I do not own Mass Effect, or anything related to it.

My original plan was to not start posting Ronin until January, once I had at least the first act fully written. Unfortunately things have happened in my personal life that have.. made me reconsider the notion of waiting even that long. Life is short, and if people enjoy what I write then I feel like I should put it out there as I do so, rather than holding onto it and putting it out in a self-gratifying manner later.

Currently the prologue (four and a half chapters), plus the first two chapters of Act 1 are completed. They will be released on a bi-weekly schedule, but as with the end of Terminus – the more reviews each chapter gets the faster the next chapter will post. At least, until I'm out of the ones 'on deck'.

AR: Ronin will begin posting tomorrow, likely in the very early morning (by US - CST). Until then, here is a short teasing preview.

An explosive breath blew out of my lungs when my body hit the floor. I had enough momentum that I rolled the rest of the way into cover, tracer shots whipping through the air that I had been occupying a few moments before.

"This is not going well!" Rane shouted in my direction, her omni-tool glowing bright red as a tech mine whirled out from the launcher on her right hip. The cackling explosion of an overload was punctuated by a Turian oath as the gunfire cut out.

"Keep up the overloads!" I snapped back, scrambling up to one knee and trying to bring my pistol around. "Don't let him close! And start shooting dammit!"

Rather than waste breath acknowledging me like she once would have, she simply yanked a pistol off her belt with her free hand while directing another mine downrange with her other. She wasn't the best shot with the light weapon, but in this situation I'd take any extra fire that she could give us.

I'd barely gotten my Acolyte up before our opponent was up and moving again. Ignoring the fact that his shields had to be drained, the barrel chested alien rose and broke into a lateral sprint. The asshole didn't even seem to be slowed in the slightest by his jet black armor, or to have any problems snapping off bursts from his rifle on the run.

Accurate fucking bursts at that.

He'd moved fast enough that the second overload from Rane missed entirely, and neither one of us did more than wing him with our return fire. In comparison, his own shots hammered at my companion's dark navy plates until she had to drop into cover as her barriers failed.

Swearing in highborn Batarian, I shifted my pistol to a one handed grip to snap my own omni-tool open. I was painfully reminded of my pistol's limitations when I managed to smack a round into his shoulder that didn't slow him in the slightest.

Before I could get an incinerate off he dropped into a power slide, vanishing behind a wrecked aircar to break my omni-tool's lock. "Son of a.. Rane, twenty meters, one and a half up!"

"Angle!?"

Shit. "Fifteen left!"

The problem with having to talk in the middle of a fight was that it gave your opponent time to make their own plans. By the time my incinerate and her overload were airborne, our target was already moving again. The double explosion of our tech mines did little more then singe his back as he vaulted the aircar's hood and broke into a sprint straight at us.

The charge would have been worrying enough by itself, but he felt the need to hurl a pair of grenades right at my face before his feet even hit the ground. My reflexes were decent, but even a Salarian couldn't have moved fast enough to get out of the way.

A pop was followed by a flash of white, my helmet trying to block out the worst of the flash-bang by cutting my visor to black and shutting off the external speakers. It helped, somewhat, but the second grenade rendered it entirely moot by exploding in a more traditional manner.

I'd gotten far enough way from the explosion not to be killed instantly, but my shields still collapsed as my back was peppered with fragments.

Stumbling a few steps, I tried to straighten only for something to smack straight into my helmet and send me sprawling to the ground.

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat