Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Warhammer/Mass Effect crossover.

Thank you all for your wonderful support once again. I greatly appreciate it.

This chapter, some new faces are going to show up. I think you'll really like them as new chapters come out.

As always, leave a review and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Warhammer or Mass Effect franchises. They are the properties and trademarks of BioWare, Electronic Arts, Games Workshop, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.

Osun System

Prison Ship Purgatory

56.185.M3

As soon as the team was in cover, the fight began. The door to the hallway opened, with a squad of heavily armed soldiers busting inside, weapons at the ready. In addition, a number of FENRIS robots charged in, stun-guns charged and primed.

While the prison guards were well trained, none of them were ready to handle a former Spectre that was an N7, a former C-SEC sharpshooter, a Cerberus agent and, most importantly, a Space Marine. As soon as they were in the doorway, Shepard and his team opened fire, pelting the prison guards coming to apprehend them with bullets. Tyrellus' Bolt Rifle roared, spewing fire as .75 caliber shells flew forwards.

The effect was nothing short of devastating. Armor designed to stop mass accelerated projectiles was practically useless against munitions designed to pierce through the toughest armor the Imperium could manufacture. The head of a Turian firing at Shepard promptly exploded, with blood and gore splattering all over the walls. A FENRIS mech that was moving towards Garrus practically exploded from another Bolt that Tyrellus fired.

"Spirits!" Garrus said to Shepard. "Tyrellus is making us look useless! These guys are nothing to him!"

"Tell me about it!" Shepard agreed, shouting over the howling roar of Tyrellus' Bolt Rifle. "If that's what his Bolt Rifle can do to normally armored people, I'd hate to see what it was designed to take on. Just do what you can to support him!"

"Got it!" Garrus nodded, firing his own sniper rifle, killing a Guard that was aiming a missile launcher at Tyrellus. "Scratch one!"

As the team fought back, it was clear that the mercenaries were outmatched, and they knew it. "Someone get the heavy weapons specialists out here!" one of the mercs shouted. "We're getting killed by that mech over here!"

"We can't contain Shepard!" another shouted. "We need back-up! We need -" Moments later, that mercs cries for backup were silenced when a Bolt punched through her head, splattering her brains all over the wall.

Eventually, the tide of mercs that were coming towards them dropped off, until the last one fell over, a pained expression on his face as he tried to hold his intestines inside of him. That merc was silenced by a shot from Shepard, putting the man out of his misery. "That's all of them, for now anyways," Garrus breathed. "You doing OK, Tyrellus?"

"That was hardly a challenge," Tyrellus replied. "What were those idiots thinking? They were practically begging for me to kill them with the level of incompetence they were displaying. Are all mercenaries like this?"

"Only the inexperienced ones," Shepard replied. "I ran into a few of them while investigating Saren. They've improved, but not by much."

"I see. They need to improve even more so, if they have a chance to survive our assault."

"Agreed. Everyone keep moving forwards. Miranda, get us to a position where we can get Jack out of cryo. Tyrellus, you're the heavy guns on this one; neutralize any heavy armor that comes towards us."

"It shall be done," Tyrellus nodded.

With that, the team began to proceed forwards, weapons at the ready. Apparently, the mercs had worked up the courage to attack them again, as more of them proceeded from the hallway to the left. This time, a couple had missile launchers, and were quickly moving to get set up.

Once again, a fight broke out, with the team fighting to punch their way through the gauntlet of mercs in the way. Firing at a heavy weapons specialist, Shepard managed to kill her, but not before she fired off a missile. "INCOMING!" he shouted to Tyrellus, who looked to see the missile coming at him.

It hit, but the superior engineering and materials science of the Imperium of Man reigned supreme once again. The missile detonated, though the warhead failed to penetrate the ceramite, plasteel and adamantine that composed his armor. For a few seconds, the mercs seemed to be pretty pleased, thinking they had eliminated one of Shepard's teammates.

They were promptly proven wrong when Bolts tore into their forces, with surprised and horrified shouts coming from the mercs. "You will need to do far better than that to silence me, foul traitors of Humanity!" Tyrellus shouted as he fired his Bolt Rifle. "My armor can stop your weapons with impunity!"

That shout was more than enough to terrify the mercenaries. Many threw down their weapons, pleading for mercy from the seemingly unstoppable juggernaut that was assailing their forces. If they were expecting mercy, though, they found none, as Tyrellus mercilessly gunned them down, Bolt Rifle roaring as he did so.

Behind him, Shepard watched as the Space Marine slaughtered the mercenaries with impunity. It disgusted him that the fighting was so easy for Tyrellus, but then he reminded himself that Tyrellus was from an Imperium that was at war. This is probably standard practice for him, though I'll talk to him later about it, he noted.

With all of the mercenaries in the hallway eliminated, the team proceeded towards a door, with Tyrellus up ahead. Shepard could hear the door down the hall opening, with a voice shouting, "Shepard is on the loose! I repeat: Shepard is o-AAUUUUGGGHHHHH!" That shout of pain was also accompanied by the same, howling roar of Tyrellus' Bolt Rifle.

When he rounded the corner with the others, he found himself entering a room that had various medical equipment present, as well as a control console that Tyrellus was standing next to. Lying on the ground was the body of a technician, his hand holding a single pistol. Leaning in closely, Shepard took a moment to examine the wound.

It was an ugly sight to behold. The bolt, from what he could tell, had punched through the man's uniform, which had offered no resistance to the projectile. Then, around halfway into the man's torso cavity, the bolt had exploded with sufficient force to blast out a chunk of the man's torso, exposing and tearing apart organs. No exit wound was present, though he couldn't tell, due to the explosive effects of the bolt. Blood pooled around the corpse, painting a macabre picture for all to see.

"Damn," Shepard remarked as he stood up. "That's a nasty weapon there. Who designed your gun?"

"Bellsarius Cawl," Tyrellus replied. "He is one of the most influential Tech-Priests of the Imperium of Man. As for the weapon the Bolt Rifle is based on, it was designed by the Emperor of Mankind himself."

"Your Emperor has quite the nasty imagination."

"But you cannot deny His brilliance, can you not?"

"I have to admit, he does know how to design his guns." Standing up, Shepard proceeded towards the console. Looking down below through the observation window, he could see what appeared to be a massive cryo-chamber, as well as a ramp that led downwards to some unseen door. I'll bet that's where Jack is.

"Be careful," Miranda warned Shepard. "This console will get Jack out of cryo, but it'll also open every cell in this block."

"We don't have a choice," Garrus countered.

"I'm doing it," Shepard told the others. "Get ready." With that, he hacked into the console, before inputting the command to bring Jack out of cryo.

A moment later, he spotted several YMIR mechs powering up, just as a crane activated. Moving into position, it inserted itself into a pod-like structure in the floor, with locking pins disengaging as the cylinder in the floor rotated. Moments later, it was pulled upwards, revealing a figure that was held in restraints.

Looking inside, Shepard was surprised to see a woman in those restraints. Her hair had been shaved closely to her skull, while her skin was pale from days without seeing the sun. Her upper body was covered in tatoos, and was naked, save for what appeared to be cargo straps over her breasts, though they did little to hide those areas. Her lower body was, thankfully, clad in a pair of black jeans, though it was clear that it was a jacket of some kind.

Garrus, who'd been expecting to see someone else, asked, "That's Jack?"

"I would not underestimate anyone that appears small," Tyrellus replied. "Often, it is the smallest things that are the most dangerous of all. That is especially true for any fighter, especially the Tyranids."

As the two talked, Shepard leaned in closer to get a better view of Jack. Just as he did, the convict woke up, looking around the room with a confused expression. Struggling against her restraints, she tore the ones on her hands off, before doing the same for her neck and legs. Once free, she stumbled forwards, catching herself on a nearby piece of machinery.

A moment later, she seemed to fully wake up, both of her eyes scanning the room with the focus and ferocity of a predator. Spotting the YMIR mechs, she seemed to tense up, before letting out a howling scream. An instant later, she disappeared in a burst of blue energy, before the entire place violently shook around, as though some massive giant had hit the place with a baseball.

"OH, SHIT!" Garrus shouted. "They didn't mention that Jack was a biotic!"

"Son of a bitch!" Shepard shouted. "We've got to get to her, otherwise she'll tear this place apart! Let's get down there!"

With that, the entire team burst into motion, moving through a door down to where Jack had been. Looking towards the back, Shepard found all of the YMIR mechs, each one ruined by the massive burst of biotic energy that Jack had unleashed. To top it all off, there was a massive hole in the wall, leading to what appeared to be a maintenance accessway.

"If I did not know any better, I would be wondering if she was a Psyker," Tyrellus mused. "Very powerful, but not very much restraint."

"Damn," Miranda noted. "She tore through those YMIR mechs as though they didn't exist."

"Which is why we need to get to her as soon as possible," Shepard noted as he scanned something inside the YMIR. "Tyrellus, if you find her first, do what you can to non-lethally restrain her. I don't want to kill her if I can help it."

"I will do what I can."

As they proceeded forwards, the ship computer issued an alert. "Warning. Warning."

Moments later, Kuril issued his own alert. "All guards: restore order! Lethal force authorized, but don't kill Jack! Techs: lockdown! LOCKDOWN!"

"Sounds like heavy fighting," Miranda observed.

"It's not a fight," Garrus added. "It's a prison riot!"

"Keep moving," Shepard ordered. "The only way out is to follow Jack!"

Just as he said this, the entire ship seemed to violently shudder. Moments later, the shipboard VI said, "Sectors Seven, Nine and Eleven have lost life support. No survivors."

A moment later, they found themselves coming to another hole in the wall. This time, they exited to find themselves in one of the chambers that was visible from the walkway they were on. Chairs, and a few pods, were lying all over the place, while a crane in the roof folded, before being torn off it's mounting by a powerful explosion.

Moments later, Kuril shouted over the PA, "All prisoners: return to your cells immediately, or I will open every airlock on this ship!"

"It is a bluff by the Xeno," Tyrellus informed Shepard. "Doing so would kill Jack."

"My thoughts exactly," Shepard nodded. "We're going to have to -"

"LOOK OUT!" Garrus shouted.

"Enemy mercs incoming!" Miranda called out.

"Take them out!" Shepard shouted. "Tyrellus, they've got a YMIR! Take it out!"

"It shall be done!" Tyrellus shouted, reloading his Bolt Rifle before moving forwards. Ignoring the shots the mercs sent after him, he found himself facing the YMIR.

It was a couple feet taller than he was, but he knew that it was made out of materials that the Imperium would consider to be quite flimsy. Spotting him, it fired up it's main gun, spewing a veritable storm of bullets at him. In response, Tyrellus fired a trio of bolts.

The first two bolts were fired at it's main weapons, with both arms exploding off and hitting the ground, the weapons in them ruined. The third flew straight into the YMIR's head, with the machine's head exploding. Moments later, a loud beeping began to sound off.

"Move, Tyrellus!" Garrus shouted. "It's going to blow!" Taking the hint, Tyrellus immediately cleared the blast radius, before bracing himself for the explosion.

A moment later, the YMIR's power cell overloaded, with the machine blasting itself apart in a powerful explosion. Tyrellus felt the shockwave hit him, though at this distance, it had lost much of it's efficacy. A moment later, the flash from the explosion faded, revealing a massive area of charred and melted metal where the mech was.

"Nice shot," Garrus noted.

"It was a simple matter," Tyrellus shrugged. "Any skilled marksman would have accomplished the same."

"Don't sell yourself short. It usually takes a lot of firepower to bring one down. Your Bolt Rifle was more than enough, though."

With that, they proceeded forwards. As they neared the door, EDI said, "Shepard, the warden has locked down the area behind you. You must find another exit route."

"Already have one, but thanks for the heads-up," Shepard replied.

Again, the ship violently vibrated. "Warning: Power Plant Damage has led to Overload," the shipboard VI reported. "Core Systems Failure Imminent."

Spotting a dead guard, Shepard approached the corpse while scanning his weapon. "This guard got swarmed by prisoners with improvised weapons," he noted. "He didn't stand a chance."

"Shows you what kind of people these criminals are," Garrus observed. "I don't agree with everything they do here, but I can say it's in the galaxy's best interests. This guard kept maniacs away from innocent people."

"I doubt that he was innocent himself," Tyrellus countered. "Still, he died doing his duty. That is something any leader can appreciate." With that, they proceeded through the door and into a small hallway.

As they did so, Shepard thought he heard something. At first, he thought it was metal that was sizzling from being overheated, but there was something off about the sound. It was happening intermittently, though it was quite fast. In addition, he could hear a loud, percussive banging sound similar to Tyrellus' Bolt Rifle, but without the accompanying roar. "You hear that?" he asked the team.

"I do," Tyrellus nodded. "That sounds like a Lasgun and an Autogun."

Just as he said this, EDI came in over the comm again. "Shepard, I have detected an unusual energy burst in the area ahead of you. I have compared the burst to one I detected on Omega before you encountered Tyrellus. They are an exact match."

"That's not a coincidence. Garrus?"

"The Emperor did say that he would be sending help for Tyrellus," Garrus suggested. "Maybe they've just arrived. Judging by the sounds of the weapons, they might be his Imperium's standard infantry."

"You are correct," Tyrellus nodded. "The Astra Militarum is the main ground force of the Imperium. You would call them the Imperial Guard. Come now! We must see if that is the case!" Nodding, Shepard proceeded through the door, fully ready in case he was fired upon.

When he entered the next area, he immediately spotted something odd. Two men were standing on what appeared to be a walkway that arched over the area, and was accessible via a ramp that led upwards from the ground floor. Both men were wearing olive drab military fatigues, over which was what appeared to be a combination of fabric armor with hard metallic plates installed, none of which looked anything like what the Alliance had.

Their weapons were also quite unique. Shepard watched as one of the soldiers fired a weapon that had, much to his surprise, a wood stock, with a wood foregrip. In addition, it had a magazine, but it was how the weapon worked that had his full attention.

Instead of firing bullets, he was surprised when a ruby red beam of light, with a red-white core, cut through the air towards an unlucky Blue Suns mercenary. Said merc's head exploded, with the laser beam drilling through the merc's helmet before tearing into the merc's brain, killing them instantly. In addition, the beam was rapidly winking in and out of existence, indicating that it was a pulse laser weapon.

The other man was also firing a unique looking weapon. It was a ballistic weapon, though Shepard noted that there were no spent cartridges lying on the floor, indicating a caseless weapon system. The rifle, despite it's seemingly archaic method of slinging projectiles, was no less effective than the laser weapon the other man was using, as massive holes were being torn into metal half-walls, killing mercs behind them. All the while, the weapon continued with it's loud, percussive banging.

The mercs were having a rough time of it. One merc's head exploded as a bullet as big as a man's thumb tore through it, while another fell down dead as a trio of laser beams tore through his body. Despite the losses, they stubbornly pressed on.

As they approached, Shepard could hear the two men shouting at the mercenaries. Apparently, the Emperor had ensured that they could speak English, as he heard a thick, accented voice shouting, "You traitors to Humanity will pay!"

Moments later, the one with the projectile weapon shouted, "Die, maggots! DIIIIEEEE!"

As they approached, the one with the laser weapon whirled around, weapon ready, only to stop when he spotted Tyrellus. "Vladim, the Emperor smiles upon us! A Space Marine is approaching, but who are his companions?"

"A Space Marine?!" Vladim, the man with the projectile weapon, asked. Sparing a glance as he fired, he said, "Emperor bless us! We're not going to be dying here today! Why is he working with Xenos scum, though?"

"Because the Emperor has commanded me to do so," Tyrellus replied. "Do not fire on Shepard and the others. The Emperor sent me to assist him and his friends in stopping the Reapers. Did you receive his summons as well?"

"We did," the other Guardsman replied. "I remember now. I cry for your pardon, Astartes. I let my doubts get in the way."

"No need to cry for my pardon," Tyrellus reassured the Guardsman as he moved into cover, firing his Bolt Rifle all the while. "You had good reason to be doubtful." As Shepard and the others arrived, he asked, "State your name, Guardsman."

"Private Ivan Korolev, at your service," the Guardsman replied.

"Corporal Vladimir Tchaikovsky, sir!" Vladim added.

"Guardsmen, Shepard is your CO from now on," Tyrellus replied. "He will be leading us in our campaign against the Reapers." Turning to Shepard, he said, "They must know why we are here!"

"We're here to pick up Jack!" Shepard explained to Vladim and Ivan. "She's a convict we came here to recruit, but the prison warden, Kuril, tried to abduct us! Jack broke out, and now we're trying to get to her before this place is torn apart! Can you follow my commands?"

"If the Emperor commands us to obey you, we shall do so without question!" Ivan nodded. "You must forgive my unwillingness to salute. We are currently in battle!"

"You can salute me once we're off this bucket of bolts!" Shepard replied. "Just focus on killing the enemy! Anyone I designate as hostile are to be terminated! Understood?"

"Affirmative," Vladimir nodded, ducking to avoid being hit by a bullet, even though his helmet would've easily stopped the round. "We are at your command, sir!"

"Engage!" Shepard shouted.

"For the Emperor!" Vladim shouted. With that, everyone quickly opened fire, gunning down any mercenaries that were unlucky enough to be caught in the middle of the crossfire. Fortunately, the two Guardsmen were excellent shots, and had already whittled down the enemy force, as only a few were left.

"We have those traitorous scum on the run!" Ivan shouted as he gunned down another merc with his Lasgun. "We can -"

"LOOK OUT!" Vladimir shouted, yanking Ivan into cover. Moments later, a missile streaked through the air that Ivan had occupied just seconds ago. Peering out of cover, they spotted a YMIR coming at them. What manner of tech-heresy is this?!"

"That's a YMIR mech!" Miranda shouted. "Don't let it target you!"

"I have it!" Tyrellus shouted, firing his Bolt Rifle in rapid succession. Moments later, a loud explosion indicated the destruction of the YMIR mech. "The enemy machine is dead!"

"Move up!" Shepard ordered. With that, the team quickly advanced forwards, weapons ready. Vladimir and Ivan seemed to be enthusiastic in doing so, as they literally bolted for the entrance, with Ivan planting an explosive charge of some kind on the door. "Get back!" Shepard, who'd spotted their actions, shouted, with everyone getting into cover.

There was a loud WOMP-BANG as the breaching charge detonated, blasting the door apart. Moving through, they found another door, which Garrus opened. As soon as it was open, they moved inside.

Apparently, this was the last chamber they were in before they could get to the Normandy. The mercs had holed up most of their heavier equipment here, as they were behind cover and ready for a fight. Kuril was here too, as the warden was firing a heavy weapon at various convicts that were lucky, or crazy enough, to make it this far.

Spotting Shepard and his team, Kuril fired on them, forcing them into cover. "You're valuable, Shepard," he snarled. "I could've sold you and lived like a king, but you're too much trouble! I least I can recapture Jack."

"Not happening! You're a two-bit slave trader, and I don't have the time for it!" Shepard retorted.

"I do the hard things that civil governments are unwilling to do!" Kuril shouted back. "This is for the good of the galaxy!"

"Your definition of good for the galaxy!" Tyrellus shouted. "Not the Emperor's!" As he said this, he spotted a kinetic bubble enveloping Kuril.

"We can't get through that!" Garrus shouted as he fired. "Projectiles bounce off of it!"

"But not light," Shepard mused. Looking at Ivan and his Lasgun, he began to realize that he had the perfect tool needed to take down Kuril. Looking at Garrus, he asked, "Garrus, can kinetic barriers stop laser beams?"

"They only work on projectiles, not energy weapons," Garrus replied. "Wait… you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes," Shepard nodded. Looking at Ivan, he asked, "Can you hit Kuril from this distance?"

"That is well within my capabilities!" Ivan nodded emphatically. "Just keep the rest of the Xenos scum from shooting me and I'll take him down!"

"That settles it," Shepard nodded. "Everyone, suppressing fire!"

Immediately, everyone began firing on the mercs, forcing the majority of them to take cover to avoid being killed. Kuril, spotting what they were doing, fired at Ivan, intending to kill the man before he could shoot. Unfortunately for him, not only was his rifle not very accurate at that distance, Ivan was also wearing well made body armor. Taking aim, Ivan, ignoring the shots coming at him, squeezed the trigger.

A red-white beam of energy cut through the air at the speed of light. Before Kuril's brain could process what was going on, the laser beam cut through his facial plates with preternatural ease, before piercing through his skull and into his brain. Water vapor and brain tissue flash-boiled upon being heated by the laser beam, with the warden's head exploding from the pressure created by the steam. The warden's body fell to the ground, with only the lower jaw remaining of the warden's head. Blood spewed out of severed capillaries and arteries

Ivan, being hit by a round, fell to the ground with a gasp. Vladim, worried, came over, only for Ivan to wave him away. "I'm fine!" he replied. "I'm OK!"

"Bullshit!" Shepard, coming over to Ivan, replied. "That round hit you dead in the chest!"

"I'm OK, seriously," Ivan replied. Showing the armor plating in question, Shepard was surprised to see a very faint dent, if it could be even called a 'dent' in the first place. "Their Autoguns are a joke! I'll bet even a piece of wood could block those rounds!" Getting up and firing his rifle, he said, "You traitorous scum will need to do better than that to kill me!"

That, combined with Kuril's death, was more than enough to shatter whatever organization the mercs had left. Cleaning them up was no hassle at all, with the mercs quickly being gunned down. "That's it, they're down," Shepard sighed as Vladim gunned the last one down. "Let's find Jack!"

. . .

Speaking of which, Jack was running towards the one place that would help her find a way to safety. Spotting a couple mercs, she flared her barriers before charging. "Stop!" one shouted at her.

Ignoring it, she staggered the two with a biotic shockwave, before smashing one into the reinforced material that made up part of the tube view port. The toughened material cracked, though the merc fell to the ground dead, his organs pulped into liquid. The other wasn't lucky either, as his neck was snapped from the next blow Jack threw out.

She was about to advance when she spotted a ship that was docked to Purgatory. The moment she saw the symbol, though, a snarl came onto her face. "Cerberus," she spat out, as though the word was poison.

Hearing someone, she turned to see a merc, only for something to happen. She jumped with surprise as a red-white laser cored through the merc's head, blasting it apart in an instant. Turning around, she saw herself confronting a man that was wearing odd looking body armor, with a weapon aimed towards her. "Are you Jack?" he asked in an accent that she couldn't identify.

"Yeah, what's it to you?" she asked.

Lowering his weapon as another man in the same armor approached, he said, "I am Ivan Korolev, this is Vladimir Tchaikovsky. Commander Shepard sent us to find you. We have orders to rescue you from this ship."

"Shit, you two sound like pussies."

"You can be at least polite to them," another voice added. Moments later, Shepard and the others came into view. "Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy. We're here to get you out of here."

"I'm not going anywhere with you all," Jack growled back. "You're with Cerberus."

"Why does it matter if I'm Cerberus?"

"They've been on my ass for years. Anytime I get free, they put a big ass bounty on me. That's why Warden Kuril figured he'd struck gold when he found me."

"She's destroyed Cerberus property and killed Cerberus people," Miranda explained. "Hence the bounty."

"You die first," Jack snarled out.

"I'm offering to be your friend," Shepard replied. "You don't want to be my enemy."

"They have a way of dying, especially with people like these three," Garrus nodded, pointing at Tyrellus, Vladim and Ivan as he did so.

"Really?" Jack asked, dubious. "You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me somewhere. You think I'm stupid?"

"This ship is going down in flames," Shepard countered. "We can get you to safety, and we're asking for your help."

"We could just knock her out and take her," Miranda suggested.

"No!" Tyrellus thundered. "If we attack her, we lose any chance we have of her coming with us."

"Smart move, tin man," Jack snarked out. "Look, you want me to come with you, make it worth my while."

"Join my team and I'll do what I can for you," Shepard nodded.

"Don't make promises you can't keep. I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus databases. I want to look at those files, see what Cerberus has on me. You want me on your team, let me go through those databases."

"I'll give you full access," Shepard nodded. He knew that with convicts like Jack, honesty was the best policy.

Miranda, though, was aghast. "Shepard, you're not authorized to do that!" she protested.

"Oohh, it upsets the cheerleader – even better," Jack said mockingly. Looking at Shepard, she said, "You'd better be straight up with me. So, why the hell are we standing here?"

"Move out," Shepard ordered.