I came back. Yeah, sorry about the months away. University takes its time, but now I have time to write once again.

(2000CE), Kharshan , Batarian Hegemony

Vitelia Moledai was a Turian of old tradition. He was part of one of the best warrior families in the Turian Hierarchy, with ancestors who fought against the central government during the unification wars. Their chief, the ruler of Epyrus, caused so much damage to the hierarchy that they were respected to the point of being one of the few who returned to the hierarchy in a nonviolent way.

And he was still showing the fierce capabilities to be respected in the Hierarchy, to the point of gaining the greatest honor of being assigned as a Specter of the council, tasked with enforcing the laws of the council throughout the galaxy, bringing stability and peace to his people.

Or that was what he thought until he was sent to the Batarian Hegemony's capital of Kharshan, where it's honestly hard to imagine a worse place to live. The streets are in disarray, even though he knew that the Batarians, when escorting him to the Hegemon, took him through routes that didn't show the worst parts of their capital.

Still, Vitelia could see it: slaves being taken to one side and another, Batarians using leashes to punish the slaves that stopped working. Simple tasks like cleaning the surroundings were done by Asari, other Turians, even Volus, and some Hanar, who were used as fancy transport for Batarian high-class individuals, whom he could easily say they liked it.

It was sickening, but Vitelia had work to do, so he swallowed his anger at these sickening views and waited until he was finally in the hegemony's central government in the capital to obtain answers to his questions and get on with his work.

Minutes passed after entering the shuttle to the hegemony government, and I was taken to the hegemon's office. The hegemon, with a neutral expression, answered.

"Welcomed, honorable Specter. What can I do for you?" said the hegemon in a clearly faked happy acting.

"Well, it was mostly pleasant," said the Turian, looking around to inspect the hegemon's office. Nothing unexpected for a Batarian—a pistol at his side, cameras instead of windows to see the building. Something more you'd see on the security side, but probably it's here because of the Batarian paranoia.

"But let's get to the point. I am here looking for information about the beacon that the pirates took," said the Specter to the hegemon, making clear his intentions. To which he only answers, "Ah, yes. Those savages who dare to attack the hegemony's frontiers. Our explorers were in the northern sectors, exploring new lands to colonize, when suddenly a bunch of pirates attacked the place. The brave local commander tried to stop them, but was betrayed and captured by the pirates, who not only took the local beacon, which was detected by the fleet, but also some Batarian ships. We will give you all the information you need to rescue our people and capture those thieves who stole something that must be shared with the civilizations of the Citadel, as it is a Prothean beacon."

These are the dirty moments that Vitelia hates about the job, having to hold his body to shoot him for the obvious lie he was telling. The STG information gave her a clearer picture: it wasn't a beacon, but some ships, probably Prothean. And worse, he had acted as if he cared for her people while, in the building surrounding them, people from all races of the Citadel were just being enslaved to death, and she could do nothing.

But he has a job to do, so let the Hegemon give him the information and later inform him about the investigation that was about to be done. It's obvious whether he accepted it sincerely or not; Vitelia has a job to do.

He was going on a pirate hunt.

(2000CE), Terminus system , Atrica Tranverse frontier , Sokaror pirate fleet

Life in the terminus systems is simpler than the rest of the galaxy thinks. You just follow a set of rules, well, unofficial rules that act more like norms than actual rules.

One doesn't ask where your provider obtains the weapons, supplies, or slaves that you want; just give the money and shut up.

Second, when they offer something, always make them show at least half of the products they offer as guaranteed that you will not be tricked. It's not uncommon for citadel bandits running to terminus to be tricked by terminus merchants. It's just like the krogan tradition: if you survive, you're strong; if you don't, well, in the terminus, nobody cares.

And third, and most importantly, don't mess with the ruler of Omega unless you have the weapons and soldiers to back you up in case you have to fight the most important mercenary groups that live there. Well, make it enemies of Omega; it's being an enemy of most of the Terminus system.

Every warlord respects the ruler of Omega, the old Prothean station, making it the perfect place for pirates and warlords from all the Terminus systems to sell their rings for profit outside of Council control.

So naturally, in a place like that, there exists a hierarchy where the most powerful alliances of warlords and mercenary groups take a seat, with the most powerful taking the seat of the Omega ruler.

The Omega Ruler is like the unofficial claim for the one who acts as the voice of control between warriors' gangs and makes Omega the merchant place that it is.

Usually, the ruler was respected as the arbiter figure who had their title because they had more weapons, more troops, and more intelligence. It was the rule of the fift in all its glory, respected by the terminus system.

Or that what's until two decades when some Asari bitch called Aria took the control of the old Krogan Warlord that ruled the place, using the contacts she had with Eclipse and spies in the Blood Pack. It wasn't anything new; the rulers of Omega are decided by power. After all, nobody wants some pesky Citadel rules over them.

Krogans, Batarians, Asari, Turians, Salarian, heck, stories of even Elcor, Volus, or even Vorcha ruling the place.

But things changed with Aria. She not only wanted the loyalty of the local mercenary groups around Omega, but she also wanted a cut of their profits made in Omega.

That spark the anger of the terminus warlords who dared that Asari bitch to dictate them like that. These are not the citadel lands to go making things like that. Omega was a place of freedom, not the personal fiefdom of hers to play. One thing is the money the mercenaries give to maintain the station, but other all different. It's given to these bitches directly.

So Sokaror, like any reasonable Warlord, did when he received the offer to take a job for a Batarian noble. Of course, he took it. Usually, those are the most lucrative because they usually make a good chunk of credits. If not, credits well, things to dismantle and sell in Omega. In his case, both things.

Sure, I have to do the job for some stupid Batarian who thinks he can order me around because he gave me credits, like I'm some kind of slave. I had to "accidentally" kill him with a shotgun to his face. I was tired of his voice and blamed the laser that damaged the Batarian flagship. After all, it was only me and a bunch of my people there to see the laser pass through, so it wasn't difficult to get rid of the Batarian.

As the old Krogan saying goes, a Krogan who lets his guard down in the deserts of Tuchanka becomes food for the beasts.

Now he was here in his base of operations in an asteroid ring, doing what all good terminus warlords do: seeing the rewards for the last expedition and kind of like it.

Core of a private Batarian fleet with ezoo cores intact to dismantle or modified to turn in pirates ships to his fleet patrols ships are always useful for a Warlord that want his lands free of scumbag

Or at least that's where the functional ones are. The insufficiently capable ships, like the modified private ships, will be dismantled for their parts to repair other ships or sold on Omega for credits.

However, his thoughts were interrupted by a conversation between two Vorchas.

"You can't believe it, don't you?"

"Of course, it's impossible how a bunch of pathetic creatures were capable of controlling such weapons."

Yes, the great weapons that were rapidly rumored among the crew that day, when a bunch of slaves hid on some kind of strange ship and ran from the pirates using weapons that, even with clear signals of ancient technology, the machine was capable of escaping the clutches of the pirates.

After that day, the rumor rapidly spread among the pirates that whoever found that possibly Prothean ship could gain the upper hand against other warlords.

But that was not the thing that made him be in his command post.

The thing that makes him right now is the Batarian holding him hostage, with his mouth shut to prevent him from talking. Once again, he calls the Hegemon of the Batarians, creating a hostage situation that gains attention due to his contacts.

"You know very well, Krogan, that the Hegemony will not negotiate the release of some foolish Batarian who screwed it up. You can feed them to the varren; we don't care," the Hegemon said with a cold voice that made it clear whether it was sincere or good acting, and being a Batarian, it's probably the first."

"I know that very well, Batarian. However, I also know that your precious people can't wait to make a fuss about a precious noble being captured by Terminus pirates. It could be a pity that someone divulged this information to your state. The Terminus always likes the blood in the air," said the Krogan with a clearly deadly glare.

Because he could be a Krogan, but it wasn't foul. To be a successful warlord in the Terminus System, one always needed some brains to back him up, and his weren't small.

Because the Hegemony tried to enforce his control in the Terminus system, especially in his frontier. The truth is that his efforts are always setback by local warlords, who make every system they try to take, even with proxies, pay in blood. That's why he first tries to influence pirates, using them as "proxies" to blame when they raid Council caravans.

Sadly for them, this always means that warlords like him can easily push them around if they find information or ransom them for finally killing the Batarian who had it hostage.

"Still, my answers are the same. Don't fuck up with the hegemony. Our ships can easily deal with pathetic slave rebellions, and with the terminus frontier, don't push your luck too far, Krogan." The conversation was cut off, which was not surprising to anyone.

We will see who is pushing his luck, Batarian fool, said the old Krogan, calling some Vorcha to take the Batarian to his cell and preparing some contacts to spread rumors about the ransom that would make the frontier chaotic enough to be more profitable for raiding and less dangerous. It's not like he didn't like a good challenge, but every ship lost is a ship that could have been used to protect his lands for other warlords

Because he could be a Krogan, but it wasn't foul. To be a successful warlord in the Terminus System, one always needed some brains to back him up, and his weren't small.

Thanks for reading. As always, I accept any constructive criticism received to improve my writing.