The taxi landed on one of the lower platforms as a group of eclipse merc emerged and fired at them. Zenna opened up with her assault rifle as soon as the taxi landed. Short controlled bursts forced the mercs to get into cover allowing the three-man team to get out. Jack and Liara threw warp balls at the mercs. The gravity defying balls forced them out of cover allowing the team to finish them off. As soon as the last one fell, they moved up and checked the bodies.

Each one had the same top of the line military equipment that the mercs had back at Liara's office. Even their armour blocked their bullets. Most of them anyway, the soft skin was still the weakest points of the armour. Zenna pulled off one of the helmets and downloaded the comm frequency to her and the others comms. The two adjusted listening into the mercs screaming at each other.

"What in the Goddess' name is going on?" one of the commanders yelled.

"We've been breached," another said. "It's a fucking Justiciar!"

"Take her down, I don't care what it takes just take her down,"

"She's on level 56, heavy weapons requested,"

Zenna, Liara and Jack looked to one another before moving off towards the lifts. After hitting key to the closest floor, the team readied themselves, checking their weapons and gear. A practice that had been drilled into the three. As soon as the door opened, gunfire forced Zenna to bring up her hard light shield and Jack and Liara got into what little cover they could. Moving forward, the minotaur then threw a grenade at the mercs who scattered when it detonated. None of them seemed to be harmed.

But that didn't matter as Liara and Jack moved into cover. Jack, not much so as she bared her fangs and charged at the nearest asari, biting into her neck and ripping her head off. She then jumped onto another one. Liara was doing something similar with her biotics by ripping the mercs to shreds. Zenna pulled up her assault rifle and fired into a group of mercs at the far end of the room taking cover with a group of mechs.

But none were affected by her gunfire thanks to that armour of theirs. Gritting her teeth, she put her shield and weapon away before charging in. She slammed into a group of mercs and crushed them against a wall before drawing her axe and turning to the rest of the mercs her fangs barred,

OOOOO

The merc in front of her fired before taking cover. Her breathing became heavy as she began to charge her biotics. Fear filled her as she moved out of cover but before she could let off a shot, the Justiciar grabbed her and threw her into a wall. She fell and took a few panels with her. She tried to stand but the older Asari placed a foot on her back and held her down.

"Tell me, where is she?" the Justiciar asked.

"Fuck you Justiciar!"

"Find peace in the na…" she didn't have time to finish as gunfire peppered around her impacting her shields.

She began to charge her powers before another team came from the side then another and another surrounding her. Reacting quickly, she tried to find cover and grabbed her pistol. She fired a few rounds at one of the teams. It didn't do much as the rounds bounced off their shields. Not for the first time, she wondered how these mercs got tech like this. Prototype military grade hardware. Soon she was surrounded by several merc teams who focused on taking her down.

Even with her biotics, she wouldn't be able to take on this many mercs. She sighed, ejected the thermal clip and fired again. This time she managed to take out one of the mercs, but that did little other than take her shields down and wound her. She grunted as she moved back into cover and look at the wound on her arm. A soft sigh left her lips as she looked up.

"If this is my time, I will take it with honour," she said to herself.

After an application of medi-gel and reloading, a roar echoed in the room making people look around in confusion and shock. A moment later a large beast with horns on her head ran into a group of the mercs and slammed them against a wall. The room echoed with the sound of broken bones and squashing. The mercs reacted quickly and turned to face the newcomer, but another surprise emerged as a head of one of the asari vanguard rolled to one of the groups.

The mercs turned to see a tiger striped nekomata walk up while she licked the blood off her fur covered hand. Samara just blinked as she saw the two demi-humans literally pounce on the merc ripping them to sheds. She had herd about their strength, but seeing it in person was another thing. But then again, she wasn't seen many demi-humans in combat. But then another joined the fray.

An asari clad in a white outfit came in with biotics fully charged throwing one singularity after the other braking up the enemy lines. She landed and rolled before throwing a warp ball into the mercs. Gravity was negated and the mercs were pulled up from the ground. As the big demi-human ran past to get another group, she threw a grenade into the group. It exploded and engulfed the group into flames incinerating them.

Samara stood and walked out from her cover as the last of the mercs fell. "That was impressive," she said in a calm tone.

The three looked towards her. The two demi-humans gazed at her with cautious movements but the asari with them froze as she realised what she was staring at.

"I am impressed at the teamwork and," she looked towards the ripped-up bodies. "…efficiency in the way you did this,"

The larger demi-human walked up and looked at the asari. "Are you Samara? The Justiciar?"

Samara blinked but hid her emotions well. "I believe you have me at a disadvantage,"

"I'm Zenna Shepard," the demi-human smiled before indicating to her companions. "This is Jack and Liara T'soni. We're on a mission to stop the Collectors from taking human colonies, but we've been a bit side tracked with a mission for Liara here to find the whereabouts of the Shadow Broker,"

"The Collectors and the Shadow Broker? Those are two powerful enemies, and while I would like to help on your mission… I have my own mission to attend to," she indicated to the other tower. "These Eclipse sisters are harbouring a dangerous asari who I have been hunting for centuries and I have come too far to give up now,"

Zenna shrugged. "Where going the same way. There is a rouge Spectre that is on the payroll of the Shadow Broker. The way I see it, we help you, you help us,"

Samara looked up to the tower then looked back at the commander with a nod. "I agree, shall we?"

Zenna was about to say something but her head twitched to the side. Jack also did the same. Samara was out to talk but both Zenna and Liara held up a hand silencing her.

"Bomb," Jack said before the building shook.

"Demo charges, they must have been placed in case of an attack," Liara said as Zenna moved over to the window and looked around.

"The building is starting to tilt," she said and smashed the window. "There's a bridge not too far from here. If we get to that we can make it up the rest of the way,"

The others came over and looked over to the bridge which was close but there was no clear way to get to it.

"So, what's the plan?" Jack asked.

"I throw you," the minotaur said forcing Jack to blink in shock.

"Wait, no, don…" she tried to say, but her protests fell on deaf ears as Zenna grabbed her back straps and spun before throwing the protesting nekomata towards the bridge.

Survival instincts kicked in and Jack dug her claws into the side of the metal bridge. She adjusted her positioning as soon as she landed before her firey eyes turned to look at the commander.

"I'M GOING TO…." she tried to yell but her eyes widened as the building tilted even more. "Shit… HURRY UP! I'LL GRAB THEM!"

Liara was the next and protested even more than Jack. But Zenna throw her regardless and Jack used biotics to pull the asari towards the bridge as soon as she was in range. Liara grabbed onto the side of the bridge and pulled herself up onto safety. Samara was next and didn't protest, after all she had worse happen to her. With the building tilting even more, both Liara and Jack pulled the Justiciar to the bridge and helped her up and on.

Zenna was next. But because she couldn't throw herself, she turned back before making a run for it and jumped out of the window. All three biotics grabbed the minotaur and pulled her to the bridge as the second tower fell to the ground causing billions in damages. Zenna grabbed onto the side of the bridge and pulled herself up with Jack who gave her a not to pleased look.

"Do that again and I'll kill you," she said.

"Hopefully, we won't have to do that again," Zenna said as she drew her weapon. "Come on, we have a lot to do,"

OOOOO

"My tower is down; I have invaders inside my house and now I find out one of them is a justiciar and the other is a Spectre? Just what the fuck did you two bring me?" Nassana Dantis yelled at the two asari in front of her.

The Eclipse commander and Spectre didn't move from their spots as they stared down the rich bitch in front of them.

"Remember what you owe us," the Eclipse commander spat. "You would be dead if it wasn't for us,"

"And you'd be in jail if I hadn't convinced the Council that you aren't in the slaving business," Vasir added. "Like it or not, you owe us for what we helped you out with,"

"That doesn't mean I have to like it!" Nassana shot back before sighing and pinching her nose. "Look the ship will be ready soon and both of you will be off planet with me joining you. I am doing a lot to try and help you so the least you can do is let me…."

She trailed off as the door opened and guns turned to the unwanted guests. Nassana's eyes blinked as the ghost in front of her made it clear how not dead she was.

"Shepard?... But your dead." she said in surprise.

"Hell spat me out," Zenna quipped with a smile.

"And now your here to kill me,"

"You? No," the minotaur's eyes focused on Vasir. "Her yes. She has something of mine,"

"I doubt that you can take me on," Vasir said as she indicated to the others around her. "When I have an army with me,"

"Hah please, I faced down varren tougher than these guys," Zenna mocked.

The Eclipse commander was about to say something when a clank spooked the mercs and Spectre.

"Damn it. Check the other entrances," she ordered.

A new smell met Zenna's nose and she looked up to the air vent. Inside was a green shape that she couldn't fully make out, but she knew who it was. She let something drop to the floor causing all gun's focus to her again.

"Sorry, I dropped something," she said as she bent down to pick up a small chip.

"Wait," one of the mercs said as she walked up to the commander, bent down and picked it up.

She looked at it before turning to her commander. "Just a credit chit, mi…" before she could finish Zenna grabbed her head and snapped her neck in one swift movement.

As she did so, the biotics activated their barriers as the mercs began to fire. Zenna then threw the Asari's dead body at Vasir who didn't react quickly enough and was pushed out of the window and onto the landing pad. Nassana and the Eclipse commander turned to focus on the Minotaur but that was a mistake as Samara then pushed herself at the commander and pushed her out onto the landing pad as well.

That's when the drell made his moved and dropped down from the vents he took out two of the mercs allowing Jack and Liara to take on the other two while he focused on Nassana. He spun and took a hold of the back of her head while pressed his gun to her belly. A loud bang sounded and Nassana grunted as the Drell moved her forward and laid her on her desk. He looked up to Laira and Jack as they walked up to the window and watched as the Minotaur and Justiciar.

Vasir tried to recover but Zenna pounced on the Spectre pinning her down as her fangs barred. "You killed so many people that that building," she spat. "You have no excuse for that,"

"You and I are the same," Vasir shot back. "We do the dirty work so that the Council's hands are clean. You did the same when you ordered the human fleet. Thousands of your kin dead from your orders,"

"There is a difference between soldier and civilian," Zenna said as grabbed the data disk from the asari and picked her up by the collar. "I'm not surprised a coward like you didn't realise that,"

She walked over to the edge of the platform. Vasir's eyes widened.

"No wait…" she said.

"Enjoy the way down, murderer," Zenna then let go.

Vasir screamed as she fell but the minotaur turned her back on the Spectre and looked towards the Eclipse Commander who was trying to take on the Asari Matriarch in front of her. But the years of experience and training was clear as Samara blasted the commander sending her skidding across the platform. She nearly fell off but Zenna stopped her and grabbed her arm forcing it onto her back.

"Let me go you damn heifer!" she yelled and struggled as the Justiciar walked up to them.

"Tell me, what ship did she take?" Samara asked.

"Fuck you!" the commander spat, but in response pulled on the arm making the commander yell.

"Tell me and my companion will stop,"

"Go to….ahhhhh," she screamed as Zenna pulled again.

"Anything other than we want to know and I will pull your arm from your socket," she then leaned in. "And don't forget what I did that Spectre, I can do the same to you," she growled as she spoke making it clear she wasn't lying.

"Fuck both of you," she yelled as she thrashed even more. "I will not say any…. Ahhhhhh," Zenna pulled on her arm even more to the point of dislocation. "Ok ok, it's the Talamas," she screamed even more as Zenna continued.

"Don't lie to me. I can smell when you lie," she warned.

"And if you continue to lie, I promise that what I'll do will be worse than what my companion and her can do to you," Samara said her eyes glowing with biotic energy.

"DEMETER! She was on the AML Demeter," she said and Zenna relaxed her grip.

"Find peace in the embrace of the goddess," Samara said before snapping the commanders' neck. "Thank you, commander, I will join you on your mission,"

As Zenna let go of the dead merc, she watched as Samara got down to one knee and spoke.

"By the Code I will serve you Shepard. Your choices are my choices, your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my code," with that she stood and Zenna bowed.

"Thank you, Justicar," her eyes then turned to the drell waiting at the office for them. "We have one more recruit," she said and walked back over to the office.

"Impressive," Thane said as the two walked up. "If you'll excuse me for a moment," he placed his hands together and began to mutter under his breath.

The four fell silent and waited until he stopped.

"I apologise but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken," Thane said.

"Do you think they deserve it?" Zenna asked as she looked around as she claimed back into the office.

"Not for them... for me," Thane confirmed. "The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you for instance. All this destruction... chaos. I was curious how far you'd go to find me," he said standing in front of her. "Well... here I am,"

"How did you know we were coming at all?" Liara asked.

"I didn't. Until you marched through the front door and started shooting. Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed that one of her sisters would kill her. You were a valuable distraction. But I am surprised to see a Justicar here. I guess the targets we shared aligned,"

"Indeed, they did," Samara agreed

"Well glad I could be of some help." Zenna said slightly offended at being used.

"Yes, I needed a distraction and you needed to speak with me,"

Zenna smiled and shrugged.

"What would you like to discuss?" he asked facing her

"Someone's been abducting entire human colonies. We're going to stop them. We already know who the culprits are, a race called the Collectors,"

Thane looked down. "I've heard of them." he said before turning to face her. "Attacking the collectors required going through the Omega-4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so,"

"They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos too," Zenna quipped Liara nodded with a shiver.

"A fair point," Thane said with a smile. "You've built a career on performing the impossible. This was to be my last job. I'm dying. But low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does,"

"You're dying? Is it contagious? How long do you have?" Zenna asked with her interest peaked.

"If you're interested, we can discuss it on your ship. The problem isn't contagious and won't affect my work,"

"Still, I hadn't heard it. Is there anything I can do?"

"Giving me this opportunity is enough. The universe is a dark place, I ', trying to make it brighter before I die. Many innocence died today. I wasn't fast enough, and they suffered. I must atone for that," he said turning to face her. "I will work for you Shepard. No charge,"

"Thanks, but first, how does taking on the Shadow Broker sound?"

Thane blinked.