Chapter 3: Monsters within the belly of the beast

Seprak FadMalok glared at the viewport. He was in a foul mood. His brother was missing in action in this sector. And he was supposed to believe that his brother was dead? He had to see it for himself. No body, no proof. He was pushing it in fielding a dreadnought for this rescue/revenge mission as it is. Even if the other ship truly was a dreadnought.

He tapped his foot impatiently as he watched the mission timer.

"Just a few more seconds then line us up for the jump into the system. I want us going full speed out of the gate. No slip ups. Weapons teams. Make sure those weapons are ready to fire as soon as we reach our destination. Don't wait for a target lock. I want rounds down range." Seprak barked while slamming his battle gauntleted fist onto the guardrail in front of him. His biotics flaring up and breaking the protective railing.

"Sir yes sir."

As they were moving towards the relay. Seprak thought to himself while they lined up with the relay. It was a nightmare to get nothing but loyal batarian soldiers for this mission on such short notice. Whatever had wiped out the previous group had better be worth a council's ransom. Any batarians that died he wouldn't pay. Not even including the other ship captains that signed on out of greed.

The Coward Prathar had arrived and given the news of his fleet being wiped out by giant walkers. They had encountered an unknown dreadnought and several ships of the line. According to the coward they were human. However the one glaring flaw in that testimony was their use of predominantly heat based weaponry. That didn't match with what he did know of humans, He fought at Elysium and had locked eyes with Shepard. Humans were tenacious bastards but didn't magically pull out unheard of technology out of the abyss. He idly brushed his organic left hand over his right prosthetic battle gauntlet.

He was no stranger to wanting revenge. Even Balak had crossed paths with Shepard and barely got away through the use of hostages. He was always a cunning and ruthless bastard. The initial vertigo of the relay jump kicked in and snapped him out of his thoughts. He felt he was going to have to be on his A game to use a human phrase, if he was going to survive the coming encounter, if the coward's words were even half true.

A moment later and things were already clear that things were going FUBAR. The ship lurched down as the hulk of one of his escort frigates listed lifelessly. Its engines sputtering in and out with a hole blown clear through top to bottom of the vessel.

"LADAR down! I'm getting interference!" His radar operator panicked.

"Secondary cannons pivot five degrees starboard. Fire two salvos. Sensor operators enhance audio but filter out our own guns!" Seprak ordered calmly yet loudly. For the time being he would rely on visual and audio only. "Radar team. Try to filter out the interference, switch Gardian lasers to manual targeting. We'll fight blind if we have to, but do what you can!" He paused and hit the ship wide coms. "Marines stand by at airlocks to repel any boarders! Gunner teams switch to visual acquisition. Don't wait for a firing solution! Barriers to full power. Helmsman! Set our course twenty degrees starboard by negative ten degrees!" The barriers flared to life as a pair of missiles impacted the dreadnought. Soon after the Guardian lasers sprayed the asteroid field segment where those missiles had come from.

The dreadnoughts cannons fired off at random trajectories for the time being as suppressive fire. Just as they reached safe distance, his escort frigates that remained entered onto the dreadnoughts blind spots per ambush protocol. Somehow the Coward's ship was still alive, Seprak noted.

"Sir. Bogey Identified at extreme distance. It matches the reports of the macro dreadnought."

"Helmsman get us lined up. Main gun fire on my mark."

"Super robot teams Prepare for launch. We'll be using the catapult system to get you into the fight." Lian said calmly and loudly over the sounds of the claxon going off. The mass effect rounds already impacted the Dreisstragers' barrier field which flared up several times in response. "Dancouga team Prepare to launch."

"Oh hell yes! I've been itching to get some payback against those slaver bastards for the people they have taken!" Shinobu's eager response was all but screamed out. A moment later. "Cyber beast force ready to run wild!"

"Dancouga. Launch!" The whole bridge shuddered as the main gun launched a thirty five meter tall monstrosity that was thrown out into space.

"Interesting. This 'Cyber beast force' likely encountered slavers before." An observation came from one of their guests, Mordin solus.

"I agree. The team leader sounded especially hungry. But can we just point out that they're using their main gun to shoot giant robots at the enemy? Does Isaac Newton have a saying about that?" Garrus joked seriously.

"Technically the age of Giant robots was over a decade ago. These are super robots. A size larger and with unique technology for each." Chimed the ship's executive officer, Reynold with a slight nudge to his glasses.

"Shin Getter Dragon team stand by." Lian directed politely.

"About damn time. I was getting bored here. Now I can teach these alien assholes that there are some damn scary humans out there."

"Oi oi, Ryoma. Cool it!"

"Save some of your load for the aliens! You always did love going off half cocked."

"Fuck you Hayato. I'll kick your ass in sparring after this!"

"That's enough out of you two!" In the distance the lights from the Dancouga's engines could be seen flying towards the relay.

"Incoming project-" The port hull of the Dreisstrager shuddered violently as the barrier briefly flickered out before blinking back into existence.

"Damage report." Mitsuba ordered.

"Damage to decks forty five through fifty three C. Fires reported on deck Forty five C subsection A Ma'am. Barrier recharging, Hull regenerating."

"Seal bulkheads and activate fire suppression systems for the affected area!"

Garrus briefly looked at Shepard.

"You know. For her age. She's quite terrifying." He admired the blonde captain. "Maybe it's something to do with genetics? Are all human women made of steel?"

"Female humans statistically more aggressive than males." Mordin nodded in agreement. Shepard only sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"Shin getter Dragon. Launch!"

"Here we come, you bastards!" a streak of orange and red could be seen before it turned into a streak of green.

"Elevator lowering. Mazinkaiser, you're up next."

"Mazin ruler? King? Earth term. Help please." Garrus pleaded silently.

"Mazinkaiser. I say just roll with it Garrus." Shepard sighed.

"Nope. Translator is still screwing it up."

"Some words cannot be appreciated." Mordin chimed. However Garrus, overwhelmed by curiosity, moved forward to get a better view.

"Huh. Shorter then I would have thought. The name is imposing for such a relatively small super…robot?"

"Koji Kabuto, Mazinkaiser, ready to launch." the Mazinkaiser stepped onto the launch catapult, Garrus suppressed a shiver.

"Launch."

"Have the Reinforced Junior advance to mid range and deploy their mobile suits. The Godinion is to provide supportive missile screens." Mitsuba ordered.

Prathar gripped the safety railing in front of him. It was happening again. Sure they had bigger guns but moments ago he watched as a thick jet of plasma punched through the Karok. The shooter had quickly retreated into the asteroid field that he didn't even remember being there the first time.

"Get me a direct line to the Seprak! Now! Guardian lasers. Open fire on those asteroids, thin them out! Helmsman, move us to protect the Seprak's bridge!"

"The asteroids are…deflating?!" Came a report from one of his gunners. As on the monitor they witnessed the wildly flailing asteroid balloon knocking another close to a frigate which then exploded like a space mine. "By the light. Some of those are explosive!"

"Prathar, What do you want?" Came Seprak's irate question.

"Seprak, it's the humans, they were ready for us, this is a trap!" Prathar warned.

"Did you figure that out yourself?"

"Avoid the asteroids entirely. They're decoys and traps in one. The real threa-"

"Captain Prathar, Incoming energy spike!"

"Use our ship to block it!" In desperation he gave Seprak a salute as the hull above him began to superheat, bubble and then burst. His death mercifully swift. The Frigate Prathar briefly buckled under the shot as the plasma continued on its destructive path. Its barrier fields popping and sparking as they died completely. The ship's guardian lasers lancing out in a defiant answer as its thrusters continued to function. The beam of energy slammed into and through the Seprak's own barriers and carving out a twenty meter long groove into its port hull.

Banagher link breathed steadily as he readjusted his position only to watch as one frigate had caught onto the decoys. His right arm unit finally getting reattached from one of his replacements as the spent Ecap ejected from his beam magnum. It had used itself to shield the dreadnought. The move itself saddened him with the loss of life, but even so, he had to make it back to Audrey.

Lelouch's face showed up from an incoming call with Amuro ray as one of the recipients.

"Banagher, Amuro, while you're out there buying time for The Rune knights and reinforcements to arrive. Give that dreadnought strafing runs with some other weapons. We know far too little about this technology as it is. Try to use renewable weapons or easily expendable ammunition."

"Roger that." Both pilots responded. Banagher shifted his mech into a dive while the Hi-nu released its Fin Funnels. The new type weapons split into two pairs of three. Three funnels on the attack while three formed a protective shield against the laser point defense weapons. The Barriers of the massive kilometer long ship flared to life acting like a form of Rudimentary I-field. The beams briefly split before a small sliver would get through and strafe the deck.

The dulled sounds of the beam head vulcans firing could be heard as he depressed the trigger with his right hand. His left quickly moved to deploy a beam saber into the silver bullets left hand with a pair of command presses. That self same barrier shimmering blue with each impact.

"Their shields seem effective against head vulcans on the big one. Moving to test effectiveness elsew-" Banagher cut himself off as his Newtype senses flared. He instinctively barrel rolled and turned his mobile suit away from the hull to dive under the incoming guardian laser barrage. "Elsewhere."

"Gangway! Coming through!" The shin getter dragon's main pilot roared as the machine rocketed towards the dreadnought at full speed, tomahawks in hand.

Both Amuro and Banagher broke off as the pirate's flagship directed its secondary guns onto the Shin getter. The massive axe slammed into the barrier before being deflected and slamming into one of the escort frigates as it was turning to intercept Banagher's Silver bullet.

Meanwhile back on the Dreisstrager; Shepard, Mordin and Garrus were watching the battle in stunned silence. The professionalism of the displaced crew wasn't a surprise. It was the frightening efficiency of the jamming fields employed. Any of their own dreadnoughts would be locked into a firefight at the time.

"They're going to need bigger guns to take on that dreadnought." Garrus observed. "I doubt that's the last of their forces." From the various feeds they could observe it the batarian pirates had barely enough escort frigates for a quick engagement. By his own estimates, if this were a standard fight, Mitsuba and her crew would shit creek without paddles. The lack of access to the relay, a formidable pirate blockade and a frigate screen? Sure the Normandy was good but even he didn't like those odds. "And why does it feel like the primarch is behind me?"

The turian half turned as the door opened behind him and he noticed a tall man with the same bearing as a primarch. He instinctively straightened his back out of respect. Clearly that human had seen a lot of action and lived.

"A sword is enough to cleave that dreadnought." He stated simply. "And the frigate is already dead." He nodded towards the frigate flaring its thrusters at full steam to try and get out of the way of the incoming Tomahawk.

"Wouldn't the Mass effect field stop-" Mordin paused in his statement. The scientist reassessed the situation. "No No. Axe half size of mech. At least twenty meters if not thirty. Mass incredible. Speed, Velocity translates into momentum. In space no reduction to speed unless equal force applied. Collision with ship without sufficient shielding. Problematic. Agreed. Judging by trajectory. Sadly the bridge impact in two seconds." His salarian mind also processing the video feed of the funnels strafing the dreadnought's hull.

"Poor bastards." Shepard sighed as indeed the frigate was cleaved in two. The rear half of the ship slammed into the bridge before spinning out of control while the bridge spun and floated away from the impact.

"Godinion and Reinforce Junior entering weapons distance. Magic knights and the other supers have reached the engagement as well. Relay activating!" The red headed operator reported.

"They had ships in reserve?" Reynold hummed before two carriers winked in from the relay.

"Well I'll be. They brought carriers." Shepard sighed. "They must want revenge or really want this ship."

The tall veteran squinted at the dreadnought.

"That vessel is calling for blood. It's out for revenge." That had Shepard quirking an eyebrow before turning her attention back to the battle.

"Reinforce Junior is taking fire, they are deploying their beam ram in shield formation."

"This is the Godinion, opening the bow to clear a path for The Reinforce."

"Dreisstrager ahead full. Get missiles ready to fire." Mitsuba ordered. "Particle cannons one and two target the enemy dreadnought."

Reynold repeated Mitsuba's orders clearly as the vessel lurched into motion.

"You're risking your own ship in this fight?" Shepard asked Mitsuba seriously

"Right now we're stranded as it is. If this ship doesn't get involved now. Those ships in the back will become a problem. Like it or not we aren't giving them a chance to breathe." Mitsuba replied calm but curt.

"Heavy particle cannons ready and aimed. Prepare to fire." The enemy dreadnought kept its bow pointed towards them. A steady stream of mass effect rounds streaking past them every few seconds.

"Fire!" Mitsuba ordered. Four yellow lights boiled into view before cascading out in a defiant showing of might. One of the beams split off at two completely separate angles. The bridge of the dreadnought seemingly missed in that volley. However as the crew zoomed in for effect on target Shepard blinked while she could hear the flabbergasted silence from Garrus.

"I can see their mass effect core." Shepard noted in amazement. On one hand She could see the value in having Mitsuba as an ally. To the military mind in her, The moment their existence is revealed to the Extranet, her political shit storm of Chorra's den would seem like a cake walk. Then there was the Angle of TIM. He could easily make things more complicated than they should be. The specter didn't see Mitsuba as a woman easily cowed into compliance.

In the distance, the trio could see the 'beam shielded' vessel orient its shield into a form of spear. Its engines flaring to what was probably ramming speed.

"Ramming speed?" Mordin blinked. "Ah. 'Beam shield' Secondary function. Primary function; critical existence failure via momentum. Capitalize on lack of targeting. Ship meant for close combat as a result of 'jamming' tech. Clever work around with limited resources. STG in me approves."

"Warning, Mass effect core destabilized." The ships VI chimed. "Quarantine in progress. Increasing power to Core two and core three to fifty percent. Reducing Core one power to zero percent."

"Damn it. Prathar isn't a coward. I didn't want to use this. But I have no choice." Seprak cursed lightly as he brought a hand up to his helmet's visor, thinking hard and fast.

"A cruiser is on an intercept course! It's trying to ram us!"

"The support vessel has opened its bow -"

"Hard to starboard!" Seprak barked. And just in time as a blue beam streaked out and clipped a portion of the port hull. "Load Core one into the main gun and direct us to the Cruiser trying to ram us. It's time to as the humans say 'play chicken'. And I don't intend on blinking."

The dreadnought groaned in protest as its retrograde thrusters and port thrusters burned brightly. The Inertial dampeners kicking in but that didn't stop Seprak from gripping his oh fuck railing with his metal hand.

"Core loaded. It's becoming unstable!"

"Operator! Inform the carriers to deploy as many fighters as they can before we fire. Those fighters are to slow down their machines and cover our retreat."

"Seprak they are right there! We can take em!" One of the gunners protested.

"Don't be stupid. Maybe we could with a flotilla. But we don't have that."

"But sir-"

"Guidance officer. Relieve that man of his post and find a replacement. Throw that one into the brig until I know what to do with him." Seprak ordered calmly. All the while he listened to the distance callouts. "Come on blink, you bastard." The slightest turn in was what he was looking for and he saw their moment as fighters began deploying. "Fire! Adjust heading, head for the relay at full speed! Get us an emergency jump out of this system! All remaining vessels are to make their way through the relay. If they can't, stall those machines. We'll rendezvous at the hourglass nebula. Once our ships are cooled down we'll head to omega and resupply. Activate the Droplet system. Start shunting heat to throw off any potential targeting."

Seprak grinned as the cruiser avoided the shot and its ramming attempt. Shot missed but just the grazing ripped off golden panels from the enemy cruiser. The mass effect core briefly imploded an unfortunately safe distance away. The batarian had to remind himself that this was why dreadnoughts arrived last to a big fight.

He watched as fighters flew past while the orders were given out. Blue contrails streaked out as the fighters engaged the enemy machines. One fighter drifted too close to a sword wielding green machine. The barriers stopped the initial hit but one of the mech's partners seemed to jettison fire at the fighter craft. He was going to have one hell of a headache and he still had to figure out how to turn this into profit so that the Hegemony would somewhat back him.

More and more walkers were approaching as well. One just seemed content with unleashing a volley of unguided missiles at their dreadnought. Some were stopped by barriers but those were beginning to overheat. Others damaged the DRA stipping of the front section. Ice blades seemed to slam themselves into the hull only to cool it down.

"Huh…Would you look at that? Not all of their weaponry is devastating." Seprak chortled lightly to himself as the dreadnought lined up with the mass relay. The massive ship briefly blue shifted. Only then did he attempt to withdraw his prosthetic hand only to find it crunched into the railing.

Seprak pushed the ship wide comms button. "We got bruised in this fight. But we're still alive and we'll learn. That unknown dreadnought is a goldmine of credits. However she won't easily give up her bounty. We're retreating to regain our strength and assess our losses. Take this time to prepare for heat shunting at our destination. That is all." After he closed off the mic he started making his way through the ship to his quarters. He would have to make a call to the shadow broker to exchange Information for a payout of credits. He just hoped the trouble was worth it.

"That was a batarian dreadnought." Shepard blinked before walking up to stand next to Mitsuba. "Captain Mitsuba. I request that you capture as many of those vessels as you can for questioning."

"On whose authority? You are standing on a Federation warship. As liaisons granted. But that doesn't give you carte blanche to ask for the moon."

"I'm not demanding. I am asking. Also the way I see it we could benefit each other. You need a friend in this new galaxy you find yourself in. I could use one less headache in this galaxy."

"But aren't those headaches self induced Shepard? I mean come on. The battle at the citadel, virmire, shooting up bars?" Garrus chimed in with a shit eating grin. Mordin sighed and shook his head.

"Not. Helping. Garrus."

"You have a point. But you haven't said what it is you are doing out here yet. And I'm hesitant to entrust any of my men to a complete unknown."

"Fair enough. We're out here to stop the abduction of human colonists. The culprits are a species only known as the Collectors, worse off, we think they're working for a species of sentient machines called Reapers. Fifty thousand years ago they wiped out all galactic civilization. I stopped their initial invasion two years ago."

"Turns out the reapers took notice and weren't too keen on getting their asses kicked. They blew up the original Normandy and spaced Shepard. Personally I think they were sloppy in killing her the first time. They left a body." Garrus teased while walking up and moving next to Shepard. Shepard in turn slapped Garrus upside the helmet with a thunk, throwing the helmet onto the ground by accident.

"Yea and it only pissed me off. Like you're doing right now Garrus Vakarian." She retorted back before wincing at the sound of the helmet clunking on the floor plating.

"Huh. The blue armored one is an alien." Lelouch noted mirthfully.

"It was obvious from the legs." SEVEN huffed.

"So what do you say? You give us some members of your crew that aren't actively needed. And I'll see to it that someone, whether Alliance or Council oriented, sends an aid package along with knowledge of how to access and integrate Mass Effect technology?"

"There's more to it isn't there? You want our help in your fight."

"Yes. But forcing the issue isn't going to get us anywhere and right now you're people are in need."

Lelouch looked over to the other occupants. "C two. Pack our bags. It's about time we got the lay of the galaxy."

"May I have…one request?" Hearing the Alien, Mordin speak up, SEVEN narrowed his eyes. "I wish to perform medical check up on member of crew. Did scan, imperative at time, scans only confirm importance of action."

"What crew member would that be" Mitsuba asked politely.

"Mikazuki Augus." Mordin coughed.

"You'll have to talk to him. I don't have the authority nor the right to order TEKKADAN."

"Message received. Will be…diplomatic."

"I'll message ahead. Anyone that you can order to attend us?"

"I can give you a dead emperor and his witch. But any of the displaced, you'll have to ask them or they can volunteer, we'll make a ship wide announcement."

"Uh…thanks? I guess? So your world has people that were brought back with cybernetics?" Shepard asked while starting to walk back towards the elevator.

"I wish that were the case. Whatever you do. Don't look him in the eyes if he takes his contacts out."

"Hang on. Dead emperor? Witch?" Garrus asked, picking up his helmet before jogging off after Shepard. ACE swapped the screens as SEVEN and Lelouch left to gather their things. And indeed an announcement was made shortly after, as soon, offers of surrender were coming from the remaining stranded pirate vessels.

"I understand this, Shepard, wants to question those pirates. But what's she going to do with…" SEVEN paused and did a quick number count. "Roughly three hundred alien pilots and crew members of varying ranks?"

"Well that sounds like you just volunteered SEVEN. You can ask her yourself." C.C chimed with a coy smile. "Maybe it's just corralling them all in one place to be arrested later conveniently forgetting to mention the captured technology?"

"Maybe I did. Eitherway, I plan on enlisting at least some muscle. I have a bad feeling about these Collectors." SEVEN nodded. "Either way we need more than a few repurposed wrist fabricators if we're going to be here for some time."

Three hours after the pirates retreat…

Shepard looked to Mordin in his research quarters.

"You wanted to talk to me Mordin?" The SPECTER asked while crossing her arms.

"Vent more likely." The doctor said animatedly as he lightly paced before tapping his omni-tool to bring up his scans of Mikazuki. "Will remain calm, as long as is possible, given subject…" Shepard nodded while Mordin took an extremely rare and deep breath. "Patient exhibited signs of partial paralysis. Lazy Eye, Lazy arm, inability to walk. Alarming, in one so young. Did subtle scan, looked for abnormalities that could cause such a tragic state." As he went on he tapped on the upper back. "Cervical surgery of…machine and organic parts. Organic parts obvious. Machines only just noticed."

"How dangerous would such an operation be, Doctor?"

"Life threatening. Even with Modern science would not perform on patients. Too likely to result in death." He held out his hand before tapping his skull gently and agitatedly. "Too many variables. Failure to properly hold, results in penetration of spinal column or worse. Machine insertion also raises humanitarian issues. Likely to result in patients' death in ninety percent of theoretical surgeries given current understanding."

"Ok. But what do these do?" Shepard asked, tapping on the protrusions in question.

"Unknown. Could be bio-mechanical interface. Create symbioses between man and machine, would have to see machine to know positively. Hence request for 'check up'. See if current condition solvable with foreign aid. If not solvable…mmmm…Correctable?"

"So you want to offer help?"

"Precisely. Chance of living much greater, if limbs fully functional. Will need Doctor Chakwas's help though. Human surgery, Human doctor not required, but helpful."

"I'll talk to Mikazuki and Orga, and anyone else willing to come along." Shepard sighed. "Talk to Chakwas. Go over everything you need. I don't want a political situation because one of their pilots died in our med bay."

"Of course. Patient health number one concern. Never make light of life. Too precious. Also one more issue but. More pressing matters."

Shepard nodded and started making her way out onto the CIC floor from the R&D door. The Cerberus crewmen saluted her as she walked briskly by. Kelly Chambers though took notice.

"Shepard. You have five notables awaiting you at The Normandy's Airlock."

"Thank you Ms. Chambers. And…keep this on the down low. Things don't need to be leaked right now."

"Before you go however. XO Lawson would like to have a word at your earliest convenience. Grunt has also been more restless than usual."

"Noted. Anything else for me?"

"Nothing right now." Shepard nodded politely, excusing herself and making her way towards the airlock. At the airlock he was greeted with five individuals. If this had been an anime it would have made for a comic scene. A green haired girl in a space suit. A rather tall young man that seemed like he'd fit right in at a prep school. That veteran from before with the silver hair. The three of them each sported one duffle bag each along with a normal suit.

There was also a rather terse looking male who looked like he had a resting bastard face, carrying a briefcase. Last not least was a blue haired man with nothing more than the clothes on his back and a unique hand cannon.

"Find yourselves a bunk in the crew quarters."

"Chirico's VOTOMS and my Knightmare as small enough to not be too big of a burden on the Normandy." Lelouch pointed out before nodding. "If it's not too much of a burden on your ship I would like to request a transfer of those two units."

"Alright. That shouldn't be an issue." Shepard nodded before stepping out of the way. The new crew members boarded and made their way into the ship before Jacob greeted them politely.

The airlock closed behind Shepard as she waited for the decontamination to finish before walking back into the Dreisstrager's hangar. Thankfully she didn't have to go far to look for Mikazuki and Orga.

"Mikazuki, Orga. Can I have a word?" Shepard asked politely over the din of the hangar.

"Sure. But don't try asking us to change sides. It won't end well for you." Orga said bluntly. Shepard paused and blinked before shaking her head.

"That wasn't on the agenda. No."

"Then ask your question." Mika said while popping a plum into his mouth and chewing lightly. The young man was currently sitting in a wheelchair as Orga pushed him around. His eye was analyzing every movement.

"It's about your paralysis. Doctor Solus, the salarian you met earlier, would like to perform a medical health check."

"I doubt he'll find anything of worth. What's wrong with me isn't contagious." Mika started before the Normandy's cargo bay door opening gathered his attention. Jane Shepard glanced over her shoulder to spot the figure of Doctor Chakwas making her way down the ramp once it was fully lowered.

"Who is that?" Orga asked curiously, briefly closing his right eye and glancing towards Shepard.

"Normandy's medic. Looks like Mordin talked to her rather quickly." Shepard explained before turning to face Chakwas as she made her way down the ramp with a data slate in her hand.

"Paraplegic status…unknown material attached to the spinal column along the Cervical vertebrae…" Chakwas murmured to herself. "Ah Commander Shepard and…Mikazuki Algus I presume?" She then glanced up to Orga. "And you must be Orga. Mikazuki's commanding officer. Perfect. I was simply wanting to confirm a colleague's observations."

"Listen Ma'am-"

"Marm? My somebody was raised correctly. But call me Doctor Chakwas. I am Normandy's medic."

"S-So? Look. What do you want, Doctor?" Orga asked politely.

"To know more about the surgeries Mister Augus underwent from the horses' mouth so to speak." Chakwas said gently and honestly.

"And if we say no?" Mika asked, gauging the Doctor with a critical eye.

"While I would be upset. I have to respect your right to privacy, you're not a member of the Alliance. Nor a crew member of the Normandy so I can't request that you report to the medical bay. However, your condition has a colleague of mine worried."

"This isn't to try and learn our secrets?" Orga asked, partially feeling bad before Chakwas gave him a look before walking over and reaching up to tug on his ear. The Yakuza opened both of his eyes as he leaned into that ear tugging.

"Medicine doesn't care about secrets. It cares about saving lives, young man. You could do with being a bit more trusting of medical professionals." Chakwas said while tugging a bit further.

"I'll go…but…" Mikazuki nodded before humming softly. "Arta and Kudelia will probably want to come too."

"And what is their relation?" Chakwas asked curiously.

"They are important." Mika stated matter of factly before popping a martian plum into his mouth.

"Then would you and Mister Orga wish to come on board the normandy? I would like to at least get preliminary check ups done. Having a more healthy person with, I assume the same surgery. It would make a good bench mark."

"I'll talk to Mitsuba-" Shepard sighed before stopping mid sentence as the doors to the hangar bay opened and two girls walked in. One holding what seemed to be a boxed lunch. The taller of the two was a blonde woman, both currently clad in the same normal suit that she had seen the entire crew wearing.

"Mika! We brought you your lunch! Kudelia and I both worked on it." The smaller of the two women said out loud.

Dr. Chakwas and Shepard blinked as they looked at the two women walking up.

"Oh. You must be Commander shepard. I am Kudelia Aina Burnstein, I am Tekkadan's primary employer…normally."

"Here you go Mika." The smaller girl said before handing the boxed lunch over to Orga who kept a hold of the box for now, his eyes watching his life time friend carefully.

"Yes I am. I have to say I'm surprised to find Civilians and kids on board a warship." Shepard said honestly.

"I can understand the shock. I was in a very similar boat a few years ago." Kudelia nodded softly. "But what were you talking with Mika and Orga about?"

"Truthfully about his paralysis and the organism on Mika's back. We want to see if our technology can at least alleviate Mika's current condition." Chakwas said honestly. "But we should speak more on The Normandy, away from prying ears. Doctor, client privilege and all that. Given your association being so close with Mister Augus, I see no reason to refuse any of you."

"Oh. Before we go. I want to bring along Barbatos. Let Mitsuba know that."

"I'll see what I can do." Shepard sighed. The Commander soon walked back into The Normandy. She looked at the M44 hammerhead and shook her head. They'd have to leave that with the Dreikruz for the time being.

The moment she neared one of EDI's terminals, her avatar popped up.

"Shepard. The guests from the Dreikruz are on board and are currently settling in. Miss Chambers is currently trying to talk with some of them. However some of The Illusive man's camera's and wire taps across The Normandy have gone dark."

"Yea…well my ship my rules. TIM can cry me a river."

"And what should I report to him regarding The Dreikruz?"

"Nothing is to leave this ship. We can't risk an interdimensional incident."

"Shepard the likelihood of an Interdimensional incident-"

"Is extremely high right now. TIM will want that tech. And I can guarantee you they won't give up any of it without a fight."

"I have to give him something Shepard. Cerberus protocols demand some form of information regarding the mission."

"Then he can have the scan's from The Normandy during the fleet battle. Nothing else." Shepard said firmly. "I wouldn't call the standing we have thin ice. More Crackling Ice. And this requires a more delicate hand than Cerberus has."

"So you mean to say that trying to force an issue would result in an escalation of Hostilities. But that would be detrimental to their position."

"Detrimental, yes. But when your back is against the wall, there is no price too high." Shepard said before reaching up and rubbing her right shoulder. "Elysium was simple for a holding action. Both sides had the same weapon platforms. Here? One side has plasma-like weaponry…And that's not even counting the size of their point defense grid."

"The main guns registered as some form of particle or plasma projectile. Are you suggesting that their point defense systems incorporate similar weapons systems?" EDI asked back curiously.

"We didn't get close enough but considering these are people that consider guarding a prisoner with thirty millimeter caliber weapons systems. I wouldn't put it past them." Shepard shivered at the thought of that.

"Thirty millimeters? The GAU 8 avenger weapons platform of the A-10 warthog shows up in similar searches on the extranet. I believe the term is overkill."

"Yea. Welcome to the club. And somehow I don't think that's the extent. I'm going to my quarters to message some friends and use my SPECTER authorization to speed up the process for them."

"Of course Shepard. I am compiling your requested data for The Illusive Man. I doubt he will be satisfied with more combat footage."

"Somehow I doubt that is my problem." Shepard sighed while pushing the button to go to the captain's quarters. The elevator kicked in and the doors shut. "EDI. Contact the Dreisstrager and request transfer of Mika's mobile suit."

"Shepard. I already have requests for two others. I shall add it to the list. Anything else Shepard?"

"Coffee. And lots of it."

"A request has been sent to Mess Sergeant Rupert." Shepard sighed, it was going to be a long night.

Location:The Messhall of The Normandy

"So. Garrus. How was aboard a supercarrier full of xenotech, and 'humans from another dimension' and being in a fleet battle?" Jacob asked curiously. "Me? I'm still not a believer of that at the given moment." The armory officer glancing towards the blue haired individual and the Suit both drinking coffee black.

"Oh they most definitely aren't from this dimension." Garrus nodded before following his gaze. "You know what's even more scary? They're drinking alliance regular coffee Black. As black as their hearts." He teased lightly and conspiratorially. "I've seen a Yakuza. A paralyzed yakuza that looked like he was debating to let me live. Or to kill me on the spot with no questions. Probably with whatever food he was eating at the time."

"Wait. Yakuza? As in the Japanese mafia?"

"Organized crime type yes." The Turian nodded.

The blue haired man leaned subtly in towards the man in the suit.

"They sure like to gossip." SEVEN said quietly.

"Camaraderie thing. We're not any different in that regard." Chirico responded with a small smile. A very subtle twitch of his lips.

"You may be a guest on this ship. But those monitoring devices are for the safety of the crew." Miranda's voice rose up in tone, causing Jacob to stiffen. Even Jack herself perked up at hearing the girl scout of cerberus get her panties in a bunch.

"Hang on, is the girl scout yelling at someone who isn't me for once?" Jack asked, scooting her chair away from the table before walking over to the location of the disturbance. Followed quickly by Jacob and Garrus.

"Oh boy. This isn't good." Garrus sighed.

"You honestly thought you were going to hide listening devices this badly? The Imperial Palace had fourteen thousand that I couldn't find when I usurped the throne from my own dead family." Lelouch spoke matter of factly. "Please. The discussions between C two and I are of no concern to you."

"And neither are our sexual escapades. However if a charming woman such as yourself wanted to join us. Lelouch wouldn't mind. He does have Shirley back home as well. On top of Kallen and myself."

Garrus coughed embarrassedly at that statement. Jacob raised both of his eyebrows however at the offer. And Jack started laughing her ass off and pointed at lelouch.

"The scrawny school boy has more game then Our commander and the cheerleader combined. Damn. Someone give him a medal for not being shot." Jack giggled uncontrollably.

"I-I couldn't care less about your sex life. While you are on this ship. I ask that you not vandalize it any further." Miranda stammered, gathering herself and breathing deeply.

"I was led to believe this ship was sent on a vital mission to protect the human race. Does the crew know about this level of monitoring?" Lelouch asked while advancing towards Miranda.

"I don't answer to you. And if you continue this line of questioning, don't blame me for what happens." Miranda warned. Her fists clenched as her biotics flared a bit in response to her temper.

"The one who should be wary here is yourself Miss lawson." The green haired woman, C two said softly while observing something interesting in her hair, brushing out one of the knots. "You don't know the power you are flirting with right now."

"Miss Lawson. I assure you, so long as members of the Dreikruz are aboard this ship. I'm one of the more accepting individuals regarding surveillance. Better I find these than some of my compatriots." Lelouch said diplomatically. "However C two is right. You don't know what I can do. And I will not risk stating any commands right now."

"Not one step further."

As Lelouch took another step forward he stopped, making a confused noise as he was picked up off his feet as a force slammed into his body. Several things happened simultaneously. The doors to the crew quarters opened up revealing, Chakwas holding the ear of a lightly protesting Orga. Lelouch was flung backwards, striking the bulkhead at a bad angle with a snap being heard as his neck broke. One of the Dreikruz guests, a small 16 year old girl let out a shocked scream.

"Oh my. Cat's out of the bag now." C.C commented unworriedly.

"Executive Officer Lawson, have you lost your mind?" Chakwas asked sternly.

AN: Hello, Hiro wolfgang here. This was to test implementing a smarter character/villain that still has his faults. And see how things go if someone is able to get away since the Dreikruz are currently still locked to that one sector for the time being. While they are powerful they're going to have to start seeking work-arounds or solutions to a suddenly dried up supply chain on valuable materials.

If Seprak is well received in the coming chapters he could very well survive long enough to be of help to Mitsuba and crew! But I'll leave his fate up to public reception and reviews. And Lelouch is getting out into the Galaxy, So TIM beware.

CyberDragoon9286 here as well. I have to say that it's been a delight to help Hiro here with His story as soundboard/beta/co-writer/research aide… I'm really not sure what to call myself so I will stick with PAL. anyway we have a lot of ideas and hope those that read these get their own and try writing.

Hiro: Also the amount of research one has to do mid writing in order to get space action right. Just when I think I've nailed it I have to answer the sudden question of X got shot by Y. What happens? Several times.

Dragoon: Another thing that bothers the heck out of me is Mordin speak… that wordplay is hard when you are trying to write in it…

Hiro: The amount of 'this is wrong.' "No, it's Mordin speaking." 'damn it'

Dragoon: I do that about 8 times a session of writing.. I sees the 'Mistake' and go to correct it before i have to control Z it to fix my own opps

Hiro: I do hope to continue writing for the foreseeable future but I am a few months out from a move. Our goal is for bi-weekly updates. If we output more, hey bonus..

Dragoon: I do want to say thank you to a few sources we used in this. Firstly thank you wiki. Thank you to the youtuber called Spacedock your theoreticals have helped answer most of our issues.