In Orbit of Planet Curacao
Cortez System

Finally, after what felt like ages, Aela had made it to her final stop in the Sirius sector. Planet Curacao. Completely neutral ground, owned by Orbital Spa and Cruise. It was essentially a resort world for the rich and famous, where anyone with the right amount of credits could throw away their worries for a brief time.

It would be here, that the Citadel representative would meet the four Houses of the Sirius sector, and ultimately, in some way, change the course of history forever. In a way, Aela was proud to be part of this moment, to help shape the future for what she hoped was the better.

She also really hoped she wouldn't run into any trouble while waiting here. For one thing, although she could make out the now familiar styles of Rhineland and Kusari ships, she had yet to see any sort of Citadel or Bretonian ships. That meant they would be meeting a little later than hoped.

'Hmm…" Perkins said aloud, disrupting Aela's thoughts. "Looks like your people will be a little late."

"Why?" she asked. They would probably be delayed by pirates, but who would try and attack a convoy with Dreadnaughts?

"Got a message from Captain Dunbar and the fleet that's escorting your Citadel representative. Looks like they stopped to help with a prison break in the Manchester system. It's not too far, seeing as the Manchester system is only one Jump Gate away, so the delay will only be a day or two." he said, trying to comfort her.

"I see." she said. it would also likely win them points with the Bretonnian government. Likely the Matriarch they sent figured the risks would be worth the reward.

"It also looks like the Captain has authorized a little… cultural education expense." Perkins said, his grin practically audible to Aela. "We're going to be relaxing on Curacao for a while."

That actually sounded quite nice. A relaxing stroll along a beach on Curacao would make an interesting change of pace.

A day of relaxing couldn't hurt after all.

BPA Newgate
Manchester System

For Calia Sarsi, this particular scenario would definitely make her top five worst she'd ever faced. As an Asari Commando for the past six centuries, that spoke volumes.

Firstly, she and the team she led would be going into a prison station alongside unknowns who she hadn't worked with before, let alone have an idea of how they worked. These Humans were completely new ground, they could be as tough as Krogan as far as she knew, and had tactics to adjust as such. Or she could be overreacting and these humans were about as dangerous as a Volus rolling down stairs. She didn't know.

Worse, she'd be going against human criminals inside a cramped station, heavily limiting one of her team's greatest assets: their mobility. These criminals were also smart. They knew the stakes, it was either surrender or death at this point. The only way out was blocked by a fleet, and from what she heard, a lot of these criminals would rather die.

Still, there was a little good news. The warden of the station still held the offices and armory, all within easy access from their entry point in dock A. It would be hell though once they reached the prison block. The Mollies had managed to break through with enough weapons to make the locals nervous.

She could only hope that her experience would help her and her team get out of this alive.

"Right ladies and gents," said the leader of the Bretonnian Royal Marine group her team was assigned to, one Captain Price. A rather imposing man, who strangely enough seemed to have a large tuft of hair on top of his lips in addition to what she assumed to be under that red hat of his. That pristine looking tuft of hair, managed to somehow give an air of class and poise to a man Calia suspected would normally look intimidating in his night-black hardsuit and rifle. "We're up for a bloody hard fight. The Mollies have managed to dig in, and reports from the prison guards say that they've started freeing anyone interested in joining. Prison records say that we were lucky, with it being very under capacity at only 187 prisoners. With the few reinforcements the Mollies brought in, I think we can expect about 200 strong resistance, spread throughout the cell blocks."

"Are they all armed sir?" asked Lieutenant McGregor, Price's second in command.

"MI5 suggests that the Mollies are armed with civilian grade sidearms from Detroit. They hit a convoy headed for New London a few weeks back, and they think that it was in prep for this. So keep your heads down, lads and ladies, those Aegira guns pack a punch." Price said, his voice calm and commanding.

"Yes sir," replied McGregor professionally.

"Right then. Corporal Davies, the map please," Price ordered.

One of the marines walked forward and proceeded to bring out what looked like a small projector. Quickly pressing a few buttons, Davies proceeded to step back as the projector displayed a holographic map of the station.

As a giant cube in space, Newgate designed each cell block to be self contained. All the feeding and cleaning facilities for the prisoners were located there and were automated too. Each prisoner being in essence, contained in solitary confinement. The only other human element in there, in fact, was the prisoner processing. All prisoners were processed individually through those offices, which in turn led to a corridor that brought to the central guard offices. All these prisoners were brought in through a separate dock specifically for the prisoners, which lead directly to prisoner processing.

Which is incidentally how the Molly reinforcements got in.

"Colonel Gates has managed to hold down the station admirably," Price said. "But right now, cell blocks A and B are under complete Molly control." he said pointing to several large sections of the station.

"Cell blocks C and D are empty, and have been brought into complete lockdown to prevent any surprises from coming through those areas. The corridors leading to Cell Blocks A and B though are under Molly control. They've been mounting assaults on the guard room in an attempt to get to the armory, at least until the pilots managed to drive the Molly fighters off." Price continued.

"Least the flyboys managed to do something right," said one of the marines, which elicited a light chuckle from the rest of them.

"Enough lads," Price said. "Ever since then, the Mollies have been digging in, and the attacks on the guards have stopped. Orders have come in from High command that we are to pacify the station."

"Miss Sarsi," Price said, turning to her. "I've been led to understand that you are a veteran of many similar situations. Can you give me some input here?"

Four points of ingress, the two corridors of A and B that led to the guard stations and the two docking ports there. "Is capturing them still an option?" she asked.

"Command wants us to at least try. And if you were suggesting spacing them, Colonel Gates tried to do so through the docking ports, but the Mollies must have managed to get someone talented with computers. They've managed to override his control over those stations. It also explains how they managed to get as far as the guard room in the first place."

So, limited points of ingress, an entrenched enemy that has nothing to lose with the advantage of numbers as well. The only winning point she saw was that they were unlikely to have brought anything beyond the most basic of armor, and the training that these men likely had that those criminals didn't.

"Hit them fast and hard from multiple points," she said simply. "If we can, I'd like to hit them now, in fact. No use giving them any more time to fortify their positions."

Price nodded. "I'm glad that your assessment would agree with mine."

"I'm splitting us into two teams under me and McGregor." Price said. "I'll lead Sword team, McGregor will lead Juno. Miss Sarsi, how would you like to divide your team, if at all?" he then asked.

"I would prefer to keep my team together Captain." Calia replied. "Point us where you think resistance will be heaviest. I think it is there that we will be of most use."

"Ryan was held in Cell Block A. Seeing as he might still be there, then I think you'll join me in the assault there. McGregor will lead the assault on B. Good luck to all of us."

Calia nodded, and proceeded to begin checking her equipment. She would need everything in tip-top shape in the coming minutes.

St. Ives Hotel
Planet Curacao

It was nice to be relaxing without any worries about politics for once, Aela thought as she browsed through some of Orbital Spa and Cruise's Luxury Liner trips in the hotel's library. She was seriously considering making a visit to one of them, some of the pictures they'd brought back were beautiful. She would love to see them for herself. The planet Gaia in the Edinburgh system was of particular interest to her. Incredible biodiversity, and only those with a registered researchers permit could actually land on it. The Shetland, Orbital Spa and Cruise's liner in the area was in constant orbit of the planet, and it provided some beautiful vistas of both the planet and the resident system.

And if the accommodations aboard the Shetland were anything like what she had here in Curacao, then she could definitely find some other distraction. Casinos with new games, an entire library of all sorts of media available from the room, succulent new foods, apparently imported directly from Cambridge. Staff that constantly attended to her requests. It was like she was living as some Matriarch that made a million credits by blinking.

Still, she couldn't imagine it to be particularly cheap. She'd noticed Perkins occasionally wincing when presented a bill. He wasn't complaining though, likely due to this being paid for by the Bretonian government.

"Perkins," she asked, turning to him as he was looking at another of the Liners, the Hawaii. "The Cortez and Sigma 19 system is strictly off House territory yes?"

"Yes." Perkins replied, his eyes still on the screen. "The Boorman treaty doesn't allow any sort of blockade into any House's space. Ships Frigate size and under may patrol the border systems to protect trade, and the larger ships like Cruisers and Battleships may enter foreign House space on invitation. It was designed to prevent inter House conflict."

"Then I imagine it's difficult for Orbital Spa and Cruise to defend themselves." she said. Sigma 19 was in the Border Worlds, and according to the neural net, was actively visited by both the Outcasts and Corsairs..

"I understand they have… incentives for certain elements to be stationed there. I know for instance that there are quite a few Bounty Hunters aboard the Hawaii, and there are quite a few here in Curacao right now too."

"Really?" she asked. Bounty Hunters while not exactly common back home, were around enough to at least be known. Their legality was… questionable, but sometimes the law needed someone who knew how the other side thought.

"Yes. In fact…" Perkins said, another trademark grin on his face as he looked in Aela's direction. "There's one right there, by the vending machine." he said as he pointed.

Aela turned around and there was indeed a woman by the vending machine. She certainly didn't look like the typical tourist here. She didn't have that air of money on her. She certainly didn't look the part with that armored jumpsuit she wore, an eyepiece on her left eye, and a mean looking pistol in her holster.

"Orbital Spa and Cruise pays handsome bounties for any criminals that infringe on their interests." Perkins said. "And considering the locations that they go to, I expect it's a well-made investment."

Aela could only nod at that. From what she remembered, Outcasts and Corsairs were not to be messed with. If these bounty hunters knew how to deal with them, then she couldn't blame Spa and Cruise for making accommodations for them. It would be the least they could do.

"Why are there bounty hunters everywhere though?" she asked. They seemed so ubiquitous too.

"They'll take in anyone. Ex-criminals are especially welcome into the Guild. They outfit you, check your knowledge, see if it matches up, even make sure to apprentice you to a master hunter, learn all the other tricks the other side has. They are a pretty organized lot, and even have their own ship and weapons designers. " Perkins replied, his voice more neutral this time. "They know where all the secret Jump Holes are, and those are often near most criminal bases."

"That makes sense." Aela replied. Intelligence was essential in any sort of attack on criminals. Although…

"I'm sorry, but Jump Holes?" she asked.

"Right, those are… think of them as natural Jump Gates. A lot more rocky, and not exactly what we'd call the safest way of travelling. Aegira discourage their use, but as someone who has been fighting criminals, I can tell you that they use them. A lot. Main way they've been able to bypass our patrols really."

Natural Jump Gates? If they were natural versions, then they could be studied. If they could be studied, that would be the first step in figuring out in how to artificially create them.

"Thanks for clearing that up Perkins." Aela replied. This was a lot to take in. This could be key to understanding a little bit more about the galaxy, and who knows, maybe there is a equivalent back home in Citadel Space? If they are natural, then they must form somewhere.

"I'm heading back to my room," Aela said. "I've got to review the report , make sure it's ready for when the Citadel representative arrives."

"Sure," Perkins replied, a smile on his face. "If you need me I'll be in the library. Meet for dinner then at the St. Augustine?"

"Yes, I'll meet you there." she replied. Seeing as how the talks would be happening in a few days, it was best to not stress herself too much she supposed. But this had to go into her report now.

BPA Newgate
Manchester system

Calia was as ready as she was ever going to be. Price's plan of attack into cell block A was simple: shout out surrender, wait for the inevitable no, then shock and awe. Flash and clear was to be the standard tactic. It should be a classic breach and clear manoeuvre.

So as she waited by the door for Price's signal, she concentrated only on her breathing. Her fellow commandos knew what to do. Price and his men knew what to do. Now it was time for action.

"On my signal Corporal Brown, open the door." Price said, holding what looked to be a grenade in his hand. "Ready Miss Sarsi?" Price asked.

"Ready."

"Corporal, open the door… now!" he said as he pulled the pin.

Corporal Brown then pressed something in a panel nearby and the door slid open. Immediately, the Mollies began to shoot back, hundreds of rounds flying into the wall behind them.

"They aren't going to surrender, lads!" Price roared. "Deploying Flashbang!" he said as he threw the grenade into the corridor. Calia immediately closed her eyes and looked away. She was rewarded with the briefest flash of light and an intense ringing sound. It could've been worse, but still she was prepared.

"Go! Go! Go!" Price roared as he entered the corridor, the rifle in his hands expertly taking down Mollies with accurate laser fire. Goddess what she'd give to have one of those game changers.

Calia, armed with her Disciple shotgun, knew exactly what she needed to do for maximum chaos. She quickly turned around and using as much biotic energy she could muster, enveloping herself in a biotic barrier, and then charged at the nearest Molly, launching herself at incredible speeds straight into him and knocking him out. Textbook execution right there.

Her charge caused a brief lull in fire from both sides, shock clear in all their faces, but her fellow commandoes quickly broke that and opened fire on the Mollies, their expert aim rapidly eliminating many a shocked Molly out of cover, while their own biotics continued to wreak havoc among them. Cries of panic, and terror came from the Mollies as the biotic onslaught began. It took a while for Price's own men to recover from the display of biotic might and but they came back with avengence with accurate and devastating laser fire, causing the Mollies to quickly retreat back into the cell block, as they swiftly lost ground.

Not before one Molly tried to take her out, though. Her heart stopped for a brief moment as she turned around and caught one Molly with his hands on a gun aiming right for her.
Goddess, this was where she finally died.

She could practically feel the world slow down as the Molly fired his weapon at her. Her heart seemed to thunder in her chest as the familiar surge of adrenaline and mortal terror flooded her. Her entire world seemed to narrow into only her, the Molly, and his gun, as the criminal's gun roared. All she could see now was that human's smug little smile, confident in the knowledge that she would die.

Goddess, even after years of fighting, the fear never leaves.

The fact that she saw her barriers visibly ignite in front of her only caused her to smile. The human used bullets, and the fact that the Molly's face blanched in horror was a great bonus, as Calia quickly brought her shotgun to bear on the Molly. She fired a round into the man, and was rewarded with a visceral sound of a few dozen rounds impacting into meat. The man slumped to the ground, dead.

Soon, the Mollies had cleared the corridor, and Price's men and her commandoes caught up with her.

"What in God's name was that?" Price asked incredulously. "Was it some sort of tech or something you ladies are born with?"

"Which?" Calia asked. "The charge or the surviving bit?"

"I'd like to know both, really." Price continued. "That would have been useful in a lot of situations."

"Born to do the charge, Captain, but the survival I'd like to think is a combination of luck, skill, and tech." she replied as the teams quickly took their positions by the door to the cell block.

"I'd like to have some that tech of yours." Price replied, a little gleam in his eyes as he said it. "If it can stop a bullet, it can stop shrapnel. Would definitely help cut down on casualties."

"You have no idea, Captain." Calia replied. "Ready to breach again?" she asked.

"Yes. Though I'd be happy if they saved us all some time and just surrendered." Price replied.

"Too right, sir." replied one of Price's Marines.

"Enough, we'll deploy flashbangs as soon as the door is open. You do that charge thing of yours on the nearest Molly, and if we're lucky they'll start surrendering." Price said.

"Got it." she said. Anything to help expedite the end of these hostilities.

"Corporal, on my signal," Price said as he pulled the pin on another grenade. "Go!"

This time the Mollies weren't as relentless in the amount of fire they threw at Calia and the Marines. Another thunderous bang of noise and light, and Calia was off, charging at a Molly, knocking this one into another criminal. This time, she quickly moved into cover, and it was from here that she took stock of the situation.

Her fellow commandoes had done well, quickly moving from to the Mollies' flanks, taking cover where available, and where unavailable, making their own through the judicious use of the their biotics, a few unfortunate souls literally shredded apart as dozens of miniature mass effect fields tore them to pieces, while others floated out of cover, weightless and easy targets for all. The Marines meanwhile were quickly moving forward from the entrance, expertly moving and eliminating threats while moving from cover to cover. The Mollies, meanwhile, were trying their best to rally a defense, while a few other humans, likely criminals the Mollies tried to recruit, were lying on the floor with their hands on the back of their heads, showing they were surrendering.

"Form up on me, boys," shouted a voice. "Let the bastards come to us! Fall back to the cells!"

"That's Ryan!" Price shouted on the comms. "Take him down, and I think we'll break the Mollies here."

"Which one is he?" Calia asked. If they could bring this conflict to an faster, it would be better for everyone involved.

"The bloke in red and gold." Price replied. "He's rallying them near the other end of the block."

"I see him." Calia replied tersely. If she could take him down, it might spare lives. "I think I can take him, but I need covering fire as I advance to range."

"Got it. We'll provide covering fire." Price replied.

"We'll put pressure on them, Calia." Salia, one of her fellow commandoes replied. "We're in a good enough position to keep them in one place."

"Good." was her reply as she began to charge towards one Molly position, three of them on her last count. Gotta be quick, tag one, then blast the other two with her shotgun.

She gathered as much of that biotic energy that she could, and released it all, pushing herself forward into the Molly position, knocking out one Molly. The other two were still shocked when she promptly blasted them both quickly with her shotgun. Not wanting to repeat her earlier mistake of standing still, she quickly made for the other side of the upturned table this particular group of Mollies was using. Goddess, for civilian grade weapons, those guns pack a big punch.

She took a breath to calm herself, then took a peek out of cover. She soon spotted what looked like Ryan, still bravely trying to rally his men to his position. He was just within range of other biotic charge, but it looked like it would be risky if she continued to press on without waiting for the others to catch up.

"Captain Price, I need you and your men to move up." she said into her comms. "I can reach him, but I'd like some backup to help press things."

"Roger that Miss Sarsi, we're moving up." Price replied calmly. "Lads, move up! Staggered advance." he ordered on the comms.

No affirmatives were needed as the marines slowly and professionally advanced, one man covering the other as he advanced, unleashing accurate laser fire upon the Mollies caught in the open. Slowly but surely, the Mollies were being cornered as the marines caught up to Calia's position.

Captain Price himself soon caught up to Calia's position, as he slided to her side.

"Are you ready?" Price asked over the din of gunfire.

"As I'll ever be." Calia replied grimly.

"Cheer up," Price replied cheerily. "It's only a little bit of gunfire. This is all some rightly needed exercise it is."

Calia wasn't really sure how to reply to that in all honestly. That the man could call this situation "exercise" must be a cultural thing. A really weird cultural thing. "I'm going after Ryan, then I'll try and get them to surrender." she elected to reply. It was the safest approach she could think of.

"Good luck then," Price said as he rose up, rifle in hand. "Covering fire!" he ordered his men.

Marines popped out of cover and began to lay down a withering hail of fire, while her own fellow commandos threw out warps where possible, If they could pull Ryan out of cover, they would, but none of them were close enough to do so.

Once again, Calia gathered the biotic energy around her and released, launching herself directly at Ryan. The look of shock on his face as she knocked him into the wall, was embedded into her consciousness as she launched a volley of shotgun fire into him, and then, risking exhaustion, gathered biotic energy and launched herself back towards Captain Price.

The Mollies were now clearly in disarray. Without Ryan to rally them, it looked like a lot of the weaker willed ones, likely new recruits were starting to visibly panic.

"Now's our chance," Price said as he bravely stood up without his rifle raised.

"All right you lot!" he said loudly over the occasional gun shot. "His majesty is feeling kind today, and he's still offering you sorry bunch the chance to be put under his mercy!"

Calia could hear a lot of muttering coming from the Mollies. Without Ryan to rally to, it was now likely that his subordinates would surrender.

"How do we know that you bastards won't shoot us?" yelled one of the Mollies.

"That would mean some other bloke shooting me, and then stealing all the credit!" Price retorted.

More murmuring came from the Mollies, which steadily grew louder into arguing. One gunshot later, and then it was quiet.

"We surrender! Don't shoot!" one of them yelled.

"Drop your weapons and hands on your heads!" Price yelled as he directed his Marines forward. "You know the drill, lads," he ordered his men. "Secure the perimeter. No Molly here is getting by us."

"Price to McGregor, Cell Block A is secure. How is your situation?" Price asked on the comms.

"The lads and I were about to grab a good cuppa. The blokes started surrendering once they realized how outgunned they were. I think we got all the low ranking grunts, suh."

"Lucky bastard. Secure your perimeter and we'll debrief in an hour." Price good naturedly replied.

"Copy that sir. See you in an hour." McGregor replied cutting things off.

"Well Miss Sarsi, you and your fellow ladies really do live up to your reputation." Price said, a smile on his face. "Good work there. I hope you can teach more to us over the years."

"I'd be happy to." Calia replied. If nothing else, working with the Bretonnian marines had been an… interesting experience.

BPA Newgate
Manchester system

Patrick Ryan was dead. That was fact. One of the new guard of Molly leaders was now dead at the hands of some alien woman with her freaky magical abilities.

That doesn't mean he lost, thought Josh Connors. Ryan was always a smart cookie.

"Listen to me," Ryan said to Connors. "I'm a dead man and I know it. But you're the best tech we have on station. Stay alive, surrender, and find a way to smuggle that footage out of here. If these blue bitches are working with Bretonnia, Arranmore will need every scrap of help they can to fight them on their own terms."

Here Ryan breathed in, and had his face embedded into Connor's mind. For despite facing imminent death, he looked surprisingly at peace. "For the dead at the hands of Graves, we'll have a free them that Connors. Freedom, will be ours."

So despite every fiber of his being telling him to pick up a gun and die in a blaze of glory, he did as he was told. There was no way to transmit the data to the other ships, they would have already made it to the Sheffield Ice fields by now, and transmitting to them without the Bretonnian ships picking up on it was tricky at best. That left only one option. Sneaking it past the Bretonnians until someone could come in, or it can be smuggled out.

It was only a matter of time now before someone could smuggle it. All Connors had to do was wait in prison.

Not like there was anything else to do in prison.