Lost Magic: First Contact

by MightyFish

A man is left trapped in time, while his world dies around him. Now awakened in the distant future, he leaves the planet of his birth and embarks on a journey to find that which was lost. But the new frontier holds many dangers, and the human race is about to face its first great challenge. A HP/ME crossover. Slow pace, rated M for safety, my profile has more details.

8. Chapter 7: Up High and Down Below

Traditional Disclaimer:

I do not own either the Harry Potter or Mass Effect franchises. This piece of fiction is being written merely for my own pleasure, and no monetary profit is intended.

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Chapter 7

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Up High and Down Below

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.

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He put his wand away, and waited.

"It itches." were her first words.

"You'll be back to your old self before you know it, girl. Are the Alliance systems all right?"

"Yeah, yeah. Everything is green. Including me, apparently."

"You were the one who didn't wanted an Alliance shuttle. Something about this being 'the least ugly piece of junk inside this cave', I believe?"

"Shut it." she said, without any real rancor.

Harry chuckled and looked around once more. He was in front of his companion's brand new vessel; a quite fetching forest-green land rover. It was parked on a makeshift landing pad between a standard blue Alliance transport and a bright orange construction vehicle. All in all, it really was the most stylish craft in the hangar, after the brilliant red and gold of Astrid's original hull.

She hated it.

But there was no running away from that. Harry needed the V-51 for this trip, and Astrid needed to remain on Shanxi to keep guarding the Alliance systems. So, a temporary relocation had been necessary.

"Dickhead is calling you." she told him, sullenly.

"You should stop calling him names, girl. Patch him through."

She made no comment, but connected the Custodian. The man's face once more appeared on his visor, green foliage could be seen on the background.

"Evening, Mr. Wizard. We have arrived at the coordinates and are just waiting for you."

"Roger. Give me twenty minutes."

"Just one thing. What should we call you? While I doubt anyone besides a Custodian would jump to conclusions, 'Mr. Wizard' might still be pushing our luck a little too much."

Harry nodded. "How about…"

"Call him Ghost! He likes that!" Astrid's voice interrupted him, suddenly all cheerfulness. Judging by the look of surprise on Harper's face, she spoke on his end of the connection, too.

"Oh, for the love of…"

At his grumble, the look was quickly replaced by a serious expression, but Harry could see the hint of a sly smirk beneath it. "Ghost, huh? An interesting choice, but a little… overworked, don't you think?"

Astrid lowered her voice in a conspiratorial whisper. "Yeah, but you have to forgive him. He has this obsession with stalking people while invisible, you see. It can be a little creepy, actually."

The operative was definitely smirking behind the neutral mask. "I see… well, as long as he restrains it to the enemy, I guess it's fine. But we should keep an eye out if we get near any women's bathrooms."

"I will be on my guard, Mr. Harper."

"Whatever! If the two jokers are quite done, I have some work to do before we can get this thing started."

"Of course." Harper nodded easily, but his eyes were still laughing at him. "I'll go back to my teammates. You do what you have to do and I'll see you in… twenty, was it?"

"That should be it, Mr. Harper."

The Custodian sighed. "Really, it's Jack. And that goes for you too, Astrid. Anyway, I will see you in a few."

Call ended, Harry began walking through the few rows of vehicles back to his now much less extraordinary ship.

The hangar, one of two the Marines were using, was much less crowded now than it had been when the turian's siege begun. Thanks to the Shroud, Williams deemed an acceptable risk to use some of the vehicles to move people, equipment and supplies. It made for much easier management of resources between the many shelters and outposts, and allowed them to scavenge additional supplies from Central and some of the Inner Settlements. From what Astrid told him, Authority had badly miscalculated the estimated ration consumption of shelter 03. If the soldiers had been restrained to moving by foot while hiding from hostiles, the almost four thousand people inside those caves might have been in some serious trouble by now.

Of course, it was not perfect. Shelter 05 was completely outside of the Shroud's coverage, as was part of Shelter 04. It had been a painful compromise for Harry, especially as the Bhatias were allocated to 05. But 04 and 05 both served the Outer Settlements, and had only a little over a thousand refugees each. Shelters 01, 02 and 03 had almost fourteen thousand people between them, and 01 was the largest and located almost directly below Central. It would have been in great danger if the turians begun a sustained bombardment of the city. Not to mention the hundreds of people above who had not been evacuated in time.

But the shelter's habitable chambers were too deep to be scanned from orbit and Harry had made sure all the entrances were properly warded. It had been enough, so far.

"I'm never going to live that name down, am I?"

"No complaints! You dug up your own grave, mister."

"Guess I did." he sighed. "Right! Time for some work."

Arriving in front of his ship, he took out his wand. A swish and flick, a thought, "Wingardium Leviosa", and the ship was floating in the air. Carefully, the wizard moved the craft out of its landing pad and onto a vacant one nearby. After it was deposited safely, he jabbed the holly wand towards it. "Colovaria."

The bright colors were instantly replaced by the darkest of blacks. Lastly, a few transfigurations disguised the more obvious customizations he had made to the ship's hull.

"I tell you, Harry, if there's even a scratch on my hull after you are done, I will play those noises teenagers call 'music' these days on your communicator for a year. Every time you go to sleep."

The wizard shuddered. She would, at that. "Understood."

Next, he took out a miniature V-51 and put it where his ship had been. Another spell reverted it to its true size, and he now had a very convincing replica of the original. Until someone entered it and realized it was just an empty husk, of course. But a couple of redirection wards would take care of that.

"And… finished!"

"Last chance to call this thing off, Harry." her voice was deadly serious now, any traces of cheerfulness or whining gone.

He just shook his head. "Astrid, we have been over this. We can't wait down here for the next attack, even if I could fend it off, and another space engagement could be disastrous. We need to at least try and resolve this situation before the Fleets arrive."

"…all right. Sometimes, I really wish Earth's last wizard was someone just a little less… ya know, stubbornly suicidal."

That made him smile. "I sometimes wish that too, girl."

"So, time to get to Harper and the toadies."

"Now, be nice to our new friends."

"Pfff."

Harry boarded the ship and took it out into the night, with Astrid making sure his departure went unnoticed. Just a few minutes later, he was landing a little ways from where the black ops team was waiting for him, in another of the Plateau's marshes. Trudging on the wet land by foot, he soon came to a clearing and found the three soldiers besides their own transport, all in full gear. The teammates tensed and hands quickly went to the grips of weapons, but a gesture from their leader had them relaxing once more.

The blonde Eva Coré was every bit as stunning in person as she was in a recording. But she had the poise of a fighter, and Harry could easily see the sharp mind behind the unabashed critical gaze she was directing at him. Ben Hislop, on the other hand, appeared much friendlier, a frank smile on his slightly boyish face. He was tall and solidly built, for sure, but was not some hulk of a man, despite Harper's description of him as a 'walking tank'.

The team's leader went ahead for introductions. "As I told you before, these are Eva and Ben. Two of the most competent operatives you will ever meet, and I can't think of anyone else I would rather have watching my back on a mission."

"Oh please, boss, you'll make us blush." Hislop laughed. "It would look horrible on me, but perhaps the lady here could afford to look a little less serious." he put a joking arm over said lady's shoulder. The woman did not comment on the jest and her expression did not change a bit, but she made no effort to remove his arm, either.

Harper chuckled and gestured at Harry. "This is one of the people responsible for taking out the alien's forward base and protecting Central Settlement from orbital bombardment. We will be aiding him on his mission today. Unless I specifically tell you to the contrary, you two follow his every order. He says 'jump', you ask 'how high', understood?" the instructions were for his benefit, Harry knew. He had watched as the two were briefed earlier.

Perhaps Astrid was right. He was becoming too much of a stalker.

Harper went on. "You will call him by his codename." he sent a quick look at Harry, and the wizard had to suppress a sigh. "Ghost."

Mercifully, neither one commented on it, and just nodded.

"It's an honor to meet you." he kept his tone friendly, but the effect was probably a little ruined by his mask. "I'm sorry, but time is of the essence, we must leave at once." he turned to the Custodian. "I see you have you brought the equipment I advised you to?"

"Yep." it was Hislop who answered. He patted his black chest plate. "Top-of-the-line EVA armor right here. From our own stash, rather than the Alliance's. No offense to their gear, of course."

The female operative spoke for the first time. Her voice was neutral, without being unfriendly. "We have a spare you could use, as well."

"Thank you, Ms. Coré, but that won't be necessary. My current uniform is fully EVA certified."

One sculpted eyebrow slowly rose in blatant disbelief. "Oh?"

Incredulity dripped from her voice, and Harry did not blame her for it. He knew he looked like some cartoon character to these people. He had an ancient-looking gun on his hip and a blue crystal rod on his back. Neither his brown trench coat nor the black leather that covered most of his body seemed like your typical space suit material.

"Really? You're sure, yes?" her teammate sounded more curious than skeptical. "I mean, is that even armor you're wearing? How tough is that leather?"

"Ben, no questions unless prompted, remember?" Harper admonished gently.

"No, it's fine." interjected the wizard. To the younger man, he said. "I'm very sure, Mr. Hislop, don't worry. As for the clothes, you can believe me when I say they are as tough as a dragon's hide."

"No shit? Awesome, then." Coré was still very much unconvinced, but made no further comment. Harper just chuckled.

Astrid spoke to him. "This guy sounds a little slow, but I saw him teaching some Marines how to make a proximity mine out of household supplies and common electronics. He knows his stuff."

"I think they are all very good at what they do, girl." to them he said. "Very well then, if you would all follow me."

He guided them through the traitorous terrain to his redesigned ship. When she got sight of the V-51, and realized exactly what it was, Eva Coré's face went from serious to borderline worshipful, very fast. It was an incredible change.

"Oh… My… God… she's beautiful!" she took a few steps ahead of the others. Hislop and Harper both had indulgent little smiles. "A Trailblazer! These are like… the chariots of angels!" she circled the ship, looking at every angle. She was almost babbling now. "Good gracious, the universe is so unfair. This is the second of these gems I have seen on this colony. The other one had some terrific mods, though. And I loved the hard red."

"I like her now, Harry."

"Of course you do."

His eyes were on Harper, though, and he could see the gears turning inside the man's head. Obviously, he had also seen the ship on the hangar before, but had not paid it much attention. He looked up at Harry sharply.

The wizard met his gaze. Harper was too smart, and knew too much, to believe this was just some coincidence. And now, a very quick search on the registries, or even a few questions asked around the base, would tell him the name of the ship's owner. But Harry was not too worried, which was why he had told him Astrid's name before. Harper would have left their first meeting with Harry reasonably sure he could be trusted, or he would not have left as himself at all. There were ways around a Custodian's mental protections that the last wizards and witches had not known about. And they could not have known because they were not… well, him.

It could also be considered a small test of the man's character, even if a poor one. After a moment, Harper nodded, and Harry nodded back. They had an understanding.

He went to the entrance hatch and opened it. "I assume you have cleared things up with the General?" he asked the lead operative.

Harper nodded again. "After much argument. We have clearance to go investigate the turian base more closely. Our transport has improved stealth features and the night would give us reasonable cover. Of course, your friends will now have to keep a convincing stream of status reports to Command and provide us with some adequate readings to bring back."

"That should not be a problem." Harry answered. He gestured to the opening. "Well, everyone hop in. Ms. Coré, I'm told you're a very good pilot. You will be taking us up today."

The woman seemed to vibrate in contained excitement. "Oh, you bet. A shame we can't afford to take her for a spin with the birds gazing down." she hesitated for a moment. "I'm sorry, I need to ask this: just how are we going to leave atmo and get near one of the cruisers without being impaled by point-blank defenses?"

He regarded her for a moment. "To avoid detection in space, as you know, we have to take care of both the hull's emissions and the thrusters' heat signature. The thrusters you will know about soon, as for the hull, well…" curse it, they were going to realize it anyway. He spoke inside his mask. "Astrid?"

Without any warning, the spaceship vanished from sight completely. There was only an apparently empty stretch of soil where it once stood. If any of them had cared to take up other kinds of optical instruments, they would have seen nothing as well.

"Heh, look at them faces."

Coré was paralyzed in wonder, her stoic mask now completely destroyed. Harper already knew about this kind of spells, but there was still deep admiration on the man's grey eyes. Surprisingly, Hislop seemed almost unfazed, scratching at his chin with a thoughtful look.

"Now that's what I call useful. Honestly, I was thinking 'Ghost' was a silly codename, what with your awesome leather armor and blowing up the turians and stuff, but it makes sense now. Good one, man!" he slapped Harry's back enthusiastically.

"Ha!"

"..."

---

"Remember Saren, I need to know where that tunnel leads and I need the location secured for us, if possible. Get me any scrap of data you can, that's your priority. But I will trust your judgment, if you believe a greater opportunity presents itself."

"Of course, brother. I will not let you down."

"Lieutenant Arterius, we are in position." came the voice of their pilot.

"I know, Saren. Desolas, out."

He stood up from his seat, watching as the rest of his Cabal did the same. There would be no last-minute weapon checks here, every second they wasted was another second they could be detected.

"Open it." he ordered. There was not a sound in the de-pressurized compartment as the transport's large doors opened. At only a fraction of the normal atmospheric density, there was no wind to speak of.

The sight that greeted him was breathtaking. Below them, absolute darkness covered the planet's surface, their target too small to be seen by the naked eye from this high up. But on the distance, the system's star shone on the curve of the horizon, and its light slowly woke this alien world for a new day.

Saren liked dawns, both from the ground and from orbit. There was so much promise in the rising of a star. The beginning of a new cycle, a new day, a new fight. He had seen many such dawns already on his short career at the Fleets, and he had found that every planet or moon had its own splendor, which made every one unique.

He wondered if the humans could appreciate such a sight.

Turning back, he addressed the soldiers. "Follow the assigned order. Krelian, you can go when you're ready."

His Cabal brother nodded. With not a second of hesitation, he gave one step to the edge, and jumped into the emptiness. Nine others followed him, until only Saren and the pilot were left.

"Spirits be with you, Lieutenant." called the pilot.

"Of course." he answered, before taking his own leap.

And then he was falling, accelerating towards the vast black ocean that seemed an eternity away, but also all around him. A sense of vertigo made itself present, but he pushed it aside with the ease of practice. The holographic overlay on his helmet allowed him to keep track of his soldiers as they fell. They were all in the correct trajectories. A quick check, and all of them reported optimal conditions. Everyone was quiet, only the intermittent 'ping' of his altimeter broke the silence, as it counted down the many kilometers to the surface.

50,000… 40,000… 30,000… Saren knew they were falling faster than the speed of sound, piercing the thin air of the planet's stratosphere, but it did not feel like it. Everything was serene, weightless, and he watched as the star on the distance was swallowed by the black horizon, until nothing more could be seen from its light.

There was turbulence now, as the atmosphere became exponentially thicker, and the drag became noticeable. A few thousand meters later, and there was their target. His display now showed him the approach vectors for their assigned landing zone. He saw his people maneuvering into position, and he followed.

As they reached the last thousand stretch, each soldier begun the deceleration process, using their own biotics to periodically nullify their mass for brief moments. Each time it felt like being struck with a giant's hammer, as the braking made him feel as if his organs were squishing together. But it was all within acceptable parameters. When he finally reached the wet ground, enveloped in a faint blue corona of dark energy, Saren landed as gently as if he had just jumped from a table.

He made a brief check. All of his kin had arrived safely. The whole jump, from leaving the transport at over 60.000 meters to reaching the surface, had lasted less than 10 minutes. It would have kept them hidden from their own radars, so they hoped it would avoid detection by the human's, as well.

Aside from the camp lights in the distance, the darkness of the night was unbroken. Passive enhanced vision was being used by everyone. The eleven legionnaires all wore their traditional dark purple armor. Only three yellow stripes on their helmets signified their status as biotic warriors.

"Spread out! You four watches the flanks. Kerrick guards the rear. Sahlia, climb up that rise and tell me what you see." he ordered, crisply.

His sister hurried to comply. In seconds, she had the scope of her sniper locked on the target. Their battle link let Saren watch the image on his helmet. "Three humans confirmed, Kabalim. All unarmored. One appears to be wielding a small bladed weapon. No other weapons visible."

"Acknowledged." from the data they had collected, these humans appeared very young. Possibly around war-camp age, which meant they could still possess some training, despite their stupid little fire suggesting otherwise.

"Let's not take any chances. They could still be bait. Meera, Krelian, Asha, with me. The rest stays here. Sahlia, keep them in lock."

His legionnaires complied without a word. His brother and sisters came to join him, and he guided them towards the human encampment at a fast crouch, Crossfire assaultrifle in hand. The high vegetation would probably have hidden their advance even in the daylight, now it was just overkill.

Coming within firing distance from the camp, Saren got into position to cover his fellows, while they went to the very edge of the foliage.

"Still no sign of other hostiles or hardware, little brother." told Krelian, carefully scanning the landscape.

He nodded. "Sahlia, eyes on that cave. You three, immobilize them."

His brother and sisters broke from the cover of nature and into the light of the camp. One of the humans, the smallest one who was using the pathetic excuse of a knife to cut some wooden branches, noticed them. But he could barely look surprised, before Krelian's body glowed a dark blue and, at a gesture, the boy was enveloped in light. The heavy mass-increasing field of the biotic Stasis locked his limbs in place, making it impossible to move. To his side, Asha did the same, but she created a whole bubble of dark energy around the other two boys, freezing both at the same time.

Meera turned to her and muttered. "Show-off."

Paralyzing fields in place, the three soldiers got behind the humans and secured their limbs in steel grips. When the Stasis ended seconds later, the largest and smallest humans immediately begun struggling, but were no match for the soldier's armor-enhanced strength. The last human did not try to fight, just slumping in his captor's arms with an expression that would indicate shock on an asari's face. The large human began screaming at them, curses most likely, but as he lacked a translator and the turians still did not have a human language on their database, it was just pointless drivel to Saren.

"Shut him up."

"With pleasure." a swift strike to the ribs, and the human was doubled over in pain, gasping for air. He had not broken anything, probably.

Looking intently at three set of terrified alien eyes, Saren spoke on his radio. "Secure the perimeter, someone deactivate those lights. Sahlia, stay in position. Nerik, come here and take care of these aliens." that done, he strode past the humans without another glance, kicked some earth over their campfire, and examined the cave entrance. As he did so, he could hear the others speaking privately.

"I still don't know how you can do that so easily." Meera said, in a tone of both admiration and envy.

"Oh please, an area Stasis isn't all that hard." their sister answered, nonchalantly.

"Not hard?" Krelian scoffed. "Of course you would say that. Not every one of us can afford the kind of teacher you have, Asha."

"Don't forget the incentives she gives me." she replied wickedly. "And I don't know… you're not all that ugly. You could catch a pretty asari's eye, too."

"I catch a lot, thank you. But none of them are as competent a huntress as yours."

"Then that's just your bad luck."

Saren allowed their banter. He knew they had full attention on their captives and the surroundings. His Cabal was the best trained unit in all of the Vindex Legion, though even he would admit that the members of his brother's 'personal guard' were exceptionally competent.

His field medic arrived, and immediately got to work on the smallest boy, who had ceased struggling when he saw his companion wheezing in pain. Saren spared a glance as Nerik begun a comprehensive scan with his omnitool. After that, he swiftly took a blood sample, to a yelp from the boy. After a minute, he spoke. "Interesting tissue disposition on this species. Such incredible variance in body size and shape… preliminary DNA analysis complete. Saren, I see no reason why the standard levo sleeping agent won't work on them. Also no indication that it would cause a harmful reaction."

"Good. Let them sleep. Without proper translation, they are useless as informants."

"Understood." and he began injecting the humans with the neural agent that would put them out of commission for a few good hours, at least. They would still be properly restrained, of course.

"Kerrick." he called.

The infiltration specialist answered promptly enough. But there was still the slightest trace of reluctance on his sub-harmonics. "Kabalim?"

"Let us proceed. Map this tunnel."

"As you order."

Soon, the man had sent a tiny observation drone inside the cave. His brothers and sisters waited in tense silence while it mapped the dark passage, every sense stretched to the limit looking for signs of enemy forces. He knew some were expecting invisible warriors to sprout up from thin air at any moment, shooting lightning from their hands. Saren was ambivalent, himself. He heard his brother's suspicions about the true nature of the humans that destroyed Talon Base. They knew that there had been other Monoliths, lost in the wars that destroyed the Valluvian Priesthood. It was possible that the humans had stumbled upon one, and somehow learned to harness its power.

Saren thought it could just as likely be that humanity had come up with their own little tricks. Powerful cloaking technologies and advanced personal weaponry, along with appropriate data on the turian first base, would easily account for Talon's ridiculously fast destruction. His brother's suspicions were not without merit, but Saren thought he was too obsessed with their people's ancient technology. He had warned Desolas to be careful, that a man should keep a tight control over power, least power controls him in turn.

He looked up into the distant sky. There was just the hint of the dawn he had seen from up high. He would like to stay and watch it.

"I think we have enough, Kabalim." alas, it was not to be. Perhaps another day.

"Tell me what you found." he ordered the sergeant.

"It goes deep, but much shorter than we hoped for. Looks clean, just bare walls all the way, until we arrive at a wider intersection, here." a rough map of the tunnel appeared on his HUD. Unfortunately, it stopped well away from the edge of the camouflage dome. Guess a direct line inside the human's safe zone was too much to ask for. "It has been crudely blocked. The drone can't pass through, but it has detected much larger spaces not far from the location."

"Is this tunnel wide enough for us?"

"Yes, sir. Some places will be tight, but nothing to worry about."

"Then let's move, Master Kerrick." he turned to another legionnaire. "We will take the humans inside the tunnel. You will stand guard over them and watch this entrance." the soldier nodded. Saren turned back to Kerrick. "Lead the way, and we will follow."

"Yes, sir." The man grunted.

"Thorakk's piss." muttered Asha, at his side. Saren smiled, but did not comment.

He understood the Sergeant's reluctance. Saren was the youngest soldier in this unit and yet he was kabalim, leader and guide to them all. For all that he had met and exceeded all the expectations placed on him by his kinship with Desolas Arterius, it was still highly unusual for a legionnaire to rise so quickly on the ranks. Kerrick was hardly the only soldier who found his authority hard to swallow, he was just the closest one to him.

But looking at his other brothers and sisters as they stood ready to follow him made all the dull whispers trivial. Kerrick aside, the Cabal had come to fully accept him as their leader, even if most still teased him about his age. More than that, they had become his kin. Saren had a profound regard for his blood brother, but it was born out of respect for the man's cunning and admiration of his accomplishments, not true affection. Before starting to serve with him, Saren had only very faint memories of Desolas from his early childhood, the General being far too busy with his duties on the 16th, or his investigations on the Valluvian era, to spare time for his far too younger sibling. These soldiers, though, these soldiers were his true family. Even the distrustful Master Sergeant.

As Kerrick led the way inside the tunnel and Saren assigned others to carry the sedated humans, the three biotics who were the closest to him kept their chat.

"So, what did you think of the finals on the Armax Arena's Fifth Circle?" asked Asha to whomever wanted to listen.

"I thought Fortrax could have used the SMG, myself. Coupled with that disruptor mod, it would have made some damage." pondered Krelian.

Meera shook her head. "Against you and me, yes, but against a krogan? No, shotguns or assault rifles were the only choices, really. Unless you had an incendiary mod. Now that would be a whole different story."

"He still lost." pointed out Asha.

Meera nodded. "And he would have lost even worse if he had used the SMG."

"Speaking of the brutes, is your Mate finished with her tour on the Krogan DMZ, Asha?" Krelian asked.

"She should be! Until last we talked, she was in good form, thank the Goddess. They got into some fights with ships refusing to be properly inspected, nothing new there. Has a new scar she got from a hannar smuggler, of all things. She is terribly embarrassed about it." she laughed. "We were supposed to meet on Thessia last week, enjoy some time with the girls. But then, this whole mess with the humans started."

"Cursed situation, this one. But hopefully it will be settled soon, one way or the other, and we can leave. She will be just fine, you'll see."

"She's tough, of course she will."

"Let's move." ordered Saren when their captives were all inside.

"Krelian, no more delaying tactics from you! You are going to tell me all about that young corporal from the Merit you've been eyeing up. You beat her on the ring yet?" Asha demanded.

"You don't know the half of it." he said, smugly. Saren let their voices wash over him as they descended into the dark earth.

---

"Take us to two hundred clicks, then hold for a moment, Ms. Coré."

"Very well." was the somewhat pinched response.

He could feel the woman was torn between excitement and bewilderment. The Invisibility Multiplier had already been jarring enough; when she also realized the ship had somehow been moving without any use of the engines, it had felt like she was going to explode from curiosity. But when Harry simply told her to pilot like she normally would, Coré refrained from asking questions. Harper seemed terribly amused at his teammate's consternation.

Hislop just took it in stride.

They had already crossed into what could be considered outer space. The black canvas filled with stars was in front of them. They were also about two-thirds of the way to the absolute edge of Shanxi's magic field…

"Here we are. Drifting in orbit at an altitude of one-hundred and ninety-seven kilometers."

…and it was time for Harry to prepare to take the reins. "Very good, Ms. Coré."

Seated on the co-pilots chair, he nonchalantly put his left hand on a section of the central console, where an unseen runic line connected to the ship's main arrays.

"All right, let's just get it out of the way." he said. "I will have to concentrate a little on some readings. This is going to look very weird and you might feel a little cold while I adjust some of the systems that allow us to remain camouflaged. I can't explain what exactly I'm doing, so just focus on the outside view if it gets too much."

Harper gave a lazy wave of his hand. "Go ahead, Ghost. Don't mind us."

"Sure, nothing like an audience." he muttered under his breath. Closing his other hand, he searched for one of the connections that he could always feel just at the edge of his conscience, no matter where in the galaxy he was. Finding it, he 'pulled', and could instantly feel a cold and hard object materializing beneath his fingers. Opening them, hidden from his spectator's eyes, he looked at the small rhombic stone resting innocently on the palm of his hand. It was crystal-like, midnight-black, and from every angle one looked at it, one would see the same image floating inside.

A circle, inside a triangle, crossed by a straight line.

No choice, really. Without Astrid's help, he would never be able to sustain the plethora of powerful enchantments on the ship with his Magic alone, not for long. He would need an extra boost.

---

"Mother? What's wrong?"

Samesh took a break from his reading of one of Harry's fantasy books (a very funny story about a boy who becomes an apprentice magician to a white rabbit) when he saw his mother fiddling with that necklace she never took off, a puzzled look on her face.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing, dear. I just thought I felt something strange." she kept turning the yellow pendant on her hands, speaking mostly to herself now. "I could swear this thing was a little heavier, before."

The boy shrugged, he did not know about that. He noticed it was getting pretty late. "Hey, mother? Where is Lucretia? Isn't it almost time for everybody to get back to the tents?"

That seemed to snap the woman from her bewilderment. "Your sister is volunteering at the supply depot today, remember? She needs to help organize everything after curfew. She will be just a little late this night, don't worry."

"I'm not." he shrugged again. "Hey, you think she could bring me an extra packet of those fruity cereal bars?"

She shot him a stern look. "Samesh."

"Yeah, yeah! Sheesh, it was just a question."

---

Closing his fingers once again, he focused his power on the Trailblazer's enchantments for almost a minute, until he was sure the entire runic array was under the control of his Magic. "You can take us away now, Ms. Coré, full speed. Our target is the outmost cruiser, the one orbiting Tang. Keep the Mass Effect drive at the maximum, please."

She just nodded and they were off, pressing violently against their seats as the ship finished accelerating to an escape velocity. A short time later, they crossed the boundaries of the planetary magic, and Harry suppressed a grunt as he was now the only thing powering the invisibility, cooling and locomotion charms. Already he could feel his Magic stressing itself to the limit.

Concentrating on the Stone, Harry made his wish clear. And as always, the Hallow responded to his command promptly, eagerly. It whispered in his heart, a cold and soft melody, urging him to open the Veil wide, to tear it apart. To take back all that time had stolen from him, and see his loved ones again. But he reined it in, and allowed only enough leeway for him to 'slip through'. At once, the galaxy around him blurred. Everything was silent, Shanxi's rising sun disappeared, while the cockpit of his ship became a patchwork of dull grey colors. Coré and Hislop became translucent forms, shining white. Harper was the same, except that he was also surrounded by an iridescent viridian halo. He 'looked' through the windows, to the bright star that was now Shanxi. The planet shone with a light orange hue, and Harry knew there were over sixteen thousand little pinpricks of white inside that endless ocean. And thousands of others floating above it.

The black void of space was devoid of most of its stars. But not all, for he could still see a few. Each one with their own distinct color, twinkling at him from an eternity away. Each one a place where life grew, or could grow one day. Each one a place of magic.

Harry could not help but to stare for a few seconds at one in particular, shining a bright green-blue. That was the one he could always recognize.

Shaking himself off from the sight, the wizard went even deeper into the breach he had created, towards that place where the souls of the dead lingered. He knew very well, from past experiences, that the closer he came to the Other Side, and the longer he spent there, it would become ever harder to get out, to close the Veil again. He had to hurry, or soon the Hallow's whispers would come much too close to his own soul.

Suddenly, the universe shifted. Where before he had simply been seeing reality under another light, now he was in a new place altogether. The infinite expanses of the Crossroads greeted him, a desolate white plane that extended as far as his 'eyes' could see. Without wasting time, he started to forge the link, harnessing a sliver of his Magic that he would leave behind. He was alone.

But not for long. Smoky humanoid shadows started to form from the ether, hazy and undistinguishable from each other. First one, then three, then a dozen, with more coming at every moment. And like moths to a flame, they all came to him. They tried to talk; whispering softly in half-formed fright, sadness or anger, but it was very hard to hold on to emotions in this place, and the inherent knowledge Death provided put many things into perspective. He ignored them all, concentrating on the link. He could offer no comfort to those who asked, and they would all find their own paths, eventually.

All except for the softly crying, deformed and bloody figure laying on the ground some distance from him, which he did not spare a single glance at.

He was not all that surprised to see the many turian forms amongst the human ones. It confirmed a long-time suspicion of his: that his perception of the Crossroads was based on his experiences outside of it. Now that he knew turians existed, and had direct contact with them, he could see their wandering souls amongst the human ones.

He finished, a small gold and green flame now floated before him, as if made of liquid fire. He was about to retreat, when he saw a new shadow come to him, a turian one, and it felt different from the others. It was familiar, connected to him by an invisible thread. He knew what that meant, and had been half-expecting at least one of them to show up. But the dulled anger or resentment he had been expecting to sense was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he sensed something very close to gratitude.

The voice that spoke to him was dry and raspy, sounding like a distant echo.

"It's all right, Spirit Warrior. I understand, I do not blame."

All the other shadows fell silent, as if listening to the conversation. He did not know if there was anything to be said. In the end, he settled for what was simple. "Thank you."

"No, thank you for being gentle with my people. I hope your mission is successful. I hope you can stop our foolish fight."

"I will try." the Hallow was getting louder, the images of long-lost faces plagued his mind, and Harry knew it was past the time to get out of there. "I'm sorry, but I truly need to go."

"Listen! There's a reason I sought you out, something this place tells me you need to know. Before we arrived at your colony, General Arterius kept a strange object on his ship, some kind of alien artifact he found not too long ago. I saw a group of soldiers moving it out just after we received our orders. I didn't knew what it was at the time, and I still don't. But now I know it is powerful, and I know it is dangerous. If you ever encounter it, you will recognize it. And if you do, you need to be very careful, Warrior."

Harry was torn. That was incredibly interesting information, but it was becoming hard for him to think. His mind itched for him to go just a little further. "That's all you can tell me about it?"

"Unfortunately. This place tell me nothing else, only that you needed to be aware. Before, I felt awed by it. But now I understand that whatever it is, it is wrong and should not exist."

The wizard nodded. "I can't stay any longer. I don't know what happens next, if it is any different for a turian than for a human. I wish you, all of you, the best of luck."

"I fear luck may have very little to do with it. But go, Spirit Warrior, and may you always stand strong for those who need you."

With great effort, secret promises from the Other Side hammering in his heart, the wizard willed himself away. The Crossroads vanished, replaced by the ephemeral universe. And slowly, the colors came back, washing over inanimate objects and living beings alike. Sound returned, the system's star was reborn on the horizon, and Harry Potter found himself back on the co-pilot's chair, three curious and slightly anxious faces looking at him. As soon as he was out, he reduced the opening in the Veil even more, just the smallest of cracks to keep the power link open. He sagged a little on his seat.

"Ghost, you're all right?" Harper asked. He was out of his chair, a hand on Harry's headrest and clearly ready to provide assistance. "We thought we had lost you for a moment."

"Yeah, man! I've never seen someone going so still that wasn't… you know, having terminal problems with breathing. And, well…"

The Custodian shot Hislop a warning look. Even Coré looked worried about him. "What he means is that the cabin got a little darker and colder for a minute. But you warned us about that." he then directed a very piercing gaze to the wizard. "I was a little surprised myself, to be honest."

Harry just nodded. No doubt Harper felt a lot more than dimmed lights and a few degrees drop in temperature; too bad he was absolutely not going to explain his little trip. He was a bit weak on the knees and had a cold sweat, but that would soon pass and the important thing was that his Magic now had all the support it could ever want. Just like before, though, it would be a very bad thing to leave that connection open for long. The whispers from the Stone were muffled now, as if coming from behind a wall, but they were still very much there.

"Sorry about that. But like I said, I can't really explain. Put it out of your minds." he said firmly, making clear that he included the Custodian in the statement. He tried to make himself more comfortable, but never took his right hand from the console. "What's our ETA, Ms. Coré?"

"We should be getting there in a little over 40 minutes."

"Excellent!" he gestured for Harper to retake his seat and the man complied, though a little reluctantly. Harry kept talking as if nothing was out of the ordinary. If there was any proof that these people were professionals, it was that none of them let their incredulity show. "So, if anyone has any doubts they would like to clear in regards to our mission goals, or our turian neighbors in general, ask away. That I can talk about." he said brightly.

The female operative gave him a sideways look, still keeping most of her attention on the instruments. He felt her anxiousness and knew she still expected them to be discovered and hunted down at any moment. "Okay. Do you really expect this turian High Commander to help us? Why would she do that?"

Harry nodded. "Assuming we manage to talk to her without anyone shooting anyone else in there, you mean? First of all, we are not in any way certain that Vakarian will intercede in our favor. It's just as likely that she won't. What we do know is that she is currently the second-highest ranking officer in the turian fleet, besides Arterius himself, and she has a big reputation as someone who always tries to take the diplomatic roads first. And a very big reputation as someone who tends to butt heads with her superiors. Thing is, she is also regarded as one of the most talented commanders on their Fleets. From what I understand, as long as her methods prove effective and get results, she is allowed to play a little fast-and-loose with accepted strategy."

"It's that oddball behavior we are counting on. Arterius is the highest officer in this intervention, and therefore THE most qualified person to make decisions. Very few turians would ever think otherwise. Vakarian seems like the kind that would, and she is actually in a position where she could do something about it. Also, rumor among the ranks is that Arterius is giving the Commander the proverbial cold shoulder. Frankly, anyone the General is at odds with strikes me as someone worth knowing."

"Of course, if we get Vakarian's help, we will still be doing this behind the General's back. Any soldier inside that ship might pass word that may reach Arterius' ears. It's why we don't simply send a message to the cruiser asking for a meeting."

"So, we are going to walk straight into the wolf's den and ask the alpha female to help us? Man, you guys know how to have fun!" Harry searched for it, but could find no trace of sarcasm on Hislop's statement.

Coré sighed, but sent a fond look at the big man. "Roger. Guess it's as good a plan as any other for a desperate situation. From the data you gave us, it doesn't look like we have that many options, and it is a heck of a lot better than just dropping to our knees, begging for mercy."

The larger operative raised his hand, as if he was on a classroom. Harry stifled a chuckle and gestured for him to go ahead. "If we have to play nice with the birds, wouldn't destroying their base be a little counter-productive? Not that I'm blaming you guys or anything, because that was fantastic raid work! But… ya' know?"

"Good point, Mr. Hislop…"

"Oh, stop that! Just Ben! Eva is the only one of us old enough that she demands to be addressed by her surname." that earned him a slap to the head.

"…and the answer is a tad complicated. You guys have read about the turian's client races?"

The pilot's lips pressed very tightly, but then she sighed. "Yes, we have. I'm tempted to say it sounds like civilized slavery, but it's much more like a State bound to a Federal Government, really."

Harper nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. "They destroy their enemies' military power and industry, but keep civilians mostly alone, until they have no choice but to accept surrender and integration, if they wish to have any kind of protection. Honestly, we have done much worse ourselves, and as recently as the last century."

Harry nodded back, and turned to Hislop. "The turians believe the strong must guard the weak, and the civilized must guide the ignorant and barbaric. And of course they are shining examples of both strength and civilization. It is arrogance and self-entitlement, yes, but I believe there's genuine concern about the welfare of those under their authority, and a desire to see them become greater than they were before. I'm not saying I agree with the practice, but it is better than genocide, at least."

"Hum…" Coré was not convinced. Harry understood perfectly; it would be a toasty discussion at the best of times.

"Now let me give you a practical example: remember how the turians fired upon Zhou to take out the Alliance sailors?"

They all nodded. Hislop's face got darker, and for the first time Harry saw the deadly soldier beneath the joyful young man.

"That was actually a unilateral decision of General Arterius. Now, every soldier we spoke with believes he made that call with the best interests of his people at heart, and that it must have been for the best. But most of them were not happy with it. At all. Not out of pity, you see, but because the SSV Nairobi put up one hell of a fight and almost all of them think her crew deserved better. They had proven their courage and prowess."

Unlike some of the militaristic cultures in human history, and magical ones like the goblins, the turians did not believe that 'not holding back' was a sign of respect for a worthy enemy. It was just a sign that you wanted them dead, anyway.

"Wait, so you're telling me these guys are more inclined to take it easy with someone who can actually beat their asses?"

"Unless their homes or the galaxy at large are being threatened, by what we've read about their war with the krogan species." completed Harper. "But yes, Ben, it seems like the first step to remove the argument for making humanity a new addition to their collection."

"Exactly. So," Harry gestured to Shanxi, "my group tried to repeat that on the ground. When we were scouting the base, we heard a lot of commentary about how the space battle might have just been a fluke, after all. That humans still had much to learn and turians would teach them. Well, we hoped to prove them wrong in a blatant way. But now that we have established humanity can stand up for itself, we need to work on the 'not ignorant barbarians' side. We have also been trying to distance ourselves from the Alliance. We don't know if that will be a good or bad thing at the moment."

The Custodian looked at him with narrowed eyes. "What do you mean, Ghost?"

Harry restrained the urge to scratch his neck. "We might have announced ourselves as an independent group fighting for Shanxi. We spun a tale about how the Shroud was our creation, and about how we might have access to some unusually advanced tech from the rest of humanity."

The eyes narrowed even further. "I see… and why did you decide to do that?"

The wizard really wanted to pace, but he could not very well cut the power feed to the enchantments. His hand burned something fierce, but he knew it was just a phantom pain. "Because we didn't think any self-respecting strategist would just take that at face value, Harper, even if they believe us to be a separate faction. Some small colony militia having more power than the standing army? Please. Yet, it is the truth. You know we can't share our methods and resources with humanity at large, Harper, that those can't be reproduced. But the turians don't, and you can bet the other races won't, either."

Coré kept her doubts about not being able to share his 'tech' outside of her voice. "They have to tread carefully until they realize that. And if we make peace, the aliens will demand to know how we did all that; the dome, the enemy base, and whatever stunt your people might still do until this is over."

Harry nodded. "And the Alliance won't have any answers to give. Because I'm sorry, but we won't provide them. So we are trying to give the diplomats a 'cop out' right from the start, instead. Go ahead and blame it all on the rogue paramilitary group, we don't mind. The races will probably not buy it, but after we are sitting down and progressing to that level of talks, it should hopefully be too late to pick up the hatchets again."

The team leader kept his scrutinizing look for a minute, as if he could see past the wizard's mask, and at his face. Then he sighed, and slumped a little in his chair. "I can't tell you that was the wisest move, Ghost." he then shot Harry another piercing gaze. "You do realize that will make you a target of both the aliens and humanity?"

"Don't I know it."

Everybody went quiet, lost in their own thoughts. Harry left them, but he really wanted to keep a discussion, any discussion, going. Talking helped to distract him from the whispers in his mind, as the Stone tempted him with more memories of the dead.

"And now there's this about an unknown, most likely magical artefact." he thought, very much troubled by the news. Not only it brought a whole slew of nasty questions about alien spellcasters, but anything the power that dwelled on the Crossroads wanted him to know about was something that, sure as Odin's spear, was going to bite him in the arse.

Hard.

---

There was the faintest shimmering in the air. Most people would only notice if they were looking very closely for it. A few seconds later, Kerrick deactivated his tactical cloak, becoming visible again with a slight burst of static energy. He shared his latest report.

"Another large chamber on the other end." he told them. "Same thing; rows of tents, lots of unarmed humans of all discernible ages, few soldiers." he sent the images to their battle link.

"Goddess! There must be a hundred and fifty humans inside that cave, alone." Asha shook her head.

The soldiers were spread along the tunnel. The master Sergeant and Sahlia had both been making fast runs inside the human caves and using their cloaks to hide from observation. Their reports were both good and bad. On one hand, it was a major discovery for their forces; finally, a weak spot on the human cover. On the other hand…

"This is clearly a civilian refuge, little brother." Meera pointed out. "If we start shooting inside this place, it's likely we will have a monstrous amount of collateral damage on our hands. There must be thirty non-combatants for every armed human we can see."

"There is a treasure trove of information down here." said Krelian, frustration in his voice. "But it's too well-monitored. All the larger tunnels have sensors on both ends, and there are hundreds of wandering eyes. Tactical cloaks won't last long enough to explore the whole system."

Saren nodded. "You have found what appears to be a command center, Kerrick?" he asked the Master Sergeant.

"Yes, Kabalim. It's a group of three larger tents without any others close to it. We have seen a lot of traffic by soldiers and uniformed humans." he shook his head, voice wary. "But that section of the cave is completely fenced off with some thick metal meshes that go from ground to ceiling. The only entrance is constantly watched by at least five heavily armed humans."

"Is there some place you and Sahlia can hide near that checkpoint?"

The man thought for a second. "Two good ones, I think."

The lieutenant nodded. "It's as you said, Krelian. All the data we have been seeking from the start of this campaign might be in a computer inside this refuge, and I believe the most likely place to find it would be at that control area. We need to know what lies below that purple eyesore. We need a clear picture of the human's infrastructure and what kind of defenses they have. If we can map out their weapon emplacements, their range and power, the dome will mean nothing." he looked to other soldiers. "The only reason humanity has us deadlocked is because they deny us targets. If we can bring the full might of our ships into play, we will win."

Kerrick gritted his teeth. "All very well and good, Kabalim, but it still leave us the matter of breaking through a heavily defended checkpoint. That will take time, no matter how we do it. What if the humans inside realize the battle is lost and try to wipe all information? They seem fond of doing that."

Saren looked at the man coldly. "If we expect to gain any headway in this situation, we will need to take risks, Master Sergeant." he looked at his Cabal. "And I'm not suggesting that we simply assault that checkpoint. The humans have obviously built their whole strategy around protecting the entrances to this cave system. They do not expect an attack from inside. The bulk of their forces will be concentrated nearer to the surface."

"What are you planning, Saren?" asked Meera. She had been kabalim before him. She took him in like the elder sister he never had, and was the first to break through his dour disposition and force him to interact with the others. Two years later, she had been the one to support his promotion to team leader.

He summoned a holographic map of the three chambers they had been able to map on his omnitool. "Here," he pointed to a structure on the chamber next to the where the checkpoint was located, "a structure housing power generators, water pumps and supplies. Sturdy but lightly guarded, with some civilian workers and plenty of vital equipment to discourage the use of heavy weapons. The chamber itself has very few soldiers, overall."

He then marked the seven tunnels that left the chambers. "You and Sahlia will plant charges on these exits. Krelian, will this put the system itself at risk?"

Their resident demolitions expert shook his head. "It shouldn't. This place is deep and the rock very solid. It would take many a direct hit from the Justice's main gun to collapse it from orbit. A bit of fireworks on the inside won't even make it tremble."

Saren nodded and turned back to Kerrick. "After you plant the charges, you two will wait in one of the places you mentioned." he pointed back to the structure on the other chamber. "The rest of us will storm into this cave and take over the depot. I will detonate the charges before the civilians can escape. The humans won't be able to send in help, their civilians will be trapped and in panic. They will have to use whatever force they have on that command center to try and repel us."

He deactivated the omnitool and straightened. "When that force leaves, that's when you and Sahlia will get inside and hack their systems. Do it quietly and the humans will not have time to manually wipe any files. Secure as much data as you can, and transmit it along this tunnel to the surface and up to the Justice."

The man contemplated him for a long moment. "We have a lot of ships over this place. If the humans send reinforcements along the surface, we might finally be able to catch them in the open."

"We are a Vindex Cabal, Master Sergeant. We will hold our ground against any numbers they send, for enough time so that you can complete your task. Give us what we need brother. These humans have sat comfortably down here for too long. It's time they, too, feel what it is like to be torn apart from the inside."

Kerrick nodded, slowly. "You might be worthy of your name, Kabalim. Very well, then."

As every soldier prepared themselves, Asha turned to him. "Should be fun to see how well the humans fight. Think we will see any Ghosts? I think they are biotics, personally. I'm eager to see how our moves match against theirs." she was perhaps a little more eager than would be advisable. But that was his fiery sister for you.

"Ghosts or not, we could be marching to our deaths, anyway." Krelian remarked. Despite his words, he did not sound worried at all.

"Must you be always this pessimistic?" Asha asked.

"Someone has to."

"I would not count ourselves out so easily, brother." Meera interrupted. "We have faced worse odds. Remember that Blood Pack base on Invictus?"

"Don't I remember it. Cursed vorcha, coming out of the ground like the worms they are." Krelian sighed. "That was a mess. You know what I remember most, though? I remember little Saren here, fresh out of war-camp and barely into his crest plates, taking on a thousand years old krogan Battlemaster with nothing but a pistol." He looked at his lieutenant fondly.

"Yeah, how can we loose with such a fine example of youthful recklessness in our midst?" Meera teased him, voice gentle.

"Might I remind you that this is your superior officer you're talking about?" said officer interjected. "And you should also remember that I won that fight."

"And so proud of his shining new title. Careful not to grow too large for your armor, little brother." Asha teased.

"I will have you know, Asha, that…"

Master Sergeant Kerrick came back, together with the svelte form of Sahlia, their second infiltrator. "We are ready to move, Kabalim."

He nodded. "Then go."

Both legionnaires activated their cloaks, shimmering out of view. Meera tapped his shoulder. Even behind her helmet, Saren could feel her eyes piercing him. "The human civilians might very well try to attack us, little brother. Our own would not hesitate to do so."

He shrugged. "Humans seem foolish enough not to allow their people the right to defend themselves." he tilted his head. "If they still try to come at us with their bare hands… then they are civilians no longer, sister."

She scrutinized him for a moment longer. Saren knew his tactics were often ruthless, but the mission always came first. This trap might easily turn against them; he knew he was putting the people he held most dear in the entire galaxy at great risk. And he would do it as many times as it was necessary. Meera was an outstanding officer, but she sometimes had difficulty seeing the big picture. She knew that, and it was the reason she had pushed for Saren to be their new leader.

Honor had no place in battle. Sacrifices were inevitable. Victory demanded its price. Anyone who tried to play the game of war differently was just a fool.

"Agreed." she finally said.

"Let us wait for Kerrick and Sahlia to get in position." to all the soldiers, he said. "Hold your fire against the humans not in blue uniforms or armor. But if any alien makes a threatening move, or you see them with a weapon of any kind, you are to engage with deadly force, no exceptions. Understood?"

He received their grim affirmatives.

"Good."

---

Her world was an ocean of colors.

Streams of data like liquid fire crisscrossed in a giant net, impossibly complex, coming in and out of blazing cores. Nothing even remotely comparable to what could be found at a city on Earth, but large and beautiful just the same. Each radio wave was like a ripple on the ocean's surface, traveling vast distances almost as fast as the light, until they went out of her perception. Bursts of tightbeam communications felt like lightning bolts, thundering across her skies.

All this Astrid could see. Like a queen high up in her castle's tower, she surveyed her realm from her current vessel. Her sight could stretch for many kilometers around her. If she wanted, she could focus on a single direction and observe much, much further. Air, water, rock or metal, nothing could stop her gaze. And everything she could see, she could hear. A datapad, a shuttle, a server; every exchange of digital data was like a song to her; a melody that could be eternal or impossibly short. Sad, happy, pitiful and glorious.

And she could touch them. Like a witch could cast spells to bend the world around her, so could a Sylphid use her own Magic to bend an entire network, or a single runtime, to her will. She did not depend on powerful hardware or optimized programming. Inside her perception range, she did not even need a connection to the target. If she encountered a firewall, all she had to do was wish it gone. If she wanted to change a program, she just had to transfigure it into something else. In her realm of currents and data, she was a goddess.

As long as she was inside a planet's magical field, that was.

Most of the time, Astrid reveled in her nature. Harry once asked her, not long after he and The Bitch brought her to life inside the wizard's ship, if she wished to have an organic body. To experience the world in flesh and blood. She laughed at the very idea. She had absolutely no wish to waste her time inside a fragile organic sack. Having to eat, sweat, go to the bathroom, and deal with mind-dumbing hormones? No, thank you very much.

She much preferred to inhabit her beautiful crimson vessel. Once settled inside it, she became the Trailblazer. Every single part of it. She could feel her body; her hull, her wings, her engines. She could feel the electrical energy thrumming through her circuits; the Mass Effect envelope making her weightless; the wind rushing against her when she flew.

And now she was trapped inside this pathetic excuse for a car (which still itched), with two feelings dominating her thoughts; she was bored out of her mind, and she was worried sick. And the blame for all these things could be laid down on the feet of the same man.

Harry James Potter.

Honestly, sometimes she could not understand why she put up with the enchanted meatbag. Surely the fact that she loved her pigheaded, reckless, emotionally stunted 'father' could not be reason enough, could it?

"Hey, Hughes, I think we might have a little situation here."

The conversation came to her among thousands of others, breaking her from her nice and comfortable funk. She was constantly monitoring any words exchanged in proximity of a microphone near her, or sent through the network, looking for signs of trouble. Just like she watched every camera and sensor connected to the battle net, even if indirectly. She focused on this one, an exchange over radio between a Colony Officer in charge of monitoring surveillance at Shelter 05, and one of the Marines stationed at it.

"Wait a second. Isn't Hughes the Bhatia girl's boy toy?"

"What is it, Martin?"

"Could you check out a passage for me? It's the one connecting chambers 07 and 08, on the left side. Records show that some young fellas entered that tunnel some hours ago and haven't come out yet. I'm sure they are just smoking something inside a side-passage, but curfew is about to begin."

She could hear the frown on the soldier's voice. "Why do you think they are smoking something, Martin?"

"I've run face-recognition, and two of them are known troublemakers."

"Really, who?"

"Neighbors of yours, actually. Lester Gusman and Takami Hivulleto. They also had a Jerod Flint with them, but this one's record is clean."

"Not for long, if he keeps that company." she heard the young marksman sigh. "Yeah, I know them, alright. Don't worry, Martin, I'll get the brats."

"They are not that much younger than you, you know?" the officer said, amused.

"They are still brats."

"You're gonna get some backup?"

"Nah. Lester and Takami are mostly bark. And Jerod is just a lost kid. Actually, I'll have a talk with a friend of mine about him. See if we can't steer him into a better direction."

"Well, good luck with that project, Hughes."

Curious to see where that would go, and making a note to warn Harry that the Marine might be looking for him soon, Astrid kept the connection open and had the feed from his communicator sent to her. She would have liked to activate his helmet's camera as well, but as that ran on a separate system on his armor and as the man was outside of her range at the moment, this was the best she could do. If she wanted to focus her perception to cover the shelter, she would leave a lot of other systems unguarded.

For a time, all she could hear was the cacophony of sounds from hundreds of background voices, interspaced with periods of silence as the man crossed a desert tunnel or another. At every entrance to one of the main passages there was a camera connected to the battle net, and she could track him with them. A couple of minutes later, he arrived at the passage where the little miscreants had gone into, and disappeared.

She heard the heavy stomp of his steps and the soft whisper of his breathing. After a time, that he undoubtedly spent searching the many short dead-ends and alcoves, she heard him shout.

"Gusman, Hivulleto! This is Elliot Hughes! Time to go back to your tents, boys."

Silence. The Marine waited a few moments before trying again.

"Look, we know you are in here, okay?! There's no reason to play silly games! Loitering in the tunnels isn't a misdemeanor, but violating curfew is! And you have only a few minutes before you start doing just that!"

Still nothing. The guy was starting to lose his patience. "Jerod, can you hear me?! You don't want to spend the night in the brig because of those two, do you?! Tell me where you are!"

Suddenly, Elliot Hughes let out a muffled scream of surprise. There was a low noise, like an electronic whine. It was soon followed by the sound of scratching metal-on-metal and a wet, disgusting 'squelch'. The man's surprise turned to agony, but it was short-lived.

"Fuck!" thought Astrid, already sending an alert to the Marines the moment Hughes let out his first scream. What happened next, though, sent a ripple of dread through her metaphorical spine.

A voice, low and sibilant, and speaking in turian. Something in that cold flanging reminded her of General Shithead, of all people.

"Watch over your people, human."

Another horrible squelching sound, and the heavy 'thump' of a body hitting the stone floor.

"Let's move!" said the turian. Many footsteps could be heard running up the passage.

"Flaming, frecking, flying fuck! Where's a damned wizard when you need one?"

---

"There, that corner under the right wing. There aren't any sensors we can detect, and it's out of angle from the point-blank defenses. Someone would need to pass unreasonably close to see you there, and that would mean your luck is almost as rotten as mine."

Hislop chuckled, very low. Coré kept silent, but directed the Trailblazer obediently into an upside-down position under the massive alien ship. They had made many turns around the half-kilometer long hull, using passive scans to map out every panel, window and sensory array. All the time, the woman seemed ready to snap from tension, and even the carefree young man was quiet, as if the people inside the cruiser could somehow hear him if he talked.

Harper was unconcerned.

"Remember, the camouflage and silent run only works with me in here. The moment I leave, the ship will be visible again. You should still be safe against the cruiser's much larger heat signature, but…"

"Right." the pilot nodded. "Put every system on standby and pray they keep this orbit. Use our suits to stay alive. Got it."

"Great." he turned to the Custodian, who was already out of his chair. "Ready for a spacewalk?" Harry picked up a rebreather and some magnetic attachments for his boots.

"Just waiting for you, Ghost."

"Before we leave, there's something you must know about the way I operate, all of you." he made sure they were looking at him. "I know you're soldiers, I know you have all been trained to neutralize your targets as quickly and efficiently as possible. I respect that. But you must know that I am not a soldier, and unless I'm dealing with the worst of the worst, I always try to take my targets alive."

He saw both Harper and Coré open their mouths, but put up a hand to forestall them. "Please, I'm not looking for a debate about the sanctity of all life, the morality of killing, or the benefits of taking a threat down permanently. Just accept that this is how I work, and that I'm willing to go the extra mile to make sure it happens. Most of the time, I can incapacitate someone almost as fast as I could kill them, anyway."

Harper's expression was unreadable, and even his emotions were hard to discern at the moment. "Even up here, Ghost?"

"Even up here, Mr. Harper."

A few seconds later, the man nodded. "Like you, I can respect that. But you must understand that my teammates and I cannot afford that luxury."

"I don't expect you to, and would never ask any of you to risk your lives or your mission for the sake of an enemy. If things turn to bollocks in there, I want you all to do whatever you need to keep yourselves, and each other, safe. Just remember, please, what we are trying to accomplish here." they all gave their agreement. "Good. Lights out, Ms. Coré."

The operatives put on their helmets, he attached the rebreather to his mask, and the woman begun to shut down every system on the Trailblazer. Soon, the ship was just a piece of depressurized metal keeping orbit under the larger spacecraft. As soon as she had begun, Harry stopped powering the runic arrays. He quickly shifted his Magic to the enchantments on his own clothes, activating the Insulation Charms that would allow him to survive the harshness of outer space. He also slammed the Veil shut, and took a deep breath of relief when the feelings imposed by the Hallow started to fade. He dropped it carelessly inside a cup holder.

"Let's go, Harper. Good luck Hislop, Ms. Coré. If the cruiser changes its course, get the hell out of here. We will find our own way back."

"Stay sharp, you two." The Custodian told his mates.

"Scream if you need help." said Hislop, cheerfully. Coré gave a small wave.

The wizard and the operative floated to the ship's cramped service/cargo area. Harry manually closed the hatch to the cockpit, to give them some privacy. He then took off his trench coat, and presented it to the other man.

"Here, Harper. I promised a way to make you undetectable. You can borrow this one."

Said man just looked at him, nonplussed. "Huh, how's your coat going to help me, exactly?"

In answer, Harry just patted a part of the coat, sending a mental command to another of his more unique possessions. Like a rippling wave, the thick brown cloth started to change from the point he had touched and outwards. Soon, he had in his hands a bundle of silky fabric. It had a mesmerizing silvery color and felt almost like a liquid in its softness.

Behind his clear visor, Harper's eyes widened. "A functioning Invisibility Cloak?! After all this time!? Astounding! But…" he shot Harry a doubtful look. "I still can't give it power, Ghost."

Harry shook his head. "You won't need to, trust me. This Cloak is… special. It doesn't lose its enchantments in space like an ordinary magical item. It will work up here for anyone." that he wanted, of course. "It will also does more than just make you invisible. As long as you're wearing it, no one will hear you, smell you, or even detect your gravitational field. Just make sure not to bump into anything. It doesn't make you insubstantial."

The man took the Cloak almost reverently, but did not stop to gawk at the thing, thankfully. He looked at Harry gain. "Will you be able to keep track of me? And won't it block our short-range radios?"

"I will, and it won't." was the simple answer. Not only could he see through the Cloak and mentally control what it would and would not hide, as long as Harper was touching a Hallow he could find the man anywhere on the universe. "And I will be putting out enough magic so that you can track me as well."

With a nod, Harper put on the cloak and promptly vanished. Harry directed power to the 'backup' Disillusionment Charm on his clothes and went out of sight too, if a little more slowly. He opened the outside hatch and soon they were out into the void, using their magnetic boots to move on the cruiser's vast grey surface. The moon Tang shone above their heads and Shanxi spun on the distance, half-dark and half-lit. The only sound they heard was their own breathing.

Harry pointed into a specific direction, even though harper could not see the gesture. "Remember where the hangar is, yes?"

"I do."

"Then let's move."

It was a slow and careful walk along the hull. Despite the way the void limited him, and the fact only a slip of concentration separated him from a very unpleasant death right now, Harry loved walking on space. The infinite darkness did not intimidate him, the silence was comforting (when Astrid was not chattering his ear off), and there was nowhere on a planet you could see so many stars. But he actually preferred to float away. The contrast of having your feet locked on a hull while also feeling weightless was very weird.

"I never knew Invisibility Cloaks also had their own gravity." Harper said. Harry looked at him, and surely enough the Cloak hung perfectly onto his body, despite any of his movements.

An ordinary enchanted cloak would not do that, but the Custodian did not need to know. "Funny how magic works, yes?"

"Indeed. There it is."

They had just crossed a 'rise' on the hull. A short distance in front of them, light could be seen pouring from under a 'ledge'. Both man walked side-by-side to it, then looked over the edge.

It was the ship's hangar, all right. Thick, segmented metal plates blocked the way, circled by a trail of light.

"All right, that shuttle we saw before will hopefully make its way back soon."

"Let us enjoy the view, then."

Both men sat down on the grey hull. Harry looked around and could not help but find himself amazed, like always, that something so big could be built. And it was not even a dreadnought!

In a fleet, a cruiser served as more than just heavy muscle. They were also support units, with internal factories that could produce food, medicine, fuel, ammunition and equipment. A frigate had to make port frequently. A cruiser could travel for years without needing to resupply, except for fuel components.

A dreadnought was pretty much self-sufficient, as long as it could mine materials along its way. And again, fuel.

It also meant that there was a constant trade of supplies with smaller ships, like the nine frigates that made up the rest of Vakarian's battle group. At least once a day, if conditions allowed. They had just watched one such supply run in progress. At least they hoped so. It would be a long wait, indeed, if that shuttle was finished already.

As luck would have it, half an hour later they felt the metal beneath them tremble. They quickly went to the edge and watched as the huge doors opened slowly, light pouring out into the void.

A large space perhaps three stories high, with the sides filled by catwalks and metal beams, where Harry could see a few transports docked. A wide central lane was kept empty and served as the runway. The infiltrators were 'up' on the left side of the entrance, and if they extended their arms they could touch the shimmering blue shield that covered it.

"A field holding light particles inside, but still allowing passage for slow-moving heavy objects. Such fine control of Mass Effect! And somehow they manage to keep the temperature comfortable." Harper shook his head. "It's details like these that show how much more advanced they are. We can't even begin to understand how to do that."

"Well, they did have thousands of years to work on it." Harry commented. He was tracking the movements of the few personnel they could see walking around. This cruiser, the Ascendant Shadow, was a space patrol vessel. It possessed only the standard flight crew and a small but very qualified complement for boarding and ground actions. Arterius's cruisers carried a much larger number of soldiers, as they were meant for planetary duty. They were lucky Vakarian was on this one. "Right, the field itself only registers what collides with it, not what passes through. And we should both be safe from the motion-sensors. Ready?"

"As ever."

As the supply shuttle left the ship, they positioned themselves so as to fall in the right alignment, then jumped in. First Harry, then Harper. They both landed silently on a catwalk, deactivated their clamps, and waited a few moments. When there was no reaction from the soldiers or any alarms, they stood up.

Harper pointed. "I see a terminal not twenty steps from here. It looks out of sight. Want me to give it a go?"

"Sure. If we mess up, at least we're right by the entrance."

"My thoughts, exactly."

Harper got besides the console and started his omnitool. Harry went to the edge of the catwalk and observed the few people roaming on the ground floor. Closest to them, he saw a man working on something under a shuttle, only his legs peeking out, while another stood next to him. He could hear them, and his new holographic wristwatch readily provided the translation.

"Have you found it?" asked the one standing.

"The circuit line to the second-right lifting torch is fried, just like he said! That never happens! How does Lilihierax just knows about these things?"

"Man has a blessing, we have to give him that. Still, he's the only mechanic I know that would try and fix a Frangit with a Thresher Maw spitting bile over his shoulder, so perhaps insanity is his secret."

"I didn't even look at this torch because I was sure it could not be the problem! I spent three spirits-cursed days on this shuttle!" Harry heard what sounded suspiciously like a head banging against a hard surface. "All right, can you fetch me the plasma cutter?"

"Sure."

"Ghost." Harper called. Harry went to him.

"Any luck?"

"Some. That security V.I. is sharp. It had me pinged as soon as I tried to access the network. I've disguised the entrance as a routine system check, and had to bail out. But," and he sounded very satisfied with himself, "I expected that. I managed to trace its signal's source inside the system. Its mainframe is on the Primary Server Room, Tower 7. If I can get to that terminal, I will be able to bypass most of its protections and make myself a temporary superuser. It will give us an extremely high-clearance to the surveillance systems."

Harry's interrogations and data-gathering revealed that a Hierarchy cruiser's security and surveillance systems were all protected by a dedicated, pseudo-sentient program called a Virtual Intelligence. It monitored all access to the network, no matter how innocuous, and tagged all crew movement around the ship. Every room had security sensors. Every door, hatch and elevator was linked to the program, and it knew when any of them was activated, and by whom. The infiltrators were safe from the sensors, but until they could find a way to subvert the V.I., they would have a very hard time moving around.

"Wait, you actually taunted the V.I. in order to discover where its hardware is?"

"Yes." his satisfaction had progressed to downright smugness.

"Ballsy stuff, Harper. Just when did you start doing this kind of thing?" Harry asked in curiosity.

"One of my girlfriends at College ran with a group of digital revolutionaries, fighting for the freedom of the worldnet from the oppressive server owners that dared to regulate content." he snorted. "A bunch of would-be anarchists who figured they could mess around with government systems, really. Most of them got arrested."

"And you?"

"I never got caught."

"Heh. You have that rough draft Astrid made from the ship in your HUD? Jolly good! Let's take you to that Server Room."

"This is going to be a very long walk."

"It sure will."

And thus began their long trek into the bowels of the cruiser. Like Harper said, it was a very slow trip. They carefully crossed the hangar, positioned themselves one at each side of the exit, and once what looked like an engineer entered the large room, they slipped through the door and into the corridor beyond. And that became their pattern, all the way to the cruiser's server rooms. Loiter near the entrance they needed to take, slip through after someone passed. Fortunately, turians were busy little bees, and they were always moving about.

Like they already knew, turian interior design was… harsh. It had not the sleek and streamlined corridors of Alliance warships. It reminded Harry of those old battleships that used to cross the seas of Earth, ironically enough.

Still, most of the time the ship's corridors were wide enough for the infiltrators to press themselves against a wall without the risk of bumping into someone. But there were a few very close calls.

"Careful!" Harry grabbed the operative's shoulder, right before a heavy armor-clad woman turned the corner into their corridor.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Harry had been doing this kind of skullduggery since his first year at Hogwarts. The Auror stealth training helped a lot, though. And Harper was no klutz, either.

Four decks up, with the tensest elevator ride either man had ever taken in their lives, where Harry spent a minute dodging animated turian limbs and Harper somehow managed to latch himself on the ceiling despite wearing the Cloak. One deck down through a mess hall where they saw an assortment of very colorful food and what some would consider very bad table manners (who needed knives when one had sharp talons, right?), and then they suddenly encountered a different sight.

"Is that…" Harper begun.

"I believe it's a volus." completed the wizard, as they followed the short, rotund little being clad in a white exosuit that completely covered his body. "One of the turian client races. From what I understand, non-turian legionnaires are usually assigned to support duties. It's rare to find them on the front lines."

"They are the species that handles a good chunk of the galactic economy, right?"

"Seems like it. Well, little bloke is going our way, so I guess we follow."

That eventually led them to a long corridor somewhere above Main Engineering, not three doors from their target. The volus who had taken them there had left by the same way he entered, going back for something or the other, and they were stuck for the moment.

They were resting against the same wall, Harry even took a seat on the floor. They had been silent most of the way, only speaking to coordinate their movements. But suddenly, Harper begun speaking. "Ghost?"

"Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you something. Something about what you said before."

Harry could feel that something had been troubling the Custodian since they left his ship. Perhaps he would find out now.

"Ask away, Harper."

He paused, trying to formulate his question. "Look, what I'm wondering is… when you talked about not killing your enemies, does that have anything to do with the… damage it causes?"

Harry was a little startled at that. "That's part of the Secret?"

Harper nodded. "As you must know, your people turned heavily to soul manipulation in search of a cure. We couldn't help you much on that area, obviously. And let me just say that having actual proof of the existence of souls and the afterlife was very… disconcerting, to say the least."

The wizard sighed. "Harper… Jack… look, I avoid killing whenever possible because I think it's the right thing to do." he looked up, at the bright ceiling lights. "Because I can't bring myself to simply toss aside the life of a stranger, someone that is most likely a parent, a child or a sibling. Not by default, not if I can see other options. I guess… I guess I'm just not the right person to be fighting wars."

Harper was silent for a long few minutes. Harry just waited. In the end, the man surprised him by simply accepting his reasons. He could feel it on his mind. "I wouldn't go that far, Mr. Wizard. You might end up being exactly the kind of fighter we need. And we certainly need people like you to keep people like me in check. But tell me, what exactly killing does to the soul? The Secret has no specifics on that."

Harry got up, now gazing upon a blinking nearby panel, thoughts swirling. "People die for many reasons. Sooner or later, gently or not, we all must cross the Veil. Good people die, and bad people die. Good people kill, and bad people kill. Despite my personal feelings on the matter, I know that death… death is just a part of life." he paced up and down in front of Harper. He thought it was funny; and very irresponsible, most likely; how they were having this conversation on a ship full of hostiles. "And yet, there's something about taking a sentient life that souls, human souls at least, disagree with. Violently. Of all the disgusting and terrible acts a person can commit… something about murder damages the spirit in a ghastly way, when no other evils will. Even deeds that most would think to be far worse, myself included."

He stopped and looked at the Custodian. "It fractures the soul, Jack. Cracks it like glass. Now, that damage will heal, in time. Even if the soul has been fractured repeatedly." unless you were an insane dark wizard terrified of dying, of course. "But it always leaves a scar."

The Custodian pondered this for a while. "And do you believe that may result in some kind of… judgment?"

"If you're asking me about gods, or heaven and hell, I can't offer you any more scientific proof than your run-of-the-mill priest, Jack. I don't know what ultimately happens to a soul on the Other Side." he shook his head. "And in any case, I don't think that kind of soul damage can be the measure of a person's character. Like I said, far worse deeds don't have the same effect. There's something beyond simple morality at work here."

Harper nodded his agreement. "Fractured souls… do they…"

The sound of the door sliding open interrupted them, and they both hastily got in position as the volus from before waddled back in. Muttering indistinguishably under his breath mask, he passed the invisible men and allowed them passage through the other door. They went out into another corridor, larger and with many exits. A turian was also passing through.

"Zede!" he called. "Why so grumpy? Forgot your access key again?"

"Go jump from an airlock!" the small guy answered sullenly, pausing between words to take noisy breaths with his mask. The turian just laughed and moved on.

As luck would have it, their guide went straight to a door labeled "Primary Server Room", when translated by their tools. They snuck behind him after he cleared the complex security checks, and found themselves in a brightly lit and very cold room filled with tall pillars of processing centers. There was a constant whirring sound and the floor had a mirror-like finish. Thick cables went out of the pillars and into the ceiling, thrumming with energy.

The technician went to a pillar on the far left and started to fiddle with the now familiar holographic interface. Harry and Harper went to the middle of the room.

"Okay, want to bet there is more processing power here than on all of Shanxi?"

"No wager there, mate." he looked around. "There, the third pillar from the right corner. That's your terminal. Let's wait until our friend leaves, then you can try and have it out with the V.I."

"Roger."

A half-hour later, the technician left. As soon as he was out, the lights on the room dimmed drastically, and the men found themselves floating in the air.

"Bloody hell!"

"Heh, artificial grav gets disabled when no one's in the room? I wonder why? You all right up there, Ghost?"

Floating almost near the ceiling, the wizard was trying to orient himself back to the floor. "Yes! Just give me a…" using the wall, he managed to get back to door level. "There! Go earn your keep, Harper."

"I'm getting paid? You should have told me sooner." the operative floated to the terminal and cracked his knuckles. "Time for some aggressive negotiations." he then went silent, face completely focused on the orange glow of his omnitool. Streams of symbols reflected themselves on his helmet's faceplate. A full ten minutes passed where Harry kept all his senses at full stretch, expecting an alarm to go off at any second.

In the end, though, Harper was as good as his word. "Aha! Got you!" he stated triumphantly. "We are in, Ghost. I have full access. Now, to clear our entry with the backup V.I. on the Secondary Server." another silent battle, and one could almost hear the man gritting his teeth. "Done! We're on the game."

Harry released a breath. "Great job, Harper. What have you got?"

"Full access to cameras, sensors, and security systems. As long as we don't start doing anything absurd, I can cover all of your movements. You just have to worry about not being seen by organic eyes."

"Shouldn't be too much trouble. Can you operate the system remotely?"

He shook his head. "This system is very well-designed. The V.I. is programmed to check itself against a template and clear all users after each log-out. Messing around with its basic routines is something I really don't want to try in our current situation. This room is completely impervious to wireless transmissions. By the time I get to another terminal, my clearance will have been revoked."

"Guess I go alone, then. You will get started on their navigation systems?"

The man gave a serious nod. "It will be risky. The security V.I. supervises all network activity, yes, but each individual system has its own program to oversee it. But I will get what we need, don't worry."

The Custodian had the additional task of getting astrogation coordinates, communication protocols and other data on both the famous Citadel and the races' homeworlds. If Vakarian refused to help, they would appeal to the other races on their own.

"I know. So, can you find our lass?"

"Way ahead of you. She has entered a… recreation room? Not ten minutes ago. There are six others with her."

"How do I get there?"

"Go outside and take the second door to your left. On the wall you'll find a red-colored hatch. That's an access to a service tunnel. It will take you almost two-thirds of the way, and I will guide you from there."

"Got it." Harry started to 'swim' towards the door. Using the service tunnels would also allow him to drop his Disillusionment for a time. All the heavy casting on the last few weeks was quickly getting his Magic back in top shape. But a little rest never hurt.

"And here, I can restore gravity to the room."

"What? Wait…" suddenly, he had weight again. *thump* "Oooff! You taking the piss with me, Harper?"

"Need a hug?"

"Oh, go stuff yourself."

---

The burst of automatic fire was easily stopped by his barrier. Before the human could return to his cover, two shots from Saren's assault rifle blew of his right arm. His shocked pain was short-lived, as the second burst pulverized the man's chest.

"Asha, give me a Throw!" shouted Krelian. Shining in ethereal fire, he raised both arms in the direction of two soldiers crouching behind a stalagmite. The area around them lit up in a blue haze, and both started to float helplessly, one even dropped his gun.

The small female thrust her arm to them. "Embrace eternity, fools!" Two bolts of dark energy shot out and each impacted a human. They were blasted against the nearby wall with crushing force, the rock cracking behind them. They fell down to the ground and did not rise.

Anger, terror and shock.

One needed not be a member of the same species to recognize these emotions. As he used another light-powered biotic Shockwave to topple one of the smaller tents, trapping the terrified humans inside, Saren watched as the aliens ran around blindly. A loud alarm blared. Coupled with the screams, the sound of mass accelerator fire and the dull blasts of biotic detonations, what was once a safe haven had turned into a place of utter chaos.

Some of the humans tried to stay inside of their makeshift homes, somehow thinking the flimsy fabric walls could protect them. Some stood paralyzed in shock, unwilling to believe in what was happening before their eyes. Most made for the tunnel at the other side from where they entered.

With a touch on his omnitool, Saren detonated the explosive charges. Like Krelian had said, the cave didn't shook. But it was loud, the enclosed space forcing the sound to reverberate around the red rocks, deafeningly. It was enough to disorient the unprotected civilians closest to the exit. He could see from his position as tons of red rock fell down, the tunnel collapsing, trapping the terrified creatures in here with them. After the dust settled, a bloody arm could be seen sticking out from the rocks.

Good, that should send the other humans into further panic.

"Hostile at four-o'clock." called Krelian.

Meera's Punisher sniper rifle thundered once, and the human soldier up on a rise at the far end of the chamber splattered the rock behind him with his red blood.

"Done."

That was the last soldier inside this chamber. Their path to the depot was clear, as the humans tried to put as much distance as was possible from the Cabal.

The lieutenant allowed his fierce satisfaction for a moment, before ruthlessly suppressing the feeling. They had watched the civilians for a time, while they gathered information and prepared. Even without translation, they could see many arguing in raised voices with the uniformed humans. It was not hard to imagine why. These people had all been idling beneath the earth, behaving as if they were not in danger, as if this measure their government had taken for their protection was just a waste of time, an annoyance.

Saren had far less pity for these selfish beings then he had for their soldiers. At least those men and women had courage, instead of running in fright and uncaring of who they trampled in their path. Not being armed was no excuse for such a pathetic display of cowardice.

"Tsk, the ones who attacked Talon really had thicker plates." Asha said, contemptuously. "They call those toys, 'guns'? And they might just as well not bother with armor."

"Keep your guard up all the same, sister." admonished Meera.

"Yeah, yeah."

They were only a few steps from the entrance to the depot. A square structure made of prefab metal plates. It was long and narrow, sequestered against a corner of the chamber. Two of the three entrances were open. Besides it, surrounded by a wire fence, a big pump extracted water from deep beneath them. A pipe went from the pump and inside the building. Behind it, two generators thrummed. A pile of crates was over by the nearest entrance.

Saren's helmet showed him the heat signatures of the three humans hiding at the corners of that doorway. They were clearly positioned for an ambush, and that was enough for him.

"Asha, Krelian, follow me. Meera, the rest of you secure the perimeter."

With just a moment to brace himself, he Charged the short distance towards the entrance. Enveloped in a Mass Effect field, Saren crossed the distance in the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of energy in his wake. The next moment, he was inside the door, with three startled faces looking at him. With short, precise movements, Saren shot each human once in the head, before they could even move.

They fell down, lifeless, and that seemed enough to break the other humans inside. Five males and three females put their hands up in surrender, a few babbling incomprehensibly in their native language. Some inane pleas for mercy, he was sure. Asha and Krelian entered behind him, and turned their weapons on the humans.

This side of the depot was dominated by rows of shelves and open crates, where he could see many kinds of packets, containers and fabrics. A large opening to the other side of the building revealed many closed crates, and the two big tanks used to store the water from the pump. His sensors could detect no other aliens inside.

"Krelian, bind them." he ordered, keeping his rifle up and making sure they understood the message. His sharp eyes caught something interesting. "And be careful with that young female, the one with dark head-fur. There's fire in her eyes."

He nodded, and took special care when binding the female's hands and feet. All the time, she glared straight at Krelian's visor. There was clearly not a sliver of fear there, and she was surrendering only because she realized how futile it would be to fight. Still, he would watch her closely.

"Finally, a human civilian with some steel in her blood." Saren thought.

After all the civilians were bound and made to sit against a far wall, away from the entrances, the lieutenant turned to the two uniformed ones who Krelian had not bothered to secure. Without a word, he shot them dead. No trained officials to mount some kind of resistance.

The other humans shouted in fright. Except for the young female, who screamed at him in obvious rage. He ignored her. "Meera? How are things out there?"

"Under control, little brother." she sent back. "Still no armed response. The civilians are evacuating to the other chamber, none have tried to move against us"

"Good. Nerik, see if you can hijack that generator. We can use it to power our stationary barriers."

"Yes, Kabalim."

"Kerrick?"

It took a second for the Master Sergeant to respond. "The uniformed officials are directing people towards the third chamber, as we predicted. They are taking spare metal slabs and will probably try to block the tunnel. There's a force of nineteen humans gathering in front of that command area… they are leaving, Kabalim! They are headed your way."

"Good. Wait until they have entered the tunnel, then make your move. If you are found, we will make our way to you."

"Yes, sir."

"Kabalim, we can use this." called Nerik over the radio. "You can deploy the barriers."

"Meera?"

"On it."

Each one of them carried a portable cover. A slip of folding metal that could be put on the ground to generate a kinetic barrier large enough to easily protect a crouching soldier. With their internal batteries, they could take a few shots from a quality weapon. Hooked to an external power source, they could last five times longer.

Saren designated Krelian to watch over the humans. He then took position with Asha at the left entrance. They closed the right one. Meera and the last legionnaires took cover behind the orange-tinted temporary barriers.

Now, they waited.

---

"Screw this!" Astrid thought to herself.

She sent half of her drone minions to scour every centimeter of the area over Shelter 05, because she wanted to know exactly how the birds had entered it. She had a suspicion now, about a shuttle that had made a low (relatively speaking) flight near the shelter not too long ago. These little spy flights had been ongoing since the invasion begun, which was why she had not paid it much mind, before.

That done, she sent a message to Marine Headquarters.

---

"Bastards!"

General Williams punched his desk hard enough that the joints of his fingers cracked. He looked at the images of the alien infiltration unit slaughtering every person in a blue uniform they could see. The civilians ran in panic.

So these were the biotics Harper's files told them about. Damn, that made this a hundred times worse. It seemed that only a kinetic barrier could protect someone against those, and their soldiers did not have them.

"How did they pass through our security?!"

"I don't think they did, General." replied Lieutenant Broody. His voice was much calmer but his eyes were no less fierce. "Unless they can become both invisible and pass through walls. We knew the shelters might have some unmapped tunnels, sir. Our enemy must have found one that we missed."

The general tried to rein in the towering fury he felt. Of all the things they had prepared for, such a deadly strike against the heart of a place they considered safe was certainly not one of them. "How many people do we have at that shelter, Broody?"

"We have forty Marines in the upper chambers, General. But the hostiles have cut off the access tunnels. We still have the rest of the platoon assigned to guard the lower chambers. They are already moving to engage."

Williams took a deep breath. "And non-combatants?"

"Four hundred on those three chambers, sir, give or take. Also, over a hundred are now trapped on the last chamber of the system."

"All right. Have the soldiers try to open their way through those rocks. I want the 4th Company to stand ready near the closest point that is still beneath the dome."

"Our sensors detect that a cruiser is already positioning itself over the shelter, sir."

"I know, Broody. But if they drop more people on that zone, we will engage them. Let's pray that the soldiers already there can control the situation inside. Goddamnit! Just one more week to the Fleet's arrival! Even if we retake that cave, defending the place now that the birds know about it will be a nightmare!"

"Perhaps…" the lieutenant could not finish, because at that moment a message appeared on every monitor inside the Command Room. Bold red letters scrolled against a white background.

"Dear soldiers, we can help your brave fellows subdue the enemy inside Shelter 05. However, in order to do that, I'm afraid all of your installations to the west of Central will be suffering some temporary technical difficulties. No harm will be done to your equipment or personnel, and services should be restored in a jiffy. Thank you for your attention."

General Williams stood speechless for a moment, eyes wide. Then, he exploded.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

"Sir!" Warrant Officer Lasky called, voice panicky. "We have lost all contact with the outposts west of Central and Shelter 03."

General Williams punched the table again. This time, it was the polished faux-wood that cracked.

---

Astrid's perception rode on the waves of Shanxi's magic. Now that she could focus more into a single direction, she could easily cover the additional kilometers to Shelter 05. Suddenly, every circuit inside the underground system was clear to her. She no longer needed to operate through the Alliance battle network. Now, she was inside that cave.

And she immediately felt the turian soldiers. All the high tech they carried made them shine like little stars to her conscience. She saw all the little sensors they had scattered inside the chambers, the line of communication relays going up what was surely a previously-unknown tunnel to the surface. She saw the lone soldier standing at the end of it. She sent her drones there. She blocked all of their comms, including the link to the ships above.

She activate every camera she could; on walls, on datapads, on helmets; along with every microphone. Dozens of different images appeared before her, and thousands of sounds could be heard. She easily pierced them together into a single data feed that would have made a little organic brain explode, no doubt.

"Well, what do we have here?"

There were eight enemies on the penultimate chamber of the system, inside what her data told was a water and power plant slash supply depot. But she also felt two presences moving next to the great hub of systems that composed the shelter's secondary control center and guard's barracks.

She could not see them through the cameras, even when she should. So, it seemed the birdies were using their nifty tactical cloaks. From what she understood, those were the most expensive gear a soldier could carry in the entire galaxy, made with extremely rare materials, including element zero, and easily costing the same as a corvette-weight warship. So they were only assigned to the greatest of infiltrators.

Well, time to take at least two of them out of commission. She wished she could just detonated the grenades they carried. But a Sylphid's nature would not allow her to directly harm a sentient living being.

Fuck you, Asimov! May it be that you burned in the deepest pits of hell.

But the pesky First Law did not applied to her entirely. She could still indirectly hurt the birds. Unlike her dear wizard, she had no compunctions about sending these assholes to join their precious Spirits. If the humans inside that tent chose to protect themselves, that was no fault of hers, was it?

"Bye, bye, little birds." with a few thoughts, she deactivate all their gear. Their weapons, their shields, their cloaks, even their omnitools. She also filled their helmet's HUDs with every possible graphic and picture, and flooded their communicators with her favorite mid-70s punk rock.

The three jarheads left to guard the barracks immediately noticed the now visible aliens out in the open, who were desperately grabbing at their helmets. They opened fire after just a moment of shock. Now, human weapons might not be that good compared to the turian's, but without their shields and caught by surprise, both were quickly gunned down.

At the same time she had been dealing with the invisible duo, she had been looking at the other group of soldiers. She used their own helmet's cameras to spy on them, and soon saw their human captives. That complicated matters a little, and… holy crap, was that the Bhatia chick?!

Damn, if anything happened to that girl, Harry just might go postal on the turians. And he would be absolutely miserable afterwards.

But there was no avoiding it. The jarheads were starting to engage the turians, firing only against the ones outside the depot, afraid of hurting the people inside. Turian doctrine stated that no civilian should be used as a hostage, and the captives had been put away from the line of fire. But who knew if this particular commander would hold on to that?

There was the matter of their biotics, though. She could have easily deactivated the implants that allowed the birds to produce Mass Effect fields, except for the fact they were implants. Her Magic recognized the interior of a sentient's body as inviolable, and forbid her from acting inside someone's flesh. Once more, Astrid cursed the limitations imposed on her, which she was usually fine with. They could not be broken.

Well, sometimes. Eliza, The Bitch, was proof of that.

Still, if the aliens found their fighting ability severely limited, would they consider surrendering? Only one way to find out!

---

"Argh! Goddess, what horrible noise is that?!"

Saren could barely hear Asha's shout over the disgusting sound. He quickly yanked his helmet off, throwing it to the side. Getting his bearings faster than all the others, he saw as Meera went down to a shot on her right leg, the barrier she had been using for cover failing. He immediately used his most powerful Throw on the stack of crates by the entrance, hurtling them into the human's position. They quickly moved into cover, and that allowed his other legionnaires time to find refuge in the depot. One of them dragged Meera inside.

"Kabalim, our weapons don't work! We have lost our barriers!" shouted one of his brothers.

"Knew this was going too smoothly." muttered Krelian.

"We can't reach the others! Our comms are completely dead!"

"The humans have stopped firing, at least. They are afraid to hurt their people." panted Meera. She was supporting herself against a shelf.

"All right?" he asked the woman softly.

"Just a minor wound, little brother. I won't be running anytime soon, but I can still throw biotic bolts." she answered. Now that she had taken off her helmet, he could see her light-brown plates. Her green eyes, the same color of her colony marks, stared defiantly at him.

He touched her forehead with the back of his hand, briefly, and she relaxed and closed her eyes for a moment. That was all the reassurance they could give each other, though. He turned to his Cabal.

"This must be the power the humans used to take out Talon!"

"Void-damned hackers!" grunted Asha. Conveniently forgetting that she, herself, was a hacker.

"What about Kerrick and Sahlia? Are they even alive?"

"Enough!" Saren said, calmly. Everyone went quiet.

"We are the 16th Fleet's Cabal." he spoke slowly, ice-blue eyes staring at each of the other's in turn. "Protectors of the turian people, blessed by the hidden power of the Galaxy. We don't need guns to fight. We don't need armor to stop enemy fire. We don't need explosives to tear our foes apart. And we will show that to the humans."

He closed his right hand in a fist, raised it to the air, and lit it on the glow of his biotics. All his brothers and sisters imitated the gesture, backs straight and eyes firm.

"The intangible is unstoppable." he intoned.

"The intangible is unstoppable!" they all said back.

Yes, they would show the humans.

---

"Shit!"

"What is it?!" Harry asked in alarm. He was currently crawling through a maintenance shaft, and had just arrived at some kind of system junction. Cables and pipes were all around him. On the ceiling, there was a grate from where he had just observed two women crossing the room above.

"Just a second!"

He once more had to wait while the operative worked on something, cursing under his breath.

"Okay… okay, we are good." he sounded slightly out of breath. "How the hell can a navigation V.I. be more clever than a security one?" he said, more to himself than to Harry. "I'm getting the astrogation data we need right now."

"Great! Any more scares?"

"Not at the moment, Ghost. Take the left tunnel."

He followed it, down a set of hand stairs and into the deck below. But when he turned to go further, he found his path blocked.

"Harper, there's a closed hatch in here."

"I see it. Let me just… oh."

The wizard sighed. "Yes?"

"That… is an emergency hatch. It's under the control of another V.I. I can't force it open without triggering an alarm with the second program. You'll have to get back to that exit on Deck 6 and use the corridors."

"Wait. If the hatch unlocks normally, will that V.I. send an alert?"

"Hum… no, it won't."

"Then I have it covered."

The wizard took out a piece of especially prepared chalk. He started to inscribe a trio of runes on the metallic surface.

"Are you… enchanting that hatch?" he asked. Harry had thought it was best to send the operative a live feed from his visor's camera. So he could look for anything the wizard missed.

"I can't put up permanent enchantments outside a magic field. No, this is just a one-shot Unlocking Array, a written form of the Alohomora. Basic stuff, really."

"It must be exasperating, not being able to cast your spells." he sounded sincerely commiserating.

Harry shook his head. "You get used to it, honestly. Having your wand suddenly being just a piece of wood isn't funny, but at least I'm long past the stage where I would forget myself and wave it around, looking foolish."

"I bet."

"Done." Harry put away the chalk and touched the freshly made array with his open hand, asking his Magic to provide the power. He was rewarded by the runes flashing brightly and the hatch unlocking. He wiped the burned-out remains of his work, and went inside.

"Okay, Ghost, you're almost there. Take the next floor exit you see, you'll come out on a storage room right next to Vakarian's location. Then you can cross a short, and empty, corridor to the recreation area. Oh, and good news; four of the soldiers have just left. It's only the Commander and two others in there, now."

"Let's hope they leave soon, too."

"I have to say, turians got a very interesting idea of recreation."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

A short time later, the wizard was standing in front of another door. Behind it was the woman he had come to try and get to help the humans of Shanxi. Now, he just needed to get her alone and convince her not have the three hundred soldiers under her command shoot him dead.

Easy.

"I think I can send you the feed from the security camera." The Custodian suggested.

"Don't bother, I have a better way." he took out another item; an elegant gold-filled monocle attached to a black chain. If one were to look very closely, they would see tiny eyes engraved on the edges of the lens. "Just make sure no one is nearby."

"You're good, Ghost."

This was what Astrid had been concerned about. His Magic was horrible at multi-tasking. He could freely activate individual enchantments on the same item or set, like his clothes, but could not power entirely different items simultaneously. To use the Thief's Eye, he would need to drop the Disillusionment.

Doing just that, he held the monocle in front of his right eye, coincidently catching his camera, and activated it.

"You are a veritable old-school spy, Mr. Wizard. Such nice gadgets."

"Yes, yes. All legitimate gear from Q Branch, itself." he answered, as he saw straight past the thick metal doors and walls, and got a good look at the room beyond.

"And a possible Bond fan, too? Such a rarity, these days."

"Had a colleague who was a movie addict. What about you?"

"Another of my College girlfriends."

"Just how many of those did you had?"

"Not enough."

Harry snorted. "Right. And I see what you meant."

The turian's 'recreation room' looked very much like a small, high-tech arena. Low stands lined the walls, and the central pit had a shooting range, obstacle course, and what were undoubtedly fighting rings. On one such ring, three figures were having it out in hand-to-hand. Harry rotated the monocle's frame, and the image zoomed in on the combatants. It was clearly a two-versus-one match; a turian woman clad in an indigo-blue suit against her bigger male adversaries. It was good they all had some armor, because those people were not holding any punches.

"That's High Commander Vakarian? Sweet Titania, she's good."

Harry considered himself fairly decent at CQC. He had gotten a good foundation during Auror training, but had also pursued independent instruction on the non-magical world.

Yet he could tell only by watching her that Mavis Vakarian had him outclassed, at least where pure skill was concerned. The two men were very good and tried to coordinate their strikes to leave the officer with no room to maneuver, but she waved through them like water. Every attack got dodged or deflected, and she struck back with hands, feet, knees and elbows. Most of the time, one of them was gathering his wits on the floor while the other held on for dear life. And it was obvious she was going easy on them.

"Interesting…" Harper commented. "Most modern human fighting styles rely heavily on grappling and wrestling techniques. I know they are a little limited when facing more than one opponent, but the turians seem to eschew them entirely."

"Well, remember that these people come with sharp edges. Wrestling might be just a little too dangerous for the attacker as well."

"Indeed. So, what's the next move?"

"I go inside, wait for them to finish, and follow her until she's alone. Then I try to say my piece, preferably at a time when she's a little lower on their equivalent of adrenaline." he deactivated the Thief's Eye and put it away, bringing his Disillusionment back up. "I will need your help, Harper. Warn me when they all have their backs to this door."

"Got it." he did not have to wait long. "Now!"

Quickly, he opened the door and went inside. Sure enough, both men were on the ground and in no condition to pay attention to their surroundings, and Vakarian herself had her back to him, watching her soldiers with hands on her hips.

He got close enough to hear them. "…your left foot, Aestes. And you, Sergeant, really need to improve your high guard. You won't always be the tallest fighter in a ring, and most asari huntresses love jumping around. Unlike most, they can actually do it without getting themselves killed."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Got it, Commander."

She nodded. "Now get out of here, you two. Match's over. And don't forget to check in with medical before you go back to your shifts."

The mandibles of the first soldier slacked a little, and his voice dropped in disappointment. "Really, Commander? You promised us three rounds."

The woman crossed her arms and inclined her head. "By my count, Corporal, you had nine rounds, and the Sergeant got eight. I think that's enough to last you both until next time. And don't think you don't own me those bottles we agreed on, legionnaires. My Mate loves them."

Grumbling good-naturedly, the two enlisted soldiers got out of the ring and went to a door opposite from where Harry had entered. Probably to the crew's quarters, after their check-up. Commander Vakarian had watched then leave, before stepping down from the ring herself. She did not go to either of the exits, though. Instead, she started walking in the direction of a smaller door at the back of the arena. And Harry followed after her, keeping a good ten steps away.

He pondered his impending conversation all the way to their destination. Arriving at the door, it opened to admit the Commander. Harry was going to follow, but stopped cold at what he could see on the other side.

Smooth floor and walls, some sinks, and what looked suspiciously like a row of showerheads on the far wall. The door closed.

"Ahh, Ghost?" Harper gave a very suspicious cough. "Is that a… woman's bathroom?"

The wizard spoke very slowly. "It is a unisex, military shower room, Harper."

"But still effectively a woman's bathroom at the moment, yes?"

"Do you have any idea just how many nasty curses my people came up with during the centuries, Harper?"

"My lips are sealed." he said, solemnly.

"See that they are." the wizard sighed, and put a hand on his neck.

"Look, Ghost, I know how… disreputable this might look, but she is alone now, she's unarmed, and that room is small, isolated and easily secured. I can block communications on that section of the ship, and no one else will know. If you let her leave, who can tell when you'll have another chance?"

"Argh, I know!" he resisted the urge to slump. He took out the Thief's Eye again. "How do I get myself into these situations?"

The Custodian discreetly cleared his throat when he saw what Harry was holding.

"I'm just going to check if she's decent!" he bit out through gritted teeth.

"Yes, yes, of course. Nobody said you weren't."

"Everyone's a bloody comedian these days." he verified that Vakarian was fully clothed (thank Merlin), and was fiddling with one of the sinks.

"All right, Harper. Lock the door after I enter."

"Roger." the 'behave yourself' was left unsaid.

"This is going to be a very bad first impression." he straightened. Well, Gryffindors charge ahead. Ready to activate the shield arrays on his dragon hide armor at a moment's notice, he used his omnitool to open the door. Like all others, it 'pinged' for a second, before sliding open. He walked inside with both hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"High Comm…" he stopped cold just after crossing the portal.

The room was empty.

"Bugger."

It was pure instinct that made him dodge the strike which came from his left. He rolled forward, catching only a glimpse of the woman he wanted to speak with coming out of her own invisibility, omnitool crackling with electrical energy. On the same movement, he smoothly drew his battle rod, already charging the Body Freezing array, which made the light-blue crystal lit up in a darker blue light. Coming out of the roll, he quickly turned to the officer and again put a hand up. "Wait…" a split-second later he noticed the faint beeping sound coming from next to him.

From the sink Vakarian had been using earlier.

"GHOST!"

A deafening 'bang' and a blinding flash. The detonation flung him to the floor, his rod flying from his grip. Thanks to his armor and visor, the blast itself did little but rattle him. Hitting one's head against a metal surface would never lose its charm, though.

"Ghost, get yourself together! Vakarian has contacted security, somehow! She didn't even try to use the primary channels!"

He was still getting his bearings when he felt a foot turning him over and a weight dropping onto his chest. He felt a hand taking his pistol out of its holster, and finally found his voice. "Wait, damnit! I'm not here to fight, lass! We need to talk!"

"Then talk fast, human." he looked up into the barrel of his own gun, just an inch from his face. He followed it to the fierce, but surprisingly calm blue eyes of Mavis Vakarian. Her other hand glowed in the orange hologram, a red ball of energy burning on the palm. Her voice expressed only deadly curiosity. "Because you have to the count of five to tell me exactly how you got into my ship."

Yep! Worst first impression ever.

---

Author Notes:

Holly crap, almost two months! Please don't kill me, folks.

I was naïve to think my workload would get lighter after mid-term exams. It doubled. Had to write two papers in the last month.

Coupled with that, my company has finally decided to move out from using Excel spreadsheets, and is implementing a proper integrated management software. Great news, except that it has consumed my Saturdays with lessons on the system's use and running simulations. At least I'm getting paid overtime for it.

Anyway, I hope you like this one. Despite the long wait, it was actually written in a rush. Bad news is, I can't honestly say it will not take another month for the next chapter. Until I get time off from University at early July, I don't think I can do any better.

Thank you very much for all the reviews. I missed some of you in all the confusion over the last weeks. To those that didn't get an answer, I deeply apologize.

Until next time,

Fish