Sorry it took so long for me to get this up. I hope enjoy this new chapter.

OSA Space

OSA High Charity

Senate Chambers

In the Senate Chambers, the members of the OSA Senate were discussing the Citadel Council's actions in breaching their agreement; needless to say, it wasn't going well. "Those heretics must be killed for tampering with our gods' sacred artifacts," yelled Tranquility, "and as if it weren't enough that they did so, they must now pay for breaking our treaty with them!"

Soha 'Rolamee nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, we must deal with the Council; if we don't we will look soft and weak. We must exact retribution for anyone who dares take our goodwill for granted! The same applies for the Terminus Coalition."

Anita shook her head in disagreement—things were spiraling out of control. And the sad part was that she didn't blame them; in fact, she wanted to join in. "We don't want to start a war with Citadel or the Coalition, especially if these Reapers exist. I agree we must deal with the Council for breaking our agreement with them and that incident with the Coalition can't be ignored."

But before anyone could think of a way to punish the Council, a message came up for the Senate. The ambassador from the Jiralhanae Tribal Confederacy wished to speak with the Senate. Anita and Tranquility allowed it, but 'Rolamee didn't like it. Ambassador Tartarus walked in the Senate chambers…the jewelry he wore emphasizing his status. "Thank you for seeing me, especially in this dark hour." Rolamee didn't like how Tartarus was acting, but he knew that the Jiralhanae chieftain would not come without good reason. "Speak what you came here to say and leave."

Tartarus snarled at Rolamee and Anita didn't like how 'Rolamee was eyeing him, so she stepped in before things escalated any further. "As you know, we have a situation in the Attican Traverse that must be dealt with, so please tell us what you came here to say." Tartarus looks at the Senate "I am aware of the Citadel Council finding a sacred relic on a moon."

The Senate was surprised by Tartaus finding out about it. "The Senate didn't tell anyone for fear of anger from the other races for the Council of breaching the treaty we signed…how did you know about that? I demand you tell me!"

Tartarus gnashed his teeth, showing their purpose for the clearly-defined carnivorous diet of his people. "You don't make demands of me Sangheili. I came here to know what the punishment you were planning to give to the Citadel Council for coming into our borders without permission."

Anita just relaxed in her chair. But something about the chieftain told her that they might regret it later. "We were discussing it, but haven't decided yet."

The Senate could only look on in bewilderment as Tartarus grinned…what was he planning? "It seems you're in luck, because I have one; we ask the Council to remove the DMZ they set up in the Krogan system."

The Senate was not surprised. They were aware of the Jiralhanaes trying to make an alliance with the Krogan. 'Rolamee was against it, mainly because the Sangheili and the Krogan have some…unresolved issues. "We have nothing to gain by asking the Council for that."

Tartarus didn't like the Sangheili Senator on his opinion. "I disagree! The Krogan have asked the Jiralhanae's to remove the DMZ from there system to make our alliance official; but in exchange for doing this, they will provide aid in the form of more military manpower for us."

Anita liked the idea—not so much for the Krogan support, but making the council to remove the DMZ. On the other hand, Anita was aware of the Krogans' history with the Citadel and this would really stick it to them. "I vote in favor for it."

Tranquility did the same…only 'Rolamee disagreed to it. Tartarus was pleased with the result. "I will wait until this situation is dealt with, to tell the Krogan the good news." Tartarus leaves the Senate chambers.

The Senators then went back to their talks Anita went first "Now what should we do about the Coalition?"

'Rolamee was the one to speak…now they could get to more serious matters! "We have Asari spies within the Coalition, and they have given us information on a couple of their bases. I can send an ELITE squad to blow up these bases to send a message to all in the Coalition to never attempt anything like it again."

Tranquility then stepped up to provide his services. "My people have been developing new weapons with the Huragok and the prototypes need to be tested. We offer them to the SpecOps on their mission."

'Rolamee bowed his head to acknowledge Tranquility's offer, while Anita was glad they were back on the same page "I'm glad we got that settled no let's move on t-" Anita was cut off by Mendicant Bias. "Reclaimer I have an incoming message on the SlipSpace Comm. Link."

Anita was surprised "From who?"

"It is from the Monitor of Line Installation 1-5; he is requesting an audience with the Reclaimer of the OSA."

The Senate was surprised by this; they never thought a Monitor would contact them. Anita turned her back to Mendicant Bias. "Patch it through; let's see what this Monitor has to say."

Mendicant Bias did as he was told and on the holo-projections was a Monitor. "Ah, Reclaimer! It is wonderful to meet you at last; I was afraid my connection wouldn't have gotten through.''

The Senate was a little surprised by the Monitor. Anita was about to ask something but the Monitor interrupted her "Oh! Forgive me Reclaimer, I did not give my name forgive me. My name is 235 Sincere Matrix."

Anita nods to confirm "Hello Sincere Matrix. Why did you contact us?"

"To warn you that the species that came to this installation was attempting to acquire Forerunner technology to use against you…protocol dictated that these invaders had to be eliminated and I had to contact you."

Anita looked at her fellow Senators and she could see the anger in their eyes. She turned back to the Monitor. "I thank you for this information, and will send someone to assist you. I only ask that in return, you don't take any other actions as of right now."

The Monitor looked like it was about to reply before it seemed to stare into space; after a few minutes, a response came. "I am afraid I cannot do that. My long range sensors have detected three large ships about the size of a KM heading this way…ETA eight minutes."

The monitor brought up the images of the ships right next to him on the holo-projector. The Senators immediately recognized the design; they were Turian dreadnoughts. "Matrix I will send someone to help with the Turians; in the meantime, you must defend the installation until our people get there."

Sincere Matrix happily agreed to the command and disconnected. Anita turned to her fellow Senators, the weary look in her eyes apparent. "I know what you all must be feeling, but right now we can't let are anger get the best of us."

Upon hearing this, Tranquility snarled. "Anger is not the word I would use to describe my feelings on this situation. I told you they would do something like this."

'Rolamee was in agreement. "I agree, we should have never told them about the Forerunners."

Anita could only shake her head in disagreement. "They would have found out eventually. And besides, we put our intelligence agencies to keep an eye on the Council if they did find any. And I would think they stopped looking after we destroyed the first one they found, but they continued with their search."

"What are we going to do about the Turian dreadnoughts?" asked Tranquility staring at Anita; it was then that she started to think it over. Before long, she came up with an idea and turned to her fellow senators. "Has the Albion completed its mission in the Armstrong Nebula?"

Rolamee brought up data on his holo-projection in front of him to check up on the status of said ship. "Yes they did, and they are currently resupplying at Asgard station ready to head in the Traverse to fight the Geth again."

"Redirect them to Sub-Sector 37; the Normandy is going to need help dealing with the Turians."

The Senators agreed on the mission and adjourned for today.

En-route to Sub-Sector 37

UNSC Normandy

Cargo Hold

Commander Shepard was down in the cargo hold looking at his damaged armor from the previous battle on Feros. Shepard was thinking of how he's going to fix this, but stopped when Williams came over. "Hey Commander! What happened to your armor?"

Shepard just grinned at her. "Had a little disagreement with a Spartan planet-side; and the result of that is a cracked chestplate."

Williams just chuckled upon hearing that. "Oh, I would have loved to have seen that; the great Commander Shepard vs. a Spartan."

Shepard just shook his head in frustration. "Yeah you would. Anyway, are you just going to joke around or are you going to help me out?"

Williams nodded and came closer to inspect the armor. After half an hour, both finished patching up the crack. Williams and Shepard headed up to the mess hall to get a bite to eat and talk.

UNSC Normandy

Mess Hall

Shepard and Williams finished eating lunch and relaxed and started off with the conversation. "So Commander, how are we doing on the mission?"

Shepard took a sip of his water and looked at Williams. "As far as I can tell, we're doing good; this little detour was unavoidable, but after that I'm determined to get back on Saren's trail."

Williams nodded—she understood what he felt at the moment. "I hear you; I want to bring that Turian bastard down, but what do you think about Vakarian? You think he will try and help Saren?"

The nod of disagreement told her everything Shepard wanted to say before he even opened his mouth. "No I don't think so; I know when a person is lying to me no matter what race they are."

As Williams thought about what the Commander said, Equinox's voice came in the intercom "Commander! Hackett is on the SlipSpace Comm.Link."

Shepard just looked down at the table wondering what this is all about now. "Excuse me Williams, but it seems my job is never done." He then got up from his chair and headed towards the elevator.

UNSC Normandy

Comm. Room

When Shepard entered the comm. room, the table was already down; Shepard walked towards the table and the holo-projection showed Hackett standing in front of him. "Shepard I've got some new information for you."

Shepard wasn't surprised; a problem this big and the OSA is all over it. "What is it sir?"

"The Monitor of that installation you're heading to has contacted the Senate. It told them about the Council sending their people there to acquire Forerunner technologies to use against us." Shepard wasn't happy about that, but before he could say anything Hackett continued. "Also, the Monitor detected three Turian dreadnoughts heading to the system…so be careful."

"Sir! The Normandy is more than capable of dealing with three dreadnoughts."

Hackett shook his head. "Don't get cocky Shepard! Were sending the Albion to assist you, but the Albion won't be there until an hour. So you are ordered to contain the situation until they get there."

Shepard nodded and disconnected the Comm. Once done, he left the Comm. room and entered the armory.

UNSC Normandy

Armory

As Shepard was about to leave the armory the weapons officer Chazarus called out to the Commander. "Commander may I have a moment of your time?"

Shepard wasn't doing much so he turned around and headed to the Jiralhanae Weapons Officer. "What is it Chazarus?"

Chazarus walks up to the table and brought up a big gun with a radiation symbol on it. "I know how you humans like to use nuclear weapons, but the effects of this are highly dangerous. So I created this to help. I call it the Cain; it has high-explosive round that is applied to a 25-gram slug. When accelerated to 5 km/s, the round is devastating; though the label is inaccurate, this prototype and its high-explosive matrix generates an archetypical mushroom cloud on impact. It inflicts high damage with large area of effect; very effective against armor, shields, and barriers. I call it a heavy weapon."

Shepard picked up the weapon. He noticed it had a little weight to it. Shepard was impressed with the weapon. "What's its ammo capacity?"

Chazarus had a look of disappointment. "It is still a prototype Commander, so the best I can do is two shots before it's worthless."

Shepard didn't like it, but would take it with him on the mission. "Thanks, I look forward to using it." Shepard places the weapon down and headed to CIC.

UNSC Normandy

CIC

Shepard walked into the CIC heading straight to the galaxy map, but right at the side of the map was Garrus waiting for him "Mind telling me why we're not going to Noveria?"

Shepard walked up to Garrus. "Change of plans. The OSA redirected us to a different system. Right now this is an OSA mission."

Garrus was a little skeptical. "What could be more important than finding Saren?"

Shepard stared at Garrus, wanting the Turian to stop asking questions. "That's classified information."

Garrus just shook his head in frustration. "You know Shepard, one of these days you're going to have to trust me, or were not going to get anywhere in finding Saren." Garrus then walked away, heading to the elevator.

As Shepard thought it over, Joker came on the comm. "Commander we will be arriving in Sub-Sector 37…ETA 17 minutes."

Sub-Sector 37

Edge of system

Turian dreadnought

CIC

The Admiral of the dreadnought was looking at the holo-projection of the moon that had the Forerunner outpost on it. He was thinking of ways to penetrate its defenses, but so far no luck. Spectre Kyrik soon arrived on the CIC and greeted the Admiral "Admiral Tuuk, how are we doing so far?"

Tuuk looked at the Spectre—the grim look on his face said it all. "So far, every attempt we have made did not go well. We tried distracting the Forerunner drones with our own and sent our people in shuttles, but the drones didn't last five minutes, and it seems the outpost has some kind of energy weapon designed to shoot down ships."

Kyrik walked up to the holo projection of the moon and the surrounding system. Then all of a sudden he had an idea. "What if we sent an asteroid to the moon?"

Tuuk looks at the Spectre with confusion…before he finally got what his superior was getting at. "Yeah sure! If you want the moon destroyed with all that Forerunner tech of course."

Kyrik shook his head…that wasn't the mission. "No, not destroy; it's a distraction. We take five asteroids from the system and surround it with nukes. When the asteroids get close to the planet, the energy weapons destroy the asteroids while the Forerunner drones clean up the pieces before it falls to the moon…once done, the nukes on those pieces will detonate, taking the drones out and masking our approach with radiation."

As Tuuk thought it over, he came with another point. "This is all based on the assumption the energy weapon will target the asteroids and the drones cleans up the mess. Let's say this works and you do make it on the moon, you remember what happened to the Citadel expedition on the video? They were slaughtered by those drones. We need to take down those energy weapons so my ships can get in position in orbit and drop the vehicles."

Kyrik already has a plan for that. "We send a dozen shuttles and fill them with mini-nukes; they are controlled by VI's, so we don't have to worry about casualties…once everything's ready and they're set on a collision course for those energy weapons, we shut down everything in those shuttles except for navigation and thrusters to conceal it from the weapons and drones. When the energy weapons destroy the asteroids, the shuttle will appear as one of the pieces from the asteroids. When they get close to the atmosphere, they will hit the energy weapons and hopefully destroy them or disable them long enough for you to drop the vehicles and soldiers."

Tuuk liked the plan. "Just make sure when you are on the moon, to set up a landing zone for everything."

Kyrik made the equivalent of a Turian smile. "This is why the Council sent me, but I am concerned on what your orders are in case the OSA shows up."

Tuuk stood up straight, the pride in his voice clear. "I give them two choices: leave or be destroyed."

Kyrik was surprised…this was someone other than Saren who did not fear the OSA. Was he really brave, or was he foolish? "Big talk for an Admiral. I just hope you brought something to back it up."

Tuuk looked at Kyrik. "Let me worry about that…just get a sample of Forerunner technologies, specifically weapons to use against the OSA."

Kyrik didn't like the idea, but could understand where the council was coming from. He nodded and initiated the plan.

Sub-Sector 37

The Moon

Line Installation

Sincere Matrix was monitoring the scanners of the system. He was curious as what these species now known to him as Turians were up to. "They are primitive compared to my creators…I would put them at a tier 3 civilization." But just as he was mocking them, the alarms in the base came on and the scanners zoomed in on what it was. There were five asteroids heading for the Moon; Sincere Matrix just looked down in shame. "And to think these Turians would have given me a challenge, oh well…" The installation's Double AA energy weapons locked onto the asteroids and fired. The energy weapons' fire broke the asteroids in pieces, creating a meteor shower heading for the installation; in response, Sincere Matrix sent the sentinels to take care of it, but as the sentinels left the base, the installation shook from an explosion and alarms started to ring the entire base. Sincere Matrix floated over to a console to assess the damage, the double AA guns were offline or damaged and worse, while the sentinels that were sent to intercept the meteors had been destroyed by a nuclear weapons. Sincere Matrix wasn't happy…no, he was furious! "These Turians are much more devious then I gave them credit for…no matter, I will do as the Reclaimer asked me to do and protect this installation until they come." Sincere Matrix looked around and saw the dead bodies of the first expedition team…he may as well clean up this mess while they get here…

Sub-Sector 37

The Moon

Orbit

Turian dreadnoughts

After the shuttles took down the energy weapons, and the nukes destroyed the sentinels that were released, the Turians dreadnought appeared in orbit and launched everything to the Moon about a mile away from the Forerunner outpost. Admiral Tuuk looked at the successful launch of the shuttles and vehicles and was impressed at the successful plan the Spectre came up with. He went up to the comm. and got in contact with said SPECTRE. "Nihlus how is the ride?"

Kyrik came on the comm. to report. "A little bumpy, but everything is alright. We will be arriving on the Moon soon; we will set up a command and begin are march to the Forerunner outpost."

Tuuk was glad everything was going as plan. "Good! Once you set up the command post, I will begin phase two of our plan."

"Understood! Kyrik out."

As Admiral Tuuk left the comm., a sensors operator called out to him "Admiral, I am detecting something big heading our way."

Tuuk ran up to the sensors officer "What is it? Another Forerunner drone?"

"Unknown! It doesn't match the ones we fought in orbit. It might be a new class."

Tuuk wasn't going to take any chances. "Launch all our fighters to intercept!"

Space

Turian Dreadnoughts

The Turian dreadnoughts launched all their fighters to intercept the single sentinel, but what the Turians didn't know was that it was a Guardian sentinel. The Turian fighters shot at the sentinel, but the Guardian shrugged off the attacks and targeted one of the dreadnoughts. The Guardian opened fired at one of the Turian dreadnoughts and was destroyed from its weapon.

Turian Dreadnought

Admiral Tuuk couldn't believe his eyes when one of his dreadnoughts was destroyed from just one drone. "Order the other dreadnought to escape back to where we were in FTL! Get us out of here!"

Both dreadnoughts left the moon leaving behind their fighters to help support the ground teams. The dreadnought appeared where they were when they reach the system as Admiral Tuuk went straight to the comm. to contact Nihlus "SPECTRE Kyrik we have a situation up here."

Kyrik came on the comm. "what happened?"

Tuuk shakes his head in disappointment. "It would seem the Forerunners had more than one model of drones, and it just took out one of my dreadnoughts. I had to abandon our position over the moon to save ourselves, but I did release some fighters to help you and take that thing down. As of right now you are on your own, we will try to get back to you."

Kyrik didn't like not having eyes in the sky watching out for him "Understood we will try to get to the outpost and see if we can shut it down. Kyrik out."

Sub-Sector 37

Edge of system

Normandy Bridge

At the edge of the system a slipspace portal opened up and out came the Normandy. Joker began activating stealth systems the minute he detected ships in the system "Shepard you need to get up here, we have a problem."

Shepard came up right behind Joker to see what was going on and following him was Garrus "What is it Joker?"

Joker looks at the commander and then at Garrus and back at the Commander, Shepard nodded his head signifying to speak even if Garrus was around. "We got Turian dreadnoughts in the system."

Garrus was surprised about that. "Why are there Turian dreadnoughts here?"

Shepard decided to tell Garrus the truth. "The Citadel Council discovered a Forerunner outpost and sent an expedition to learn more about it. But something happened, and the Forerunner AI killed the expedition and destroyed their ships. And judging by what I see, they already destroyed one of your dreadnoughts."

Garrus was surprised, confused and angry at the same time. "I didn't know the Forerunners used AI's, and what's more why didn't you tell us about it?"

Shepard stared at Garrus in the eyes. "If we had, would the Council not go looking for Forerunner technologies?"

Garrus wanted punch Shepard in the face right now. "Can you blame us? The OSA possesses technology and weapons that could destroy the entire Citadel! Can you blame them for wanting technology to defend themselves?"

Before Shepard could respond Joker stepped in "Uh, Commander we got a situation, there are Turians already on the Moon getting hammered from the sentinels, they're holding for now, but I don't know."

Shepard turned his attention to Joker. "How many Turians are down there?"

Equinox was the one to answer. "There are currently 3956 Turians, but that number is declining every minute we're up here doing nothing."

Shepard nodded and began to leave. "Joker, get us on top of that installation…I will launch in the Cougar." As Shepard walked toward the elevator Garrus runs up to him "Shepard, I'm going with you, and you're not going to stop me."

Shepard stopped and looked at Garrus. "I can't risk it. The monitor will kill you."

Garrus just brushed that off. "And what makes you think that the AI won't kill you?"

At that, Shepard was quick to respond. "Yeah it won't kill me, because I am a Reclaimer."

Garrus was confused upon hearing that. "A Reclaimer? What the hell is that?"

He could only sigh in frustration. This was wasting valuable time…and Shepard had enough of arguing with the stubborn Turian. "If you want to know, get your things…were leaving now."

The Moon

Forerunner Line Installation

The Normandy flew in space close to the Moon; thanks to the stealth systems, the Turians were unaware of the Normandy coming in close to the installation. It flew right over it dropping off the Cougar and headed straight back up in space. The Cougar floated gently in the sky and touched down on the Moon; when the Cougar landed in front of the installation, Shepard and Garrus stepped out of it. "Williams, Alenko, stay here while Garrus and I head into the Installation." Both Ash and Kaidan nodded their heads to confirm and stayed in the Cougar.

Shepard looked at Garrus. "Stay close to me, and the likelihood of the Sentinels killing you would be reduced."

Garrus tilted his head in befuddlement. "Sentinels?"

"It's what they're called. They're like your drones, only better-equipped."

Shepard knew he didn't need to say anything else—as Garrus understood quite perfectly what to expect. With a nod from him, the two of them headed straight to the Installation. Once inside, Garrus was a little disappointed as he inspected the surroundings. "This is it? There's nothing here, I can't believe the Council wasted resources and risked a war over this."

As Shepard led the way down a corridor with Garrus close behind, but as they made another turn there were sentinels pointing their weapons at them. Garrus was about to use Overload on them, but Shepard stopped him and just stood in front of the sentinels. Garrus was about to complain until he heard an overjoyed voice. "Ah! reclaimer I am pleased you have come."

Garrus looked around trying to find the owner of the voice, only to find a floating ball with a blue eye hovering down from the ceiling. Garrus lifted his weapon at the ball, but Shepard stopped him. "Relax Garrus, he won't hurt you. Will you?" Sincere Matrix was shocked by that question "I would never hurt a Reclaimer, but your guest will be terminated immediately if he threatens you." The look on Shepard's face was enough to tell Garrus to calm down, causing the Turian to lower his weapon but didn't put it away. Shepard turned back to the Monitor. "So would you mind telling me what's going on here?"

The chipper voice told the two of them that Sincere Matrix was more than happy to explain. "Of course, follow me."

Forerunner Line Installation

Main operations

Sincere Matrix guided Shepard and Garrus to a room full of holographic consoles and a holo-image of the system. "Welcome Reclaimer, to Line-Installation 1-5. This Installation creates Sentinels and has an extensive library of prototype weapons."

That got Garrus's interest "Weapons? What kind of Weapons?"

Sincere Matrix floated right to Garrus's face with a quick and terse retort. "None that you would be able to use."

A few moments with the thing, and Garrus found that he didn't like the light bulb; and especially its attitude towards him, but before he could say anything Shepard stepped in. "How did the Turians bypass the defenses here?"

Sincere Matrix turned to Shepard with a little of the edge in its voice softened. "They used shuttles filled with nuclear weapons, and crashed them into the main guns of this Installation."

At that, Shepard was surprised, and for good reason; Forerunner installations tended to be very well-defended. "I thought these installation's defenses were more powerful, how did a couple of nukes take it down?"

"These were no ordinary nuclear weapons Reclaimer; when ignited against the weapon it released dark energy—the effect it had was that it caused an overload on the systems."

Upon hearing the AI's appraisal of the situation, Garrus immediately knew what had just happened. "They must have enhanced the nukes with element zero, using it that way can really do some damage…especially to electronics."

Shepard looked at Garrus. "When did the Turians started using nuclear weapons?"

Garrus stared at Shepard. "When do you think?"

Oh now he knew—it must have been because of the NOVA bomb incident. Once he knew what it was that caused this problem, Shepard turned back to the monitor. "What about the Turians on the planet?"

After a moment's pause, Sincere Matrix finally answered. "My Sentinels are dealing with them, but it is surprising as to how long they have resisted."

The smug look on Garrus' face was clear—he was most definitely happy that the AI was put in its place. "Don't underestimate the Turian military!"

Sincere Matrix turned back to Garrus with an equally smug tone. "Indeed…which is why I am sending stronger sentinels to destroy them."

Once he heard that, a look of horror had shown in Garrus' eyes as his voice had risen to a shout."You can't! They will be killed."

The flat tone in its voice was enough to tell everyone else in the room as to how dead-serious Sincere Matrix was in its decision. "Then they should not have come to this moon."

But before Garrus could say something, Shepard beat him to the punch. "No you won't…call back the sentinels and leave the Turians alone."

Sincere Matrix was shocked about this…it expected that the enemies would die. "But protocol dictates that I must defend this installation from all threats."

With a reassuring look on his face, Shepard shook his head. "You already defended it; just keep the Sentinels on standby if we need them."

Sincere Matrix stared at Shepard for a few seconds and conceded…the tone of its voice was like Christmas had been cancelled. "Very well then, Reclaimer. I will not have the Turians killed, but I will remind you that the consequences of this action will be on your head."

The Moon

Turian Base Camp

When the Turians arrived they set up a camp to receive the troops and vehicles on the moon, but after that the Forerunner drones came and started to fight them. If it weren't for the fighter squadron the dreadnoughts launched before leaving, the Turian Recon Team would have been toast. Spectre Kyrik was engaging the drones with his assault rifle, but to his dismay, the drones' shields were strong, but not invincible as he had managed to take couple of them down. Before he could do anything else, the drones stopped and left all of them. Kyrik thought to himself "That was strange…what just happened here?"He went back to the camps where the rest of the Turians were gathering after what was left from the attack.

Nihlus went up to the Colonel who was in charge of this base. "Colonel Marik, what is the status of your troops?"

Marik looked at the Spectre with anger in his eyes. It had the hidden message of 'are you stupid?' behind them. "My men have been attacked and killed…what in the name of the spirits do you think is the status Spectre? Right now, we need to regroup and dig in for the next attack."

Kyrik shook his head upon hearing that. "We came to take control of the Forerunner outpost; we need to charge at the base."

"Are you insane? Just one of those things was able to damage one of our vehicles with one hit; if it weren't for the fact that we've got air support, then we wouldn't have made it this long."

"Speaking of our fighters what is their status?"

Marik raised his arm and used his omni-tool to look up the status of the air support. "Some are damaged, and most are operational but are in space right now trying to destroy that one big drone that destroyed one of our dreadnoughts."

"Any luck with that?"

"None, but the strange part is that thing hasn't made a move or try to destroy our fighters—that's why I called them off that attack and made a defensive pattern around the camp."

"Good but we still need to move to the base."

Marik just looked at the Spectre with the fire in his eyes returning with a vengeance. "I won't sacrifice my men just so the Council can acquire technologies to defeat the OSA. I'm telling you here and now, that it's not worth it!"

At that, he agreed—due to how many casualties they were suffering, it most definitely was not worth it, and Nihlus understood his complaint, but he still had a job to do. "Are you forgetting that I am a Spectre? The Council had made this mission my game, so you have to play by my rules. Look…I'm not asking much; I just need six of your men to do some recon of the base, can you hack that?"

As Marik thought it over, he knew that the Spectre was right—whether they needed to retreat or not, they still needed intel so that they can see if this disaster was salvageable. "Alright, but recon only…the second things go south, you are to pull out. Understand?"

Nihlus nodded his head and left for the weapons crate to get ready.

Sub-Sector 37

Asteroid Field

ONI Prowler

A slipspace portal opened up in the asteroid field and out came an ONI Prowler. Inside were three freelancers getting ready to attack the Forerunner base. As they were getting ready, the Captain of the Prowler walked in on them. "Freelancers, we have arrived."

California walked up to the Captain. "What's the situation sir?"

"We have detected two Turian dreadnoughts at the edge of the system. On the Moon there are Turian soldiers, vehicles and fighter squadrons around what we believe is their camp."

"And what about the Normandy, Captain?"

The Captain shook his head. "Unknown, but we did detect a UNSC Cougar on the Moon near the Installation, so it's safe to assume that they're here; we just can't detect them because of the stealth systems."

Nevada came up to the two officers. "Can they detect us?"

The Captain shook his head with a sigh. "No they shouldn't, but if they do then we need to leave—nobody must know that ONI was here."

All bases seem to have been covered—were it not for one loose end, as California then asked the obvious question. "What about Shepard?"

The Captain looked down and back at Agent California with a look that said it all. "If he gets in your way, then you are authorized to take him down; but you are not under any circumstances to kill him, understood?"

The Freelancer nodded and headed for the hanger…they had a lot of preparations to make…

Sub-Sector 37

Pelican En-route to Moon

The Freelancers were sitting back in the pelican waiting to touch down on the Moon; just then the pilot reported to them. "Sir! We are about to make it in the atmosphere and will be landing 3 clicks away from the base."

California walked up to the pilot. "No you won't." All of the sudden California reached his hands around the pilot's skull—an all it took was a single twist. Once he had disposed of the pilot, he activated the self-destruct as everyone had already jumped out of the plane. The pelican exploded, but the Freelancers survived and were free falling down the Moon. All three landed hard on the ground, but they all got up and brush off the landing like it was nothing, California turned to his partners. "Come on, we have a mission to complete." As he started walking Arizona asked him the question that was on the team's mind. "Why did you kill the pilot?"

California didn't look at Arizona, neither did he stop. "Because he was a Cerberus spy…and because we can't leave any evidence of our presence here."

Forerunner Installation

Mainoperations

As Shepard and Garrus talked about the next phase of their plan, the monitor went up to them, panic in its voice. "Reclaimer! I have detected an explosion in the atmosphere of this moon."

Shepard turns to the monitor. "An explosion?" Shepard lifted his hand to his head, and operated his comm. unit. "Williams are you there?"

After a few seconds Ash came on the radio. "I'm here! What is it Commander?"

"Did you detect an explosion anywhere?"

"Yeah we did, it was about three clicks away from the base. Do you want me to check it out?"

Shepard thought it over. "Yes! We need to see who it is. And if they're in danger, we have to help them."

"Understood Commander. LT and I will go scout it out."

The radio went silent and on one of the holo-screens Shepard could see the Cougar leaving the front entrance of the Installation.

Forerunner Installation

Front Entrance

As the Cougar left to check out the crashed dropship, the three Freelancer agents de-cloaked and walked into the base; but unknown to anyone were six Turians and one Spectre about two yards away over a hill that saw the whole thing. Nihlus took down his binoculars and looked at his men. "Change of plans, we're going inside." One of the Turian soldiers just looked at him with a scandalized look in his eyes. "Are you insane? The Colonel said recon only." Nihlus stared at the soldier with a furious look in his eyes. "Did you not see that? That was a UNSC military vehicle that dorve away from the base, and I've just counted three Spartans…which means they're here." Another soldier was confused when he said that. "How can they be here? We would have detected them!" Nihlus shook his head…soldiers really needed to be better-educated. "The OSA and UNSC have stealth technology…they can practically make their ships disappear on sensors. This means that they may have one or many ships, but judging from the fact that it's just a few Spartans sneaking in and not a UNSC battle group, I think I have an idea as to who it is that's here. We have no choice…this is our only chance to acquire advance technology for the Citadel Council; we are going."

Sub-Sector 37

Star System

TC Dreadnought

Near a gas giant, one dreadnought and two cruisers dropped out of FTL close to it. Onboard the dreadnought was an Asari by the name of Captain Enyala. "The information better be right Salarian." Enyala looked at the Salarian with a skeptical look crossing her delicate features. The Salarian's name was Tazzik—the Shadow Broker's right hand man who took care of the wetworks operations in his organization. "Don't underestimate the Shadow Broker…his intelligence network is vast. And whatever you get out of the base, the Shadow Broker wants it too as payment for this information."

Enyala just grinned at that. "Very well then, but first we have to take care of the Turians that are already in the system and then the OSA if they sent any ships."

Tazzik shakes his head. "I doubt they will be here. They're too busy dealing with the Geth, which makes it all the easier for us."

Enyala was about to say something, but was interrupted by the sensors officer. "Captain, we have detected the Turian dreadnoughts, they are at the edge of the system."

Enyala was surprised; she thought they would be over the Moon where the outpost was. "Why the hell are they there?"

She then looked at Tazzik. "Don't look at me, I thought they would be at the outpost too."

Then the sensors officer reported again. "Also, there are only two dreadnoughts here instead of three. I am also detecting an object over the moon that does not match anything in our computers, it must be Forerunner-related."

Enyala had a bunch of questions, but decided to give an order. "We stay where we are until I decide to move out, understood?"

Everyone on the bridge yelled out yes '"Ma'am" when she was finished.

Tazzik on the other hand wasn't pleased. "What are you doing? The Shadow Broker gave you this information to help him acquire the technologies he so desired. Do not go back on your word."

Enyala pulled out her pistol and aimed it at Tazzik, but he didn't flinch—he wasn't intimidated by her. "I won't risk my own crew for technology no matter who it's from, and don't worry your skinny head…your employer will get paid for this information, but I won't go in unless we have a plan."

Forerunner Installation

Main operations

Shepard and Garrus were just standing around thinking of their next plan until Joker came on the radio "Shepard! Equinox detected an FTL jump in the system…it's the Terminus Coalition."

Upon hearing that, Shepard was both surprised and angry. This was just what he needed! "How the hell did the TC find out about this place?"

"Don't know Shepard, do you want me to go check it out?"

Shepard thought it over. "No, Just watch them on the sensors; if they make a move, let me know."

As soon as Shepard finished his order, Garrus came on the radio. "Joker this is Garrus, what about the Turian dreadnoughts? Did they notice the TC ships?"

"Doesn't seem like it. They're still at the edge of the system…and besides, the TC ships jumped close to a gas giant which would put them a little further from the Turian sensors."

"Alright thanks." Garrus turned off his radio and stared at Shepard, wanting to have an idea as to what had just transpired. "Any ideas how they know about this place?"

Shepard gave Garrus a questioning look, but the look on his eyes told the latter that he may not like his theories. "There are only two ways they could have found out. The Citadel Council told them, or you guys have a spy in your government."

As Garrus thought it over, he had come to a conclusion. "It would seem the latter is the most likely answer. We may have a spy on the Citadel, or close to the Council, but it doesn't matter; right now we need to make sure the technologies here don't fall in the hands of the Terminus Coalition."

"Finally something we can agree on." said Shepard

As Shepard and Garrus think on how to deal with them Sincere Matrix floats over to them. "I have detected intruders in the building."

Shepard and Garrus looked at each other before turning their attention to Sincere Matrix. "Show us." Sincere Matrix guided them over to a console and on the image of the console Shepard couldn't believe his eyes. There were three Spartans in the area. "How the hell did three Spartans get here?"

Garrus looked at Shepard "You don't know?"

Shepard shook his head and while still trying to think about it. Sincere Matrix chose this moment to ask him a question. "Reclaimer, what is a Spartan?"

Once he turned his attention to Sincere Matrix, Shepard looked at the monitor with a calm expression. "Spartans are Humans who have gone through augmentations to make themselves stronger."

Sincere Matrix had a joy in his voice. "More Reclaimers, how wonderful! I will bring them here to assist us." But just as Sincere Matrix was about to leave Shepard stopped him…something about these Spartans bugged him. "Matrix wait, can you zoom in on one of them?"

Sincere Matrix turned back to Shepard, the bemusement clear in its voice. "Of course, Reclaimer." Sincere Matrix was able to zoom in on one of the Spartans and a symbol very well-known to Shepard came up on the Spartans' chestplate. "ONI".

Forerunner Installation

Freelancers

The three Freelancers walked down the hall with their guns up ready for anything. They walked into a room with a console at the end of it. California walked up to the console and touched it, the console glowed blue and showed him information schematics to weapons and other stuff. Once he took out an ONI data crystal chip designed to be compatible with Forerunner technologies, he inserted the chip in a slot and began working on his Omni-tool to download the information.

Forerunner Installation

Main Operations

Shepard saw the whole thing and turned to Matrix "Where are they?"

Sincere Matrix responded quickly "they are in the archives room and... oh my, they are attempting to download all the information on the console."

"What's on the information?" asked Shepard

"Weapon schematics and designs also other useful information for defenses."

Shepard couldn't allow that. "Lock them out of the system. That's an order."

"Very well then Reclaimer." Sincere Matrix floated over to the console.

Shepard turned to Garrus. "Come on, lets go see why there here."

As Shepard and Garrus walked out of the room and headed straight to where the Freelancers are Garrus asked Shepard a question "why are we going after them? I thought ONI was a part of the UNSC?"

Shepard looked at Garrus while still walking. "They are, but this is my mission. Hackett would have told me about them coming here to help. So if Hackett didn't tell me, then they're doing this mission on their own which is bad for us."

As Garrus thought about what he said, both him and Shepard kept heading to the archives.

Forerunner Installation

Archives

Freelancers

As the Freelancers waited for the download to complete, the console turned red and stopped the download. California didn't like that. "Damn it! The Monitor locked me out of the system…the download must have stopped."

Nevada walked up to him with a bemused look. "How is that possible?"

But before California said anything Arizona walked up to both of them. "Isn't obvious it's Shepard! Damn UNSC grunt, he's interfering with our mission! California, requesting permission to kill him!"

California didn't like how Arizona was acting. "Request denied we don't kill one of our own. And you're right about Shepard he must have told the Monitor to lock us out…but don't worry, the Director gave me something in situations like this." California began typing on his Omni-tool and started uploading something in the console.

Forerunner Installation

Main operations

Sincere Matrix was keeping tabs on Shepard and the other Reclaimers until every console in the room went off or had static on the screen. "Oh my…"

Matrix then connected to Shepard's radio "Reclaimer can you hear me?"

"Yeah I can hear you. What is it?"

"It would seem the other Reclaimers somehow infected my systems with a virus. I must go into standby mode in order to cleanse the systems from it."

"How long would that take?"

The few moments were used Sincere Matrix to make the proper calculations. "At the rate this virus is progressing, it will take approximately 72 minutes to clean the system. But I must warn you; in that time, this base will be vulnerable to any attack and I will not be able to assist you in any way."

"What about the Sentinels? Can't they help?"

"I am sad to say that the sentinels no longer respond to any kind of command. The virus corrupted their own programming, which is very urgent for me to stop as soon as possible."

Shepard wasn't happy about this situation. "Alright get on it. Garrus and I will try and stop it at the source. Hopefully, we'll be able to question them before it's too late."

Sincere Matrix acknowledged the Commander's orders and went into standby mode to shut down the virus.

Forerunner Installation

Outside

Nihlus led the Turians inside the Installation. Once inside, the corridors of endless tunnels and wound up lost in more than one instance. Nihlus turned to the soldiers. "we need to split up into groups of three. I need two of you to come with me, the rest of you will pair up and go in different tunnels."

One of the soldiers spoke his mind about the plan. "Isn't it risky to split? What if those drones are in here?"

Nilhus looked at him with a thought. Strength in numbers was usually a rule, but there was too much ground to cover. "We don't have a choice, we need to cover more ground. And also if you happen to encounter a UNSC officer or OSA operative, do not engage; we don't want to start a war."

"Isn't that already too late when we entered in their borders without permission?" asked a soldier

Nihlus looks away from the solders. "I'm pretty sure the Council will come up with something, don't worry about it. Now let's get moving."

The Turians split up in groups of three. Nihlus had two people with him, while the other two groups had only one other Turian with them.

Sub-Sector 37

TC Dreadnought

CIC

Captain Enyala was pacing back and forth waiting to see what the recon teams have picked up, but still no answer until the comm. officer spoke. "Captain the recon team in the shuttle have detected a Turian base camp on the Moon about a mile away from what they appear to be the Forerunner outpost. Also, the giant object we detected over the planet the teams have found it, but no activity from it when they got close to it."

Enyala was thinking about her next move, but Tazzik came up from behind her. "we should make our move now while the thing is inactive."

"I agree with you but we need to concern ourselves with those Turians on the Moon and the two dreadnoughts still in the system."

Tazzik walked up to the holo projection. "I would recommend that we go straight for the outpost and not concern ourselves with the Turians."

Enyala shook her head in dissent…she didn't like that Salarian one bit. "No, we should concern ourselves with the Turians; the last thing they would want is for us to acquire something they themselves been dying to get their hands on. Here's the plan: we jump in orbit of the Moon and launch our ground teams and vehicles around the base and set up a few defensive positions…obviously, the Turians on the Moon will notice us as well as the Dreadnoughts, that's when we have to make our stand."

Tazzik sighed with frustration. "I think you're wrong about this; we should go straight to the Forerunner outpost instead wasting time with the Turians, but I understand your concern. If we do attempt to go after the outpost, the Turians might just destroy it along with us." Before long, Tazzik thought it over and found that the plan Enyala had come up with was sound. "Fine, we'll set up a defensive position around the base, let's just hurry up before the Turinas know of our arrival."

The Moon

Groundside

The Cougar pulled up to the wreckage they saw on the Moon. Ash and Kaidan jumped out of the Cougar and examined it. What they found just gave them more questions than answers "What the hell is a UNSC pelican doing out here?" asked Williams. Kaidan looked around and discovered tracks heading straight for the outpost. "It would seem that there are survivors from the crash, three of them by the looks of it."

Ash looked at Kaidan. "We should warn the Commander." Upon getting the Lieutenant's nod of approval, she pulled her hand to her earpiece. "Commander, we are at the wreckage and you won't believe what it is."

Shepard came on the radio. "Let me guess; a UNSC pelican?"

Ash was surprised…and the look she shared with Kaidan showed it. "Yeah, how'd you know."

"Because there are three Spartans in here right now who work for ONI."

Ash and Kaidan looked at each other for a second and Ash went back on the radio. "With all due respect sir, what the hell is ONI doing here?"

"Don't know Williams, but come back right now. I may need your help very soon in case things get ugly."

"We'll be back before you know it Commander." Ash cut the radio and looked back at Kaidan. "Come on LT, we need to hurry." But just as they were about to get in the Cougar, they heard noise in the sky and looked up. There were dozens of shuttles heading for the Forerunner base and vehicles. Ash and Kaidan couldn't believe their eyes: they then went into the Cougar and double-timed it to the base.

Sub-Sector 37

The Moon

Orbit

TC Dreadnought and ships

The Terminus Coalition ships dropped out of FTL over the Moon and began launching shuttles and ground vehicles to the Forerunner outpost. As this was happening, the two cruisers began to get into a defensive formation waiting for the Turians arrival.

Captain Enyala began shouting out orders. "Get our weapons online, barriers at full strength and launch our fighters to intercept the ones coming from the planet."

As Enyala was busy with that, Tazzik secretly contacted the Shadow Broker. "Shadow Broker, this is agent Tazzik; we have begun operations to acquire Forerunner technologies, but Enyala decided to defend it against the Turians. What are your orders?"

"Continue to work with the Asari Captain, but if it seems she is incapable of dealing with the situation kill her and assume command."

Tazzik understood, but asked the most important question. "What about the OSA? What if they get involved?"

"You are to leave immediately if they show up in the system."

The Shadow Broker disconnected communications leaving Tazzik to his thoughts.

Sub-Sector 37

Turian Dreadnought

CIC

Tuuk and the rest in the CIC were in a state of panic. After the sensors officer detected the TC ships jumped in orbit of the Moon and launched shuttles and vehicles near the Forerunner base the Admiral was trying to get in contact with the Colonel on the Moon "Colonel Marik are you receiving me?"

Colonel Marik came on the Comm. "Barely! What's going on, who the hell is sending the shuttles and vehicles at the outpost?"

"It's the Terminus Coalition! Somehow they found out about the base. There is one dreadnought and two cruisers over the Moon, we are going to jump in and attempt to get them to leave, but if that doesn't work, I will blow them out of space. I need you to launch an all-out assault on the TC troops; we can't let them get their hands on those technologies."

"What about the Forerunner drones?"

"They seem to be inactive. How else could they have gotten close without being blown out of the sky?"

"Alright I will begin sending out the troops. Also, you should know that Spectre Nihlus Kyrik took six of my men to do a little recon at the base before the TC arrived—they haven't returned since."

"You think the TC forces captured them?"

"No, I think the Spectre disobeyed my orders and went into the base."

Admiral Tuuk thought about what the Colonel said…it was then that he made his decision. "All right then, once we take care of the TC we can deal with Nihlus. Tuuk out." Tuuk looked at everyone in the CIC. "Listen up people, we need to take back the Moon and evict those TC scum before they can get anything from the Forerunner base. We may not come out of this alive, so I have already sent this information back to the Citadel in case we don't come back. Everyone, prepare yourselves."

The two Turian dreadnoughts jumped into FTL.

Forerunner Installation

Outside

UNSC Cougar

The Cougar stopped just ten yards away from the base looking at the TC forces setting up a base camp around the Installation. Williams didn't like what she saw "Damn, that's a lot of firepower. What do you think LT, can we take them?"

Kaidan looked at the screen and shook his head…whenever he did that, it usually meant bad news. "We may survive at against them for at least ten minutes, but there's too many; we can't risk it."

Williams didn't like it, but before she could object they heard and saw an explosion near the TC camp…before long, there were Turian soldiers and vehicles clashing with the TC forces.

Williams then commented on it. "Well would you look at that, maybe we can take advantage of this!"

Surprised at the turn of events unfolding as they were, Kaidan saw the way that Williams was going. "Be that as it may, we still have to plan this right…"

Sub-Sector 37

The Moon

Orbit

UNSC Normandy

Bridge

The Normandy sat about fifteen kilometers away from the battle Joker and Equinox…now this was interesting. "It's about damn time the TC and Turians fought each other. I am actually enjoying the show."

Equinox on the other hand had a different attitude on the matter. "Shouldn't we do something instead of just sitting here and watching it?"

Joker just turned his head at Equinox. "Listen here Equinox, the OSA has two enemies to worry about: the TC and Citadel. To be perfectly honest, it's actually nice to see them fighting each other instead of us."

Equinox was about to reply, but stopped and stared at Joker. "I am detecting FTL jumps in the system. Thirteen of them, oh no…"

Joker looked at Equinox "What is it?"

The words that came out of the AI's mouth said it all—as it sent shivers up Joker's spine. "It's the Geth."

Forerunner Installation

Archives

They had finally arrived at the doors to the Archives. Once the two of them took cover at the doorway, Shepard counted to three and both him and Garrus burst through with their guns up. Unfortunately for the both of them, the three agents had already trained their weapons at the door.

Shepard was the first to speak…the calmness of his voice not even betraying the fear he felt knowing that there was a chance he was about to fight Spartans. "Well, now that we're here, why don't you guys tell me what three ONI spooks doing here?"

At first no one responded immediately, but California broke the silence. "Commander I would recommend that you turn around now before someone gets hurt…specifically you."

The Commander just chuckled at that. "I think I'll take my chances, but first you are going to take down that virus you released in the system so the Monitor can get the defenses online."

With reluctance clear in his voice, California shook his head. "Sorry Commander, but I can't do that until the information in the archives gets downloaded."

This was getting ridiculous, and Shepard was getting tired of this crap. "What the hell does ONI want with the information in the archives?"

Arizona had enough of this and the terse and angered retort given out was enough to almost make Garrus jump up in fear. "None of your damn business."

Shepard looked at Arizona, but only saw his reflection in the visor. "Even if you get out of here I will report you to Hackett, and I doubt ONI will protect you."

Before violence could ensue, California stopped his colleagues and remained calmed as he spoke. "We understood the consequences when we went on this mission, but before we continue our conversation I think we need to bring all the players in the fold…" California looked at the second entrance over to the right side of the room. "You can come out now, we know you're there!"

Shepard was confused, but before he could reply three Turians walked in with their own weapons pointing at both groups, and one Turian was very familiar to both Shepard and Garrus "Nihlus, what the hell are you doing here?"

Nihlus looked at Shepard with a suspicious look in his eyes. "I could ask you the same question, but I think we all know why everyone is here. I was sent by the Council to acquire any Forerunner technologies to help defend the Citadel Council from all threats."

Shepard looked at Garrus with a look of betrayal as the Turian started to defend himself. "Don't look at me Shepard, I had no idea about this."

Nihlus backed Garrus up. "He's telling the truth. The Council signed me to this mission after the expedition was slaughtered."

Arizona laughed at what Nihlus said…oh this was precious. "You guys are all idiots if you think you can get your hands on any Forerunner technologies."

Nihlus didn't like what the Spartan said…but he could not help but wonder—why did the drones attack the Citadel forces and not the UNSC forces? "You were able to acquire Forerunner technologies and reverse-engineer them. What makes you think we can't?"

Seeing an opportunity to hurt her opponent more, Arizona smiled under her helmet "You wouldn't be able to access them because the better Forerunner technologies can only be taken by Humans."

This did not bode well, and Nihlus just looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

Before anyone else could respond, Garrus beat everyone else to the punch. "They're telling the truth Nihlus, Forerunner technologies will only work when humans operate them; we won't be able to activate them at all."

Nihlus shakes his head. "No, that's impossible—no one race would give their technologies to a single race."

At that, Arizona just chuckled. "You just don't get it do you? The Forerunners picked us because we're better than other races."

Nihlus couldn't believe it…all this time they were going after technologies that were useless too the Council's hands? "If this is true then why didn't you tell the Council about this? This entire fiasco could have been avoided."

She could only laugh in amusement, and so Arizona simply pressed on. "I guess it just slipped our minds to tell you."

But before Nihlus could say anything Shepard, California, and Nihlus were being contacted through their radios. Shepard pulled up his hand to his head "Joker! What is it?"

"Shepard they just appeared and heading your way right now."

Shepard didn't understand what Joker was saying "Joker who's coming."

"It's the Geth! They jumped into the system with thirteen ships, and one of them is on a collision course for the base at FTL speed."

Shepard looked at everyone and it would seem they got the message. "You think now's a good time to undo what you did?"

California nods his head and turns to the console, but just as he was about to get rid of the virus, a Geth cruiser clashed right into the Installation.

As you can see this will be a two part chapter. So tell me what you think about this chapter.

Codex-Terminus Coalition (TC)

The Terminus Coalition was created by Aria T'loak self proclaimed queen of omega after the OSA defeated the original leaders of the Terminus Systems. The Coalition is made up smugglers, pirates, and mercenaries who traffic in drugs, weapons and other illegal materials. The only thing they don't traffic in would be slavery, much to the dismay of the Batarians which are the majority of people in the Coalition. The TC is made up of many factions, Aria T'loak being the leader that controls most of the organizations. Then there are the second in commands who control a certain territory in the Terminus systems and number of groups who are loyal to them, but ultimately everyone obeys Aria. TC has a strained relationship with the Citadel Council seeing as they continue to attack any of their cargo that travels through Council Space and TC space. The TC's relationship with the OSA is pure hatred for one another, as many in the Coalition would love nothing more than there complete destruction and have been on the edge of war with them ever since. So far, Aria had been able to resolve many tensions up to this point.