As Rigel examined his actions with the benefit of hindsight, it became clear to him that he really should have bought a ship before freeing the slaves.

They might have been transported by then. Nova pointed out in his head.

True, but then they wouldn't have had to stand around all terrified while I sold the guns, drugs, and omni-tools then bartered for a ship large enough to move everyone.

We'll switch the order up next time if you feel strongly about it. Everything worked out, so I'm happy either way.

It hasn't worked out yet. You're sure we'll be cleared to land?

Rigel, I understand you typically have to fight off waves of foot soldiers while I work to break encryption, but the digital security here is far less impressive than it was back home. They're utterly terrified of making defense programs that can think, so I can just walk right through most firewalls. I scrubbed the ship free of all the nasty bits that would get us shot down. We'll be fine.

"This is Citadel control. Identify yourself." a voice crackled over the radio.

"Copy, Citadel control. This is the…Star-Jumper." Rigel said, spitting out a random name. "Requesting permission to land."

"Copy, Star-Jumper. State your business on the Citadel."

"We're here to sight-see and get some freed slaves on their way home."

"...Repeat your last, Star-jumper."

"Sight-seeing and dropping off freed slaves."

"I…This is above my pay-grade. Proceed to Docking Bay D12. You'll be met there by a C-Sec detail."

"Understood, Citadel control. Star-Jumper out." Rigel snorted. "No issues, huh?"

Oh relax. They probably just want someone to help the slaves. Keep Ace ready just in case.

Always.

Rigel steered the large cargo freighter he'd purchased on Omega to the left, angling to an intercept course with the Citadel. It was massive.

The only larger space-faring structure Rigel had been aboard was the Leviathan, Calus's flagship. That being said, the Citadel was almost more impressive. The pentagonal shape mixed with the ring created a truly awe-inspiring space station. Even if that space station would be torn apart by Calus's fleet. The few ships flying security detail just wouldn't cut it against Calus or Oryx's fleets.

Switching on the intercom, Rigel leaned towards the microphone and said, "We just got clearance to land. Secure yourselves however you can back there. We'll be docking at the citadel shortly."

Rigel brought the bulky freighter around to the designated docking area as gently as he could, but the ship hadn't been designed for elegance. As the docking clasps captured the ship, Rigel noted a small team of five figures in similar uniforms – two turians, one salarian, and a human in the lead.

C-Sec?

Most likely. They're a glorified police force, but be nice. We can't buy the ship I have lined up if you get into a firefight with law enforcement.

You say that like my only solution to any given solution is violence.

Nova elected not to respond.

Rigel punched a button that lowered the cargo bay door and headed into the back of the ship with the slaves he'd freed. All told, forty-five humans had been freed from the batarian warehouse, having been gathered together from several different arms of the operation.

"Who is in charge here?" a male voice called from outside the ship as the slaves began walking down the ramp.

The disembarking slaves parted like the Red Sea, revealing Rigel in all his confused glory.

"Um…I guess that means I'm in charge? I'm really just a glorified chauffeur." Rigel said as he walked up to the man who had spoken.

The human male gave Rigel a once over, saying, "You claim these people to be freed slaves. How do we know this isn't an attempt to illegally immigrate to the Citadel?"

Rigel paused mid-step to stare at the man. "You're shitting me."

"It is a common enough ploy. Now remove your helmet. The scanners can't ID you, and I need to ID you for my detainment log. I don't trust people I don't know."

"I guess we have that in common." Rigel said in a dangerous tone, his hand drifting towards Ace.

Keep it cool, Rigel. We don't want to get into a shoot out here.

And what do I do if he tries to imprison me for helping people?

…I'll start mapping out contingencies for when you inevitably become an enemy of the entirety of Citadel space. Nova said tiredly, projecting a sigh across their shared mental bond.

The C-Sec officer's eyes narrowed as he raised his rifle, the aliens around him following his motion. "Unknown mercenary, stand down now or be met with lethal force."

The slaves had stepped as far out of the firing lane as possible. Those unlucky enough not to have made it off the ship yet skirted along the far edge of the cargo hold, their backs pressed against the wall to be as far from the stare-down as possible.

"I was feeling really good after doing my good deed for the day. Don't make me ruin it by resisting your unjustified attempt to browbeat me." Rigel said coolly, his hand still hovering over Ace.

"What's going on here?" a new voice said.

Rigel spared a quick glance out of the corner of his eye to glimpse the newcomer. She was an asari. Dark markings framed her face. She wore white and blue armor with thermal clips and grenades hanging from her belt and bandoliers on her right arm. The only visible weapons on her person were a pistol on her belt and some type of rifle collapsed over her right shoulder.

The five C-Sec officers immediately snapped to attention.

"Spectre Vasir, ma'am." The human man said. "My name is Lieutenant Jar–"

"I don't care." the asari said dryly, walking right past him. She waved a hand dismissively. "Take the slaves down to HR. They'll set them up with accommodations until we can figure out what to do with them."

The man staggered as if she'd just slapped him. "But, ma'am, this is clearly a human smuggling operation. We have no way to–"

"That'll be all, Lieutenant." the asari said, her eyes fixed on Rigel.

Rigel watched in amused curiosity as Lieutenant Jar and his compatriots escorted the slaves away from the ship. The blonde-haired woman that was used as a hostage against him stopped and gave Rigel a tight hug, whispering one last thank you in his ear before she rushed after the others. When all the slaves had left the docking bay, Rigel returned his attention to the asari who was still standing there staring at him.

You know what a Spectre is? Seems like she outranks god with how she's moving around.

Agents who work directly for the ruling body of the Citadel. They're above every law there is and operate with impunity. Nova quickly supplied.

Well then, I guess I need to be on my best behavior.

"I appreciate the assistance." Rigel began conversationally, adopting a relaxed posture. "That could have turned very ugly for everyone."

The corner of Vasir's mouth pulled up in a smirk. "Why do you think I stopped that idiot? The last thing I need is you making a mess of my docking bay like you did that Hegemony holdout."

Nova, didn't you wipe all the footage from that place?

Yes. Be careful. I'm trying to figure out where she got her intel. I could go digging around in secure Spectre files but I'd trip a lot of alarms.

Just keep it surface-level then. I'll see if I can find out what she wants.

"I wasn't aware anyone had taken notice of my activities."

"Aria has eyes everywhere on Omega, and she and I have a working relationship." Vasir crossed her arms, looking over her shoulder. "We could keep standing here all squared-off and intimidating-like, or we could head down to Purgatory and have this conversation over drinks like civilized people. What do you say?"

Rigel pulled his helmet off his head and tucked it under his arm, smirking at Vasir. "Drinks sound pretty good right about now actually. Call me Rigel."

"Tela Vasir. Come on. My skycar is this way."

Tela led Rigel through a security checkpoint that beeped and flashed bright red when he walked through. A few pointed glares from the spectre got Rigel through the checkpoint with no questions asked.

"You sure you want me wandering around here armed? It seems like this much anticipated conversation will be easier for you if I'm defenseless." Rigel said, curious about Tela's angle.

Tela snorted. "I'm sure you're about as defenseless without a weapon as I am. Besides, it's not like weapons are outlawed on the Citadel. The big-wigs just don't want people bringing in their own. It's much more profitable to sell them here."

Past the security center was an open civilian space filled with a number of characters of varying species – humans, turians, asari, hanar, krogan. As Tela and Rigel passed through the courtyard, they drew dozens of interested looks. People whispered hushed conversations to one-another. Rigel couldn't determine whether they were interested in his strange apparel or in Tela. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.

"Seems like someone's popular." Tela said, having noticed the onlookers as well.

"I'd assumed that was for you. You're the Spectre. I'm just a stranger wearing strange getup."

"This is me. Climb in." Tela said, not commenting on Rigel's statement as they arrived at a slick blue vehicle parked in the middle of the courtyard. Given the dense civilian population of the area, Rigel inferred people weren't supposed to park there but that Tela did anyway.

Following Tela's lead, Rigel took a seat in the car. The doors closed automatically and Tela rapidly accelerated, navigating the Citadel with practiced ease. The trip took less than two minutes, ending with Tela parking her car right outside a building labeled 'Purgatory'.

Tela slid out of her car with Rigel following behind. As the duo passed through the entrance, Tela turned to one of the guards and said, "Make sure no one touches my ride."

The guard jerkily nodded his head, his eyes widening in a bizarre combination of fear and awe.

"You seem to get a lot of perks." Rigel said, conversationally as they walked up a flight of stairs into the club.

Tela shrugged her shoulders easily. "The job comes with perks. Why wouldn't I take advantage of them?"

Tela took a seat at the end of the bar. Rigel followed her lead and fell onto the stool immediately to her left, placing his helmet in front of him on the bartop.

"May I assist you?" a floating hanar said from behind the bar.

"Akantha." Tela said immediately, turning to Rigel with a raised eyebrow.

Order a beer. Nova advised in Rigel's head.

"I'll just have a beer." Rigel said aloud. Any particular reason? He finished in his head.

You typically order the strongest thing they've got. The strongest thing here, ryncol, would kill a normal human. We don't know how much Tela knows, and I'd rather her not report to her superiors that you can drink undiluted alcohol without keeling over.

Undiluted? I need to try some of that.

Later.

"So…" Rigel said, turning to face Tela as their drinks were served. "What can I do for you, Miss Vasir?"

Tela gave Rigel a flat look. "First off, cut the 'miss' crap. Just use my name."

Rigel shrugged, stealing a quick sip from his drink before saying. "Tela then. How can I help you?"

Tela laid an arm against the bar, her drink held in her other hand. "I've spent the last three months tracking down that crew you slaughtered. I was hoping to take some alive and use them to find the rest. You really screwed that up for me."

"I'd apologize for killing them, but they were shooting at me."

Tela snorted. "Don't get me wrong, I think you did good work taking them out. But now I have no leads and only a small arm of their operation has been dismantled. I was hoping you'd be willing to share everything you were able to pull from their systems before you torched the place."

Rigel raised an eyebrow at her. "I would've thought a government agent would be displeased at the rampant destruction of property."

"Please. It's Omega. No one gives a shit. Just keep your vigilantism confined to backwater hell holes and we'll get along fine." Tela downed a few gulps from her bottle, keeping her eyes focused on Rigel as she drank.

"Well, if you're not here to fight then I'd be happy to help." Rigel said, pleasantly surprised Purgatory wasn't about to host a deadly shootout. Holding up his left arm, Rigel activated his new omni-tool. It took him a moment of fiddling with the still-unfamiliar controls, but he was able to ping Tela's own omni-tool with an offer to share a data package. Tela accepted the package on her end and opened it on her omni-tool to sift through the data.

"Damn." Tela said, her eyes widening slightly as she surveyed the data. "Where are they getting this much Minagen X3?"

Rigel spun on his stool, turning to rest his back against the bar. "Couldn't tell ya. I found a stash of the stuff, but it was clearly just storage. I tried to find their supplier, but the whole operation was too compartmentalized to find anything useful."

Tela frowned. "Well that's annoying. I hate it when the scumbags are competent."

Rigel chuckled. "Yeah. It really makes clipping 'em a pain in the ass, doesn't it?" He took a long drink when he finished talking.

Tela fixed Rigel with a suspicious, sidelong gaze. "Where's the contents of that cache you found?"

Rigel smirked at her. "Do you want the truth, or would you rather have plausible deniability?"

"I'm a Spectre. Whatever I say is the truth, is the truth. I don't need plausible deniability."

Shrugging, Rigel said, "In that case, I emptied the cache out and sold it all to the Eclipse detachment on Omega. I needed the money, and they were more than willing to take it off my hands. They got the majority of the weapons I looted from that warehouse too."

Tela turned on her stool, mimicking Rigel's posture by leaning back against the bar. She looked forward, but her eyes weren't focused on the dance floor in front of her. "Why does Eclipse want Minagen X3? They typically try to keep things as close to above the board as possible. Rocking the boat screws them over. How much did you give them?"

"There were over sixty crates full of the stuff all told."

Tela's eyes were wide as she looked over at Rigel. "You're fucking with me, right?"

"Nope. I think the exact count was sixty-three."

Tela leaned back against the bar, once more looking out over the dance floor but not seeing anything. "What the hell are they doing with that much? That's way more than they'd be able to move without drawing too much attention down on themselves."

"Maybe they already have buyers lined up? Alternatively, they might be using it themselves." Rigel offered, sipping his beer.

Tela's forehead creased in thought. "They wouldn't take that much for personal use. In short bursts, that stuff is a strong booster, but overuse or overexposure will kill you. Why would they…" Tela's eyes widened.

Rigel leaned back and took in her expression. "I take it you've got an idea what they're up to?"

"I think my operation to bring down the Hegemony slaving ring on Omega just got postponed." Tela said, downing the rest of her drink in one go. "If Eclipse is involved in what I think they're involved in, I need to get on this now." Tela summoned up her omni-tool, flicking a few controls. The hanar serving drinks nodded to her in thanks as she turned to Rigel. "Thanks for the info and the drink. It's always good talking to another professional. If you find yourself on Illium anytime soon, look me up. We may be able to help each other."

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Good hunting, Spectre."

With a nod, Tela briskly walked out of Purgatory.

Well that was interesting.

Yes it was. Rigel agreed with his ghost. I think it's time we got a functional ship, don't you?

Yep. Head to the Presidium. Our dealer is there.

X

This feels needlessly excessive. Rigel thought, looking over the diagram of the ship Nova had sent to his omni-tool. It was a decommissioned Fenrir class corvette from the Alliance Navy. The Fenrirs had slowly fazed out over time as the Alliance updated their arsenal. This specific one had taken too damaging a hit for the Alliance to justify repairing it, so they'd sold it to a volus that fixed it up in the hopes of flipping it.

We have to get something large enough to be competent in combat, but something that's still small enough for the two of us to operate without anyone else.

What was wrong with our Edge of the Worlds?

Nothing. But that was home. We only ever needed to move between bodies within the Sol system so a jumpship was perfect. Now we're going to need to traverse the full galaxy. A corvette is our best bet.

These things are supposed to have a ten man crew, Nova. Not to mention this'll eat through almost everything we made off of Eclipse and we'll need to continually rearm and refuel it.

Crew isn't an issue. You're good for four people easily, and I can pick up the rest of the slack. Besides, we don't need the credits anymore. You have enough rifles, pistols, shotguns and other weapons you kept from the batarians to experiment and we can just program whatever else we need out of glimmer once our forge is up and running.

Sighing, Rigel nodded his head. Fine, I see the logic. So we pick up the ship and then what? Head to Mercury to set up our glimmer forge?

That would probably be a good idea. Once we're set there, I think we should head to Illium.

Rigel grimaced. Yeah. We accidentally started something nasty by giving Eclipse that Minagen, didn't we?

Tela seemed to think so, and she has more experience in this universe than either of us.

Then I guess we'll track her down once I've made myself some actual weapons. I clean up my own messes.

Powering down his Omni-tool, Rigel walked up to a volus sitting behind a monitor. The small reception area led to a much larger hangar where the volus kept his merchandise.

"How can I help you, Earth-clan?" the volus asked in a breathy voice.

"I'd like to take a look at the Fenrir you've got here. I'm looking to buy, but I'd like to give it a once over before committing." Rigel said.

The volus hopped off the stool it was sitting on excitedly, waddling over to a panel next to the door behind him and opening it. "Of course. Follow me, Earth-clan."

Rigel followed the volus through an impressively large hangar for a civilian to own on the Citadel. There were dozens of smaller starfighters and cargo freighters with the Fenrir being the largest ship in the hangar.

"It is in great condition." the volus said as they approached the corvette. "Equipped with two twin mass accelerator machine guns and six working missile pods. Four of the guardian nodes are also operational. All space that was occupied by the dysfunctional two guardian nodes and missile pod have been converted to cargo holds. It has–"

"Thank you, but I can look for myself." Rigel said, stepping up the lowered ramp of the ship. Any bugs or deficiencies?

He has a remote lockdown activation code to take back control of the ship, but I can disable it the moment we're airborne. I'll also scrub the ship's record and construct a new one. It would be a good idea to change the armor plating too. We don't want the Alliance after us for illegal salvage.

I thought you said the volus bought it legally?

He did. That doesn't mean the Alliance won't say it was stolen when they see it fully operational and try to reclaim it.

Fair point. Rigel walked through the rather spartan interior of the ship. There were two quarters for crew, each with five bunks; a mess and kitchen; a head; the armory and cargo holds; and the bridge which was combined with the navigation sweets. The ship was almost twice as large as Rigel's Edge of Worlds, but it came equipped with interstellar capabilities where his jumpship was merely interplanetary. As far as transport went, it would do well. It was large enough to get him where he needed to go and put up a decent fight; simultaneously small enough to avoid unwanted attention and dock almost anywhere.

"I'll take it." Rigel said as he walked back down the ramp, pulling up his omni-tool to transfer the credits.

The volus pressed the tips of his fingers together. "A great decision, Earth-clan. I will transfer the needed documents."

"There's a cargo freighter set in Docking Bay D12, send twenty-five percent of that payment back and it's yours." Rigel said after receiving a mental reminder from Nova.

The Volus seemed to consider the proposition for a moment then nodded. "Acceptable." His omni-tool flared to life and a fraction of the payment was returned to Rigel.

A short transaction where Rigel bartered as many spare parts as he could purchase with his returned money later, Rigel was strapped into his new ship, slowly lifting off out of the volus's hangar.

Nova? When he tries to shut the ship down, fry his systems. Maybe ensure there was a routing error that gave us an additional discount on the ship.

Already done. All the trackers and control programs are scrubbed. The moment he tries to activate them his business will be offline for at least seventy-two hours – too long for him to reclaim the ship through legal means or recover his lost funds.

Much appreciated, my friend.

Rigel angled the ship away from the Citadel towards the Citadel's mass relay. It was time to see what his old home was like in this strange universe.