MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. THAT DOESN'T STOP ME FROM TRYING TO MAKE AN ARMY OF ROBOTS TO DO MY BIDDING. UNLIKE THE GETH, MY ROBOTS WILL ALL HAVE KILL-SWITCHES, JUST IN CASE THEY BETRAY ME.

Time we get rockin'!

Mass Effect: Legacy

XIII

Alanna and Haley were armored, armed, and on the surface of Tuchanka in record time. Part of Fort Shiagur was in flames, but hundreds of Krogan were already putting out the blaze by the time Alanna got there. The rest of her squad met her near the edge of the Krogan perimeter.

"Glad you could join us," Korim said wearily.

"What's the situation?" Alanna demanded, in no mood for levity.

"Still figuring that out," Tetros reported. "Some information is conflicting, but there was a convoy of vehicles that stopped at the border. The two lead vehicles then broke through security and detonated incendiaries; about two hundred hostile Krogan in fire-resistant armor used the confusion to attack the local troops. There are running battles in almost twenty percent of the city, but reinforcements are arriving."

Alanna paused when a pair of Krogan marched by, carrying a much smaller body between them. "Do we know who's responsible? EDI said it was civil war."

"That's because it is," Wrex growled as he stomped over to them. "I was in a meeting with Clan Gatatog's leadership, and they told me they and the other clans they represented were withdrawing from the Tuchanka government. Ten minutes later, the explosions started."

Alanna's eyes narrowed. "Have they claimed responsibility?"

"They don't need to," Wrex snarled. "I've seen footage of their dead here. I recognize those colors anywhere."

A distinct humming sound filled the air, and Alanna looked up. "Enemy drone swarms! Take cover!"

Unlike the flash-forged drones Alanna used, the boxy machines flying towards them were capable of long-range operations, and only stopped when they either ran out of power, or were destroyed. Krogan generally didn't use drones in battle, but that didn't stop them from making them; like most of their equipment, the Hammer-pattern drones sacrificed speed for armor and firepower, and were equipped with either grenade launchers or heavy machine guns.

The light-grey drones—each about as large as a human torso, with four wide thrusters for omni-directional flight—opened fire just after Alanna called out. Incendiary grenades landed among Krogan squads, and heavy-caliber bullets punched through armor and flesh.

"Enemy Krogan, coming up the street!" Wrex shouted, and drew an assault rifle. "Alanna, take out those drones! We'll handle these traitors."

Alanna was already barking out orders. "Mantle, hack one of the drones and capture it. Nok, focus fire on any large groups. Everyone else, use Overloads, then engage at will!"

Mantle clipped one drone, then hacked it before it recovered; he equipped his disrupter ammo, and then he and his new friend began systematically destroying one drone after another. Nok roared as he opened fire on groups of drones; he didn't have disruptor mods, but the raw power of his weapons inflicted significant damage on many. That left them vulnerable to the staggered Overloads from the rest of the squad, and after a few minutes of frantic combat, the street was littered with the drones' remains.

"This isn't just a few clans that are unhappy with Wrex's policies," Alanna said. "This was deliberate. Planned."

"You are correct, Shepard-Lieutenant." Mantle directed his new drone over to her. "Please disrupt defensive software while I retrieve useful data."

Alanna quickly inserted a virus into the drone's computer, but frowned when she saw the complexity of its firewalls. "No offense to the Krogan, but they don't make software this advanced."

"None taken," Wrex said as he limped over; he was bleeding from one leg, but was otherwise fine. "Even if Gatatog had twice as many clans on their side, they know they can't beat us in a straight fight. If I was a betting man, I'd put good money on someone helping them."

"Let's find out who, before we start pointing fingers." Alanna raised an eyebrow. "Mantle, does this coding look familiar to you? I swear I've seen it before."

"One moment; retrieving data." Mantle's flaps rose and fell. "Data retrieved and stored. You are correct, Shepard-Lieutenant. The coding was used by Salarian Special Tasks Group."

Wrex's nostrils flared. "The Salarians? They're that desperate to stop us from recovering?"

"Wait a second." Alanna looked at Mantle. "You said it was used by STG. Not is."

"Correct; the coding has been modified, but it an older generation of code, not used today."

"Another damn mystery," Wrex huffed. "Okay, the situation here is stable. Alanna, can you have EDI report this to the Alliance? We could use some help to keep this rebellion from spreading."

"Already done," Alanna said. "Where do you want us?"

Wrex smiled. "Thanks, kid. Right now, I've got units sweeping through the city to take out this first wave, but we still have a lot of bleeding to stop. As soon as we have things under control, Grunt will mobilize the Tuchanka Defense Force to hit Gatatog."

"What about the other clans they've got on their side?" Alanna asked.

"Ah, they're all basically branches of Gatatog by this point," Wrex said dismissively, and then his features darkened. "I've got work to do, kid; take your squad and help secure the area. I'll call you when I need you."

Alanna saluted; now was not the time to call Wrex her uncle. "Yes, sir. We'll get it done."

…

After a few minutes of running around, Alanna found a Krogan officer who gave them a sector to patrol. It was a grim sight; every building for three blocks had some structural damage, and not a single window was intact. There were several Krogan bodies that the squad tagged for retrieval, and none of them were soldiers.

"Never thought I'd see Tuchanka like this outside of history class," Nok said, a dangerous edge to his quiet voice.

"I've been thinking of the explosion," Tetros said. "We were well outside the blast when the bombs went off, but the yield… Krogan buildings are designed to take nothing less than military-grade ordnance."

"And other Krogan would know that better than anyone," Korim pointed out. "They would plan accordingly."

"It just doesn't make sense," Nok growled. "This attack was on a civilian district; there were kids here, and my people don't go killing our own children!"

Haley tentatively put her hand on his arm. "Maybe your generation wouldn't—you were raised that way—but there are plenty of older Krogan who might not care as much."

Nok shook his head. "It's still wrong. I mean, car bombs? Drones? My people don't fight like that against other Krogan; it's dishonorable."

"Then someone doesn't care about honor," Alanna said. "Someone just wants to hurt the Urdnot government."

A groan echoed across the street, and Mantle pointed. "A survivor. Clan markings suggest individual is not Urdnot."

The squad hurried over to find a Krogan half-buried beneath a pile of rubble. This one was a soldier, wearing blood-red armor, and had white skulls painted on his shoulders. Nok snarled, and started to raise his shotgun.

Alanna shoved the gun away. "Whoa, hold up!"

"He's Blood Pack," Nok snapped. "He's Clan Weyrloc; they shouldn't even be on Tuchanka anymore!"

The wounded Krogan laughed weakly. "What, you thought banishment would stop us? We're Krogan—true Krogan. Nothing that weakling Wrex can do will stop us from reclaiming our rightful place on Tuchanka."

Alanna locked the Blood Pack warrior in a Stasis, then signaled for local forces to pick him up. "Okay, I know about the Blood Pack mercs, but what happened to Clan Weyrloc?"

"About as savage as a Krogan can get," Nok explained through gritted teeth. "They only care about hurting others and getting paid. Pretty much every Blood Pack is from Clan Weyrloc. About a decade after the Reaper War, they tried pushing Wrex to declare war on all the Council races; when he refused, they tried to challenge his leadership, but Wrex crushed them. He gave them a choice: be destroyed and wiped from history, or leave."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they allied with Wrex's other enemies," Tetros said. "Gatatog would be an obvious candidate."

"At least Wrex pushed all his enemies into one camp," Nok grumbled. "We know who they are, and where they live. I wouldn't be surprised if Wrex had a plan in case those miserable shits did something like this."

Alanna was about to comment, but a glint of light from above caught her attention. "Sniper!"

There was a loud crack, and the captured mercenary's head exploded. Alanna's jump of surprise was the only reason the second shot didn't kill her next. She spun on her heel and headed for the building the sniper was using as a perch.

"Haley, Tetros, flush him out," Alanna ordered. "Mantle, with me!"

Leaving Nok and Korim to watch their own snipers, Alanna and Mantle boosted up to the top of a nearby building; by the time they got up there, Haley and Tetros had forced the sniper to move, and the Krogan in question was now dashing across a rooftop. He drew a heavy pistol and fired at them as he ran, but his aim was off. Mantle, on the other hand, could calculate every shot before he even pulled the trigger, and he put a bolt of plasma into the Krogan's leg. That slowed him down enough for Alanna to close in with a Charge, and tackled him off his feet.

The Krogan roared, and swung his sniper rifle like a club; Alanna's barriers shattered from the force of the blow, as did her elbow when the weapon connected with it. Alanna staggered from the pain, but refused to back down; with her only functioning arm, she focused her biotic power into a long blade. She hacked off the Krogan's hands, and one of his legs, then locked him in a Stasis for good measure.

"Shit, that hurts," Alanna hissed, and sank to her knees as the pain threatened to overwhelm her.

Mantle scanned her with his omni-tool. "Your arm has suffered extensive damage."

"Nothing some medi-gel and a hot shower won't fix," Alanna said through gritted teeth. "Speaking of which, do you mind?"

"Apologies." Mantle began applying medi-gel, just as the rest of the squad arrived.

"Holy shit, Alanna, you okay?" Haley asked.

"I've been better." Alanna gestured to the trapped Krogan. "Nok, any idea who this guy was, and what his deal is?"

Nok frowned as the studied the prisoner. His black armor was advanced, and sleek by Krogan standards. "No clan markings, and his gear looks custom. Never seen anything like it, not even in Krogan black ops."

Tetros gave him a look. "I didn't know Krogan had black ops."

"Kind of the point." Nok picked up the fallen sniper rifle. "Reminds me of the old Widow rifles, but Krogan-sized. This thing could kill a light tank."

"I want one," Haley immediately said.

"You're already getting a copy of mine," Tetros protested.

"Yeah, but that one's bigger." Haley paused, then glared the males in the squad. "None of you make a dirty joke, or so help me…"

Alanna pouted; she had actually been about to make that joke, but her girlfriend had ended her fun.

"All right, let's get this mystery Krogan over to Wrex," she said. "I'm sure he's got a lot of questions for this guy."

…

"This is too convenient to be coincidence," Miranda said; the only sign of her stress was how she was pacing as she spoke. "After everything that has happened over the last few weeks, I find it hard to believe that a Krogan civil war is unrelated."

"Agreed," Liara said. "I'm more worried about how this attack slipped by all of us. No offense, Wrex, but your people aren't exactly subtle."

"None taken," Wrex rumbled. "I was hoping Gatatog and their flunkies would do something stupid so that I could put them down; that's why I've been pushing them into one faction for so many years. I just didn't expect something this sudden. None of those morons have enough brain cells to come up with this kind of attack."

"That STG code you sent me might shed some light on that, along with the other data." Miranda scowled. "It seems you weren't the only ones manipulating your detractors, Wrex. The equipment was custom-built for Krogan, but the technology used was very old. Someone doesn't want us finding out who they are."

"Well, I plan on wringing that information out of Clan Gatatog very soon," Wrex said. "How long before Alliance reinforcements arrive?"

"It's been three hours, Wrex," Liara reminded him. "The first battlegroups won't be in the system until tomorrow."

"I'm not sure I can wait until then," Wrex said. "Every clan that's allied to me is demanding an immediate response, and so is Bakara. You know how she gets."

Liara smiled at the mention of Wrex's mate, but got serious again. "I heard there were children casualties. How bad was it?"

"Three kids dead, another who will have to grow up with a prosthetic arm." Wrex snarled again, but kept himself from breaking something. "They were all from the same family. Their parents didn't make it."

Despite being hardened veterans, even Miranda and Liara looked sickened. Wrex didn't blame them; the idea of siblings dying always affected Miranda badly, and Liara had nightmares about something happening to her own daughter.

"We're interrogating the few prisoners we captured," Wrex continued. "They're not talking, but they're all just Blood Pack goons anyway. Except for that mystery Krogan Alanna captured—I'm not sure what to think about him. I know it's early, but any luck figuring out his gear?"

"That's the disconcerting thing," Miranda said. "I know exactly where his equipment came from. I… I was the one who designed it. You know that I have a few Krogan working in Intelligence, and I wanted to equip them with something a little more streamlined. What concerns me is that I have no idea who your prisoner is—he's certainly not one of mine, and I don't know how he got his hands on that gear."

"You either have a leak, or a traitor," Wrex said. "We're lucky the bastard didn't blow Alanna's head off today."

"And I intend to turn Intelligence inside-out to learn the truth because of that," Miranda coldly promised. "Until then, watch your back, Wrex."

Wrex smirked. "You know I will."

"We're serious," Liara added. "The next reunion is coming up, and your room has already been reserved."

"And here I thought you just missed me." Wrex laughed. "By the way, you might want to add another spot."

Liara tilted her head. "Are you bringing Bakara this year?"

"Nah, she doesn't like leaving Tuchanka." Wrex's smile was as close to mischievous as a Krogan mouth allowed. "Talk to Alanna about it."

"I… will."

Wrex's mirth soon faded. "Thanks for all the help. I'll try to have this crap contained before it gets too bad, but tell the Alliance to expect trouble."

Now it was Miranda's turn to smirk. "I did that as soon as I knew we would be fighting Krogan. I learned my lesson after we fought all those Krogan tank-bred."

"Glad to know Okeer was good for something besides making Grunt." Wrex gave them both a weary wave. "Talk to you soon; I have a rebellion to crush."

…

Despite the success of their initial attack, the Gatatog forces didn't see a repeat. They launched several conventional assaults on territories aligned with Urdnot, but those loyal to Wrex had been warned in time. Both sides took losses, but Gatatog wasn't able to gain any territory, which gave Wrex time to plan his counterattack.

"Most of the clans loyal to Gatatog are in the eastern wastes," he said during a briefing with his best officers—and Alanna. "We can contain them easily enough, but there are two smaller clans to the south that have territories Gatatog would use as a staging ground for another major attack. Our first job is to drive those clans out; we can then use their land as footholds in enemy territory."

"I still say we should just bomb the bastards from orbit," one clan leader grumbled. "The wastes aren't going to get any worse if we make a few craters."

"The shamans won't allow it," Wrex said. "Those lands are sacred; it's why Gatatog claimed them in the first place. If we don't want the shamans riling the entire population against us, we need to do this the hard way.

"Lieutenant Shepard, your team will take point against Clan Jurdon," Wrex continued. "They're based in the southernmost territory. They've been a pain in my clan's collective hump for over a century, and it's about time we got rid of them."

Alanna blinked. "All due respect, sir, but please tell me it's not going to be just six of us against an entire Krogan clan."

"Nah, you're just going to take out their air defenses," Wrex said. "If you can shut down their drones and AA-guns, I can launch a full air-drop on 'em. Clan Itreck has been chomping at the bit to show off their air corps, and this is a good way for them to prove themselves. All you have to do is hold your position until Itreck secures the rest of the area."

"Well, we've recently had experience with that kind of op, so it's not like we don't know what we're doing." Alanna rose from her chair. "Permission to brief my squad, sir?"

"Go ahead," Wrex said. "You don't need to be here for the rest of this. Just be ready to deploy in one hour, and be prepared to bring the pain."

"Always, sir." Alanna gave a crisp salute, and marched out of the briefing room.

She didn't get very far before running into a familiar Krogan. "Bakara! It's good to see you again."

Wrex's mate and Tuchanka's head of civil affairs smiled behind her veil. "Alanna. I wish our reunion was under better circumstances."

"Yeah, you missed me yesterday."

Bakara turned to walk alongside her. "I was going to try to see you, but I was juggling some funding for different archaeological sites. There's quite a bit of competition to see who can restore their grids first, and that requires money."

Alanna smiled. "Mom told me about when she was running through Krogan ruins during the Reaper War. I wish I had time to visit, but something comes up every time I come here."

"The ancient city your parents fought through is close to being restored," Bakara said. "It will become a sacred monument to our past, and where our shamans will discuss matters of cultural significance. I imagine that it will also be a popular tourist site as well."

"Definitely coming back then," Alanna decided. "Hey, how are the kids?"

"Which ones? I had another clutch last year; four more healthy males, and a female."

Alanna quickly did some mental arithmetic. "Wow, does that make… sixty now?"

"Sixty-one, if you count the female we adopted five months ago."

"I'm so glad Krogan succession isn't hereditary, or you guys would have such a problem."

"It was one of the first things we set into law after the Reaper War, to prevent just such a situation." Bakara smiled again. "Mordin wanted me to pass on his love; he'd be here, but his duties require he stay on Rannoch."

Alanna sighed; Wrex's firstborn son, and part of the Krogan embassy on Rannoch, had been pining after her for almost a decade. "Okay, first, he really needs to man up and stop passing messages through his mom. Second, I'm seeing someone."

Bakara blinked. "I thought I smelled something different about you. Congratulations… and I will speak to Mordin about it."

"Thanks." Alanna held out her arms, and Bakara gave her a quick hug. "It's great seeing you again, but I need to go. I'm helping Wrex put down this rebellion."

Bakara nodded. "Of course. Those fools would bring back the very worst of our history, Alanna; make sure they fail."

"Absolutely."

…

Less than an hour later, Alanna and her squad were aboard their shuttle, headed directly for Jurdon territory.

"Okay, listen up," Alanna said. "We'll be taking out the anti-aircraft emplacements protecting the perimeter. We do this quick and clean—we've all fought Krogan before, and we know how to beat them in a fight."

"Heavy weapons, headshots, and heat," Haley called out.

"And if you can't do any of those, support those who can," Alanna continued. "Korim, I'm looking at you."

"Bite me!"

Most of the squad laughed, and even Mantle tilted his head in a way that suggested amusement.

"Nok, anything you want to add about Clan Jurdon?" Alanna asked.

"Not much to say," Nok admitted. "They're aggressive, but they've never been standouts. They've always played support to other clans."

"Then they might not be up to fighting on their own," Tetros suggested.

"That might be true, but they're still Krogan," Alanna warned. "Don't get careless."

"We're coming close to the artillery's range," the pilot, Forde, called out. "Get ready to jump, because I'm not stopping!"

"Copy that." Alanna secured her helmet. "Squad, deploy on my mark!"

Though the shuttle didn't stop, it did slow down as the doors opened up. There was barely any light out; it would be dark by the time they got to the Jurdon clan grounds.

"Three, two, one… mark!" Alanna jumped out of the shuttle, and triggered her thrusters a few seconds before she would have hit the ground. She rolled with the impact, and took cover behind a boulder as the rest of her squad landed. "Everyone good?"

"All units are in optimal condition," Mantle said, answering for everyone.

"Good to hear." Alanna peered out around her cover, and narrowed her eyes at the lights in the distance. "Okay, we're gonna hoof it from here. Mantle, Korim, do what you can to jam any sensors that might pick us up, but nobody get careless; Krogan can sniff us out just as easily as scanners."

Grimly, the squad headed out; they made good time through the dark wastes, but they would stop every so often when they heard swarms of drones overhead.

Alanna took a moment to secure a comm-frequency. "Itreck Control, come in, this is Shepard."

"Reading you, Shepard," a deep voice rumbled. "This is Itreck Borm. What's your status?"

"Approaching the Jurdon compound now, sir," Alanna said, knowing she was speaking to the head of Clan Itreck. "ETA is ten minutes. Be advised, there are hostile drones in play."

"Acknowledged," Borm said. "If possible, see if you can't disable them. They could make our assault… irritating."

"Copy that, we'll see what we can do." Alanna paused when another patrol of drones flew by. "Have there been any updates in the Jurdon compound?"

"Orbital scans show they're sitting tight." Borm scoffed. "Dumbasses probably think we'll just go after Gatatog, and ignore them."

"Makes sense, if they've been lackeys for so long."

"Too bad for them." Borm spat over the comms. "Keep me updated, Shepard."

"They really want to stand out," Nok said, after Borm ended the call.

Haley looked at him. "Who?"

"Itreck," Nok said. "They're a new clan, founded by Krogan whose clans were destroyed by the Reapers. They're not like Aralakh, they didn't have any reputation from the war. This is the first time they've had a chance to prove themselves."

Mantle tilted his head. "Records indicate that Clan Itreck has great skill in politics and administration."

Nok scoffed. "Yeah? Try comparing pencil-pushing to fighting Reapers. Itreck has been near the bottom of the pile for a century, and the only reason they get the time of day is because they've been useful to the Urdnot government. They've been trying to get some renown in the military for years, but this is their first real chance to get shit done."

"They didn't do anything when we were fighting the Council?" Haley asked.

"The war was over by the time they got ready."

"Look, if Clan Itreck wants to prove itself, that's their problem," Alanna said. "Right now, our job is to help end this civil war as quickly as possible."

With that said, the squad finished the trek in silence, until they reached the outskirts of the compound. There were squat walls around the perimeter, with Krogan guarding each entrance; Alanna could see the artillery poking out behind the walls, but the outer defenses of the compound were minimal.

"What are you thinking?" Tetros asked. "Rush one of the entrances?"

"Bad idea," Alanna said. "There are enough Krogan at each checkpoint to tie us down until reinforcements arrive. And we can't divide the squad and have them draw off the guards with a diversionary attack; there's no cover, and they could call in artillery strikes."

"That limits our options," Haley observed. "Our best option would be to boost over the walls and sneak into where they control the guns."

"Just what I was thinking," Alanna said. "We'll have to go loud as soon as we enter the building, but until then, we don't engage the enemy."

No one objected, though Nok grumbled halfheartedly. They cautiously approached the wall, and Alanna deployed a drone to look around.

"No guards in this section," she reported. "But that could change at any time. Mantle, have you figured out where they're controlling the guns?"

"Affirmative," Mantle said. "I have calculated the optimal route to the objective. There is still a forty percent chance that we will encounter an enemy squad."

"Good," Nok growled. "I want a fight."

"You'll get one soon, one way or another," Alanna said. "Now, move out!"

The squad boosted over the wall without incident, and Alanna got a look at what a Krogan clan looked like when it wasn't supported by the Urdnot government. The buildings were weathered and worn, and the technology used by the soldiers was an older generation. If Alanna's eyes weren't deceiving her, she even saw a few Krogan holding guns that still used thermal clips.

Mantle led the way towards the gun controls; occasionally, they would stop to let a Krogan patrol go by, but it was close each time. Alanna had hoped that by staying close to Nok, he would hide their scent from the other Krogan; since they hadn't been discovered yet, she was starting to believe that it was working.

"Target in visual range," Mantle reported. "Three hundred meters ahead."

"Any guards?" Alanna asked.

"Scanning." Mantle paused for a moment. "Four guards detected. Eezo signatures suggest one is a biotic."

"Oh, that's just great," Korim groaned. "Like a whole Krogan clan wasn't bad enough, we have to deal with a Battlemaster?"

"I'll deal with him," Alanna said. "The rest of you, eliminate the other Krogan."

"Copy that." Haley drew her shotgun, then reconsidered using such a close-range weapon against a Krogan, and switched back to her assault rifle. "Come on, guys, let's roll."

The squad stacked up outside the thick, armored building. It took Korim less than ten seconds to hack the door controls, and then they were inside. Alanna silently thanked Krogan architecture for the wide hallways; the last thing she wanted was to get trapped in close quarters with an angry Krogan.

Contact with the Jurdon warriors came less than a minute after entering the building. A particularly hulking Krogan spotted them and roared, then opened fire with a grenade launcher. Nok charged through the blast, and though his barriers broke, it bought him enough time to collide with the other Krogan. He shoved his shotgun into his opponent's belly and opened fire; even a Krogan couldn't withstand an Extinction at point-blank range, and he was violently torn in half.

Nok barely had time to acknowledge his own victory when a biotic blast hit him in the shoulder and spun him around. Another Krogan, his armor dotted with external piping that acted as biotic amps, stomped into the room, flanked by two more soldiers.

"Take them!" Alanna snapped, and then used a Charge to get in closer to the Battlemaster.

Bullets flew around her as her squad opened fire, but Alanna couldn't risk splitting her attention. Against a Krogan biotic, even the smallest distractions could prove fatal. She lashed out with an omni-blade and cut the Krogan's shotgun in half; then, she drove her other fist, covered in biotic energy, into his jaw. The blow staggered him, but he recovered and sent Alanna flying with a Shockwave.

"Alanna, duck!"

The drill-sergeant shout from Haley kept Alanna from rising from her crouch; if she had stood up, the grenade Haley threw would have hit her instead of the Battlemaster. The blast didn't kill the Krogan, but it shattered his weakened barriers, which was enough for Alanna. She stood up and opened fire with her Tsunami; between the natural power of the gun and the shredder rounds, the Krogan was reduced to little more than a smear and a pile of limbs.

With the primary threat eliminated, Alanna turned to help her squad; one enemy Krogan was dead, but the other was doing a good job of keeping Nok between him and the others. Unfortunately for him, Alanna was close enough to use her shotgun, and blew his leg off; he barely had time to roar before Nok activated his machine gun's omni-bayonet and shoved it through his throat.

"Targets down," Tetros reported. "Room clear."

"Then let's get those guns under control." Alanna nodded at Haley. "Thanks for the assist."

Haley shrugged. "I know you were enjoying yourself, but we didn't really have time for you to play with that Krogan all day."

"I can't have anything," Alanna mock-grumbled, and then got serious again. "Mantle, how much further?"

"The controls are fifty-eight meters ahead," Mantle said. "There is a possibility of extra defenses, but I cannot breach the enemy firewalls without being directly connected to the network."

Nok gave him a look. "Krogan software isn't that good. We're more of a hardware people."

"The attackers on Fort Shiagur used old STG coding," Alanna reminded him. "They could be using the same here. That stuff was hard to crack, even back then."

Thankfully, there were no further surprises between the squad and the gun controls. As soon as they saw the controls, Alanna and Mantle got to work; between them, they quickly cracked the old STG code, and inserted a virus that completely disabled the outer defenses, including the drones.

"All right, stage one is complete." Alanna tapped her comms. "Itreck Control, this is Shepard. Checkpoint reached; I say again, checkpoint reached, you are clear to engage."

"Outstanding, Lieutenant," Borm said with a laugh. "We're deploying now. Hold your position, and we'll mop up these Jurdon assholes."

"Copy that, Itreck Control." Alanna turned to her squad. "You heard him, we'll hold this building. Get to the entrance, in case the Jurdon want to try taking this place back."

Nok laughed. "If we're lucky, we can watch a Krogan airdrop; it'll be fun."

Alanna chuckled, and almost ran headfirst into a Krogan as he entered the room. There was a brief moment of disbelief from both parties, and then Alanna quickly raised her shotgun and shot the Krogan in the chest. He staggered back, and then again when Alanna put a second round into him; then it was her turn to take a step back, but only so that Haley and Nok could set the Krogan on fire.

"Looks like we may not have time to get properly set up," Alanna said, with barely a tremor in her voice. "Come on, let's make sure that guy doesn't have any friends before we close the door in their faces."

"What was that guy even doing here?" Korim asked. "Mantle, did you miss one in your scans?"

"Unlikely." Alanna almost laughed at how offended Mantle sounded. "It is possible that he was on patrol nearby, and detected our scent."

"Or the scent of dead Krogan," Tetros added. "I imagine that would get their attention."

"He's not wrong," Nok said. "For us, the smell of dead Krogan screams either 'threat' or 'worthy challenge'."

"We'll have to remember that," Alanna said, and then raised her shotgun again. "Contact!"

Two more Krogan bellowed challenges and charged down the hallway. Korim quickly deployed a mine at their feet; the explosion staggered them, and Tetros killed on with a close-range shot from his sniper rifle. The second was knocked off his feet by two shotgun-blasts from Alanna and Haley.

"Itreck Control, be advised," Alanna reported, "Jurdon troops are assaulting our position, and we don't have a lot of room to maneuver. We would appreciate it if you could take the heat off us."

"Understood, we're dropping in now," Borm said. "Our ETA is one minute."

Tetros sighed. "What, are they dropping in from low orbit?"

"Yeah?" Nok said it like it was obvious. "That's how our drop-landers work."

"Wait, landers? I thought you guys would just slow your descent with individual boosters."

Alanna chuckled. "Cousin, you're thinking of Krogan airdrops during the Reaper War. It's changed since then."

…

High above Alanna's squad, three repurposed Alliance frigates hung in the upper atmosphere. Their bellies opened up, and one hundred and twelve rectangular transports dropped like rocks. Only the minimal use of stabilizers kept them from spinning out and throwing their occupants everywhere. As they came close to the surface, thrusters slowly activated, turning the freefall into a controlled descent.

Down on the ground, Jurdon troops looked up and saw the incoming assault; out of Krogan instinct, they raised their guns and opened fire, but without the aid of their artillery, they barely scratched the paint of the landers. Some Jurdon who didn't move in time were crushed, while others were gunned down by the automated turrets mounted on top of the landers as they touched down.

As soon as the landing ended, each craft abruptly split apart into more of a light bunker. Each contained twenty Itreck Krogan, who roared as they charged; the first ten out of each transport carried a massive riot shield in one hand, made of a cheap, disposable material that was meant to give the bearers just enough time to get into cover. The second half of each complement carried a mix of heavy weapons; in this case, they were all modified with incendiary ammunition that burned through the Jurdon armor.

Within five minutes of their arrival, over two thousand Itreck warriors had secured their foothold in the Jurdon compound. Now, it was time for the real fight.

…

"Spirits," Tetros whispered. "Why the hell didn't you guys use that on the Council?"

"Logistics." Nok said the word like a curse. "It takes a while to turn a whole frigate into a glorified transport for a very specific kind of attack, and there are still arguments on whether or not it's worth it for the Alliance as a whole to do something like this."

"Since the bean-counters are still debating, the Krogan decided to implement it for their own forces," Alanna added. "It's just expensive, and Itreck was the only clan to completely devote itself to this kind of warfare."

Nok's satisfaction turned melancholic. "And the first time they ever actually try it outside of training is against our own people."

As she watched the Itreck forces drive the Jurdon before them, Alanna privately agreed with him. Still, the Jurdon and their allies had betrayed the rest of their people, and the Krogan were unforgiving when it came to betrayal.

Despite how heavily outgunned they were, the Jurdon forces were putting up a fight. During their approach to the compound, Alanna had done some research on the Jurdon, and though they were small by modern Krogan standards, there were still over a thousand fighters that called the clan their home. According to orbital scans, only about seven hundred were at the compound now, and they were outnumbered over three to one by a force favored by Urdnot Wrex. No matter how hard they fought, this was only going to go one way.

After almost an hour of heavy fighting, the sound of gunfire faded, and Krogan squads began reporting that the compound had been cleared.

Alanna took her time making her way to Borm, checking on dead Jurdon Krogan as she went. She didn't find much of note, mostly credits, but a Jurdon engineer had an interesting file on his omni-tool.

"Whatcha got, Alanna?" Haley asked.

"An audio file," Alanna said absently. "This guy was a little nosy, and decided to hack into his superiors' conversations."

"Never took a Krogan for a gossip-monger."

Nok huffed. "Jurdon was stuck in the wastelands. Their choices are fighting each other, shooting random Vorcha, or getting dirt on each other."

"What, no getting laid?" Korim asked.

"Jurdon was a vassal to Gatatog, and they follow the old ways. They've got the females from all the clans that serve them locked up in a special camp." Nok sneered. "Even if Jurdon rebelled, they'd be doomed to a slow death without their females."

"Guys, shut up a minute," Alanna said, "I think I cracked the encryption on this file."

Her omni-tool crackled as the low-quality sound began to play.

"We can't win a war against Urdnot," a deep voice—definitely Krogan—said urgently. "Even if you did manage to get your hands on this higher-end gear, we don't have the numbers, or the ships."

"Who's that?" Alanna asked.

"Jurdon Krenk," Nok answered. "He's the clan leader. If he's here, he's dead, but he might have been in the main Gatatog base. I dunno yet."

Alanna made a mental note to ask about Krenk's fate later, and resumed the file.

"Oh, I've got more than gear," a smug voice said. "I convinced Weyrloc to come back. Three thousand warriors, and almost fifty thousand Vorcha. It will take some time to smuggle them to Tuchanka, but our new friends are good at moving things unnoticed."

"We're still outnumbered, even with those maniacs," Krenk said. "And you didn't answer me about the ships."

"First, we take Fort Shiagur, and the resources there will let us get close enough to the ships in orbit to board them. From there, it's a simple matter to steal each ship."

"Confident bastard, isn't he?" Tetros muttered. "Who is he?"

"Gatatog Rulk." Nok practically spat out the name. "He spends almost every day posting anti-Urdnot messages. They're always taken down, but I'm sick and tired of them popping up on my news feed. He always goes on about committing every atrocity under the sun—wiping out the Salarians, dropping a genophage on the Turians, that kind of thing. Last week, he tried to get more people on his side by promising every warrior who swore allegiance to him an Asari pleasure slave."

"I didn't think most Krogan were into that," Alanna said evenly, though her skin crawled.

"Most aren't, but Gatatog is desperate for numbers," Nok said, and spat off to the side. "He's been pulling the same kinda bullshit as the Batarians, saying that conquest and slaughter are our 'cultural rights'."

Alanna frowned. "Okay, I'm not an expert on your people's culture, but I've read enough to know that that's… not true."

"It really isn't," Nok agreed. "Fighting for survival, growing stronger by pitting ourselves against powerful foes—yeah, that's part of our heritage, but none of the crap he's been spouting. It's why he lost the support of the shamans, and that's one of the reasons people stay loyal to Wrex."

"There are other reasons?" Haley asked.

Nok chuckled. "Well, Wrex has a history of winning his wars. Oh, and Gatatog lost a lot of face after they tried to interfere in General Grunt's Rite. They never recovered from that, especially after their clan leader at the time got killed by a human."

Alanna snapped her fingers. "Right, Dad killed that guy." She shook her head. "We've still got more to this file."

"What makes you so sure this is going to work?" Krenk demanded.

Rulk laughed. "Because Urdnot and their lackeys are going to be too busy dealing with Wrex's death to stop us. My new Outsider friends will be killing him very soon."

Alanna's blood ran cold, and she quickly checked when that conversation took place. "Oh, shit! This was recorded two hours ago! Wrex's forces are spread out fighting Gatatog, which means his own security is light!"

Without waiting for her squad to comment, Alanna broke out into a full sprint for Borm, who was helping a wounded Itreck warrior to his feet.

"Ah, Lieutenant," Borm said warmly. "You did good work back—"

"No time, sir!" Alanna interrupted. "We need to get back to Fort Shiagur, now!"

…

Alanna's message came through just in time. Wrex had been running himself ragged all day, and had been about to give himself a short rest when Alanna called him.

"What's up, kid?"

"Get to cover!" Alanna shouted, and Wrex started at the genuine fear in her voice. "The Outsiders are here, on Tuchanka, and they're after you! We're on our way!"

Wrex trusted Alanna implicitly; her warning, and his own instincts, made him strengthen his barriers just as a blade slammed into his shoulder. His barrier broke, but his armor held, and his attacker flipped around to face him.

The Outsider assassin was the same kind of model that had tried to kill Grunt and Miranda. If the latter's theory was right, it had also killed many of his friends.

"I was kinda hoping you'd come after me," Wrex growled. "You killed people I care about. I'm gonna enjoy ripping you apart."

"The old light will die," the assassin hissed. "The new light will not emerge from the ashes. The stars will fall unto shadow, and we will reclaim them all."

"Nice speech," Wrex mocked. "How about you try to back it up?"

The assassin broke apart into thousands of fragments and swarmed around Wrex's legs. He blasted at the cloud with his shotgun, but if he did any damage, he couldn't tell. He rolled to the side as the assassin solidified, narrowly avoiding the blade that would have cut his arm off. This time, he hit the machine with a Warp; he remembered from Miranda's reports that the Outsiders had no defense against biotics, and he was rewarded by a metallic screech as the assassin was knocked back.

"That was for Tali, you asshole!" Wrex roared.

The machine hurled its own blade-arm like a javelin; Wrex's barriers had started to recover, so rather than be impaled through one of his hearts, he was knocked on his back. He got off another shot that damaged the assassin's leg, but then his weapon was knocked out of his grip. Wrex managed to catch the plunging blade before it stabbed him, but the machine was stronger than it looked, and it had momentum on its side. He felt the blade slowly puncture his armor, and then dig into his flesh.

Then there was a deafening crash as a Krogan shuttle rammed its way through the ceiling. It slammed into the floor barely a meter away from Wrex's head; the dented door was blasted off by one of the most powerful biotic explosions Wrex had ever seen, and then a blur rushed out of the burning shuttle to tackle the assassin.

"Get off him!" Alanna screamed as she punched the robot in the head, and then threw it back.

"New light," the assassin said, but before it could attack, it was driven back by gunfire from the rest of Alanna's squad.

"Kill it!" Alanna shouted. "Nok, cover Wrex!"

Wrex felt a strong grip on his shoulder as Alanna's Krogan teammate dragged him further away from the assassin.

"I've got you, sir," the young Krogan said.

Wrex pushed his hand away and got to his feet. "I'm not so old I can't fight, kid."

Nok had the quad to laugh. "Yeah, but do you want to get in Alanna's way?"

Wrex watched as Alanna wrapped the assassin in a biotic field, lifted it into the air, and slammed it back down. She repeated this eight more times, and had Wrex been anyone else, his jaw might have dropped. That kind of move was difficult to use more than once every minute or so, but Alanna was using it every few seconds. Wrex didn't know many Asari Matriarchs who could do something like that, and Alanna was barely a Maiden.

Finally, Alanna let the assassin go, but only so she could toss a Singularity at it, which the Quarian N7 promptly detonated. At that point, the assassin had taken too much damage, and crumbled to metallic dust.

"Secure Wrex," Alanna ordered. "Mantle, coordinate with Krogan security, get this entire goddamn place locked down. Tetros, find the most likely point that thing could have entered from. Korim, after Mantle is done, I want you two to go through every internal scanner this place has and find out how this thing didn't trip any alarms. Haley!"

Wrex blinked at how Alanna's XO jumped. "Yes?"

"Take command for a while."

"Sure, but… why?"

Alanna peeled off her helmet, and Wrex noticed the blood pouring from her nose. "I think I'm gonna pass out."

Wrex pushed Nok out of the way and caught Alanna before she hit the floor. A part of him hated himself for letting the girl who was practically his granddaughter push herself so hard to save an old man like him. The vast majority of his anger was solely focused on the Outsiders and their allies, and the only way that anger would subside was when they were all dead.

Then a thought occurred to him. "How did you guys get here so fast?"

"Alanna and Korim bypassed pretty much every safety feature in the shuttle to boost the speed," Tetros said. "And Mantle hacked General Grunt's omni-tool to get his security clearance so that we wouldn't get shot down on the way here. By the time we got over the fort, the whole shuttle was coming apart, so Haley just kinda aimed for the nearest window. The rest was just luck."

"That… is actually kind of scary," Wrex admitted. "And don't worry about stealing Grunt's codes, I'll clear it up."

"Thanks, sir; I'd appreciate not going to a Krogan prison."

Finally, a team of Krogan, led by Bakara, burst into the room.

Wrex's mate took in the scene of destruction for only a moment. "What happened?"

"Call up every reserve we have," Wrex ordered, and carefully handed Alanna to Haley. "This is no longer a rebellion that needs crushing. This is a full-scale war."

…

By her own admission, Miranda could be extremely terrifying. Over the last century, she'd gotten better at being more approachable, but there were times that she would fall back to her Cerberus ways, especially when dealing with traitors.

The man in front of her was definitely a traitor.

Thomas Julian had worked for Alliance Intelligence for almost twenty years. He had never been an agent, nor seen any fieldwork; his job was to ensure that Intelligence assets got whatever they needed for their missions. He pulled duties in weapons developments, transportation, and a dozen other logistics-heavy tasks. He was quite skilled at anything that required numbers and engineering.

What he wasn't good at was covering his tracks. It had taken Miranda's team of Geth less than an hour to identify who had been fabricating Intelligence-level Krogan gear without authorization. After that, Miranda had personally led the team that broke into Julian's home and dragged him to a blacksite. What she did to him there would never be recorded, and any evidence of wrongdoing would be destroyed before even the most efficient lawyer could build a case against her.

"Mr. Julian, I'm reaching the end of my patience, and that is a difficult thing to do," Miranda said coldly. "I want answers."

Julian tried to put on a brave face, but it was difficult when said face had more bruises than unmarred flesh. "S-screw you, bitch!"

Miranda looked down at her perfectly-manicured nails. "Ah, well, if physical persuasion is ineffective on you… perhaps it will be more so against your family."

Julian's eye that wasn't swollen went wide. "No! No, you can't do that! They don't know anything about this!"

"I sincerely doubt that," Miranda said, and brought up video footage on her omni-tool of a woman and two children tied to chairs. "From what your colleagues have told me, you're quite the family man." Her eyes were as cold as ice as she spoke into her omni-tool. "Kill the youngest."

"No, wait!" Julian screamed as a man in black armor put a pistol to the boy's head and pulled the trigger… but nothing happened. "What?"

"He kept the safety on," Miranda explained, enunciating each syllable like she was speaking to a particularly stupid child. "Next time, it won't be. Now, are you going to tell me what I want to know?"

Julian slumped in his chair. "Yes."

"Good boy." Miranda slowly circled him. "Who hired you?"

"A Krogan, named Gatatog Rulk."

"Are you aware that he is an avowed enemy of Urdnot Wrex, a very effective and popular Alliance leader?"

"Yes."

"Then why would you help his enemy?"

"He… he paid me. More money than I would make working for you for ten years."

Miranda didn't miss the hesitation in his voice. "I don't believe you." She brought up her omni-tool again. "Prepare to fire. We'll start with the wife first."

Julian knew Miranda wasn't bluffing this time. "O-okay! I'll tell you the truth!"

"No more lies, Mr. Julian." Miranda stepped behind him and grabbed the back of his head with a biotic-covered hand. "If I don't get a straight answer out of you, I will peel off your eyelids and make you watch as your family dies. Understood?"

"Y-yes."

"Then talk."

"The Krogan, Rulk, he… he showed me things. Evidence from the Outsiders. There's no way we can stop them!"

Miranda sneered. "So, you turned your back on your nation and your species because you were afraid? How pathetic." She paused. "This evidence—do you have it?"

"Yes?" Julian tried to pull his head free, but Miranda squeezed, and he froze when he heard—and felt—his skull start to crack. "It's a, uh, OSD; I hid it under a flowerpot in my yard."

Miranda walked around to face him and looked into his eyes; she could tell he was being honest this time.

"Very well, Mr. Julian." She raised her omni-tool and tapped a single key; the image of Julian's family vanished.

"What about my family?" he demanded.

Miranda smiled coldly. "Mr. Julian, you've worked at Intelligence for years; I'm surprised you fell for that little charade."

"What?"

"Your family was never in danger; that footage was digitally fabricated. Your real family is safely in custody, being told a rather convincing story of how you stumbled onto a plot between the Outsiders and Krogan rebels to start a civil war on Tuchanka, and bravely gave your life to give that evidence to me." Miranda drew her pistol. "Thank you for your service."

Julian opened his mouth, but Miranda put a bullet in his skull before he could speak.

"Clean up this mess," she ordered, and a pair of Geth walked into the cell. "And have the retrieval team find that OSD."

"Are you certain he was telling the truth?" one Geth asked.

"Between the threats to his family and the chemicals the interrogator applied during the beating, his mind was suitably open," Miranda said with a satisfied smirk. "He would have had to be a far more cold-blooded bastard than he was to resist telling the truth after that."

"Of course, Director." The two Geth lifted the corpse. "Should we undergo routine memory-wipes of this event?"

"Go with modification protocol," Miranda decided. "If you two are traced back to this, you can say that you retrieved his body after his 'noble sacrifice'."

"Understood."

This was why Miranda liked working with Geth; they were pragmatic to an extreme, and knew the value of knowing what information to share, and what not to. In short, they were perfect for Intelligence.

Satisfied that her organization had been purged of leaks, Miranda's mind had already shifted to focus on logistics. There were many assets she could put into play on Tuchanka, including ways to implement long-term plans.

Of course, the most important thing she needed to do was make sure Alanna came out of this alive.

"That girl," she muttered with weary humor. "She gets into almost as much trouble as her father."

I'm going to start this section with saying that Miranda can be an absolutely cold-hearted bitch when she needs to be, especially if it's in the service of people she cares about. And after finding out that the Outsiders have been killing her family, it's no wonder that Alanna went full biotic berserker to protect Wrex.

Also, hi, Bakara! She and Wrex almost certainly had a few dozen kids. No, we're probably not going to meet them. Well, maybe the one named Mordin, because there might be something awkward happening, and that would amuse me.

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 help boost my confidence while writing the sequel!

You can also support me by donating on my P-atreon page (link in my profile). The house I live in is filled with things that have caused me some pretty extreme anxiety lately, so the sooner I can afford to live elsewhere, the better!

I'd like to thank the following patrons for just being awesome:

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

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Next Chapter: The Krogan civil war continues, but the Alliance won't let it spiral out of control. Meanwhile, Alanna must dig deeper into the reason for the Outsiders' interference.

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