Remnants

by General Rage

From Halo's ashes, a mismatched Alliance is born. UNSC soldiers now serve alongside both Batarian deserters and shifty Jackal Space Pirates. Now Shepard and Master Chief have to keep these strange bedfellows from killing one another before they can stop an emergent new threat to the galaxy. The Next Swashbuckling Chapter of the Wormhole Chronicles.

10. The Lies

Chapter Nine: The Lies

I Always Tell the Truth, Even when I Lie.

-Tony "Scarface" Montana

"For the record, I wouldn't be doing all this if we weren't friends," Tali told Kasumi through the vid-link on her omni-tool. "I was just getting the Engineer Triplets acquainted with our systems in preparation for the Slipspace project."

"I know, and I'm sorry again," Kasumi assured. "But this is important, I wouldn't ask otherwise."

"It's also bending the rules," Tali reminded her. "Using one of the Engineers to help compile relevant security data is one thing. This is a secure direct feed from the Serpent's computer to ours through one of them. They're still on our ship, but it's a little much."

"Holland will be more than happy to know we got rid of all the Pirate Spies aboard when this is over," Kasumi assured her. "I'm sure he'll make an exception. Now what did you find?"

They were still in the bar, which had somewhat cleared out. It had been about an hour or so now, which was a testament to Tali's ability, she had gotten back to her pretty quick. Kasumi had still ordered a few shots of ichor to calm her nerves during the wait. Hopefully it would be worth it. From the way Tali looked, already frantically typing in commands, they had something to work with.

"First off, we believe we found out how they got through Retz's security," she began "There was a glitch programmed into the system intentionally. It forced a playback loop of about twenty seconds upon a direct input command. We searched the system, found out it had been activated during the fight on the Hollow. That's when the assassins must've gotten on board."

"So someone was already aboard then?" Taq reasoned. "Retz was right to suspect there was at least one Syndicate crony on the Chorka before they seized it."

"Seems like it," Tale confirmed. "The glitch was installed before anyone even knew about Taq though or that she was coming, the same day the Chorka was seized. I imagine if we went through the code on the Chorka we'd find a similar glitch. The Covenant had a Syndicate problem, we caught it and that left us vulnerable."

At least they could close that hole for any future possible infiltration. Good bit of news they badly needed, as far as Kasumi was concerned. Tali wasn't done though.

"There was also something else though, a darknet of sorts, beneath the main code," she explained. "It looks like it has been here for a while. I can't say for sure, but it might be for covert internal transmissions. It's probably how your assassins have been able to communicate without being detected. And if this is older than just a week or so, it's possible you had a deep cover agent aboard at some time in the past. Maybe you still do."

That was disconcerting, she didn't want to think that they had more than the expected number of agents aboard with them. She looked to Retz, trying to see if he would give away any thoughts on the possibility. He seemed enthused at the idea at least."

"It's hard to think someone would go unnoticed by me for that long," he said shrugging. "It could've been someone aboard during Dread Feather's days. This was a ship in his fleet after all. He had to have a few Syndicate agents working with him."

"Just consider it a possibility," Tali cautioned. "I tried to have DOT monitor the darknet connection, but there's nothing going on. We can't even pick up any latent data, it's all been deleted. I don't think they're using it anymore. They probably suspect that their grenade happy friend has made it too risky to talk on it. Any meeting now will be in person, but I doubt out in public. And if they're aware of the security on your ship like I think they are, it won't be easy to find them on cameras. That and, no offense, every Jackal on this footage looks a little suspicious in some way. It's hard to really pick out any behavior that really stands out."

That was a problem Kasumi hadn't thought of. A ship full of criminals meant there were more than a few secrets at stake. There were almost certainly a few shady characters doing things they didn't want others to know about. They couldn't all be assassins or they'd just have jumped Taq right now. To his credit, Retz seemed to agree.

"No offense taken," he said rather casually. "It's common knowledge that every pirate has something to hide, a secret they keep. Side deals between crew, contraband they don't want to share, it's expected. Why don't we just focus on the one kig-yar who's secret we know. Joc, the grenade assassin, did you find him in the footage?"

"Right where your bartender friend said he'd be," Tali replied, typing a few commands off to the side. "DOT was able to pick him out of the crowd through her facial recognition subroutine. Not that she needed to try too hard, he did not seem to care about who saw him that night."

She ran the footage, no sound, but Kasumi could clearly see their now dead assassin making a nuissance of himself. He kept pushing and shoving, barking at anyone who looked at him, almost like he was looking for an excuse that no one gave him. Which only seemed to make me angrier. He left the bar shortly after speaking to Row, probably on his way to try to kill Taq.

"Can you back track him?" Kasumi asked. "Find out where he was prior to all that?"

"Way ahead of you, Kas," Tali replied, almost giggling as she spoke. "He was in a mood all night. If your theory is right, he must've had the falling out with his friends a short while after the raid on the Coil Factory. He was not being careful in avoiding the cameras. There's a lot of corridor chasing I'll spare you, DOT and I eventually found the good stuff. Here, rec-room, just before movie night started."

Joc was at a small table playing a card game of some sort with a bunch of other Jackals. As one of the members cashed out he passed Joc discreetly. Moments later, Joc cashed out too and left. Tali rewinded the footage a few times, focusing on the moment the first Jackal got up and left. The footage wasn't perfect and you couldn't enhance it that much if you tried. However, Tali did zoom in closer and closer, trying to get them to see the answer for themselves. Eventually, Kasumi spotted it. The first Jackal's hand moved slightly into Joc's satchel and as he did so, it looked like he was clutching something.

"He put something in there," Kasumi concluded. "The grenade."

"Joc put down a few credit chips to double his bid and lost the hand just before that happened," Tali added. "Lost the hand to the Jackal who left seconds later mind you. Could be a buy or a signal. Either way, the hand off was probably made there. That pirate gave him the grenade."

"Can you give us his name?" Taq asked, hunching over on her stool at the holoscreen.

"I can give you his face, I followed him out," Tali responded. "Other than that, I don't know his name. Recognition doesn't have a match. It's something to go on at least. I'm uploading it to you now. And Kasumi, watch yourself out there. I've had people like this hunting me once. They are not always what they appear. Be careful."

"No worries, Hood Buddy,"Kasumi said grinning. "It's me you're talking to. We almost got this in the bag. I can feel it."

Tali's concern didn't vanish, instead she just offered one last bit of advice as the upload of the picture completely.

"Just don't end up in a bag yourself."

---

Lendon remained silent, even as Garrus kept holding the little necklace of quills and feathers up for all to see. McKay had pulled him out into the middle of the room, where everyone was now staring at him. The Lieutenant herself was pacing around him, barely looking at him as she did.

"Sergeant Lendon," she finally spoke in a harsh tone. "Are you aware of UNSC policy concerning battle trophies?"

"They are considered contraband, ma'am," Lendon replied thusly.

"What does the Marine charter consider a battle trophy?" McKay pressed further.

"Specialized weapons that have not been secured, articles of enemy clothing or uniforms, enemy insignias, literature, any means of entertainment or leisure items in fact, alcohol being one of them, narcotics another..."

McKay got into his face, stopping his stoic listing in it's tracks.

"What specifically is considered a battle trophy that is prohibited by the Marine charter from being taken off enemy personnel by a Marine's own discretion?" She asked, gritting her teeth as she spoke.

"Body parts, ma'am," Lendon admitted, unable to delay any longer.

"What counts as a body part?" She asked scowling. "And skip the bullshit this time."

Lendon sighed defeated, unable to hold it back any longer.

"Scalps, hair, anything organically on the enemy's person such as feathers."

"And what is that?" McKay demanded to know, pointing to the necklace.

Lendon glared back.

"Feathers and quills from Jackals, ma'am," he admitted. "Jackals I killed. I would've picked fingers, but they would've started to smell."

"Well thank you for not stinking up the barracks, Sergeant Lendon," McKay responded sardonically. "I'm sure we all appreciate it."

McKay moved away, but even if she was done, Lendon wasn't.

"You can't judge me on this, I had a right to this," he declared.

"No Marine or ODST has the right to desecrate the dead, regardless of what kind of dead," McKay informed him growling. "We cannot have people just ripping off pieces of the enemy for their own enjoyment. It invites reprisals, it places a greater target on all ODSTs and it is generally unbecoming of us as Drop Troopers. We are not grave robbers, we are soldiers and you are supposed to act like a soldier even in the face of an enemy as monstrous as the Covenant. You think just because it isn't human scalps this is somehow okay?"

"Those damn turkeys killed my men, ma'am," Lendon shouted back. "Popped up out of fucking nowhere from the dead and slaughtered us like fucking animals! They cackled while they did it! Every! Last! One of them! They owed me! Every fucking one of them owed me! So whenever I had the chance I took it. You can't judge me for that, no one here can!"

McKay kept her eyes locked on Lendon for his entire outburst. Garrus just kept his eyes on her. To normal people she'd probably just look stoic and unfeeling, like she didn't care. He could see otherwise, she did care. She was listening very intently, you could see her eyes quiver as she spoke, mouth upturn so she could bite her lip. McKay understood Lendon's thought process, but it didn't change anything.

"I have to inform Holland about this," she informed him succinctly. "My hands are tied, there's nothing I can do."

"The Major wouldn't have reported jack," Lendon claimed.

"Did he know?" Garrus inquisitively asked.

"He suspected, he never made a big deal about it," Lendon admitted.

McKay just shook her head.

"I'm not Silva, as you all like to remind me," she stated. "This is no longer tolerated and unless you explain to me where the other grenades are there are going to be even harsher repercussions for this."

Lendon's eyes grew wide and his head shot up to attention in shock.

"What? No! That necklace means nothing! I did not take those grenades!" He declared vehemently. "I just came back to my bunk to look at it! I swear!"

"You clearly don't like the Jackals, but that gives you more motivation, not less," Garrus explained. "Giving them explosives to cause havoc with would strain already tense relations. It would potentially give you the excuse to bring them to heel. To get some payback for what they did to your squad."

"I may not like those bastards, but I wouldn't do this!" Lendon argued. "I'd be putting people's lives at risk if I was! What if they used it on Marines at some point? You think I'd want that? That I'm so desperate for payback I'd put human lives on the line just to kill some Jackals in the aftermath? Are you nuts?"

"Unless you knew that the grenade was intended for another Jackal," Samara suggested. "In your mind, your conscience would be clear. The Jackals would cause an incident with a human weapon, accusations that they stole a grenade would be made, it would strain tensions further..."

"And eventually another Marine or Soldier or Trooper would be caught in the crossfire," Lendon countered. "No, I wouldn't do it. If I wanted payback that badly I could just wait. The Jackals will fuck us over on their own terms, I don't need to help them along."

Garrus kept looking for Lendon to crack, but nothing seemed to suggest he was trying to weasel his way out of this. He was stressed, he was angry, he was pissed off at being accused of something, but he also didn't seem to be looking for excuses. When he spoke, he meant it, that much was clear in the tone. It wouldn't clear him, but it did raise doubts.

"There's only two ways out of this Lendon," McKay informed the Sergeant. "Either tell us where the grenades are or give us some proof that exonerates you. Otherwise, you're in the brig for however long Holland and Haverson decide."

"What do you want me to say?" Lendon angrily asked in return. "I told you, I came to the bunk to look at my trophies in private. Put me in the brig for that if you want, stick me on maintenance duty, bust me down a rank if you have to, but I did not take those grenades!"

"Why don't we just forget finding them anyway?" Fadden suddenly spoke up. "If an ODST did take them, he'd probably have ditched them by now. Probably out into space. You'd never find them."

Garrus turned his gaze on Fadden now, his detective instinct going off hard. That was a very specific statement the Corporal had just made.

"You keep speaking up and trying to get us to drop this a lot," he said with an accusatory glare. "It's becoming a bit routine at this point. Don't think we've forgotten your whereabouts aren't exactly clear either."

"Then let's set the record straight, I didn't stay in the mess because I didn't want to waste too much time there," Fadden answered diligently. "I finished what I was eating and went straight to my bunk to get some shuteye. I didn't see what Lendon was doing when I got there, but I guess I just wasn't paying attention."

Garrus glared, not particularly convinced by the story. However, before he could try to poke holes in it, someone else did. The last person Garrus expected to actually, Sergeant Lendon.

"Straight to the bunks?" He asked, confused as he spoke. "No, I went straight there. I went out the mess hall, down and to the right, back to the barracks. I looked back, you were going left."

Fadden looked a bit out of sorts from that response, his stance shifting slightly.

"Um, wait, I may have remembered wrong, I think I took a longer route," he said. "Get some exercise."

"You didn't want to waste time so you left the mess early... to jog around the ship a bit?" Garrus asked, not at all convinced in the slightest by that story.

As the wheels in Fadden's head spun about, Garrus turned to McKay.

"What's left of that corridor off the mess hall?" He asked.

"An elevator that goes straight to the hangar if I'm not mistaken," McKay recalled. "One that lets off very close to where the Serpent is docked."

Fadden shifted slightly, moving slightly towards his bunk. His hand was kneading itself nervously as he did. Samara didn't let him get far, forcing herself past him. Fadden and the rest of the unit watched as the asari ripped open his footlocker, then pulled off the mattress, finally she broke open a storage compartment under the bed. She rummaged around in it before knocking on the bottom, it sounded slightly off. Furiously, she tore off the floor of the compartment and started pulling out extra chocolate bars, a few lewd magazines and then finally, she stood up and presented the most damning object of all right in Fadden's face. In her hands was a single grenade.

Everyone's eyes turned from the explosive to Fadden in an instant. Lendon looked almost as incensed as McKay now. Garrus kept his stoic expression as the Corporal's face turned crestfallen.

"Guess you weren't smart enough to follow your own advice, huh?" Garrus asked.

Fadden couldn't respond, Samara had already grabbed him by the collar and forced him up against one of the bunk posts. She held him there, his legs dangling in the air as her cold eyes bored into him.

"Explain," she demanded sternly. "Now."

"What's there to explain?" He asked, almost defeated. "I bet you've all got a good idea what this was about."

"Would be nice to know the whys, Corporal," Garrus informed him, still keeping a cool demeanor while everyone else looked enraged.

Fadden sighed, no sense in continuing the lie apparently.

"I found out about some Jackal looking for frag grenades," he explained. "Random chance really, stopped me in the corridor, wondered if I had access to the armory. I was going to brush him off, but I figured this could be a good opportunity. I could get them off our backs for good, break the camel's back after all the shit they pulled."

"Why not just report it in then?" Garrus asked.

"Cause then only that turkey would probably get in trouble," Fadden explained scowling. "I wanted them all to take the blame. So I decided I'd take him up on the offer. When the mission to that asteroid field came up I knew it was my chance. I knew Paul was lax on rationing rules and wasn't the best at keeping count of stuff. I'd get extra grenades, give them to the Jackal after the mission and then wait a little. I held onto one to plant somewhere in that scuzzy ship of theirs later. I figured I had a day or two before Paul realized something was off or the Jackals pulled something stupid with the ordinance. More than enough time to set things in order. I'd get the last grenade on their ship, put it in some random bird's compartment and with any luck it would be enough to set Holland against this stupid alliance already."

Fadden had been right, they had more or less guessed the plan correctly.

"All that just to discredit the Jackals?" McKay cut in, anger boiling in her voice.

"Why wait for the bastards to turn on us?" Fadden asked in return. "They're going to do it sooner or later, let's not kid ourselves. We might as well just force the issue. We should be getting back to Earth, not palling around with space pirates! That's where the real fight is, we're wasting time here!"

"But you didn't count on having enough time yourself," Garrus noted, glaring as he spoke. "A Jackal used one of the grenades early against another of their kind. You didn't count on this happening a few hours after you set it in motion, so you didn't have time to ditch the evidence before it was too late. You had already put it with your secret stash and the next time you showed up here, it was during our investigation. So you needed to convince us that we were barking up the wrong tree. You needed us gone so you could find time to ditch the final grenade."

"I didn't think they were that explosion happy," Fadden admitted. "But it proves my point, they want to kill each other more than us! How can you trust those kinds of allies?"

"You handed grenades used in an assassination plot against a member of this flotilla," Samara informed him. "A plot hatched by stowaways from the Hollow. Had they succeeded they would have dangerous intelligence in their hands. And all because you wanted to get back to Earth faster?"

Fadden raised up his hands suddenly.

"I did not know anything about that, I didn't ask the Jackal questions," he explained. "I just got him the grenades and left. Hell I only took the payment to keep him from being suspicious about my motives. I didn't do it to put anyone's lives at risk, I did it so we could get back to the real fight instead of helping these dumb turkeys any longer."

"And you were gonna let me take the fall?" Lendon asked, his anger now directed fully at him. "What was your plan? Plant the grenade on me to cover your ass?"

"I swear, I was going to throw it out the airlock and call the whole thing off!" Fadden insisted. "It's why I didn't try to make up a story to frame you, Sarge. I wanted this to get dropped!"

"Well it's sticking, Corporal," McKay informed him. "And if you don't want to be stuck in the brig for a very long time for this, or worse, court-martialed and shot, you will tell us where the other grenade is!"

"I gave it to the Jackal!" Fadden shouted frantically. "I gave it to him! Maybe he still has it, maybe he sold it, I don't know! But he was the last one I saw with it!"

At that moment, Garrus got a ping on his omni-tool. He opened it up and saw the image on the screen sent from Kasumi. With a simple grin he showed the image to Fadden.

"This him?" He asked.

After squinting a bit, Fadden slowly nodded. That was the last bit they needed to confirm this. Well, second to last bit, Garrus still had one more thing to demand of the Corporal.

"Give me his name."

---

"Kec, I presume, cleaning up the tables today?"

The scruffy looking Jackal with dirty quills and peeling scales looked up to Retz, Kasumi and Taq all currently standing over him. He was sitting at a gambling table in the Rec-Room shuffling cards for the next hand in their little game. Kec had the most chips on his side of course, but his competitors weren't giving up. There were other games being played at the moment as well, not just cards. various wheels, slots and even a few vid-related games. Those not playing, were busy eating or drinking or just talking. The radio was currently playing yet another song from Boz's playlist. This time it was an old song called "Keelhauled" from a band that was right up the crew of the Fallen Serpent's alley, Alestorm.

"Retz, what a surprise to see you down here with us wretches," Kec greeted. "Good to finally meet you, how are you?"

"Dealing with things, first mate's job is never done," Retz informed him, smiling graciously as he spoke. "Can you deal me in?"

Retz sat down before Kec could agree to it, not that he could really say no to the first mate. Kec just shrugged and started dealing the cards, handing Retz his in turn with the others. Retz picked them up and turned them over, nodding favorably as he did.

"This could be interesting," he said casually, his eyes then turning to Kec again. "So, how's business?"

"What do you mean?" Kec asked, slightly laughing. "My business is your business. That's the point of a crew. I'm still doing great at the gambling thing if that's what you mean, but-"

"I mean your other business," Retz informed him. "Contraband to be precise. From what I understand, you've had a very lucrative side venture with us. Apparently, you get a lot of extra luxuries thrown your way. Luxuries you like to pass on."

Retz put down a few credit chips in front of him as Kec looked about confused.

"Well, yeah, but quite a few of us have those," he explained as he put forward his own bet. "I mean, it's standard, right? Shipmaster takes the biggest cut from plunder, it's up to us to seed our own profit where we can. And as long as it doesn't cut into Zek's percent..."

"It is allowed, I'm very hands off on it most of the time," Retz confirmed, watching as Kec put down a few more cards. "However, I'm always concerned when people branch out."

"Branch out?" Kec questioned, placing the last card of the current deal down. "I... don't follow."

Retz just doubled his current bet.

"It's very simple," he explained. "When someone decides to undertake deals that are a little bit outside their regular comfort zone, well, then we get concerned. You know the policy about how we view certain jobs. When they get beyond the regular contraband and into smuggling territory, it becomes disconcerting to us."

Kec matched Retz's bet, but more reluctant this time.

"I'm not really sure I know what you mean by smuggling," he stated.

"It's smuggling when it's not internal," Retz clarified. "When it's ship to ship. More specifically when it involves things that are out of the ordinary. That's been a potential worry of mine lately, what with us being so close to the humans and all."

"I suppose you always have to be on the lookout for anyone who might be doing stuff like that these days," Kec admitted, putting down the next card on the table. "Could be a problem, in more ways than one."

"Yes, it would," Retz said, casually shuffling his own cards about as while staring at Kec.

Kec was a lot less comfortable now, shifting in his seat, his shoulders twitchy. Retz could make out a little bit of sweat. It was clear he didn't like where this was going.

"Have you met Taq?" Retz asked, signaling to the frowning female Jackal beside him. "She's an expert on the Forerunners, you know. Rare for a kig-yar."

"Yeah, I heard she was on-board, I guess," Kec said, trying not to look at her.

Retz's gaze steeled on Kec now.

"She recently just escaped an explosion of some kind in her own room," he told the gambling pirate. "Very close, possible foul play."

"Can't imagine who'd try to do that," Kec said, chuckling nervously. "I mean, seems rather excessive. A murder by explosion ain't exactly subtle, especially on a ship. I don't know anyone who'd be that stupid."

"Do you now?" Retz asked, leering his face at him.

Kec backed off a bit, now entirely unhinged by this encounter. He placed a small bet and Retz followed suit, never taking his eyes off Kec. He then spoke to the other gamblers.

"You two are folding," he stated. "Go, now."

The other two left, taking their earnings and leaving without asking why. Now it was just Retz at the table, with Kasumi and Taq at his back with Kec facing all three of them.

"Zek is still rather fond of Taq despite her rejection of him," Retz continued. "I respect her decision, as I'm her friend as well. So they're both pretty unhappy about this situation. I hate seeing my friends unhappy, Kec. You understand?"

"Yes, sir," Kec said gulping.

"So you understand why this must be resolved then," Retz said.

"Yeah, I do," Kec admitted.

Retz just suddenly grinned brightly.

"Good," he said cheerfully. "Keep dealing."

Kec slowly placed the last card down on the table, which would end the hand. As he did, placing the card in it's final slot, Retz slammed his cards on the table. He grabbed at Kec's dealing arm, holding it in place as he pulled out a small shard knife and stabbed it into Kec's hand, pinning it to the table.

"Look at that," Retz said grinning, as Kec kept screaming. "Seems I just won this hand. So much for your winning streak."

He then climbed on top of the table, grabbed Kec's beak and slammed it into the table as well, sending chips and cards flying everywhere. Kec kept struggling but it was useless, Retz had him completely at his mercy. While he was stuck forcibly kissing the table, Kasumi moved over to Kec's satchel and dug around for a bit. She soon produced the other missing grenade, plopping it in front of Kec's eye.

"My, my, where did you get that?" Retz asked.

"Wait, wait," Kec tried to squeak out through the pain. "Just hear me out-"

"Let's try not to deny this," Retz informed him, sounding almost bored as he did. "A human identified you as the kig-yar he gave this frag to. I have footage of you putting one of said frags into Taq's would-be killer's bag. I just found this one on your person, so let's skip to the chase. Why the hell did you think this was a good idea? That I wouldn't catch on? Even if you didn't end up selling to Syndicate agents of all things?"

"I didn't know he was Syndicate!" Kec tried to screech. "I swear! It sounded like he had a score to settle with his asshole friends! I didn't think he was a spy for the Queens!"

"You not thinking almost got me killed, dipshit!" Taq screamed at him.

"I swear on my mother's grave, I'm seriously sorry about that!" Kec screamed pleadingly. "I just wanted some extra credits! When the little shithead approached me his offer just seemed too damn good to pass up! So I found some stupid pissed off ODST with an axe to grind! Someone who wouldn't give a shit about breaking a few rules! I overheard that Corporal bitching about how he wanted to go home and crap! Figured he'd be easy to con!"

"Correction," Retz said, grabbing at the hilt of the shard dagger stuck in Kec's hand. "You thought it would be easy to con me! You start pulling arms deals behind my back without my permission and you're conning me!"

Retz jiggled the shard dagger furiously, eliciting more screams of pain from Kec.

"I didn't know he was after the Shipmaster's Ex! I swear I didn't fucking know!" Kec cried in anguish. "I thought I'd have time to get the grenade off the ship, make it look like it was misplaced! Then I'd send a tip about how the dumb human had raided the armory to that Holland guy and get him in trouble! We'd screw one of those asshole Drop Troopers and I'd make a profit! Everyone would come out a winner!"

Retz lifted Kec's head by the beak and slammed it back down on the table. He then stepped on it with his foot, pressing harder into it than before.

"How's that winning turning out for you, Kec?" Retz asked gravely.

"I'll make it up to you, I swear!" Kec struggled to declare.

"Oh you will, Kec," Retz assured him "You most certainly will."

Retz pulled the shard dagger out of Kec's hand and then kicked the gambling smuggler onto his back. He landed in a heap with Retz still glaring down at him from the table proper.

"You're going to contact the assassins over their darknet connection," Retz explained. "I imagine that's how you gave instructions for the drop earlier. You're going to tell them you have another grenade for them, this one. We're going to lie in wait and catch them."

"But what if they kill me to cover up loose ends?" Kec asked.

"It will be a lot quicker than the airlock, I promise you that," Retz informed him.

He kicked the grenade off the table and onto Kec proper. The weasely bird caught in his hands as Retz glowered at him.

"Set the drop for cargo hold six," he ordered. "With any luck they'll take the bait. Then we can take them all down easily. Be quick about it or it's the other hand next."

Kec did as ordered and opened up his communicator. While he made the call, Retz jumped down from the table and moved away. Retz then spoke up a lot louder so the whole room could hear.

"Cards were marked," he claimed. "Don't bother playing with him anymore people."

The rest of the room had slowly gotten back to their own business, not really paying much attention anymore. Probably for their own sakes. Kasumi didn't blame them. She had never seen Retz that angry, ever.

"Little harsh weren't we?" She asked him.

"He felt he could get one over me," Retz replied. "Simple as that."

"I get it, but he's not one of the assassins," Kasumi informed him. "We had him dead to rights, we didn't need all that. Plus, one of the assassins could've seen it all."

Retz just groaned shaking his head.

"We needed to be sure he wasn't Syndicate," Retz explained whispering. "He's another new arrival from off the Chorka, we couldn't take the risk. The fact he cried like an idiot fledgling proved he wasn't one of them. As for them being in this room with us, unlikely. If they knew who he was and were watching him then he'd be dead by now, a loose end to tie up. Try to understand, Ms. Goto, these people might be fractured but they are not easily broken individually. They seep into crews, they assimilate themselves and they execute their plans with great proficiency."

Retz took a short breath before, catching himself before he rambled on further.

"There was a pirate leader once," he explained. "Zek and I were trying to set up a deal with him. Things seemed to be going well. We go to sleep the night of the deal, the next day he's marooned on a planet to die and his first mate has taken over. It wasn't simple mutiny though, it was a takeover. We were told to leave and, before long, the new Shipmaster had allowed his small clan be absorbed by one of the Syndicate Fleets. The old Shipmaster had refused their offer so they activated their man aboard his ship. A man who had been with that shipmaster for years, one of his closest friends. Turned on him, as if by the flick of a switch."

It was a pretty grim tale to be sure. Kasumi tried to think how that Pirate must've felt when his best friend had suddenly turned on him out of nowhere. Was it any wonder the Syndicate seemed to breed paranoia? And Retz, it was more personal.

"These people have now infiltrated my crew, Zek's crew, my friend's ship," he reiterated sternly. "I will not allow this to go further. I'm ending it. Whatever means necessary, no matter what I have to do, I'm protecting this ship. One pathetic smuggling low-life is an easy price to pay."

Kasumi got his drift in an instant.

"You think they're going to kill him," she reasoned. "Like he thinks they are."

"And I don't care," Retz answered firmly. "This is how pirates punish those who transgress. No bullshit trials, no stupid plea bargains, no slackjawed jury or mindless lawyers. He fucked up, he pays the price. He lives or dies at the discretion of the people he decided to trust more than the crew that took him in. Simple as that."

Harsh? Cruel? Maybe. Kasumi honestly wasn't in a place to judge. It was their way after all. Besides, it sounded like this was the fastest way to get these guys out of hiding. Retz was right about one thing, they did need to end this and fast.

---

The space they set up for their stakeout was not exactly roomy, but it gave them a pretty good view of the intended meeting. Kec was already there, not looking all that confident or collected as he usually was. It did not make Kasumi confident in his chances. Worse, it did gave her a few new concerns of how this would go down.

"What if they suspect something is off?" Kasumi asked Retz. "The way he's acting might spook them."

"Better not," Taq snorted. "I got questions for these assholes, also maybe one or two severe beatings."

"Ladies, do calm yourselves," Retz whispered. "They will be here. If nothing else to get another grenade, or tie off a loose end in Kec. Hell, they could already be here, scoping things out, planning."

That did not make Kasumi feel better at all. Her eyes suddenly darted to every shadow, searching for movement among the containers or the sound of feet running about. She was suddenly keenly aware of how a lot of her marks had felt in the past. Not a great feeling for a thief to have, being on the receiving end of a sneaky foe was not something she enjoyed.

"What exactly is our plan here?" Kasumi questioned Retz. "There's seven or so of them and three of us. Are we just going to engage them by ourselves?"

"It depends on what they do," Retz stoically explained. "I doubt they'll all show up together. Too much manpower for a simple buy like that. One guy, maybe two. If we're lucky they'll risk the two. We can eliminate one, take the other alive and question him."

That made Kasumi feel a bit better. They could be down to five assassins at the end of this. Way better than seven. Didn't make this nerve-wracking waiting any less tense. She kept her hand ready on her Kassa Locust as she watched Kec. He was now pacing back and forth, his eyes also searching the shadows. The only thing that broke her concentration on the little smuggler was Retz speaking again.

"I lied before."

Kasumi turned, a bit confused at the Jackal's word. Not because him lying was a surprise, but because he was just outright admitting it out of the blue.

"I think you need to be more specific," she informed him.

"About when we first ran into Syndicate Agents," he clarified distantly. "It wasn't with that Casino job. It was before I even met Zek actually, way before."

That had not been the admission she was expecting and it still felt out of the blue. It didn't mean she was uninterested to hear the real story though.

"So when did you first run into them?" She asked earnestly.

"Remember when I told you I've been at this for a long time?" The Jackal responded. "It was all the way back then. I was working for a well-known credit lender, who also dabbled a little in the Ichor moonshine business on the side. I was one of his runners, he used kids mostly because they went unnoticed. He never treated us bad though, he was a good man, fair more or less. I made a lot of good friends among the other smuggling kids too. One of them was named Zert, sly customer, knew his way around the city. Had been there longer than even me. Collecting payments, keeping track of booze shipments, he had his act together. Me, him, our employer, we were like a small tight knit family."

Kasumi now how this ended before Retz even said anything. Just that last sentence was enough for her. She had heard this one too many times. You never said that when a story ended well.

"One night," Retz continued gravely. "We were sitting down. Enjoying ourselves, nice meal, we did it at that time, every day of the week. We had just gotten our biggest shipment of Ichor out, we were celebrating. The boss was congratulating us both, we were his best people he said. He couldn't have been more prouder of us, he said. We were... we were like the sons he never had. His words exactly."

Retz paused in thought, his eyes looking down crestfallen and sad. Just a while before she had seen him at his angriest, now she was seeing Retz at probably his most emotionally vulnerable state yet. He looked in absolute pain just remembering things.

"What happened, Retz?" Taq asked, looking even more concerned than Kasumi did.

"Zert grabbed a knife out of nowhere," Retz replied coldly. "Jammed it right into the boss' neck. Then, as he lay on the ground suffocating in his own blood, trying to ask why, Zert shot him point blank with a plasma pistol. I had fallen to the floor in shock, Zert was standing over me, his eyes cold and dead. I thought I was next, but he turned away. He left like it was nothing. Like I was nothing. Just left me there, with the dead man I considered a friend. I found out later that it was an execution started by the Syndicate. They had positioned someone else to take over the whole smuggling business, make it part of a larger ring. Also, clear up some debts they had no intention of paying. I suppose my employer should've reconsidered taking some Syndicate Shipmasters as clients. I left as soon as the transition started, I needed a new venture and... that place wasn't home anymore after that. Never saw Zert again. My best friend, an agent for the Syndicate the whole time and I never suspected."

It was only now Kasumi felt she understood the real reason behind Retz's fears. It wasn't any of that stuff from before, it was this. The thought of being tricked, of being lied to by someone he trusted. This wasn't ego, it was personal, it was about not being a victim again. She could understand that, in every way she could understand.

"I didn't tell you this because I don't like remembering it," Retz explained. "That and I didn't want to scare you too much. The idea that the Syndicate would use children is at times hard for some people to believe. But it's the reality, they breed loyalty young."

"I get it," Kasumi assured him. "But why tell us this now?"

"You and Taq deserve the truth, I suppose," Retz admitted. "You need to know why I'm in so far on this. I've known these people longer than most. Survived them if you will. It's why Zek put me on this. I know the enemy better than anyone in this case."

"Well, hope you're ready to put all that experience to the test then," Taq spoke up suddenly. "Look's like it's going down."

Looking out from their stakeout point, they could see Kec's attention was now solely focused on something. Emerging from the shadows was a single Jackal, his quills smoothed along his head in three lines. He approached Kec slowly and the two appeared to start talking. It didn't look like things were heated, but Kec still looked uneasy. Soon enough though, he took the grenade out and handed it to the newcomer, confirming he was part of the assassin group. Kasumi readied her Locust and prepared to move in, but Retz held up his arm.

"Wait a second," he told her. "He could have someone watching him."

The Syndicate Agent hung around for a bit, eyeing the grenade. Kec, however, wanted to leave, his feet already moving backwards. He was trying not to be sudden about it, but it was clear the agent already knew what was happening. Kasumi could see the unknown Jackal's hand already going for his weapon. She wouldn't wait anymore, she bolted from their hiding spot, cloak engaged. If Retz tried to stop her she didn't hear him. If he still wanted to catch this guy, he'd follow her.

She rushed to the Agent's flank, passing a series of containers on the assassin's left. She got behind him and then pointed the gun right between his head. That stopped his hand cold.

"You're done playing spy, pal," she told him grimly. "Now we got some questions to ask."

The agent didn't respond, he just eyed her with his bloodshot yellow eyes furiously. She thought for a second she had him, that Retz would be a long shortly to help her wrap this up. But apparently, this Jackal was just a little faster. He turned suddenly, kicking the thief's locust away from him. As the weapon discharged, he elbowed Kasumi in the stomach. At this point, Kec took off running, but that just renewed him as a target in the agent's eyes. He pulled his plasma pistol and fired a series of bolts at the fleeing smuggler. All three caught Kec in the back and he fell to the floor.

"No!" Kasumi yelled in anger.

Grabbing at the plasma pistol suddenly, she ripped it away from the Jackal's grasp and then punched him square in the beak . The agent pulled out a small energy dagger from his belt as Kasumi went for her Carnifex pistol. His blade cut at the back of Kasumi's hand forcing her to drop the weapon, which the Jackal kicked away. Kasumi grabbed the alien's hand as it then came rushing towards her face, inching closer to her eye.

Then a shot rang out and the Jackal stumbled, his knee blown out by a shot. He was now kneeling on the floor in pain, allowing Kasumi to knock the knife out of the Jackal's hand. As soon as she did, Taq rushed out and tackled the Syndicate lackey to the ground.

"Looking for me, asshole!" She screamed in his face, before punching said face repeatedly.

Kasumi had to fight to rip Taq off the battered agent, they still needed him alive of course. Quickly, she forced the downed Jackal over and slapped a pair of energy cuffs on his back. Forcing him to stand, Kasumi looked over to see Retz holding her Locust in one hand.

"I told you to wait," he said as he handed her Locust back to her.

"I was trying to keep Kec alive," Kasumi explained, taking her gun back. "I get your thing about pirate justice, but I wasn't going to let someone die if I could help it."

"Lot of good that did it seems," Retz answered coldly. "But the end result is the same. We have our man."

Retz moved over and grabbed the agent's beak hard.

"You're going to start singing, friend," he assured him. "Very soon in fact."

"Bite me," the Syndicate stooge replied.

"I'd rather not, I don't know where you've been," Retz replied sardonically, before turning to Kasumi. "We should take him some place a lot more secure than this ship."

"The Normandy would be perfect," Kasumi assured him. "We can give him to Miranda. She can get anyone to talk."

Retz nodded in agreement and then turned back to their captive.

"You hear that friend?" Retz asked, his voice dripping with a mocking tone. "You're going to get a tour of the infamous Normandy. Isn't that a rare pleasure indeed?"

He started to force the captured agent to move. Kasumi and Taq followed, but the thief momentarily stopped. She looked around for her Carnifex, but didn't see it anywhere. She would've looked longer, but there was no time to worry about a loose gun. She'd come back for it later, once their prisoner was secured and they had found out where his friends were hiding.

---

It didn't take long to get off the Serpent and begin the walk to the Normandy. The giant hangar made it a bit of a trek. Retz hung back slightly with Taq while Kasumi kept her grip on the Syndicate agent's shoulder. He was strangely quiet the whole way, his eyes locked straight ahead with scowling beak glowering at everything. Kasumi hadn't expected him to be a big conversationalist given the circumstances, but she at least expected some kind of speech. An attempt to get her to turn maybe? Something to rile her up so she'd make a mistake? Why was he so damn quiet?

Eventually the silence became too much for her to stand. If he wouldn't say anything, she would. She didn't even care if he didn't talk back, she just wanted someone to say something.

"Gotta admit, pretty impressive you got this far," she told him plainly. "If your friend hadn't been so stupid and jumped the gun, well, we wouldn't have even knew you were here."

The assassin said nothing in response.

"Has to be eating you up, huh?" She asked him mockingly. "All your little plans down the drain cause one guy couldn't play by the rules. It was only a matter of time before we caught up after that really."

Again, the assassin said nothing. Without any reaction one way or the other, Kasumi decided to keep ribbing.

"Honestly, I can understand," she explained. "I've had plans blow up on me big time, more than once actually. This all has to be pretty embarrassing for you. Simple kill contract, totally ruined. Has to be eating you up."

The assassin looked back for a moment, but still refused to talk.

"We're going to find your friends, you know?" she warned him, glaring as she did. "It's pretty much over. Miranda is going to get it out of you eventually, trust me. You could just spare us all that and tell us everything we want to know. What do you have left to lose really?"

The assassin looked back ahead and for a moment, Kasumi thought he was going to keep his vow of silence. He didn't though, not this time.

"This isn't over," he told her, his voice monotone. "The Op isn't over until we've succeeded or we're all dead. Simple as that."

"You're really that loyal to the whole mission?" Kasumi asked bewildered. "I get it, we're talking about Forerunner artifacts and all that, but I don't understand one thing. What do you care? What's all this to you? You Jackals are only loyal to yourselves at the end of the day. You're not going to try and save your skin at all?"

"You don't understand anything, human," the agent declared. "How could you? Hell, you don't even really get the why. I have no reason to save my skin, I'm not at that point yet. None of us are. You think we're cracking, but it's not that simple. It never is."

Now Kasumi really was confused.

"Let me get this straight," she said, trying to properly register the Jackal's viewpoint. "You're choosing not to talk, but it's still an option? You're loyal to the mission until you decide it's gone south?"

"I'm not loyal to the mission," the agent declared. "I'm loyal to the code. And right now, it's not good business to talk to you about anything. You have nothing."

"We have you," Kasumi reminded him.

"Think what you want," the assassin snorted. "It makes no difference."

The Normandy came into view about a minute later. They were practically on the door step. The cargo hold was closed, but it would just take a minute to contact Joker and he'd get it open for them. Kasumi opened her omni-tool and prepared to do just that. However, when she tried, she couldn't contact Joker. All she got was a flashing screen that said "no connection." That didn't seem possible, they were so close. Nothing could possibly be interfering with the transmission.

That's when it hit her. Why the Syndicate Assassin claimed they had nothing. She looked to Retz, who was looking around them. He then activated his gauntlets as they kept walking. He already suspected something was wrong. She looked to the shadows herself, trying to see if he had spotted something. She thought she saw something, a shade moving among the upper level, something behind a cargo container or moving beneath a Banshee craft.

They were already here, around them. How? How'd they beat them here? How'd they even get off the Serpent? She supposed it didn't matter, as things were about to go down hard. She looked back to Retz, hoping he'd see she was in on it and would try to make a move. Instead she just saw him look suddenly to the prisoner in front of her, his eyes growing wide.

"Crap."

She turned around just in time to see the cuffed assassin slamming his shoulder into her stomach. He then kicked her away before taking off like a bullet. She fell back onto her backside, pulling her Kassa Locust and pointing it at the fleeing assassin. She fired at his legs, trying to take him down without killing him. She wasn't keen on killing someone in cuffs, even if they were still trying to kill her.

Her shots missed the assassin as he ducked into cover. Her bullets were answered with plasma and needles raining down from all around them. Taq rushed to grab the downed thief and pulled her back into cover with her and Retz. His feathers were already frayed out and plasma pistols up. They had just been lucky enough to have a cargo container nearby they could hide behind, because Kasumi could hear every shot hitting their cover non-stop.

"How the hell did they make it off the ship!?" Taq shouted.

"I told you both, even fractured they're dangerous," Retz reasoned. "It's just like the club raid in my story. They couldn't risk their friend talking and they know we're too close now. They're done playing, it's all or nothing now."

"Then things just got easier," Kasumi reasoned. "We move now we can take them all down."

"My thoughts exactly, Ms. Goto," Retz concurred. "Also, duck."

Taq and Kasumi followed Retz's cue, dropping to the floor as plasma fire sailed past them. Retz returned fire, jumping up and using his gauntlets to block the next round of shots.

"Our friend just got his cuffs off," Retz informed them. "Kasumi, take Taq! I'll keep them busy!"

Kasumi nodded and grabbed Taq by the back. The two women ran as Retz kept returning fire. They made a beeline for a parked Pelican, sliding behind it as a couple more needle rounds hit the craft. Taq growled in frustration.

"Fucking Syndicate," she grumbled, pulling out her needler. "I'm killing one before this over, I swear."

"Fine, fine, but stay down just for now," Kasumi told her. "I can even our odds a little. They might got a way scramble my comm, but I still got something they can't counter."

That was when she activated her cloak, causing Taq to look around in shock.

"Hey, wait, don't leave me here by myself!" She pleaded.

"Just keep your head down," Kasumi insisted. "I'll be back when we got fewer problems."

The thief took off, heading around the side of the Pelican. Taq was a smart bird, she wouldn't go out into the open when everyone was gunning for her. You couldn't shoot what you couldn't see though, giving Kasumi a better chance. She made for the position the cuffed Assassin had taken off to, careful to not make much noise as she ran. It didn't take long to run across him. He was hiding behind a small metal box, plasma pistol in hand, firing like mad at Retz's position. He had a friend next to him, armed with a needler.

Within seconds, Kasumi struck. Her omni-blade cut into the needler user's back and he screamed in pain. The former prisoner turned snarling as Kasumi's cloak dropped. He turned his gun on her now.

"Fucking shaved primate bitch!" He screamed, letting off several bolts.

Kasumi blocked the shots with the Jackal's dead friend, who was still impaled on her holographic blade.

"Guess your Op is over after all," she grimly told him.

She let loose with her Locust, cutting him down easily. She deactivated her omni-blade and dove behind the box nearby. That was when rounds started hitting it. Not needles, no shots from a Covenant Rifle. Probably stolen from the Serpent's armory. From the angle of the shots, seemed like it was coming from the upper level of the hangar.

"Well, two down, five to go," she reasoned. "Better than when this started."

A sniper was still a problem. She was a decent shot, but her Locust wasn't cut out for long range. She was really missing her Carnifex at this point. Peeking out, she could see Retz was firing at the upper level himself, trying to get the heat off her. Nice of him, but she could handle this. She pulled out a flashbang and tossed it into the air. It wouldn't reach the sniper, but it didn't have to. The device went off in the air, creating a blinding explosion of light. Retz had already pulled back into cover so he wasn't affected, but everyone else would be blind for a bit.

She stood up and ran, firing randomly at the upper levels. Nothing would connect, but it was all she could do. She got back to the Pelican with minimal return fire. Taq was still there, keeping an eye on the fighting all around them. She turned, almost pulling the trigger on her needler when Kasumi rounded the Pelican.

"Five left to go," she reported. "We got this, Taq, don't worry."

"Me? Worry?" Taq laughed nervously. "Nah, nah, I'm fine. Totally fine, honest."

That's when the Pelican came under fire. More Covenant Rifle rounds from the sound of it. Someone wasn't as blind as she thought and had tracked her back. The shots were hitting the back engine, so it was probably from a higher level to. She looked out of cover to see the shooter, kneeling down on a landing. She fired a few shots from her Locust at him. He suddenly rolled off the side as the fire came in, but he wasn't hit. Kasumi could tell by the way he turned. She wasn't surprised to see him get right back up and start firing again.

She sprayed out a wall of bullets, the assassin tucking and rolling behind a metal box. He then began to push his cover, blindly firing as he moved forward. Kasumi fired several bullets in return as he crept closer. She hoped one shot would hit him in the hand. Taq, however, was done. She rushed out of cover while the assassin was still busy firing on Kasumi.

Taq jumped on top of a Warthog parked near the Pelican, giving her just enough of an angle on the assassin. She fired her Needler right into the the assassin, hitting him with several pink slivers before he could turn his gun on her. He exploded in a bright mist of color. When the pink evaporated, she ran over and started kicking the corpse.

"Thought it would be fucking easy killing an archaeologist, huh motherfucker?!" She shouted. "Well how you Syndicate Shits like me now!"

Kasumi was already moving to her when she spotted another problem. Her shouting had attracted one of the other assassins. He was standing atop a large cargo container nearby and charging up his dual plasma pistols. Kasumi ran the rest of the way and tackled Taq to the ground as to overcharged shots flew over her. Taq was exhaled in relief as she and Kasumi lay on the ground.

"Sorry," she apologized. "All this stress is messing with me."

"Just please don't make it easier for them to kill you," Kasumi pleaded.

She jumped up from the floor and fired off a quick burst. The Assassin jumped down from his perch and fired back. She rolled to the side, dodging the bolts and fired at his legs. Her burst caught him in the knee and then the chest. He fell to the floor, his guns sliding out to the side. She fired a few more shots into him just to be sure.

"Okay, three left," she said. "We're even now. Almost home free."

Before she even finished her sentence she started hearing the sound of an engine powering up. It sounded familiar, like a screeching noise. Then she remembered, there had been one under a Banshee. Taq saw it first, pointing up above them. Kasumi looked to see a Banshee hovering over them, moving in ever so slowly on their position, it's guns aimed at them.

"Crap, run!"

Taq scrambled to her feet as plasma bolts fired at them, raking the ground. Taq covered her head as she ran, Kasumi firing bursts into the air. Some hit the craft, but it didn't do much. They ran back to the Pelican again as more shots raked the human craft.

"We are so dead now," Taq screeched. "Once that asshole figures out how to aim with that thing we're fucked."

Kasumi wasn't about to let that happen, she had another idea. She remembered plasma pistol overcharges had one other function, direct EMP blast. It disabled any vehicle it hit. Wasn't much, but it was something. She could see the dropped plasma pistol of the assassin she killed in front of her. It was out in the open, a risk, but she didn't have much to lose. She turned on her cloak again, made a run for the gun. It would give her a few extra seconds if the Banshee couldn't see her. She dove and grabbed for the gun, charging it in her hand as she aimed it back at the alien craft hovering above them. The big glowing green ball was a clear dead give away to her position. She doubted it went unnoticed by the assassin in the Banshee. She just had to hope she was faster. She let go of the trigger.

A single big green bolt flew across the length of the hangar. The banshee moved to avoid the shot, firing as it moved. Kasumi rolled to the side, avoiding the strafing fire. Her bolt managed to hit it's mark though, striking the Banshee in the side. Everything went dead and the aircraft began to dip, heading straight for her.

She held her ground, firing into the falling Banshee with her Locust. The shots pierced the cockpit and must've killed the pilot because the whole craft took a deep nose dive. Kasumi turned to make a run for it, hoping to avoid the now crashing craft as scraped against the ground. She tried to turn to avoid it only for one of her legs to be clipped by the struts. She fell to the floor, the impact made her lose her grip on her guns and they tumbled away. Her vision blurry from the fall, the next thing she saw was Taq rushing over to pick her up off the ground.

"Nice work," Taq said as she helped her to her feet. "Only two left now."

Just as she said that though, a blue plasma grenade hit the downed Banshee.

"Oh come on!" Taq screamed, forcing Kasumi to run.

The resulting explosion seconds later sent out a shockwave that sent them both hurtling back to the floor. Kasumi's ears were ringing and her eyes were still in bad shape from both falls. But she could eventually see her Locust, sitting just a few feet away. She looked to Taq who was moaning and laying on the floor. At least she was alive. Kasumi towards the gun, but before she even reached it, a clawed bird-like foot stomped on it. She looked up, her eyes finally focusing on what she assumed was one of the last two assassins. Instead, she saw someone else.

Standing with his foot firmly on her gun... was Retz.

"Retz, what-"

He didn't say anything, he just raised his plasma pistol to her head.

"Just don't move," he said coldly. "Makes this easier."

The confusion suddenly vanished and everything clicked. He knew what they were facing from the start. He always had all the answers. He knew everything about the Syndicate in intricate detail. He knew how'd they react, what they'd do. That darknet in the network Tali found. How he didn't seem to care about making a scene with Kec. The fact these guys had gotten aboard in the first place without him knowing. The fact that they beat them here somehow. The fact Retz seemed so disappointed in how it seemed they weren't living up to the expectation. Even all those stories he told. Everything about today suddenly made far too much sense and she kicked herself for not seeing it.

"You're Syndicate," she said scowling at him. "You're the eighth agent."

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Retz said shrugging slightly. "I've been here way longer. I'd like to think I'm number one."

Taq finally stirred pushing herself up with her hands. He kept his gun on Kasumi but looked to the female Jackal as she rose. When she saw what was happening, she didn't have to ask questions.

"Ah fuck," she groaned.

"I'm sorry, Taq," he apologized. "I do like you. But this is beyond me."

Kasumi tried to grab at his foot, get him to release the gun. Instead she ended up getting kicked back. She fell into Taq with a thud, Retz's gun still aimed at her. He still wore no expression, but her angry gaze kept on him.

"Why did you take so long?" She asked him. "You could've killed her at any time. Killed me."

"True, but I was hoping for another solution," he admitted. "This whole thing was a mess. They should've been patient but one of them wasn't. I could've resolved this, but they had to send amateurs. Now there's no choice."

He sighed sadly, his expression only slightly faltering.

"I was really hoping I wouldn't have to disappoint Zek," he said wistfully. "I suppose I could ask Taq to just give me the module and I can just tell them you're dead, but honestly I know her too well. She's not going to let that happen."

"Damn right I'm not," Taq growled.

"See, this is why I like you," Retz informed her. "You're very devoted to your job. A lesser kig-yar would surrender the data in the vain hope of saving themselves, but you? Of course you won't."

Kasumi kept hitting herself mentally. So stupid. Tali, Shepard, Garrus, they all warned her and now she was screwed.

"You realize this close to the Normandy you won't get far," she told him. "They've heard that explosion by now, they're probably already on the way. You can kill us, but you won't escape."

"I know, it's pretty stupid of me," he admitted. "I really felt it would've been better if we just grabbed the module and left it at that. But, this is how it has to be."

"Does it?" Kasumi asked. "Come on, you have to be smarter than this. You're admitting that this is dumb yourself! You don't wanna do this! I can tell!"

"It's not about what I want, it never has been," Retz explained rather plainly. "It's about what I have to do."

"The question is though, what are you going to do, Retz?"

That was another voice, different this time, more sly and irritated in tone. Stepping out from the shadows appeared another Jackal, a Covenant Rifle on his back and Plasma Rifle in hand. He had a scar across his cheek and slightly cracked beak. His blue quills fashioned into a small Mohawk. Retz just looked at him, almost in mock surprise.

"Now what are you doing here, Jerl?" He asked the newcomer, feigning shock at his arrival.

"Stuff it, Retz," Jerl snarled back. "I was sent here to make sure you didn't fuck everything up. Why do you think you weren't made Lead Operator? They got someone better."

"So they sent you?" Retz said, almost laughing. "Well, that's insulting."

"Cute, but we both know the truth here," Jerl growled at him. "I told them myself, you're too damn close to this. You've always been too damn close. You aren't reliable, why else would you have wasted so much damn time over this garbage? I knew you had gone soft working for that idiot. This right here just proved me right."

"You've never been right about anything," Retz told him, practically chuckling now.

Jerl tore the Plasma Pistol away from Retz's grasp and chucked it away. He then aimed his own gun at Kasumi and Taq, but he kept his glare on Retz. Kasumi just tried to follow the situation, look for an opening anything. It was clear these two knew each other, and had a lot of animosity. Maybe she could use that, turn it on them when she got the chance.

"If you were still as good as you thought you were, we wouldn't have been called," Jerl explained. "You're too worried about keeping your friends, Retz. That's a luxury you should've avoided. Honestly, given everything you've done, I'd expect you to know that better than anyone. Now look at you, a pathetic waste of feathers and bone content to play second fiddle to a moron like Zek."

"He's at least more charming company than you, Jerl," Retz claimed nonchalantly. "Honestly, this all seems so overblown anyway. A full kill squad for one female and a data module? Seriously? Are the Queens that afraid of a single Forerunner Relic? Hell, it could just be a fancy dishwasher for all we know."

Jerl exhaled in utter contempt.

"This is why I was the principal and not you," he informed Retz. "Hell, it's why I decided to keep you mostly in the dark until we were aboard. You are so out of the loop. You really think that this relic would attract the attention of fucking Snarlbeak if it was just that simple? It's not. There is far more at stake than one measly little artifact. The Syndicate will not let everything we've built be jeopardized because of Zhoc's ambitions."

"As if I believe they trusted you with the whole story," Retz snorted. "Prove it, what's this whole thing really about?"

"You can ask after this is over and we're gone," Jerl growled at him. "As in we're leaving, you're going back. Now shut up so we can be done with this clusterfuck."

"Yes," Retz said coldly. "Lets."

Kasumi stared down the end of the Plasma Pistol, getting a flashbang ready to strike. Last desperate act, only thing they could do. She got ready to throw it and then... she heard a shot. But it wasn't a Plasma Pistol, it was a Carnifex. Jerl's face suddenly went blank, his eyes going to his gut where blood was starting to pour out. Kasumi looked across the way to see Retz pointing her Carnifex at Jerl. He then fired another shot and Jerl fell to the floor dead, the look of genuine horrified surprise on his face.

Kasumi looked in shock as Retz took his foot off her Locust and eyed the Carnifex.

"Hmm, not a fan," he admitted. "But it's a decent stopper."

He pointed the gun at Kasumi again, but this time with the handle pointed to her. He also kicked the Locust back to her.

"Well, they are yours, take'em," he insisted.

Kasumi to the Carnifex back, but wasn't sure what to do with it. Retz himself had gone over to Jerl's body and was digging around in it.

"Scrambler has to be on him," he said. "I'll shut it down. We can call for someone to clean this up if they aren't already moving in like you said."

Now confusion had set right back in. She wasn't sure if she should shoot him right now or not. He had killed a fellow Syndicate member, given her back her weapon, he wasn't even doing anything to defend himself.

"What. The. Hell?" Taq asked suddenly.

"Forgive me, Taq, Ms. Goto," he told them courteously. "This was all unfortunately necessary."

"Necessary?" Kasumi asked bewildered.

"Yes, I needed to draw them all out, I knew our prisoner would never talk," Retz explained. "I thought they were going to assault the Normandy though. A lot more defensible. When they acted early, I knew I didn't have much other choice but to reveal a few of my secrets. I told you before, everyone on the crew has a few. I was hoping mine wouldn't come out so suddenly."

"But why?" Kasumi asked, desperately seeking a clear answer. "Why did you...?"

"Act as if I was going to kill you?" Retz asked in return. "Simple, I knew it had to be Jerl running this thing. It was all so sloppy, so characteristic of him. If anyone knew what was going on it would be him. He'd know. So I set this all up in order to draw him out. I knew he would at least be smart enough to suspect that drop was a trap and made sure to tell him where we were taking our prisoner discreetly. He was a little faster than I hoped as you can see."

"Why did you need to lure Jerl out?" Taq asked as she stood up.

"Because going after your data module with a full squad of killers didn't make sense on the surface," Retz explained simply. "There had to be more. Now we know there is indeed more to that relic than what we thought originally. I was hoping I'd convince Jerl to spill everything, but it was clear that wouldn't happen unless you came to harm and we couldn't have that. I told you, Taq, I like you too much."

Retz tore something off the dead Jerl and crushed it in his hands. He let the now broken electronic device fall to the floor and he turned back to Kasumi.

"Well, call this in," he told her. "Let's wrap things up."

"You still haven't really explained why," Kasumi told him sternly. "Why'd you kill Jerl? Why protect Taq?"

"Haven't I made that clear this entire time?" Retz asked, "I've told you before, kig-yar value trust above all things. Loyalty is never to be shared lightly. In the end, I did what needed to be done, because two dear friends were counting on me. Simple as that."

"But the Syndicate..."

Retz put up a hand, stopping her.

"They're not here," he explained thusly. "This isn't their ship, this isn't their Fleet. Simple as that."

Retz started to walk away, leaving Kasumi and Taq dumbfounded. He began checking the other assassin bodies, probably in the hopes it would tell him more. Kasumi still had questions, but she had stalled long enough. She called the incident in.

---

"How long have you known?"

Zek looked at Kasumi rather plainly as he sat in his chair in the near empty rec-room. It took him a bit to understand the question.

"Since I inherited the Serpent," he answered plainly. "Why else do you think I trusted him with the job?"

"And you still let him be your First Mate?" Kasumi said, still trying to wrap her head around it all. "I don't get it, why? Why didn't you tell me? Or anyone?"

"It didn't matter at the time and it was Retz's secret to share," Zek informed her. "The fact is, it worked out. Taq is safe, the Syndicate agents are gone and the ODSTs have rooted out a problem. There's really nothing more to this."

Kasumi wished she could believe that, but it wasn't that simple. A few hours ago it was, Space Pirate wasn't nearly as complex then. Now, it was a mess of contradictions and strange codes of thieving honor that stumbled over each other constantly. Kasumi wanted to believe she knew what to make of it, but she couldn't.

"You never once questioned Retz's loyalty on this?" She asked. "Not even a bit?"

"He's always done a good job figuring out how to balance things before today," Zek said, shrugging slightly. "Things did not go as well as he wanted this time, but it couldn't be helped. He did what I knew he would, he protected Taq, he protected this ship. It's what he's always done and I never expect anything less."

"But why? Why do you believe in him that much?" Kasumi asked. "He's the biggest liar among any of you. He lies all the time, he's done it to me all day and ever since we met him!"

"He is a liar," Zek admitted. "He's the best liar I've ever known, but that's not all there is to him. People are rarely ever one thing, Ms. Goto. Retz is, as you would call him, a Pirate Spy. He does work for the Syndicate, or did, it depends on how things end when this all gets back to them. But like we keep telling you, trust is more valuable than anything material in the life of a kig-yar. And Retz, for all his lying and scheming, is one of the few I trust entirely."

Zek took a small sip from his cup full of ichor, smacking his beak a bit before he continued.

"I'm the only person he never lies to anymore," he flat out stated. "The one person he's always honest with. That's something no amount of credits could ever buy. That's why I trust him, with Varvok a close second. That's the thing I don't think Shepard and the UNSC get to be honest. You see, this is a two way street here. We'll stop lying when we believe we can trust you. Pass that along when you can."

Kasumi wasn't sure how to respond to that, all she knew was that today had been something of an eye opener. For all her daredevil dreams and bravado, this had been a shock to the system she hadn't been expected. Zek was fine with it, but she had left herself vulnerable and she had no one to blame but herself. All she knew now was that she needed a drink.

---

The music was turned up loud and the carousing had begun anew. The song was another one by the band Alestorm called "Nancy the Tavern Wrench." Seemed to fit the mood more or less. She was sitting down at the table in Row's bar, on her third shot in fact, when the bottle of ichor slammed next to her. She looked up to see Retz staring down at her.

"Thirsty I see," he said.

"Hey," Kasumi said, not entirely enthused at his presence.

Retz sat down without being invited and put his feet up. He already had a big glass of water in hand and was taking swigs here and there. Kasumi just looked at him and saw he was smiling, looking carefree, like she had been herself just hours before. He didn't seem to have a worry in the world.

"So why are you here?" Kasumi asked, spinning one of her empty glasses around. "I'd think Haverson would still be talking to you."

"Oh we've already had our pleasant chat," he assured her. "In no uncertain terms I'm apparently going to be watched like a hawk from now on. I told him, go ahead, I have nothing to hide."

Well she knew that was a lie, maybe now more so than ever. She didn't bother saying it aloud though, she honestly wasn't even sure if she should still be talking to him. Retz wasn't so conflicted.

"So, how are you enjoying Row's stock special of the day?" He randomly asked.

That was it, she couldn't handle it. All this smiling and coy attitude, it didn't make sense. It just felt so wildly out of touch right now. Maybe it was okay before, but not after what had happened, not after everything. She was a thief, she got it, you were dishonest by nature, but she expected better of herself. She expected better of the people she trusted. Now this had happened and Retz seemed content to just act like it was all a big joke. The lies, the deception, the fact he pointed a gun at her, that the whole day and everything that occurred had gone to his plan accordingly. Now he just expected things to go back to normal? For her to have no problems and just strike up a casual conversation? Just have a drink and laugh like everything was okay?

Screw that.

"How can you just sit there like that?" She asked him harshly. "How can you honestly just sit here and act like nothing happened? Like this whole day meant nothing to you?"

"Ms. Goto, please," Retz said, sounding somewhat disturbed. "This has been a trial for everyone involved. Lieutenant McKay had to root out a traitor, Vakarian got yelled at by xenophobes a lot, we faced a lot of risks together in general, but in the end it all turned out for the best. I see no reason to dwell on it further."

"That's not good enough," Kasumi told him sternly. "I'm sorry, but it's not. I got close to you, too close and it almost got me killed today."

"I had no intention of shooting you, Ms. Goto," he insisted, sounding truly offended by the accusation. "You were in no danger whatsoever, believe me."

"That's the problem, I believed you," Kasumi explained vehemently. "I believed you and it put me in danger. You kept me in the dark from the beginning. You knew exactly what was going on and you used me to get to your desired outcome, or at least the closest to it. How do you expect me to feel about that?"

Retz sighed, nodding before he took another swig of his water. He then placed the glass down on the table and took his legs off it at the same time.

"I can't honestly expect you to feel happy about this," he admitted. "I'm truly sorry if you felt used, but I can't help that feeling. I couldn't trust you with everything, even if I do admire your tenacity and professionalism. However, I did try to be as honest as possible in all our transactions."

"With your stories," Kasumi said, a skeptical tone rising in her voice. "Yeah, about that, I've done a little thinking there and I figured something out. They weren't about other agents were they? They were about you."

Retz said nothing, which in her eyes was as good as a confession. He just took another sip of his water. The silence lasted a few more awkward seconds, with the Jackal just sitting there thoughtfully. She wondered if he was hoping she'd just leave or if he was thinking of a way to change the subject. It was plain to see the gears working in his head, probably trying to form a new lie to get out of this. However, her expectations turned out to be wrong again. For once, he didn't try to hide anything.

"It was the name of my friend wasn't it?" He finally asked rather plainly. "I suppose it was too much of a hint. My fault for being cute."

"Zert is an anagram for Retz," she said, confirming his guess. "It wasn't hard to figure it all out from that point. You've been an agent your whole life. You've done all these things in their name, a lot of them while working for Zek."

"I'm not really sure I've been one of them for a long time," Retz admitted distantly. "I've been something, but I'm not sure I'm one of them. The fact is, when the chips were down, when things were going wrong, I had few people I could count on. Zek was one of them. I suppose, in the end, that mattered more than any supposed loyalty that they had tried to instill. Nothing beats actual friendship when compared to promises of power and respect."

Kasumi almost laughed for a moment, recalling something from before. Back during the early hours of the morning when this pirate stuff still seemed adventurous and fun. Retz's words had just now helped her remember.

"Zek mentioned you felt nostalgic while watching 'Goodfellas'," she recalled. "Said you felt a connection with the character."

"Only in that he could've been me had I remained that naive and stupid," Retz explained rather monotone. "I'm the Henry Hill who beat the inevitable. I didn't have to sell out who I was to stay alive. I didn't trust in the people who told me to kill others in their name. I didn't put faith in their system and expect them to protect me. I put my trust and faith with someone who offered me something they never could. That's why I haven't been one of them for a long time. And why I'm not in a Cul De Sac regretting how my fuck ups cost me everything."

"It's that easy then?" Kasumi asked. "Zek's your friend and that's all there is to it? Like, he showed you the magic of pirate friendship or something?"

"Well that's a strange sappy way to put it," Retz countered, sounding incredibly baffled. "Why is this so hard for you to understand?"

"Because it's hard to believe you, Retz," Kasumi told him, almost as shocked by how he seemed to just not get what her problem was. "I honestly thought I knew who you were, that I knew what I was dealing with. Instead I think I know even less about you than before I even met you!"

Retz turned to her and looked at her dispassionately. His usual grin only slightly wavering as he spoke.

"Ms. Goto, I have told you everything about me," he informed her. "Very intimate personal things, in fact."

"Yes and apparently they were all lies or twisted truths," Kasumi reminded him. "Even accepting that you were actually the Agent in all those stories you told me, there are still problems. They are constantly contradicting themselves and each other. Of all the the stories you told me, what parts of them were true and which were fiction? I honestly can't tell."

Retz merely smiled at that, his eyes glowing as he did. He leaned back slightly, his hands now moved apart from each other. He was back to looking coy and sly, which at this point seemed to be his default setting.

"Ms. Goto, I can assure you of this singular fact," he stated firmly. "In regards to the stories I told you today, they were all true."

Kasumi just smirked skeptically back at the Jackal.

"Even with all the lies?" She asked.

Retz leaned in close, his eyes gleaming and smile ever the slyest.

"They're more true because of all the lies," he insisted grinning widely. "Especially because of the lies."

As he said that, Kasumi watched his face. Her eyes met him, her gaze never wavering. The look, the words, the tone, it all spoke one single thing to her. The realization was quick and seamless. This was the most honest, sincere thing he had ever said to her. It was the truth and this time she was certain of it. In that moment she leaned back herself. What started as a giggle, grew to a chuckle and than a full-blown laugh. Retz joined in shortly after. Kasumi poured herself a shot of the ichor he had brought and raised it up. Retz grabbed his glass of water and they clinked them together in a toast of sorts.

Yes, he was a liar. These Pirates weren't who she thought. Somehow though, it didn't matter. She couldn't explain it, but it just didn't. Honesty for them was different, special, too valuable to be given out lightly. Even the slightest bit was a gift and, at least for her, it seemed like enough. She had to be careful about Retz, about what she did around this crew, that was clear now. She accepted that. In time, maybe Zek wouldn't be the only person Retz never lied to. Or maybe he wouldn't, it didn't really matter in that moment and the song playing seemed to agree.

So come take a drink and drown your sorrows,

And all of our fears will be gone till tomorrow.

We'll have no regrets and live for today,

In Nancy's Harbor Cafe!

---

AN: We're back from an extended absence! I hope you didn't miss us too much and that you enjoyed the conclusion to this two part mystery. Hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the next installment of this story as we finally reached the downed Forerunner ship you've been waiting for. But right now, please visit my blog through my profile page for more notes on this chapter and the juicy revelations within. I appreciate all your reviews, thoughts and criticisms and, please do visit the TV tropes page when you can to add to it? Have a good one, readers, and see you next time.