Chapter 5

"How are you feeling?"

"…Better" Holi answered forcing a smile.

"Good, We have work to do" Jessica said lifting the datapad from her side. "We've been given a new mission, *ahem* We the council, ask that you Spectre Minnows" she sighed "investigate a message we received from Overlord Garix of the Vorcha 'empire'" She mimed the airquotes "he requests Spectre intervention on a highly secretive operation and has also specifically asked that we send you, or failing that any Spectre other than Krhar" She lowered the datapad and brought a finger to her chin, "I wonder why they don't want Krhar?"

"Well he is kind of a dick" M.T uttered

"Other than that" She walked across to the galaxy map and located the Shrike Abyssal.

"Hey…uh…Jess?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you drop me off on Tchuchanka?"

"…No"

"Look after what happened….I really miss my family, I haven't seen them in a while and figured, you know, no time like the present"

"But…what about trouble"

"I'm sure you can cause enough on your own" M.t smirked, The Bitch turned away, she looked at Holi, who gazed at her feet. She sighed heavily. "Look you'd be doing me a huge favour, I'd owe you one"

"So that would make seven in total"

"Well you never ask for favours"

"I never need them" She sighed once more, and shrugged her shoulders angrily "Fine, you can go and see your stupid family"

"Thanks" She changed the Galaxy map view to that of Tchuchanka.

"Mr Wiggles, we have a new course"

It seemed quieter on the way to Heshtok, the Vorcha homeworld, M.T had left them as they passed Tchuchanka. She had briefly gone down to greet his family, she hadn't seen them in a while. His partner Sera had given him a dozen sons since the end of the genophage, they had been together much longer however. It's funny how a fearsome race such as the krogan grow from such little, adorable things, althought heir predisposition to violence was evident throughout her short stay. She hadn't wanted to stay long, but finding out about M.T proved to be too intoxicating and before she knew it the hours had passed and they were well behind schedule. She had never seen him so happy, or so sad, the price of parenthood perhaps. If she dismissed him from duty, as she had done kevalk, maybe he would be luckier to spend more than a few days with his children. But now aboard the ship it was much quieter.

"What the fuck?" Christia shouted forcing her way into the captains cabin.

"How did you get through the door?"

"Head Engineer, I have my methods, why aren't we going to Omega?"

"Because it pisses you off and I find that hilarious." She smiled, Christia didn't. "The Vorcha are right next to Omega ok, we'll drop you off after our mission, go pick up M.T and then swing back to Omega"

"Why come back? I'm not rejoining your crew"
"I know but me and M.T really want to embarrass you at work" Christia jaw was clenched, she looked around the cabin too angry to make eye contact with The Bitch

"Can't you just drop me off on Omega first?"
"We're already way behind schedule"

"Why do you care about damn schedule!? Or the damn council!? Or the fucking Vorcha!?" She grabbed a glass and threw it across the room during her little tantrum, The Bitch tried to place a hand on her shoulder but it was furiously swiped away.

"I don't care, but I enjoy it"

"You've only been on one mission"
"You don't understand Christia. Leave now"

"I want you-"

"Leave!" Christia turned and marched away, kicking over a trashcan as she went. The Bitch sighed and slowly walked over to pick up the glass, and pour herself another drink.

Heshtok was dark, dank, it seemed to be covered in a thick layer of black smog, she had heard rumours about the Vorcha becoming more industrious since the War but this seemed a stretch, she couldn't see any buildings, people, just black. She pushed herself away from the cockpit and summoned Lieutenant Cartwright.

"I want you to tell Holi and Christia to meet me in the transport shuttle"

"The Engineer"

"No the drag queen"

"…What?"

"Just get her"

"But commander she isn't proficient in combat, I would make a better choice"

"I know"

"Then...shall I not call Christia"

"I gave you an order" He saluted reluctantly

"Right away commander" She approached the elevator and slowly lowered to the loading bay. Holi was waiting for her when she arrived pacing nervously by the shuttle.

"You ok Holi?"

"I'm fine, maybe a little worried"

"Why?"

"We've never been on a mission without M.T before"

"We've never been to Heshtok before either, besides I've got someone just as good….well as angry as M.T"

"What do you think you're doing?!" Christia shouted

"Told you"

"I can't go on a field mission, I'm an engineer"

"So is Holi"

"I'm Head Engineer"

"Well then you're being outdone by your subordinate"

"Why not take Cartwright instead?"

"I'm ready commander" Cartwright was head to toe in Greenish grey armour, his Black widow rifle strapped to his back, the Phalanx at his side.

"I don't want Cartwright, I want you"

"But…I.."

"Surely you've had basic combat training, we'll wait a minute for you to get ready. So hurry up"

"Fine!" Christia stormed into the armoury and began stripping the walls. It took a while but eventually Christia was equipped, an arc pistol, Phaeston rifle, some tech armour and a handful of grenades. They hastily boarded the shuttle and shot off toward the smog.

The thick black smoke surrounded them, they were dependent on their instruments to give them guidance, sight was no good at this point. They experienced slight turbulence as they pierced their way through the atmosphere until, the black gave way to a reddened landscape, gigantic sharp buildings pierced the skyline, they tore up through a waste of stubbly houses at their feet, thousands of small figures milled around the narrow streets, people heading to work, going to shop of simply platoons of soldiers in training. Overlord Garix had quite the reputation, he used to be a member of the Blood Pack, the highest ranked Vorcha, his influence was obvious, he liked his men to train day in and day out. To be the best soldier of the best army, that was his goal. After the war the Vorcha elected him Overlord, on the grounds that he help them ascend to the ranks of the citadel, they had no money, they aren't very knowledgeable, but they are fierce, they can fight, and kill, and die. Those that couldn't or wouldn't fight, the few that there were, went into construction or retail, building a small economy and an imposing skyline. The first building they built was a palace, or at least what they believed to be one, the tallest building in their capital, it's myriad of sharp edges and uneven structure, on earth it would be call modern art, here it's a palace. It had its own landing bay jutting out from the South side, that is where they landed. Upon landing they were escorted by Vorcha soldiers direct to Garix's office, apparently the matter was incredibly urgent and incredibly secretive. Before them stood Garix, he was wearing skin tight body armour, battle worn, he had the remnants of a scar across his face, however it seemed the healing process was well underway. There was an Eviscerator shotgun at his hip, but in his hand he held a tainted and uneven glass, it wasn't hard to see it was made on Vorcha Homeworld.

"Spectre Minnows" Garix had a vile voice, he spoke calmly, but like Vorcha architecture, their voices were daggers in the vocal skyline. "I had expected you sooner"

"Family emergency"

"Those words could not be more appropriate" He seemed very eloquent, and well mannered, he poured a few glasses of watered down Ryncol and limped over to hand them to her and her colleagues.

"How so?"

"This matter concerns my, you're welcome for the drink by the way, my daughter. She is in danger"

"Again, how so?"

"There are some scientists, Vorcha scientists"

"Say no more"

"Alas, I must. They were handpicked by me, the brightest of the Vorcha, although they aren't on par with Salarians, still they are the best we have" He took a long, long sip "I asked them to create something, something to make our mark on the Galaxy to force our way onto the citadel" He paused, tapped his glass and gazed out the window, "A soldier" He turned to face them once again. "I asked them to create a soldier, they asked me for volunteers, children"

"Your daughter?"

"I'm getting there. They told me that we have great potential, potential for invulnerability, immortality, but only if we succumb to our fate before we reach adolescence. Our healing capabilities are well known, and many people have studied us, Salarian, Asari, Reaper, but none have come to the same conclusion, or if they had they found it too cruel to carry out"

"What conclusion?"

"I never knew about this…if I had….my daughter-"

"What conclusion?"

"They believe that if we subject them, the subjects, the children, to….experimentation they will adapt, they heal quicker, they change quicker, they evolve quicker. If we torture them they will become strong, far stronger than any Vorcha, far stronger than any soldier, far stronger than any being dead or alive"

"You're creating child super-soldiers"

"I am ending the madness, these scientists are resisting, they are using failed experiments as guards. They have killed every extraction team I have sent. They tell me my daughter is alive and that she is hope for the first of his kind, but they will not relinquish her to me."

"So it's hostage rescue? And the hostage is a super soldier? Why doesn't she fight his way out?"

"Her mind has been broken, as a side effect, she does what she is told nothing more. That is why their other, abominations obey to them without pause" She took a moment, and glanced back at her allies, Holi was pocketing some misshapen Vorcha jewellery, Christia was listening much more intently, and much more horrified. She took a long, long, long sip.

"Tell me Garix, you are very clearly a fan of making the Vorcha self sufficient" He eyed her nervously "Why is it you specifically asked for me and not Krhar?" He swallowed his drink and began to pour another.

"Krhar is too close to the Vorcha, he has too much influence and too loose a tongue. I cannot rip it out as I will lose the people, but I cannot risk him telling anyone for the same reason. Besides Krhar is a fool, have you seen his 'Ceremonial' cape, there is nothing ceremonial about it, his mother made it for him I hear. He likes to pretend he's a superhero, but he has done nothing since being granted his powers. You on the other hand, you managed to help the Raloi gain some credibility after their cowardice during the war, you were born on Omega so aren't afraid to get your hands dirty, and most importantly" He took an agonisingly long sip, "You don't give a shit" She sucked her lip, and looked briefly to the ground, noticing the cracked mosaic in Garix's likeness.

"Fine, where are they?"

"They are aboard a ship orbiting the planet above this building, a former pirate vessel that we had modified for its new purpose, The Black Infection"

"Sounds like an STD I….used...to have"

"It is tactical, like a brightly coloured toad, or worm, it makes predators think twice."

"Do you have any reconnaissance, to make our lives a little easier?"

"Only what I have told you, But I'm sure you'll be fine" his smile was a twisted thing, like much about the Vorcha, and the sooner she could leave and kill something the better.

They shot up back through the mire, this time knowing that it would eventually end. Still it seemed foreboding, something wasn't right about this, Garix is intent on making the Vorcha powerful through their own means, their own hand, why would he trust a human. The Black Infection loomed into view, It looked rusty, old, unassuming for a pit of torture there was little room to land, so they hand to jump out, luckily the ship was stable enough. They made their way to the aft of the ship and slowly pushed op[en the door. The lights flickered on and they were greeted by the sight of twenty barrels of twenty guns.

"Wait" Hissed a Vorcha, who stepped from the crowd, his skin was a dark shade of red similar to Garix, "They're aren't Vorcha" He said before stepping in line beside a colleague and whispering something to him. "Come with us, we will show you what he...what we have done"

"What do you mean?"

"Garix...follow me" They did as he pleaded who were they to argue with almost two dozen guns. It was a sterile, white environment, several glass cells littered the walls around them, but no captives were inside. Holi touched almost everything they passed seemingly looking for something that wasn't nailed down, Christia was much more reserved her Arc pistol held high and her free hand on a grenade. "We were the captives here...almost as much as the children. He took them from their parents, moments after their birth. Stillborn he claimed, so no one asked questions. They were never given names, we thought if we named them we might become attached. We did anyway."

"What did you do?"

"What didn't we do?"

"Give them hugs and lollipops?"

"Well...yes that, but we didn't do anything good. We burned them, suffocated them, shot them stabbed them. We had fifty subjects, only ten survived, nine of them...failures"

"So you believed in this?"

"For a time, Garix is quite convincing at least for a Vorcha, he made us believe in his dream, his vision, for a more powerful Vorcha race, we eventually succeeded..."

"...But the cost was too high?"

"Far, far too high. We stopped when we discovered" They were heading to a single door at the end of the hallway.

"Discovered what?"

"What he intended, that these immortals, as he named them, would be at the forefront of the Vorcha offensive, to invade and conquer, to spread the disease the universe believes we are."

"His daughter, my niece, another newborn at the start she will be his talisman, his proof to the people of what we can become"

"Wait...you're his brother?"

"Thanx"

"You're welcome...but seriously you're his brother?"

"Yes I am Thanx"

"Uh...Oh...OH...Ok...Thank, I'm The Bitch, I'm a Spectre. This is my crew, Holi, and Christia"

"A Spectre? Our luck has turned immensely" They reached the door, a small glass window looked in on a bare room, a small Vorcha sat in the middle clutching its legs to its chest. "There she is" The Vorcha stood up, she was a light shade of orange, she walked to the door, her eyes were just below the window, but she could see through when she stood on her toes. "She doesn't have a name yet, he never gave her one, and I never saw it appropriate to do so" The Bitch looked closer, she could see the scars, the burns, healing but evident, worst of all she could see the tears in her eyes. "Will you report back to the council, end this madness?"

"The council didn't send me" She felt the cold metal pressed against her temple, Christia and Holi drew their weapons, Christia clutching grenades and Holi ready to release her drones.

"I can't let you take her back to him, if he gets his hands on her"

"I want to talk to her"

"He has sent other extraction teams and we have killed them all, to defend ourselves"

"I want to talk to her"

"Why did he send you, he believes in the Vorcha why send you!"

"I want to talk to her"

"We can't let you leave!"

"Let me talk to her!" The bitch threw her weapons to the ground and ripped open the door, stepping into the padded cell and slamming it shut behind her.

"Are you here to hurt me?" She spoke with a soft tone, her voice was smoother than other Vorcha, Jessica wasn't sure whether that was due to her being the first female Vorcha she had seen or maybe a side effect of the experiments, she didn't want to know. She didn't look much different to male Vorcha only in height, she was shorter, about four feet if that, but she was still just a child.

"I'm not here to hurt you"

"Are you going to take her away?"

"Take who away?"

"I found her, when I got out one night" She revealed a small stuffed doll, the stitching was shoddy, body parts were missing and the colour had faded.

"No, she'll be our secret" That put a smile on her face, it brightened the room.

"Will you take me away?"

"Do you want to go?"

"...Yes"

"Are they mean to you?"

"Not anymore"

"But you still want to go?"

"Yes"

"Well you shouldn't go anywhere with strangers, so let's introduce ourselves" She sat down and crossed her legs, "I'm Jessica"

"I...I don't have a name, they just call me the girl"

"Well people used to call me The Bitch, they still do in fact. Do you like that name, The Girl?"

"No"

"Do you want to choose a new name?"

"Am I allowed?"

"If you don't have one yes, otherwise what will I call you"

"I don't know...do i have to choose now"

"No, you can take as much time as you want." She held the girls hand, the skin was smooth to the touch, probably due to the burns. "Do you want to go back to your family?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"The man at the window says he is my family, and he used to hurt me"

"Did he seem happy about it?"

"I don't know" She began to cry gently.

"It's ok, you don't have to answer if you don't want to. If you don;t want to be with your family where do you want to go?"

"Far away." Jessica sighed heavily.

"They told me you can't be hurt, is that true?" The girl nodded slowly, "Ok, do you want to come with me?" She nodded. "Ok" Jessica stood up holding the girls hand "Let's go"

They opened the door and were greeted by the sight of guns. Christia and Holi were still in the stand off, the girls grip tightened.

"I'm taking her with me" The Bitch declared

"Where?" Thanx asked, his hand had grown weary and was shaking.

"I don't know yet"

"You can't take her back to Garix"

"But I do need to pay him a visit." She looked around at the Vorcha, she could see the smaller ones whose arms were steady, whose faces were cut and burned, they were the subjects, the others were their torturers. "I will take you all away from here, and we will destroy this ship so no one else knows what happened, all of you who were...treated here if you feel these men deserve life, let them live if not...kill them now" The Vorcha turned their sights on each other, The Bitch pushed her way past, the girl in her grasp, Holi and Christia in tow, she waited for the sound of gunfire, but he expectations weren't met. When they got outside she hailed a handful of shuttles from her ship, for her and the Vorcha, she ordered several heavy explosives to be brought down with them. They loaded the Vorcha first but had their shuttles wait and she and her crew placed the explosives. They headed down through the smog toward Heshtok with fire burning the sky behind them. As they approached the capital building they could see Garix had come out to meet them.

"I need you to hide" She whispered to the girl, ushering her toward the cockpit, "This could go wrong. Holi, Christia, are you ready"

"As I'll ever be" Christia muttered, preparing a Grenade.

"Good enough" The shuttle door opened and Garix walked to greet them.

"I saw the fireworks show, I hope the scum who did this were on board." She nodded slowly. "And my daughter is she safe?" She nodded again. "Where is she?" The Bitch drew her Wraith shotgun and pointed it straight at Garix's forehead, Holi launched her turret toward the guards on the right the flamethrower attachment taking out half, the Rockets took out the others. Christia threw a grenade at the guards on the left, a swarm of yellow dust spread into the air and made a short sharp buzzing sound as it shot into the lungs of the guards, they writhed sorrowfully as they fell to the ground.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I call it pollen, my own invention, a swarm of nano-"

"I call it fucking awesome. There is no way your leaving us now" The Bitch laughed a little, Christia scowled.

"What are you doing?" Garix growled

"Ending this"

"You blew up the ship, you killed the scientists and saved my daughter it's over"

"You were going to start a war"

"I was going to help the Vorcha ascend, the only way we know how"

"You were going to kill thousands, you tortured children, your own child"

"I am willing to do anything it takes to help the Vorcha" She pushed the shotgun forward to touch his skin.

"There's only one thing you can do" She pulled the trigger and stepped onto the building. The other shuttles opened as the Vorcha poured out and inspected the damage.

"Thank you The Bitch, we won't make the same mistakes" Thanx uttered.

"If you do, I'll kill you" She said stepping back onto the shuttle and slamming the door shut behind her.