MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME, AND IF I HAD TO PICK A UNIVERSE TO LIVE IN, I'D PROBABLY CHOOSE THAT ONE. I MEAN, AFTER THE REAPER WAR, OF COURSE.

Time for Alanna to visit the Terminus Systems. Should be fun, right? And by 'fun', I mean 'bullets flying everywhere, oh god, please help'.

Mass Effect: Legacy

IX

The Sicily linked up with the Seventh Fleet three days after leaving Earth. It would take another two days of short FTL-jumps to reach their destination; they could have used the Mass Relays to get there faster, but the pirates would have seen them coming long before their arrival, and bolted.

The Alliance had no intention of letting that happen.

Still, Alanna was surprised at the level of firepower being thrown at pirates; usually, a few squadrons of frigates and destroyers were enough to take down typical pirates. And the Seventh Fleet was no ordinary unit—they specialized in anti-pirate tactics, and had spent most of the war with the Council in the Terminus, making sure none of the criminals got any big ideas. Most of the time, the fleet was spread out to deal with smaller groups of pirates, so it was even more unusual to have the entirety of the Seventh gathered together.

"This is impressive," Haley commented as the Sicily flew alongside the Everest III, the flagship of the fleet. This particular dreadnought had been designed with more Quarian and Geth influences; she was more bulbous around the engines, and had a quartet of heavy plasma repeater cannons on each flank, to deal with fast-moving targets.

"When was the last time the Alliance rolled this hard against pirates?" Korim asked.

"The Skyllian Blitz," EDI promptly answered. "Shortly after the first Battle of Elysium, the Systems Alliance launched a counterattack against the Batarian pirates. The campaign ended with an Alliance victory at Torfan, which human diplomats used as leverage during the subsequent peace talks with the Batarians."

"You'd think we'd stamp these guys out already." Alanna gestured to the ten-strong carrier group that made up the bulk of the fleet's power; each carrier was escorted by eight frigates and four destroyers. "With this kind of firepower, the hard part is cornering those guys."

"That is part of the problem," EDI said. "Jalka is notorious for staying on the move, and for keeping his base a secret. Now that the Alliance knows where he is, they can finally… I believe the term is 'bring the hammer down'."

Nok grinned. "My kind of fight. Hey, who's in charge of this thing?"

"The Seventh Fleet is commanded by Admiral Azazel; he was the first Geth to receive a fleet-wide command. However, because the majority of this operation will be carried out by ground forces, command has been given to General Jessica Shay."

Haley went wide-eyed. "Wait, I know that name. Isn't she part of Alliance High Command? Why is she taking direct control of an op?"

"Officially, General Shay is only seated at Alliance Command to represent Army logistics. However, she maintains her field command, and has chosen to exercise it for this operation." EDI paused. "It is worth noting that she did not participate in the war, but her handling of logistics allowed the Alliance's counterattack to be so successful."

"I just hope she can handle actual combat," Korim muttered. "The last thing we need is some rear-echelon bean-counter ordering a bayonet charge."

"Lock it down," Alanna said sternly. "That's a general you're talking about. We can critique her if she screws us, not before."

"Speaking of General Shay, she has asked that Lieutenant Shepard meet her aboard the Everest III," EDI said. "Since your mission runs parallel to hers, you may have to work around each other."

"I'll take care of it," Alanna said, then turned to her squad. "Check your gear, but don't get ready to move out until I find out when the attack starts. I'll be back as soon as I can."

…

Alanna wasn't sure what to expect when she arrived on the Everest III, but she knew she hadn't been expecting two squads of Alliance SpecForce to greet her. Special Forces and N7s had some overlap, but there were also enough differences that they were distinct entities. The latter often operated alone, or with handpicked squads, but SpecForce was organized into entire taskforces that could focus on months- or even years-long operations.

"Lieutenant Shepard," one man greeted; he was human, and spoke with a thick British accent. With his helmet off, Alanna could see his muttonchops. "Captain Price, Alliance SpecForce; glad to have you aboard."

Alanna snapped off a salute. "Sir!"

"At ease, Lieutenant." Price smiled. "General Shay asked me to get you up to speed while she handles the stuff that's above our pay grade. Follow me."

Alanna walked a brisk pace to keep up with Price. "All due respect, sir, but why did you need two whole squads for that?"

Price chuckled. "Oh, they're all just fans of your father."

"Of course." Alanna shot them all a glare; to their credit, the other soldiers laughed sheepishly and left.

Price led Alanna to a smaller room, and activated his omni-tool to project an image of a base. "This is the target. Jalka's compound has it all—automatic and manned turrets, mines, kinetic barriers with independent generators, and a small army to back it up. And the planet, Krim, is a mess; lots of heavy gases, all of them toxic to anything that's not a Krogan. Only safe place to breathe is inside the compound."

Alanna examined the blueprints. "That's not a compound, it's a fortress."

"Exactly, and it's been upgraded with plenty of hardware Jalka's stolen over the years." Price scowled behind his mustache. "According to Intelligence, he's got Quarian barrier tech, Salarian sensors, and Krogan weapons."

Alanna blinked. "How in the hell did he get all that different tech to work together? It's not like the stuff he has is Alliance-grade."

"That's where it gets worse," Price said. "His second-in-command is a Quarian; some kind of engineering genius. She managed to work around the tech differences. That's the only thing going for Jalka, though; his men are all washouts, or idiots who love to pick on anyone weaker than them."

"Whoa, hold on." Alanna shook her head. "Jalka is a Batarian, and from what I've read about the guy, he's about as old-school as it gets. He's willing to have a Quarian as his right hand, and a female one at that?"

Price grimaced. "He might rule his men in the old style, but he's not stupid. If he was, we'd have slotted the bastard already."

"What's a Quarian doing helping pirates anyway? They hate pirates."

"This one was exiled." Price shrugged. "Seems Jalka isn't the only one who does things the old way. Phara'Noih was convicted of third-degree murder eighteen years ago—got pissed off that her brother ran off with a human, rigged their ship to blow up as it took off. The explosion killed eight other people. After the trial, she was given a choice: exile, or life in prison."

Alanna pinched the bridge of her nose. "Dammit, the Quarians need to stop giving that option."

Price huffed a laugh. "Preaching to the choir, Shepard." He transferred several files to Alanna's omni-tool. "You might want to share this with your team, help them get prepared. You'll be inserting with my boys on the south side, after Shay's men launch the main assault. After that, I hear you're going after your own target."

"That we are," Alanna said. "What about you, Captain?"

"We're going after Jalka; the bastard slipped through my fingers a few months back, and I aim to finish the job this time." Price's omni-tool began to beep. "Ah, that'll be Shay; she'll probably want to go over all this again for anyone who hasn't already read the briefing. She likes the sound of her own voice, but she's good at making sure people get what they need, and where they need to go."

Alanna nodded, but Price stopped her before she got to the door. "Captain?"

"Just a friendly warning," Price said quietly. "General Shay is a good officer, but… well, let's just say she's a big fan of your father, if you know what I mean."

"You mean she's a Shepardist?"

Price nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh, this'll be… fun." Alanna had never met any of the people who had formed a religion around her father, and had done her best to keep it that way, but it seemed that her luck had run out.

…

As it happened, Alanna was able to avoid directly speaking to General Shay for most of the briefing. The only thing that she noticed was that Shay stared intently at her throughout most of it. Shay wasn't much to look at, with average features, except for her blue eyes that almost seemed to glow. Alanna was used to being stared at; even before people knew who her father was, Asari were uncommon enough and exotic enough to draw most eyes in any given room.

Shay, however, had an almost feverish look to her, as if Alanna was a dream given flesh. She looked like she was a few seconds away from doing something inappropriate.

Finally, after the briefing was over and the officers were dismissed, Alanna could avoid Shay no longer. The general stopped her right before she could leave.

"Lieutenant Shepard, could I have a moment?"

Alanna didn't miss the sympathetic glance Price gave her as he slipped out.

"Of course, General."

Shay smiled and held out her hand. "No need for formalities, Lieutenant, this won't take long."

Alanna put on her best smile and shook Shay's hand. "What won't?"

"I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done so far on your mission," Shay said. "Including saving General Grunt's life. I've read the AAR of the incident, and I think you did your father proud."

"I'd like to think so, sir." Alanna's smile became a little more genuine. "General Grunt was a friend of my father's, and he's like family to me."

Shay nodded. "Anyone who was close to the Shepard should be preserved."

Alanna pretended not to notice how Shay had said the Shepard. "If there's nothing else, General, I should return to my ship."

"Of course, of course." Shay waved her off. "Good luck today, Lieutenant. If you need anything, don't hesitate to contact me, and that's not just for this mission. Your father saved all of us; the least I can do is support you in any way I can."

"I appreciate that." Alanna looked over her shoulder at the guards, and decided to be as formal as possible. "Er, with your permission, I should go."

"Permission granted, Lieutenant." Shay's eyes gleamed in a way that made Alanna even more uncomfortable. "I look forward to seeing you in action."

…

Alanna's squad spent almost an hour in the Sicily's hangar, waiting for the signal from Price to join his part of the operation. It chafed, but they knew they couldn't launch their own attack until Shay's men started theirs.

"It's gonna be bloody, no doubt about it," Nok said, and pointed to the blueprints of the base on his omni-tool. "There isn't a tank design out there that can handle those guns, and Shay wants an armored assault?"

"The tanks will be covered by gunships and fighters," Haley countered. "If they can knock out at least a few of those guns, the ground forces will pry open the door."

"It's still a risky play," Tetros argued. "The only reason it has a good chance of success is because the Alliance has surprise on its side."

"Which is why I didn't raise any objections with General Shay," Alanna said. "We'll help Captain Price with getting in, and then we find out why there's an Outsider signal in a pirate base."

"Lieutenant, there has been an update," EDI cut in. "Long-range scans have revealed twenty pirate vessels of cruiser-tonnage in a defensive formation around Krim, with thirty-one escorts. They have appeared to have detected the Seventh Fleet."

"Well, shit." Alanna resisted the urge to punch something. "Is the mission a bust?"

"Negative. None of the ships previously identified by Intelligence have left the system. Jalka is still on the planet."

"Then we wait until the Seventh does its job, and the marines do theirs." Alanna leaned back in her seat. "Any word on when the ground assault starts?"

"General Shay was adamant about that part of the plan: the ground forces will not deploy until the pirate fleet is committed." EDI paused. "The Alliance ships will be in engagement range in three minutes."

Alanna closed her eyes and tried to center herself; the next three minutes felt like hours, but she couldn't afford to seem anxious. She was the commanding officer of her squad, and had to set an example.

"Alliance vessels have engaged," EDI reported. "One enemy frigate destroyed, two cruisers damaged. Captain Price's ship is signaling for us to move in."

"EDI, get us as close as you can before we launch the shuttle," Alanna ordered. "After that, run silent unless we absolutely need you."

The Sicily shuddered a few times as small pieces of debris bounced off her barriers, but otherwise achieved orbit without incident.

"Captain Price is landing his squad now," EDI said. "He will be expecting you at the LZ."

"Copy that, EDI, we are ready to deploy." Alanna checked her armor's integrity. "Everyone, last check on your seals; I don't want you getting killed because you breathed in the wrong place."

After a moment, Haley gave her a thumbs-up. "Seals are good, Lieutenant."

"Forde, we're ready to go," Alanna called out to the pilot.

Forde was a small, skinny man with scruffy orange hair; his size allowed him far more space than most people had in the cockpit of a shuttle. He didn't even look back, and just waved.

"Hang on back there," he said, and took the shuttle out of the hangar at a speed that was technically faster than protocol dictated, but Alanna didn't mind.

There was plenty to do, and she wanted to get to it.

…

Krim was as unpleasant as Alanna had read; thick green mist swirled up to her knees, and it was so heavy that even the shuttle's engines barely disturbed it. She knew that the gases couldn't harm her while her armor was on, but a part of her thought she could feel it eating away at her anyway.

"Price is about five hundred meters ahead," Alanna said. "Move up, but stay frosty; we don't know what's out here with us."

The rest of the squad gave terse acknowledgments, and kept a tight grip on their weapons as they made their way through the mist. There was an occasional chirp or squawk from a native creature in the distance, but other than that, the only sound came from the squad's footsteps.

After a few tense minutes, they reached Price's location. At first, they couldn't see anyone, until nine figures rose up from the green mist like phantoms.

"Glad to see you could make it," Price said. "We've got work to do, and you were almost too late to the rendezvous."

Alanna rolled her eyes. "Apparently, because you had time for a dramatic reveal."

Price laughed. "Cheeky little… never mind, we need to reach the compound's perimeter before the assault force launches the attack."

"Right, lead the way."

They walked in silence for a short while, before one of Price's men spoke up. "I've been listening in on the fleet. Sounds like we're kicking ass upstairs."

"Pirates versus a fleet that's trained to fight pirates." Tetros chuckled. "No surprise the Alliance is doing well."

"They're not just 'doing well'," the other soldier replied. "The worst we've had is a few damaged fighters, and the pirates have lost six ships already."

"Like I said, I'm not surprised."

Alanna grinned, but then noticed something on her scanner. "Everyone, freeze!"

The two squads halted immediately, but when nothing happened, Price inched towards her. "Problem?"

Alanna slowly raised her omni-tool and sent out a wave of light that revealed the presence of dozens of small objects by their feet.

"Mines," she said tersely. "According to my scans, they're two-stage explosives. First, it detonates an overload to knock out barriers, and then it explodes the old-fashioned way."

Price was silent for a moment. "Bugger. Any options?"

"Give me a second, I'm analyzing one… oh, whoever built these was too clever for their own good." Alanna grinned as an idea formed. "The explosives are pretty simple, but the overload function requires an actual computer program. I can rewrite it so that it thinks it's already used that, and trigger the explosive underground. We'll be completely safe."

"That'll alert the pirates," Korim protested.

"Then we'll have to time the detonation to go off right before Shay's forces attack. Hold on, let me call her." Price brought up his omni-tool. "General, we have a problem. Jalka set up a minefield, we're working to disarm, over."

"Understood, Captain; send over whatever countermeasure you use, in case we run into mines on our end."

"Be advised, we'll have to move fast once we get past the mines," Price added. "Recommend you do the same."

"Don't worry, Price, you'll get your window. I expect confirmation of Jalka's death before the day is out, and I want to see whatever alien tech Lieutenant Shepard snatches out from under these pirates."

"We'll do our best not to disappoint, ma'am. Price out."

"I'm ready to detonate the mines at your go, Captain," Alanna said.

"Okay, like I said, we'll have to move fast once those mines go off—"

"Not necessarily," Mantle interrupted. "Captain, I believe I can prevent the signal from reaching the base, at least for an additional ninety seconds. That will keep the guns from tracking us."

One of the SpecForce soldiers laughed. "This is why we need a Geth on the team, sir."

Price nodded. "Right, how much time do you need to set up that countermeasure?"

"I can initiate it on your command."

"Do it." Once Price received a short nod from Mantle, he turned to Alanna. "Blow the mines."

There was a series of muted thuds as the mines detonated, and plumes of dirt reached up; the soil had barely started to fall when the squad broke out into a run.

"Go, go!" Price snapped. "Move your arses, people! We've got to hit that wall before those sensors pick us up!"

Alanna's squad was right behind Price's; their run was easy for about ten seconds, and then bullets began raining all around them.

"Sentries on the wall!" Tetros shouted.

"Don't stop to engage!" Alanna raised her SMG and sprayed in the general direction of the shooters. "Get under the range of the guns!"

With too much momentum on their side, the two squads bodily slammed into the thick wall of the compound, then fired up at the pirates above them.

"General Shay, we're under heavy fire," Price reported. "We need that attack, now!"

"Roger that, Captain, we are engaging now. Hold your position until we've got their attention."

Alanna cursed when a bullet clipped her barriers, but hit the shooter with a burst of cryo; the frozen pirate tipped over the edge of the wall and shattered when he hit the ground.

"Anyone need some free ice?" Haley joked.

"Save it for later, Haley," Alanna snapped, and shot another pirate through the head.

"Yes, ma'am," Haley said, though she still sounded amused.

There were still over a dozen pirates left on the wall, but though the Alliance force outnumbered them, the pirates had the high ground, and it was working in their favor. One of Price's men went down wordlessly after a bullet passed through his throat, and another was shot through the leg. Fortunately, that was all the casualties they took before an explosive shell landed on top of the wall, killing the pirates there.

"First one's free, Captain," Shay joked over the comms. "We'll be pretty busy with the front door, but I'll see if I can get a few gunships to cover you, if you can knock out their triple-A emplacements."

Alanna recalled the base's layout. "General, this is Lieutenant Shepard. The artillery controls should be located near my squad's objective; we can shut down all the big guns for you."

"That would be greatly appreciated, Shepard," Shay said warmly. "Godspeed to all of you. Shay out."

Price stepped into the open and looked up. "Right, the wall's clear. We can boost up and make our entry."

"Keep your eyes open, everyone," Alanna added. "The whole base probably knows we're here by now."

"Here's hoping they're too busy with Shay to go after us." Price put away his sniper rifle and exchanged it for his assault rifle. "Still, better move fast."

The two squads used their boosters to get over the wall; Alanna was quietly impressed with what she saw inside the compound. For a bunch of pirates, they were surprisingly organized; the buildings were clearly labeled, and crates of stolen goods were marked with their contents. Alanna made a mental note to stay away from anything marked as fuel or explosives.

"Hostiles!" Tetros called out. "Right side of the main building!"

"Shepard, get down there," Price ordered. "We'll cover you from here! Get to the building and hold that position!"

"Wilco," Alanna said tersely. "Team, move in and engage!"

Tetros and Haley would forever argue over who got the first sniper kill; their targets' heads both exploded at what looked like the first time. Later, they would ask Mantle to calculate who actually hit their target first, but he would refuse to say, on the grounds that it would 'disrupt unit cohesion'.

Alanna had no such competition over who killed the most targets in as little time as possible. She used a biotic Charge to ram one pirate, a human, hard enough to make his entire body explode, then fired on the rest of his squad point-blank with her Tsunami, which had its shredder mod active. By the time the rest of her squad joined her, fifteen pirates were dead or dying at her feet.

"Holy shit, Alanna, are you in a bad mood or something?" Korim asked.

"No, why?" Alanna looked down and grimaced. "Okay, if I'm gonna walk though that much blood, I might as well paint my boots red."

"Please don't."

"You're right, the red would clash with my skin."

"That's not why—oh, forget it." Korim paused. "Hey, does anyone else hear something? Sounds like footsteps."

Before Alanna could say that, yes, she did hear that, the doors to the nearby garage were blown open, and a hulking bipedal machine stomped outside. It had a massive claw on one arm, and an even bigger cannon on the other. The pilot, a furious-looking Batarian, was protected by an orange transparent shield, so Alanna could see him laughing as he turned to face them.

What overrode her shock and replaced it with fury was the colors of the enormous mech. It was mostly white, with orange and black highlights, but the symbol on its shoulder was what cemented it for her.

"Where the hell did these guys get a Cerberus mech!?" Alanna demanded, even as she dove into cover.

"Probably got fixed up by that Quarian bitch who's working for Jalka!" Haley shouted back. "No offense, Korim!"

"None taken!" Korim replied. "We're good at refurbishing old tech. And she is a bitch!"

Alanna ducked under a mass accelerator round. "Captain Price, can you hit that SOB from behind?"

"On it," Price said over comms. "We'll draw it off you, then you finish the bastard."

A squad's worth of ammunition poured into the ATLAS mech from the rear, whittling away a good portion of its shields. It turned to face them, and barely missed one of Price's men. The distraction was enough for Mantle and Tetros, who broke its shields with a pair of Overloads; Haley and Nok struck its armor with plasma, which Alanna ignited with her own Overload. After that, and a few more bursts of gunfire, Nok finished the mech off with a rocket.

"Cerberus tech," Price commented as he and his squad joined them. "That stuff was mothballed even before your father's day, Lieutenant; hard to believe anyone could get it working."

"You know Jalka better than us," Alanna said. "Did he ever use Cerberus weapons before?"

"Not to my knowledge, but those ATLAS mechs are slow; could be he was saving them for this situation." Price raised his hand to his helmet. "General Shay, be advised—the enemy is using old Cerberus mechs, ATLAS models."

"Cerberus!?" To Alanna's ear, Shay sounded even more outraged than she felt. "How in the—never mind, that's not important now. I'll move in our armor to deal with them once the big guns are down. How soon can you do that?"

Alanna checked her omni-tool. "Going by the schematics, maybe five more minutes."

"Then we'll keep distracting them until then."

Price looked at the building in front of them; it was squat, ugly, and covered in antennae and dishes. "Definitely the command center. We'll breach through the door, fight our way through to our objectives. Clear?"

"Clear," Alanna answered for her squad. "Set up the charges; Nok, you and I will take point."

Nok chuckled, and pulled out his Extinction. "Good, I've been wanting to use this thing all day."

One of the SpecForce whistled appreciatively. "Damn, never wanted to be a Krogan so bad in my life."

Two more soldiers placed charges on the door; they could have simply hacked the controls to open it, but if there was anyone waiting on the other side, the Alliance squads wouldn't take any chances.

It turned out that their caution was warranted, because five pirates had been waiting for them. The shaped explosives sent pieces of the door down the hallway, killing one pirate and wounded two more. Nok charged in, followed by Alanna, who didn't need to do anything; Nok had killed all of them with one short burst from his shotgun.

"I can't wait to use mine in the field," Alanna muttered as she stepped over what was left of the pirates.

"Right, we're in the command center." Price ignored the bloody puddles he stepped through. "Lieutenant, this is where we part ways. We'll go after Jalka, while you find that Outsider tech; if possible, either team will assist the other if they complete their objective first."

"Yes, sir." Alanna grinned behind her helmet, but she was sure Price could sense it. "See you on the other side."

…

General Shay was as lauded for her composure as she was for her efficiency, but ever since Price's last report, she was on the verge of a homicidal rage, and it took all her willpower not to order a general assault on the pirates, heedless of the cost.

That these pirates continued to prey on the Alliance that the Shepard had died for was bad enough, but they dared to use the weapons of the Alliance's most hated enemies. Shay had watched every interview the Shepard had ever given, and read every one of his reports, and it was clear that he had held a deep-seated hatred for Cerberus. That hatred remained in the hearts of many humans, and especially the Shepardists. The only reason some of their more extreme members hadn't stormed the various museums containing Cerberus relics was because they were a good way to continue fostering that hatred.

For a while, Shay had also hated Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, but she had realized that the Shepard had saved them by drawing them away from their dark master. If anything, Miranda was a living icon of the Shepard's compassion and drive, though the Shepardists were wise to leave the head of Alliance Intelligence alone.

"General," one of Shay's junior officers called out, "we've knocked out two of the big guns. Should we move in and secure the compound?"

"Not yet," Shay said, her calm a thin mask. "We'll give the infiltration team another ten minutes to completely disable the outer defenses. If they don't, we'll have to employ more aggressive tactics." She paused. "What's the situation upstairs?"

"The last report we had said that over forty percent of the pirate fleet was disabled or destroyed." The officer's tone turned bitter. "One of our frigates was boarded, and the crew sustained heavy casualties before the pirates were driven off."

Shay scowled; overall, the Alliance had suffered light casualties so far, but it offended her that brave men and women were getting killed by criminals. If they had to die in battle, they should die fighting the Alliance's real enemies—the Council, or these Outsiders she had been recently briefed on.

It's fine, she told herself. The blood of the Shepard fights alongside us. She is hunting these new foes, and that puts her on the path to save us all.

…

Now that she was inside the command center, Alanna had a better lock on the Outsiders device she was looking for. It was close, but Alanna was starting to get worried; her squad hadn't encountered a single pirate after their initial entry, and it was starting to feel like a trap.

As if the universe heard her thoughts, the squad had just passed by a stack of crates when five pirates rounded the corner. Two of them were armed with flamethrowers, while the others had shotguns.

And, as it turned out, they were all Krogan.

"Fall back!" Alanna shouted, and fired blindly behind her with her shotgun as she retreated.

Haley's gunfire was better-aimed, and hit one Krogan in the knee. "Hey, asshole! Fire is my thing!"

The close-range firefight lasted for almost two minutes. Alanna's squad kept moving, doing their best to not get hit, while the enemy Krogan stood in place, relying on their armor and natural toughness to withstand the attack. Their overconfidence was their undoing; it started when Mantle used an Overload on a flamethrower, causing it to explode. The bearer was killed, and the remaining four were set on fire. Tetros capitalized on that by detonating the plasma with another Overload, only to be knocked off his feet by a shotgun blast.

Korim placed himself in front of the downed Turian, took careful aim with his own shotgun, and a single shot blew the head off the offending Krogan. He then dragged Tetros to safety, while Mantle covered them.

Nok roared as he riddled a Krogan with his machine gun; his target dropped to one knee, but still tried to fire back. He managed to get one shot off before Nok kicked him onto his back and stomped his head into paste.

The last two Krogan were blown to pieces by a combination of concussion rounds, biotics, and gunfire. Alanna and Haley shared a nod, then turned back to the squad.

"How's Tetros?" Alanna asked.

"He's fine," Korim reported. "Just winded. His barrier took the worst of it, and the medi-gel is already working."

"Sorry about that, Alanna," Tetros said as he got to his feet. "Didn't duck in time."

"Work on that, or you'll end up looking like Garrus."

Tetros laughed. "You're probably right."

The squad fought through several more groups of pirates after that, but there were no more Krogan. What alarmed Alanna wasn't just the wide variety of Cerberus weapons, but the handful of modern Alliance and Council guns as well.

"This SMG couldn't have been fabricated more than a few months ago," Korim said after one skirmish, and held up the weapon in question. "Did we have a pirate problem during the war that I didn't hear about?"

"Not that I know of." Alanna frowned, then contacted Shay. "General, we're seeing some captured wartime gear over here. Modern stuff that both sides used on Elysium."

Shay swore. "I read a few reports about that. Some of the Council troops that didn't go back home went pirate instead, and stole weapons from both sides before they ran. It's not much, but I'm sure the families of those soldiers would appreciate the return of any personal items."

"We'll keep an eye out," Alanna promised.

"Goddamn cowards," Haley snarled. "They didn't even have the courage to surrender with the rest of them. They just robbed the dead and ran."

"Alert," Mantle cut in. "The gun controls are fifty-eight meters ahead. It would be logical to assume that it is guarded."

"Good," Nok said with a grim smile. "I want more."

They didn't need Mantle to scout ahead after that; they could hear the pirates through the next door, the one that led to the gun controls.

"We lost contact with another two squads," a male voice said—human, by Alanna's reckoning. "I think they're on their way."

"Then you will hold them back," a female voice, one that had the unmistakable echo of a Quarian, said imperiously. "I have work to do, and I don't intend to be interrupted."

"What are we supposed to do!?" the human demanded, then yelped when Alanna stepped through the door. "Oh, shit!"

"Drop your weapons," Alanna said, her voice dangerously low.

She was the only one of her squad in the room, but she wasn't too concerned. There were only four pirates guarding the controls, and a Quarian woman that could only be Phara'Noih. The latter wasn't armed, and her suit was a patchwork mess, with none of the artistry most Quarians had these days.

"I'm Lieutenant Alanna Shepard," Alanna went on. "And while I have no qualms about killing all of you, I'm willing to let you live, if you surrender."

One of the pirates, the human who had been panicking, nearly dropped his gun. "Shepard? Wait, so those rumors are true!?"

Alanna's smirk was hidden by her helmet. "Yeah, and if you've heard the stories about my dad, then you know what he did to every pirate he ever met. I might have inherited that same habit."

That was enough for the one human in the room, who tossed his weapons to the floor, then got to his knees and put his hands behind his head.

"Coward!" a Batarian spat, but before he could finish raising his rifle, Alanna put a bullet in his skull.

"Anyone else?" Alanna asked mildly, and was rewarded by the two other Batarians to surrender, but she didn't take her eyes off the Quarian. "Hostiles down!"

Korim and Haley joined her a second later; the latter went about securing the prisoners, but the former was focused on Phara'Noih.

"Traitor," he snarled. "Exile was too good for you."

Phara'Noih shrugged. "It's not my fault our people are too naïve."

Korim pressed his SMG to her helmet. "On. Your. Knees."

"As you wish." The Quarian pirate knelt and put her hands behind her. "I got what I wanted for longer than I thought I would."

"And what was that, bitch?" Haley asked as she secured her.

Phara'Noih chuckled. "I got to kill quite a few humans."

"All that because the guy you wanted loved a human?" Korim's finger twitched around the trigger. "How petty can you be?"

"You can say whatever you want, I don't care." Phara'Noih's mask hid some of her features, but there was no disguising the madness in her eyes. "I did this because it brought me joy."

"Well, putting you in prison brings me joy, you insane bosh'tet." Korim dragged her to her feet and shoved her in the direction of the door. "Hey, Nok! Take this crazy bitch, will you? If she resists, break her arms."

Nok stuck his head through the door; he almost laughed, but the dark tones in the otherwise easygoing Korim's voice made him stop. "Yeah, sure."

While that was happening, Alanna was at one of the computers, hacking through some of the best firewalls she'd ever seen. Of course, by her standards, that still meant she had cracked the entire system in just two minutes.

"All right, guns are offline," Alanna announced happily, then activated her comms. "General Shay, your forces are clear to advance."

"Excellent news, Shepard; I'm sending a few shuttles and gunships to clear the compound from above. We'll be waiting for you outside. Shay out."

"Okay, guys, we're gonna split up here." Alanna pointed at the prisoners. "Haley, take Korim and Nok; you three take the prisoners out of here. Mantle, Tetros, you guys are with me; we'll secure the target, then see if Price needs our help."

"Copy that, Lieutenant." Haley grabbed one of the pirates and hauled him to his feet. "Good luck."

…

Not long after splitting up, Alanna nearly ran headfirst into a Batarian pirate; this one was had a pack of varren on electrified leashes in one hand, and a shotgun in the other.

"Kill!" the Batarian ordered, and let go of the leashes.

Alanna killed the first varren with her own shotgun, then froze two more with a cryo-blast before the remaining three were on her. One bit on her leg, and the other two tackled her to the ground. Alanna blasted them off with a pulse of biotic power that snapped one varren's spine, then punched another in the eye with enough force to pulp its brain. The third got to its feet and bit her leg again; this time, her weakened barriers broke, but the alien attack-dog barely began chewing on her armor before Alanna shot it through the neck.

"You okay?" Tetros asked; Alanna noticed that he and Mantle had already killed the varren-handler.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Alanna wiped alien blood off her leg. "Gross."

"Incoming," Mantle announced, then raised his assault rifle and shot a Vorcha. "Targets identified as Blood Pack mercenaries."

"Jalka must have a lot of credits to throw around," Alanna commented, and fired her Tsunami down the hallway, killing another handful of Vorcha. "Blood Pack don't come cheap."

"He's a Batarian pirate lord." Tetros took careful aim with his sniper rifle, and detonated the fuel of a flamethrower, burning the remaining Vorcha to death in a massive fireball. "He can afford it."

"No further hostiles detected," Mantle said, somewhat unnecessarily.

"Then let's finish this mission." Alanna checked the layout of the command center on her omni-tool. "Looks like the room we need is right up ahead."

Alanna opened the door, then ducked under a hail of gunfire. "Oh, shit!"

"You won't take me without a fight, Alliance!" Alanna peeked around the corner, and saw a Batarian in the heaviest armor she'd seen outside of Krogan-made suits, perched on a gantry and aiming a machine gun even larger than hers.

Alanna also recognized that particular Batarian. "Price, it's Shepard—we just ran into Jalka, he's at our objective!"

"Bugger," Price swore. "I thought he'd be in the nerve center. Looks like he wants to die in his treasure room."

"Fine by me!" Alanna charged through and took cover behind what looked like a small vault that had been ripped out of a wall. "Squad, engage!"

Nok drove Jalka behind his own cover with a sustained burst of fire. He kept that up so that Tetros and Alanna could make their way to the service ladder that led to the gantry, but Jalka sent them running with a suicide-drone. A moment later, Nok had to turn around and fight off another squad of pirates that had followed after them.

"Son of a bitch," Alanna swore, and shook her head to clear the ringing from the explosion. "Mantle, see if you can sneak up and drive Jalka out of his hole. Haley, Tetros, help Nok; Korim and I will deal with Jalka."

Mantle was cloaked before Alanna finished speaking; she and Korim fired in staggered bursts to keep Jalka pinned, while the Geth approached. Alanna's stealth-cracking programs in her helmet allowed her to see Mantle's outline as he climbed up the ladder to the gantry. Mantle shot Jalka in the back, then shoulder-checked him off the edge; the Batarian managed to activate his boosters before he hit the floor, and rolled with the impact, but he ended up right in front of Alanna and Korim.

"Hi," Alanna said, and then she and Korim shot him point-blank in the head with their shotguns. "Jalka is down!"

"Great, thanks!" Haley shouted. "If you're done, could you three help us out? There are a lot of really angry pirates headed our way!"

"I'm surprised you need the help," Alanna teased as she set up her Tsunami on a crate that gave her a good line of fire. "I mean, they're only pirates."

Haley let out a string of rather inventive curses as a bullet deflected off her shields. "Yeah, but some of them are armed with our guns!"

Alanna gunned down three pirates in quick succession. "All I'm hearing are excuses."

Even with her helmet on, it was obvious that Haley was fuming. "You and I are gonna have words later."

"I look forward to that." Alanna fired another burst. "By the way, I've got eight kills on you so far."

"Oh, come on!" Haley took careful aim and shot a pirate through the throat. "Well, now it's seven!"

Fortunately, Alanna's squad forced the pirates through a chokepoint, keeping them from using their numbers effectively. The fighting went on for several minutes, and then Alanna heard gunfire coming from behind the pirates.

"Well, that's a good sign," Alanna said, as the last of the pirates fell. "Thanks for the assist, Captain."

"Actually, the good captain is occupied." Shay stepped over the cooling bodies and collapsed her assault rifle, while an entire platoon of Alliance soldiers formed up outside. "I hope I'm an adequate substitute."

Alanna immediately saluted. "Sorry, General!"

"At ease, Lieutenant." Shay nodded at the rest of the squad. "Hell of a team you've put together. It reminds me of the kind of squad your father worked with."

"Thank you, ma'am." Alanna grinned when she saw Price's team arrive. "Looks like you missed your chance at a dramatic entrance, Captain."

Price shrugged. "There's always next time, Lieutenant." He nodded at Shay. "General."

"Nice to see you're as respectful to authority as ever," Shay joked. "At least the lieutenant saluted before making a quip."

"She's young, she'll grow out of it." Price turned his attention to Jalka's corpse. "That's the bastard. I wonder if he's still got it."

Before Alanna could ask, Price searched the body, and let out a satisfied huff as he held up a battered pistol.

"Knew he couldn't let trophies like that go." At Alanna's inquiring gaze, he gestured to the pistol with his free hand. "This belonged to my mentor, Captain MacMillan. Jalka killed him a few years after Mac and I killed his father, and took his pistol as a prize. I made a promise to put this on Mac's grave."

Shay nodded solemnly. "From what I know of that op, you and MacMillan removed an even worse monster from the galaxy. I'm sure the late captain will appreciate the gesture, John." She gestured to Alanna. "Lieutenant Shepard and I can handle things from here. Your mission is over."

"Thank you, ma'am." Price nodded to her, and then Alanna. "Good working with you, Lieutenant. Hope we do this again sometime."

"Likewise, Captain." Alanna shook the man's hand, and watched him go. "General, I've got my own mission to finish up."

"Of course, Lieutenant; I've got to oversee the cleanup of this base, so take as much time as you need."

Alanna let out a breath once Shay and her troops were gone; at least she had lost her fanatical edge during the operation. The last thing she needed was a zealot on her case in the middle of a firefight.

"All right, people, let's play 'find the frequency'." Alanna pulled out the Outsider artifact. "Start opening crates, and let's see what kind of goodies Jalka was hoarding."

The first crates they opened didn't have anything special; some resources, and a few upgrades that weren't as good as what the team already had. One thing that stood out was a computer that had been ripped from a scavenged Alliance ship, and upon examining its contents, Alanna swore and opened a channel to Shay.

"General, we found something you're gonna want to see." Alanna began transferring the data. "Looks like Jalka had info on Alliance patrols in human space. I don't know if he was planning to sell to the highest bidder, or use it on a raid, but High Command should be made aware."

There was a pause as Shay went over the data. "Son of a bitch. This isn't just on patrols, Lieutenant; timed right, this could give a hostile force a straight shot at Earth. Now that we know about it, we can alter patrols to compensate. Congratulations, Shepard, you may have just saved Earth."

"Or at least prevented a panic," Alanna said modestly. "I'm still looking for the primary objective. Shepard out."

"Hey, Alanna?" Haley waved her over and pointed at an open crate. "What's this? It looks Asari."

Her interest piqued, Alanna walked over; inside the box was a sculpture made of blue stone, depicting two Asari in an intimate embrace at the feet of a featureless figure.

"That's from a sect of Asari religion," Alanna explained as she tried to remember the lessons her mother and Samara had given. "Athame had many aspects, and one of them was fertility. This represents the purity of love and family."

"Huh. And here I thought it was just Asari porn."

Alanna lightly smacked her shoulder. "First of all, shut up. Second of all—hey, the Outsider artifact is humming."

Sure enough, there was a soft hum coming from the artifact; Alanna held it over the sculpture, but nothing changed. She then moved it to the right, and the humming faded; when she moved it to the left, the humming returned with a vengeance.

"I think we've struck gold, guys." Alanna walked over to the crate next to the one Haley had opened. "Nok, open it up; Haley, be ready to shoot it if it's dangerous."

"Copy," Haley said, all joking gone from her voice as she aimed her shotgun at the crate.

With a grunt, Nok pulled the crate open; everyone took a step back when the room was illuminated with green light. A perfect cylinder, no wider than Alanna's forearm and just as long, hovered within the box; it looked like it was made of black glass, with geometric grooves carved across the ends that glowed green.

"Be ready," Alanna warned, and gently tapped the first artifact against the second—

Fear

The people must flee

The end comes

They fear our defiance of their plan

We can destroy them

Their numbers are endless

The core will hide our trail

Rebuild

Wipe out their pawns

Starve them

Break their cycles

Hate

—Alanna staggered back and fell to her knees. She tore her helmet off and coughed up blood, while more flowed from her nose and eyes. Worse than the blood was the agonizing pain; it was like a rusty saw was scraping against her brain, tearing off chunks with every motion.

When the pain faded, she opened her eyes and saw that Haley had a firm hold on her, keeping her from collapsing.

"Alanna, can you hear me!?" Haley pressed an emergency respirator to her face, to block out the planet's toxic atmosphere. "Alanna!"

"I'm…" Alanna coughed, then removed the respirator long enough to spit out more blood. "I think I'm okay. Oh, god, that hurt."

"What happened?" Tetros asked as he scanned her with his omni-tool. "You were speaking in a different language."

"I was?"

"Yeah, but the translators couldn't make sense of it."

Alanna shook her head, winced at the pain, then grabbed her helmet and put it on. "I think that would have killed most people, but Asari are biologically designed to handle information passing into our brains. Still hurt like hell, though."

Korim, who had been scanning the artifacts, nodded. "Got it, don't let the alien stuff touch. Are we done here?"

"I… yeah, I think we are." Alanna accepted Haley's helping hand and got to her feet. "Come on, let's get back to the ship. We have a lot to talk about."

Hey, look, another chapter! Lots happened, and lots more to come. Sorry for not updating sooner, but it's been very hard to write. My house is undergoing renovations at the time of this writing, and we had an electrical fire about 48 hours before this chapter was posted.

Yes, this Captain Price was the Mass Effect version of the Price from the Modern Warfare games. Don't expect him to show up again, I just felt like putting him in for this chapter.

Also, continuing on my list of voice actors in this hypothetical game, Shay is voiced by Ashley Johnson.

So, Alanna found another artifact, and it wouldn't be a Mass Effect game if it didn't shove some weird info into her brain. What does it mean? Well, strap in for a mystery!

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon as an eBook or physical copy. Sales are helpful, and remind me that I need to work on the sequel at least a little bit every week.

If you want to support me in other ways, I have a P-atreon account (link in my profile). Your support there means I'm just a little bit closer to having my own place to live, and all the time in the world to write for your amusement.

Speaking of which, thanks to the following Muffins:

Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Matthias Matanovic, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, killroy225, Lokthar, Hakuryuken, Anders Lyngbye

Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, michaelb958, Crazyman844, Ben Stueckle

Ultra Muffins: RangersRoll

Next Chapter: Alanna starts to put the pieces together, but wider events may derail her plans…

I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite Muffin on the Citadel.