Tevos looks at the dark red drink in her hands before frowning, "And you drink this... Gunfire... before combat?"

"Not every time." Ladochka replies insightfully, "But when we have time, yes."

Tevos knows she will drink the beverage with all the required gusto, as she knows not doing so could be a huge disrespect. Turians have a similar tradition of asking the Spirits for guidance by inhaling wood cut from particular trees grown on the graveyards of war heroes. However, she can understand their practice due to the Turian primary religion, so why do Humans drink alcohol? Indeed any alcohol before any battle is a bad idea. "Why?"

Ladochka picks raises her glass to her eye level and observes the mixture of black tea and rum. The drink, she must admit, looks less appetising than one would hope. "To give courage?" She says aloud, "To give us our last drink or send us merrily off to what awaits. No matter the why, this is the way, and we try not to deviate."

"And what is the history of it?"

Ladochka glances to Alenko, who is talking to the ships sergeant major, before answering, "It started multiple hundred Earth years ago by the Army of what at the time was one of the largest world powers when they fought with muskets and cannons. It has since become a tradition in most Human forces."

"So is this a sip job or..."

"Down in one," Ladochka answers before hushing her partner and turning to give Alenko her attention. Having finished his conversation, the man is now standing on a slightly raised platform so he can be seen.

"To what awaits," The man states before raising his glass slightly.

"To what awaits," The rest of the crew reply before, as a collective, they sink their shot. The entire biological crew is in attendance for this ritual, with the Geth and the AI's crewing the ship.

There is a sombre silence till Alenko announces, "To your duties, fall out."

With a nod, Ladochka gives her empty glass to Tevos, "Well, see you in a day or two."

Tevos accepts the empty glass and blinks, "Do return."

"I'll try my best," Ladochka smiles grimly before replying, "Don't get blown up. I've been spaced before, and trust me, it's far from fun."

"I'll try not to," Tevos responds before blinking again and letting Ladochka give her a quick hug.

As they depart, Ladochka enters a shuttle to take her onward to Ferros, and Tevos leaves the airlock. As she enters the rest of the Ship, Alenko calls out, "Councillor, with me, I have something to show you."

"You do?"

"Yeah, something you will want to see," Alenko leads her deep into the belly of the ship, "This is the Ops Room." Alenko tells her with a voice that is nothing but serious, "We can directly control, talk to and see what our landing parties see."

Tevos could swear she witnessed an AI scowl at her before its holographic avatar disappeared. Most likely, she comes to realise it was Ultron. Edi, the Ships AI, is a curious one that has been polite enough to her, and Freya is bonded to her through Ladochka, so that would leave Ultron or another yet-to-be-introduced AI.

Tevos looks around the room to better understand what she is seeing. She has been in many spec ops rooms, and this room shares many similarities, monitors, communication devices, and people monitoring unknown signals and intel. The only significant difference is the array of holographic projectors that allow AI to enter and leave the room in a more physical sense and a highly abused-looking coffee machine. Ladochka was so excited to see the crew had real coffee and acted like a child presenting their parents with some brilliant thing they had just found when she got her first cup of 'real coffee'.

"Shepards team have these monitors dedicated to them," Alenko points to one side of the room, "And Williams team have these monitors. Despite breaking protocol, you will be welcome to join me in this ops room when they get ground side."

Tevos acknowledges the comment before looking at the monitors dedicated to Ladochka's team. From this room, she can see their vitals, location, logistics, and a live stream from implants in their eyes. As she watches on, she notices everyone is asleep. "Do they usually sleep before battle?" She asks.

"They have all had some shots to send them under for just under two days. The shuttles need to be as cold as possible to go unnoticed as a rock, meaning the shuttle is almost powered down. Gravity, environmental control systems, and lighting are all turned off. That shuttle is far from comfortable to anything awake."

"And if something goes wrong and they need to act?" Tevos asks, "What then?"

"There are some Geth are onboard," The 2IC replies, "They can power up in seconds few."

The two are interrupted by a voice over the ship's internal comms system, "Commander Alenko, the Captain has awoken."

/.../

12 hours later.

Tevos looks herself up and down in the mirror for a few seconds before blinking in satisfaction at what she sees and turning to walk towards the Captain's quarters. Captain Shepard had invited her to a formal dinner to discuss recent events, but Tevos suspected there may be more to it.

After knocking on the door and waiting for a few moments, the doors automatically open, and Shepard calls out, "Please, come in,"

Tevos does as asked and looks around. A small living room converted into a dining room is connected to what she assumes must be the bedroom and bathroom. In the centre of the dining room is a lovely wooden table with matching chairs, and at the top of the table, a large monitor adorns a wall. Around the surrounding sides of the room are numerous whiteboards and planning aids. Overall, this room could serve many functions, from a private dining room to an office to a meeting room. On the wooden table are two placemats opposite one another, with all the matching cutlery and wine glasses.

"Well," Shepard says as he sees her, "Now I feel underdressed." He is wearing only a collared shirt and some planters, "But now I can see how you got my worse half's attention." Shepard knows he would have tried it if Ladochka wouldn't flay him alive.

Tevos blinks, "I may have miss judged your invitation." Her black gown is definitely suited for a more formal event.

"Well, no worries," Shepard gestures to a chair at the table, "Please, sit down."

Tevos takes a seat, allowing Shepard to take his position opposite her. "So," He begins, "Red or white?"

"Sorry?" Tevos asks.

"Wine."

"I wouldn't know," Tevos replies, "I am not acquainted with Human wines."

"Well," Shepard replies, reaching for the white wine, "We have chicken for starters, so white it is." He pours both of them a sizeable glass before taking a quick sip. "So," He then begins, "Do you go by Tevos or Shepard?"

Tevos is about to say 'Councillor,' however, she stops herself at remembering his link to Ladochka. "Tevos will be fine."

"Tevos it is then." He replies before filling two glasses up. "So, before we get into business, how is my sister doing?"

Tevos considers for a moment before answering, "She has her difficulties, small issues that cause considerable strife, but she has adapted well to living amongst my kind. She is considerably less stressed these days but certainly as stubborn as you can probably remember."

"She was stressed?"

"Wouldn't you?" The Councillor enquires, "Being forcibly stripped from the marines and cut off from your people for an unknown period? She may not openly admit it, but it took its toll."

"Well, if she is as stubborn as usual, it would seem like she has bounced back to her typical self."

"Ha," Tevos chuckles, knowing the statement to be very accurate, "In her words, 'as stubborn as a mule'."

"How did she overcome it then?"

Tevos takes a sip of her wine before answering. The wine is sweet, but nothing compared to some Thessian wines. Would she have another glass? Yes. Would it sell well in Council space? Highly unlikely. "New hobbies. Did you know she enjoys forging blades?"

Shepard scratches his forehead, "No, not something I could see her doing either."

"Well, you ask her to make a Mosaic Damascus knife, and she can put out something worthy of an exhibit. I believe she and Nyx are carrying blades of her creation into battle today." At this idea, Tevos has a nervous shiver running down her spine.

"I do not doubt it," Shepard replies, "She has always put in the effort to master her interests. How did she get into it?"

"She got bored of splitting punching bags and needed something else to focus her attacks on. Turns out molten metal was that outlet."

"Well," Shepard begins after consuming some of his wine, "I will need to make sure to get a knife from her next time we visit the Citadel. For now, however, we can get down to business."

"Oh?" Tevos asks; she notices the subtle change in the Captain's demeanour and posture. If this was her wife, she would say Ladochka was about to approach an uncomfortable topic, "How so?"

"Unfortunately, we have crossed paths already. It has complicated matters as you are now obliged to inform your people we are operating in your space." Shepard is under no illusions that Tevos would sound off like a canary the second she is returned to her space if he does not offer her something.

"In a stealth vessel no less, contravening many laws and agreements, and you are operating with Geth, a known aggressor to my society. " Tevos informs, "All aggravating factors. By all rights, the Council should be convened as a matter of urgency and military fleets sent to escort you from our space. The Salarians and Turians would be furious." The Turians would be furious because their space has been infringed, and the Salarians because they failed to spot them.

"But not the Asari because that would be to the benefit of neither of us," Shepard says with an annoying smirk.

Tevos takes a slow sip of her wine, allowing her to eye the man and judge his posture before prompting, "Do go on."

"You personally have sent agents to scout the Collectors, yes?" Shepard watches Tevos for any change in emotion, facial feature or posture, but the Councillor gives nothing away that he can notice; only Ultron whispering into his ear can see the minute details. "Well, I know you or someone in your government has. What I can offer you in exchange for a concession is coordinates of where the Collectors are based and how to get there."

"And your price?" Tevos responds after a moment to think and calculate. There are dozens of confirmed reports of where the Collectors have come from, but the real question is how to get there themselves. Tevos also knows there are numerous Matriarchs she could list easily who would commission a retaliatory fleet with this information.

"Permission to operate in Council Space to combat our mutual enemy," Shepard responds.

Tevos blinks, "That is a tall request, even for a Councillor."

"But within your authority." The man replies, "An Asari IFF code, and we are golden."

Tevos considers some more before clenching her fists, "You dock at any port not controlled by the Asari, and you will have no success. Your code will be nullified, and difficult questions will be raised. Some would see it as espionage and declare Humanity a hostile nation."

"We don't need to dock other than to offload you."

"Eezo?" Tevos asks, "Food? Ammunitions? Come, Captain, you are wiser than this if Ladochka is anything to go off. Asari IFF codes get you nothing in the grand scheme and only hard-to-answer questions for myself."

"So, what are you offering?"

Tevos fights the urge to tap her fingers a few times; it is an annoying habit that broadcasts to all that she is hard at work thinking. Finally, after a sip of wine, she says, "The Council has its Spectres, the Salarians have the Special Tasks Group, the Turians have the Black Watch, and my Species has the Matriarchs Circle. The Collectors are after Asari, so I am willing to authorise you to officially operate under the Asari banner in Asari and exclusive Council-recognised space on the condition a Matriarch operates from this vessel. You will need no IFF code."

"That doesn't get us into Turian or Salarian space."

"No," Tevos agrees, "No, it does not. But I know of no attack on Turian or Salarian space. So for your current needs, this should be adequate. You also gain the skills and knowledge of a Matriarch, which is something on its own."

Shepard tops his drink up before looking to the door as someone lets themselves in, "Then we have an agreement to come to." Then, he says, "But first, starters are here."

/.../

15 hours later.

Tevos looks to the roof as some snare drums can be heard making a beat and then to her surroundings as people begin to stand from their seated positions and move around the ship, moving with clear intent. The purpose of the drums is lost on Tevos, however.

After reaching for Ladochka's old phone, which chimed a notification from a hidden pocket, she finds a message from Freya informing her the ship is preparing for battle. She decides to move to the Ops Room and arrives just as Alenko states, "Prepare to fire volley 1." Tevos is not surprised that it is not Shepard making the call since he has been unconscious for most of the planning cycle. This is Alenko's battle.

The drums can be heard again, but the beat is different from the first instance.

There is an unmistakable tremor through the ship as a round is launched from what Tevos can only assume is a Mass Accelerated Cannon. This is followed another two times.

"Time for volley 2."

A man sitting at a control panel speaks aloud, "2 hours 14, 32 and counting."

"Time till impact on the Collector Vessel?"

"2 Hours, 21, 11 and counting."

Alenko looks to a screen as a countdown begins, and then he states, "Signal, all arms stand down."

There is another drum beat across the ship's internal speaker system, allowing Tevos to realise the drums are a means of sending messages to the entire crew. When Alenko is free, she asks, "Why the drums?"

"Tradition," The man replies, "And it is efficient for sending simple messages. Has anyone sized you up for a temporary hard suit?"

"No?" Tevos informs as much as she asks.

"Hmm," Alenko replies before stating, "XO leaving the deck." He then looks to her, "When this ship enters battle, we all need to wear hard suits in case of hull breaches, fires, or for extra protection from shrapnel." He leads her to a room on the ship that looks similar to an armoury. After a machine takes her size, it prints her a simple hard suit with the bare minimum of life support features. "When we enter battle, you need to wear this."

2 Hours 14 later.

Tevos once more finds herself in the Ops Room after hearing the snare drums once more. Inside she sees everyone in hard suits. "Fire volley two," Alenko states, but Tevos feels nothing vibrate through the ship.

A few seconds later, someone announces, "Time till impact, 7 nought."

Tevos can feel her heart rate begin to steadily rise at this news. This ship is about to enter battle.

Noticing Tevos out of the corner of his eye, he frowns at her and then looks back to the clock. "Drop stealth systems at exactly 3:14." He then turns to Tevos, "Now is the time to get your hard suit on. The Collectors are going to know we are here in minutes few."

Tevos returns to the room once she is donning her hard suit, and just as a man states, "Collector's vessel is on an intercept course. Long-range drones indicate 6 successful hits."

Alenko nods. He would have loved to empty his entire clip of ammunition at the Collectors, but his ship would have warmed up long before their hits arrived, allowing the Collectors to know his plan. As it is, 6 shots, albeit powerful shots, tested the stealth systems.

"Alert ground teams, they have clear skies and are cleared to land. Helm, take us to VP Alpha. Signal. Cooldown." Another set of drums fills the air. Alenko then looks to Tevos, "We need to keep that ship entertained for as long as the ground teams need. This will be a long and protracted ship-on-ship battle in which we are the mouse. This mission ends when we have our ground crews and have lost the Collector ship."

2 hours later.

"So..." Ladochka says to Nyx. They are both huddled behind a large rock, waiting for their signal to move, "You and Traynor?" Ladochka has caught them a few times getting close to one another. Before Nyx can respond, infamous tell tales of conflict echo in the distance. Ladochka and Nyx share nods before breaking cover and slowly making their way forward down the cliffside, weapons raised. The entrance to the Prothean subsurface structure is guarded by insect-looking creatures, more commonly known as Collectors, and the Beta team has just dragged the majority of them away using a Turian APC as a distraction.

Seeing two Collectors standing guard over the entrance, Ladochka gives a hand signal to Nyx, telling her to aim at the right guard, and then with her rifle, she aims at the left guard. The rounds are subsonic, and the weapons are silenced, but the bullets are heavy and carry enough energy to put a charging bull elephant on the floor.

After a moment to consider, Ladochka tries throwing a rock off a nearby wall. It works in games and movies, so why not real life? Wrong, the Collectors stand like robots, not blinking or even swaying as their knees tire. With a shrug, she retakes her aim. "3...2...1...Fire." Ladochka then says into her comms system, and both fire their weapon simultaneously, resulting in two Collectors hitting the floor with a satisfying thump.

Making their way through the door previously guarded by the Collectors, the duo silently venture down the tunnel, conscious that they are in a vulnerable VP. If a Collector comes to either side of the tunnel, there are only two ways they can go, deeper or back out. Fortunately, this does not happen.

A vast open cave is revealed at the bottom of the tunnel, and a lift is waiting to take them to the bottom of the cavern. No more enemies are in sight, but this does not mean they are not nearby. "Can you slow my drop?" Osh asks Nyx, to which the Asari nods, already understanding what the ex-soldier wants to do. Unfortunately, lifts are loud and draw too much attention when you want to be sneaky.

"Remember, gravity is a tenth stronger here," Osh informs.

"Got it," Nyx replies. She was in the missions briefs and knows just as much as Ladochka about this world. Ladochka climbs a barrier and steps off, shortly followed by the Asari. The drop is fast, but the Asari slows their fall just before impact, so the landing is as if they had only dropped a metre.

Immediately looking around, Ladochka takes note of her new surroundings, no enemies to fight, a large mining laser on its side and an Asari stuck in some weird blue energy field. The Asari is talking random gibberish and is not right in the mind, but the important part is the Asari is who they have come for.

Realising that the only way to free the Asari is to power up the mining laser, Ladochka grimaces; it will make enough sound that everyone and their dog will know they are up to something. "Ash," she says through her comms. "I'm about to make an awful lot of noise, so you need to pin 'em down if you can."

"No can do," Comes a reply as much as a pant from the Marine, "We are the ones pinned down. These guys are sending a lot of lead down range, and the Farixen is smoked."

After a sigh, Ladochka replies, "Roger. Make sure that shuttle comes in schnell machen once I need it."

Walking up to the laser Ladochka removes a glove and flicks her finger at it, allowing some nano-bots into its circuitry. In seconds, Freya confirms she has control over the laser. With a silent hand gesture to Nyx, the duo take cover and then the laser fires, drilling its way into the volcano with a tremendous roar. "We all heard that," Ash's voice comes over the comms system, "They are withdrawing to your location. You have a few mins tops."

After as little as a look at Nyx to convey their subsequent actions, the two dash through the hole created and find another elevator that will take them up and behind the trapped Asari. Freya quickly gains control over it and raises the platform. Arriving at the Asari's level, Ladochka Finds a control panel, then flicks some more nano-bots at it, and shortly after, the field disperses. The Asari drops onto the floor, not strong enough to stand alone. Ladochka pulls her over her shoulder in a fireman's carry without thinking about it, and Freya activates the elevator, causing it to ascend. "Ash, we have the package. Is the shuttle ready?"

"Inbound," Ash replies.

As they near the top of the lift, Ladochka's stomach drops as she notices five Collectors awaiting them; worse yet, one of them is glowing a bright orange. She knew this mission had been too easy. Dropping the Asari, she covers behind a large crate, and Nyx does the same. Hopefully, they have not been spotted.

As the elevator stops, Ladochka listens carefully, but neither she nor Freya can hear anything, no breathing from the enemy, no footsteps, no readying of weapons. It would be terribly spooky and equally terrifying if it were not a life-or-death situation.

Suddenly, something mighty powerful hits the cover Ladochka is hiding behind, tossing her away from her protection like a play toy. Ladochka expected a hail of bullets to greet her, but a deep voice with mechanical undertones broke the silence, "Human, aggression factor useful if controlled."

Freya drops the elevator by a meter just as Ladochka quickly rolls back behind some cover and takes a second to recover her breath; whatever had hit her hurt enough to wind her.

As she gets behind cover, rounds begin to pepper their surroundings forcing Ladochka to shout at Nyx, "Switch to secondaries," She says, allowing the Asari to use a more powerful unsilenced weapon. Knowing they are both pinned down and unable to return fire, Ladochka then unclips two smoke grenades and tosses them a few feet in front of her cover, allowing both her and Nyx to change locations. The weapon fire from the Collectors slows but does not stop, nor does it follow them to their new cover locations.

With Freya's help, Ladochka manages to eliminate four of the Collectors, being able to trace their weapon's fire trajectories and return fire to their likely locations. It was a gamble. Had it not worked, it would have given her position away, but it worked a treat.

With only one enemy left, Ladochka frowns as a glow approaches through the smoke like a raging fire. "Nyx," Freya says quietly over their comms, "We have faced this before. It is going to take a lot to take down. Go liberal with your ammunition. Open fire in 3...2...1" Ladochka opens fire from her new location, still hidden by the quickly dispersing smoke, and lands a few headshots, but the alien does not fall. Instead, a black ball comes towards her, and not wanting to find out what it is, Ladochka quickly changes location. This story repeats multiple times until the smoke is clear and the glowing Collector looks right at her. How it knows she is Human under her armour makes Freya curious, but Ladochka doesn't care. She wants it dead.

Leaning out of cover, Osh notices it is staring right at her, and before she pulls the trigger, it says, "Shepard, viable possibility."

Ladochka moves to fire at it, but before she can pull her trigger, the Collector burns into ashes, leaving little behind, "What was that about?" Nyx asks as she leaves her cover, feeling relatively ineffective after that entire confrontation.

"No idea," Osh says before standing from her own cover. "Nor do I want to find out. Come on, let's get out of here." Then, just as Ladochka gets the delirious Asari over her shoulder again, the floor begins shaking, "Run." Freya then says to them both.

Getting outside the cave moments later, Ladochka looks around; there is absolute carnage as Collectors are peppered with 30mm high explosive rounds from a shuttle. Realising they should get somewhere high to get picked up, the duo make their way to a high spot, but Ladochka stops at seeing a dead collector. "Ash, did you get a collector corpse?"

"Too busy trying to stay alive."

With a scowl, Ladochka picks the corpse up, swings it over her other shoulder, and begins running behind Nyx as best as she can. Getting into the shuttle, she is almost gasping for air; between the heavy Collector, limp Asari, the increase in gravity, and running upstairs, she feels like she has run a marathon.

/.../

3 hours later.

"She will be fine," The Doctor replies while eyeing a bay surrounded by curtains, "Very dehydrated, in moderate starvation mode, and with a dire need for a night's rest, but it is nothing I can't handle." Seeing Tevos's concern, she adds, "But she will be fine." Turning to Shepard, the Doctor says, "So, our enemy. Do you want our guests to hear?"

Shepard looks at Tevos before nodding, "These things are our common enemy." He gives her a stern look as he says this.

"Very well." Walking to the far side of the med bay, Doctor Chakwas opens a freezer door and pulls out a long tray. "You may be interested to know this was once a Prothean."

"A Prothean?" Tevos and Shepard state out loud as they look at the dead creature lying on the metal tray in front of them. The beast smells awful, like something had died, and decided to release the stench of rotten flesh all at once. Now and then, cockroach-like animals can be seen running between particular crevices on the alien. Ladochka shivers at the idea she had this... thing... on her shoulder.

"Yes." The Doctor replies, "Or it was. Its DNA has had extensive work, but this was once Prothean."

Tevos raises a hand to her forehead, and her fingers begin to rub at the headache forming, "I don't even know where to begin with that one."

"Well, one of them glowed like the ones from Fish Ship," Ladochka begins, "If I had to bet anything, our Reapers did this to them."

"And why does it know you by name?" Nyx asks.

"Your name is big in Citadel Space," Tevos says aloud, "But how did it know it was you?"

"Beats me," Ladochka replies, "I'm more concerned that I am a 'Viable possibility' for whatever that means."

"I do not think I want to know." Tevos says, "And nor do I wish you to engage with it any more. Captain, when do you intend on returning me to my people?"

Shepard puffs out some before answering, "We took some damage trying to escape the Collector ship, and it is long past time we had some shore leave. We will head to the Citadel once we have confirmed we have no unwanted followers."