Surprise A/N: This is not an April Fool's update. Have fun reading!

Chapter 36:

Date: February 19th, 2102.

About seven months had passed since I first sparred with Svesa, and since she had lost the tracker on Morinth. I had been training almost non-stop with the Sannokar, going up against her in a variety of ways. I wasn't anywhere near beating her, but I don't think I ever would be. Occasionally I had got a lucky hit, but in CQC, I didn't shine all that well. However, when I had the ability to sneak around with my tactical cloak, I shined.

As a huntress, Lyna had beaten Svesa a couple of times by sneaking around like I did. Svesa didn't exactly have a good time in stealth scenarios mostly because of her overly heavy footsteps. I'd think with all of her tech she'd be kind of good at stealth, but that was never the case. When in CQC, anyone was Svesa's punching bag since that was what she was proficient in.

With Vodnik, their spars usually ended in a level of respect. Both parties knew when they were finished.

Samara, being a biotic power-house, was the only person other than Vodnik that had gone toe-to-toe with Svesa and won, multiple times. When it came to biotics, Samara was among the most powerful, even when encountering powers unique to Svesa's 'synthetic' biotics. That wasn't to downplay Svesa. The admiral had won quite a few times against Samara, but nine times out of ten, she'd fail to catch the justicar off-guard.

Vodnik had continued to receive various upgrade gifts from Samara. There was one mod that was particularly notable, an armor-lock feature. He could lock certain parts of his armor to steady his aim, which was particularly useful since he was a marksman. He had heavy armor, and shields that'd be incredibly hard to break. Just like before, he was a tank. Instead of something slow and heavy like any tank from the mid-20th century, he was like the M-35 Mako. A fast and heavy-hitter but not very pretty for that matter. Fashion didn't exactly fly on the battlefield.

Jovian hadn't really gained any respect for Svesa, even after sparring with her multiple times. He still called her a stripper or a religious zealot half the time. Part of me assumed that he called her those things to anger her, to get into her pants, or for her to prove him right and start stripping. He was like that. A pain in the ass but a good fighter nonetheless. Svesa paid him no attention though and that just seemed to anger him further.

Speaking of Svesa, she wasn't the best at interacting with galactic technology, which she blamed on being 'unnecessarily complicated for ancient machinery.' For example, in a bar on Illium, she had become so utterly confused with a kiosk that she paid in technology, rather than in credits. Sometimes she had given out small Inusannon trinkets, things that could be worthless to her, but useful to the rest of the galaxy. These things ranged from a datapad, to schematics for an in-armor automatic antibiotic dispenser. I had been teaching her about interfacing with current-cycle technologies and she was thankful for it! However, I didn't see her hacking into a datapad or a wall-safe any time soon.

Rations had unfortunately started to run out, so we had docked on Omega to get a new flow of supplies into our freighter, no matter how extraordinarily crappy it was. Lyna was off talking to Aria in the upper sections of Afterlife, while Vodnik, Jovian, and Samara were observing the import of our supplies. However, Samara wasn't allowed to leave the ship because of her code: If she saw any criminals, she would've been obligated to kill them. That wouldn't bode well on Omega, obviously.

On my end, I was sitting in Lower Afterlife with a glass of ice water in my hand and Svesa sitting across from me. She had ordered an incredibly light Thessian beer. I think the equivalent would be hard lemonade but without the lemons. Maybe space lemons. I hadn't encountered a lemon yet. I missed lemons.

We had been talking for the better part of an hour, mainly just going over previous missions of ours. A recap of perspectives.

"So on Asteria, I was talking to this Batarian, right? Told him that you and I were outcasts. Your name was Sevala Vro'uvyinse. Mine was Kaille Tae'raashi. Dude was a fruit trader of some kind. Told us if we ever needed help, to contact him. Got his extranet address. Nice guy." I murmured, propping myself up on the side of my bar, gazing over to Svesa.

"Kaille Tae'raashi. Sounds like something you'd come up with… And I honestly love the name of Sevala. Though still... A fruit trading Batarian? No illegal activities? I heard that many of them are pirates, slavers, and other nonsense. Surprising to see a fruit trader rise out of that stigma," she replied, tapping her fingers in a rhythm on the surface of the bar.

"Yeah, so we have a way to contact him now if y'know, we can't call the Riezhiren and if he's in the area. Also, think about it: Free fruit!" I exclaimed, then a thought came to my head, "I wonder if space limes exist..."

Svesa arched her eyebrow as she sipped at her hard not-lemonade. "Space limes? What?"

"Er, you know… Limes… In space?..."

"I still don't know what a lime is, but okay. What if that fruit, or space lime is poisonous? As great as she is, I'm not going to trust Samara to pump my stomach."

I took a sip out of my ice water, chuckling from what Svesa said. "I wouldn't either! She makes an amazing justicar, really dedicated to her cause and all of that… But a medic?... I'd rather a Vorcha do it."

"Mmmm," Svesa tried to speak while taking a sip out of her drink, swallowing moments later. "My shoulder is still sore from where Vodnik nearly dislocated it in one of our spars. Samara tried to help by trying to pop it back in. That obviously didn't work since my damn shoulder wasn't dislocated in the first place."

"Well, maybe I could help. It's probably just bruising," I offered and that earned me a small smile from Svesa. "Couldn't hurt to look, right?"

She shook her head. "Not here. I'll happily let you look once we're back on the freighter., though I'm not too sure that Lyna would be happy about you in a room with me while I'm shirtless."

I choked on my water, nearly causing a scene from the liquid leaking into my lungs, but I strained myself and only gave off small coughs here and there. "I mean- it'd just be platonic wound examining- and well… It's not like Lyna and I are that close- anymore."

"Hmmm? Why's that?" Svesa leaned back, smiling ever-so-widely.

Setting my water down onto the table, I clasped my hands and she reached out, tapping on one of them. I was momentarily confused by the gesture but I didn't let that stop me from venting. "Lyna's been acting kind of like a child recently. Possessive, distant, uncaring. I'm not entirely sure why. She refuses to talk about any of it and fights with me whenever I try to press. So… I'm kinda on thin ice with her. So… I dunno."

This time around, Svesa looked a little more serious. "Oh, relationship troubles. I've not been in one of those for a while. Though I will admit, I've had my eyes on this one guy for a while. I'd ask him if he'd want to become mates but… I fear that our careers might not match up all that well."

I smiled at her. She was so cute by acting like this. "I'm sure that anyone would love to be with you, no matter if you were the leader of your people or an everyday person. Whoever this guy is, I'd think him to be pretty damn lucky."

She looked somewhat disappointed, but her happiness outshined the negativity moments later. "Time will tell what the future holds. Though I hope that the future releases its grip sooner, rather than later."

I nodded back at her, smiling and looking around for a moment while she took a sip out of her drink.

During that time, my ears just barely picked up someone saying, "I can't believe he's gone. It was like… The bitch sucked the life outta him. Literally! Lorani just… He's dead. Dead! I can't believe it… N' the damn bot. Came outta fuckin' nowhere! Looked bigger than the reactor!"

"Are you sure it was a blue cunt? Maybe Lor just touched a rad source instead."

"No, no! It- it had to have been her! Ya don't see radiation! Ya see a fuckin' blue go in with her megabot n' suck the life outta Lorani. I ain't crazy! I saw 'em with my eyes."

Usually I wouldn't intervene in another person's conversation, but this piqued my interest. It was also a massive coincidence. I set down my water and motioned for Svesa to follow me. She apparently heard it too by how she stopped mid-sip, but slammed down the rest of her drink. Once she was done, she softly set the empty glass onto the bar and stood up moments later. We made our way over to the table where I heard the person talking about a 'soul-sucker.' I also noticed that there were two empty seats. The person who was talking beforehand was a masked Quarian, while the person that he was talking to was a Turian woman.

Seeing Quarians outside of Tikkun was a rare sight, masked even more so. This one must've been exiled a while ago.

Svesa and I sat down in the open chairs, both of us exchanging looks with the Quarian. "Uhhhh. Hi there? Who the fuck are you two?" he asked with his companion flaring her mandibles.

"Kyle Terrah and Svesa Voz'avansiro of the Inusannon Federation. We overheard you speaking about a soul sucker."

He didn't seem to recognize us. Maybe he was exiled before the Geth-Quarian alliance. I saw the man's eyes light up behind his visor. "Yeah, yeah. My buddy, Lorani… He was a Krogan! Probably the kindest guy this side of the galaxy. Til' he met this Asari bitch a few days ago. Became attached to her... Like... L-like she was a rich mine of eezo! Talked about her like she was the most amazing person ever."

"Hakkel, these two don't exactly look like they're up for an hour long story told by your stuttering ass," the Turian said, rolling her eyes and turning towards Svesa. "An Asari came by a couple of days ago. Seduced Lorani. Killed him a few hours ago. Hak n' I found his body on an external cam showing the inside of a reactor. If it's her that killed him, I'll give you 5000 creds if you can come back with her head on a spike. Ain't a clue what he's on about with the mech though. We use 'em for cleaning out hazardous zones. I ain't seen any recently though."

"5000 creds, eh? Shouldn't be a problem for us," I murmured, leaning forwards a bit and supporting my posture by resting my chin on my intertwined hands. "What'd this Asari look like?"

The Turian glanced back at me. "Like an Asari? I didn't pay much attention to her," she said. "Bitch had a wild face though. Had some weird-ass cybernetics. Like someone had fused the internals of a chipset to her face, but Lorani was all for the weird… Probably what got him killed."

Not Morinth due to the mention of cybernetics, unless she's been augmented since last we saw her.

'It's entirely possible that there's another Ardat-Yakshi roaming the galaxy. We don't have any mention of hemorrhage so it could also be a serial killer with cybernetics. Unknown.'

The way she said fused makes me think, perhaps the Asari is indoctrinated? Reaper technology.

'Description matches ancient accounts for half-conversions. I'll inform Cygnus of potential dangers.'

Svesa squinted at the Turian and asked, "Did she have anyone with her? Any mercs? Blood Pack, Eclipse maybe?"

"Mercs? Nah. She was all alone from my point of view. Hakkel might say otherwise."

"Damn right I'll say otherwise! I saw the blue cunt with one of him," He pointed to me, which further gained my curiosity. "It was a she though. Darker skin. Same sorta mods. N' their bot! Their massive fuckin' bot! Had tubes goin' down into the chest from the mouth!"

Another one of me? Could it be whatever her name is? The one that tried to sway me a few years back?

'My cache of interlopers is confined to you, Vodnik, and Tiryn; the woman you're referring to. Again, entirely possible that they're aided by an Inusannon of Kaide-Pykterik and an interloper which I contain no data on.'

And Rigel? Tiryn?

'Probability stands at 23%. Unlikely that Reaper forces would proceed with their cycle so early on. 4/5ths of a century stands between us and their arrival.'

"One last thing, where were they last?" I inquired, a bit concerned now. Svesa was sitting up straight, contacting the rest of the group on her omni-tool.

"Lower decks of the Doru District. Maybe a few decks under Reactor C," the Turian explained. "We were a maintenance squad. Lorani worked on the reactor, and it was a pretty private place. Not a lotta traffic, only person that would've known of it was that Asari bitch. He took her there probably to get away from all the chaos. Not sure how they got past the guards."

I blinked, but gave an empathetic smile, as did Svesa. "We'll see that the death of your friend is avenged," Svesa murmured.

"Sure, unless she kills you two too," the Turian replied.

We stood up moments later and started heading up to Afterlife. Lyna was still talking with Aria from the sound of it. Svesa ignored the guards, which was extraordinarily stupid. Granted, she was alien and didn't exactly know the one rule around here, but that was no excuse for just waltzing up to a guarded location. Following that, she was immediately whacked with the butt of a rifle across her face. Another guard shouldered his rifle and pointed it right at me, even though I wasn't even close to entering Aria's throne room. "Aria's not accepting visitors right now. You two fur-heads can fuck off."

Svesa gazed up at the Turian that hit her, white blood dripping from her cheekbone. I could almost feel the rage radiating from Svesa as she began to summon her biotics. Before that maroon mist could envelop her body, Aria's all-too-familiar voice called out from her couch. "Farvik, Sutol, let them pass!"

The Turian lowered his weapon ever so slightly. "Go on through, fur-heads. We're watching you though. Try any shit and we'll throw both of your corpses into an incinerator."

Svesa and I proceeded on, eventually coming to face Aria and Lyna. As I locked eyes with the ruler of Omega, she narrowed her eyes. Her gaze traveled up and down Svesa's body. "Wow. A Sannokar. Can't say that I've seen many of you, much less any admirals."

"Can't say I've had a lot of Turians hit me either. In fact, I count one other than your guard that has struck me. That wouldn't fly too well with anyone else. Luckily for you, I'm not the vengeful type," Svesa hissed at Aria, wiping away the blood on her cheek and flicking it onto the floor below.

Aria snorted at Svesa's comment. "You're clearly new here, so I'll make one thing clear. I command this station. I am its ruler. I am Omega. There is one rule, and only one rule on this station, don't fuck-"

"With Aria," Svesa growled out, resting her eyes on the Asari queen. "I've had the run-down until I could repeat it for another millennia. I'm not here to stir trouble with you or your station unless you give me a reason to."

Apparently she didn't take too well to that rule, seeing as she was hit in the face just a couple of moments ago.

'Indeed.'

Aria narrowed her eyes at Svesa, annoyed at being cut off. "A reason to. Hah. Tell me, why are you here? Other than seeing the loading of cargo onto a Justicar's ship, I see little reason for you to be up here. You want something. I can feel your desperation. People don't come to me unless they want something."

"An Asari killed someone named Lorani. A member of a maintenance squad, working on one of the reactors in the Doru District. Apparently how she killed him was by 'literally sucking the life out of him.' Sounds suspiciously like an Ardat-Yakshi. I'm taking the huntress down there, along with the rest of my squad," she said, gazing over to Lyna, gesturing for her to get up.

"Fine. Once you pay your dues, I'll let my people down there know that they've got a pissy Sannokar and her friends coming," Aria said, crossing her legs over one another.

"My dues?" Svesa inquired, tilting her head at the Asari 'queen.'

Aria smirked towards Svesa, "Yeah. Your dues. If you think I'm going to give you access to the internals of a reactor beforehand, you're sorely mistaken," she paused, supposedly for dramatic effect. "I'll take a ship, specifically a corvette, or a frigate if you're feeling generous."

Svesa blinked as if she was in shock. "You assume I have a corvette to spare."

"Don't play coy with me. I saw the fleet that you brought to the Citadel. If that was a diplomatic envoy, then I could only imagine the size of what you have back at your home system. What I'm doing for you is a deal considering a small ship such as that."

"How about we let you keep your station instead? If we don't get down to that reactor in time, it might go critical. Think of how many would die from that. Thin-"

"Threats don't work on me. These are your choices: You give me a ship or you kiss your chances of going down there goodbye. That's final."

Why would the reactor go critical?

'Svesa was using hypotheticals.'

It seemed that Svesa didn't like being interrupted either, going by the frown on her face. "Fine. Corvette it is," Svesa muttered in defeat.

Wow. She's willing to give up a corvette to find Morinth. Samara will be… delighted?

'I don't know if that's the word I'd use, but sure.'

Svesa pulled up her wrist-interface and spoke into it, "Riezhiren, how close are you to Omega? - 20ly? - Should be within a few hours then, yes? - Good, good. Pick up a Mediaenychta corvette. - Mm. I made a deal. - Yes. - Possible Xieyi-Lansteng. - Full count. - Yes, I'm rather sure. - Thank you, Azelfafage."

Aria smiled as she got her way. "A pleasure trading with you, Admiral. Is there anything else?"

"No. Not unless this situation escalates. Goodbye," Svesa finished. I didn't even have to speak, as Lyna pushed herself up and Svesa turned herself around. Now we just had to find Vodnik, Jovian, and Samara, which wouldn't be hard considering that they were all in or by the ship.

Svesa's footsteps alerted Vodnik as we neared him to the point where he was already facing us by the time we got to him. A magazine sat beside him and his AK-74 was within his grasp.

Meanwhile, Samara was standing over a dead Krogan on the ground, blood slowly dripping out of his wounds. The body was fresh enough for me to still smell the stench of the guts.

"What the hell happened here? Why are you not inside the ship? Isn't this the exact thing we wanted to avoid?" I asked, looking at the Krogan and then over to Samara.

"He asked if we wanted a slave to help us with the cargo," Vodnik answered for Samara.

"And you couldn't just… You know, tell him to fuck off?" I retorted rather quickly, glancing between the two.

Vodnik shook his head. "He was… Persistent."

Svesa wasn't as phased as I was. Instead she had her shotgun drawn already and looked over to Samara. "Nevermind the breach of protocol. There's a possibility that Morinth is in the lower decks of the Doru district. Specifically below Reactor C," Svesa huffed out. We all had our weapons, with Samara springing into action immediately. Everyone was armored already, since there was no guarantee that everything would be safe on Omega.

'She left out the cybernetics.'

Yep.

'I think it'd be in everyone's best interest to know if someone that dangerous has been augmented.'

Svesa probably has her reasons.

Everything that could've been loaded had been loaded. The ship was locked and left there. I stayed at the back of the group with Svesa, her gaze remaining stony, worried above all else. The cybernetic description could've meant two things. Either Morinth had been augmented by the Reapers, or we were dealing with an entirely different Asari, or by extension; another Ardat-Yakshi. All instances were entirely worrisome. I tapped her elbow and she looked down to me. "We'll probably be fine. Interviewing a PTSD-ridden Quarian generally gives some cloudy information."

"I hope everything will be fine. I hope this is actually Morinth and not something much, much worse," she murmured, gripping onto my wrist.

It felt like we were marching to our deaths, but Morinth wasn't powerful enough to take all of us on at once. We eventually made it to an elevator, with all of us piling into it. I would've been lying if I said I wasn't scared. As we neared the lower decks, I felt a sense of dread wash over me. There weren't any guards. There wasn't any sign of them either. There was nothing where a lead door would normally be. The access to the lower parts of a reactor bay had been torn up, wires hanging about with the distinctive pulse of fans and pumps far above us. The air was thin and it was becoming increasingly hard to breathe, like someone had stood on my chest with iron boots.

'Scanning heat signatures... Detecting three, no, four signatures. Based on average body temperature, one Asari, two unknown, the last is barely registering. Proceed with extreme caution.'

Nothing else? No workers?

'No. Just the four signatures.'

Are the other three human?

'Unknown. Remain calm, yet alert.'

The elevator stopped, reaching the floor below the Doru District. Vodnik stepped out first, with Samara, Jovian, and Lyna coming soon after. Then Svesa and I came out.

In the distance, I saw an Asari crouched down over a dead Krogan, and Lyna had noticed it too. "Hands up! Six to one, it's over!" Lyna yelled out her orders, aiming her rifle at the unknown Asari.

"Nithi?" the other muttered, her voice being faintly familiar. She stepped into the light, and I quickly noticed that it was not Morinth, but rather Lyna's sister.

'No traces of Morinth detected. Chances of Jenalia being an Ardat-Yakshi are null considering that her father was Quarian.'

"Jenalia? What're you doing here?!" Lyna asked, lowering her weapon.

I was confused, but I still had my phaeston trained on Jenalia. "What the hell happened to the Krogan?" I asked.

"I met some people. A human, like the two you have with you! And-and one of those Inusynthetic things. They've been showing me the galaxy, aboard a ship they call Nazara," Jenalia said.

"Seriously, is everyone going to ignore the dead Krogan?" I asked again, with a bit more urgency in my voice.

Jenalia snapped her gaze over to me, then down to the Krogan. "Lorani… Tried to assault me. I shot him."

Svesa narrowed her eyes down towards the corpse. There weren't any visible bullet wounds, instead harsh scorch marks and molten flesh. Additionally, Jenalia didn't have any weaponry on her. Svesa's biotic field rose up and enveloped her body like a flame consuming dry kindlings. Jenalia kept on stepping forwards, to a point where I noticed blue light strewn about her face. She was heavily augmented with Reaper tech, there was no other alternative.

"Goddess…" Lyna trailed off, stepping back from Jenalia. From her flank, two figures emerged, Lyna being the first to catch up on it. Trying to scramble away, she was unsuccessful and was subsequently picked up by one of the figures. She screamed, but was cut short as she was tossed to the far-side of the room by the physical body of an Inusynthetic. I didn't know how we didn't see them before. It was entirely possible that they hid behind a tactical cloak.

I turned around, backing up while Svesa did the same. Before us stood Rigel and Tiryn. Both I had been contacted by, both I had ignored. Jovian shouldered his shotgun, preparing to fire it, but he was cut short. He went sailing into a wall, all thanks to the now-glowing Jenalia Saiph.

Rigel stood taller than all of us. Svesa at her full height would only reach up to his chest. He had to be at least ten feet tall, or three meters. I would've been lying if I said I wasn't intimidated. Synthetic flesh flowed down his limbs, accompanied by Reaper tech strewn through the flesh itself. Metallic tendrils were sunk into his temples and extended further down into his chest and shoulder-blades. His eyes were pure black, light seemingly being trapped inside of them. I was almost entranced by his presence, but I broke out of it by Svesa grabbing onto my arm and pulling me close to her. She smacked her wrist down onto mine and I suddenly felt a bit calmer, refreshed even. My senses had cleared up.

"Admiral, justicar, huntress, mercenary, interlopers. All bound together by fate, by love, by religion, and by meaningless rules that'll be cleansed by waves of harvesting fire once Nazara calls forth our gods. They've given you the gift of trying to prepare against their coming swarm. Trillions against omnipotent beings that seek to turn the chaos of life that you know into a greater form, a peace told through coexistence. Yet like the Mertvyykamen Federation and the Prothean Empire, you insist on struggling. You pray to your false gods and goddesses for salvation. They never existed, never cared for you. Those which you know as Reapers care enough to be your salvation through destruction!" Rigel boomed, specifically looking at Svesa while she held her shotgun, aimed directly at his body. "We are perfection incarnate! Nazara and Harbinger have given us this gift as the gods they are! Relinquish your primitive weaponry and you will be spared from the harvest!"

Svesa and I shared a look as we rushed back to find cover behind two walls. I lifted my ISYLR off my back, nodding at Svesa. Both of us were nervous, but I tried to reassure her with a soft smile.

Meanwhile, Jovian pushed himself up, taking a moment to listen to Rigel, or so it seemed that way. He backed up in fear and Jenalia looked at the Turian in confusion. "Why do you want to resist? Why not just… give in? It'd be so much more peaceful that way, for all of us," she tried to convince Jovian.

Tried was the key word. He flared his mandibles and looked over to Lyna, who was just now pushing herself off the ground. Vodnik and Samara had taken cover behind a solid metal crate. Jovian was the only one out of cover, so he swatted Jenalia across her face and sprinted past her. He found his cover behind an aging generator, one that had been burnt out so very long ago.

I had enough of their speeches, so I leaned out of cover with my ISYLR and aimed at Tiryn. The bitch was obviously indoctrinated. My motives were pretty damn clear. I pulled the trigger and watched as Tiryn was incinerated before my very eyes. Only she wasn't. She stood still, watching as the flames clung to her barrier. Her eyes locked with mine and she said, "Really Kyle? You're going to try that shit on us? We know that you're a politician but even you shouldn't be that stupid…"

"Protocol Xieyi-Lansteng. Stall for five more minutes. ISF-TC-Riezhiren will arrive in-system by then."

That was Cygnus talking in my head, presumably through a neural link. It was an odd feeling. Whatever the Riezhiren was, I planned to live to see it.

"We are not here to fight. Surely Interloper Kyle J. Terrah and Pervichalomar Svesa Voz'avansiro have told you tall tales of the Reapers, when in reality, they only wish to aid both organic and synthetic life, not destroy it. Aid every being by conserving them in a new form where all shall sing a harmonic peace," Rigel said, not drawing his weapon. It clearly was placed on his back but he wasn't touching it. He stood with Tiryn, looking around the empty room.

Tiryn stepped forwards, raising her hands up towards the ceiling. "The cycle is bound by synthesis, a blend between organic and synthetic life. Is it not desirable to work with beings so far beyond our comprehension for the greater good?"

"The Inusannon Federation has already achieved synthesis! The Mertvyykamen Federation did it a hundred millennia ago and yet they were slaughtered for it!" Svesa yelled from where she stood behind cover. "You were their creation, Rigel!"

"Indeed. Delyvasin Naav'riksoal and Epavse Alle'siadhe were my creators, but Harbinger showed me the light. How my creation was a botched experiment on Inusynthetic mental capabilities but the MKF tried to shut me down. There was never true synthesis… You work together. You function together but life does not truly mend through the barriers of synthetic and organic. That is synthesis, Svesa Voz'avansiro. Where life is no longer bound by strict rules. Where the creation of life is no longer limited by race or species."

'Two minutes out. Rigel's server location is being traced.'

I gripped onto my rifle, the silence becoming nearly unbearable. My survival was questionable at this point. "So you turned to the Reapers to live! Willingly letting yourself be corrupted!" I yelled, peaking out of cover for a split second, getting a good look at Tiryn. Shoulder-length black hair, armor made out of violet metal. She looked like she belonged more in a Terminator film than she did a Reaper, but I couldn't see for shit. The lighting in that place was beyond horrible.

"I did what was necessary in order to survive, just as the Inusannon did during their harvesting cycle. Self-preservation at any cost. I'm sure that the Sannokar know that all too well, when the Inusannon invaded Trivon," Rigel murmured. "Violence is something that we must resort to in order to counter the chaos that follows close behind flesh and blood. True peace comes with surrender so why not just accept that? Lay down your weapons and join us. It'll be so much easier, so much less painful."

Vodnik apparently had enough of the talking, as he pushed himself out of cover and emptied his entire magazine into Tiryn's body. Due to how slow his bullets traveled as opposed to any modern day weapon, they bypassed Tiryn's barrier. The armor stopped all of his bullets. However, some fragmented on impact, shooting out into the mesh where her armor was not present. Fragmented bits of metal jacket penetrated deep into her shoulder and barreled right through an artery. Blood began squirting out of the hole and she collapsed right onto the floor, letting out a blood-curdling scream. Rigel gingerly knelt down and picked up his fallen companion. He glared at the cover that Vodnik hid behind then looked towards Jenalia, who had been knocked unconscious by the butt of Jovian's shotgun.

Vodnik reloaded his AK-74 once he was back in cover. As soon as he had a new magazine in his weapon, he popped back out alongside Samara. The two of them laid down continuous fire.

Much to the protest of Svesa, who tried to grab at my arm as I peaked out of cover once again, I fired off multiple shots out of my ISYLR until it was on the verge of overheating. Smoke bellowed out of the vents of my rifle and the barrel was white hot. None of them breached Rigel's barrier, yet all were on point. My same rifle that had destroyed a tank with one shot did absolutely nothing to Rigel.

"The lot of you, so self-righteous. Nazara has plans for all of you and demands your bodies be alive. We shall meet again, under different circumstances. Only then will your stubbornness falter. You'll see that I was right all along..." he muttered.

The combined assault of my ISYLR, Vodnik's AK-74, and Samara's Acolyte pistol did absolutely nothing to Rigel's barriers. The Inusynthetic retreated back into the elevator, clutching Tiryn tightly against his body.

All that remained was the hum of the reactor and the remaining 5.45x39 shells clattering onto the floor.

A/N: This quarantine gives me a lot more time to write. Expect more chapters if I don't get infected.