Jack walked up to Sarah, and said, "Shepard! Heard that you needed my help to fuck some shit up!"

The Commander grinned, and said, "Yeah. Got a colony that's gone dark. Need to go and investigate. Make sure that it's just a technical issue, and fix it. But I've got a bad feeling about this one. That's why I called in the best."

"So, where's scars?"
"I didn't think he'd be able to make it." Sarah replied. "I think he's investigating some crazy salarian doctor at the moment."
"Figures. What's he think this one's done? Lit a kitten on fire?"
"That's actually a felony in some Kansas towns."
Jack laughed, and said, "There are some fucking weird places on earth."

"You don't know the half of it. There was this one town I was passing through a couple years ago, they tried to lynch me for no reason. I was just getting some fuel for my car, and suddenly fifty people were trying to kill me. Almost thought they were Indotrinated or Enthralled."
"Where they?"
"I got a good look at one as I was dodging their sloppy attacks, didn't look like they were being influenced by alien tech."

"So, why'd they try to kill you?"
"Hell if I know. I just knocked 'em all out, and left that crazy place. Never go to Mississippi is my advice. People there are weird."

"Sounds like a good place to go people hunting." Jack said.

"I've already told you this three times. If you do that, I'll find you and beat you to death with my bare hands."
"Yeah hright, you'd be too busy fucking the cheerleader."
Miranda sighed, and said, "Considering I'm not exactly loyal to that institution anymore, I don't see why you still insist on calling me that."
"Because, even if you aren't for them anymore, you still look like a fucking cheerleader."
"Enough, Jack." Sarah said, "I didn't call for both of you to join this mission so you can tear each other's heads off. We've got a mission that we need to get done."

"But where's the fun in that, Shepard?"
"You get to keep your limbs." Sarah growled, a blade appearing in each of her hands.

"Chill the fuck out Shepard, you don't want people to know your secret, do you?"
Sarah laughed, and said, "Who said that anyone but you could see them. You've seen the shit I can do now, right?"

"Are any of your specialists still missing, Commander?" a soldier asked, as he walked up to her.

"No. Is it really time to get our gear together and roll out?"
"Yes Ma'am."

"Got it. Is everyone in the platoon ready to move out?"
"Aye-aye."

"Then wheels up, we're rolling out of here in five." Sarah said.

"Understood, Ma'am!" he said, saluting before he moved to the others.

Miranda looked at her, and said, "Wow... the Alliance is even more formal than I remember."
"This is a high risk operation. Protocol's at its strictest in this type of situation."

"High risk? Isn't it recon? Just making sure that nothing's happened to the colony."
"We got the distress beacon. And, with the batarian raiders being so problematic in that area, we suspect they are the culprits. And, if they were able to take out the colony, but the beacon was set off, they'll be bunkered in. Ready to try and fight us off.

"So, considering those factors, we are treating this as a high danger mission. With permission to use any tools available to us to ensure that the batarian force is eradicated."

"Hackett didn't say that..." Jennifer said, sounding concerned.

Sarah turned around, and said, "We will ensure victory, we will ensure unit survival, and we will ensure that the enemy is completely eradicated."

Jack laughed, and said, "So, I've got permission to fuck shit up, so long as everyone gets out of there alive?"
"Yup." Sarah said, "Though I would advise against demolishing too much stuff."

"You said it was okay, Shepard. I'm going to fucking level that place."
"If there are survivors, do not demolish structures unnecessarily." Sarah sighed, "You'll never get that job you want, if you keep regressing like this."

"Fine, Shepard, I'll be careful." Jack said, "But, that was a low blow."

"It was meant to be." Sarah said, before turning to Wrex and Jacob, who were talking, and saying, "Get your gear together! We need to get out of here!"
"Done!" Jacob said, holding up his pistol and his shotgun, while Wrex simply said,

"A krogan never puts his weapons down."
"Excellent!" Sarah said, "Let's get out of here. Jack, I'm assuming you have your weaponry."

"Of course, Shepard. Do you think I'm a fucking greenhorn?"
"Sometimes your attitude makes me wonder." Sarah replied, grinning.

Miranda sighed, and said, "We're all going to die before the threshers even get close to us."

"Whoa!" Sarah said, "Spoilers!"
The Operative chuckled, and said, "Sorry. I'll keep that bit to myself next time."

"Good." Sarah said, grabbing Miranda's hand, as they walked towards the ship.

-=0=-

John stood on the tip of the Citadel. And said, "Why are we meeting here, Bryce?"
"To stay outside of the vision of any who would try to intrude upon this conversation."
"Halthas is watching us?"
"It is not Halthas I am concerned about."
"You think the king does not trust us?"
"I think that there are some who know of us who it would have been ideal that they did not."
"Who?"
"A small group of radicals. They believe that they are the descendants of 'the gods'. That they are entitled to certain authority and abilities."
"And we are the gods they believe they are the descendants of?"
"Yes. Each one is the child of one who died and eventually ascended to becoming one of us."
"And they know what their ancestors became, and are now demanding that since they share their blood, that it is their right to have power?"

"Exactly. They even know our true name. They are going to reveal our existence to the galaxy. Tomorrow, in front of the Council."
"How would they have learned that they have ties to individuals who are Lucis Entia?"
"Halthas. This could be his plan."

"I see. Turn the galaxy against us. Make them desire synthesis, to destroy us. Have the people pressure Shepard into giving him what he wants."
"Exactly."

"So,we have to assassinate them before they reach the Council, but do it low-key."
"Exactly, we need to find them before the day is out. They are hidden together, so if they are destroyed in what appears to be a tragic accident, no investigation will be done. It will simply have been... unavoidable."

"Do you know which ward they are on?"
"There are only a few locations that I have not yet been able to check without physically visiting. As the probability of a trap is high at those points, I want backup."

"Got it." John replied, "Let's get moving. We don't want to have to fight both Halthas and the people of the galaxy."

"This way." Bryce said, as he hopped off the arm.

-=0=-

Sarah looked around the room, and said, "Team. There are details about this mission that Admiral Hackett is not aware of."

"How do you know these details?" A sergeant asked.

"Because this is not the first time I have experienced this mission. The last time it occurred, every last member of this team except for me, and the specialists who were not involved with it, died."
"Time travel is impossible!" A corporal objected.

"That is provably wrong." Sarah said, "On the surface of Akuze we will be attacked by three thresher maws. They will think they've got the drop on us. They won't. Miranda, Wrex, and I will be bait for them, while the rest of you are at a distance to open fire on the enemy."

"How do you know this plan will work?"
"Because, I've engaged this threat before. With the specialists I've brought in and the modifications I made to all of your snipers, we'll eradicate this thing."
"What? You messed with our guns?"
"Yes. Don't worry, once the threshers are eliminated they'll return to normal."
"What will happen to us after this mission?"
"You'll never be seen again." Sarah replied.

"What!?" the Sergeant said. "What do you mean we'll never be seen again?"
"The chances are so highly in favor that only one more person can survive this mission than originally did."

"Why?"
"Unraveling of the entire multiverse. Death of everything that lives in every possible dimension. So, basically, you're dying for a greater cause."
They were quiet, then said, "You expect us to sacrifice ourselves for you? But what would the rest of the universe matter if we're gone?"
"Death is not the end. And, I just said that you would die here. I never said that you would never come back."

"Oh, time travel and necromancy? What other bullshit are you going to come up with, Commander?" a soldier asked.
She glared at him, as suddenly she was surrounded by a small ring of fire, from which two blades arose. "Do you doubt me, soldier? The shit I've seen would break anyone with a lesser will. Such as you. I have killed my way through places that you don't even know exist. Killed things that would make your brain melt and dribble out your ears.

"You think that you know everything, but you don't. You're a mere mortal. You have not experienced a thousand years of facing the guilt for the deaths of your friends and family. Or the death of the person you love because you were too damn slow.

"You have not fought a man who lived before the first life forms evolved on earth. You have not seen him tell you that you would have to doom all humanity to save the woman you love. You haven't tricked people so old that they might predate the very universe we live in.

"Have you ever wielded the powers of a god, soldier? Have you ever fought a Reaper on foot? Have you ever been shot by a weapon that tears dreadnaughts apart in a single shot? Have you sat beside your mentor as he bleeds out because a force you still don't understand forced you to point your pistol at him, and pull the trigger?

"No. Have you then had everything you thought was reasonable crumble, torn apart by an AI which takes the form of an eight year old child you saw killed? Of course not. I have. I've fucking died, and come back from beyond the grave. And, that is how, soldier, I know you will be restored. With my resources and my influence, I will force the group that restored me to restore you.

"I promise you, this is not the end. Merely an... interruption of your life."
"I have a girlfriend who I'm supposed to marry after this!" one of them protested.

"I know. I had to tell her how you died the first time."

"I don't want to lose her because I'm dead for years!"
"I could kill her and have her restored when you are, if that would be more to your liking. It would certainly make my life easier."

"I don't see why we can't all live."

"Because of the natural laws of the timeline. If we alter it too heavily at any one point, it'll unravel the whole thread, not just in this universe. But in the others too."
"What other universes?"
"Several of them. One of them has my sister, Jessica, alive instead of me. Taking my role. And apparently the past is different so she and Miranda are together. It's weird. Then there's this whole actual Star Wars universe... it doesn't really make sense."

"Any other universes?"
"There was this one weird one where my sister Cynthia was alive. And she'd met Optimus Prime. Then there was this whole universe where everyone insisted on worshipping me as a goddess."
"Why do I get the feeling you're messing with us?"
"Do you not see the ring of fire that came out of nowhere, and which spawned the two swords in my hands?" Sarah asked.

The guy was silent, "It's a neat trick. But... still... asking us to all die for you..."
"Temporarily."

"Still, it's a lot to ask."
"I'm asking you to fight. To protect those who can't protect themselves. At the end of the day, I don't care what you think of me. I know that asking for you to sacrifice your lives is more than could be expected from most.

"But you aren't most. You're Alliance Soldiers. Trained to protect humanity and the Alliance. No matter the cost. Most may see soldiers as the sociopathic rejects of humanity, but we know they're wrong. We don't serve to satisfy our violent tendencies legally. We serve because they're too weak to.

"When I look around this room, most would see a krogan, a beautiful woman in a skintight latex outfit, a krogan, and the dregs of society who couldn't do anything with their lives. Olr a few just using it to pay their way through college.

"But when I look around this room, do you know what I see? I see my brothers and sisters in arms. The bravest men and women the galaxy has to offer. Heroes, in every sense of the word. Men and women who are willing to sacrifice their lives to see that no harm comes to the innocent.

"So, ladies and gentlemen, are you willing to fight and die beside me? Are you willing to protect the people of the Alliance from any further tragedy? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to ensure that those back home get to see another day?
"Are you ready to go in and sacrifice yourselves to destroy a group of creatures that wiped out a colony? Are you ready to leave your mark in history?"

"Yes ma'am!" the marines shouted. "See you on the other side."
"Damn straight you will, soldier. Let's kill these things." Sarah said, looking them all in the eye, "Dismissed."

After they left, Jacob said, "Damn, Shepard. That's the first time I've ever seen someone talk a group of people into dying. Knowing that they are going to die no matter what. Because the person they're working with has to see them dead. That's leadership. Or mind control. It's definitely something."
"Nah, dipshit. It's Commander Shepard." Jack said.

"As corny as what Jack said is, she's right." Miranda said, "There is a particular fire in Sarah that makes people not only loyal to her, but willing to die for her. If she just asked them to."

"That sounds like mind control to me." Jacob said.

"There's a different between control, and inspiration." Sarah said, as she shook her head.

-=0=-

A/N: WOOHOO! ANOTHER CHAPTER DONE! PRAISE BE TO PRIMUS! Seriously though, I did struggle getting inspired to write this one. Anyways, thanks for reading the latest chapter. Hopefully you enjoyed it. And, if you did please leave a review. Those are amazing.