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.

13. The Golden Age

Chapter 12: The Golden Age

Only the Devil and I know the Whereabouts of My Treasure,

And The One of Us who Lives the Longest should Take it All!

-Edward "Blackbeard" Teach

The galley of the Fallen Serpent wasn't exactly the ideal place to have a talk about these kind of matters. Zek had insisted, however, for the purposes of "atmosphere" as he claimed. Shepard felt he had already had his fill of watching the drunken carousing of the space pirates, but apparently their leader felt differently. The one thing that made things slightly more tolerable was the fact Taq was there. She had her own set of quirks, but at least she knew how to get to the point and keep to business more often than not. That at least assured him they would be staying on topic. Said topic was what Taq had supposedly found in The Dauntless' logs, concerning the ship's ultimate goal. Which was why the Master Chief was here on behalf of the UNSC alongside Cortana. Varok was here as well, representing his people in person. There were all here, more or less, to ask a very simple question.

"What exactly is an Astral Cutlass and why is it so important?" Shepard asked bluntly.

"It's fairly simple," Taq responded dutifully. "It's why Snarlbeak and the Syndicate want me dead."

"Still a bit vague," Cortana cut in suddenly. "Maybe actually bother to explain the specifics, please?"

"It's just a little complicated," Taq explained. "To do any kind of justice to the subject at hand, I'd need to go into a very long series of myths and legends passed around from ship to ship back in the Golden Era of Piracy. Legends that were old even back then."

"Lucky for you guys, I have a better way!" Zek insisted. He then looked over to a corner of he room and shouted aloud; "Lek! Storytime!"

At that moment the various carousing Jackals stopped talking amongst themselves and began pounding their tables. Still grasping mugs of ichor in their claws, they shouted "Lek! Lek!" over and over again. Eventually bits of the crowd parted as someone headed towards the main table they were all sitting at. Climbing on top of the surface, appeared a very old looking Jackal in disheveled grimy light armor. His quills were shorter and not as well groomed, his beak had more scars and chips in it than on average and his skin wrinkled and worn. He hunched over more than most as he hobbled towards the head of the table. Eventually Zek bothered to introduce him to everyone.

"Everyone, this is the Fallen Serpent's Senior crewmember," he explained. "Our record keeper, Ichor stores manager, and singer of the old songs himself, Lek."

In response, Lek just sniffed down something from his nostrils into his throat before spitting it off to the side.

"Charming," Cortana noted dryly.

"What do you want now, Zek?" Lek asked in a growling, ancient, grumbling voice. "I was having a very good dream just now. There was a pool of ichor and fresh fruits and I was being showered in creds chips by the cart load."

"You can get back to that in a minute, old timer," Zek assured. "Our business associates need a lesson in pirate mythology. Sing the Legend of the Astral Cutlass for us, please."

Lek's grouchy disposition lightened somewhat, as he nodded his head and scratched the scraggy underside of his beak.

"Astral Cutlass? My, my, haven't done that one in a long time," he recalled. "Most anyone here ever wants to hear is the story of Ultra Chorka or the Battle of the Raging Typhoon."

"Perhaps another time," Zek told him. "This is more relevant right now."

"No need to twist my arm," Lek assured, motion towards the back of the room and whistling. "Give us a tune, ya filthy ingrates!"

A small band of Pirates got gathered around a nearby music terminal and punched in some commands. While they did that, Lek cleared his own instrument, his voice, coughing up more phlegm and bile and spitting it into a grimaced at it all, he wasn't the only one a little uncomfortable about all this though.

"For the record, I wanted to give a proper academic lecture about this," Taq explained. "I had a holo-presentation and everything."

"But that would've been boring," Zek suddenly interrupted. "My way is more fun! HIT IT!"

The music started up suddenly at Zek's command. The instrumental evoked a song of high adventure and and quests of old, with pounding riffs and swelling chords. It then suddenly cut to a more even tune, this was where Lek began to sing, his voice as gravely as before but keeping in harmony with the music nonetheless.

Aeons ago, when the cosmos were new,

The heavens belonged to the free.

Pirates and Rogues sailed the black void,

Plundering all they could see.

Among them was one, a bandit unrivaled,

Who pillaged the stars with no fear.

For within his talons, he held a great sword,

A Weapon without any peer!

At this moment, during the chorus, the other pirates joined in to sing along with Lek as he revealed the name of the weapon in question.

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Forged in the Fires of a Dying Dwarf Star!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Bringer of Death, Many Ships it laid Low!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

No place you can hide, No matter how Far!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Grants you the Power to Slay any Foe!

Shepard continued to watch as Lek moved up and down the table, looking to individual pirates as he continued to sing his little ballad. The room was now in an absolute uproar, stomping their feet and clapping their hands to the beat of the music, as Lek relayed the tale with quick, rapid hand gestures that belied his ancient exterior.

Slashing his way through all that opposed him,

The Pirate set ablaze Fleets and Moons!

None could hope to stand against him,

The Cutlass did call for their Doom!

Appearing from Nothing, A Storm from the Black!

No Planet was beyond the Great Blade's reach!

The Pirate now sought the Greatest of Plunders,

For the Gates of Paradise would he Breach!

He charged with Weapon in hand, Cosmic Power Aflame!

Soon the whole Galaxy would know it's name!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Forged in the Fires of a Dying Dwarf Star!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Bringer of Death, Many Ships it laid Low!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

No place you can hide, No matter how Far!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Grants you the Power to Slay any Foe!

While Zek seemed to be clearly enjoying this, and Shepard himself found the musical number a bit amusing, he would've preferred if they just got to the point. Seemingly sensing he was about to interrupt and ask a more direct explanation though, Zek quieted him with a shush.

"We're getting to the best part, listen!" He insisted.

Lek suddenly became more grave in his tone and gestures, speaking to the crowd as he backed up slightly.

The Halls of Paradise were Plundered,

Ancient Treasures stolen in one Great Raid.

But too late did the Pirate soon find,

That there was a price to be paid.

The Power of Celestial Might,

Reprisals most Deadly and Swift.

Such a Force, not even the Cutlass could Stand,

And soon the Tide of Fortune did Shift.

The Cutlass was Taken and Hidden,

But it may one day yet be free!

And whoever dare wields its steel,

Shall be Lord of the Voidless Sea!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Forged in the Fires of a Dying Dwarf Star!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Bringer of Death, Many Ships it laid Low!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

No place you can hide, No matter how Far!

Legend of the Astral Cutlass!

Grants you the Power to Slay any Foe!

As the song ended, a great cheer went up from the surrounding throng of Jackals. They clapped and stomped and whistled aloud. Lek just bowed graciously, before grabbing a bottle of ichor someone had tossed him. He began chugging it hard. When he was done, he smashed onto the table top and and raised his arms above his head triumphant.

"Alright then, piss off everyone," he shouted. "I'm getting me something filled with grease to eat!"

His fellow Pirates helped him down and few even followed him out the door to find said food. That left Zek and Taq to elaborate further on the whole story that everyone else had just sat through. Zek seemed to be looking for approval of his method. Shepard didn't bother with that, he just tried to suss out the truth from the lyrics he could recall.

"So you think that the Forerunners were trying to recover an ancient legendary weapon that once belonged to a Space Pirate Warlord who sacked heaven," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose in disbelief. "A weapon that apparently gave him the power to burn moons and destroy entire fleets. What part of that am I supposed to find the least ridiculous? Help me out here."

"I know it sounds fantastic, but hear me out for a second," Taq pleaded. "When you remove the eccentric elements of any myth there is some truth to them. Supposedly, the Astral Cutlass gave its wielder the ability to travel anywhere in the galaxy on a whim, instantly. Sounds a bit like Slipspace Travel, correct?"

"So it's a sword that makes rips in time and space?" Varvok asked. "I have to be honest, I find that hard to believe myself."

"It's probably not actually a sword," Taq corrected. "It could be a power source or a ship, one that just looks like a sword. Try not to take everything so literal. Besides, is it that hard to believe the Forerunners had that kind of technology given everything you've witnessed so far? Especially after being inside a damn ship that could re-arrange its insides?"

"The construction of ship being able to alter itself is one thing," Cortana informed her. "Something that can open rifts in time and space that can also destroy entire fleets and celestial bodies is a bit much."

Taq clearly could see they needed more than just her word, so she brought a data module and activated it. It displayed what they had found on the ship's computer, including the symbol that had set this whole theory into motion. The image of the figure holding a sword that seemed to be splitting the sky.

"Doesn't that look a little like a slipspace rift to you?" Taq asked rather sternly. "At all?"

"There were people on Earth who thought a stone carving of a man descending into the underworld was a picture of him being blasted into space in a rocket," Shepard countered. "Pictures can lie or we enforce our own thoughts and beliefs onto them if we don't know the context."

"Did any of them find that same carving in an ancient Forerunner ship?" Taq asked sardonically. "No? Because this image is pretty similar to depictions of the Astral Cutlass legend found on Eayn!"

Taq clicked a button that showed two images side by side, both depicting more or less the same image of a figure cutting the sky open. One was the image they found on the Forerunner ship, the other was in an old book depicting ancient pirate legends. Of all the things he had heard so far, this was the most convincing, Shepard couldn't deny that.

"Okay, that is a bit... freaky," he admitted aloud. "But we're still talking about a sword that can do a lot of seemingly impossible things. Embellished by a pirate song or not, it's still difficult to just believe in this outright."

"You don't have to," Taq relented. "But clearly both Snarlbeak and the Syndicate do believe it. Somehow, they discovered that the Dauntless was the key to finding the Cutlass. Now, they both want it. Because with it..."

"They can become pirate lord of the voidless sea," Cortana interrupted again. "Yes, we all remember the song. How would they go about finding it?"

Taq clicked on her data module again and the holo shifted to the star map once more. There they could again see the pinpoint locations of three other planets across the galaxy. One of them being Reach. Shepard looked again to the Master Chief and tried to guess at what he was feeling over all this. He knew it had to be a swarm of emotions, all concerning his fellow Spartans, the ones he left behind on Reach. For now though, Chief kept his mouth shut, just taking everything Taq said in.

"Near as I can tell, there are four relics," the female jackal explained astutely. "They're scattered across the galaxy in this particular quadrant. If I'm reading the logs right, and I probably am, finding all four relics will reveal the Astral Cutlass' final resting place. All you need to do is acquire the four of them, further instructions more than likely will follow."

"So it's a map to find a map," Varvok observed. "The Forerunners never did anything easy, did they?"

"That is an accurate assessment of their culture, yes," Taq answered plainly. "The point I'm trying to make is that they felt this was important. They kept these relics separate from each other in order to hide this weapon and then they decided to go on a cosmic road trip to get them all before they left for a new galaxy. They were trying to keep the Cutlass out of the hands of, well, whoever it was they were trying to keep all those relics away from."

"The location of a weapon hidden in four other potential weapons," Cortana mused. "Varvok is right, this is a bit convoluted. Why?"

"I don't have an answer," Taq confessed. "All I know is that if the Forerunners were this scared of these artifacts falling into the wrong hands, it stands to reason they had legit concerns. Whether or not it's because they lead to the Astral Cutlass, they still lead to something. We have a map to quite possibly the greatest treasure in the galaxy, the thing all baby kig-yar pirates dream about in their nests. This is huge!"

"If this Cutlass is real, yes," Varvok cautiously agreed. "But even if these relics do all lead to something, there's no guarantee that it is what you think it is."

Zek cut in at that moment, raising his mug of ichor towards Taq in support.

"If Taq believes the Cutlass is real and these relics can locate it, I believe her," he insisted. "She's never been wrong about this stuff before. Just give her some credit on this. I mean, she's not the only one who came to this conclusion. Snarlbeak and the Syndicate both think this is the real deal."

Taq looked a bit conflicted at Zek's defense of her, but said nothing, waiting for anyone else to respond. Luckily, Cortana at least seemed slightly more receptive at this point.

"At the very least I do believe the other three relics the ship was meant to pick up do exist," Cortana stated. "Letting the Covenant get their hands on any would be potentially disastrous if any of them are as powerful as we're led to believe. Given the one we found was capable of powering an entire hive mind system of killer robots, I think we can presume they are indeed worth keeping out of enemy hands."

"If it means you'll still go after these relics, I don't really care what you believe," Taq declared passionately as she stood up from her seat. "But I stand by what my findings suggest. Gathering the remaining three will lead us to the Astral Cutlass. It's why Snarlbeak wanted the data module, it's why the Syndicate wants me dead. And I'd suggest you impress upon Holland how incredibly, deeply, important this is. Not just potentially for the UNSC war effort, but what it could mean for the study of xeno-archaeology."

Shepard almost saw a bit of Liara in Taq at that moment, although even the Asari was never so direct about her work studying the protheans. This was important to her at least, that much was clear. Maybe it was because her life was at stake, but he sensed there was more to this. Why would she be so insistent on the Cutlass existing otherwise?

"Keeping the relics away from the Covenant is vital," Varvok said, his words as firm as Taq's. "Whatever else we may believe or not does not matter. The Covenant believe these artifacts are their birthright and their key to maintaining their stranglehold on the galaxy. Take them from beneath their watch and we strike a blow to their morale as well as their ability to advance their war machine further."

"That is something Holland will get behind," Cortana concurred. "Everything else is a crap shoot at the moment."

"We'll make sure the Colonel is aware of your thoughts on this Taq, but I can't promise anything," Shepard informed her. "After what happened down there in the Dauntless he might be a bit more cautious about going after anymore relics."

"At least try, Commander," Taq insisted. "We can't let the Covenant or anyone else steal this chance from us."

With the meeting done, the group departed the galley. Varvok left to go inform his men about the situation, but Shepard remained with the Master Chief and Cortana. As they began to make their way out of the Serpent they continued the discussion on the Cutlass.

"Ancient super powerful space pirate sword," the Commander said coyly. "Well, not the weirdest thing I've ever heard of, but it's up there."

"Do you honestly think it's real, sir?" Chief asked him.

"Like Taq said, I don't think it matters what any of us think," Shepard told him. "Apparently enough people already believe this cutlass is out there and these relics will lead them to it. Even if it turns out to be a dud, we still have three powerful artifacts out there up for grabs. Cutlass or no, we can't take the risk of just ignoring this. Not when we got a way to snatch them before the Covenant do."

"I suppose we won't know for sure until we get the remaining three anyway," Chief admitted. "Hopefully that's enough to convince Holland."

Chief put a hand on the Spartan's shoulder, stopping him mid-stride.

"Hey, I know this isn't about the Cutlass for you," he admitted. "This is about Reach, the fact a relic might be there is just a happy accident."

"If we stop the Covenant from getting a new toy, that's enough," the Spartan confessed. "But if there is even the slightest chance of finding out what happened to my team, we have to take it."

"There may be a chance the Covenant have already found what they wanted though," Cortana cautioned. "If Holland thinks that going to Reach is a dead end, we might not go at all."

"If we back each other up, we can convince him," Shepard assured them both. "I know we can. I said I'd support getting you back to Reach in any way, Chief. I meant it. If this helps us do that, I'm all for it."

"Same here," Cortana added compassionately. "You deserve closure if nothing else."

Chief just nodded at that, his usual all-encompassing sign of approval and thanks.

"It's good to know I have your support," he told them. "I know the likelihood of them being alive is slim. All I want is to know. Better yet, I think I have an idea on how to convince Holland to go there."

"You can tell me while we walk," Shepard insisted. "The sooner we get this settled, the faster we can get to Reach before something else happens."

"Don't say that," Cortana sarcastically pleaded. "Now something is bound to happen."

---

Down in the Ascendant Justice's hangar bay, ODSTs were hard at work offloading equipment and recovered Forerunner tech. They weren't sure how much of it they could really use, but given the Master Chief had recovered a gun from the head of one of the robots, anything was possible. Lieutenant McKay was overseeing everything personally. She wanted to be sure everything was accounted for, after what had happened with the stolen grenades she was done taking chances. As she watched her people take crates off the pelicans, one of them suddenly turned to her. He was carrying a mangled Crawler corpse, holding the thing up by it's neck like it was some kind of chicken.

"Hey LT.," He asked. "Think this thing has a fancy ancient sniper rifle inside?"

"That's for people smarter than either me or you to figure out, Trooper," she stated jovially. "Just get it catalogued."

The trooper nodded and continued on his way. Mere seconds later, Sergeant Buck was at her side. He inquisitively scanned the various odds and ends being unloaded. McKay could see a slight bit of a concern on his face.

"We sure none of those things are going to wake up and start attacking again?" He asked.

"Cortana, EDI, Tali and Noble Two have all run scans on these remains," she assured him. "The AI controlling them are gone, dead. We wouldn't be bringing them aboard otherwise."

"Well that's a relief," Buck said, let out a relaxed sigh. "If we're getting fancy guns from ancient aliens out of this deal, I'd prefer to not have it all come back to bite us."

"Even if we can't get the guns, we still have a ship full of Engineers," McKay reminded him. "Those gas bags are experts with this Forerunner stuff. We can just hand it all over to them and see what they come up with. That's what I hear Taq suggested anyway."

"Would be nice to give them something do besides fix the ship up constantly," Buck noted. "They gotta get bored of that at some point."

McKay just laughed slightly.

"Have you ever seen one of them complain?" She asked.

"No, they mostly just make funny noises and float," Buck answered. "I think that's their default mode though."

The light-hearted conversation was cut short when McKay heard someone calling for her from behind. She looked to see Lieutenant Elias Haverson waving at her from behind. Buck turned along with her and saluted the ONI officer as he approached. Once Haverson returned the gesture he looked back to McKay.

"I see things are going smoothly on this end," he noted. "How much have we got back up?"

"Most of the essentials," McKay reported. "Along with over half the recovered Forerunner materials that were cleared for transport. It shouldn't take more than another hour or so before we're done."

"Good, Holland wants us to be underway before too long," Haverson explained. "We've already pressed our luck enough on this venture. We spend more time here than we have to and who knows who else might show up."

"It will all be taken care of before any major problems cross our path, sir," Buck assured.

"Let's hope so, Sergeant, for all our sakes," Haverson stated, before turning back to McKay once more. "Lieutenant, can I have a moment of your time?"

McKay just nodded and looked to Buck. He took her meaning without her needing to say anything and took over her watch. Haverson led McKay just a few feet away from the action, conversing as they walked.

"Tough couple of days to be sure," he began simply.

"It was rough going down there, but we managed," McKay assured. "Yesterday just had a few more surprises than expected."

"I'm not just talking about the Dauntless wreck, McKay," Haverson clarified. "Although as I understand it, you performed exceptionally in the circumstances. Colonel Holland thinks the same."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, Lieutenant," McKay told him graciously. "I'd like to think I've just been doing the best I can."

"Given everything that's happened, I'd say you're underestimating your full impact," he told her rather plainly. "I know none of this has been easy for you, especially after the mutiny."

McKay was caught a bit off guard by the reference to said event, but she maintained her composure.

"It was a trying time for, well, all of us," she assured him. "On both sides of the issue."

"I appreciate your humility, McKay, but the facts are pretty clear," he explained, stopping and turned to face her. "Major Silva was your superior officer, your friend and colleague. Many of the Helljumpers who followed his lead during the mutiny were trained by you. The fact you remained un-compromised by that emotionally is a testament to your resolve."

McKay wasn't sure how to react to that. On one hand, it was an obvious compliment. On the other, the whole mutiny incident always dragged up bad memories. She didn't like reliving them.

"It was not exactly a proud moment either way, Lieutenant," McKay explained. "I didn't want to do any of the things I was forced to do. But I knew my friend was wrong and had to be stopped from making a terrible mistake. I only wish things had ended differently."

"We all do, McKay, me included," Haverson assured her. "I'm not sure how I would've handled things in the same situation. But your actions saved lives, Melissa. More than we can possibly count."

"I wish more people saw it that way," she informed him.

"Being a leader sometimes means making unpopular decisions, McKay," Haverson explained. "Holland and I are more than aware of the flak you've been getting, we share some of it after all."

It was nice to be reminded she wasn't alone on this. That was usually the only thing that helped keep her going some days. She would've thanked him for the support, if he didn't grow a bit more dour in his next sentence, his face grimacing somewhat.

"I'll be honest with you, McKay," he confessed. "I wasn't sure of you at first. While I appreciated your loyalty, I wasn't certain if you could handle things. Half your unit hated you and this was your first real command position with no oversight. The deck was more than a little stacked against you. In some ways it still is."

She wouldn't argue with that, he was right. She didn't know if she had been ready for this. Hell, she had a ton of doubts and none of them had really gone away yet. All she kept thinking about since the start of all this was how long before her Helljumpers stopped listening to her. What would be the straw they couldn't take? All she knew was that she couldn't second guess herself, she had to project command. In many ways she succeeded, but not completely.

"I know I still have a long way to go, Lieutenant," McKay assured him. "I've told myself the same things-"

"Let me finish," Haverson interrupted, putting up his hand. "I thought all that once, but you've been proving me wrong. You've kept this unit together despite everything being against you. Yesterday proved it. You took command, not just of your unit but of two separate squads of different aliens. You led them in a coordinated assault on an enemy position. That's astounding for any commanding officer in any respect."

"To be fair," McKay was quick to point out. "It was more of a joint effort. I rallied the Jackals and Batarians to us, but they remained under the direct command of their own superiors. I simply gave them direction best I could and helped formulate strategy alongside them."

"Nevertheless, you still performed admirably under extreme circumstances," Haverson informed her proudly. "Colonel Holland and I have taken note of this and it has put things into a better sense of understanding for us."

Now she had no idea what this was about. Although she did like knowing that her direct superiors seemed to finally recognize the pressure she was under. At the very least it sounded like Holland wanted to offer more support. She had no idea what exactly she could do to better assist her, but she was open to suggestion.

"We don't want the ODSTs as a potential adversarial force," Haverson explained. "We want them to accept that our mission remains the same, despite working with Covenant deserters. In our opinion, one way to do that, is to give you more authority and standing."

For McKay, that could only mean one thing.

"Lieutenant... are you..."

"Neither Holland or I are actually in a position to make it official yet," Haverson clarified. "I can't promote someone over my rank and he's not Navy. However, we can formally deputize someone through emergency provisions. Considering the situation, those said provisions are applicable here. We'd still technically need to officiate the process through a direct Naval Officer, but the title will still hold regardless. So, by the authority invested in me and Colonel Holland, we have decided to promote you to Captain."

McKay stood their speechless, trying to reason what Haverson was saying. Promotion to Captain? Yes, under emergency provision, it wasn't technically official, but it meant she had to be addressed by that title. It meant she had all the powers said rank possessed and all the respect afforded to it. Buck had suggested before that this could happen, but she had written it off. She didn't think Holland was confident enough in her abilities to do this.

Eventually it sunk in, this was really happening. She was Captain McKay now, for all intents and purposes that was her rank.

"I don't know what to say," she admitted. "I'm honored."

"Of course, it's not much of a promotion if there's no teeth to it," he explained to her. "So officially, in the field, you now have effective command over any Marines or Army personnel. That should give you more support should things get rough. You'll also have authority to induct promising Marines into the ODST ranks, at least temporarily. You'll also effectively be a greater fixture in the command structure, although to be honest you already were, this just means you'll play a key role in any strategy discussions."

It wasn't much, but it was something. She'd have greater authority, she'd have the ability to bring in people who would be on her side. She'd be able to tip the scales more in her favor, pull her wight more among her men. Best of all, she'd be able to plan missions alongside the other units. Everyone, even Lendon, would be forced to recognize she was in charge, this was her plan, her mission and anyone questioning it was being insubordinate and could be disciplined. It was something, more than she had the other day at least in those tunnels.

"I'm honored," she finally stated. "I take this position, emergency provision or no, with reverence and respect."

"I wouldn't expect anything less, Captain," Haverson said, placing greater emphasis on the final word.

The ONI agent then looked around slightly, before leaning in closely. His tone and posture had shifted, less military, more clandestine.

"There's another reason I pushed this through," he explained. "McKay, what is your honest opinion about the Jackals and Batarians, after working directly with them?"

"They're far less disciplined, but manageable," she answered. "The Jackals are more unruly, but they're easy enough to move in the direction you want. The batarians are a bit more like us, they have a greater sense of duty and practicality. I may not always be a fan, but I can work with them."

"I didn't think you couldn't, we wouldn't be talking right now otherwise," Haverson clarified. "The truth is, I'm as wary of this Alliance as anyone. For the time being, I want it to work. It offers us insight into the mindset of our enemies, which I've found invaluable even if the Jackals themselves are infuriating. That's why we need good officers now more than ever."

She didn't really follow, but McKay let him keep talking. From the sound of it, her promotion had some off the record responsibilities.

"We need to project to our people that we're not doing their dirty work, that we're the ones using them," Haverson explained further. "A more stable command structure helps in that way. This gives you greater authority and standing over the Jackals in the field. We need you to show people that we're in charge, that this our OP, that the Jackals are lucky to take part. Not the other way around. None of us wants another mutiny."

"I understand completely, I feel the same way," McKay agreed.

"Good, because I think this artifact recovery is just the first of many we're going to end up chasing," Haverson informed her. "We need to project authority over the Jackals if that's the case."

"I don't think they want to be controlled by anyone though," McKay cautioned.

"Exactly," Haverson concurred. "But you've already fought with them and according to my studies they respect females more by proxy in general. You have a rapport in a sense. We have a way of making them pay us back for all these little favors, McKay. Holland wants you to be ready when the time comes to implement it."

If McKay was being honest, she'd have preferred to stay out of the fleet politics. She had her concerns with this Alliance, specifically the longevity, but mostly she just wanted to get her people home. That included even mutineers like Lendon, no matter how much they hated her. If working with Jackals helped accomplish that, fine by her. She understood Haverson's point though. Her unit was growing more and more frustrated, seemingly acting like errand boys for Zek's agenda. She'd prefer to have an example of the Jackals doing something for them for once. If only to show that she hadn't sold them out to the enemy like they constantly claimed. If that meant dipping into politics a bit, fine. She just hoped she was up for it.

"Tell Holland I'll be ready whenever he needs me," McKay assured Haverson confidently. "Just find me a mission and I'll get my people on it."

"Good to know," Haverson told her. "I better let you go now, Captain. I'll make sure Holland is aware of your answer."

Haverson left, saluting McKay as he did. She returned the gesture and went back to Buck, eager to share the good news. For once, things seemed to be looking up. Captain, she still hardly believed it. She wished Silva had been around to see it. Part of her hoped he'd have been proud of her, but there was no sense in dwelling on what ifs. She had work to do, and it all started right now. Holland had put his trust in her, everyone would be looking to her. She would not fail them, not if she could help it.

---

"An ancient pirate warlord who sacked heaven?" Tali repeated, baffled by the very words she herself was speaking at that moment. "A magic sword that can tear space/time? This... this is real? Seriously?"

Perhaps it wasn't entirely prudent to bother Tali with all this while she was working in engineering. Telling her some old space pirate story was the last thing on her mind, especially when she was buried in work from the looks of it. Unfortunately, Shepard was on a bit of a timetable himself and he needed to talk to the only person he knew who could even remotely help. Her reaction did not really sound like what he wanted though.

"According to Taq," Shepard shrugged. "To be fair, Earth has it's share of crazy myths. Like, some people once believed the world rode on the back of a giant turtle."

"Yes, and then you got to space and found out how stupid that was," Tali responded, at this point laughing at the overall absurdity. "Ancient Quarian Legends told of a vicious desert monster that was surrounded by a perpetual sandstorm that guarded the entrance to the Land of the Ancestors. They also believed that Rannoch's moon was home to an ancient underground city of celestial entities that controlled the heavens. Not every myth has a basis in fact, some of it's just fever dreams the shaman had when he ate the wrong kind of plants."

"Some would probably say they used the 'right' kind of plants," Shepard cheekily corrected.

"You know what I mean," Tali replied flatly. "This legend sounds like it was made up by someone with a very over-active imagination and too much time on their hands. Specifically something made up by that weirdo addict who keeps calling in to BBR."

Tali wasn't always the most skeptical of people out there, she was quick to believe the Reapers were real along with the rest of his crew all those years ago. However, he had to admit, the more he tried to make this insane story seem sensible the less it did. He couldn't exactly deny how overly fantastical it was and the song itself didn't really help, even when you only spoke the lyrics.

"I have my own doubts," Shepard assured her. "But Taq seems to be convinced this is a legit lead and she's pursuing it. We've encountered plenty of weird stuff, Tali. We're not in that much of a position to claim this is the least believable, especially if it's connected to the Forerunners."

"I'm not saying it doesn't exist," Tali explained. "I'm just saying it's a bit hasty to jump to conclusions based on an old pirate song and a weird looking picture. The Forerunners were clearly picking up something, I'll give it that much, but an Astral Cutlass is a little too much to buy into right now."

"Just ignore the song and all the crazy junk in it about star forges and burning fleets," Shepard pleaded. "I know you're not the biggest expert on the Forerunners, but you've been studying Slipspace for awhile and you're the most knowledgeable person currently in this fleet about this subject outside of Taq. The difference being, you're more objective than she is right now. Could the Forerunners do this?"

Tali sighed, finally turning completely away from her console and towards him.

"Any other day with any other person I wouldn't bother," she relented. "You're lucky I'm your girlfriend and I've been busy with the Slipspace drive anyway. So I got a few thoughts running through my head right now."

She led Shepard to the front of the engine room, to the section where they could view the drive core. Currently, the Huragok, or Engineers, were floating about it. They examining the core, fiddling with it, testing and prodding the device with their tentacles.

"They're currently trying to get our hyperdrive integrated with the Slipspace drive," she explained. "There are a few more complications, but they're working through the problem. They seem to be getting a handle on how to start merging technologies together. I've let Garrus use them to help with his weapons modification project as practice."

"Good to hear we're finally making progress, Holland will like that," Shepard noted.

"I hope so, I'd like to actually get more than a couple hours of sleep already," Tali groaned. "I've been working on this forever, it would be nice to finally be done so I can show some results. My reputation as an engineer is on the line here. At the very least, the recent developments have given me insights into Slipspace technology more than ever. Which leads me to your questions. The short answer is, yes, the Forerunners had advanced knowledge of Slipspace. Enough to likely travel around the galaxy instantly."

Well that was at least good to hear, but knowing Tali there was more to it than that.

"So what's the long answer?" He asked simply.

"I got a better look at the system schematics for their engines on the Dauntless," she began reverently. "Honestly, even in the current state it is in, I can tell it was immensely complicated. You're not just dealing with faster than light travel or passing through dimensions. We're talking folds within folds in space/time. What could take us days or weeks and the UNSC years, would've at times been nothing more than hours, sometimes minutes. It makes the Mass Effect Relays back home look like clunky obsolete eyesores that haven't been upgraded in eons."

"I recall that being kinda the point," Shepard reminded her.

That was because the Reapers had made the Relays. Their form of control, as far as Shepard knew anyway. It was to keep the level of technology within their accepted limits. Why bother coming up with faster methods of travel when a Mass Relay could get you where you needed to be in a few short hours? The Forerunner had obviously avoided that problem.

"Yes, I can only imagine what society would've been like if we had bothered to innovate instead of relying solely on the Relays," Tali concurred. "The point is though, the Forerunners used massive ships to travel. Their technology wasn't just based on a single piece of tech. It required hundreds if not thousands of working parts. That's what I've discovered, they had a way to navigate the dimensional pathways of Slipspace. It allowed them to make precision jumps. Couple that with their advanced power sources and matter alteration tech, they were able to cut through Slipspace with breakneck speed."

"So what you're saying it's highly complicated," Shepard reasoned. "We're talking more than just being able to boost through space at the speed of light or something."

"I've been able to work around the problem with mass effect fields reducing overall weight and gravity," Tali explained. "The Forerunners didn't need that, they could just open a rift, blast through and alter their ship for optimum travel. Even so, they couldn't just appear out of nowhere. And I don't see how a sword and whatever these relics do somehow makes you able to zip around the universe in a fraction of a second. Let alone pull an entire fleet along with you and rip ships apart at the same time."

"Taq suggested the legend might be overly exaggerated," Shepard reminded her. "It could just be a really impressive ship. Maybe one that makes wormholes?"

"Possible," Tali relented. "Are you saying...?"

"If the Wormhole was created in our dimension, I doubt the Astral Cutlass actually cut into it from this side," Shepard clarified. "I'm just saying, that might be what it's actually doing. Creating wormholes into Slipspace maybe."

"That would make sense, but it's still pretty farfetched," Tali cautioned. "Whatever this Cutlass is, literal or not, we're talking about a device that bends space and time on a level that was even above the Forerunners' abilities. If it does exist, it might not do everything it's claimed to be capable of."

"But the chance it might seems to be enough for kig-yar to go chasing after it," Shepard stated plainly. "And the slim chance it actually can do everything the song claims is enough to make me worried about it. We knew less about what the Conduit was and it turned out to be a big deal. All I'm saying is, we've been through enough to know that some legends have a lot of truth to them."

Tali leaned back against the railing a bit, crossing her arms as she did.

"We have seen some pretty amazing things," she admitted. "And I won't discount this entirely. It's clear the Forerunners were trying to gather something before they left for our universe. It might very well be this Cutlass. All I'm saying is, try not to let a crazy pirate story oversell this for you."

It was good advice, and honestly it was probably the best way to play this. Holland would not go for a mission based on fanciful stories. He'd want concrete facts, one they could objectively prove. Ultimately though, Shepard had to be honest with himself and Tali.

"Truth is, this isn't really about those relics," he confessed. "Not entirely."

"I figured," said Tali rather simply. "It's about the Master Chief, about Reach."

"He lost his team down there, his family," Shepard said wistfully. "He deserves to know what happened to them. I want to help him get that closure."

"Same old Wade Shepard," Tali chuckled in a good-natured way. "Always trying to sort out other people's problems at your expense."

"It's what you love about me," he shrugged back at her.

Tali just giggled at that.

"This is true," she admitted. "And you're right, he does deserve closure. Halsey's journal covers his time as a Spartan extensively. Blue Team were really his closest familial connection of any kind. He has Linda now, but he was equally close to the others from the sound of things."

All the more reason to find them, even if they weren't alive. Shepard knew Chief well enough by now that he knew the man could handle that. He could move on. The not knowing was killing him more and he needed to resolve that for him somehow. It was then Tali moved over to delicately place a hand on his shoulder.

"The thing is, Shepard, Chief wasn't the only one who lost friends on that planet," she warned. "Kat, Jun... Legion, Reach left a lot of scars on all of them. Some more literal than others and they're still fresh. If we go there, it's going to be more than a little personal for them and others in this fleet."

"I know," Shepard acknowledged. "I also know, probably better than most, that facing your demons is better than running from them."

"I'm only saying this because Kat is my friend and Legion is my responsibility," Tali explained. "They will want to go down there, Wade. They'll want in on this, I know it. I don't want you to stop them, they probably need this as much Chief does. Just, please, make sure you know what you're getting into here and know what they're going to need from you."

This was why he had come to Tali. No matter what, she always had some much needed perspective. At times, even he forgot the larger picture. Knowing he had someone like her to help remind him of that was important. Of course this was bigger than Chief. Kat and Jun lost their whole team, Legion lost the first real friend they had ever made. Countless soldiers and Marines had lost much of the same. This would be an emotional step for everyone. Knowing that was important, as he suspected that would be one of Holland's concerns as well.

"Thanks," he told Tali. "I'll keep that in mind, I promise."

Tali beamed at him for a moment, before stepping back slightly and clutching at her head a little with a small groan. Shepard instantly moved towards her concerned.

"You alight?" He asked.

"Sorry, headaches," she said reassuringly. "Probably because I haven't been sleeping much. They come and go, some are sharper than others. But I'm okay, I just need to get this done."

"You sure it's nothing serious?" He asked. "Did your suit breech recently? You haven't caught something have you?"

"I checked with Chakwas, I'm fine, honest," Tali insisted. "I just think I'm a bit overworked, that's all."

"Well, maybe you should take a break then," Shepard offered. "Let Donnelly and Daniels take over for a bit. You could use a little more sleep."

"I am on the cusp of a breakthrough here thanks to the Huragok," Tali stated firmly. "I can't just sleep. Besides, when I wake up I feel like my head is racing sometimes."

"That might be because you're not getting enough and you're forcing yourself awake," Shepard offered. "Look, a day off is not going to kill you or this project. You got to look after yourself too, you know."

Tali just sighed.

"Fine, I'll turn over my current notes to Donnelly and Daniels," Tali relented. "I'll get some sleep for a cycle, but when it's over I'm back on this. I want to get this done so I can get back to work on fixing Legion's glitch."

"And you say I put too much pressure on myself sometimes," he laughed. "You really need a 'Me Day' once in a while."

Tali bawked at the notion.

"Quarians don't do 'Me Days', Shepard," she joked. "That's probably grounds for treason on the Flotilla. Besides, I know your game. You just want me to clear my schedule entirely so you have an excuse to get me in your cabin for a whole evening."

"Do I honestly need one at this point?" Shepard asked grinning.

"Hmm, no," Tali admitted slyly. "Not really. But it's more fun when you're forced to follow my timetable."

"I'm the Captain," Shepard reminded her jovially. "Don't I have some control over my crew's lives?"

"Yes, but I'm your girlfriend," Tali reminded him brushing her finger under his chin. "I reassert some level of control by default."

She made her back down the corridor to the main room of the engine bay.

"I'll get some rest and see you in a few hours," she told him. "Let me know how things with Holland went."

"Will do," Shepard assured her.

At the very least, he now had an idea of how to play his discussion with Holland. He hoped it would be easier to sell him on pursuing these relics than he thought. Covering every base beforehand was a good start though. He soon left Engineering himself, it was time to see Holland and settle this matter.

---

Sitting in his chair on the bridge of the Fallen Serpent, Zek looked out at the expanse of space. Although the fleet was still in orbit above the Dauntless' crash site for the time being, he was already looking ahead. What was supposed to be a huge payday for him had turned into quite possibly the biggest treasure hunt of all time. He couldn't help but feel excited. Maybe that was why he was so quick to suggest taking the Serpent out on a patrol of the system. Haverson was still concerned about the possibility of the Covenant or other pirates showing up while they prepared to get underway again. Running lookout while they recovered all they could from the ancient wreck was the best solution to that concern.

Truthfully though, Zek had volunteered purely to better contemplate the road ahead and what it could mean for all of them. Despite all the business ventures he had in the works currently, it was only now he had a clear sizable major goal in mind. One that was beyond just trying to squeak out a sustainable income. The Astral Cutlass was real. He didn't care how skeptical Shepard or the other humans felt, the Cutlass was real! That alone was crazy enough, but to have a way to find it was another. His mind just couldn't stop thinking about the implications.

"This is better than we could've hoped for," he told Retz, as he looked out at the stars. "It's not just a ton of creds anymore, we're looking at something huge."

"If the Cutlass is all it's claimed to be," Retz cautioned, looking over from his viewscreen.

"If it's even a tenth of what the legends say, it's worth going after," Zek argued. "Please don't tell me you don't think it's real either."

"I think we have found the truth behind the legend, potentially at least," Retz confessed. "However, I know more than most that when you look behind the curtain it's not always as exciting as you think it is. All I'm saying is, we can't just assume we're going to find a weapon capable of doing everything an old song claims it can do."

"It doesn't have to be everything," Zek claimed. "It just has to be at least one of those things. Think about the instant transportation of ships, no more smugglers routes needed, no more stops. Every raid a surprise, every ambush escapable. You'd want to go somewhere and you could get there with a ton of ships easy! It would be a new Golden Age, Retz! A Golden Age of Space Piracy!"

"All very tempting," Retz agreed. "And I'd love to see that happen myself. But while I love a good legend as much as the next, we should focus on what we know for certain for four Relics are highly prized by several parties, for one reason or another. We play this right, Zek, and we might just get what we originally wanted. The UNSC will have to recognize our talents if we help them get these potential weapons. We'll finally have some standing to make a profitable contract with them. One that keeps us out of the war, but still pays well enough."

"I know, I know," Zek concurred, raising his hand. "It's what we all want. I'm just thinking about our long term future if this Cutlass thing pans out. If Taq says it's real, I trust her judgment."

"As do I," Retz assured. "I'm just telling you not to get tunnel vision here. We have to be open to every angle. Not just focus on legends that might not be all they're cracked up to be. That's just good business sense, really."

Zek couldn't deny Retz had a point. He had his hopes pinned already on the sugar smuggling, on weapons trading, robbing rich ports, hijacking convoys laden with precious goods and perhaps getting in on the Underground Ichor trade. These were more or less safer bets, save maybe the sugar which they still needed to find a source of the real stuff and avoid having the UNSC find out about it until it was firmly established. Everything else though was simple, easy, common practice pirate stuff. It wouldn't make him powerful, it wouldn't make him infamous, but any of them would be a good starting point. You establish a business line, you turn a profit, you build a fleet that can protect you and said businesses from reprisal. That's how you survived in a galaxy run by the Covenant.

The Astral Cutlass though? That was how a pirate overturned all the rules. How he became more than just a fleet, a brand or an infamous outlaw all the sangheili cursed aloud. No, the Cutlass was how you became THE Space Pirate. How you became legend. This was the fast-track to fortune and glory, where no one could touch you. He'd be an idiot if he let that chance slip by him so easily. It would probably be the safe thing to do, but you didn't get anywhere playing it safe. He had learned that the hard way under the Covenant's grip.

As these thoughts swarmed in Zek's mind, the door to the bridge opened up. Taq strode in, busy overlooking a newly installed omni-tool on her arm. She seemed rather pleased, which was always a good thing. It meant Zek could probably hold a conversation with her that wouldn't end in her screaming at him for some reason.

"It seems the humans are able to actually follow my cataloging system, despite their militaristic attitudes, they aren't complete dullards," she stated. "So far, they've transported over half the artifacts we located from the Dauntless up to the Ascendant Justice. Faster than I thought, remarkably efficient. I imagine Haverson has a role in that."

"Hey don't give him too much," Zek grumbled at her. "He wasn't down there risking his ass like the rest of us."

"As long as he gets the artifacts up to the fleet, I don't really care where he was," Taq explained simply. "I appreciate people who take this work seriously, nothing more."

"Yeah, whatever, he's still a total prick," Zek mumbled under his breath.

"And have I mentioned I am loving this omni-tool?" She asked aloud. "Multi-purpose functions, so many things one can do at once. I can see why Shepard's entire crew has at least one. I've already used it to run several deep data dives into Forerunner data modules and they all completed within the hour. How did I live without this?"

"Did any of those modules have anything to say about the Cutlass?" Zek asked expectantly.

Taq just sighed, her disposition becoming slightly less chipper.

"Sadly no, but they did have a lot of information concerning the Forerunner's resettlement plan," she replied. "I sent some of the most pertinent data to Commander Shepard. He expressed certain interest in it for some reason. Says he might need to talk to me about it later when he has time. Not sure why, but I told him I'd be happy to help. I'm mostly just surprised he has taken an interest."

"You'll find that the Commander has a very wide range of interests," Retz informed her. "Specifically concerning the Forerunners. It has to do with a colleague he has back in his home dimension as I understand it."

"I'd prefer we focus on this dimension for now," Zek insisted. "Specifically the Cutlass and how we find it."

"Well it relies on Shepard convincing Holland to start tracking the relevant relics down," Taq reminded him. "For now, all we can do is wait and hope that they take my arguments to heart. That if the Syndicate and Snarlbeak both believe the Cutlass is real, that's worth investigating."

At that moment, Taq looked specifically at Retz, her tone becoming more inquisitive.

"Any idea HOW the Syndicate found out about the Cutlass in the first place, Retz?" She asked. "You must have some idea."

"I'm in the dark as much as you," he assured her. "The Syndicate is always concerned with maintaining the status quo. It is likely they discovered Snarlbeak's intention via a mole within his own organization. Given how he's grown his fleet so quickly over the years, he's been a bit of a concern. It is clear though that this is why they sent those assassins after you. There's no doubt in my mind anymore on that front. As for their goal, the Syndicate likely isn't taking a chance on this Cutlass being real or not. If it does exist, they'll want it for themselves if only to ensure it is not used against them."

"But how did Snarlbeak figure it out?" Zek asked curiously. "Did Zhoc piece it together from some wall pictures or an old book or something?"

"I was running a lot errands for him just to make ends meet," Taq explained. "It's possible he was looking for leads on a Forerunner weapon or the Cutlass itself when he sent me out. He wants something to help grow his criminal empire, that's a clear enough. I must have found something that made him start focusing on the Cutlass specifically. I can't be sure, his contracts always requested I not look at any of the data I found. It's obvious to me now, he knew I'd figure out what he was hunting and I'd go after it myself."

"Well, he pegged you there pretty good at least," Zek noted with a chuckle. "You could never resist the call of a good treasure hunt."

"Discovery, Zek, knowledge, that is its own treasure," Taq corrected, before her tone became more evasive. "And a few creds on the side never hurt of course. But pursuit of knowledge is first and foremost... that and getting a private island, maybe."

Zek hid his grin best he could. Taq could deny it all she wanted, but she had a bit of pirate in her. It was clear enough she was loving this whole thing. Maybe not his company, but she liked being back with the Serpent in a sense. That was a good enough start for now.

"Zhoc must know this is a dangerous game he is playing though," Retz suggested. "The Syndicate won't abide by these attempts to overshadow them. The closer he gets, the more they'll try to put him down. They're already wary of the power and influence he currently holds."

"Well maybe that plays in our favor," Zek postulated. "They'll be too busy killing each other to bother with us."

"They have enough ships between them that they can spare a few to handle our tiny little flotilla," Retz warned. "We go after the Cutlass, we're not going to be able to stay out of their way for very long. Honestly, Holland and Haverson are right to be a little worried. Hell, if I were in their shoes, I'd probably have put more people on this security patrol."

"You think Snarlbeak or the Syndicate will find this place?" Taq asked. "Even without the data module we used?"

"I don't underestimate opponents, especially not ones like Snarlbeak," Retz stated firmly. "They'll narrow down our position eventually and they won't even need a tracker aboard to do it. Knowing Zhoc, he'll fall back on classic pursuit tactics to pick up our trail. And whatever he knows it is likely the Syndicate soon will as well."

Retz's dire warning was soon met by an interruption from below.

"Sirs, long range sensors have picked up something on the edge of the system," one of the techies reported. "Could be nothing, but it seems like a minor slipspace rupture."

Zek looked to Retz and could see his concern had only grown. Taking his friend's previous warning into consideration, he knew there was only one course of action.

"Is our cloak holding steady?" He asked the tech.

"Hundred percent, sir," he assured. "The repairs we made seem to be working just fine."

"Move in on an intercept course," Zek ordered. "Low, slow and quiet. We don't know what this is, we need to confirm before we take any action."

---

Holland sat as Haverson stood beside him, looking at both Shepard and the Master Chief thoughtfully. They had come to report on what exactly they had found in the Forerunner wreck. Needless to say it was a lot to soak in. Ancient swords, pirate warlords, the sacking of heaven, had he had not been on Halo just a few days prior it all would've sounded insane. Now, it just sounded like another layer of crazy that was the history of the Forerunners. Not that he instantly believed any of it, but it was hard to swallow.

As was the idea that if they wanted to get to this Astral Cutlass they would have to go back to Reach. There were several reasons he was uncomfortable with that plan. It was just to think precisely where to start.

"I'm not saying I don't want to prevent the Covenant from getting their hands on this relic," he expressed plainly. "But what are the chances it's even there anymore?"

"The Covenant would not risk glassing the a relic of their Gods, sir," Shepard explained. "They'd want to preserve it."

"Assuming they haven't already found and acquired said relic," Haverson warned. "And chances are high that they have. I mean, they've had the run of the planet so far."

"Yes, but in our experience that's not always enough," Shepard reminded them. "Cortana, can explain."

The AI appeared from the Master Chief's omni-tool with a stoic expression.

"The Covenant on Halo had problems activating several systems that should've been easy for them to open," she began. "For some reason, the systems lock them out. It takes sheer brute force just to get anywhere. The Relic could still be secure, just beyond their reach, but impossible to get to for the moment. Now, that could change and soon, but there's nothing to suggest it has. Even if the Covenant have managed to take the Relic by now, we might be able to find enough residual clues left behind that we could track them."

"Even with the planet glassed?" Haverson asked.

"Glassing is only really going to do so much," Cortana corrected. "Anything below the surface is going to have to be destroyed directly and the Covenant may hesitate to do that to a holy site. We may have a very limited window of opportunity we should exploit."

"There's still nothing to suggest the window hasn't closed already," Holland stated frankly. "I know I agreed before about hunting down these relics and keeping them out of Covenant hands if possible. I'm aware that this is important to your friend back home as well, Shepard. But the fact is, we might be headed into clearly hostile territory on a lead that might already be dead. Just like the planet it is on. We may be better served trying to pick up the trail elsewhere, perhaps going after one of the other planets."

"I agree we can't assume, but it goes both ways, sir," Shepard informed him. "Until we actually go to the system to check the planet out, we can't be certain the relic is gone. If nothing else, we can go to the cluster and the Normandy can travel the system to check things out first."

"It just seems too risky," Holland argued. "Even with all our men, this carrier is not at full capacity. Cortana could man the guns to defend us, but she can't do everything herself. Even if we just send you, you'd be flying into a system that is probably still occupied by an enemy fleet, however small it might be."

"Sir, if I may," the Master Chief suddenly cut in. "There is another reason we should go to Reach anyway. Right now, it's the perfect place to hide for a bit."

That got Holland's attention.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Reach has already been discovered by the Covenant," the Spartan explained. "We wouldn't be violating the Cole Protocol by going there. And even if there is a token Covenant presence, we can avoid them. The Covenant themselves would not expect us to go back to Reach. And we all know how rigid Covenant thinking is. We've seen how they limit their own tech, they wouldn't be expecting us to show up again. More importantly, even if the Relic isn't there, UNSC assets within the system may still be functional. We could potentially recover any supplies and equipment we need."

"And the various Pirates on our tails would pause a moment to weigh the risks of entering a hostile Covenant-Controlled system," Cortana added. "With the right jump plan we could get in without making too much of a fuss and do a covert scan for any anomalies. Depending on what we find we can act appropriately. Either way, we'd be right under the Covies' nose. Hell, we'd probably be able assess the threat to Earth when you think about it. Reach is a likely launching point for an invasion, glassed or not."

Holland turned to Haverson, who himself seemed a bit less adverse than before.

"There might be some assets in need of recovery," he admitted. "Ones the Covenant might not have found yet. And Cortana is right, this might be a decent excuse to spy on the enemy, gather intelligence for a possible invasion of Earth."

Holland clasped his hands together and hummed under his breath.

"Alright, I see your points," he admitted. "But we cannot frame this as a mission to go help the Jackals with their treasure hunt. Until we know more, the relic is not a primary."

"Don't worry, sir," Haverson assured him. "I think I can help with that perception. There's an opportunity here I believe we can exploit."

"What kind of opportunity?" Shepard asked curiously.

"Let's just say I'm considering calling in a favor from some of our friends. Think of it as payment for services we've rendered," Haverson stated with a rather sly grin. "I'm sure being the business men they are, they'll understand my conditions."

With that Holland nodded.

"Alright, we'll begin preparations for the jump to Reach," he declared. "But it will take time to get there regardless."

"All the more time to plan things," Shepard declared. "Thank you, sir. I promise you won't regret this decision."

Chief and the Commander began to leave, when Holland called out to the Spartan.

"Master Chief," he said with a slightly raised tone. "I respect the way you came to me with this, but just know something. I lost good people on that planet. Good people who died more or less on my orders. I've come accept that burden, but it's a hard one to bare regardless. I hope you find what you need on Reach, Chief. I really do. Just... don't go hoping for miracles."

The Spartan just turned back and nodded slightly before leaving with the Commander. Holland settled back in his chair and sighed. The enormity of his decision slowly hitting. They were going back to where this whole mess started. A lot of wounds were going to be opened because of that. He hoped that none of them would be fatal.

---

The main galley rang with the sounds of hungry space pirates and old 20th Century rock. If Jack could say one thing about BBR, it was that its DJ played the gamut of sub-genres, they weren't tied down to just heavy metal. Boz had apparently found the "Creedence Clearwater Revival" file and had been steadily going through each song Joker had so lovingly cataloged within it. It was easy listening, not Jack's style, but after all the shit that had gone down in that damn ghost ship, she didn't mind the less aggressive, laid back music.

Thane was okay with it though. In fact, the Drell was damn near entranced by the sounds. Maybe it was stirring up some memories, although he wasn't doing his usual freaky recall thing that much. He was sitting across from her at their table, casually eating some fruit snacks he had brought over. Their pirate friends did not have an "agreeable menu" according to him. Given a lot of it involved some kind of thick stew, he was probably right.

Jack would be damned though if she skipped out on drinking their Ichor. She had a reputation to maintain and she wasn't about to let dainty little Kasumi outclass her. If that thief could hold down space whale bile, so could she. Another good thing about the current music though was that it made for good drinking music. Another point in its favor.

The Jackals had taken a shine to CCR as well, although that was probably because the music wasn't intrusive enough to interrupt their varied conversations on the subject of the day. For the past hour, all Jack had heard was "Cutlass this" and "Cutlass that", on and on and over and over. It was all any of these crazy birds wanted to talk about it seemed. Besides becoming a bit boring though, it did suggest to her that this sword thing was a big friggin deal for these guys. Probably some kind of Jackal Excalibur from the sound of everything.

What that ultimately meant for her though was less about ancient fairy tales and more about what they'd inevitably be pursuing next. Chances were Shepard was already making plans to go after this thing. Which meant more trouble for them in the long run, something she'd come to expect by now.

"You just know we're going to run into some major shit before this little treasure hunt is over," she mused aloud.

"Have we not already encountered such?" Thane asked, looking over to her. "I think those crawlers qualify."

"Those things are the usual crazy we run into," she argued. "I'm talking about legitimate scary as fuck shit. As in galactic consequences for failure shit. Honestly, a ship full of crazy robots I can deal with. All the other crap we run into is what really starts to pile on after a while."

She took a swig from her ichor glass and forced the hard taste down. It was obviously acquired, but it was getting there. Really it was more texture than the taste at this point. It still felt like slime more than beer.

"I mean, you hear what they keep saying right?" She asked Thane insistently. "A sword that can plunder heaven? Holy fuck, that's insane."

"The implications are troubling," Thane admitted. "A weapon with such power would be unmatched by anything in our current arsenal."

"And the weird thing is, I can't even outright call it bullshit anymore," Jack frantically added. "A few months ago, sure. Now? Like I said, just another fucking crazy thing on the shit pile we've encountered."

She sighed greatly and laid her head back.

"Isn't this just our luck?" She asked. "We sign on for a suicide mission and we end up on some mythical quest for a magical sword. And you just know, Shepard probably has taken all this in and is just shrugging at it all. Because fuck it, right? After you blow up a ring world, what's finding a fucking badass ancient sword?"

"When you put it like that it almost sounds like some kind of cosmic fairy tale," Thane noted.

"Do the creepy crawly robots count as rats then?" Jack asked sarcastically. "Because if they do, then we've already hit all the cliches from the get go at this point."

As she took another swig, her mind started going off on a random tangent. The whole conversation about myths and old stories, it sparked something in her head, a curiosity. Maybe it was from socializing with Thane too much, maybe it was the feeling of being left out of the conversations the Jackals were having. Either way, something was nagging at her now and she wanted it dealt with.

"What kind of freaky myths do Drell have?" She asked Thane inquisitively. "Any crazy powerful swords in your legends?"

To his credit, Thane didn't ask where the question had come from. He was good like that, he didn't bother trying to probe her for reasons. He just tried his best to answer, half the time Shepard answered questions with his own questions. Thane just took a moment to think, his mind probably trying to recall a memory or something.

"Hmm, I don't think swords were huge in our old stories," Thane admitted. "Admittedly, not many Drell specific myths are left. We lost a lot of them back when we pushed our planet to the brink and were forced to leave."

"Oh, right," Jack remembered, now suddenly feeling like a heel. "Your homeworld got super polluted and you had to book. I forgot about that."

"I wasn't alive back then, I can't miss something what was lost that long ago," he reminded her. "Besides, it's not like I can't go back. Many Drell visit the planet to connect with their roots, but there's not much left to look at or reason to stay. Just dead desert, probably will be like that forever."

"What about terraforming?" Jack asked. "Couldn't you just fix it that way?"

"That would require more Drell to really put the issue forward and for the Hanar to put resources into it," Thane explained despondently. "It's not really something that is high on anyone's agenda. We've lived together for too long. Become too accustomed to our new home on Kahje."

Jack supposed she could sorta understand that. She had never known her own home. Not the facility on Pragia, her real home, with her real parents who no doubt believed she was dead, whoever they were. Early on, she had thought about finding them and going back, but after so many years away she decided, "fuck it." It wouldn't be home even if she went there, she didn't know it, she didn't know the people in it and part of her didn't want to. They had buried their grief when they thought she had died, no sense in digging it all back up again. Better to think they moved on or died somehow, easier that way.

"Did you go back yourself?" Jack asked him cautiously.

"Once... with my wife," he answered, his voice a bit more tempered.

As he spoke, his eyes went distant and his hands went still. He wasn't looking at anything now, just straight ahead, completely out of it. In the next moment he began speaking in an almost trance-like tone.

"Bleached desert, searing sun warms skin. Smell of desolation, hot sand, blistering wind. Arid lifeless wastes stretch out, crumbling temple spires pointing skyward. She takes my hands. Ushers me in. This was what we were, she says. What we threw away. She cries, I can't help it. I'm moved to hug her, feel her, comfort her."

He eventually came out of it and looked back to Jack. Her expression had turned to one of regret. What just happened was her fault.

"Sorry," she told him sadly. "I... I didn't mean to make you remember that."

"It's alright," he assured her. "That one is not a bad memory. It is one experience I often remember. She brought me there on something of a pilgrimage. She wanted to offer perspective, show me our history in the flesh as it were. She felt it was important, to remember all we were."

"Was she big on history then?" Jack asked.

"She was more inclined to culture than history actually," he explained. "Getting back to your original question. She told me a few old stories that used to be a part of our people back then. Stories of dark desert caverns where one could find paths to lost cities beneath the surface, a paradise guarded by vicious creatures meant to be their guardians."

"Like Atlantis but for mole people?" Jack asked, trying to stifle a chuckle.

Thane just shrugged.

"In a sense, probably not as exciting as magic swords though," he stated. "But it was more a myth for the adventurous than anything else."

The drell suddenly looked away wistfully.

"That day on our homeworld, with her," he said forlornly. "It was when I knew."

"Knew what?" Jack questioned softly.

"That I loved her," he admitted. "That I loved her and I never wanted to let her go."

Jack looked away slightly, now she really felt terrible. Even if he liked remembering her, it still seemed to hurt. She could tell. This was why she tried to forget her past a lot. It hurt too much, and it made her weak and stupid when it did. Thane didn't have that option though. He couldn't forget. Yet, for whatever reason, it didn't make him weak, just the opposite. He kept fighting, even with his disease, he kept going. He didn't seem to let anything get to him. Or at least he tried to.

"My memories are all I have left of her now," he said forlornly. "Them and my son. And I'll probably never see him again."

Jack felt like there was knife in her gut at that moment. It was then she did something she didn't usually do. She moved closer to him, leaning over the table.

"Hey, don't say that," she told him firmly. "King Boy Scout is on this. We'll find a way home, you'll see your kid again and you'll be able to tell him all the dumb stories from the old days."

Thane looked grateful for the kind words, if nothing else. However, as he smiled at her, Jack suddenly felt she was touching something scaly and cold. She looked down to see that she had placed one of her hands atop his. Embarrassed, she pulled back suddenly.

"Anyway," she grumbled, trying to ignore what had happened. "Don't go all gloomy on me and shit, okay? You're no fun when you brood. Contrary to popular belief, not everyone goes for that crap."

"What do you go for?" Thane asked, slyly.

"Nothing, forget it," Jack growled, pulling away. "Don't be a dick."

Thane laughed lightly.

"Thank you, Jack," he stated. "In these times, faith is tested. But I do trust Shepard, and all of you. We will get home, I have to believe that, even if the facts say otherwise."

"Don't mention it," Jack insisted. "Like I said, I don't want you moping around like a sad sack is all."

She thankfully did not have to continue her denial, as an alarm sounded. Something akin to a yellow alert for stand by she wagered, it wasn't the same shrill sound she was used to.

"Ah, fuck now what?" She snarled.

"We should find out," Thane said standing up. "Shouldn't take long. The bridge isn't too far."

Jack just sighed, even this had gotten her out of an awkward situation, it still meant there was likely something shitty they'd have to deal with now.

"This is what I get for taking a lunch break on the ship that's pulling patrol duty."

---

Of all the potential problems, Zek did not expect this one to crop up so soon. There it was though, staring them practically in the face. Two frigates on a fairly standard search pattern through the system. Just by looking at them, Zek knew they weren't Covenant. They were too modified for that. According to the scans, they had better armor and better shields. So it was obvious these were pirates. The even bigger give away were the markings on the ships' hulls, Snarlbeak's fleet.

The good news was that Zhoc hadn't actually tracked them down, not really. He wouldn't be sending a search party in for that. No, these guys has just got lucky, probably one of many search groups scouring the sector for them. However, they had still flown into the system they were stuck in. Two frigates wouldn't be much of a match for a Carrier, but it wouldn't matter. Snarlbeak no doubt had standing orders, the second they found the Ascendant Justice they'd call in their position or jump back to their fleet. Then they'd have a whole task force of Battlecruisers to deal with.

That could not happen. If Zhoc picked up their trail now they'd be in for a galaxy's worth of pain. They needed to resolve this quickly. Lucky for them, the Fallen Serpent's stealth systems would shadow them from the frigates for a while. They would inevitably find the Ascendant Justice though, so while they had time they needed to act fast. Which was why as soon as they had got a handle on what was coming their way, Zek contacted the Normandy. It was the only other ship with a practical stealth system of a sort and they were going to need them to pull this off.

"ETA on Shepard?" Zek asked Retz, his eyes still glued to the data screen showing the frigates.

"A few more minutes," Retz reported. "Enemy still hasn't detected anything. They're being very cautious in their search patterns. Almost like they're refraining from going to deep into the system."

"Afraid of getting spotted maybe?" Zek suggested.

"Perhaps," Retz said, scratching his neck somewhat. "It's just... something feels off."

Before the discussion could go further, the doors to the bridge opened up. Stepping through came Jack and Thane, making a beeline right towards him.

"Bad guys?" Jack asked. "Covies or your pals?"

"We share the same occupation, that doesn't make Snarlbeak my pal," Zek clarified.

"Whatever," Jack said dismissively "Point is its him, right?"

"His people, yes," Zek informed her. "Don't worry, we already got a plan in place and your Commander is on his way."

Almost as if on cue, the comm-channel activated. Retz put through and Shepard's voice filled the intercom.

"Alright, Zek, we're ready for action," he began "What's the situation?"

"We got our sights trained on the enemy frigates, but the second they see us they'll try contacting their main fleet," Zek explained. "I need you to get your Synth in that computer of yours to shut down their systems for a bit so we can take them out."

"EDI can do that, but it won't last for long," Shepard warned. "They can run a bypass if we take too long to destroy them."

"Leave that problem up to me," the pirate assured. "They won't be breathing that long."

"Alright, just get ready to move," Shepard warned. "It won't take them long to realize something is up when EDI cuts their comms."

"Already moving," Zek assured. "We'll drop cloak as soon as you give us the go."

They had the Serpent move towards the frigates, keeping their ship above theirs at all times. Even with a cloak, if they got anywhere near their scan range they could potentially be discovered regardless. Besides, they'd have a better line of fire this way.

"Everything good on weapons?" Zek asked Retz.

"Systems are spooling, but we're not activating ready sequences just yet," he explained. "They might detect the power surge."

"Good, I don't want to risk us spoiling the surprise," Zek grinned. "Where's the fun in that?"

Jack moved up alongside Zek's command chair, eyeing his display.

"So, what?" She asked. "We just damn the torpedoes and fuck'em all up?"

"I like to try to keep things simple," Zek explained. "There is a bit more to it. We're targeting the engines first. We can't risk them jumping. If they get away, we're fucked. That's the other reason Shepard is here."

"Yeah, I see," Jack quickly reasoned slyly. "Two ships with stealth capabilities equals twice the surprise attack. Sneaky as fuck."

"That's the kig-yar way," Zek chuckled. "You approve?"

"Well, as long as something explodes in the end I'm cool," she informed him. "That's my way."

Moments later, EDI contacted the Serpent.

"Comm traffic on both ships is blocked," she informed them. "I have disguised it as a systems glitch, but it won't take long for them to realize the truth."

"Then it's time to open up the guns on their asses!" Zek declared. "All Torpedoes, fire on the first frigate! Full spread!"

The Serpent's cloak dropped and all at once he Corvette launched a flurry of plasma Torpedoes at the first frigate. The frigate responded rapidly, activating counter-measures to divert the incoming projectiles rocketing towards them from above. But the Serpent had gotten in so close and had attacked with total surprise, that it couldn't achieve full coverage.

From the Bridge, everyone watched as a number of torpedoes hit home. Plasma bursts ruptured across the hull, tearing into the engine room before rippling across the ship. The enemy ship trembled horribly, but started firing back all the same, even as parts flew off into space. The pulse lasers hit their shields, but the Serpent had already begun taking evasive action.

"Four direct hits on engines, they're dead in the water," Retz reported. "Hull integrity is weakening, but they're holding on. Second frigate appears to be breaking off."

"They're providing cover for their friends to jump, adorable," Zek chuckled. "Hit'em again, right in the face. We're not wasting any more time on him."

Another torpedo left the Serpent's tube and flew straight into the frigate's Bridge. The resulting explosion obliterated the section, as a chain reaction ripped the ship apart. As the vessel fell to pieces, the second frigate began firing sporadic shots back, trying to force the Serpent off its tail. Zek had the Corvette pull hard to starboard and activate counter-measures to protect themselves. The incoming plasma torpedoes missed, but they needed to get back into range quickly.

"Detecting a power surge," Retz warned. "Slipspace rupture imminent."

"Shepard, if you're in position, take their engine out already!" Zek ordered. "They're bugging out faster than we can move!"

There was no response from Shepard over the comm, but that soon proved to be irrelevant. The Commander answered in another way. A speedy little dot, like a shooting star, appeared in the void. Followed by a big blue stream of light ejecting out of it. It struck the engine section of the frigate hard and ravaged the area, blazing through the shields and the hull with ease. There was an explosive burst and some of the thrusters on the frigate just up and died.

"We crippled them, Zek," Shepard reported. "We're going to do a wide sweep and come in again."

"Ha, they'll be dead before you get the chance, Commander," Zek assured.

"Power surge is gone," Retz reported. "That was certainly cutting it close though."

"That's Shepard, always gotta milk the hero moment," Jack chortled. "The big boy scout."

"All I care about is getting into position to kill that ship," Zek stated. "Target every critical system, obliterate them!"

The frigate had already started turning, preparing all guns to fire. It let off a volley aimed directly at the Serpent. Zek wasn't about to turn away though, he would not give them a chance to bypass the comm block.

"Hard turn port, but keep moving towards them!" Zek ordered. "We do not blink!"

The Bridge pitched to port, unsteadying Jack and Thane's stance somewhat. The two bumped into each other, as Zek and Retz held onto their chair and station respectively. The volley of torpedoes passed them by, thanks in no small part to the pitch maneuver as well as their counter-measures. They were now in range to fire their own volley and the gunners did not hesitate to do so. A series of torpedoes ejected out of their tubes, hurtling towards the frigate. The slammed into the ship's side, ripping it apart. It only took a few moments before the whole ship exploded in a violent blue plasma ball.

"Well you got your explosion," Zek told Jack. "Happy now?"

He looked over to see the convict pulling herself away from Thane's arms and trying to compose herself.

"Yeah, awesome," she said nervously. "Super badass and all that."

Zek looked a bit confused, but he wasn't able to remark on the situation. Shepard's voice came over the comm again.

"Zek, complication," he reported. "While we were preparing for another pass, EDI detected another ship. A bit smaller than the frigates and unarmed, some kind of merchant vessel. As soon as we started targeting it they, well... they surrendered."

The pirate shipmaster now had a more pressing puzzle on his hands. He instructed the helmsman to lock onto the Normandy's coordinates and come about. It didn't take them long to find the plucky little ship and the so called freighter that it was now targeting with its weapons. A large bulky ship, with a huge front end and rounder stern.

"That's a Carrack," Retz observed. "And it looks to be part of Zhoc's fleet if the markings are correct."

"And they just gave up?" Zek asked. "Why?"

"I don't know," Shepard reported, "but they've shut down all engines and systems save for life support. I have EDI blocking their comms as well, but I have no clue as to what is going on."

"That's why the frigates' search patterns were off," Retz realized. "They were diverted. Someone must've told them to take up this search grid cause they were closest, but they were on escort duty. So they brought them along, but held them back in case anything went wrong. Oh, when Snarlbeak finds the person who made this blunder he is going to shriek bloody murder."

Or more likely have his pet Ibie'shan beat them till they were were nothing but a puddle of blood, Zek thought. Either way, that wasn't his problem. What he wanted to know was what was so damn important to not leave unattended and too valuable to lose in a firefight. The only reason these guys would surrender rather than scuttle the ship was that there was something aboard that Zhoc wanted intact. As in he could risk it being stolen, but not destroyed outright.

That intrigued Zek immensely.

"Retz, get us alongside that Carrack and prepare a Phantom," he ordered. "I'm finding out what they have inside personally."

"Of course, sir," Retz acknowledged. "I have to be honest, I'm a bit curious myself. It must be something too priceless to lose. Another relic perhaps?"

"Don't know," Zek admitted as he got up from his chair. "But anything Zhoc refrains from destroying is worth a look see, no matter what it is."

---

There was only a small crew aboard the Carrack, nothing more than glorified truckers really. They just hauled the stuff, no real threat to them. At least not at the moment. Varvok had brought over some of his men to keep them under guard, while Zek and Shepard decided to check out the cargo hold for themselves. Zek expected they'd find some kind of weapon or maybe even Forerunner junk like Retz had suggested. That would've answered his various questions right off the bat.

That was not what they found though.

When the doors to the cargo bay opened, Zek and Shepard discovered something rather unprecedented for a starship of any kind. The hold contained four standard sized water tanks, circular in shape and about the general size of two swimming pools combined. They could even hear the sloshing water from here.

"What in the world?" Shepard asked as they walked inside. "Is there a water shortage I haven't heard about?"

"Nothing Retz has told me about," Zek answered, just curious about this as he was. "Our planet is mostly one big equatorial ocean, we got plenty of water."

Zek walked up to one of the water tanks and pressed his hand over the glass. As he looked in, through the murk, he saw some kind of shadow. As it became more clear, he saw something large and heavy, covered in bumps of some sort. And then... he heard it call, a big echoey cry of some sort. A song, resonating in the water, muffled only slightly by the glass. Zek's eyes widened as Shepard joined him.

"It can't be," the pirate said, almost to astonished for words.

But it was, placing its eye up against the glass was a white-skinned, bulbous headed sea creature, covered in a series of strange bulging glands. It's cry was a cross between a gurgle and a low resonating humming tune. Zek stepped back in complete shock, Shepard did the same.

"It's a whale," the Commander said, a mixture of confusion and surprise. "A very ugly looking whale... on a spaceship."

"That thing is not ugly," Zek said, his shock giving way to joy. "That thing is the most beautiful sea creature in the galaxy!"

Shepard slowly turned his head to the pirate, his baffled expression even greater than before.

"Zek, not to judge your perception of beauty-"

"It's a chorka, Shepard!" Zek shouted with glee. "It's a baby chorka! Here! All the way out here! A billion some odd miles from Eayn!"

The boil covered whale creature moved away from the glass and continued swimming through the murky water. Zek looked out onto the four other tanks in awe and could now more clearly hear their song as the babies sung to each other.

"They were transporting chorka! Of course!" Zek shouted, practically bursting with glee. "No wonder Zhoc would tell them not to destroy the boat! Scuttling the ship with these guys on it would be a crime of the highest order! Even to a kig-yar! You'd be killing a valuable crop! One you could probably steal back! Especially from another pirate!"

"Wait, Chorka?" Shepard asked, finally remembering what Zek was going on about. "As in the creatures who secrete that ichor you drink? That's what these are?"

"It makes sense now!" Zek laughed. "Everyone kept wondering how Snarlbeak had built up his little bootlegging enterprise into a practical monopoly! The answer is he's got his own pod or pods of Chorka he's breeding! Holy shit, that's genius!"

"He created a whale farm... to make beer?" Shepard worked out for himself, shaking his head at the absurdity. "Why would he go to such extremes?"

"The Covenant, that's why. What else?" Zek answered with a grunt. "They've banned the production and sale of ichor. They've quarantined all the Chorka in little fucking preserves on Eayn, kept their populations controlled. It is near impossible to find them in the wild now and trying to go after any in said preserves is fucking risky as shit. Seems Snarlbeak found a way around it. He rounded up a bunch of Chorka he could find, transported them off world, and bred his own private Pod."

"So he has an endless supply of ichor not regulated by the Covenant and no doubt spread across a few other worlds," Shepard reasoned. "And I'm guessing these guys were being transfered to a new pod to keep the population from inbreeding or some such?"

"It's not just that," Zek stated jubilantly. "With a private pod of his own, he doesn't have to concern himself with some Covie asshole finding his stores or locating his stills or whatever. He can keep off the grid and out of sight. Most ichor bootleggers aren't secure enough to risk full production. They try shit like that on Eayn and the Covies are gonna track you down one way or another. Remove your source of Chorka from the Covenant's prying eyes and you can set yourself up a proper distillery. That's why he can create so many different flavors and liquors instead of purely relying on on where and when he extracts the icor! He doesn't just have product now, he has a quality product! Fucking brilliant!"

Shepard still seemed a bit lost, his eyes wandering back to the tank. The chorka was back, circling the area near where the two were standing. It was looking at them curiously, more specifically him. It had probably never seen a human before. Shepard was drawn towards it, placing his hand on the glass. The baby Chroka nuzzled his palm through the see-through surface.

"So essentially, this is a joint animal and alcohol smuggling ring," he stated. "They breed'em, extract ichor, bring the newborns some place else to start up new pods and promote the best tasting stuff. Am I right?"

"Precisely, you catch on quick," Zek said, seemingly rather impressed by the Commander's quick deduction. "Ichor rum, gin, beer, brandy, wine, spirits, bourbon, whiskey, all kinds of drinks can be fermented and created through ichor. On its own, it's good enough, but properly distilled it becomes something even more prized, more valuable. And Snarlbeak's stuff has become a fucking brand because of it."

Zek looked to the baby Chorka himself now, his eyes glowing with a familiar look. It was one Shepard was familiar with by now, ambition. He could practically see the wheels turning and had already guessed where this was going.

"Oh no," he stated, stepping away from the tank. "No, no. Wait a minute-"

"These four are enough to get started!" Zek declared. "I could be pumping out Ichor and smuggling it around within days. It might take some time to properly make some recipes and shit, but it's a foundation for something."

"You're talking about running a bootlegging operation inside the fleet," Shepard told him flatly. "Do you even hear yourself now?"

"Well we can't just leave these poor things to die out here," Zek claimed, looking at the baby chorka. "They need proper food and care, how could you want to leave them out here all alone?"

Shepard rolled his eyes at Zek, another one of his attempts at feigning altruism.

"And bringing them aboard so you can slaughter them for their Ichor at some point is any better how?" He asked.

Zek looked on aghast, his fake compassion giving way to genuine disgust.

"Slaughter?" Sounding rather disturbed, even insulted by the very concept. "The fuck you on about, man? The fuck you mean slaughter?"

"Well, on Earth, usually people kill whales to get what they want out of them," Shepard explained. "I just thought-"

Zek wretched in true disgust and revulsion, acting out as if he wanted to vomit.

"You kill your chorka? Seriously! What are you? Fucking barbarians! What's wrong with you people?"

"We used to kill whales, we don't anymore," Shepard clarified. "I don't know about the UNSC, but where I'm from, we stopped all whaling a long time ago. Before we even set up our first lunar colony even."

"That's still horrible," Zek stated. "How could you kill Chorka? That's repulsive!"

"You mean to tell me you don't kill Corka to get their ichor?" Shepard asked. "You extract it? With what? Needles?"

"Specialized equipment, which includes at times needles," Zek explained rather offhanded. "Also a pump system. We stopped killing Chorka back in the fucking stone age when we realized pretty quickly what that cost."

"You mean potentially killing off the species and with it your precious ichor," Shepard reasoned.

Zek looked perplexed.

"Uh, no, every Chorka, the longer it lives, develops a more potent and better tasting ichor secretions," he clarified. "Combine that with depending on the region, heat of the water and breed, the taste alters even more. You kill a Chorka, you're basically destroying an entire line of ichor that has been refined over generations and time. It's basically burning money, wasteful, stupid. Anyone who does it is needlessly destructive and is ruining it for the rest of us. I mean, yeah, we also don't want them going extinct either, but it's just not practical to kill them, period. They produce ichor throughout their lives, for free. Why would you cut them open for a quick buck when the long term nets you more?"

Of course, Shepard realized. Why would he ever think the kig-yar thought about compassion first before profit? Even when they were protecting wildlife, it was because they got something out of it. He suppose he couldn't complain, as long as the poor creatures weren't being killed for the sake of a buzz. There was another nagging question in his head though.

"Why do they even secrete alcohol laced boil goo?" He questioned outright.

"Well, they're not exactly boils, but they look like them enough that we call them that," Zek explained. "They're more like very pronounced glands and we think they use the secretions to attract food to them. Small fish and the like. They can also use it to defend from predators, throw off their senses, disorient them with a sudden burst and such. But back to the subject, I'm still trying to wrap my head around you people murdering your Chorka."

"Our whales didn't excrete beer from their bodies," Shepard explained. "And again we stopped that. The real point is you still wanting to use these guys to run a bootlegging operation. Holland is not going to go for that."

"Well congrats then, you might as well just start the whole slaughter you abandoned all over again with that attitude," Zek declared. "You wanna kill them yourself? Be quicker than starving."

"I wasn't going to suggest that," Shepard informed him. "We could simply disable their systems long enough for us to jump out here and they can come and pick these guys up. No Chorka have to die. But we don't have to bring them along either."

"So they go back to Zhoc and continue to fund his criminal enterprise," Zek stated. "Is this how we hurt an enemy in this alliance? We just give them back their shit?"

Shepard sighed, this was not what he had wanted to do.

"Zek, I've given you a lot of leeway so far, a lot," he reminded him. "So much so, that it has become a bit much for even Holland to handle. The UNSC doesn't like feeling like they're extended muscle for you to order around. We bring this thing back to the carrier, you're essentially giving them another ship to guard and this one isn't for any strategic or military value."

"We can use it though," Zek insisted. "I can barter some of the ichor for other pieces of equipment. Weapons, armor, tech, and share it with you guys. And you wouldn't even have to guard it or tow it or whatever. The ship is small enough to be attached to a docking port indefinitely. It wouldn't be a drain on any resources. No refueling or whatever. We can just leave it as is for now, no fuss."

Shepard looked at him, signaling he still wasn't sure. At this point Zek, got desperate.

"Okay, how about this," he said sullenly. "Let me bring it back and I will freely give the UNSC some of those Wraith tanks they were eyeing, plus a portion of my share of the Forerunner tech we took from that old wreck. Come on, all that is a fair trade in my eyes."

It was there Shepard realized something about Zek, something he hadn't considered before now. The pirate's desire to create a criminal empire for himself was a hindrance to a proper alliance in some respects. But it also was a weakspot, one he could exploit. If Zek really wanted something, he could twist the arm enough to make him consent to some things. Maybe not full military commitment just yet, but in time...

"Okay, the Chorka are your baggage," Shepard stated firmly. "Your men look after them, your men handle them. The UNSC aren't going to be your beer babysitters. Understand?"

"Got it," Zek declared, his smile returning. "Absolutely, whatever you want!"

The pirate grabbed Shepard's hand, shaking it furiously.

"Don't make me regret this, Zek," Shepard told him flatly. "Now let's get moving. We'll put the crew in escape pods, leaving them drifting. Eventually, when their escort don't report in, they'll send someone to search this area and pick them up. Best we be far away from here when they do that."

Zek just laughed heartily, grabbing his comm.

"Retz, you will not believe what I found down here! Get this!"

The pirate ran off towards the bridge, probably feel he had pulled off another master deal. In reality, he had just given Shepard a way, a clear tangible way to convince him and the rest of the kig-yar, that their future lay with an alliance and helping them destroying the Covenant once and for all.

---

The announcement that the fleet was preparing for slipspace jump barely distracted Tali. She was just happy that their little errand to assist Zek had been successful. Even if they did apparently pick up a literal flying aquarium on the way. Shepard had to hash the details out with Holland, but everything seemed to clear. Tali wondered how long it would be before Gabby and Ken wanted time off to see the "alien space whales" as they calling them. Honestly, Kenneth probably just wanted to check them out because they more or less produced beer from their bodies constantly.

She didn't really mind though, they all deserved some downtime. Especially her, just as soon as she was done with these final calculations. They were so close to cracking this slipspace/mass effect integration, they just needed to apply themselves a bit more and they'd be ready. The whole prospect was so exciting she could hardly sleep. Which was no doubt not helping things. She had another headache again, and it was pissing her off, but she'd be damned if she'd let it interrupt her calculations. She only had a few left to do anyway, she'd sleep then.

As she continued punching in the figures though, there was a spike in her mind. She groaned as she grabbed at her forehead, stopping her work suddenly. That had been pretty bad, maybe she needed some medication first before she took snooze.

"Bosh'tet," she growled. "Stupid headache. Just let me work already."

As she rubbed her head through her suit, she thought she head something. At first it sounded like a hissing of the engine's power coils. Just some pressure release or something. She paid it no mind. Then she heard something more distinct, something less mechanical. Speech, muffled conversation, some kind of voice. Maybe it was a certain ex-con coming back to her hidey hole.

"Jack? That you?" She asked, not even looking back.

There was no response, but it soon became clear it wasn't Jack. The voice didn't sound female and it didn't sound human. It was like a hissing whisper combined with a groan. Some strange sort of organic grumble. She couldn't make it out. Most of it seemed alien in language... save for one word.

Hunger.

Tali brought her head up, just as the voice got louder, and another word became clear.

Revenge.

"What?"

HUNGER! REVENGE!

Something that felt like hot breath hit the back of Tali's neck. She turned suddenly, pulling out her omni-tool and activating its blade. But when she turned, all she saw was a deserted engineering deck, with nothing and no one there. Tali breathed a sigh of relief and deactivated her omni-blade.

"Keelah, maybe you do need to get more sleep, Tali," she said, holding her head. "You're imagining things now."

The door nearby suddenly opened and in walked Gabby, working on her omni-tool as she walked.

"Tali? You're still here?" She asked, looking a bit surprised. "I thought you were going on your sleep cycle."

"Yeah, just finishing up some calculations," she explained. "I'm done more or less, I'll go now."

Cautiously, she felt like asking the obvious question.

"Um, you didn't happen to see anyone else on the deck did you?" She asked.

"No, just me, coming just now," Gabby assured, looking concerned. "Tali, are you okay? You look a bit rattled."

"Too much to do and not enough time is all," Tali assured her. "I'll be fine as soon as I get some sleep."

"Good," Gabby told her relieved. "You've been working yourself to the bone. If anyone deserves a rest it's you of all people."

Tali closed her terminal and began to make her way out.

"It will all be worth it, you'll see," she insisted to her human compatriot. "Don't get used to slumming it inside this carrier for much longer. When we're done, we'll be doing our own slipspace jumps instead of hitching a ride like we're about to do now."

Gabby looked at her perplexed.

"About to do?" She asked.

"Yeah, they're just about to jump out of the system, didn't you hear?" Tali asked, laughing at Gabby's apparent forgetfulness. "Nose stuck in the omni-tool again, huh?"

Gabby's concern returned.

"Uh, Tali... we already jumped," she explained cautiously. "We left both the Forerunner wreck and the system it was in behind us like an hour ago."

Tali's eyes went wide in shock. An hour? No, they just announced they were about to jump like two minutes ago.

"What?" She finally asked, confused out of her gourd.

"No one has seen you for over an hour, Tali," Gabby explained. "We all thought you were off the ship or finally getting some sleep. You've been at your calculations for an hour?"

Tali held her head, a tinge of fear reaching up into her skull.

"No... I..."

She couldn't get it out. She couldn't say anything. It was all too much. An hour? She had been down here for an hour alone? How could she forget an hour? Where had all that time gone?

---

AN: Uh oh, that doesn't sound good. What's wrong with Tali? You'll have to come back next time to find out. In the meantime, do check out the profile page. There's a new blog post for behind the scenes notes on this chapter with a link address you can copy paste. Also, another link to a Hellfox audio presentation. This time featuring more stuff from the first Reach story. Do check it out, I mean we're headed back to Reach soon. You might as well remember the early days of this crazy experiment.