords when it suits him."

"My thoughts exactly. We-" Axel was interrupted by the appearance of Derek and Niel.

"Martin. What's so urgent?" Niel asked me.

"A break of the Accords." I answered shortly.

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrow.

"I assume you didn't get the report I sent you?" Axel asked.

Derek shrugged, "I got it I just haven't read it yet. Why?"

Axel nodded to himself for a moment, "Then I'll explain. Six hours ago, one of our intelligence agents reported a possible unauthorized use of Synthetic Muscle Fibers. Investigating I learned that one Ryan Mitchell had created a design for an armor prototype that uses SMF's for mobility. Investigating more I learned that this prototype has some definite similarities to the nanosuit. I'm sure you can see them even from these initial designs." He said as the schematic for said prototype appeared next to him.

Examining it I was easily able to tell the similarities. This prototype was pretty much a suit of SMF's looking similar to the nanosuit covered in various metal plates for additional protection.

"That was three hours ago." Axel continued, "I then did some more investigating. Apparently he plans on submitting the design to Alliance R&D tomorrow. He obviously wants it to be created by them."

My head snapped up at that "Tomorrow? Damn. We might be able to stop that then."

"We are not going to kill him Martin." Niel said sharply. "We don't really need to worry about the Alliance right now anyway. Or do you think that they would willingly break the Accords over this? Not to mention their R&D is pretty tied up in their new stealth frigate project."

"There is no telling with the Alliance actually." Axel said. "I think that, if they thought they could keep it hidden from us they would."

"Mmh... What do we know about Mitchell anyway?" Niel asked.

"Yeah, his name seems familiar." I said thinking outloud.

"It's not surprising" Axel said "His team is the one that Raptor saved from pirates a couple of months ago."

"Oh right. I remember now. He was guarding a Prothean artifact as I recall." I mused as I started pacing.

Axel nodded, "That's right. Now then a bit of background on him.

Ryan Mitchell. He was born March, 9th 2149 on Earth. At the age of 11 he lost his parents to a botched mugging by a red sand addict. At 18, he enlisted in the Alliance where he graduated basic training as top of his class in marksmanship, hand to hand and demolitions.

In 2169 he lead a raid against a pirate outpost which led him to be invited to the Interplanetary Combative Training. He completed the training in a year when he received N6. At the time it was the fastest that anyone completed ICT. His record was broken by Vanyali Shepard five years later who completed the ICT in eleven months. Anyway, he was promoted to Staff Lieutenant in 2172 when he successfully led an operation that granted him N7 status.

He also received a masters degree in mechanical engineering when he wasn't on assignment. Finally just a few months ago he defended a Prothean dig site from pirates until Raptor team arrived. Afterwards Raptor team and Mitchell's squad assaulted the Pirate base together. After the mission he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and now it looks like he made a design for an armor prototype that breaks the Accords."

Derek who had been silent until now finally spoke up, "Why don't we recruit him?"

I spluttered in surprise and stopped dead in my tracks "Recruit him? He's submitting a design to the Alliance that in in direct conflict with the Accords! You know what would happen if we let that kind of tech get out where any common criminal can get it!"

"And how would recruiting him be dangerous? We keep him from spreading the tech around and we get to use the design for ourselves." Derek argued.

"We don't exactly need that you know. The nanosuit is superior to that in just about every regard."

Niel looked thoughtful for a moment before, "He has a point Martin. CRYSTAL has already projected the R&D costs for this prototype and is fairly sure that the armor would be quite a bit cheaper than the nanosuit when prepped for mass production. You of all people also know that we don't have nearly enough Phantoms to deal with terrorist situations, fight pirates and mercenaries both out in the galaxy and in Council space.

We have talked about fielding a new type of agent that could deal with any threats in Council space while the Phantoms cover the Terminus and this design would allow us to do just that Think objectively Martin! We only have eleven Phantoms, now split into three teams. Not to mention the entire situation with Wolverine-"

"I am well aware of the situation with Wolverine." I spat, interrupting him.

"Well if we did have another operative type, it would certainly take the load off of the Phantoms. They could concentrate on other things, like hunting for Wolverine. Or whatever missions suit the Phantom team's infiltration specialty." Niel reasoned.

Letting out a massive sigh I sank backward into my chair.

It was then that Axel gave his opinion. "I'll admit. Looking over the data, well. There is just too much for just the Phantoms to do. Derek's idea is not that bad."

"Now it looks to me that this armor is different enough from the nanosuit so that we could even sell it publicly. The muscle fiber in the design doesn't have the cloaking or armor capabilities of the CryFibril and it wouldn't have the entire problem with symbiosis. Perfect for selling." Derek mused.

I shook my head "I don't like the idea of selling it. We'd be giving the common criminal a way of getting top of the line armor that could possibly go up against the Nanosuit."

"Not necessarily. I'd say that at the moment its barely on par with the Nanosuit, yet the Nanosuit 2 is nearing its final stages. And I fully expect that it will increase its power by at least 20%, most likely more than that." Derek told me. "That and it's not like we would just let anyone buy it. We can install monitoring software to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands. We also have to look at Mitchell's track record. If he managed to design this himself, imagine what he could do if another hardsuit or arms firm got wind of his talent? We could use him."

A silence followed Derek's statement as we all thought about the situation. Eventually it was broken by Niel who said, "It's irrelevant at the moment. We don't know if Mitchell will even join us. I suggest that we meet with him. If he won't join us then we can always confiscate the designs and work on them ourselves."

"Fine." I acquiesced to that plan. "We'll meet with Mitchell. Do we know where he is?"

Axel consulted a computer. "He's on the way to Arcturus at the moment, so we won't be able to discuss this with him until after he meets with Alliance R&D."

"Great," I muttered. "Think we have to remind them of the Accords?"

"Let me deal with that Martin. Don't worry, I'll make sure that they know that they can't accept the design proposal." Niel told me.

"Well. I'd say that that's it. If there's nothing else?" Derek asked.

"No." I waved him away tiredly, "No that's it."

September 4th, two days later

It was finally time. We had just sent a message to the Alliance requesting to meet with Mitchell via hologram. We didn't have to wait too long for a hologram of a fairly tall and well built man to appear in front of us.

Leaning back in my chair I started the conversation "Ryan Mitchell, I presume."

Mitchell crossed his arms, "If you were expecting someone else I can go get them from you."

"You're not really in a position to make wisecracks Mitchell." I growled.

Mitchell's eyes furrowed a bit, "I don't know how you were raised, but when meeting someone for the first time, it's appropriate to give them your name. Especially when you already know theirs."

Sensing a potential problem Niel cut in, "I apologize for not introducing ourselves. We are the CryNet Board of Directors.I am Director Niel Teems, founder and Director of Alpha Tech and Sciences. On my right is CryTell Director Axel Petersen, and CryTech Directer Derek Antonov. On my left is CryOps Director Duncan."

Mitchell's face relaxed a bit, and he went into a relaxed parade rest position, "Lt. Commander Ryan Mitchell, N7." He emphasized his rank with a bit of venom in his voice.

"We know who you are Commander. The question at hand is do you know why this meeting is taking place?" Axel crossed his arms and leaned back.

"Only two possibilities cross my mind, either you want a follow up report from the skirmish your Raptor team helped me out in. Or it could have something to do with the designs I submitted to Alliance R&D yesterday and were immediately shot down. Ostensibly due to budget constraints." Mitchell paused for a moment before continuing with a smile, "I'm betting its the latter of the two"

I jumped at the opportunity, "So if you know what the reason for this meeting is then you know that the design you submitted yesterday is in direct violation of the CryNet Accords."

"After I had asked why it was denied, the R&D Board gave me a stack of datapads, all with the details of your Accords. I haven't gotten that far into the legal stuff to see that you guys own all rights to anything using SMF. I think I still have another hundred thousand pages to go yet."

"Yes, as serious as your violation was, it is not the main purpose behind this meeting. You see Commander, we have a proposition for you." Derek was quick to steer the conversation away from dangerous waters. The Accords were one thing that CryNet had to fight tooth and nail for with the Council, and as it was some parts of it were barely accepted by both sides.

We could barely hear Mitchell mutter, "Well that's unexpected," with a slightly shocked expression as he shifted his weight to his backleg and crossed his arms.

Continuing Niel leaned towards Mitchell's hologram. "Now then, if you don't mind me asking. What was the reason behind the designs? Why did you make them in the first place?"

Mitchell would then reply, "Primarily to give my team and the rest of the N7's a more than fighting chance against the numerous pirate bands in the Traverse and Terminus. Your Phantom's can't be everywhere at once, and my team and I got lucky with Raptor being on hand. While uncommon, that kind of force we were faced with would have made even a Krogan worried. With the armor I designed we would have had a fighting chance if that were to happen again as well as to allow us to take on higher risk missions."

Axel nodded once. "We thought as much. Your armor designs would definitely give you an advantage over the pirates, however there is one flaw in your reasoning which is the one the Accords are meant to address. To prevent the natural escalation of weapons and hardsuit technologies, we keep as much about synthetic muscle fiber technology to ourselves as we can. Our current projections show that your designs would be nearly in line with the current nanosuit, and that is something that cannot be allowed into the free market just yet so we, as well as other military peacekeeping forces, can maintain our edge."

Mitchell was quick to counter, "There are two things I see wrong with that though. One being you are limiting the amount of work that can be done with not only my armor designs, but synthetic muscle fibers as a whole. The other being that you are stifling the advancement of synthetic muscle technology to benefit your Phantoms. What gives you that right to prevent the good that can be done with not only my armor designs, but the technology behind the nanosuits?"

"Believe me, this is something that has been discussed between us and the Citadel Council numerous times. While it is not the ideal situation, you must trust that we have only the best in mind for the galaxy as a whole. However, I think its time to discuss our proposition for you."

Niel continued from where Derek left off. "We've toyed with the notion of creating another class of operatives within CryNet to handle the increasing load of organized crime in Citadel space so the Phantoms can work more on the Terminus/Citadel border. Your armor designs seem like they would work quite well with this new operative class. They are much cheaper to produce, provide excellent protection from small arms fire, and can be fielded in a short amount of time. While we are within our legal rights to seize your designs, we want the input from the combat experienced special ops soldier who drew them up in the first place."

Mitchell leaned back thoughtfully for a moment before speaking, "I have a commitment here with the Alliance and to my team. Right now, what exactly do you have in mind for me that you think would get me to join CryNet? "

"As I said, you would be a consultant within the design process, helping CryTech create the armor." Derek told him before he looked pointedly at me to continue.

Sighing slightly I grudgingly added, "As you are experienced in combat, the opportunity of testing the prototype would also be available for you as well as a place within the possible new operative class."

"Just as one of the operatives? Or would I get to lead my own team?" -Mitchell

"As we do not know how this new operative class will work that is an unknown. If the operatives will work in teams, which admittedly is likely, then you would be able to lead your own team as otherwise it would be a gross waste of experience." I responded

Mitchell took some time to think again before answering. "Alright... Here's my counteroffer. You guys talk to my CO and the Alliance Admirals to get me as a consultant until the end of my enlistment. After which I'll join CryNet properly. Once the armor is finished, and assuming you deem it available for public sale, give Alliance N7's a discount."

"And when does your enlistment end?" Derek asked him shrewdly.

"11 months, 2 weeks, 4 days" -Mitchell

After a short discussion between the four of us, Niel turned to Mitchell to give him our decision "Very well. The CryNet Board accepts your offer. We will be contacting Captain Hawk and Alliance Command within the next few days to finalize your place as a consultant after which we will send you the contract for you to sign."

"Alright..." Mitchell clasped his hands together, and with a smile asked, "So how much am I going to get paid?"

August 23rd 2180

With Mitchell on board the CryNet team, work on the 'Titan' powered armor began. A short year later, and Titan was undergoing live fire trials.

"Welcome back Ryan! That last test on Tuchanka really put the Titan through its paces." Teems congratulated Mitchell as he arrived in the cruisers science lab. Putting the suit through the harsh Tuchanka environment while under fire from a small krogan clan was the final stage in the trials.

Mitchell removed the suits helmet, air hissing out as he did, "Yeah, definitely glad the environmental controls were able to keep up unlike on Noveria. I don't mind the cold but that was too cold for me."

"Indeed they did. Test results indicate that the environmental controls were able to keep pace with the Tuchankan hazards with minimal impact on operating efficiency. We'll have to do another test on Noveria for the newly designed de-icing system, but that can be completed by some one else." Derek explained.

"No, I'd rather do it myself. Can I have a look at the data?" Mitchell asked and a nearby tech handed him a data tablet. He spent a few minutes pacing as he looked at it, paging through the information the suit collected while on Tuchanka. "Hmm... It definitely looks like the power output for the shield emitters can be brought down a few points. They were nearly on the verge of burning out from the added heat of Tuchanka, and I had no need to overclock them this time around. If I would have, the shield emitters probably would have fried."

"Mmhh. I think that for safeties sake we should limit the final version's power output by about 15% to reduce any risk in buring out the emitters. Even with that reduction, the Titan's shields are still vastly superior to even bleeding edge hardsuits." Niel suggested.

"And keep any overload from damaging the muscle fibers." Martin chimed in. "We'll also be able to do away with the external power cores and replace them with smaller more compact versions that we created during Nanosuit 2 Development."

That got Mitchell's attention, "Awesome, do you have a rendering of the changes?"

"Of course. Who do you think we are?" Duncan smirked as he keyed his omnitool for the nearby computer assisted holographic design projector to bring up the Titan's new looks.

Mitchell walked around it, the projector giving a life size schematic, with various parts and pieces being highlighted. Overall the armor design was blocky, with the chest, shoulder, and leg sections being designed for ease of manufacturing. "Nice... However..." Mitchell proceeded to activate his own omnitool and changed up the blockiness. After smoothing out the armored sections so it looked more sleek and organic looking he stepped back. "There... Now all we have to do is name it."

"Are those really necessary?" Derek complained.

"If you want to be able to sell it AND have your operatives be more intimidating... Yes." Mitchell stated matter of factly. "The previous rendering made it look too much like a robot. By smoothing out those corners, you know it's person inside that high tech powered combat exoskeleton. That will instill fear into who ever is on the wrong side of a gun being pointed by an occupant of this armor. It's not just a mech, but a living breathing person behind it."

"He as a valid point Derek. The Phantoms were made to be intimidating as well remember?" Teems offered.

"Yes but they were not changed for the sake of appearance." Antonov countered.

"Those changes don't negatively affect the protection granted by the armor, Derek." Martin assured, "CRYSTAL already did the calculations. While originally they are purely cosmetic, they actually increase bullet deflection by nine percent, and intimidation is a fairly important factor here. I say use them."

"Oh very well." Derek grunted defeatedly, "Now on to the naming. I vote for my previous entry of 'Sentinel Urban Power Energy Reactive Armor', or SUPER Armor."

Mitchell and I both facepalmed at the same time, getting a laugh from Niel and Axel.

"We are NOT naming this armor 'Super armor'! That's ridiculous" Martin declared.

"The armor was designed with two things in mind," Mitchell began to reason, "as a heavy offensive tactical armor, and as a means to safe guard those who use it. In my mind, something that uses either of those elements would be more appropriate"

"HOT-Armor isn't much better." I laughed lightly, "But I think you might be onto something there. Hmm. Guardian Heavy Offensive-"

"Strategic Trooper Armor?" Axel finished for Martin.

Duncan nodding "That works. GHOST armor. Not going to be much of a ghost in that thing to be honest."

Mitchell jumped in right then,"From an enemies standpoint, what would you call an entity that you fire entire ammo blocks at that simply won't go down? A ghost, spirit, specter... Something from another realm that will come after you until you are dead."

"That's what we're hoping anyway." Niel agreed and looked around at the directors and Mitchell before continuing. "Anyway, all of you ok with calling the armor the Guardian Heavy Offensive Strategic Trooper Armor, or GHOST for short?"

"I still think we should have called it SUPER" Derek muttered

"Fine with me." Petersen voted.

"I like it." Duncan voiced.

Mitchell was the last one to say anything. "I agree but one question...

Can I keep this one?"

End flashback

Having finished my story I leaned back in my chair as Shepard began asking questions, "So it seems like you were against Mitchell at first. Why?"

"I take violations of the Accords very seriously, as if we would let people get away with them there could be some serious galactic consequences. Ceph technology for instance, if handled improperly could cause widespread devastation on a planet. We've uncovered bioweapons that we believe acted as a base for the Ceph to modify so as to target a specific species. We've also uncovered nanotech weapons in the form of swarms of nanites that can annihilate the population of an entire planet. So I take the Accords very seriously as a matter of galactic security." I explained.

"Well I can understand that in the case of Ceph technology then, but because of a design using synthetic muscle fibers?"

"Simply put, it's the escalation paradox. If we'd let people violate the Accords by using synthetic muscle fibers in any way they wish, then we run the risk of people thinking that we won't punish them for breaking the Accords as well as them tipping the balance of power for good or ill. It's especially true in the case of Ceph technology. As for why the SMF's are in the Accords in the first place, we need to keep the nanosuit and now the GHOST armor away from criminal and terrorist hands. If they start getting tech like that then the Phantoms and Inquisitors start loosing their edge, not to mention the local law enforcement. It's a guarantee that if they could, someone would try and create some kind of armor or weapon to combat the Nanosuit or GHOST armor. Hell, someone somewhere probably already is."

"I suppose that makes sense. Who's CRYSTAL? Another AI I suppose?" She asked.

"Yeah, She's the CryTech research AI. Stands for Crynet Rapidly Yielding Special Technology Advisor for Labs. Another one of Derek's names."

"I see." Shepard said smiling before asking, "Did Antonov really want to call it SUPER armor?"

I chuckled. "Yes. You see Vanyali, there's something you need to know about Derek. He sucks at naming stuff. Most of the weapons that CryTech create end up being named by someone else. The ones he does end up naming end up being called "The Frag Grenade" or "The Flash Bang" or "The AEC". I think that the only weapon that he named which had a reasonable name was the JAW."

"Well, I feel sorry for any kids he might have. I mean Vanyali is bad enough, but I can imagine that he would come up with something even worse than that." Shepard laughed.

I looked at her in surprise. "Are you kidding me? Vanyali is a beautiful name. Doesn't it mean magic in some ancient language?"

Now it was Shepard's turn to look surprised, which quickly became slightly embarrassed. "My parents always told me it was magical, how did you know?"

"I came across it sometime ago and it stuck in my head." I said as heat rose to my cheeks.

"I'm flattered. To think that you remembered the meaning of my name that you just happened to come across some time ago." Shepard said smirking at me.

"Yeah, well. Like I said you're name is quite beautiful."

"My name is quite beautiful do you say?" Shepard purred. "Careful operative I might get ideas."

It was at that moment when I heard SECOND's voice. "Priority transmission awaiting you in your office."

"Well Operative Wraith, it looks like duty calls. I'll see you later when we need to plan our assault." Shepard told me, smirking.

I picked up my helmet and mask and put them on "Right, I'll see you then. I- uh, better check what this is about."

"Remember to get some sleep. It will be another 12 hours or so until we reach Binthu."

"Got it Shep. See you later." I said walking out the door and towards my office.

Closing A/N from DN7:

Alright so some of you may wonder why I have my OC in this fic. Short story, simply because LEGION and I work together on each other's fics enough that we have each other's OC's in our own fics.

Now for the GHOST armor prototype that Mitchell tests. If you play Section 8: Prejudice, it's armor that General Salvador wears with the four external power cells on the back. The new rendering that is first shown to Mitchell is the Arm/Spear power armor, while Mitchell changes it into Section 8's version.

Finally, some of you may be wondering when I'll post the new version of The Unsung Hero. Short answer: After March 11th.

LEGION: Alright, so this chapter really serves two purposes. The first and most important one is to introduce Mitchell. He will be making an appearance later on so look out for that. The second is to show that Wraith/The Director, isn't that much of a nice guy. He's nice to people he knows, but to people he doesn't, or threats to CryNet, well lets just say he can be a bit of an ass.

And yes DN7 and I work with each others fics quite a bit. . . So you may be seeing Wraith in The Unsung Hero or Evolution. There's also that other fic. . . ;)

Also, Crysis 3. . . Perfect game. Just beat it on Post Human warrior yesterday and it was extremely fun. I'm definitely looking into bringing some mechanics from C3 into NE, mainly hacking and the suit modules.

If you have any questions ask me in a review or PM and I'll try to answer it. If you have some feedback to leave, review!

I think that that's it and I'll be seeing you guys on the 16th.

~LEGION