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.

35. The Plunder Nest

Chapter 34: The Plunder Nest

Covert Operations relied on the Unguarded Slip,

the Unconscious Choosing of One Word over Another.

-Sarah Sheridan

"I can't believe you're not even a little bit excited," Zek said in disbelief. "The chance to drive a dagger right into Snarlbeak's heart and watch him seethe as we wiggle it around."

"Thank you for the morbid image," Retz sighed. "But this is hardly exciting, not when the Syndicate is involved."

Retz and Zek had returned to the Fallen Serpent, both to prepare for the mission and secure their sugar smuggling assets. The last thing they needed was Zix getting wind of it in some way. The Syndicate Agent was currently under constant guard, thanks to Varvok's men who were keeping her sequestered. Retz was just happy to be away from her, mostly so he could think without her gaze upon him.

"I know the Syndicate is a sore spot for you, bud, but this is about more than them," Zek insisted. "We'll be headed into Snarlbeak's central ichor hub. We could snatch all his high-value stores, his secret recipes, maybe even a prized Chorka! Any one of those would be a huge win for us!"

"With a Syndicate Agent looking over our backs, it's a win with a cost," Retz warned. "Something else is in play or just waiting to pull the rug out from beneath us, Zek. We can't be complacent or afford to take any of this at face value. The charming human saying of not looking gift, uh, cattle or something in the mouth... well however it goes we can't afford it. Especially with Zix involved."

Zek still looked perplexed as he walked beside his friend.

"You weren't this jumpy the last time the Syndiicate tangled with us," he recalled. "You were pretty confident about your chances."

"Because I knew none of them could possibly be better than me," Retz astutely replied. "Not to sound egotistical, but they were amateurs, sloppy rookies or, in the case of Jerl, desperately trying to be me and failing. None of them were Zix and the fact she's here now tells me everything I need to know about this mission. Chief among them is that we can't trust anything she says."

Zek quickly rushed in front of Retz at that remark, his inquisitive streak now fully ignited.

"Alright, what's the deal with her then?" He demanded to know. "You don't get that kind of reaction from a casual acquaintance. What is she to you? She's not like your Ex or something?"

Retz physically wretched at the notion, for more than a few reasons.

"Please, no, Ocean's Black Depths! Do not even suggest that," he said, shuddering as her spoke. "You know how I feel about that subject. In any case, no, she was never that. She was my handler, my earliest known handler."

"Really?" Zek asked confused. "But, she can't be much older than you. How's that work?"

"I told you how young the Syndicate Agents can start out as," Retz reminded him. "A few years seniority is enough to put you in charge. Even if you're still just a fledgling. Zix was about two years older, that gave her authority and she had missions she could pawn off on me. I even went on some with her."

Zek nodded, seemingly understanding where this going.

"So I'm guessing one of these went bad?" He asked.

"More or less yes," Retz confirmed. "Not long after she started giving me jobs in fact. We had to sneak into a Covenant Conclave on Eayn together. It was an information scrub and retrieval job, protect some of our deep cover agents and front businesses. We were still kids, it was easy for us to get in and out of places like that because we were small. We pulled everything, but when it was time to extract, she ditched me. Seconds later the alarm went off. I knew it was her, always did."

"How'd you get out?" Zek asked.

"Skin of my beak," Retz claimed. "Had to use a secondary vent to the roof and make a jump over the fence from it. Almost broke both my knees. When I met her back at the rendezvous she congratulated me, said it was a two-fold test and lesson. To prove to her my ability to adapt and to teach me the importance of never trusting anyone. To be ready to turn your back on someone before they do the same to you."

Zek grimaced a bit at the story.

"Hmph, some shitty lesson," he remarked.

"That was just her excuse," Retz corrected him. "I knew what the real reason was. She didn't like the idea of babysitting me so she tried to find an excuse to get rid of me. If I was captured or killed, no skin off her back, it would be my fault. If I made it out, then she'd never have to worry about me leaning on her again for any favors."

"She ever pull that shit again?" Zek asked.

"I never gave her the chance," Retz explained. "Any time she gave me a mission or had me follow her on one, I kept up my guard, never once turned my back on her and made sure I never had to rely on her to get out alive. In a sick way, her little scheme worked, it pushed me to become a better agent. At the cost of never being able to trust anyone. Well, until you of course."

Zek smiled at that, but Retz hoped the lesson got through. Zix had no doubt by this point convinced herself that she HAD helped him. That her first and only confirmed attempt at trying to get him killed had made him a better asset to the Syndicate. That he should be grateful for the lesson she gave him that night. Zix was typical of how the organization worked, they manipulated you along every stage of your development, all the while saying it was for your benefit when really they were the only ones that profited.

At least he and Zek tried to actually make sure their partners in the UNSC were never truly harmed by their underhanded dealings. They never potentially hung Marines or Shepard's team out to dry. They were more respectable, they didn't backstab, they didn't go back on deals, they made themselves reliable even if they lied. That was the code, the code the Syndicate only pretended it cared about.

Retz doubted Zix's position on things had changed much. She was a true believer. She never cared about all the lies she told, the friends she betrayed on a whim, the people she casually ruined because she was told to do it. Among the kig-yar, the worst thing you could do is enter an accord with no intention to keep it. Zix did it all the time without so much as a thought. Her word was worth nothing. A fact Zek thankfully picked up on.

"So you're saying she taught you everything you know?" Zek asked. "About lying and cheating and spying in a sense?"

"She forced me to keep up with everything she knew," Retz clarified. "Because if I fell too far behind, she'd leave me there to die. Not because I was a liability or even because I was a threat, but because that's just who she is. I know everything I do about lying because I learned to figure out her talent for it."

"And you think she's still lying," Zek concluded. "What about though?"

Retz shrugged.

"I don't know, but you saw it yourself," he said vigorously. "I had to drag the fact the Jiralhanae are on site out of her. I had to needle her on it just to get her to be even slightly honest. It helped there were so many other people in the room who don't trust her from the get go, but she's still holding something back. She's only revealed as much as she has now to placate us."

"So why didn't you tell the others that?" Zek asked confused.

"Because if I put the pressure on too much, she'll clam up and be more cautious," Retz explained. "I need to make her think I'm somewhat satisfied. At least enough to maybe have her make a mistake I can catch her in before it's too late."

It was the best he could do at this juncture, fooling Zix was no easy feat.

"Frankly though, I'm wondering why you're so cavalier about this," Retz informed Zek somewhat annoyed. "I know you want to stick it to Snarlbeak for all the grief he's given us, but after what the Syndicate almost did to Taq..."

"I don't need to be on edge when I have you, Retz," Zek assured him. "If you say you have your eye on her, I trust you to keep Zix in check. And besides, it's not just the chance to fuck with Snarlbeak a little that has me excited. This whole mission presents an opportunity."

Retz raised a brow curiously.

"An opportunity?" He asked, a bit nervously. "For what?"

Zek led Retz into a side room, an eager look on his face.

"The UNSC is suspicious of us, but their soldiers started gaining begrudging respect when we went on that military operation to that little spy station," the pirate shipmaster claimed, recalling the mission Haverson had forced on them a while back. "I figure if we can keep pushing that angle, they'll be less inclined to keep looking into our little side business. And that is why, for this mission, I've put together an elite team of pirates, the best of our best, the pride of the Fallen Serpent and all kig-yar kind. Zek's Zapper Slasherz! With a Z on the end there! To make sure people know we're serious!"

Retz looked on confused, but before he could really ask any questions, his friend turned on the lights in the room. They illuminated a group of kig-yar within who were standing at attention in what appeared to be heavy duty combat gear. Or at least what would pass as that in some old human vid.

"Zhad, the heavy weapons bird, a walking arsenal of death and destruction," Zek announced, showing off their armoury chief officer now clad in commando gear. "Alias: The Enforcer."

Zhad was currently spotting belts of needler ammunition and a skull helmet with flames hastily painted on it. He was also holding a large plasma cannon turret in his arms that he was struggling to lift. He also had a lot of other weapons on his back that was making it even harder.

"I bring the thunder and strike like lightning," Zhad read monotonously as he tried to hold the turret high.

"Kaz, the technical wizard, demolitions expert and in a pinch hotwiring hijacking hacker," Zek continued, not missing a beat in his line up. "Alias: Cyberlance."

Kaz, the chief engineer, was sporting anti-glare goggles and what looked to be some computerized gauntlet on his arm. He was armed with a needler at least, so his weapon wasn't as out of the ordinary, but for whatever reason it was now sporting a chrome finish.

"Um, I will douse... their uh... firewalls and slice the subnet," Kaz said, reading off the palm of his hand. "No databank is safe. Wait, um, was that the one you wanted or the first one? There was a third but it got smudged-"

Zek hastily kept going despite Kaz's confusion.

"The rookie, Krez, trained in tracking and close combat," Zek declared as he pointed to relatively new member of the crew. "Anything is a deadly weapon in his talons. Alias: Eagle Fist."

Krez had a backwards cap on for some reason and a load of shard daggers attached to his vest. He was also carrying a Carbine, with what looked to be a toothy grin painted on it.

"Sir, I'm not entirely comfortable with-"

"Read the line, Krez," Zek growled.

The rookie pirate sighed and just repeated what was apparently his scripted catchphrase.

"It will be KNIFE to see the enemy, even if they don't see me," he said, not really all that enthusiastically.

Retz had already looked ahead to see the last pirate in line, Keth, one of their most accomplished marskmen. He was wearing bandana, sporting skull makeup over half his face and a combat vest. At least he had his Needler Rifle with him, as well as a Beam Rifle in reserve it seemed. Retz had heard enough at this point, but Zek was on a roll and he wasn't about to stop.

"And finally, Keth, expert sharpshooter, death from a thousand yards," Zek said menacingly. "By the time they know he's even there, they're already dead. Alias: Lethal Edge."

"I don't like it," Keth suddenly spoke up.

Zek looked back annoyed.

"What?" He asked, almost insulted.

"I wanna be called Deathsight," Keth explained. "It's cooler."

"We already agreed on these names, Keth," Zek argued. "You can't change them now."

"We didn't agree on anything, sir," Keth retorted. "You sent us these character sheets, told us to put on these outfits and stand here in the dark for like a fucking hour. And in that hour, I thought of a better name. I mean Lethal Edge fits Krez more doesn't it? He's using daggers. Not his fists."

"I did not have tracker on my resume when I joined," Krez was quick to point out. "I just feel like I should point that out."

Zek shot Krez a look that quieted him again, while he continued speaking with Keth.

"I put a solid full night into thinking this shit up, Keth," he argued. "I prepped it for the mission with the Relic, we could've discussed this before then, but we're going early, okay? This just came up."

"Well what's stopping you from changing it now?" Keth asked incredulously. "Is it really that integral that I keep this name? I mean, what's the difference? And shouldn't we have all come up with our own names?"

"I would've gone SyberSaber, spelled with a S," Kaz spoke up. "I just like alliteration."

Zek looked at the engineering chief in anger.

"No, that's stupid," he shot back with an accusing claw. "You need to use a Z. If there's no Z there's no point to changing the C-Sound. Look, it's my team, I come up with the codenames."

"Oh really, so what's yours then?" Keth asked.

"Crossbones, duh?" Zek replied haughtily. "I am the Pirate Captain after all."

"Well whatever, if we're going to be dong this, I want to change my name," Keth continued to argue. "Lethal Edge sucks."

"If I let you change your name everyone changes their names," Zek informed him. "It'll be fucking chaos."

Retz audibly groaned in frustration at this whole scene, which was fast dissolving into chaos anyway. highlighted by the fact Zhad could not hold the plasma turret up like that forever with all that crap on his back.

"Uph, there I go," he announced as he fell backwards.

"Ah, fuck, Cyberlance help him up," Zek ordered.

"I-"

"No, SyberSaber is dumb, that's final! If you really want to change your fucking codename you're gonna have to run another by me! Now help Enforcer up!"

"Zek, what in the hell is this?" Retz finally shouted aloud. "Cause this honestly feels supremely stupid."

Zek, finally snapping out of whatever track he had stuck his brain onto, sighed and returned to his friend's side.

"Look, the UNSC Marines are all kinda mentally transfixed on military badassness," he explained. "So, I checked out some human action vids, took a few notes, and landed on a general template for what would appeal to their monkey brains. I mean, look at their Spartans, they're basically built around this sorta shit."

"I highly doubt that taking cues from very old human fiction is going to seriously win us some goodwill," Retz flatly informed Zek. "I mean, on a basic level, it just reads like pandering. And it's not like anyone of note is really going to see this."

"We're going to film it, Retz," Zek explained. "All our headsets are going to get rigged with POV cameras and then we can edit them together and show them off to the UNSC. They'll see we're totally picking up cues from them, that we can be super methodically military and lay off us a little. It will be good as a reference for future freelance mercenary work if we can land a solid independent contract with the UNSC."

Retz did not really see how any of that made sense. He just saw what this was starting to sound like at the most basic surface level.

"You just want to make your own action vid because you got on a kick with them didn't you?" He asked plainly.

"Okay, maybe a little," Zek confessed almost instantly. "But there is merit to this. If we're going in there as a squad, an elite team, a commando unit like the Spartans and ODSTs do, it helps to get into the mentality. Plus, it will show them that we can play them all at their own game."

"Zek, whatever you think you're trying to do, I need to re-emphasize this," Retz reiterated, a serious and grave tone in his voice. "This is not a game. This is not fun. This is not a normal job. This is a Syndicate mission. This is a mission from Zix. You can't play at being a pirate commando here, the stakes are higher. You can't just brush all that off on a whim."

"I'm not, that's why you're coming after all, to do all that stuff you said you'd do to keep Zix from fucking us," Zek tried to reassure him. His expression then turned sheepish. "Does this mean you don't even want to know your codename?"

Retz had to admit, he was curious.

"Oh fine," he relented.

"Shadow Dagger," Zek grinned, seemingly very proud of himself.

Retz looked at him with a bit of grumble.

"Well that is pretty decent actually," he confessed.

"What's mine?"

The voice came from nowhere, but it was instantly familiar. As the image of Kasumi Goto appeared behind them both. Even Retz jumped back a little, he honestly hadn't noticed her.

"How long have you been here?" He asked in a fright.

"I managed to catch your whole tragic backstory about Zix," Kasumi answered. "Figured the only way I'd find out the truth was eavesdropping on you and Zek. So I tailed you."

Retz scorned himself, he was so focused on Zix he had neglected to consider Ms. Goto had been lurking around. Then again, it spoke highly of her skills. And revealed, perhaps, a hidden ace in the hole against Zix who did not know Kasumi nearly as well as she knew him.

"Why the hell did you take this long to spook us then?" Zek asked, sounding a bit annoyed at the jumpscare.

"Well I was going to once Retz finished his whole story," Kasumi explained. "But then you started this little Commando Elite roll call and it took all my willpower not to spoil the moment."

"Why do I get the feeling that's you sorta mocking me on this?" Zek wondered aloud.

"Oh, no, never," Kasumi replied sarcastically. "It's just... well it's a bit much. Like, if I may offer a suggestion, if you try to play at Commando you're going to fall on your face. You should probably keep to your strengths as pirates."

"Hey, I set them all up towards their strengths," Zek argued. "I just gave them a different flair."

Kasumi eyed the assortment of pirates, Zhad still struggling to stand up as Kaz tried to steady him.

"Point is, they're not ODSTs, don't try and make them that," she reiterated. "At least take some of the weapons off Zhad so his feet stop buckling under him."

"Fine," Zek sighed. "I'll tone it down. Like Retz said, pandering might turn the UNSC off. I guess we'll just try to switch more to the pirate flair on this. But we're keeping the codenames!"

"That's cool, what's mine again?" Kasumi asked.

"Oh, uh, I figured Ghost Striker would work," Zek admitted. "I didn't have much time to think of a good one on the way here."

Kasumi gave it some thought and nodded.

"Eh, it works," she relented.

Zek concurred and then headed over to the line of pirate commandos to sort them out. Retz breathed a sigh of relief, maybe he'd back off a little on this before they got too deep into all this.

"I have to admit, I'm glad you're coming along on this, Ms. Goto," he told Kasumi. "This is hardly an ideal situation to find ourselves in frankly."

"You're really that worked up about this Zix then, huh?" Kasumi asked him.

"You heard my story with her so I won't repeat it," he replied simply. "The fact is, I don't like the prospect of being trapped in this sort of situation with the Syndicate. It... it brings back too may memories and it makes me feel like I'm under their thumb again. Like I just... can't escape them."

"Well for once, Retz, you're not going in on this with people you can't trust," Kasumi reminded him. "You're going in with friends. People who will watch your back. That has to count for something, right?"

Retz chuckled a bit under his throat.

"Oh, I see, this is all coming around a bit to our earlier discussion isn't it?" He questioned.

"That's only a coincidental element, but it's still true," Kasumi informed him. "If anything, maybe this mission will give you some perspective on things you're unwilling to really confront."

He doubted it, unless it had to do with whatever Zix had truly planned for him, he doubted there would be any deeper surprises. He had been through a whole damn maze of memories recently and that hadn't changed his mind on things concerning this alliance. Being stuck with Zix would likely only prove one thing that he already knew. Trust was too valuable to spend it on someone else's agenda. The Syndicate had its goals, so did the UNSC. As far as he was concerned, he wanted nothing to do with them. They'd only leave him behind when it suited them.

Zek, for all his eccentric brashness, would never have the same problem. That's why he followed him, why he always told him the truth, even when he didn't like hearing it. At the very least Kasumi had done the same. She understood that much. With any luck, it would be enough to help him sniff out Zix's true intentions before it was too late.

---

The slipspace jump to their destination took about another hour and a half, but they eventually emerged in the target system. Just a little outside the enemy fleet's detection radius. They'd have to make the rest of insertion through the transport craft. While the other ships did have stealth drives, they were not practical for insertions, they were all just too big. The Normandy was smaller though, so it had more options, but they decided to hold her in reserve for close fire support and assistance with extraction if need be.

The assembled teams gathered inside the Chorka Transport Ship. The Spartans were among the first to arrive, as were the ODSTs and Sergeant Johnson's Marines. Zek and Retz were there to greet them, as their technicians were finalizing the alterations to the Chorka's chip codes. Anton and Fred were eyeing the process directly. They had lured the Chorka up to the surface and locked it in with a brace mechanism that hung over the tank. Similar to how you would keep a cow on a ranch to stay still for you. This was usually how they milked and extracted ichor without the animal squirming too much. Today, it was just about finding the chip and then altering the code, which the pirates had been doing for a few hours at this point.

"You think the poor thing is scared?" Fred asked.

"Nah, if it's anything like cows on earth it's sorta meant to be like a hug," Anton explained. "Keeps them docile, calm. Although, it's primarily still used in slaughterhouses... so..."

The Jackals all looked at the Spartan with ire. The mere thought of slaughtering a Chroka like common cattle appeared fairly offensive to them. While Anton was hardly intimidated, he did realize he had probably made a mistake.

"Uh, sorry," he apologized rather plainly. "No offense."

The Jackals went back to work, finishing up finding the chip and beginning the code transfer sequence.

"They're really protective of these ugly belugas, huh?" Fred asked

"Funny how the seemingly greediest members of the Covenant don't need a lesson about killing the golden goose," Anton reasoned. "I guess as long as you're worth more alive than dead, you can count on a Jackal to protect you like you were their own spawn."

"Well don't give 'em too much credit," Fred cautioned. "If these things didn't sweat alcohol for their whole lives, they probably wouldn't care. It's not even a really symbiotic relationship. I mean, what do the Chorka get out of it? A bunch of freaky bird sailors sucking their glands whenever they come up for air?"

"Protection mostly."

The two Spartans looked behind them to see Keth, hoisting his needler rifle over his shoulder.

"You ever hear of Razorfins?" He asked.

"I've heard them mentioned here and there, yeah," Fred recalled. "Big friggin killer fish, with two mouths, one inside the other."

"Natural predators of the Chorka, and anything else that swims of course," Keth explained. "When old pirates and sailors found a pod out in the open sea to track and extract for long voyages, they had to fend off the Razorfins now and then. Kept the babies from getting eaten. Overtime, the Chorka seemed to learn they were better off swimming closer to our ships when need be. We became their own personal bodyguards, our payment, ichor."

"Well you're not gonna find many Razorfins out here in space," Anton noted. "So what are they getting out of the deal now?"

"A free ride to planets without Razorfins mostly," Keth shrugged. "Point is, kig-yar might be greedy but we're practical when it comes to certain resources. Can you say the same of your species' history?"

Fred and Anton admitted they couldn't. However, if the Chorka's ichor wasn't so easily extracted, they had little doubt that the pirates of old would've been so protective of their living beer kegs. Whatever high horse Keth thought he sat on didn't really overshadow them as much as he thought. Convenience didn't make you a more moral species.

Shepard's Team arrived before any further debate could be spun out of the topic. The Normandy crew was here in force, quickly dividing themselves up into their assigned teams. Jacob, Garrus and Zaeed headed over to the ODST and Marine team, assigned to take out the drug fields and processing center. The ODSTs notably consisted of McKay and Sergeant Buck's team, plus Sergeant Lendon who was only looking slightly less sour than usual. There were other ODSTs in the group, but not many. Sergeant Johnson was leading the Marine Detachment, consisting of himself, Kowalski, Ellingham, Pearson, Ramirez and Agley. They were joined by another squad, creating a total two team split between the Marines and ODSTs. Standard raid capacity, especially given the size of their target AO.

The Spartans were of course smaller in number, despite their target being more heavily fortified. But one Spartan was worth way more than single squad of Marines anyway. Master Chief, Fred, Kelly, Linda, Jun, Kat and Anton together made up a sizeable force, strong enough to handle any slave camp full of Brutes on their own. They didn't say no to extra muscle though, as both Grunt and Samara joined them from the Normandy. The extra punch would come in handy.

Shepard's team consisted of who was left, Miranda Lawson, Professor Mordin Solus, Thane Krios, Jack, Tali'Zorah and Legion surprisingly enough. Despite being occasionally grounded due to their glitch, apparently Shepard decided to take the risk on bringing the Geth along. This was a big undertaking after all, they couldn't afford to be a man or synth down. With any luck, Tali would be able to keep them stable, or at least functional.

Varvok soon arrived as well. His small squad of batarians fell in line behind Zek's own team, with Kasumi already there when they assembled. It was a motely crew from across the little ramshackle fleet, an unlikely assortment of allies but by now that was nothing new. The only thing unique about matters this time was that they weren't really picking this fight, but at least they were going in with as many hands on deck as possible. Shepard, of course, stepped up to speak to everyone.

"Alright everyone, we got blindsided with this mission, but that doesn't change the facts," the Commander began stoically. "Whether we trust the Syndicate or not, we all knew we'd probably have to deal with Snarlbeak for good at some point after what happened at New Teteocan. And if there are human colonists down there, enslaved by these pirates, we can't just ignore that. Our mission might look beyond that scope, but we need to keep that in mind. Our success or failure down there is going to determine the fate of those people in chains. And we will not fail."

Varvok looked a bit contemplative as Shepard spoke about the slaves. No doubt, given his family history, this entire enterprise felt ironic to a degree. A batarian who's family worked in the slave trade, freeing human slaves among others alongside Commander Shepard.

Perhaps not long ago he'd have felt disgusted by it, but his expression did not say as much. He was more thoughtful, considerate it seemed. But if he had any doubts about the objectives of the mission, they went unspoken, his soldier's resolve remaining as he nodded at Shepard's words. The Commander picked up on Varvok's silent voice of approval and continued.

"Now we might be going to different places down there, but we're all part of the same team as far as I'm concerned," he told them. "Finish your objectives to the best of your ability, your success in one area will take the pressure off the other mission sites. We divide the enemy's attention and we can keep them running around cluelessly."

"It won't be easy, Snarlbeak's people aren't pushovers, we know that. But we got plenty of advantages on our side. They don't know we're coming; they don't suspect us to hit them here and we got each other. We pull together, maximize our efforts and strike hard enough, we will all get out of this alive. And so will those people down there. Just have faith in yourselves and if that's not enough, then have faith in each other."

The other teams looked on respectfully, the Marines and ODSTs giving a hearty "Oorah" and salute as Shepard finished. Even Zek and his pirates seemed a bit more pumped than usual. The pirate captain himself even voiced the thought aloud.

"Shit, he's good at that," he whispered to Kasumi.

"Yeah, it just comes out of him too," the thief told him. "No prompting at all. Like he's got a bunch of them memorized or something."

Shepard's motivating speech marked the start of the mission, as the transport pulled away from the fleet and began the slow flight towards the enemy blockade surrounding the target planet. Shepard, Zek, Chief, Varvok and Retz headed up to the cockpit. Zix was already there, alongside a pair of Jackals sitting at the controls. By the time they got there, the security fleet was in visual range. It was an impressive little flotilla of a number of corvettes, destroyers and cruisers just idling in place above Snarlbeak's private planet.

"They're not going to scan for lifesigns I hope," Shepard asked Zix.

"They won't," she promised. "They only care if you have the Chorka, that's all they're looking for."

As the transport got closer to the fleet, they were hailed by the security team.

"Transport Voidskimmer 2-9, welcome. You are running a bit off schedule, status?"

They had changed the ID Code for the transport, one that Zix assured them had been taken care of. What exactly she meant by that was unclear, but Retz suspected they had simply found a way to delay or hold it up in transit. However, it again raised his suspicions of why they needed their transport specifically if they could do that. Couldn't they have just stolen it? Perhaps it would've flagged if they had. Whatever the reason it just made Retz more wary.

All the same, it was now his turn to step up to the plate. Zix motioned Retz towards the comms channel. The kig-yar pirate quickly headed over, took a breath and clear his throat some. He then opened the channel and reported in.

"Apologies," he replied to the security officer. "We had to avoid some nosy Covenant officers. Couldn't let them catch wind of the cargo."

"Bastards are making this more difficult by the day," the security officer replied back. "Alright, just transfer the cargo chip codes to confirm we got every package on the manifest."

Retz nodded and hit the button. The chip codes began the transfer. Everyone waited with growing anxiety. Had Zix's little subterfuge worked? Were the uploads valid? The changes properly masked? There was a terrible silence as they waited for the report to come back. Crackle of the comm of the signalled their answer.

"Vitals seem normal, everything checks out, no one missing, we're good," he replied. "Alright, we'll send a banshee team to escort you into the docks."

Well that wouldn't do, how could they land their teams covertly and discreetly that way? No they'd have to get rid of the escort. Retz, thankfully had an idea. This officer was clearly a lot more casual given his previous comment about the Covenant. So why not play into that little?

"We're already running late and we've done this more times than we can count," Retz stated, sounding a bit annoyed. "Do we really need a hatchling sitter to tell us where to land?"

"Well... it is procedure," the officer claimed. "We got other transports coming in, don't want them clogging up the pad or anything."

"We won't stay long," Retz promised. "I got to get back so I can start my leave soon. I've been hauling shit across the sector non-stop for way too many weeks now and I just wanna get this done."

The security seemed to sigh a bit, but one of sympathy rather than annoyance.

"Eh, fine, why bother launching a banshee for this?" he said sounding resigned and bored. "Just get the babies off and loaded, don't buzz any towers, hopefully no one will care."

"Thanks," Retz told him. "Really appreciate this."

Retz turned back and gave his fellows a thumbs up as they were let through the blockade.

"Well, there's the easy part done," Shepard commented.

"Let's hope it's easier getting out," Varvok informed him. "This blockade looks pretty formidable. Turning the ground defenses against it is our best play now. Otherwise, well, I don't think even the Ascendant Justice could handle all of these, even with the other ships helping."

"We'll get those defenses down, Varvok," Shepard assured. "As soon as those docks are secured, I'll head straight for them."

"I know you will, Shepard," Varvok assured him. "We'll try to clear things up at the Distillery quickly so we can shift focus to aid you. We are the closest after all."

Shepard nodded in appreciation, as their transport entered the atmosphere of the planet. As the clouds parted from their view, they saw a huge island below. It looked just like the holomap Zix had shown them, a tropical paradise that had been turned into a hub of criminal activity. They could see the massive drug fields and factory complex from even this high up and the slave camp was even harder to miss. It's muddy, brown depressing appearance seemed to scar the land even more. By comparison, the docks and distillery were miniscule, although still huge regardless.

"Zhoc's really made himself at home here," Retz observed.

"Reminds me a bit of Saren's facility on Virmire," Shepard commented. "Less surf and turf though, and a hell of a lot more farmland."

"Every narcotic you could imagine is down there," Zix informed them. "From Arixic Powder to Sooka Sand, Zetoin to Ekaduz. If it can get you high, buzzed, see a billion colors or just make you forget, Snarlbeak has it growing down there. Probably growing with each other too. Hybridization is a key component of monopolizing your crop."

"And we're dropping our people into that," Shepard with trepidation. "Well, at least we're sending our best in there. And if all else fails, we can count on Zaeed to blow the factory's top somehow."

They got low over the fields as they came into the island's direct airspace. Instantly a number of anti-air defenses pinged them. There was no lock warning, just a notification that they were under watch. Probably moreso because they had no escort.

"We're not gonna be able fly around for long," Varvok warned. "With all these eyes watching us they'll suspect something if we do a sight seeing tour. We should drop the Spartan and UNSC Teams here. They can use the fields and remaining vegetation on the edge of the island to sneak up on their objectives."

"They better head out now then," Shepard said, turning on the internal comm on the dashboard. "Drug Factory and Rescue objective Teams, green light for insertion. Drop now."

In the back to the transport, the auxiliary airlocks opened. Smaller doors on the bottom of the ship leading directly to the ground. They were only a few feet above the surface now and going slow, but it was still a bit of a jump. Luckily, the teams had all been outfitted with jump-jet packs Enough to slow their descent to make landing easier. It was their best bet. A shuttle would get spotted and they obviously couldn't land.

One by one, the teams jumped down to what was left of the tropical forest on the island below near the edge of the drug fields. Activating their jump-jet packs as they fell from on high. Some went a bit later then should've and landed harder in the mud, but for the most part there were no difficulties.

It didn't matter for the Spartans though, the had jumped from worse heights than this. Linda even managed to grab onto a tree as she fell and pull herself up onto a branch. Chief just kept the jump-jet off until he was below the treeline and then hit the button a little. He landed in the dirt, his fist slowing his fall as he bent to his knees.

"That should be murder on your lower back," Cortana told him.

"Armor compensates for shock," he responded.

"Right, how silly of me," Cortana replied, only sounding slightly sarcastic.

Back aboard the transport, they quickly moved away from the fields and towards the docks, getting a good look at the slave pits as they flew by. They couldn't see much from this angle behind the huge walls, but there were plenty of sharpshooters patrolling them.

"Getting the humans out of there won't be easy," Shepard cautioned. "How many Anti-Air turrets did we detect pinging us?"

Retz took a quick look at the monitor beside the co-pilot.

"Hmm, over seventy-five."

"Shit, that's almost as many as a medium sized space station," Zek shuddered. "We're really going to need those things on our side if we have a hope of getting out of here."

"We'll handle it, Zek," Shepard promised. "You keep your mind focused on the Distillery for now."

They came in on the docks as they were clear for landing, lowering themselves onto the pad by the water.

"We need to move fast," Retz warned. "They'll be here to check the cargo soon. Shepard, your team needs to be gone. Slip out the back while we handle them."

"Right, safe travels to the Distillery then," the Commander told the pirates. "Good luck."

"Same to you," Zek reminded them once more. "You are our ticket out of here after all."

---

Sergeant Johnson had quickly gathered up his men and moved them towards the edge of the small forested area. They were on the outskirts of the facility, the fields before them stretching out for a good mile or so. But they could still see the Factory in the distance, belching out smoke as it processed its illicit goods.

"Damn, that thing is running on major overtime," he said observantly. "Try not to breathe in too deep boys. Who knows what kind of crazy ass shit the birds smoke up. Might not agree with ya and the last thing I need is any of you seeing yellow flying submarines or whatever while we're down here."

"Yellow submarines, sir?" One young Marine asked confused.

Johnson slowly looked at the Marine, his face growing ever more annoyed.

"Damn it, son, we have a friggin space parrot pirate blasting out classics and I need to explain that to you?" He scolded. "Your generation truly is lost."

McKay soon joined Johnson's team, her ODSTs coming up from behind.

"I don't know what they're cooking in there, but I doubt it's incense and peppermints," she observed.

Johnson grinned before slapping the arm of his fellow Marine.

"Ya see, she at least knows her shit," he told him, before turning back to McKay. "We need to get closer to get a better view, but there doesn't seem to be much security this far out. I think so long as we lay low, stay in the middle of the rows as we move up, we should be able to avoid detection."

"Closer we get, more chances we'll run into someone harvesting or spraying pesticide over this stuff," McKay warned. "We go in squad pairs along the rows, don't bunch up, stay in visual contact. When we get within operational range, we'll see what we can pick up on the drone."

As they prepared to move, the Master Chief knelt down beside them both.

"The Spartans and I are going to take the long way around to the slave pits, less chance of you getting spotted without us around," he explained. "If you hold off your attack for a bit after we start our attack, it might draw some of the factory guards away from you."

"We'll wait for the sound of explosions and gunfire then, Chief," McKay told him. "Take care."

"You too," The Spartan told them. "See you on the other side of this."

Chief then got up and headed back into the forest, as the Marines and ODSTs moved out themselves into the fields. The mission had now begun in earnest.

---

It didn't take that long for the dockworkers to move in on the transport, ready to start what they no doubt assumed would be a quick delivery of baby Chorka to their new home. Shepard's team had already slipped out through one of the other airlocks and into the lower areas of the docks. They were no doubt already infiltrating the area. Retz's job though was to get them to the distillery in timely fashion, preferably before the Spartans made their attack on the slave pit prison and made getting inside the ichor brewery that much more difficult. It would require some deft maneuvering on his part and probably a very fast knife on Zix's.

When the dockworkers arrived, they quickly began to inspect the baby chorka in their tanks. The creatures moved up to the glass in kind, interested in the new faces peering in on them. Retz walked up to the dockworkers to greet them cordially.

"I trust they're all in satisfactory condition?' Retz asked.

"We'll be overlooking that on a case by case basis," the foreman claimed. "You know this drill, processing takes a while."

"How much of a while?" Retz asked. "We're on a tight schedule."

"Well you're already behind," the foreman stated. "But we have procedures. We need to check the proof of the ichor, we need to cross reference capture point with regional waters, you know the whole deal. Then we assign them to their pod in the distillery. There's a lot of them here, we need to do all that before we can even think of moving them."

Retz couldn't wait for them to be done with all that of course, the Spartans would attack the slave pit and they'd be stuck here. But there were five of these guys and that made things complicated in terms of taking them down and just moving on.

"Can't you just skip a step or two?" Retz asked, doing his best to sound like an impatient blue collar worker and not a suspicious infiltrator.

"I skip a step, I put these tykes with the wrong pod, they don't produce enough ichor cause they're depressed or sad or crying about their missing mommy, management at the brewery finds out, they trace it back to me, superiors find out, Zhoc finds out, Lurz shows up at my door the next day and I'm fucking dead," the Foreman listed off, sounding more and more agitated by the very notion of cutting corners. "You got your damn job to do, that's ferry the fucking things here. I got my job to do, and that's process them correctly. I'm not telling you how to do your job, so don't fucking tell me how to do mine."

Retz put up a defensive act, as he saw Zix circling around.

"Listen this doesn't have to get heated, okay?" Retz assured. "Can you pull anyone else from the docks? Speed up things? You only got like five guys here, including you."

"We have other shipments, not just you," the foreman informed him. "We're friggin swamped. Ain't my damn call. Boss had a huge profit sink not long ago. He wants double the output from everyone to cover losses. This is my fifth damn shift. I haven't gone home since the order came down."

Retz whistled a tune of astonished surprise to feign sympathy. Of course Snarlbeak had pushed his people into double overtime with no pay. After his losses at New Teteocan, he had to be hurting to replenish them, fast. That meant getting product out, fast to get the creds to buy more ships, more weapons, more birds. No wonder it had been so easy to get that security officer to wave them in, he probably had other shipments to monitor and didn't have time to argue. Not to mention he was likely tired.

"Didn't realize it was so... crap round here," Retz confessed. "Sorry."

"Eh, it's just typical," the Foreman assured. "Shit has been like this since the Boss' side projects went into full swing. Amping up for his big deal and all that."

"You mean that treasure hunt I've heard about?" Retz asked, pretending not to have much of a clue about what that entailed.

"Nah, other shit that's going on here," the Foreman told him. "You probably don't know but everyone's got extra shit to deal with down here now. It's a fucking circus, I tell ya."

"Like what?" Retz asked once more, tilting his head.

The Foreman was about to answer when he heard something sound like it dropped to the floor behind him with a crushing thud. Retz could see what it was almost instantly. Zix, a knife jabbed into the throat of her target, had smashed the dockworker's head into the floor of the ship to crush his skull. Retz soon saw the Foreman turn and was quick to act, delivering a powerful blow to the back of the kig-yar's head. The other dockworkers were already dead, silently taken out by Zix. The foreman had been lucky, another second and the female syndicate agent would've thrown a knife into his face. She already had it in her fingertips.

"The hell was that?" Retz asked incredulously.

"Sorry," Zix apologized with a shrug. "I tripped and fell forwards. Took him with me."

Bullshit, thought Retz. She had given herself away deliberately. She couldn't have the foreman talk about these special projects, because it was probably something she didn't want them to know about. He'd have pushed her on the obvious lie, but they had no time.

"They probably have a transport outside," Retz sighed. "Let's load up our people into them. See if we can use them to get past the guards at the distillery."

"Good idea," Zix concurred. "Best not waste time then."

Retz eyed her suspiciously as she moved off to the side. Varvok's small team would likely follow them to the distillery on foot. The kig-yar would go in the front, the batarians through the back. They just needed to be quick about it, the Spartans wouldn't take too long to get into position.

---

Chief looked at the walls of the slave pit, snipers lining the barricades. He couldn't see any signs of Brutes, just Jackals. Which made sense, why would they be on the outside? Snarlbeak likely hired them to keep watch over the human captives. Brutes also weren't known for sharpshooting, they did things up close and personal.

It didn't exactly help though knowing how many snipers were lined up along the walls. The place was virtually covered from all angles. They needed a way to gain the high ground advantage. Linda was best for that. She was the team sharpshooter. However, she couldn't do it from outside the slave prison's walls. While she was more than a match for any Jackal sniper, she would never have full coverage from this angle. They needed to get her onto the barricades themselves. That way should could target every Jackal on the walls as well as inside them.

They'd need the overwatch because from all accounts there didn't seem to be a clear way in other than the front door. The walls were just that, giant walls, stretching up fairly high. They needed a way to but into the place, but Chief was already figuring there was no subtle way to breach the outer defenses. Going through the front door would do that alone.

Right now though, Chief was looking for a side entrance of some kind. Something that wasn't as well defended as the front gate. Some sort of chink in the armor that they could push on until it broke. Something that they could use to bypass a good chunk of defenders and move into the center of this complex with all speed. There was very little that met those requirements though. Save for what appeared to be a security checkpoint for the guards entering and exiting from this angle.

Well, at least it was an entry way, if it wasn't perfect. They could probably eliminate the Jackal guards and then set up a charge to blow the doors. Or Cortana could crack it really. He had to remember that maintaining stealth for as long as possible was crucial for the other teams to succeed. Although, given who was on his team, he doubted it would stay covert for long. Grunt did not seem like the kind of soldier that did quiet very often... or well.

"I can just charge through that door," Grunt insisted, pacing about but never looking away from the door far off in the distance. "Give me enough cover fire and I'll bust it down, easy."

"It's more of a gate than a door really," Fred told the krogan. "Doors tend to be... smaller."

"Less wide is what we're getting at," Anton added.

"Gate, door, whatever," Grunt snorted. "I can rip it clean open for all of us if you just keep the fire off of me."

Chief wasn't opposed to direct solutions, but Grunt's was a bit too direct even for him.

"We need to come at them from different angles," he suggested. "Take out the sentries on both ends simultaneously. We take the outside first, that makes things easier for us."

"What does it matter?" Grunt asked incredulously. "The second we're through the gate the whole place is going to know we're there anyway."

"Less time for them to respond," Kelly explained. "Besides, we need to know the lay of the land a little. For more than one reason."

Grunt seemed a bit confused, but thankfully Samara simplified it.

"Zix is clearly lying to us about something," she told the krogan. "We all know that."

"Well, obviously, I'm not that dense," Grunt huffed. "But how are you going to figure out what she's lying about by going in quiet?"

"Because if I get to the top of the wall barricades, I can get a look into the slave pits properly," Linda explained. "I can figure out just how many Brutes are actually in there and what they're guarding. Besides what Zix clued us into."

Grunt might not have been the smartest of aliens, but ever since the incident with the time loop he had been trying to use his head a bit more. To his credit, it didn't take him long to piece together the plan.

"Right, cause those big hairy pyjaks are probably keeping watch over more than just a bunch of little humans," Grunt reasoned. "There's something else she's not letting us in on."

"That and there may be something besides Brutes behind that wall," Jun added. "For all we know, there's a Scarab or something lurking around ready to put down any little uprising that crops up."

Not something they wanted to deal with, that was for sure. A Scarab was always tough to put down, but this was not the most ideal terrain to engage one in. The ground was off, there wasn't much elevation, they did not have the right equipment and the potential for collateral damage was high. They didn't know precisely where the human colonists were being held captive after all. Not to mention the other slaves, as Kelly pointed out.

"Our arrival might actually trigger an uprising all its own," she warned. "And given the slave population will be made up of mostly grunts and jackals we need to be wary. They might not see us as liberators, depending on their personal religious beliefs."

"They're still prisoners of Snarlbeak," Chief noted. "They might look favorably on us."

"Perhaps, but they're still an unknown element," Kelly cautioned once more. "We don't know how many are military or civilian, what their hierarchy inside is like. Jackals and grunts are said to be heated rivals within the Covenant. They probably will not be the most cooperative in any sense."

"We're not really relying on them to help us take the compound," Chief reminded her.

"Kelly is right though," Kat warned. "They may become a problem, even if they aren't hostile to us. The chaos that's going to erupt once we're inside is only going to make things more difficult."

Chief knew she was right. He was expecting such a problem. He knew the real reason they were bringing it up though. It was a question he was thinking himself. Were the alien slaves as great a priority as the human ones? In his mind, not really, no. They were here for the human colonists, not them. However, getting them all out was part of the plan to cripple Snarlbeak's slave trade operations. So they were still part of the mission, even if they were a lower priority.

Samara, of course, had a different perspective.

"The unggoy and kig-yar enslaved by the pirates would generally be innocent," the Asari Justicar surmised. "They are likely mostly civilians or non-combatants, as is the favored of target of most slave groups. Like the humans imprisoned here, they are victims of the same injustice. As far as I am concerned, they are of equal priority."

"Saving Covies still feels weird, civies or not," Anton admitted.

"As long as they do not attack me, I can only see them as victims of the unfortunate circumstance they are in," Samara said, steadfast in her conviction. "I will endeavor to save as many as possible from their bondage. If I prescribe special treatment for one group of slaves over another, my actions will be unjust and I will have failed my code."

"Understood," Chief said, getting up from his observation position. "I suggest we follow Samara's advice on this. Don't think of them as Covenant, but as alien civilians. And as long as they aren't a threat, we should focus on the targets that are."

The other Spartans nodded in agreement, even if it was clear they still felt weird about saving the lives of aliens they spent so much time killing before. They would just have to be wary of their trigger fingers it seemed. Not that they hadn't had practice, being around Zek's pirates for long enough by this point. They could easily designate friend from foe. Namely, the friend was any Jackal or Grunt that did not try to plasma blast them. They'd focus on the armor-clad pirates and the big dumb apes.

"We'll split into two teams, flank right and left," Chief said, motioning with his hands as he laid out the plan. "We'll use the vegetation for cover as we sneak up close and suppressed weapons fire to discreetly eliminate the sentries. Then Linda moves into position on the barricades using that lift while we prepare the gate for entry."

"As in I get to smash it right?" Grunt asked.

The other Spartans and Samara looked at the krogan blankly, which you could easily see even through the helmets of the super soldiers. Grunt just sighed in defeat, knowing he likely wasn't going to get to show off his krogan might at this point. Anton was good enough to offer an attempt to cheer him up.

"I'm sure we'll find plenty of gates or doors for you to smash, big guy," he reassured him.

With that, Grunt gave a nod and the team moved out. Getting into position to take the side gate entry. They would have to work fast though. The other teams were likely getting close to their own mission objectives now. They would not wait to engage for long and once someone fired the first shot this whole place would erupt into a giant firefight. They needed to be ready when it did.

---

The ride over to the distillery was largely uneventful. The only two checkpoints between the docks and the brewery simply waved the truck through. They probably presumed there was some urgent business they needed to take care of. Retz only needed to stop to tell them where they were headed to just keep going. The Dock Foreman disguise seemed to be holding up well, at least for now.

The thing about most guards in places this big was that people didn't really know each other all that well. It wasn't a tight knit group. Not to mention that given how nothing ever happened here, the security had gotten a bit lax no doubt. Retz chocked it up more to being overworked than to overconfidence though, as the previous statements he heard from both the security and the Foreman who's clothes he had stolen had explained. Snarlbeak was pushing his people extra hard to recoup his losses and continue funding his hunt for the Astral Cutlass. Zix had not been lying about how crucial Zhoc's criminal business was to that endeavor. If it something went wrong here, it would at the very least slow him down.

He doubted it would stop him altogether though. Zix had too much faith in the Syndicate's methods. She didn't understand that for people like Snarlbeak, somethings were worth any price. Damn any sort of business sense or logic. Zhoc was fueled by his hate and lust for revenge. Destroying his money-making rackets would only piss him off in the end. It would not deter him. Maybe though, it would give them a bit more time and some breathing room. Which was honestly better than nothing.

That was assuming Zix or her employers even believed that, it was just as likely a cover story to mask the Syndicate's real objectives. Whatever the case, sincere underestimation of Zhoc or attempted cover story, he didn't trust Zix's motives anymore now than he had before. There was more to this than crippling Zhoc's criminal empire and that stunt back on the transport was proof enough to him. All the more reason, in his mind, to search the Distillery top to bottom and make sure he found out what Zix was really after before it got sprung on him at the last second.

When the truck pulled up to the distillery's gate there was only a single guard. He seemed perplexed by their sudden arrival, but approached the driver side of the transport all the same.

"You bringing in a new calf already? They said it would be a while," he stated. "What happened?"

"There's a possibility one of the new chorkas is related to one of the current pods," Retz lied, his story well thought out by this point. "The data on the chip is cross referencing a match with DNA and region type. We need to double check to maintain bio-diversity."

"You need to come all the way here for that?" The guard asked questioning.

"I can't have mistakes right now, procedure is everything with how shit has been," Retz insisted, summing up his best annoyed and tired expression. "I need to check the pods in person through their chips, cross reference the data and make sure we're assigning the calf to the right pod. Or do you want a potential fuck up down the line? You wanna risk inbreeding? Ruining the pure batch? That something you want to leave up to chance?"

The guard was quick to try and placate him.

"Okay, okay, I get it, there's no need to take this out on me, I'm just asking questions here," he explained. "Ocean's Depth, you guys are wound tight."

"You just have to sit here, you don't have to maintain shipments all fucking day like we do," Retz declared. "Not all of us have the cushy job."

"There's no need to be an ass about this," the guard told him. "It's not like we're doing any better. I'm on consecutive shifts here. Same as you."

"Then just open the gate and let's get this shit done then," Retz ordered. "No sense making this a hassle."

The guard just sighed, trudged back to his console and deactivated the gate with a press of hand to the screen. Retz just tipped his foreman hat in response and drove on through. That was when Zix put her head back up and climbed back into the passenger's seat from the floor.

"I see you've at least kept your skills intact," Zix said, sounding almost proud.

"No thanks to you," Retz told her. "I almost didn't have anything to go on before you went stab happy."

"Aww, little Retzy the actor, always looking for the backstory to his roles," she said patronizingly. "I forget though, who drilled that into you? Oh right! It was me. I did that, because it's what I taught you to do. To gather information, to use it against your enemies. And let's be honest, Retz, you've said it yourself... I'm not your friend."

Retz sneered back at her as he kept driving, he knew where this was going.

"You were needling them for information, not for the role, but because you think I haven't told you everything," Zix reasoned. "You don't trust me. You feel I haven't given you everything. You're upset because you think I'm hiding something."

"You are," Retz declared flatly. "I don't trust you, because I learned to never trust you. That was the other thing you taught me. So really, don't go blaming anyone but yourself if I don't take anything you say at face value."

He glared at her, but she was unmoved. Why would she be? She had never cared that much about how he felt about her. Trust was unnecessary for her, she just needed him to be obedient, play ball. But that wasn't happening how she wanted. She didn't have the same control she once had and it pissed her off. Which was why she was doing this.

"I'm just pointing out the simple fact that you've survived this long because of me," Zix stated. "That everything I've taught you as your handler, as your personal tutor, was for your benefit. And that hasn't changed, even now I'm doing something that will help you out tremendously in the future and you're still acting like you owe me nothing."

"I don't," Retz stated, not caring how harsh it was.

"You can say that, but we know it's a lie, even if you won't admit it," Zix claimed. "You owe the Syndicate everything, Retz. You're only as useful to your drunkard captain because of what we taught you, what I taught you. So don't trust me, treat me like I'm the bad guy, but at the end of the day everything you are you owe to me, the queens and the Syndicate as a whole. The least you could do is be grateful."

Retz pulled into the parking area out of direct line of sight of security and stopped the transport.

"I'm grateful that ocean winds' willing, I will never see you again after today," Retz said coldly. "And I'll be done with all of you. But more importantly, my friends will be done with you."

"Hmph," responded Zix. "Don't know what else I expected. You've always been stubborn like this. Never can admit you're wrong. Probably why you get along with the drunk who's too stupid to know when to quit."

Zix left the transport by the side hatch door, not even giving Retz a chance to respond. It didn't matter, he had nothing to say to her. Nothing worth saying right now anyway. He just wanted to get this done. He jumped out and headed to back, knocking on the back three times to let them know it was clear. From inside, Zek opened the door, crouching in the rear of the transport, his elbows supported on his knees.

"You doing okay?" Zek asked him, more sincerely than Retz was used to.

"You heard everything from back here didn't you?" He asked, sounding a bit exasperated.

"Well you two aren't exactly very quiet," Zek explained. "Honestly, I thought ex-girlfriends could chew you out, I never thought ex-mentors could be worse."

"When you leave a romantic partner it's usually a speedy choice," Retz explained. "You don't usually get the option to drop your handler. More resentment builds up. Now get out, we need to move."

Zek and the other members of the team jumped out, Kasumi coming out last. She sniffed at the air and recoiled at something.

"Ugh, your ichor doesn't usually smell this... pungent," she remarked. "Is it because there's more?"

"More and unrefined," Zhad claimed. "Plus when the different scents and tastes all mix together at random it can get weird. Your fear excretions with your mating excretions with your dominance excretions with your... well you get the point, there are a lot of excretions."

"It's a good smell boys," Zek insisted. "It's the smell of a profit. We're about to snatch and grab every secret brew recipe Snarlbeak ever mixed up. His Market Exclusivity is about to go right down the toilet."

They were at one of the back doors to the main distillery floor. Zix had already knocked out the camera by climbing up and jacking its feed to replay a constant 2 second loop.

"That buys us some time," she said, jumping down.

Kaz was already on the door, checking out the electronic lock.

"Heh, pretty tough security," he remarked. "Give me a second to crack this."

He plugged his gauntlet into the lock mechanism and began getting to work issuing commands.

"How long till the firewall is down?" Zek asked.

Kaz groaned audibly.

"Sir, that's not what you think it is," Kaz responded annoyed. "Please stop."

"Fine, fine, just get it open," Zek ordered, waving the comment off. He then radioed Varvok. "Four-Eyes, we're at the door to their main floor. Where are your people?"

"We're over the perimeter fence, moving to an entrance near the water. Only one or two guards here, we'll handle them. Be inside shortly."

It sounded like they were on schedule then. Kaz himself proved his worth as the light on lock pad went green.

"I'm in," he reported very plainly.

"No, no," Zek spoke up rather agitated. "We discussed this. Say it right."

Kaz sighed a long sigh, holding the nostrils along his beak as he did. When he stopped, he repeated himself from earlier.

"I'm in." He said, in a gruffer, more serious sounding voice.

Zek patted Kaz on the back in congratulations.

"You've earned your bonus, Cyberlance," the pirate leader promised as he went inside.

"Yeah, yeah whatever," Kaz grumbled under his breath. "Can't even pick my own cool codename."

Inside the distillery floor, the team found several crates of ichor ready to ship out. And plenty of workers moving the supply into the loading area. There was a assembly line, pouring the viscous liquid into bottles before sealing them up one by one. Up top were a number of guards, overseeing everything.

"We need to get up there and remove them," Retz said.

"That would be my cue," Kasumi declared "Ghost Striker is on the job."

With a press of her omni-tool, Kasumi vanished behind her cloak. While the crew of motley jackals could not see her, they believed they heard her scrambling up one of the stockpiles of ichor to jump onto the catwalk above. There, a guard was unceremoniously punched in the back of the head, collapsing in a heap. Kasumi's cloak broke of course, but she nimbly ran down the walkway to slide into the legs of another guard, smashing him in the beak as he fell before grabbing his vest and carefully dropping him to the walkway.

"She almost reminds me of you in your better days, Retz," Zix observed.

Retz paid her no mind and the team headed for a nearby stairway to get up to the catwalks above. With how loud the assembly line machinery was, the workers seemed to pay little mind to whatever new noise was occurring nearby. They were too focused on their work.

"We should probably clear them out before the whole crapper hits the fan," Kasumi observed.

"Later," Retz assured. "We need to clear this brewery first. What do we know?"

"If we continue along the walkway, we can locate the security station in the central hub," Zix claimed. "Intel suggests it takes care of all security for the whole distillery. Take them out, the rest of this place becomes a lot easier to manage."

"Fine," Retz concurred. "Let's move it then."

The team hurried along the platform, mindful of every bend in the walkway and other security personnel likely patrolling it. Zix led the way, considering she supposedly knew where to go. Retz might have agreed with her plan, but that didn't mean he wasn't suspicious. Where best to locate something you wanted in a place than at their security hub after all? If that conversation in the transport had proven anything to Retz it was that he was onto something and he wasn't about to be complacent. Not with her, not again.

---

The irrigation ditch was filthy, not the most ideal place to walk through. It was, however, under the line of sight of the Jackals at the security door. So the Master Chief wasn't about to be picky about using it. The vegetation around the area was helpful in concealment, but the lower you got the less the enemy was likely to see you. Especially when one of you was a big alien reptile with a huge hump.

Checking his team's positioning on his HUD, he saw that the others were already in place near the right flank of the gate. Chief readied the suppressed submachine gun while Fred, Linda and Kelly did the same. Motion tracker was detecting movement over the rise, so they'd have to be quick.

"Move on my mark," he ordered the team. "Mark."

Chief moved briskly out of the ditch and fired at the back of the head of one of the Jackal Pirates walking past. As he dropped, Kelly fired her own submachine gun at a second guard standing at attention close-by. The bullets struck him as he turned slightly in their direction. Fred fired on the guard tower overhead taking out the Needler Rifle Jackal standing watch there. The team moved quickly to cover, minimizing their time in the open as much as possible.

Looking over the barricade, Chief saw three idle Jackals by the guard house close to them. He motioned Kelly and Fred to move left and right while he went up the middle. Linda remained behind to cover their approach. As they moved forward, Chief kept his sights on the guardhouse, he pushed to the open entry way and moved inside, firing on the Jackal within. Kelly and Fred had already gunned down their targets as they moved forward.

Chief looked across the way to the second guardhouse, he saw Kelly digging her knife into the pirate standing watch inside, while Samara had one on the ground. Her biotic punch made sure he didn't get up from the dirt.

They had quickly taken the gate, good start to things. When he turned though, he saw a sentry turning a corner near the tower. Apparently he had gone off for a leak. Chief moved to shoot him as the Jackal noticed them, but that was not necessary. Grunt came out of nowhere, tackled the Jackal to the ground and pummeled him into pulp. Chief supposed that was the Krogan way of being stealthy.

Grunt stood back up and headed over to the team.

"We good?" He asked.

"Seems like it," Chief confirmed. "Let's get Linda up top so she can give us a decent enough view inside. Then we can set the charge and blow the doors."

---

Zix waited patiently at the corner before she darted out and dug her dagger deep into the guard's neck. Krez tried something similar by going after a guard from behind, but the rookie had stabbed his target wrong. He managed to get his hands around his opponent's beak to silence him, but the struggle nearly gave everything away until Retz came over and snapped the guard's neck. As the body fell to the walkway, Retz took Krez aside.

"Go for the critical artery here," Retz said pointing it out on his neck. "Next time he'll drop quicker."

Krez just nodded and kept moving. Retz didn't really blame the guy, he was probably not used to stealthing, but at least he was trying and thankfully he wasn't doing this alone. Retz now dragged the body back to a clandestine spot, out of the general line of sight of anyone below, putting it with Zix's kill.

They were close to the security hub now, just in the next room. They had already past mixing as well as tempering and filtration. Now they were closing in on extraction. It made some sense, if the security hub overlooked the Chorka pens, it would be easier to keep an eye on the most valued part of the whole operation.

They entered the extraction room from two separate doorways. One in front of the security hub, the other behind it. The front of the hub looked out over onto the Chorka pens, where part of the wall oof the distillery opened up onto a view of the vast ocean.

From on the walkway, you could see some of the Chorka pods swimming among themselves in the open water. They couldn't leave though, as a gate cut them off from the ocean itself and there appeared to be netting all around the outer perimeter to further decrease the likelihood of escape. At least the pods seemed to have enough room inside here as the section that made up their ocean pool took up most of the floor, with various platform pathways crisscrossing the water. Closer to the open ocean, there were heavy steel bars lining the area looking out over into the ocean. Extra measures probably to keep the Chorka in. The ichor extraction machines were closer to the concrete floor, large fabric sheets with large milking units for the various boils and glands.

The security hub itself was a large octagonal room suspended over the floor. Currently occupied by four guards inside, with two patrolling outside. They didn't seem aware of their infiltration yet, Keth kept the area covered with his Needler Rifle from the front, his watchful of the movements of the guards inside the hub. Retz, Kasumi and Zix were at the back entrance, looking at the hub from behind where they couldn't see any movement as it lacked any windows on this side. So Keth's position was crucial n reporting where everyone was. Zek was with Keth as well, but he was on watch for someone else.

"Varvok ain't inside yet," he observed. "He said he was entering along the waterway, he should be in by now. I'll raise him, get inside the security hub."

With those orders, Retz moved along the walkway, Zix behind him and Kasumi presumably moving in her own direction. He couldn't see her since she had activated her cloak. Their first target was one of the guards they could see, walking along the walkway near the side door. Zix of course moved quickly, bypassing Retz entirely. She fell upon the guard, stabbing him repeatedly as she brought him down before slicing across his throat.

"Okay, Ghost Striker knocked out the other guy," Keth reported in. "Oh and she's climbing onto the roof of the hub now, okay."

"Probably going in from up top," Retz surmised. "Okay, hitting that room is gonna be a bit loud. We best be fast and clean."

Retz and Zix moved up to the side door as Kasumi crept along the roof. She found an emergency hatch above and began to open it through some quick hacking.

"I think she's got something open," Keth reported. "Yeah, holding up I think a flash grenade. Alright, there's two guards directly to your left and right on your entry point. They're busy with their screens. Another guy is looking at reports in the center. The other guy is joining him from his console. I suggest you go when Ghost Striker drops her banger in there."

Zix peeked through the door ever so slightly, readying their entry. She had her knife out, Retz had his plasma pistols. Once they did this, it was likely things would get hot soon after. They hadn't taken out every guard in here. Even if they didn't hear this, it wouldn't be long before they realized they lost command-and-control.

When Kasumi dropped the flashbang though, there was no more going back. The loud flash and subsequent noise caught the security Jackals inside completely by surprise. They were still clutching at their eyes when Zix and Retz broke in. Zix lashed out at the first guard at the front of the hub, smashing his face into his console and then stabbing him through the back of the neck. Retz moved nimbly through the door and fired three shoots at the guard at the back and then two more at the guards in the center. His shots hit their targets, causing the guard to his direct right to keel over in his chair while one of the center guards took two blasts to the face and dropped.

The fourth guard was still alive though and made a dash for the console, Retz could only assume he was headed for an alarm button. He opened fire, but missed twice. Kasumi then came crashing in through the front window, her kick smashing into the guard's face. He fell backwards, crashing into a small support pillar and crumpled to the floor.

"Good thing Snarlbeak skimmed on bulletproof glass huh?" Kasumi laughed.

"Why would he? We don't use bullets," Zix questioned.

"Right, right, plasma and needles, sorry," Kasumi remembered.

With the security hub cleared, Retz motioned the others to move. As they entered the extraction area proper, Retz also noticed someone else entering as well from the side water entry walkway. Varvok and his team, moving in perpendicular order.

"Four-Eyes!" Zek called over the radio as he noticed the batarians. "Where were you? You didn't answer us."

"Sorry, Zek, we ran into a problem," Varvok reported as they fan out across the area. "Patrol boat of some kind, it moved in to dock with a fresh load of security forces. We managed to ambush them quietly but... well..."

"Well what?" Zek asked. "Are we made?"

"No, but... we might have a... complication."

That did not sound at all good. Retz was already looking at Zix, who seemed nonplused over the conversation. She was to busy fiddling with the camera controls for the time being. Retz didn't want to leave her alone, but it sounded like he and Zek needed to talk to Varvok. He looked to Kasumi and pointed his eyes towards Zix. She just nodded, knowing that she now was on surveillance duty.

Zek and Retz went down to the extraction floor and across the over-water walkways. The chorka were swimming about below their feet, blissfully unaware that anything was amiss. Some even seemed to dance a little, swishing and swaying, probably expecting it was meal time and they'd get some juicy fish or crustaceans.

Varvok was at the very end of the walkways, looking out over the ocean before them. The batarian looked... disturbed. He had his binoculars out, scanning the water.

"Worried about more patrol boats?" Zek asked.

"No," Varvok assured. "But... when we threw some of the bodies of the security guards on the boat at dock over... something came up from the water."

"What?" Zek asked, leaning over the side of the railing through the bars. "Is a chorka loose?"

Varvok didn't answer the question, he just suddenly grabbed Zek and pulled him back from the railing. With good reason, something exploded up from the water and crashed into the walkway's steel bars. As the water splashed back down, what had jumped out of the water was still there, holding by a huge set of teeth. Correction, it's second set of teeth inside it's second mouth. It thrashed about for another moment before releasing itself and crashing back into the water, its big, black lifeless looking eyes just glaring backup at them in hunger lust. The chorka shrieked and panicked, swimming back from the edge of their little pen, back to the safety of the pod and away from the newcomers not giving them treats.

"That is what came up," Varvok said, helping a stunned Zek to his feet. "It ate one of the bodies we tossed overboard and almost went after one of my men when he nearly fell in from the shock."

"A fucking Razorfin!" Zek screamed in terror. "There's a fucking Razorfin out there! Why the fuck is there a fucking Razorfin swimming this close to the fucking brewery?!"

The bars now made sense, as did a lot of the signs Retz had just noticed as they approached the edge of the walkway. All of them about keeping hands inside and to refrain from cutting yourself near the water., to wear gloves at all times to prevent cutting yourself. Because Razorfins could smell blood in the water from five nautical miles away, maybe even more.

As for why it was here, Retz figured the obvious.

"It's the last line of defense," he reasoned. "No Chorka will ever swim out into open water with a Razorfin swimming around."

"Not a razorfin," Varvok cautioned.

He handed Retz the binoculars and pointed out to the water. Skimming along the surface, were two other fins cresting the water. There were three, Snarlbeak had put three Razorfins here as an extra security precaution. Probably not just to keep the Chorka in, but from any unauthorized swimmers from getting inside his precious Ichor Brewery. He knew Old Scratch was a paranoid asshole, but this was overboard.

"Three of them," Retz said aloud trying to keep his composure. "There are three razorfins in the water. There is no way the Chorka will get past them all."

"What does it matter?" Varvok asked. "We can still blow the distillery, right?"

"With the Chorka inside?" Zek replied, halfway offended. "You want us to kill off who knows how many precious lineage vintages! Are you nuts!?"

"Okay, alright, I get it," Varvok said, quickly recognizing his mistake. "No killing the Chorka, should've guessed."

Retz, however, had other things on his mind. Complication to their plans not withstanding, he knew where to put the blame for this. Looking back to the hub, he could see Zix and she was staring back at him. She had kept something from them, he knew she had. He just didn't know why yet.

And as he looked back, that was when he heard a distant explosion. Moments later... a compound wide alarm siren.

The Spartans had made their move. Surprise was out the window. The raid had officially begun.

AN: This is shorter than usual, but it's the result of splitting up things for my initial plans. Good news I'm still working and at least now you didn't have to wait too long for an update. I'll be sure to get back to this sooner than usual. Thank you once again for sticking with me. Next time, we'll see about those Razorfins and what else Zix is keeping from our heroes.