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Espacole and Spork

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By the next day, Pyrrha found herself working under Miranda, of all people, in one of the sprawling work camps at the base of a plateau. It had been a mining camp, apparently. Surrounded on three sides by towering concrete walls with refineries just inside, and landing pads on top where aircraft would land, load up the refined goods, and leave. All without ever seeing the roughly thrown together shanty at the heart of it all, where the slaves toiled day in and day out, and through the night, too, from what she'd been told.

It made her sick…

And it made her happy to have ended it, and to have volunteered to start getting what little aid the Normandy could to the people while Miranda and Jacob catalogued minerals and ores. Which, from what Legion had implied, were very valuable, and would more than recoup Cerberus for its losses from its part in the endeavor. Even if that meant watching long, bulbous transports coming down to take the ore and refined metals leftover in the refineries away.

Because Credits were king, it seemed…

"Don't eat too quickly, or you could get ill!" Pyrrha repeated for the fourteenth time in the last ten minutes, shaking off the dark thoughts and handing over the bowl of purposefully thin soup. The withered Salarian gave her a look and she smiled and explained, as she had almost as many times, "Malnourishment is complex. Alliance doctors will be with you as soon as possible to explain everything and give you a check."

"Alright…"

The last few hours had passed like that, ever since the sun had risen and the Turian fleet had come into system with its troop carriers. Other parts of Tanith were still fighting and, in the distance, she could see one of the Turian troop carriers coming in to land. It was met by missile fire from the ground, but nothing punched through its defenses and it landed more or less safely for the Turian assault force to take another city. Which meant more refugees or, like they'd done a handful of times, them moving their care base up to the next occupation zone. Which seemed risky to her, but…

That was why she and Penny were here - they were the toughest among them, and kept their Aura up at all times.

"Thank you…" A Turian a few feet away nearly shouted as she herded a couple smaller, lankier Turians forward to take little plastic containers from Penny. She was synthetic, so the different compositions between the two species weren't relevant, but she still wore gloves. For their comfort, she said. The two kids nearly ripped open their containers then and there before the mother thwacked them on their heads and said. "Not here - we're in the way. And say thank you!"

"Thank you!" They both chirped quietly, turning and shuffling off before their mother sighed and followed.

Pyrrha watched them go for a moment as a Krogan with a wounded leg dragged himself to her and she turned, smiling and offering him two of the little bowls for a Krogan ration. "Make sure not to-"

"Shit doesn't track onto Krogan biology, Human." The scarred alien snapped, turning to hobble off without another word. Or anything more than a grunt in thanks.

"You're welcome…" She sighed, shaking her head and silently wondering what the hell the Batarians had done that gave a Krogan a limp. Whatever it was, she imagined it was enough to earn forgiveness for his roughness.

The next person, a Salarian woman in light wraps with a hood made of sheets tucked around her head, came up before Pyrrha could dwell on it further.

The next hour passed in that way, working to get food, water and even medicine, occasionally, to the slaves they'd liberated. Others came to help, towards the end. Turian soldiers came first with food, medicine, armor and clothing heaped onto rolling APCs colored a dark grey and pockmarked by small arms impact. They opened a dozen of the same sort of station the Normandy had been running on its own, catering to the Turians and - rare, admittedly - Quarians needing care while more were ferried into the work-camp from nearby. Soon after, Alliance soldiers joined them, filling the open-air center where assemblies had once been called with soldiers, doctors and crewmen helping whoever they could and ripping down the dilapidated shanty buildings.

They were replaced by rectangular prefabs lowered by Turian gunships, with cabling spanning down from their forward-sloped, predatory wings.

"Nikos." She turned to look over her shoulder as Shepard appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Her armor was dirty, and she had a bandage wrapped around her stomach, but she seemed fine enough. Nodding her hello, she said, "Come on. We;re moving."

"Already…?" She blinked, "To where? It looks like they're headquartering the relief efforts here."

"We're leaving the planet to the Turians and the Alliance." She answered, earning a frown from the Mistralian. Before she could say anything, though, Shepard pushed on, "Hackett wants us scouting for the next push. And for any more… Surprises."

"The Collector warship…"

"Exactly." She nodded, "Aria says they didn't come through her system, or the Relay, as far as she knows. But Collector ships aren't just tech. They're-"

"Organic." She realized, "You think they're growing Collector ships somewhere?"

"Hackett thinks it's possible, and we're tasked to finding out." Shepard answered, turning and calling out, "Polendina! We're going."

"Okay!" The smaller woman chirped, handing out a last plastic-container and turning as a pair of Turians came over to take over. Smiling, she said, "I have forty two meal-kits ready, but only eleven medical packs. Please resupply accordingly!"

"Uh…" One blinked, "Alright."

"Thanks?" The other offered unsurely, eyeing the Cerberus markings on the Commander's shoulder and flicking his mandibles.

"You are very welcome, friends!" She nodded, turning back to them while Pyrrha smirked. Quietly, she said, "I am ready to depart!"

"Good. Come on, the Kodiak is waiting." She grunted, turning and heading out through the slowly changing work-camp as more of the shanties came down and were replaced by emergency housing, storage, and medical centers that slowly cropped up to thin the crowd at the main square. As they walked, Shepard talked, "Since I know you'll ask, Tanith is almost entirely secure, and Alliance relief fleets are on their way. Turian, too. The survivors will be fine."

"I'm happy to hear it." Pyrrha hummed, "Though… I had more or less assumed as much, given our departure."

"Fair."

"So…" Pyrrha hummed curiously, "Where are we headed?"

"Straight to the heart." Shepard answered quietly as they reached a hole blown in the wall and rounded its ragged corner. A Kodiak was waiting and, as it opened and Miranda stepped out to greet them, Shepard turned to her and frowned. "Intel says that ship came from Harsa. That's the Batarian capital system. If we find them growing these things there, we're to destroy them."

"And after…?"

"We have tactical weapons on board." Shepard answered, falling into her seat and frowning deeply. Pyrrha's eyes widened and she nodded understandingly. "If the Collectors didn't just have more ships, that means they are growing these remotely. And that means they need… Meat from somewhere. Theoretically. Which means that they're taking it-"

"From the slaves." Pyrrha murmured, taking her own seat while Miranda and Jacob eased into their own. "Still. Tactical weapons…"

"We're to target the capital, their ship building assemblies, and then have EDI hack their comm buoys." Miranda cut in, before Pyrrha had much time to dwell on it. She pursed her lips and sighed, then shrugged, "Civilian casualties will be kept to a minimum and, with their defenses shattered, the coalition can besiege Khar'shan."

"With the capital gone, hope is the military folds." Jacob added, "In whole or in part, doesn't matter. The Council's forces can handle the rest, all broken up."

"And then," Shepard sighed, "the Batarians see their first real election in centuries, and, hopefully, the world is a better one."

"Yeah." Pyrrha nodded, closing her heart to the death they were likely to deal. The Reapers had to be the priority, she knew. But…

"You're not involved." Shepard snatched her out of her thoughts and Pyrrha looked up. The Commander flicked Penny a look, too, and sighed, "Whatever happens, you blame on me. You're just on the same ship. Handle it. Understood?"

"I…" She sighed and nodded, "Yes, Commander."

At least so much destruction would probably please the God of Darkness…

Which was another thought she didn't let herself dwell on.

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"We're underway." Shepard reported shortly after the holodisplay constructed her holoform and projected it for him. He turned in his seat and cocked his head, and she added. "Nikos is unhappy, yes. And I don't know why you care about that."

"Because she is an incredibly powerful asset." Albeit an uncooperative one, he left unsaid. Turning his chair, the Illusive Man frowned and said. "It benefits us both to keep her… Well, happy. As much as possible."

"Nuking a city doesn't do that…"

"Do you disagree with the plan? Do you, perhaps, have a better one to suggest to me?" He gave her a kind moment to answer and, when she didn't, nodded wearily. Taking a long drink from his glass, he sighed and shook his head. "No. The Batarians will not relent, and we can not continue to ignore them. Not with what's coming."

"I know. But…" Shepard paused for a moment and he was curious if she would actually argue against their plan in spite of having no alternative. Which would have been an interesting turn of events, to be sure, if not a wholly welcome one. But, finally, she just asked, "How are you going to escape the war crime charges? Dropping nukes on the capital isn't exactly in the Citadel Accords."

"I have a dozen or so agents who have… Well, let us just say they aren't particularly loyal to me anymore." Or rather, they weren't useful. But Shepard would balk at simply burning agents for convenience. No, she needed the cover, even if a moment's thought would let her see through it easily enough. So he simply let it go with a final, "I will turn them over, and nothing the Batarians have will prove the Normandy was involved. Presuming they even discover you were there."

"These agents are already on Khar'shan," she hummed, "aren't they?"

"Spies." He nodded, "Where do you think my intelligence on them comes from?"

"Greedy government agents."

"Yes, well…" He shrugged, "Those, too, but I always prefer having some of my own assets involved. The better to keep everything clean and tidy, you understand."

"I suppose." She sighed, "If that's all…"

"It is." He nodded, waiting until a few seconds after the hologram faded to press a few keys on his chair. The input code dialled out, to a research station orbiting Jupiter, where a woman in a fitted black suit answered with her hands clasped behind her waist patiently. "Doctor Amata."

"Sir." She returned, "You want your update?"

"Yes." He nodded, "How is Project Elysium advancing?"

"On schedule." She answered, projecting a pair of displays directly onto the feed. One was of a body, still growing in its vat, while the other was of a simple ingot. "Thanks to Lazarus' secondary protocols, we already understand the growth process, so Ares is coming along excellently. Hephaestus is more of a challenge, but-"

"I know about the strange alloying and the chemical composite." What those were, he had little idea, but then they were dealing with things just a bit beyond base physics and metallurgy. "Did you find workable replacements?"

"Yes." She nodded, "We are ready to begin testing. Only…"

"What?"

"The alloy theoreticals call for a lot of platinum, palladium and pure titanium." She answered quietly, "I felt the expense merited speaking to you before-"

"Doctor, let me be clear." He cut her off, "If you send me a request for credits, you will receive them. I do not care if it competes with Lazarus. I will find the funds," even if he had to resort to Illium, and where he expected the new heart of the slave trade would grow, to do so, "so do your work. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir." She nodded, "Thank you, Sir."

He nodded, accepted the files, and ended the call without another word. Refilling his drink, he sighed and got to reading.

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Pyrrha grunted as she rose, counting out her tenth pushup and sucking in breath as she went back down for another. Around her, the cargo bay was relatively quiet, aside from a handful of crewmen checking over the pair of Kodiaks they held at the back while a few others took inventory of the crates that lined the outer wall, stacked as high as they could go. So high they reached the observation window above. Apparently, they'd already been sold - the ones they were selling, that was - to the Turians, and were going to be offloaded onto a ship by the Relay to Harsa when they refuelled. Which seemed grim to her, turning mercy work into pseudo-mercenary work, but…

Such was life, she supposed - and they did need the credits, apparently.

The weight laying on her back sighed as she hit her twenty fifth pushup and, amused, said, "You know, when you asked if I was free… I didn't think you wanted me subbing in for a hunk of lead."

"I'm almost done." She grunted, frowning and biting the inside of her cheek. "Are you… Displeased?"

"Hm?"

"I just wanted to spend time together." She grunted, headed towards her final ten. "But if you'd rather-"

"I'm just teasing." The thief cut her off, thumping Pyrrha on the head and earning a surprised little squawk of surprise from her as she lost focus and her hand slipped, and she flopped on the ground. Kasumi fell off, too, rolling on the mat and staring up at the ceiling with unamused, pursed lips. "Ya know, maybe I should have considered that before I did it…"

"Perhaps." Pyrrha sighed, rolling over and rising onto a knee to offer the thief a hand. She took it and Pyrrha stood, lifting her bodily and setting her on her feet with a smirk.

"You seem to enjoy that…"

"You're small." Pyrrha shrugged, turning to take a towel one of the crewmen tossed her and wiping at the back of her neck. "It's fun to carry you around, sometimes."

"Hey, it beats walking I guess…"

Pyrrha chuckled and shook her head, turning to ask, "Would you like to eat something-"

"All crew, prepare for docking procedures." EDI cut her off, the two women cocking their heads to listen as she went on. "All assigned crew are directed to prepare to assist Hegemony actors in offloading, refuelling and resupplying operations. All others are directed to quarters where feasible in order to avoid interference. Estimated time for operation - forty minutes."

"Well I am just splendid at timing, aren't I…?"

"I'll nab us some food, you wash your face." Kasumi chuckled, turning and heading towards the lift with Pyrrha trailing along behind her. "What's Penny up to?"

"Spending time with Thane and Samara again." Pyrrha chuckled, shaking her head. She'd asked what they were talking about, exactly, but all Penny would ever say was 'god junk and stuff' and that it 'was super fun'. Shrugging, she asked, "What shall we watch?"

"I'm thinking I get a ton of my tiny pizzas out of deep-freeze, bake 'em up, and we watch Code Geass." Kasumi turned as they stepped into the lift, smirking widely. "Nothin' fits that show better than pizza, believe me."

"Why…?"

"You'll see." She chuckled, "Maybe some wine, too?"

"I'm not much of a drinker…"

"I only have sweet wine." Kasumi rolled her eyes, waving her off, "Not super alcoholic. And besides, gotta relax while we can! Right?"

"I suppose…" She sighed, shaking her head and finally nodding. "Alright. Pizza sounds rather lovely right now, if nothing else."

"There's my girl!" Pyrrha blushed at the words, but Kasumi ignored her, meandering off towards the canteen while Pyrrha was left to step into the bathroom.

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Sebine :

Here lesbians.