Apologies for the delay with this one, things have been somewhat hectic at work.

That, and writer's block is difficult to get rid of when you cannot focus properly on your plot for more than a couples hours at times.

Anyway, enjoy!

Arcturus Station – March 22nd 2181, 20:36 pm Earth Time

When the alert came through inside Arcturus Station, David Anderson, along with the crew of the SSV Tokyo, were set and ready to fly at a moment's notice in record time. The only thing they needed was the green light from one of the Admirals and a fleet would have been sent post-haste.

It had been a long time since a batarian raid alert had been sent from a human colony. And after Mindoir, no one was willing to send only a couple of relief ships to help. No, they would respond in force.

'As things stand, however,' Anderson mused, his posture tense and a heavy frown set on his face, 'It's going to take a long time before we get any actual order.'

His ship, as with those who had volunteered to be the vanguard of the response fleet, were still standing by for Alliance Command to authorize the operation and had been waiting for hours. Anderson was starting to feel somewhat restless with the lack of any decision in the face of this alert.

As for the reason of this radio silence? Politics and red tape. If the colony had been in the traverse, it would've been no issue at all. But the call had come from the Terminus Systems, which meant that the Citadel Council had to authorize the intervention so as to avoid conflict between Citadel Space and the various criminal warlords in the Terminus Systems. Word was that Udina had been arguing fervently ever since he'd heard the news but, unsurprisingly, the councilors were digging their heels in, unwilling to upset the Status Quo.

'God knows if there will be anything more than ruins and corpses by the time we're there.' David thought somberly. The aftermath of Mindoir was at the top of the most horrifying things he had ever witnessed in his career and he wasn't eager to have a repeat of it. Pictures alone couldn't scope the true atrocity of what had happened on that colony, not really. But to see it through his own eyes had been enough to give him a fair share of nightmares.

'Speaking of nightmares...' He glanced at the young woman who was quietly talking at a comm terminal. Her signature red hair left no doubt as to her identity and he knew that, underneath the calm facade she had at the moment, a storm was brewing. 'If we do not receive orders quickly, I'm almost afraid of what she might do. There's only so much Hannah can do to calm her daughter when not here in person.'

The rest of the crew was giving Shepard a wide berth, and with reason. None of them had any desire to give her an excuse to snap and vent on them. Batarians were a very sensitive subject around her and, for all the fame she had gathered during the Siege of Elysium, she didn't enjoy talking about it.

"Sir, any news?"

Anderson blinked and turned to his XO, one Paolo Tita, and gave an inaudible sigh. "Nothing yet, I'm afraid. The Council isn't being very cooperative at the moment and Udina's way of doing things isn't doing us any favors either." he answered in a low tone.

His XO's mouth twisted into a frown of distaste as he raked a hand through his short blond hair (though a few of them had started turning white), a nervous habit he'd never been able to drop in all of his twenty-four years of service. "Not sure how much longer the crew can take this Captain. Everyone's on edge and with frayed nerves."

"Believe me, Tita, I'd like nothing more than to ignore the Council and go out there. But it's not my call to make." He replied. "Still, I have faith in the Admiralty. If push comes to shove, they'll make the right choice. For now, we wait."

Tita nodded wearily. "I'll have the men do a few more checkups, then. Keep them busy a bit longer. But I'm quickly running out options and there's only so many times I can ask them to dismantle and re-assemble their weapons." He shook his head. "All of this is just a powder keg waiting for some sparks to explode."

Anderson tried to not think about the different ways this could blow up in the Alliance's face. He was sure that, by now, some information had been leaked to the media and he wasn't envying the PR teams at the moment.

Time passed in a strained silence that was only broken by a few mutters and murmurs here and there. At some point, he had closed his eyes and started doing breathing exercises just to focus on something else than the palpable tension he could feel.

*BEEP*

The notification on his terminal seemed to echo in the sudden stillness of the ship for a second as everyone turned to it and David's arm snapped to accept the call. Admiral Hacket's grim face greeted him on the screen.

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid we have just learned that the call for aid has stopped coming through."

It was like a bucket of ice-cold had been upended on his head. Distantly, he could hear the gasps and swears of the crew but his attention stayed firmly on the stern face of his superior.

"However," Hacket continued, which silenced everyone. "In light of this new information, Alliance Command has decided that the time of asking for permission is over and we'd better ask for forgiveness instead. Operation Hanging Garden is henceforth approved. Godspeed, everyone. Hacket out."

There was a moment of stillness inside the bridge of the SSV Tokyo as the transmission ended before Anderson quickly took control of the situation.

"All hands, battle stations! Helm, take us to the relay! Hawke, get me the other Captains on the line!"

As the ship erupted into a flurry of activity, Anderson could only pray that they would make it in time to salvage the colony -or what was left of it.

And God have mercy on anyone foolish enough to get in their way.

Cyrene – March 24rd 2181 CE, 9:26 am Earth Time

"...I'm sorry Mr Salvail, but I think I've misheard you. Could you please clarify?" It was clear to everyone listening that Anderson was putting a lot of effort into keeping his tone even and his expression flat. The man had the patience of a Saint, but it had been a long day -several long days, in fact. "I am not refuting your claims but you must admit that they are somewhat... hard to believe."

The man seated across the Alliance Captain gave him an understanding smile. "I will be the first to admit I thought it was an hallucination of some kind, but the evidence speaks for itself." he replied. "As you've asked, we're still collecting what video footage we have, but I did, and many eye witnesses will confirm this, talk to the mech's pilot before they left."

David closed his eyes with a silent sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose in slight exasperation.

They had risked a galactic incident, probably damaged their political standing with the Council and nearly came to blows with the Queen of Omega... only to learn upon arrival, more than 24 hours after the call for help had been sent, that the colony had been saved by a giant mech of unknown origin and its mysterious pilot. And while he was grateful beyond words that Cyrene hadn't become a second Mindoir, a small part of him was feeling like the cavalry that always arrived late in those old movies.

The 'giant mech' part of the story wasn't exactly helping things. While David had no doubt the video footage would clear up any doubt, the thing sounded much more advanced than the Alliance's Ymir models. And unless this was a stolen prototype from the Turian, Salarian or Asari military, which he doubted very much as they would never test it so close to a human colony, there was simply no organization that he knew of which had the resources, technology and scientific knowledge to build such an advanced machine.

Taking a deep breath to stave off the headache he could feel coming, Anderson focused back onto the colony Governor.

"To resume what happened next, a mercenary intending to resupply came upon the aftermath of this raid and you enlisted his help to rescue the people who were kidnapped by the raiders who managed to escape?" He asked

"That about sums it up, I would say." Hektor nodded. "In exchange for the supplies he required, he accepted to lead part of the militia along with a few volunteers for an assault against the raiders' base, the location of which they got from the ships' navigation data."

David shook his head. "Foolish. No matter how good a mercenary is, there is no way such a small group can-"

"Captain Anderson, sir!"

The sudden shout from a running Private cut him off and he sharply turned his head to the young man, his mind snapping back into battle mode. "What is it, Private?"

The man's helmet helped to hide his nerves but David could feel it from him. "The Lotus and Phoebe just detected ships entering the system, sir. Batarian ships."

A few gasps sounded out as both the Captain and Hektor stood from their seats.

"How many of them, what class ?" Anderson asked in a clam and detached tone as he mentally ran the numbers. With the Tokyo, Phoebe, Trafalgar and Lotus, they had enough firepower to stand against a raider force but if they had to protect the colony at the same time, things would get tricky and he'd rather keep the fighting to above ground if he could. They didn't have many fighters available due to the suddenness of the call, but it would still be enough to prevent any ship from landing.

"Only two so far, a merchant carrier class and a troop transport ship, both traveling at cruising speed with weapons not powered." The Private responded, a frown in his voice. "Target algorithms are being calculated as we speak. What are your orders, Captain ?"

David glanced at Hektor, who had tensed at first but now seemed to have somewhat relaxed. The Mayor raised an eyebrow at him. "Has there been any attempt at communication?"

"They have not entered our range yet, sir."

"Wait for them to initiate contact. It is possible we might get some good news, after all." David said, his eyes not leaving Hektor's. "But if they do not answer within one minute after entering communication range, then you have permission to fire."

"Sir!" the Private saluted before running back to his post to relay the orders.

After a moment of silence, Anderson spoke again.

"I hope you will not make me regret this decision, Mr Salvail." he said quietly.

"Do not worry." The man replied as they made their way to the temporary command center that had been set up by the Alliance. "If they had failed, we would already know."

The Captain blinked once, somewhat confused by what the Governor could mean by that statement. "I suppose we shall be certain soon enough." He said in a non-committal tone.

One way or another, he was than ready for this day to end. Be it in bloodshed or otherwise.

Batarian carrier ship – Titan Nebula

In hindsight, I should probably have expected the welcoming committee to be a full flotilla of Alliance ships with weapons powered and aimed at us. And I had, to a degree.

One problem, however, was that I didn't know the radio channel to open communication with the Alliance. Which would have made things much simpler, except for the fact that I had no idea if the ships wouldn't fire on us as soon as we'd enter their range.

So, I decided to do the next best thing : broadcasting on all open channels the same message of 'Friendly. Civilians onboard. Requesting assistance.'

In Japanese, French and English.

"...Are you sure about this?" Emma asked uncertainly.

"Well, I mean sure my Japanese might not be exactly 100% accurate and I haven't spoken French in a while but I'm pretty sure I made my point across." I replied in a light tone.

She gave me a flat look. "Not what I meant."

"I know, I know." I placated her before turning serious. "But in all honesty, I don't think there's a better way to prove that it's a human contacting them than using three different languages, one of them having not having the same root as the two others."

I had, of course, asked her to leave all weapons unpowered, reduce shields to minimum and cut the engines as soon as we had entered communication range and I could only hope that it would be enough to deter them from shooting us outright.

After a few moments, we finally received a response.

"This is Captain Anderson of the Alliance Navy, state your identity and your business with Cyrene or you will be considered hostile."

I blinked, stunned for a brief second. Anderson was here!? How, why!? Sure, I had expected someone a bit high from the ranks of the Alliance to come into play, but in no way had I expected a distinguished Captain from the First Contact War to show up, and especially not him of all people!

'There is no way this is just a coincidence. What are those two thinking?' I thought, referencing the two Divine being keeping tabs on me.

Pushing aside my concerns, I took a breath to center myself and replied. "This is Ethan Wolfe, Freelancer, speaking. As per the request of Hektor Salvail, I have rescued the kidnapped civilians from the batarian raiders and brought them back home. I also have a number of freed slaves aboard, most of them requiring medical assistance beyond what I can provide them at the moment. Do we have permission to land ?"

There was a moment of silence on the other side before Anderson gave his answer.

"Granted, Wolfe. Be advised, you will be escorted to and from the landing zone. Again, failure to comply will be met with lethal force."

"Acknowledged, Captain Anderson. We shall await further instructions."

"Very well. Anderson out."

In short order, a squadron of fighters came to take place around our two ships as we received an approach vector to the landing site. As we touched down, I could see a battalion of marines spreading so as to surround the ships, even as the fighter squadron hovered above us.

"Alright, time to get this show on the road..." I muttered as everyone made their way to the ship's exit. I'd taken the time to stash away most of my pilot suit (save for the gauntlets), my helmet and Jump Kit and exchanged them for one of the body armors I'd found within the base. Of course, I had also taken the time to give it a new paint job during the return trip so that it would not look as much like it belonged to a raider.

With but a few press of a couple of buttons, the cargo bay opened and I immediately raised my hands above my head so as to indicate that I was unarmed as the whole battalion of Alliance troopers steadied their aim.

There was a moment of tense silence before I slowly stepped forward, hands still raised non-threateningly.

"Alright... What now?" I asked, gazing at the assembled marines. "Is there anything else I need to do in order to prove that this is not a trap?"

The troopers' aim didn't waver as some of them parted for Anderson himself to step forward. The captain was flanked by two other soldiers and my eyes immediately caught the red and white stripe on black armor, along with the N7 logo on the right breast of the one standing on his left.

Could it be...?

Before I could speak again, Anderson made a hand signal and I just had the time to see the N7's arm glow blue before my body stiffened completely against my will.

'So this is what a Stasis feel like.' I mused, my eyes even unable to blink as Anderson ordered the troopers past me and into the ship. It was somewhat similar to the sensation I would get when Phase Shifting, except for the not moving part.

I focused as best as I could onto the N7, whose arm was still glowing blue, and while I was somewhat tempted to see if I could even partially break from the biotic ability, the risk just wasn't worth it.

'I wonder how long she can keep it going?'

The answer was 'pretty damn long', apparently, as she managed to sustain it the whole time it took the Alliance to sweep the ship clear. The fact that I wasn't even trying to break the Statis field probably didn't hurt. When I was finally released from the biotic field, I sagged, blinking harshly as my muscles, who had been clenched the whole time in response, finally relaxed.

"Apologies for that, son. But we couldn't take any chances." Anderson said, his face settled into an apologetic frown. "It would not be the first time batarians have used hostages as suicide attackers, after all."

"No offense taken, sir. I get it." I said, moving my stiff neck. "Never been on this side of the batarian protocols before, but I won't complain. That," I turned my gaze to the N7 operative. "and I have no doubt the lady over there would have taken me down in a heartbeat if I'd tried anything."

The lady in question crossed her arms and shifted her stance in that oh so familiar pose, leaving next to no doubt as to her identity behind her helmet, but stayed silent. Even then, I could still get a vibe of "Damn right I would've" from her.

"So!" I redirected my attention to Anderson. "I assume you have questions?"

"Indeed we do." He nodded. "This is a very unusual situation and we need as much information as you can provide. Please follow me."

What followed was a typical after action report, with Anderson inquiring about the raiders' base location, their resources, ect... However, it was my own addition that dropped the bombshell on him.

"There is something else, though." I said as I drew up my omni-tool. "During my sweep of the stronghold's database, I came across this." I displayed the several exchanges between the raiders and the Hegemony leadership. "I don't know if this can have any kind of impact on the political side of things but maybe..." I trailed off as I saw Anderson's face had blanked completely.

Which, knowing what I did of the captain's usual poise and calm, wasn't a good sign.

"Those sons of bitches are at it again..." he muttered under his breath and I had to strain my ears to hear it. "We've always known that the Hegemony was in on the raids, or at least profiting from them, it's what led to our retaliation on the moon of Torfan, after all, but the fact that they're directly involved..." His face turned grim. "This could very well start a war between the Alliance and the Hegemony. Tensions are still high since Mindoir and the Blitz. This last attack may well be the last straw."

I blinked at that. "I knew this would be somewhat of a big deal, but war? Truly?" I felt that if there was someone who could give me an honest opinion regarding the intel, it would be Anderson but I'd never imagined even for a moment that it might lead to open warfare.

The captain massaged his temples with a weary sigh. "Son, perhaps you don't know this but the Hegemony is VERY thorough in their ways to make sure nothing can be traced back to them. The most we ever managed to find could be interpreted as circumstantial evidence that the raids happened on the orders of someone. But never did we manage to find direct evidence linking raiders to a member of the Hegemony leadership or, indeed, the Hegemony at all."

I raked a head through my hair as I digested the words and their implications. "I'll be honest, I'm not well versed with the political climate of the Galaxy, Captain Anderson. So I'll defer to your judgment on this." I said, eyes going back to him. "Is there a possibility you could use this to force the Council to act in some way?" I asked.

Anderson grimaced a bit. "With the Hegemony having all but officially become a rogue state, I do not see the Council going out of their way to do something about this. They didn't when the Blitz happened and they won't do so now. Sparatus still thinks Humanity should have become a client race of the Turians, Valern doesn't really care either way and Tevos will try to avoid any kind of conflict that could upset the current status of things. And with this latest stunt," He gestured at around us. "we might have possibly lost any of the goodwill we had."

I frowned, thinking hard about the situation. "Would it help if you had the support of an Asari Matriarch?"

Anderson blinked, before his eyes widened slightly in realisation. "You mean...?"

I nodded. "It might not be much right now, but perhaps this could at least get Tevos on your side in the long run. For all that she's the Asari Councilor, she's only a representent of the Asari Government. If Matriarch Bathythia can get enough support for your cause, then maybe..."

"You think she would be willing to help us in this?"

I gave him a flat look. "I don't know how long she's been in the 'care' of those bastards but trust me with this, Captain, she's pretty much willling to do anything if it means not letting what happened go unanswered."

The N7 operative, who had maintained her silence until now, snorted. "About damn time someone other than the Alliance decided to do something other than give us empty platitudes."

I raised an eyebrow at her before looking back at Anderson, who gave his crew member a stern look. "Anyway, that's all I have to tell on the matter. Can I count on the Alliance to get those people back to their homes?"

He nodded. "Of course, and thank you for rescuing them in the first place."

"Hey, I might be a mercenary but I like to think I'm decent enough of a person that I would have helped regardless of if they could pay me or not." I shrugged. "Hell, I would've settled for a discount on the supplies I need but Mr Salvail insisted. It also doesn't hurt that I looted the base clean before leaving."

Anderson humed for a moment before replying. "In any case, you have my gratitude for the help you provided to these people. If I may ask, what will you do now?"

For a moment, I internally debatted what I could tell him before carefully choosing my words. "With the resources now available to me, I think I'll set my sights on gathering a crew or at least a group of like-minded individuals before moving onto bigger jobs. I don't intend to challenge the existing mercenary groups but rather to create a PMC that can be employed inside and outside Council Space." I hesistated for a moment before continuing. "In fact, once we are big enough I will most likely try to enter a partnership with the Queen of Omega so that we can act with her approval inside the Terminus Systems."

"Why her specifically?" Anderson asked.

I snorted. "Because she's the only one whose authority is acknowledged across Terminus Space. There's a reason why the other warlords tread lightly around her and it's not just because she could flay them alive with her mind." I said in all seriousness. "Aria is smart, scarily so, and she doesn't play the Game the way Asari are known to do. If it wasn't for the fact that she obviously despises the Council and their politics, I'd think she was a Spectre."

"You have a point." the Captain agreed, letting the silence stretch before he stood up. "I do not think there is anything else to ask. Thank you for your time, Mr Wolfe, and I wish you good luck in your future endeavors." he said as he presented his hand to me.

"It was a pleasure, Captain Anderson." I replied as I also stood up and shook his hand. "And good luck to you too with the Council. However, there is one last thing I would like to ask."

"Oh?" Anderson raised a curious eyebrow. "And that would be?"

I turned my head and gazed straight into the visor of the N7 operative. "I would request a spar against the lady here. I've never encountered a N7 before and I must admit I'm curious to see how I would fare against one."

Anderson looked uncertainly between his crew member and me as he opened his moutht to answer.

"Sure." the woman answered before he could. "I need something to relieve all of today's stress anyway. Just don't forget that you asked for it when I kick your ass into the dust."

I grinned in anticipation. "Music to my ears, that's what this is."

Andeson looked dejectedly from my eager expression to his crew member who seemed to be looking at him expectedly and I heard him mutter a quick "Oh God, there are two of them." before he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Fine. But I'm not responsible for anything that happens."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. See you in fifteen at the Command Center" was my jovial reply as I exited the room.

I couldn' wait.

Anderson looked at the door through which Ethan Wolfe had just gone through before he turned to his crew member. "What do you make of him?" He asked her.

"Experienced, obviously an ex-soldier of some kind but not Alliance. He's confident in his capabilities and has the results to show for it. Smart too. He stayed aware of me the whole time even though I did not participate during the conversation." She tilted her head slightly. "However, there's something else. Something I can't quite put my finger on. He's certainly not your average merc, but there is definitely something about him that makes you want to pay attention but it's not charisma. No, it's more like he has a... presence to him, of some kind." She finished her examination. "You think he's hiding something?"

"It would not be surprising if he did." the Captain said comtemplatingly. While Wolfe had been honest witht him the whole time, David couldn't help but feel somewhat as if he'd been presented with a smokescreen rather than the man's true intentions. "Still, did you really have to accept his challenge like that?" He said somewhat sternly.

She shrugged. "I don't see why I should not have. That, and to be honest I do feel the need to vent. This whole day has been... not exactly easy on my nerves."

Anderson nodded. "I get it. Just don't go too much overboard, alright?" he somewhat pleaded

"You know me, Captain." He could hear the smirk in her voice. "I'm not very good at holding back. Still, I'll make sure to leave him in one piece."

"That's not what I-" He sighed as she walked out before he could finish. "I really hope this doesn't get out of hand." he muttered quietly before an alert went through his omni-tool.

Looking at the report he'd just received, he frowned slightly. "'No information available'...?"

By the time fifteen minutes had passed, I had already secured the transport of BT's container and the supplied I'd been promised inside the ship.

In truth, the spar was nothing more than a distraction to prevent the Alliance from looking too closely at the ship's cargo. Still, I had to admit I was eager to test Shepard's strength for myself. No, more than that, I needed to test her. To see if she would be ready for the years to come, for the conflicts ahead.

Sure, her biotics were already impressive, and the various weapons strapped to her back told me that she didn't purely rely on those powers to fight but she would need more than simple firepower to beat the odds. As a N7, she was supposed to be the best of the best.

And I intended to make her prove that she was.

It had always miffed me a bit, how, despite being basically a special operative, Shepard started the game with basic weaponry and almost no skills at all. While it was understandable from a gameplay perspective to have the character being a bit of a blank state, it didn't make much sense that a N7, and a Spectre to boot, was less proficient in weapons than her squadmates (moreover with some of them being regular soldiers) or didn't have access to special assests in order to complete her missions.

I intended to become one of those assets, once I had a true organisation up and running. While the Normandy and Shepard's squad excelled at covert and quick operations, there would be times where manpower and resources would be needed more than discretion and efficiency. Feros and Virmire, in particular, came to mind.

"So, shall we get this show on the road?"

My musing was interrupted by the unmistakable voice of Jennifer Hale. I looked up to find Jane Shepard, her helmet and weapons off her person, stading across me with a hand on her hip and a slight smirk on her face. And, at that moment, I couldn't help but breathe in sharply.

Hair red as fire styled into a practical yet somewhat feminine cut with a slight ponytail, framing a heart shaped face upon which sat two pools of sea-green looking at me with anticipation. For an instant, I could do nothing but stare at her.

'Fuck, is it any wonder Kaidan's going to be a lost cause?' was the only thought that went through my mind.

There was no other way to put it, Shepard was beautiful.

Shaking my head so as to disperse any and all stray thoughts, I pushed away from the wall upon wish I was leaning and rolled my neck.

"Yeah, let's." I said as I took in the crowd of Alliance personnel and civilians that had formed to watch the event. News of the spar had certainly circulated quickly. "Any specific rules before we start?"

"Three clean hits or one submission. No aiming for the groin or the eyes and no crippling moves. Aside from that, anything goes."

I smirked. "Fine by me."

We took our positions, Shepard settling into a stance that I recognized as a cross between Muay Thai and Boxing, arms raised near her head and fists already closed, her body coiled in preparation while I adopted my own stance, arms also raised but palms facing her and legs more spread as I presented my left side to her.

For a moment, neither of us moved, each waiting to see if the other would make the first move. I raised my eyebrows at her questioningly and she responded with an audible huff.

The next, I moved, explosing into motion as I crossed the distance between us in two steps and aimed a straight right punch at her mid-section.

Shepard's eyes widened as she was left with the only options to either dodge of block my attack, clearly not having expected me to get so close to her as fast as I had, and she dived to the side in order to avoid the blow.

Had I been wearing my Jump Kit, she wouldn't have been able to.

This was the "Moving Stance" of Bajiquan, a chinese martial art that I had learned in my first life. And while I was not a master of the art by any means, my knowledge of it combined with my enhanced physical capabilities as a Pilot allowed me to make use of it in real combat with deadly effectiveness. Sure, I didn't get many opportunities to use it in a firefight, as my data knife and whatever firearm I had on hand was a more effective way of taking down my enemies, but for spars and non-lethal takedowns?

It was my best tool by far.

Eyes narrowing, Shepard rolled away before springing back at me, left fist flying toward my face and I raised my own left arm to deflect the attack before transitionning into low kick aimed at her knee. Not to be outdone, Shepard spun away from my foot, aiming to knee me in the ribs. However, I used her movement to move backwards into her guard and stopped her knee before shoulder-tackling her away.

With a forced exhale, she took a couple steps backs and retook her stance as did I before flying into a high kick, forcing me to block with my forearm and grunt at the strength behind it. I grabbed her leg, intending to force her off balance but she immediately dropped onto her right hand as she swung her other leg at my head and I let got in order to dodge the attack.

Right as she saumersaulted away, I moved back in and managed to land her kick at her stomach right as she was retaking her stance, forcing her back a couple more steps.

"First blood goes to me." I felt the need to point out, lowering my leg. "Not bad, I wasn't expecting you to dodge my opening attack."

"You're not too shaby yourself." Shepard said as she dusted her armor. "Those are some nice moves you've got there. Kung-Fu ?"

I snorted. "As if." and I dashed at her once more, left fist flying toward her face. This time, however, she also moved forward into a cross counter that I only avoided thanks to my quick reflexes. But that left me open for her to grab me by the neck of my own armor before she proceeded to flip me above her head.

Unfortunately for her, I was used to quick upside down movements and I grabbed her shoulders to anchor myself, which forced her to let go unless she wanted to go down with me. Not to be detterred, she once again dropped on her hands propelled herself upward, slamming both her feet into my guard.

Unbalanced, I hit the ground hard and only had the time to roll onto a half stand before her right hook hit me square in the shoulder.

"Point for me." She smirked as she sauntered back.

"Oho, it's on now!" I laughed as I jumped back on the offensive, picking at Shepard's guard with quick strikes from my feet, knees, elbows and fists while she retaliated with fast jabs and kicks to try and force me to overextend so that she could land a decisive counter-attack.

It came to a head when she attempted another cross-counter, which I forced up by grabbing her right wrist with my right hand before elbowing her into the ribs.

We separated again and I grinned at her. "Looks like I have the advantage now."

Shepard rubbed at her side gingerly with a small grimace. Even though my blow hadn't been a serious one, a hit to the ribs still didn't feel nice. "Yeah, you do." she replied before she took a deep breath and her whole body became illuminated with a blue corona. "But for how long, I wonder."

I blinked. "Now hold on a sec-" I cut mysellf by needing to cross my arms to block a biotically enhanced punch. The impact still shook me enough that I could feel it in my bones.

"Anything goes, remember?" Shepard smiled at me before she dropped into a sweeping kick, which I had to jump over to avoid. She then turned her sweep into yet another handstand that she used to spin her legs, forcing me to back away and I quickly began to think of ways to level the field against her biotic assault.

Shepard wasn't about to give me the time to do so, however, as she Charged at me and the impact of her armored shoulder sent me flying a few meters away to crash onto the ground.

I sat up with a groan, glaring somewhat exageratedly at the smirking woman.

"I believe the score is now two for two,yes?"

"If that's how you want to play it," I replied as I stood up, took a deep breath and re-entered my stance. Around us, the crows was going wild. "then I guess I'll have to pull all the stops."

Without waiting for a reply, I executed the Moving Stance side step again, reducing the distance between us in an instant and transitioning straight into the Grand Opening, an explosive elbow upercut designed to open up the opponent's guard. Shepard had just the time and the reflexes to cross her arms and reinforce them with a biotic Barrier but the force of the blow was still enough to lift her arms up to her head, much to her surprise.

Not giving her time to recover, I quickly moved into a high kick at her head but she must have guessed my intent as her arms stayed where they were and blocked my strike. From there, I spun into an elbow thrust, which she managed to block in the nick of time, and followed up with a reverse roundhouse kick.

Eyes wide at the quickness and strength of my assault, she jumped above me, a feat that would've been impossible without her biotics, before she brace herself to Charge once more and end the spar.

And that was when I revealed my trump card.

As soon as she had jumped, my right hand tracked her and, with a snap of my wrist, I fired my grapple at her. Right as she readied her Charge, the grapple hooked her waist and dragged her low enough that I could jump and grab her foot.

"Sorry, beautiful, but you asked for it."

And with that said, I swung my arms and slammed her not-too-gently onto the ground.

Shepard let out an explosive breath as the air inside her lungs was forcibly expelled and, before she could do anything, I crouched above her and put one knee on her stomach while my left hand went to pin her right shoulder and I put my right knuckle on her forehead.

"Game, Set and Match." I announced solemnly.

For a moment, those sea-green eyes looked at me with such anger that I hesitated to call it fury and I wondered if I was going to end up with a shockwave to the face before she let out a defeated huff and laid her head back down, eyes closed.

I chuckled as the crowd around us errupted with applause and whistles before I stood up and offered my hand to let her up. "Good fight." I simply said.

"Yeah, yeah." Shepard grumbled as he re-opened her eyes before grabbing my hand and I hauled her back to her feer. "Ugh, I'm never gonna hear the end of it. An N7 operative beaten by a no-name merc."

"Hey cheer up." I clapped her on the shoulder. "It was just a spar. I'm sure you have me beat when it comes to pretty much everything else. I'm basically useless when it comes to long range accuracy, you know?"

That, sadly, was a fact. For all that I had excellent hand/eye coordination, my accuracy with a sniper rifle or, indeed, anything long range was abyssmal. Sure, I could hit headshots with a DMR as long as I stayed within the mid-range but try to make me hit a target from beyong 100 meters with a Kraber and you'd have better success asking me if I could face Viper using a Scorch Titan loadout only.

"Heh. I'll remember that and ask for a shooting contest next time." She grinned as she dusted her armor.

"Deal." I replied and we shook hands.

That was how I met David Anderson, one of the most virtuous people I'd ever know, and Jane Shepard, badass woman extaordinaire.

And I knew it would not be the last time. Far from it.

That's all I have for you today, folks. In the next episode, our journey of across the Terminus Systems begins in earnest.

If some of you have trouble imaging what Shepard's haircut looks like, picture the hairstyle that Lightning (from Final Fantasy XIII) has and you have it.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if there is any feedback you'd like to provide, feel free to review!

Baseless flaming shall be as always, ignored.

This is Midnight Fenrir, signing out.