Pain ebbed from my cheeks as my mandibles pinned, eyes fixated as the 36 enemy team outnumbered our puny 15 man team, 16 if you included to snipers. Two men down sending Saria's spine away and my stomach twisted. The team were than double us in terms of numbers. My concern slipped to the new Saboteur, Palalrian. This particular meeting set my teeth on edge. We had only met Commandos up until this point. This Saboteur was no mere Commando. Before us stood a specialised Saboteur, Dell's experience of Saren didn't count. Saren wasn't a true Saboteur, according to Saria. Dell stood steady and stubborn, standing a good 10m in front of us, holding the Saboteur's attention from us. If anyone stood a chance against the assault of a specialised Saboteur, another specialist would. My eyes drifted from the Saboteur, onto the multitude guns pointed at us as my ear crackled with activity from the Starquake. We didn't have any information on Palalrian, other than he was to police the Saboteurs. With so little to go on, it only irritated my nerves by how little we knew. My heart skipped a beat, mind wandering to what 'Saboteur Policing' entailed. Keeping Dell safe was my priority, my gaze casting over the fanned out crew. Mat'al's sharp eyes as prepared for any eventuality.

"I take it Zufiaurre had failed too many times?" Palalrian asked. Dell snorted.

"Oh no, personal revenge and a good deed to the galaxy. It was the least I could do for her after she mind fucked me," she said. Palalrian frowned, eyebrows drawn together, as if not expecting her words. "But, good sir, I am more curious about you and Alea's little chat. Something about your Reaper not being able to control you?"

"That, little lady, is nothing you should be concerned about," Palalrian growled, tone chilling. Dell laughed although the edges would cut steel.

"Oh, I'm sure it is. But see, the problem is, sir, is that it is my business. I'm curious as to who you are. Care to enlighten me?" Dell asked, voice dry.

"Ladies first," Palalrian countered.

"I asked first. Besides, chivalry is long dead," she said, cheeks lifting as a smirk rose. So far in front of me, her expression could only be gauged from her cheeks. The mask didn't help either.

A tense silence impregnated the air. Saboteur staring down Saboteur, Shell to Shell. No Reaper mind games, just one human fighting a monster to another. Even an idiot can see Dell's plan. If this guy had fought off his Reaper thus far, that he was in control, we had a friend on our side, someone else who seemed to know things about Saboteurs. She wanted to test his borders, see how willing he is to trust and how much control he has over his Reaper. Palalrian, or whatever he went by, must know Dell was no ordinary Saboteur. He would have shot her by now. Dell had no reason to go after Alea, to go so far as to kill her. And keeping as many people alive as possible during the fire fight? No Reaper controlled Saboteur would worry about that sort of thing. They didn't care about people.

After narrowing his gaze, Palalrian raised a hand to his mask, slipping it over his head to drop on the ground without a second thought, hand returning to the pistol in a snap. It clattered like a bomb going off on the stone floor. My grip clenched the pistol tighter. He was a scarred bastard, I'd give him that. A long scar ran from above the end of his left eyebrow, down over the corner of his eye and curled to stop near his nose. His left ear also missed a small chunk near the top. Whether it had been ripped or shot off, however... Under his collar, traces of white and darkened skin tone scars poked free, but from here, they were just hairlines, hidden by fabric and gun. His blond hair flopped over his forehead, short enough to leave his eyes clear. The area around his ears had begun to grey and wear wrinkles flicked out from his nose towards the corners of his mouth and from the corner of his eyes. The sapphire blue eyes were hard, determined… no, stubborn.

My heart crashed against my ribs, aiming for the roof at a sudden clatter. My eyes spun to the source, finding it in seconds. A cold weight pressed into my stomach. Dell's Paladin lay on the ground, forgotten. My eyes zoomed to Dell, desperate to catch her expression. Her hand flopped on her wrist, her arm struggling to hold itself up. Her jaw dropped, gagging on words that refused to form. The angle hid her eyes from me, but my imagination filled in the blanks. Bugged, large, fixated on the new Saboteur. Palalrian himself diverted his gaze to the fallen pistol, easing it back up as he studied Dell with cautious curiosity. His expression softened, the muscles easing a touch. Dell's old gun hand twitched up to her mask. She slid it backwards, taking the wig off and snagging the elastic that held her hair up. Her hair spilled free in a messy heap of red. She dropped everything and they joined the pistol on the ground, the mask snapped in two. My eyes flew to Palalrian. At first, nothing happened. As the second ticked by, his eyes grew in size, rivalling the size of dishes and his jaw slackened, the pistol lowered until it pointed at the ground. The crew around him shared looks, lowering their weapons. Our team gawked, dumfounded at the scene, unsure how approach this situation. Did Dell and Palalrian know each other? Was that why they were… disarming? Dell hadn't dropped a gun like that in... in ages, not since she gained confidence! Palalrian breathed, hunting for words. He found some.

"Delly!" he cried, his voice riddled in shock, in relief. He put up the pistol, sprinting across the distance at the same time. We cast eyes between ourselves, bewildered as we decided whether or not to fire warning shots or not. That confusion only deepened when he flung his arms around her, clinging to her. Dell couldn't even speak, couldn't move. "Oh God, oh God I thought they got you, I thought for sure…" he muttered, lungs emptying in massive waves, a hand buried in her hair. His grip only tightened. "It's going to be ok, Delly, I won't let them hurt you, dammit, I won't even let them near you! I swear," He pressed his face into the top of her head. He pulled back, examining her face. "Oh God, where did this come from?" he ran a thumb over the scar just to the upper right of her left eyebrow that Saria had left behind. After a moment, his eyes widened a touch.

"Delly, look up," he demanded, digging in a pocket. "Delly, look, up," he pressed, tone hardening, a tone a parent would use on their child. A small torch appeared in his hand. "Dammit, Delly, look up!" he snapped. She must've snapped awake enough to do so, since he shone the torch in her eyes, pointing towards the ceiling. He turned himself around her as he examined her eyes. "You used the override… oh thank God, you used the override!" Relief sagged his shoulders as he shoved the torch away in his pocket again. "You're going to be ok, Delly. We'll get you back to the Constellation, we'll scramble up the indoctrinated waves and we'll tease them out. Nyryntha won't get you, over my dead fucking body," he cursed, a dark promise on the wind. "C'mon. We need to get you out of here, get you somewhere safe," he took her hand, pulling her towards his crew. Dell started stumbling after him. Panic swelled in my chest like a hurricane in a teacup. What the hell just happened? What the hell was she doing? Who the hell was this guy?! My eyes turned to the fallen Paladin, eyes flinging back to Dell. The crew beside me shuffled, muttering. What were our commands? Dammit, what the hell was going on?!

"Captain!" I cried, quivering at the panic quivering my voice. The frozen stone melted as Dell jolted, spinning around as if electrocuted. Her hand ripped free from Palalrian. Palalrian stared after her, confused. My throat worked overtime to swallow the hard lump in the back of my throat. "Orders?"

Dell blinked, baffled. Her eyes scanned the crew, fighting for understanding before finding the Paladin on the floor. She swallowed, turning to face Palalrian. Her gaze returned to the Paladin. My grip on the Tempest slackened when she walked back, kneeling down to pick up her fallen gun. She turned it in her hand, examining each dent and scratch before pressing the top of the barrel to her nose, breathing. Her expression contorted, her face in profile. With each breath, her eyebrows dropped, her mouth twisted down and nothing short of pure fury burned her blood. What the actual fuck?!

"Is this some kind of joke?" Dell managed, voice quivering. Palalrian sighed, putting his hands on his hips as he resided himself to whatever was coming next. Dell's expression exploded, whipping around to face Palalrian as she rose and snapped the Paladin straight, pointing it at him. "Is this some kind of sick, fucking joke!?" Palalrian rubbed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose.

"Delly, I really don't want to deal with one of your strops right now," he sighed.

"Well tough fucking shit!" Dell thundered. "The Reapers have a fucking sense of humour, don't they?! Of all the people the fucking Collectors lifted, it had to be you!" Dell paced. Smoke billowed from her shoulders, her temper reaching combustion. "I'd rather see Travis than you!" Palalrian snarled, his face twisting at the mention of the name.

"Don't you dare compare me to that asshole! He was fucking using you! I'd been telling you for years!" Palalrian shouted.

"Oh that's rich coming from the bastard who abandoned me!" Dell snapped. Palalrian sighed, running a hand down his face.

"Dell, I had no choice-" he began.

"No choice?" Dell balked.

"I. Had. No. Choice. The Saboteurs were everywhere! Xawin was the nearest, safest place I could hide you!" Palalrian snapped. The anchors snapped on for Dell as she whirled to face him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait… what was that about Xawin?" she asked, her anger abated for a time. Palalrian frowned.

"You… weren't referring to Xawin?" he asked. Dell's shoulders rattled as her hackles rose.

"No!" she roared.

"Then what are you referring to?" Palalrian demanded.

"The West Highland Way!" Dell thundered. Palalrian opened his mouth to respond, hands held out at his sides as if to pacify a wild animal. After a few heartbeats, those hands found his hips, he chewed his lip as if he realised he had dug himself into a deep, deep hole. he sighed. "So… you've abandoned me… twice now?" Dell ogled.

"Delly, I was going to-" Palalrian began.

"TWICE?!" Dell screeched, her finger twitching on the trigger of her Paladin. "Oh well this just keeps getting better and fucking better!" Palalrian growled.

"Delly, for God sake, put the gun down before you hurt yourself!" Palalrian demanded.

"I beg your pardon?! I can fucking defend myself!" Dell snapped. Palalrian raised an eyebrow.

"Delly, you couldn't fight your way out of sodden paper bag," Palalrian remarked. Dell gaped at him, fury tamed by disbelief. She snapped her jaw shut, breathing through her nose in harsh rasps. That her nose didn't rip off from the force was a miracle. She glanced behind her before flicking her gaze forward again.

"Are the shuttles here?" she asked, tone strained.

"They are, yeah," I managed, flabbergasted and what had happened over the past 5 minutes.

"Good. Send one of them to pick up the snipers. I want everyone back on the Starquake in 15 minutes and I want out of here in 20. Do I make myself clear?" she ordered.

"A-Aye aye," I said.

"Delly, the only place you are going is to the Constellation-" Palalrian ordered.

"I am a fucking Captain now, Julian! I have my own fucking responsibilities now! No, you can just fuck right off! I am not dealing with you and your backstabbing shit!" Dell snapped, turning on her heel as she stormed towards the door, we filled out in front of her, probably eager to put some space between us and the enraged captain herding us out.

"Captain? You? Delly, you couldn't lead a piece of string across a bloody street!" Palalrian, Julian, whatever his name was, called. Dell put up the Paladin, raising both of her hands as she gave him double one-finger salutes as she exited the building. Julian marched behind her, his crew scrambling to follow. Dell was too furious to respond. "Delly!" he thundered as we piled onto the shuttles. Dell marched towards the large shuttle hovering nearby.

"Mari, just go, just fucking go!" Dell screeched as she jumped up. The shuttle twitched as Mari pulled the shuttle up.

"Goddam it, Delly! Would you just-" Julian cried before Dell slammed the shuttle door shut.

Mari spun the shuttle around and steered it towards the city, back towards the Starquake. My eyes glimpsed the camera feed, watching Julian stare at the shuttle before sprinting out of sight. Everyone on the shuttle eyed each other, giving Dell nervous glances as she remained standing, arms locked on the ridge of the door as she stared at the passing scenery. No one dared breathed. We waited, hands folding together, as we neared the Starquake, the second shuttle struggled to keep pace with us as it finally caught up. A silent cheer escaped me when Mari steered us into the Starquake.

Dell threw the door open, storming towards the elevator. Mat'al jumped out and followed her without hesitation. My head shook, floored he had the courage to walk so close to her. Even 5 paces behind her, her fury burned the air. Any closer and she'd burn me. Everyone else had the common sense to wait until Dell rode the elevator first. Mat'al and I held no such sense. I flapped the collar of my suit as Dell's fury notched the temperature up in the elevator. She stormed down the hall towards the bridge.

"Is everyone aboard?" she demanded, halting by the Captain's chair. Raisha lay her datapad down, turning to regard Dell with cautious eyes.

"Everyone is on board, Endellion. The smaller shuttles are faster than the 20-seater," Raisha replied.

"I want out of here. Now. To the Citadel, to Earth, to Omega, to Tuchunka! Anywhere dammit!" Dell fumed.

"A-Aye, aye, Captain!" Lanster cried, not even bothering with the intercom. Something beside me caught my eye. Dell snapped her gaze down as a tub of chocolate on a stick hovered off the ground, a sacrifice to her fury. She followed the stick, revealing Gideon and Indira hiding behind one of the consoles of the Control Ring. Dell plucked a chocolate from the tub, chomping down on it. After a moment, she took the whole tub and hurled herself into the Captain's chair. Gideon reeled the stick in, assessing whether it was safe to approach. The tips of my fingers flicked across my neck. Gideon understood and backed away.

"Bastard," Dell fumed. "They could have taken anyone, anyone, and they took him?! Why him?! To torment me? Oh fuck up, Nyryntha! I don't fucking care if your pissed off that I'm pissed off!" Dell thundered. My throat tightened. Well, at least someone wasn't afraid to test Dell's temper. And they say Reapers are intelligent. "Are we out of here yet?!"

"A-Almost! J-Just lining up for exit!" Mari called back. Dell gnashed down another two chocolates, hazelnut swirls, as she fought to either reign in her anger or vent it all.

"Old friend?" Mat'al asked. Dell laugh could have cut diamond.

"Worse," she muttered. My eyes drifted down as she kept her gaze fixated on the screen on the second floor, towards the nose. Flames licked the side of the Starquake as we punched through the atmosphere and into space. Lanster turned towards the Mass relay.

The Starquake powered on, the rotary disengaging as we prepared for a mass relay jump. Mission over, my paint covered hand reminded me to wash the damn paint off. Unlike the other crew members, my room had a private shower. One small benefit of holding a commander role, no need to worry about anyone annoying me while removing the paint from my damaged face. Despite the patched sensitivity causing some parts of my face to burn in the hot water, the water relived a greasy stain that had haunted me though the whole mission. Two hours later, the variety of brushes Lanster bought me teased out anything between the plates and pot marks. Content the remains of the mission wouldn't bother me, my hand paused on the elevator button, mandibles clicking. Perhaps a visit to Science to see if any studies on Alea's spine had started would help appease Dell. It would also give Dell more time to cool down. The air burst with life as people leapt around like hyperactive frogs. Any attempt to avoid the flurry failed as people bumped into me. Mat'al grazed my vision, hidden inside one of the insolation room. Eager to leave the bustle behind and walk in a straight line, I joined him. The shielded chamber at the end of the room held two spines. The left one was Saria's, the right one must be Alea's. There was a slight different, despite both being asari spines. Small barbs lined the bottom of each vertebrae on Saria's, tiny little things that no one would look twice at. A small bump in the middle of the smooth back on each vertebrae decorated Alea's, it ruined the smoothness of the vertebrae.

"Well, let us hope we can use this to identify what these Saboteurs can do," Mat'al said. My head shook, snapping me awake.

"After we have had to deal with them, of course," I noted. Mat'al chuckled.

"Until we can design a scanner we can use at distance that can show such small differences," he said. "Alas, until then, only after the Saboteur is dead. I wonder which is which…"

"Dell is convinced Alea was Mental Assault, judging by her behaviour afterwards, I'm inclined to believe that," I muttered. "Saria? Who knows?" I shrugged.

"We are leaning towards Physical Disablement. Those barbs are filled with chemical producing plants can make toxins. Even touching the skin would harm you. Poison, paralyze, burn, irritate… there seems to be a library of different chemicals stored there. We've also theorised that they can produce electrical pulses to stimulate sensory neurons in the nervous system. I don't think Saria used it on Dell beyond irritating Dell's Reaper tech, Saria wanted Dell alive I think,"

"They flood the body with pain, what the hell are these people made from? How advanced are these machines?" I whispered, fixated to the tiny barbs. Mat'al shook his head.

"We will never know the answer to that. We can only hope and pray we can best them before they down us," Mat'al shrugged. "We'll continue our studies. I'm curious to see how Alea warps minds,"

"Pheromones, electrical pulses, radio waves… dammit, I'll leave this to you. I'm getting nightmares just thinking about it," I said, turning to leave.

"Dell was also concerned about the 'Tech Incapacitation' types," Mat'al added. My feet paused by the door, clicking my mandibles. "She is worried they will be able to mess with biotic implants," My back straightened as if whipped by an angry commander during training. Mat'al glanced over his shoulder, his expression blank. "Do be careful," My throat constricted, my mandibles pinned to my cheeks.

"I'll try," I said, stepping out from the room.

My shoulders shuddered as the door shut. My implants used against me… no, oh Spirits please no! A hand ran down my face while fleeing the lab, moving towards the bridge. My shoulders sagged at the sight of Raisha speaking with Dell. She had taken the time to get herself back into her uniform, still munching away on those chocolates. My throat cleared as I approached. Dell glanced up, eyebrows still drawn together but at least she didn't look ready to ring a few puppies' necks. Dell turned her eyes to the cockpit, releasing a burst of air from her nose.

"I've forwarded my report to the Council, I'm in no mood to deal with sappy eyed Tevos right now," she grumbled. A cocky grin spread over my face.

"Is anyone?" I asked. Dell snorted, but a slight half smile formed.

"I suppose not," she sighed. "I'm not sure if this is a good day or a bad day now…"

"Uh… maybe a bad a day?" Lanster offered. My earlier grin faded. "Scanners are picking up ship behind us. I did a few manoeuvres just to check. It's definitely following us," Dell grit her teeth, her rage surfacing once more.

"Dammit, Julian! How did he track us? We left ASAP!" she growled. She pushed herself to her feet. "Get us out of here, FTL!" she ordered. We yelped when the ship rocked, as if struck by a missile. Instinct flung my arms in the air for balance as Dell clung to the seat. My eyes scanned the cameras, finding nothing, the ship still followed us, just following. All the Starquake systems were still operational. Nothing hit the shields, nothing damaged the hull. "Lanster!"

"That wasn't me! I didn't touch anything… oh why is the gyro going crazy! We're not even doing anything!" Lanster cried. My fingers found a hold on a console when the ship rocked again.

Then the lights fluttered. Dell fell very still as warning sirens bleated and people cried out as whole systems stopped responding. Lanster couldn't even get any control, the Starquake refused to listen. His attempts to bank the Starquake did nothing as the ship floated as if not listening. Screens fizzled and pixelated like crazy. Then the most dreadful sound. The sound of the engines throttling back. The engines now sat on idle, still giving us power but, from the commotion in the cockpit, the engines refused to give more. It was as if the entire ship had disconnected from its controls. Then a screen flashed and hovered just before Dell at eye level, a simple line with fluctuating bars peaking above and below it.

"Good evening, Miss Shaik," the male voice greeted with a definite robotic undertone. Dell breathed.

"Marshal," she uttered the word in a deadpan voice.

"Forgive the intrusion, Miss Shaik, but it was necessary to prevent your ship from jumping. I would also advice that you inform your pilot to stop pulling the throttles so hard. He will damage them," Marshal responded chirpily. Dell gnashed her teeth.

"The aid you mentioned on Earth, Marshal… was it Julian per chance?" Dell asked.

"It was, Miss Shaik," Marshal responded.

"And he ordered you to stop me from escaping him at all costs. Correct?" Dell crossed her arms, her tone too light for my liking.

"Correct," Marshal answered. Dell growled.

"What the fuck does he want?!" she demanded.

"Your safety, Miss Shaik. We have been trying to locate you for approximately 1 year and 10 months," Marshal explained.

"Well you've not been trying very hard! Marshal, let us go! Immediately! You can tell Julian he can go fuck himself!" Dell snapped. Marshal was quiet for a time, he cleared his throat.

"He sighs and asks if you are still taking a temper tantrum," Marshal responded. Dell popped her jaw furiously.

"I'm gonna kill him," she promised with a hiss.

"I shall take that as a yes," Marshal confirmed.

"Captain! We've got incoming! It's a… a… oh… Spirits…" Lanster's voice failed. My eyes went to the cameras, scanning madly. I turned to face the rotary behind us. I could barely breathe.

A dreadnaught, at least 3 times the size of the Ascension, was creeped its way closer to us. Height wise, it was about the same as the Ascension but the scanners were estimating it was about 6 or 7km long. It completely blotted out our rear cameras. I could barely see the 5 cruisers that flanked it! The dreadnaught's nose reminded me of an elcor almost, how a head of metal folded under each other until the front piece lay on top. The edges fanned out like a frill. It looked like it had spines running down its back as plates interweaved down the flanks until six sets of short wings interrupted it. Everything below that seemed like a swollen belly. A gaping hole greeted us, the interior only pinpricks of light at this distance as it closed in on us. I had no idea who built that ship, but I didn't want to know.

The Starquake engines surged before the ship banked, turning to fly towards the massive mouth of this beast. Dell was struggling to control her anger as she watched the cameras. Most of the flight crew simply stared at their instruments, passengers themselves. I gagged as watched the incoming dreadnaught and Dell's face.

"W-What do we do?" I stuttered. Dell snorted as she studied the cameras.

"Get the teams ready. Everyone. I want everyone lined up in the teams with their Commanders at the head. I want a Spectre in front of each Commander and Raisha will go out in front," Dell responded. "Julian wants to talk, fine. But he can face my wrath," she hissed.

"What about weapons, armour?" Indira asked. Dell shook her head.

"Won't matter, they'll just take them off us. I'd rather they stay here where they have a higher chance of remaining here than being nicked by him," she grumbled. "Summon the teams! Get them lined up! Now!" she ordered.

"W-What about me?" Gideon pleaded, poking up from behind the CR. Dell didn't even hesitate.

"Engineering. You stay with Lanster, you do not leave him. Do I make myself clear?" she ordered. Gideon swallowed, nodding slowly.

"A-Are you sure about this?" I asked as Dell marched towards the airlock, Raisha shadowing her. I winced as Mat'al summoned everyone through the intercom. "What if he wants to kill us?" Dell laughed harshly.

"He won't kill me. And if he wants to make sure I don't kill him or willingly surrender to my Reaper, he won't harm anyone else," she retorted. She waited in the airlock as we were swallowed by the beast.

The hall quickly became packed. Raisha directed everyone to stand two abreast, one team per row with the next two behind. Marruns, sadly, was in front of me, with Sitoln in front of Mat'al, Rosmeni in front of Shayan and Drutus in front of Indira. Gideon was squashed between Lanster and Arthan. Dell bounced on her toes anxiously as we waited for the ship to dock.

"Welcome to the DSST Constellation, Miss Shaik, and I apologies in advance as to the forced nature of this entire preceding," Marshal greeted as the airlock opened. Dell said nothing, she simply marched forward.

We marched out into the brightly lit dock, towering Spirits knows how high above our heads. I could see frigates docked between us, all various shapes and sizes as if they couldn't get a fleet to match. I took a quick glance behind us as we marched down the dock. I saw about another 4 cruisers docked on the other side, delicately linked nose under tail in some cases. Countless fighters filled the space above the frigates. When we walked off the dock, we stopped to allow Engineering and Intel to line up with us before marching forward. After a short distance, Dell held up a hand. Everyone halted immediately. I could see why.

Before us lay balconies filled to the brim with people. On floors without balconies and only windows, people jammed themselves against them to gain a peek at our entrance. There were thousands of them! Was that why Dell didn't want us armed? Did she suspect we would be horribly outmatched? A large crowd lay before us, lining a way towards an elevator. Most of these people were armed. Oh yes, I was glad we didn't arm ourselves now… although I was sorely missing my armour.

Dell continued a few steps before stopping, eyeing the crowd before her. Her eyes drifted upwards until she saw the blond haired Saboteur, about 14 floors up, He was flanked by an asari, a turian and a krogan, all muttering amongst themselves. Julian was silent, eyes upon Dell as she glowered up at him. I watched Dell suck in a breath, preparing for her mightiest roar yet.

She didn't disappoint.

"JULIAN SHAIK!"

The Saboteur Sheet has been updated for this chapter. Please see profile for link to Archive.