MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. STILL TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE SPACESHIP I STOLE—I MEAN, BORROWED. I'M STILL WORKING ON THE WEAPONS, AND TO THE FAMILY OF WHOEVER I VAPORIZED, I'M SORRY.

So, on the one hand, Tuchanka is doing okay. On the other hand, one of Shepard's old friends is in a bit of trouble. Let's see how that turns out, yeah?

Mass Effect: Legacy

XV

Miranda briefly considered the last time she had been in the field, and realized that it had been far too long. She was honest enough to admit that she shouldn't be in the field; even with her enhancements, she hadn't been at the top of her game in years.

But she was also honest enough to know that even if she was a complete invalid, she would have still tried to board a ship to Lesuss. Samara was one of the only friends she had left, and she'd be damned if she didn't try to save her.

Word had come from Samara herself, from a secret channel used only by the Normandy crews. Something was coming to the Ardat-Yakshi monastery, and the security there wasn't sure they could handle it on their own. Using backroom deals with other intelligence agencies, Miranda activated one of several Reaper-related contingencies.

The Ardat-Yakshi had been twisted and weaponized by the Reapers, and if there was even the slightest chance of it happening again, something had to be done.

Within an hour of receiving Samara's message, Miranda had boarded the fastest ship in the Alliance, and rendezvoused with six other vessels on the way to Lesuss. There were two Asari Republics ships, loaded with commandos, a Turian cruiser, and three STG frigates. Aside from the Turian ship, there wasn't much firepower between them, but they were stuffed to the gills with some of the best soldiers the galaxy would never know existed.

"You've all studied the layout of the monastery," Miranda said to her troops. "You know the most vital objectives. Preventing the capture of the Ardat-Yakshi takes priority over everything else. The security there is aware that asset-denial is very much on the table, but killing their charges is only to be taken if defense or evacuation fails."

Personally, Miranda hoped it didn't come to that. She was one of the few in the galaxy who knew that Samara's only remaining daughter was one of the Ardat-Yakshi. Not even Alanna knew, and Samara had said more than once that one of her greatest regrets was not letting Alanna know she had another 'cousin'.

Miranda checked the time. "We'll be arriving at Lesuss in twenty minutes. Check your gear, and get ready for anything."

She almost smiled at the efficiency of her soldiers. She had handpicked each of the twenty agents for this contingency, and she trusted them with her life. Still, Miranda wished she had more of her old friends with her—Wrex, Grunt, Liara or EDI. Of course, out of everyone, she wished Commander Shepard was there; she was no Shepardist, but even Miranda knew that if anyone could pull off an impossible rescue, it would have been him, and he wouldn't have needed seven ships to do it.

That might be the old bias again, Miranda thought wryly. He would have gotten the ships, but he would have completed the mission before they arrived.

"Director, we're arriving in a few minutes," one of her soldiers said.

Miranda looked at the time; she had been lost in thought for fifteen minutes. "Very good. Prepare for insertion."

"Alert, all hands, alert!" The ship's captain's voice was strong, but alarmed. "We have confirmed visual on the enemy force. Ships are identified as Athamean League!"

"It's not the Outsiders?" Miranda wondered under her breath. She was confused, but also slightly relieved; at least they knew how to fight Asari. "Captain, what kind of vessels are we dealing with?"

"We have four Asari ships," the captain reported. "Two frigates, one cruiser, and a heavy transport. It looks like the transport has already deployed troops to the surface."

"Our first priority is to make contact with the defense force. Can we do that?"

"The Asari are trying to jam us, but we've got Geth; we've already broken their encryption. I can patch you through to the monastery."

"Do so." Miranda watched as a light began to blink on her omni-tool. "Samara, are you there?"

There was a moment of static, and Miranda felt her heart clench.

"This is Justicar Kraya," an unfamiliar voice said. "Who is this, and how do you know Justicar Samara?"

"My name is Miranda Lawson."

"Ah, I understand. Samara said that she had asked for assistance. I am grateful for any aid you can provide."

"I have ships about to engage the enemy vessels, and we'll start landing forces to bolster yours." Miranda hesitated. "Where is Samara? What is her status?"

Kraya laughed, so unlike the only Justicar Miranda actually knew. "She is on the front lines, showing these traitors what it means to face a Justicar in battle. When I saw her last, she had just wiped out an entire platoon of these fanatics."

Miranda almost commented on a Justicar calling anyone a fanatic, but held her tongue. "You mean the Athamean League?"

"Indeed. At least you will have no trouble identifying them now; they have painted their armor white." Kraya laughed again. "Our snipers are almost bored by how easy their targets are making things."

"Thank you for the information. Be advised, we have Asari Republics troops with us, and none of them are wearing white."

"I will alert our forces; we will only open fire on the Athamean League."

Miranda used her omni-tool to check on the situation in space; the ships hadn't engaged yet, but the Athameans saw that they were outgunned, and were pulling into a defensive formation. That gave the Alliance, Council and Hierarchy forces time to slip to the surface, and fight their way to the defenders' position. Miranda had already conferred with her counterparts aboard the other ships, and had been given operational command, for which she was grateful; she was too used to giving orders, and not taking them.

Now, she just had to remember how to fight.

…

Samara looked completely serene as she ducked under a hail of gunfire. She replied with her biotics, actually detonating the barriers of her latest opponent with such force that the Asari violently exploded. One of the nearby Athameans was caught in the blast and killed, while another screamed in terror.

They should have been too afraid to ever pick a fight with one Justicar, let alone the twenty-five stationed at the monastery.

"Foolish children," Samara said, her calm voice somehow carrying over the sound of battle. "Find peace in the embrace of the Goddess."

The Asari that had screamed had clearly lost her mind in terror, because she charged out of cover, firing wildly at Samara. For her part, the Justicar calmly stepped forward, ignoring the handful of bullets that hit her barrier; she weaved out of the way of a wild punch, then proceeded to snap her opponent's arm in six places in three seconds. The younger Asari tried to pull back, but Samara drew her pistol and put a bullet through her skull.

"I see you haven't lost your touch."

Samara turned at the familiar voice and smiled. "I have spent over a century preparing for this, Miranda. If anything, this kind of battle is reassuring."

"If you say so," Miranda said. "I hope you don't mind that I brought help."

"Not at all." Samara looked her old friend up and down. "New armor?"

"Your small talk needs work, but yes. Not all of us can pull off skintight outfits forever."

Samara almost rolled her eyes. Miranda had barely changed over the last century, and could still turn even Asari heads. Likely, her change in appearance was because she needed to be taken more seriously by her subordinates; Samara had no such worries, but humans could be strange. Miranda's new armor was still formfitting, but with segmented plates over her chest and legs; unlike her white-and-black or black-leather bodysuits, Miranda's armor was various shades of blue. It was more subtle than anything else Samara had seen her wear, but if anything, it made her more dangerous.

"What's the situation?" Miranda asked, now serious. "Your friend Kraya wasn't very forthcoming with tactical data."

"Forgive her, she was still getting used to being a commander, and sometimes forgets to be so open with others." Samara's smile started to resemble a smirk. "I, however, learned that lesson from Shepard.

"We have two hundred and twenty-eight combat-ready personnel in the monastery. The majority of them are maintaining our defenses, but I took our best Justicars and have been using hit-and-run attacks to disrupt the enemy's advance. We have a few wounded, but none are too serious. Our real problem is the enemy numbers; at our last count, the Athameans have over seven hundred soldiers in fighting condition."

"What about armored support?" Miranda asked.

"You have seen the monastery, Miranda; the roads are too thin and steep to permit tanks, and the Athameans know it. They attempted an airstrike, followed by an airborne landing, but we were prepared for such an attack. Their gunships were destroyed, and only two of their shuttles were able to land their troops."

"I assume those soldiers are dead?"

"Not all," Samara revealed. "We captured some of them for questioning."

"I wouldn't think your Code would allow for prisoners in this case." Miranda's voice was measured, as if she was trying to determine how much of a joke she could make.

"We must discover how deep this conspiracy goes," Samara said. "I knew you would be better at extracting that information than any of us, so I made sure to keep some alive." She shrugged. "The Code can be flexible in some aspects."

"Clearly." Miranda looked down at her omni-tool. "Our troops are combining resources as we speak. We should return to the monastery."

"Agreed." Something moved out of the corner of her eye. "Miranda, look out!"

Any ordinary human at Miranda's age wouldn't have been able to fight, but Samara sometimes forgot that Miranda was not an ordinary human. She flipped away from the gunfire with a grace even Samara was impressed by, and then landed a perfect shot through her attacker's eye with her SMG. A second Asari tried to retreat, but Miranda grabbed her in a biotic field and pulled her close; she then dispassionately slashed the Asari's throat with an omni-blade, and let the corpse fall to the ground.

"Well done," Samara praised.

"I'm getting old," Miranda sighed. "Twenty years ago, I could have done that in half the time, and without this armor boosting my reflexes."

"Do you require my help getting up the stairs?"

Miranda stared at her. "Did… did you just make a joke?"

"More than once, Commander Shepard encouraged me to be more… personable."

"I would applaud your efforts, if you didn't make fun of my age." Samara caught the tiniest smirk on Miranda's face as she walked by. "Come on, let's get this battle over with so we can go back to trading barbs. That's more fun."

…

Despite the blood and smoke, the monastery was still beautiful. There were gentle archways that were typical of Asari architecture, and soft colors that appealed to Miranda's tastes. If she hadn't been in the middle of an operation, she would have happily spent her time examining the artwork.

As it was, she was too busy trading gunfire with a pair of Asari that had boosted over the outer defenses and made a beeline for the main courtyard. Miranda knew the layout of the monastery, and realized they were headed for the Ardat-Yakshi bunker. Most of the joint defenders were busy with another assault, including Samara, and Miranda found herself alone.

At least she could handle these two idiots; the Asari shooting at her were young, barely Maidens, and definitely didn't have much combat experience. One didn't even properly brace herself as she fired her assault rifle, and none of her shots hit.

Miranda locked her down with a weak Stasis, then used an Overload to disable the other Asari's tech armor. She then drew her shotgun—a slim, custom-made Geth model, keyed to her biometrics—and put three shots into the Asari that was frantically trying to get her barriers back up. By the time the first Asari was free of the Stasis, her friend was dead, and she soon joined her.

"Samara, come in," Miranda said into her comms. "The intruders have been neutralized. What's the status at the wall?"

"The enemy is retreating, but we have multiple casualties," Samara reported grimly. "Four dead, eleven wounded. The Athameans took five times as many losses before we drove them back."

"It's a false retreat," Miranda realized immediately. "They hit us hard, but now they're going to use more air-dropped forces to capitalize on a perceived weakness. They'll use the south ridgeline for cover, and advance on foot from there."

"That is logical, but how do you know that?"

"It's what I would do." Miranda was already running for the south gate. "Fortunately, we're prepared for that kind of attack. I have three squads ready to reinforce the southern defenses."

"I will join you as soon as I can. Goddess be with you."

Miranda rounded a corner, and nearly ran headfirst into a burly Turian; Major Petrus was an accomplished soldier, but his skills in asymmetrical warfare and biotics had landed him a career in Hierarchy Intelligence.

"Major, I was just on my way to join you." Miranda took a steadying breath. "I have reason to believe your station is about to come under attack."

Petrus threw back his head and laughed. "Ha! And here I thought you'd let my men have some fun on our own, Director."

Miranda shrugged. "Considering how many Asari are attacking us today, I thought you could use another biotic."

"I won't say no to some extra punch." Petrus nodded as Miranda's reinforcements arrived. "Good, now we've got numbers and talent."

The familiar hum of Asari engines reached Miranda's ears. "Pleasantries are over, Major. We have hostiles on the way."

Petrus' bombastic mood immediately sobered. "Then let's greet them."

The Turians' main contribution had been their cruiser, which was handily dealing with the Athamean ships, but their ground forces were nothing to sneeze at. Eighty soldiers assigned to the militant arm of Hierarchy Intelligence had come to Lesuss, and were counted among the best Turian soldiers alive. With another fifteen Alliance operatives, and Miranda Lawson, nothing short of a division was going to dislodge them.

That didn't mean the incoming Asari were completely incompetent. Six missiles streaked into the south gate, and if it hadn't been reinforced for this exact situation, it would have been blown apart.

"Snipers, take out those shooters," Petrus ordered.

Muffled cracks rang out as Turian sharpshooters put bullets into Asari skulls.

"Assault group incoming," Miranda observed through a drone one of her men had deployed. "They're using biotics and boosters to get close as quickly as possible. I assume you set up the minefield?"

"I didn't need to," Petrus said. "The commandos stationed here already had it covered."

Explosives detonated, and pieces of Asari went up, and then down.

"And these idiots ran right into them." Petrus examined the tactical data on his omni-tool. "There are at least a hundred more Asari making their attack. Now that we've moved to defensive tactics, they're stepping up their game. I estimate that we'll be able to hold them back for another two hours, and then we'll be forced to fall back to the inner defenses."

"I concur." Miranda watched as another Asari punched a Turian off her feet with biotics, only to have her head blown off by a sniper. The wounded Turian was patched up and back on her feet soon enough, but Miranda didn't like how quickly her side was burning through medi-gel. "Our best hope is that our ships can destroy the Athamean squadron soon. If these Asari realize they're trapped on this world, they'll surrender."

"That would be the intelligent option, but every report I've read on the League says that they're fanatics. Fanatics can't be expected to make the smart choice."

"Incoming!" a Turian shouted, and dozens of Asari boosted over the walls.

There was no more time to talk. Miranda ducked behind some cover, and shot an Asari through the heart. Another took aim at her, only to have her barriers stripped by gunfire, and then her body frozen and shattered by Miranda's cryo-blast. A shotgun tore into Miranda's shields and sent her staggering out of cover, and before she could react, another Asari tackled her to the ground. Miranda brought up her arms to block a series of punches, then twisted and brought her knee up to kick the Asari back; she drew her pistol and put five rounds into the Asari's chest. The bullets didn't kill her, but it gave Miranda more space; she rolled to her feet and drew her shotgun in one smooth motion, and put a fist-sized hole through the Asari's stomach.

More Asari were joining the close-range battle, and Miranda felt a jolt of pain as a bullet tore through her weakened shields and into her elbow. Her onboard medical package immediately applied medi-gel to the wound, and her armor dispensed some omni-gel to repair itself, but both required more time than Miranda had. She slashed open an Asari's throat with a thin 'blade' of biotic energy, and was then again knocked off her feet when something hit her from behind.

Instead of an attacker, the cause was one of her own operatives—a female Quarian that had pushed her out of the way of a sniper's bullet. The Quarian paid for her heroism with her life; the bullet punched clean through her helmet, killing her instantly. Miranda had already calculated the location of the sniper before the Quarian's body hit the ground, and used her SMG to riddle the killer full of holes less than four seconds after her final kill.

And just like that, the attack was over. Miranda turned, gun raised in anticipation of more fighting, but the Athameans were either dead or retreating. Later, when Miranda recalled the fight, it had lasted exactly fourteen minutes and eight seconds, but at the time, it had felt like only moments.

"Director," Petrus greeted as he limped over. "It's a good thing you brought those reinforcements. Those Asari weren't your basic troopers; they were definitely commandos, or at least trained by them."

"Casualties?" Miranda demanded.

"Eighteen dead, almost everyone else wounded to some degree." Petrus saw the dead Quarian and frowned. "She was young."

"Age has no bearing on skill," Miranda countered. "She was good enough to meet my standards, and that is a difficult thing to do. She'll be missed."

"Don't blame yourself, Director."

"I don't," Miranda said sharply. "I blame the Athamean League, and they'll burn for this."

"Agreed. We already have the Outsiders to worry about, and these idiots are making things worse."

Miranda took a few deep breaths, both to recover from the fighting, and to help regain her composure. The peace only lasted a moment, because her omni-tool alerted her to an incoming comms-request from Samara.

"Miranda, I need your help," Samara said, her voice strained. "Several Athameans got past our security, and are headed for the bunker. I suspect I know how they are aware of where it is, and how to get inside."

"Understood, I'm on my way."

"As am I."

Miranda couldn't afford to move any of her surviving troops, and her own injuries weren't enough to slow her down, so she went on her own. Her perfect memory and enhanced mind allowed her to calculate the fastest path to the bunker, but even she wasn't sure if she could intercept the Asari in time.

"Miranda, the bunker was accessed! Hurry!"

For the first time in the century Miranda had known her, Samara actually sounded panicked. That alone was enough to spur Miranda on, and she barreled through a door that had been hidden behind a large painting. She saw an Asari in white armor standing guard, and hit her with a Stasis; she drew a long knife from a sheath on her thigh and rammed it into the Asari's throat as she passed.

The sound of screams greeted her as she entered the bunker itself, followed by a blast of biotic energy that clipped her shoulder. Miranda felt something crack, but powered through the pain and focused on the squad of Athameans that had cornered several terrified Ardat-Yakshi. One soldier was holding something to the throat of an Ardat-Yakshi Miranda had only ever seen pictures of, but recognized immediately.

Miranda shattered the barriers of the soldier holding Falere, then put a bullet in her skull. She then dropped her SMG in favor of her shotgun and opened fire; the first Athamean dropped with one well-placed shot, and the second was sent staggering back. Miranda cartwheeled out of the way of the return fire, then used a Slam on another Asari.

Another hail of bullets filled the room, but this time, the source was on Miranda's side. Samara charged into the bunker with uncharacteristic fury, at the head of a squad of commandos. The remaining Athameans were slaughtered in record time.

So that's what an Asari fights when defending her children, Miranda thought. I almost wish someone had gone after Alanna in Liara's presence. It would have been quite the show.

"Falere, are you all right?" Samara asked, and embraced her daughter.

"I'm fine," Falere said, and rubbed her neck with a grimace. "One of them drew out some of my blood."

Miranda examined the body of the Athamean Falere pointed to. "Medical-grade omni-tool, along with modified hardware. She basically had a portable laboratory on her arm; hang on, let me take a look."

"Miranda, you are injured," Samara protested.

"It's not critical, but this is." Miranda's own omni-tool quickly deciphered the enemy information. "I think this was their goal all along. This one took a sample of Falere's blood for analysis, and then transmitted its findings."

Samara frowned. "For what reason? And to whom was it transmitted?"

"I don't know yet, but I promise that we'll find out." Miranda sighed. "Samara, the monastery has been compromised. The Asari Republics don't even publically acknowledge this place's existence, so they can't help, and we can't keep coming to the rescue."

"What are you suggesting?" Falere asked. "I can't leave this place."

"Then we'll take the whole place with us… well, not literally." Miranda had the idea, and now she was running with it. "We have the schematics of this place, and our fabricators could replicate the building. All we would have to do is find a planet with little to no population in Alliance space, and set up a quarantine around the immediate area. You would be given the full protection of Alliance Intelligence, and you would be far away from whoever is trying to get to you."

Samara shared a glance with her daughter. "I would ask that you give us time to consider that option, Miranda. For now, you should get some rest, while I return to the battle outside."

"Right, the battle." Miranda almost slapped herself; she had gotten so lost in the idea of relocating the Ardat-Yakshi that she'd forgotten about the fighting still going on. Then again, it had been years since she'd been in the field, and hadn't been in a battle this large since the Reaper War.

She shouldn't have even been in the field; almost everything she had done had gone against Alliance Intelligence protocol. Of course, when it came to her friends from the Normandy, Alliance protocols could go jump in a lake.

"Miranda." Samara gave her one of her rare smiles. "Thank you for coming."

"Of course, Samara." Miranda smiled back. "There's nowhere I'd rather be."

…

After another two hours of heavy fighting, the Athamean forces finally withdrew. Miranda estimated that less than three hundred of them had survived; the rest had been killed or captured. The defenders hadn't taken quite as many losses, but they'd shed a lot of blood to hold the monastery. Eighty-three families would be given completely false reports about how their children, siblings, spouses or parents had died, and eighty-three graves would be empty.

There were only two things that Miranda was happy about. First, that Samara and Falere were safe; second, that she had seventy-one prisoners to interrogate. Or, rather, seventy-one prisoners that would be divided up among the Alliance, Hierarchy, and STG. The Asari commandos agreed that there was a possibility that the Republics had been compromised, and couldn't risk bringing the prisoners there.

In the end, Miranda would be satisfied with twenty-four prisoners, and promises from her counterparts that she would get any information they got from the others.

"Interesting," Miranda mused as she sipped a cup of Asari tea Falere had made for her.

"What is?" Samara asked.

"The existence of this monastery is known to Alliance Command, and they are aware of how valuable the Ardat-Yakshi are. As such, they may see this attack from the Athamean League as justification for covert actions against them."

"That is interesting."

"Do you think Shepard would have approved?" Miranda wasn't sure why she asked, but Samara was one of the few people whose experience outweighed her own that she trusted.

"I think… that Commander Shepard fought as hard as he could to save this place during the Reaper War." Samara closed her eyes and relaxed her shoulders. "He never hid how he felt about how my people treated the Ardat-Yakshi, but he also knew from Morinth how dangerous they could be. I think that he would have approved of any actions that kept them safe, both from the galaxy, and themselves."

"Then I know I did the right thing."

"I brought up your offer to the surviving commandos, Justicars, and the Ardat-Yakshi," Samara added. "They will need more time to consider it, but if the Republics are disavowing this place, we may not have a choice. If we decide to move to Alliance space, can I be assured of the monastery's safety?"

"I have several locations in mind," Miranda said. "All of them are close enough to Alliance military bases that a small army could respond at any time."

"In that case, and if your offer is accepted… I would offer a proposal of my own." Samara smiled; it was dangerous and promised violence. "I am sure that you could use another powerful biotic in your employ. I and several of my Justicar sisters would be at your disposal."

"While I'm flattered, I'm fairly certain that I violate your Code a hundred times a week," Miranda said. "You'd probably be forced to kill me after just one mission."

Samara shrugged. "I have known you for over a century. Everything you have done is in service to the Alliance, and the protection of those you love. I cannot fault you for that. Besides, if you did go so far that the Code would warrant your death… I would let you know before I came to kill you."

"Thank you… I think." Miranda smiled. "Now I hope you do accept my offer, because I want to see Liara's face when I tell her I have a squad of Justicars working for me."

…

Alanna closed her eyes as she lay on her bed, and tried not to think about the last twenty-four hours. It was hard to think of anything else; Tuchanka had gone from a war-footing to completely silent in just a few minutes, and the entire planet was reeling from the sudden change. The Urdnot-aligned clans were cautiously returning to peacetime status, and the focus now was on repairing the damage and healing the wounded.

Shay and her forces were politely—for Krogan—asked to leave, as this was now a domestic issue, so the Alliance relief army was in the process of withdrawing from Tuchanka. Alanna and most of her squad were Alliance, but they were also technically still on leave, so they were in a weird state of limbo. In the end, they'd been asked to stay aboard the Sicily until either Wrex or the Alliance needed them.

For a little while, Alanna had kept herself busy by writing up her after-action report, but there were only so many ways to say that the Outsiders had helped Clan Gatatog and its allies get away. Eventually, she let herself relax; everything else that was happening was out of her hands, and if she was needed, then she would act.

She managed to doze off for a few minutes, but then snapped awake. "Dammit, I'm so tired I can't sleep."

Alanna got back up and started looking for something to do; her gaze drifted to the remains of the dinner she'd had with Haley just a few hours ago. She smiled at the memory; with all the death that had happened that day, it would have been in bad taste to try and salvage the date, but she'd enjoyed it while it lasted.

"Alanna, Sergeant Cole is requesting permission to enter your quarters," EDI said.

"Oh." Alanna blinked. "Yeah, send her in."

The door hissed open, and Haley walked in; like Alanna, she was wearing her BDU pants and a black t-shirt. Her hair was wet; she had probably just gotten out of the shower.

"Hey," she said tiredly. "You couldn't sleep either?"

"Yeah." Alanna sat down on the couch, and patted the spot next to her. "It's been a hell of a day."

"Uh-huh." Haley sat next to her and sighed. "How're the guys doing? I didn't really check in with anyone."

"Last I saw, Korim was in the cleanroom; with everything that happened today, he's not taking any chances."

"Smart."

"Mantle is running self-diagnostics with the Consensus, in case he got anything bad from that Outsider AI, so he's not really on the ship right now. His platform is, though."

"Talk about an out-of-body experience."

Alanna flicked her ear. "No. Bad. Anyway, Tetros went into his quarters to inform whoever he talks to in the Hierarchy. Maybe Garrus."

"Isn't that a security risk?"

"If he was anyone else, maybe." Alanna scowled. "Nok went right to sleep."

"Bastard."

"Yep."

Haley leaned into Alanna's side. "Remember when the worst thing in the galaxy was the Council being stupid?"

"Good times." Alanna bit back an undignified squeak when Haley kissed her. "Not that I mind, but what was that for?"

"Felt like it." Haley struggled with herself for a moment. "Hey, do you mind if I crash here tonight?"

Had they been on duty, Haley never would have asked that, but they were still technically on leave.

"Just so long as we both behave," Alanna said.

"Save it for next time, got it." Haley glanced over Alanna's shoulder. "I'm exhausted. Can we even make it to the bed?"

Alanna heaved herself to her feet, and then scooped Haley into her arms and carried her to the bed. Rather than tenderly lower her, Alanna all but dumped her onto the bed, and then collapsed next to her.

"Romantic," Haley muttered.

"Shut up, I'm tired." Alanna kicked off her boots and dragged herself under the covers. "I don't care if the friggin' Reapers attack, I'm not waking up for at least eight hours."

With her eyes closed, Alanna didn't see Haley joining her under the sheets, though she did feel her arms wrap around her from behind. Within seconds, she could hear Haley's breathing even out as she fell asleep.

Anything else is someone else's problem, Alanna managed to think, and finally let sleep claim her.

…

Waybrook didn't try to hide her relief when Wrex's hologram appeared. "It's good to see you alive, Wrex. I'd heard rumors to the contrary."

"Ha! It'll take more than an alien robot to kill me." Wrex's apparent good mood quickly sobered. "I'm guessing you want to know what's going on here?"

"We'd all like to know," Waybrook said, gesturing to North and Jial'Koris, who were there with her. "Is the situation stabilized?"

"If you're asking if the fighting is over, then yeah." Wrex sighed, and he looked older than Waybrook had ever seen him. "Thousands of my people are dead or wounded, and Gatatog got away, thanks to the Outsiders. We need to let people know that there's a good chance that there are a lot more rogue Krogan in the wind."

"The Consensus is aware of this, and we are disseminating this information," North said.

"Thanks." Wrex sighed again. "There's a lot of rebuilding to do, but we'll manage. Thanks for sending backup; we could have lost a lot more."

"Of course, Wrex." Waybrook smiled. "I've already read General Shay's report. Her praise for Lieutenant Shepard was glowing."

"I'm sure it was," Wrex said with a scowl.

"If you're worried about a Shepardist being so high up the ranks, don't be," Waybrook assured him. "Miranda has informed me that there are safeguards in place if she tries anything."

"Why do you even have one of those zealots so close to you?" Wrex demanded.

"She's more than competent at her job, and I can't afford to get rid of her unless she does something monumentally stupid, or I find someone better." Waybrook paused. "There was something General Shay recommended that I'm inclined to approve."

"Let me guess: it has something to do with Alanna?"

"Considering all she's done over the last few weeks, it seems almost criminal that she's still only a lieutenant." Waybrook tried not to be intimidated by Wrex's glower. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to be the one to give her that promotion?"

Wrex growled.

"It's either you, or I let Shay do it, and her request was pretty insistent."

Wrex narrowed his eyes. "That's low… but I'll do it."

"I'm sorry," Waybrook said sincerely. "I want to keep her safe from the Shepardists as well, and this is the best way right now."

"Fine. I'll keep you all updated if anything comes up."

"He took that better than I expected," Jial'Koris said as soon as Wrex ended the call. "Then again, that could have been because he wasn't in the room with us."

"I don't envy the next person who speaks to him," Waybrook admitted. "Seeing as how Wrex is occupied, I think we should talk about our next move against the Outsiders."

"Alliance Intelligence hasn't found anything solid," Jial'Koris said. "All we have are pieces of the puzzle, and not enough to get the whole picture."

"I recommend we increase defensive positions around key worlds," North said. "If the Outsiders wish to destabilize the Alliance, it is logical that they will attack capital worlds and centers of industry."

"We should also move to increase military spending," Waybrook suggested. "If the Outsiders are capable of hurting the Krogan in their center of power, we could use that to scare the bean-counters into giving the military the funding they'll need to fight them off in a pitched battle."

"Here's hoping," Jial'Koris said. "I don't like the idea of sitting back and letting the enemy have all the initiative."

"That's what Intelligence is for," Waybrook countered. "They'll go into the darkness, and force the enemy into the light."

…

After another two days of rest, Alanna and her squad were informed that Wrex was coming from the surface of Tuchanka to meet them on the Sicily. The ship was already at regulation-cleanliness, but Haley insisted that EDI send out a few drones to check for dust, just in case.

"How's my armor?" Haley muttered to Alanna as the squad assembled on Deck Six.

Alanna made a show of looking her up and down. "Well, it does wonders for your ass."

"Not the time," Haley hissed, while Korim and Nok laughed.

"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood." Alanna gently elbowed her. "Relax, you've met Wrex before."

"That wasn't an official setting!" Haley argued. "He's one of the four heads of state! They don't just show up on a ship for no reason!"

Alanna sighed. "Yeah, but if you get any more tense, you're going to strain something. Try not to get too wound up before we find out what Wrex actually wants."

"Yeah, getting you wound up should be Alanna's job," Korim teased.

Haley glared at him, but it was Tetros that put the Quarian in a headlock. "I've got him, don't worry."

"Thanks." Haley turned her glare on Alanna. "We are talking about this later."

Alanna shrugged. "I mean, Korim isn't wrong."

Haley opened her mouth to argue, but EDI stepped forward. "Wrex's shuttle is on approach."

"Thanks, EDI." Alanna gave Tetros a pointed look. "Okay, knock it off and try to look professional."

Everyone stood at attention—though Korim and Tetros got into a small shoving match for a minute—as Wrex's shuttle passed through the kinetic barrier separating the interior of the ship from space. Wrex was first out of the shuttle, followed by Bakara and four Krogan in the most advanced armor Alanna had ever seen. These were the Blood Guard, the elite bodyguard of Clan Urdnot; typically, they were handpicked for various assignments by Wrex himself, though after the Outsiders' attempt to kill him, they had insisted that at least two of them stay nearby at all times.

"At ease," Wrex said gruffly, and walked over to Alanna. "I've got a lot to do, so I can't give you the pomp and circumstance this really deserves."

Alanna blinked. "Sir?"

Wrex's smile was small, but there was genuine pride in his eyes. "Alanna Shepard—since you became an N7, you've shown valor, ingenuity, and selfless dedication to both the Alliance, and the soldiers under your command. As such, and as recognition of your deeds during your tenure with Alliance Intelligence, I've been asked to present you with the following promotion."

Alanna stared down at the small container in Wrex's hand; nestled within was an insignia of one thin bar, between two slightly thicker bars.

"Congratulations, Lieutenant Commander Shepard." Wrex pressed the insignia into Alanna's hand, and then clapped her shoulder.

Alanna managed to look up into Wrex's eyes; her own were wide and disbelieving. "Why?"

Wrex laughed. "Why not? Kid, didn't you hear what I told you? You earned this." He pulled her into a rough hug. "Just keep doing what you've been doing, and you'll be fine."

Alanna blinked away tears; ever since learning that her father had been a lieutenant commander, all she'd wanted was to hold that same rank. Somewhere along the way, she thought that if she could get to that point, she would finally measure up to her father. Now that she was there… all she could think about was that she needed to keep measuring up.

"I will," she said.

As much as Wrex and Bakara wanted to stay and have a small celebration with her, they were needed back on Tuchanka. Alanna watched as their shuttle left, and when they were gone, she looked down at the rank insignia, still in her hand.

Haley gently tapped her arm. "Well, Commander Shepard? What's next?"

Alanna stared at her for a moment, then grinned. "EDI, contact Alliance Intelligence and request another mission. We've had enough of a break; it's time we got back to work."

Sometimes, the evil aliens who threaten everyone aren't the ones endangering a friend. Sometimes, it's just some evil idiots. In this case, the Athamean League picked a fight with Asari commandos and Justicars in a defensible location, and reinforced by Intelligence operatives from four different governments. What did you think was going to happen? Also, because of limitations of the games, we never really get to see just how skilled Samara really is, so here we go. And there were seventeen other Justicars who were probably close to her skill level. On the other hand, Miranda is almost 150 years old, and has to wear armor that enhances her abilities to get her close to her best, so she got hurt a lot.

Still, some more plot threads for the Athamean League storyline, and you'll find out why the Ardat-Yakshi are involved… eventually.

And Alanna gets promoted! We now officially have a new Commander Shepard!

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 both an eBook and physical formats. I appreciate any and all of you who give it a read!

If you want to support me in other ways, and maybe help me quit at least one of my three jobs, can also donate to my P-atreon account (link in my profile). Donate at a high enough tier, you can get chapters early, and even a free PDF of my book. If enough of you donate, I can stop being so stressed that I get sick. Because that's been happening a lot lately.

I'd like to thank the following Muffins, who help keep me from getting too sick:

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

Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, Crazyman844

Ultra Muffins: RangersRoll

Next Chapter: Alanna gets her next mission, but not from who she expected. An old wound gets opened, and another piece falls into place…

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