The Enemy Within

Nevos was a beautiful world.

The view from the top of the cliffs of the protected cove was spectacular. A gentle arc of blinding white sand, deep blue water reaching out through the light grey rock to the ocean beyond, Thessian palm trees and other topical plants sighing in the sea breeze, stretching back over the island as far as the eye could see. It was no wonder the asari commune had chosen this spot, isolated and perfect. Their houses were made of the local wood, their roofs thatched with palm leaves. Above, twin pink moons hung in varied crescents, the evening closing in.

Ashley Williams looked on from her observation point, wondering if there was some place else like it, where she could bring a future husband. A place like it, but not this place.

This cove was tainted now, the site of a terrible massacre. An extremely prolific asari serial killer had made her home in the place, turning the commune into a cult that worshipped her. For months, they brought her young maidens to kill in some bizarre ritual, the details of which were very sketchy. Asari intelligence refused to provide anything concrete.

But it did not matter; the serial killer wasn't her mission. Her mission was the woman chasing the killer.

Samara. A member of an elite and ancient order of justicars, law enforcers and arbiters of morality. Trained to the very highest standards, disciplined and able to use any means they wished; the asari inspiration for the Spectres. An extremely formidable foe.

Justicars were empowered under the highest laws of the Asari Republics to defend order and justice... Unless they became inconvenient.

This one had. Nevos was an asari world, but it was not part of the Republics. It was nestled in the elcor home star cluster, an open world for asari to live in as a gift in return for all their help in helping the elcor join the galactic community. Justicars had no jurisdiction. Yet this Samara had killed her way across Citadel space in pursuit of her prey, her Order's code not recognising any jurisdiction but that of the goddess Athame.

She had become a huge liability to the Republics, but they could do nothing about it. Not until Samara killed a human official, allegedly corrupt, for helping the serial killer escape from the Eagle Nebula. With that singular act, she drew the wrath of the Systems Alliance. The asari made contact as soon as the incident had been confirmed, and a deal was struck. The Alliance would eliminate Samara if she refused an official recall order, and the Republics would back the chosen person for Spectre.

Which had sent Ashley on a month long chase, causing to miss even the opening of Shepard's memorial, a few days earlier. Now, it found her laying down on a rock on Nevos, in a full ghillie suit, her only company being her Rorsch anti-materiel railrifle; the only reliable way to kill an asari matriarch with zero opportunity for retaliation was by using a very big weapon, without any warning.

Ashley sighed to herself as she laid her scopes on the commune complex. She would have preferred to be there with a bikini and a boyfriend, but passive camouflage and a gun would have to do. She had been waiting for hours now, having been dropped off a few miles offshore, and there had no sign of the justicar. It was unknown if she had already arrived, and all the asari Ashley had sighted had been positively identified by facial recognition as other people.

"Status?" came an irritated female voice in her ear, speaking in sari.

"No change, General," Ashley replied in English, "Tali, anything on the Honoria's sensors?"

Ashley had been granted the use of the Honoria, a Normandy-class ship, for the final stage of the mission; the ship that just so happened to be commanded by Charles Pressly and Tali'Zorah. She was glad they were chosen for this mission, they could be relied on through thick and thin.

There was a shuffling sound on the comms, as the young quarian moved to check. "Nothing showing up on the hacked air traffic control feed," Tali replied, "And nothing on heat sensors, although we are not well positioned here. If we want a full view of the island approaches, we need to be in orbit."

"Goddess damn it," said the less familiar voice again, "Okay. If this continues another hour, I want you to go down there and make contact with the locals. If we can't wait her out, we can flush her out."

"General Aethyta, that is unacceptable risk," said Pressly, "The justicar could kill Lieutenant Williams, ambush her, the locals could become hostile if she starts asking questions."

Yeah, Ashley thought, a whole village of angry asari wasn't her idea of paradise. Palm trees or no palm trees.

"We'll bring the ship in and offer the justicar a choice," Aethyta replied, "Surrender or die. The lieutenant will be in no danger, justicars don't shoot the messenger."

Ashley couldn't help but feel that was wishful thinking, and grasped her rifle's grip a little more tightly.

"Excuse us if we're not as confident about that as you are," Tali said, anger rising in her tone, "I've lost one friend already, and I have only just returned from a ceremony for her. I don't want to lose another."

Aethyta growled, but said nothing. She was turning out to be a first rate guest.

But this was a tougher mission than Ashley's prospective Spectre evaluation was likely to be, and she had to make a good impression. Humanity needed a Spectre.

"Look, if that's what we need to do, I'll do it," she said, "But let's wait another few hours. I don't think I've seen everyone down there yet."

The response to her suggestion didn't come. A sudden rapid beeping pre-empted it, an alarm on the ship. There was more shuffling sounds.

"Ashley, air traffic control just registered a new blip, less than a minute out," Tali said, "Someone turned on their transponder, letting the commune know they were coming."

"Impressive," Aethyta said, "Even civilian transponders have very heavy anti-tampering measures to stop aircars being used as missiles. She's good."

Ashley settled back into a ready position, checked her weapon for good measure. It wouldn't be long now. Either the justicar was coming, or would appear in the open soon.

A cherry red aircar, a very luxurious sports model, glided through the gap in the rock just above the water, creating little curtains of spray in its wake. It slowed rapidly, forward thrusters kicking up a cloud of steam. A crowd of people emerged from the buildings to greet the visitor, all asari. "Purebloods" if the briefing intel was good, all dressed in flowing robes like togas, and little else.

Knowing her target could be coming out into the open before the car landed, Ashley moved her aiming reticle away from the car, and onto the crowd. There were at least three times as many people as she had surveyed until that point, which meant she had to aim at each one for a half second or so to allow identification.

There were children. Guilt stirred in her gut, pulling at her. Killing someone in front of children wasn't why she joined the military. She fought through her hesitation, her jaw clenched. She had to proceed, the relations with the asari were at stake. Her future as a Spectre was too, but she cared far less about that.

The VI chirped negatives, the target wasn't in the crowd. She breathed a sigh of relief, and moved her point of aim away from them.

"Target is not in the village," Ashley reported, "Probably in the car. Permission to engage." Her weapon could easily shoot clean through the vehicle, and whoever was inside.

There was a pause on the comms, setting everything on edge.

"Get positive identification first," General Aethyta said at last, "And await my order to fire. I want zero collateral damage lieutenant, is that clear?"

"Affirmative," Ashley replied, "The aircar is setting down now."

Glassing the sand below in the process, the vehicle had engaged its landing thrusters and was coming to a complete halt. It set down with a little bump on the slightly uneven ground, and the whine of its main engines ceased. The crowd made its way in a hurry towards it. Before the door had even opened, they surrounded it, trying to get a look.

"Incoming encrypted message for you, General," Tali reported.

"Send it to my omnitool," Aethyta replied.

Ashley shifted her weight, readying herself for the shot. Someone had stepped out of the car, someone with a sort of red tiara. Part of the Justicar commando armour. It was a justicar. The VI couldn't identify her though, there were too many heads in the way. It would take was a split second to identify, and another to take the shot once authorisation was given. But that was all the time Ashley needed.

The crowd moved with the target up the beach, like a protective swarm. They were reverent of the newcomer. Ashley grew impatient, her fingers itching. If she had to wait for the target to emerge from the village again, she was going to be very pissed off. Aethyta muttered something about decryption protocols, but she wasn't paying attention.

Finally, the crowd stopped and began to disperse. The target must have given an order to that effect. A minute later, with her protective layer of people stripped, she turned around to face in Ashley's direction. She was armed with an assault rifle on her back and a submachinegun on her hip; nothing that could reach out and touch Ashley.

And she seemed to be planning to hold court right there on the beach. Bad move, lady.

The VI beeped a positive ID. Samara had arrived. She had a kindly expression as she spoke to the commune leaders, Ashley thought, but could easily see how that warmth could turn to ice in an instant. The justicar had extreme focus.

"Target identified," Ashley said, "Permission to engage."

No reply came. Samara kept speaking, while the village elders listened. She took a knee and lowered her head, in a gesture of submission or apology. All the while leaving Ashley wondering what was taking so long. But it wasn't like it was a good idea to hurry Aethyta along.

"General," Pressly said, using the privileges of his rank, "The target is identified and the lieutenant has a shot."

The General's response was a long, drawn out growl. "Mission is scrubbed," she said, through her teeth if her tone was any indication, "Bring the Honoria to the lieutenant's position for evac. I want that bitch of a justicar to know just how close she came to dying today."

Ashley relaxed completely, feeling the tension of the mission fall out of her at once. What the hell was going on?

"But... why?" Tali said, "What's happened?" Ashley could almost hear the quarian blinking as she spoke, her confusion as strong as anyone's.

"The Alliance Fifth Fleet was sent to Illium to demand the freeing of slaves and searches for Reaper tech," Aethyta explained, "The matriarchs didn't comply, and called in their allies in the Republics. Those allies sent in their own flotillas, and Hannah Shepard refused to back down. Apparently there was a ground incursion too, at Nos Astra. The turians stopped it all turning into war less than a hour ago, but Republics are in complete chaos. The only thing the e-democracy's moderators have agreed on is a suspension of all military cooperation with the Alliance until the matter is fully considered."

Ashley had never heard something so stupid in all her life.

"But that's insane!" she said, "The Reapers are coming!"

"They've never been all that sure about that either," Aethyta replied, "But then again, they sent me into exile until it suited them, so it's not like I expect fucking sense from them."

"We've got to convince them otherwise," Ashley continued, "Find some way of shoring up their support."

"Well, it won't be this," Aethyta said, "The Republics don't care if relations are fucked up by this justicar now."

Which still left one possibility.

"Captain, I can still take the shot on your command authority," Ashley said, addressing Pressly, "The justicar still killed an Alliance citizen. Permission to engage."

"Negative, lieutenant," Pressly replied immediately, "The asari might not care about relations with us, but we still care about relations with them. Without the General to keep the Republics quiet about it, we don't have deniability."

"If you kill a justicar, the hardline matriarchs will get permission to publicise it to the galaxy," Aethyta added, "Justicars are the heroes of every little asari girl out there, you'll look like monsters."

Ashley cursed and stood up, the need for stealth gone. What a waste of time it had all been.

"I'm sorry, lieutenant," the General said, "It wasn't my call."

"I know, ma'am," Ashley replied, as she began stripping off her ghillie suit to the waist, "We'll fix this."

"Keel'ah, I hope so," Tali said, "The Reapers will be cheering otherwise. If they can cheer."

The cool sea wind finally met Ashley's skin and ran through her hair, relieving her of the heat she had to endure throughout the day. It felt great, and she felt better about the situation she found herself in too.

"Tomorrow is another day, Commander," Ashley said, "I only wish I could stick around here. It's beautiful."

"No rest for the wicked, I guess," Tali replied jokingly, "Anyway, we'll bring the Honoria in at your position once we get clearance from air traffic control to move."

"Best to keep things legitimate, now that there's no danger," Pressly said in agreement, "Even if it is inconvenient."

Ashley didn't respond, but stretched her arms and legs and picked up her weapon from the ground, collapsing the bipod and cradling it. She was perfectly happy to spend more time doing nothing at that location, and she would admit it if asked. But she was curious about the village below. She wished she could go down and visit.

The asari below continued talking for a few more minutes, happy as can be. Ashley was perfectly content At least, they were until all at once, they turned around and looked up. Straight at her. It didn't matter any more.

Feeling a bit cheeky, Ashley gave a large wave, before her weapon slipping out of her remaining hand forced her to stop. One of the asari below waved back, which caused her to smile a little.

A smile that disappeared quickly, as the justicar immediately broke into a run straight towards the path leading to the heights. And this Samara was very very light on her feet.

"Eh, the justicar is approaching," Ashley reported, "Rapidly."

"Don't say anything about your intentions," Aethyta advised, "She will kill you if you admit you were here to kill her, but she can't interrogate you unless you give some indication you know something about the serial killer."

"We knew the killer was here before she did," Pressly said, "Best keep that detail quiet, or she might think we know where the killer is now."

"Which we don't," Tali concluded, "Don't worry, we'll be there soon."

"Gotcha," Ashley replied.

The justicar made her appearance from the forest just below the heights and slowed to a fast walk as she spotted Ashley again.

Ashley didn't move from the spot she had been in, her body still facing outwards to the cove. She turned her head away too, once it was apparent that the justicar wasn't going to attack. The soft padding of the asari's approach got louder and louder, until there was a crunch of the dirt beside.

The justicar had come to a halt beside.

"My name is Samara, a servant of the Justicar Code," the asari said, "You are a well armed human, in a place normally without humans or weapons. Who are you and what interest does this place hold for you?"

Ashley turned to find the almost luminescent white-blue irises trained on her. Suddenly, outright lying seemed like a poor idea. Those eyes could detect them. So, telling the truth was the way forward. Or, at least as much of it as possible without giving away the game.

"Lieutenant Ashley Williams," she replied, "Hell Brigade, First Legion, Army of the Systems Alliance."

The justicar's eyes flickered in thought. Whether it was with interest or annoyance, Ashley could not tell. And that seemed to make the woman all the more dangerous.

"This is not an Alliance or Pact world, lieutenant," Samara said, "What business do you have here?"

"My business here is none of yours," Ashley replied, "Respectfully."

"The people here have isolated themselves from the rest of this world and the galaxy," Samara pressed, "The Alliance has no reason to want to come here. That leads me to conclude that your purpose here involves me, the only other extraordinary presence. Am I correct?"

Ashley turned her head back to the cove, finding that the villagers were all staring up at them. It almost made her laugh.

"Whatever I'm doing here doesn't involve you," she said, adding 'not any more' to herself in her head, hoping that it would lend a truthful tone.

"You are not telling me the truth," Samara said, "Or at least, not all of the truth."

As if to reply itself, the Honoria flew over the cove, engines roaring, sending the commune's inhabitants scurrying back to their houses. Its flightpath curved, so it could to make its way to pick up its crew member.

"I don't need to tell you anything, truth or not," Ashley said, "Except that I don't mean you any harm."

The justicar remained silent. Silent when the Honoria approached. Silent when it stopped with a wave of hit air. Silent when the front ramp descended. When Tali and the ship's complement of marines and soldiers exited, weapons levelled. When they fanned out so that the justicar couldn't simply knock them dead with her biotics.

"I see," Samara said, finally reacting when the movement and noise ceased.

"Is there a problem here?" Tali asked nervously, her shotgun trained right at Samara's head. Ashley placed her hand on top and lowered it, shaking her head. The time for that had passed.

The justicar inclined her head in thanks.

"It was nice meeting you," Ashley said, before waving her arm, "Marines! Back to the ship."

They all withdrew up the ramp, not turning their backs. Ashley didn't bother, instead walking straight on board, not showing an inch of weakness. Like General Aethyta said.

The justicar had to be shown how close she had come.

The trip back to Arcturus was taking an age. Minutes felt like hours, hours like days. It was all because of the failure of the mission. Even if it wasn't the fault of anyone on board the Honoria, it was still a setback.

Ashley Williams sat in her sleep-pod, she felt a sense of exhaustion. Mission scrubbed, Spectre status delayed, authority to chase evidence on the Reapers through Citadel space elusive; it was a big mess. Thankfully a big mess that wasn't her fault. Being the grand-daughter of the man who had surrendered to aliens still hung over her, even if she was one of Shepard's team.

That didn't change the fact that the salarians and now the asari were reluctant to let anyone but a Spectre do the job of combing through the corporate and military research institutes of the galaxy, looking for Reaper arcana. The Alliance DID and Quarian Fleet Intelligence Service were both agreed; the original three species could not be trusted to conduct the inquisition themselves. Saren had been a Spectre, after all. Who knew how deep the tentacles of indoctrination or corruption had spread in the centuries before humanity's arrival and the liberation of Rannoch.

The lieutenant sighed long and deep. If only Shepard was alive, she thought, she would know how to unscrew the situation. She always did.

A sudden rapping on the glass in front of her sounded. Startled, Ashley opened her eyes and swung her head forward before she could think. The cold glass stopped her head, sending a pulse of pain through her.

"Damn it!" she mumbled, her mood not improved.

"Sorry!" came the high-pitching reply.

The throbs continuing, Ashley rubbed her forehead and opened her eyes again. She found Tali standing in front of her pod, her eyes lowered in her visor, hands fidgeting. Finding the XO of the ship to be in a fluster did improve her mood, and she slapped the exit button. The source of her pains slid back, and she stepped out onto the deck, putting a hand over her mouth to stifle a deep yawn that threatened to overtake her completely.

"Sorry," Tali said again, with a little more composure, "I didn't think you would do that if I knocked."

"It's okay," Ashley replied, waving it off, "You're forgiven."

"There was a message from Space Command Terra," Tali continued, "Pressly sent me down to tell you."

Something important enough to require waking the ship's guest. This was going to be good.

"Sounds overly dramatic," Ashley said, stretching her arms, "Are we at war with the asari?"

Tali shook her helmeted head. "Actually, Liara weighed in publicly and the maidens rallied behind her," she replied happily, "Things are about where they were before Illium happened."

"So what's the emergency?" Ashley asked, crossing her arms.

"The ship is needed to move an important Prothean artefact," Tali replied.

Ashley paused, and promptly shook her head in disbelief. "Sending our ship to pick up a Prothean artefact with a Spectre candidate on board, along with a high ranking Citadel military official, all on short notice," she said, "This is beginning to sound familiar, but not urgent."

"That's why Pressly sent me to tell you," Tali said, "The artefact is on Eden Prime."

Eden Prime, where the war with the geth had begun. Where Ashley had lost her entire squad, almost every friend she had planetside. She had made others on board the Normandy, but those that had died at the hands of the geth were not forgotten. They had been shot, impaled on Reaper enthralment devices, torn to pieces by geth foot units, crushed under rubble, or obliterated by Sovereign's beam weapon...

The scars of the fighting near the 'Prothean Kappa' site were still visible from the air. Blackened gouges through the green countryside, nothing able to grow where the soil had been irradiated and the removal of the contamination a low priority compared with the rebuilding of the broken infrastructure for the billion souls that called the world home.

Ashley could even pick out the exact spot she had camped the day before the attack, for the briefest moment as the Honoria flew through the valley.

The prefabricated colonial buildings hadn't changed. Cheap housing for the masses, next to the older constructions finished in the thirty years since humans first set foot there. Some people didn't even bother building more permanent housing on their land grants, the modular kind being perfectly comfortable and more efficient to expand. Yet they were poor defences against mass accelerators or the strength of synthetic muscle.

The ship put down in the same spaceport that Saren had used to land the first geth forces in January 2183 and the same he had tried to destroy with a nuclear weapon after drawing in Alliance troops. It was far from the only Navy ship in dock that day either. Another five frigates were in berths, the Guadalcanal wolfpack of the Eighth Fleet, all Normandy-class sister ships of the Honoria.

So when the ramp came down, it was no surprise at all to see soldiers at every corner, GARDIAN batteries on every tower and walkers on every road exit. It was a welcome sight to Ashley, relief that the colony now had the protection it deserved.

The lead-scientist of the digsites was also waiting, looking uncomfortable and distracted by the military environment.

"Doctor Warren," Ashley called, stepping off the ship, "Good to see you again. Is Doctor Cayce not here?"

The anthropologist twitched her head around, not having seen Ashley disembark. "Oh, Chief Williams," Warren said uncertainly, "It is good to see you too. Manuel is no longer with the project since the Army took over. Indoctrination concerns over his previous behaviour."

Ashley nodded, recalling that her second had indeed been acting funny. She felt a little embarrassed having not remembered before, especially as it was very possible that poor Manuel had been experimented on by the Special Weapons Division. Needing a distraction herself now, she waved her companions forward to introduce them.

"This is Commander Tali'Zorah vas Honoria of the Quarian Navy," Ashley said, "And General Aethyta of the Asari Republics."

A famous name and a high rank would send many people over, but the doctor handled it well, offering her hand to both Tali and Aethyta. Tali shook it gladly. Aethyta shook with reluctance.

"Are you here as the Citadel's representative, General?" Warren asked as their hands were together.

"No, I'm here to determine whether or not the Citadel needs to know about this at all," Aethyta replied, "I share your government's caution about indoctrination."

"But don't we have to report all major Prothean finds?" Warren continued, "This is highly irregular."

"We live in irregular times," Aethyta said impatiently, "All I know is that if this is as big as your military thinks it is, and it gets reported, someone with the Reaper's hand up their ass like a goddess-damned puppet is going to try and make a play for it."

"Best to avoid that," Ashley agreed, smiling at just what words the asari had chosen.

Warren nodded rapidly. "It's big," she said, "If you'll just follow me."

She led the way to a waiting shuttle on a nearby pad, and sat down on the edge of the hull with her legs hanging out rather than sitting inside. Impressed, Ashley sat down beside her after letting Tali and Aethyta board, laying her rifle across her lap. Earpieces were handed out to facilitate conversation, and the shuttle dusted off.

"What do you know about the new digs?" Warren asked as soon as they were clear of the spaceport.

"Only what the briefing packet had," Ashley replied, her voice raised over the sound of rushing air and engines, "The DID ordered re-examination of every world with a Prothean site in human space, and intrusive excavations of any promising leads."

"And mostly found jack shit," Aethyta added for good measure.

"Until now," Tali said, "So what did you find?"

"In general?" Warren replied, "A hugely complex bunker system containing hundreds of hibernation pods, designed to be shielded from detection by even the most advanced sensors."

"Like Ilos?" Ashley asked. A chill ran down her spine at her memories of that world, its entire surface a crypt for a dead civilisation. Or two, if the salarians' theory about the inusannon held water.

"If the salarians' reports about that world are true, exactly like Ilos, yes," Warren said, "In fact, it's the fifth such bunker to be found in human space since 2157. The third since the end of the war. It seems hibernation was one of the strategies employed by the Protheans to try and beat the Reapers."

Tali gasped in surprise. "Does that mean there could be hibernation ships out in dark space too?" she said, "Full of Protheans?"

"That would have been our likely next hypothesis if the Reapers hadn't already tried to return," Warren answered, "But they would have tried to return long before now if they had survived out there. Maybe they did before the discovery of the Citadel by the current cycle of sentient species and Sovereign hunted them down. The evidence for that would have been cleaned up."

"A bunker," Aethyta mused aloud, "Any useful military technology?"

"Nothing like the beacons, if that's what you want to know," Warren replied, "As for the rest... you'll see. Look, there's the new site."

The doctor pointed off to a collection of prefabs, with cranes surrounding a large and deep hole to one side. Ashley got a sinking feeling as she noticed another detail; unlike the spaceport, there were no anti-aircraft weapons or armoured vehicles guarding it. In fact, she strained to see any security safeguards at all.

"Where's the Army?" Ashley asked loudly, "I'm not seeing any defences."

"There's a small contingent disguised as security guards," said Warren, "But the whole site is kept secret, disguised as an exploratory mining operation. That helps explain the heavy digging equipment and even my presence, as Eden Prime is so studded with sites that pretty much any digging leads to finds. Mostly useless rubble, but it's the law to catalogue it all."

"So the only security you have is what?" Ashley said, "A single platoon?"

"Any more would draw suspicion," Warren said, "Like you said, we're not sure the Citadel needs to know. Secrecy is our best defence."

"Oh Goddess," Aethyta groaned, before pulling her rifle off her back and cocking it, "The Alliance might be able to keep a secret from the turians, the asari, the STG... even the Reapers. But I see no one has considered the other possibilities."

"Other possibilities?" Tali asked.

"If you think the major powers are the only ones with chips on the table, you're wrong," Aethyta replied, "Every private military concern, every Terminus warlord and humanity's own separatist movements would be eager to find whatever it is the good doctor has uncovered. Especially if it has military applications."

The dressing down didn't do much to help Ashley's mood.

"Tali, get your shotgun out," she said, "We could need it." Tali nodded and complied, even though she now outranked Ashley. A technicality that Tali herself didn't care to point out; Ashley was by far the more experienced soldier.

The shuttle kept flying, coming in from the south as expected, overflying some other pads and private homes, its speed slowing. The locals were looking up and waving, the good doctor's habit of flying while hanging out of the shuttle obviously a source of amusement for some. Elsewhere, children played in backyards, ground cars moved about in the street, people went about their business; it seemed like an ordinary weekday afternoon.

Ashley watched it all pass by with sadness. She knew the peace wouldn't last. As she was contemplating how many would die, and how many the latest discovery would save, she saw Dr. Warren looking around, confused.

"Problem doc?" Ashley asked.

"We just passed by the shuttlepad," she said, "At least, the one I took off from. All my staff are waiting there."

Aethyta and Ashley exchanged a look that communicated that they had come to the same conclusion. The pilot was not friendly.

The matriarch summoned her biotics in a flurry of purple light, and ripped the door to the cockpit clean off, dropping it to the shuttle's floor with a thump. Another flurry, and the pilot was ripped out along with the top half of his chair. He slammed against the rear bulkhead, protected from most of the impact by the crash padding in the seat, but he was dazed. The shuttle lurched rightwards, thankfully the direction that wouldn't throw both Ashley and Dr. Warren out of it, instead sending Tali and the pilot tumbling against the closed door opposite.

Aethyta rushed into the co-pilot's seat in the cockpit to regain control of the shuttle, while Tali struggled with the pilot as he attempted to go for his gun.

Gritting her teeth, Ashley tried to get a shot on the bastard, but Tali had to keep on top of him to prevent him from shooting her. Cursing, she lowered her weapon, hoping that the quarian could handle it.

The shuttle steadied again, just before it hit a three floor apartment block, levelling out so close to it that Ashley and Warren could have jumped out safely.

The pilot got the upper hand as soon as Tali's weight wasn't applied to him any longer, and shoved her away with full strength straight into Doctor Warren. They just barely managed to stay on board, as the man responsible went for his gun.

Ashley was faster, and shot him through the chest twice before his pistol got a bead on any of them. It tumbled to the floor first, followed by the man himself landing on top of it in a heap. Yet it was far from over, and the lieutenant felt her heart jumping around in her chest. They were in serious danger.

Thankfully, there was someone she could trust with her life right beside her.

"We've got to keep that artefact out of enemy hands!" Ashley said to Tali, "Ideas?"

"General, put the shuttle down in the site itself!" Tali ordered, her hand finding a grip, "I'll send a message to the Honoria, get them to send reinforcements!"

"Gotcha," Aethyta replied.

The shuttle sped towards the excavations, flying as low as possible to avoid any possible attempts to intercept it. It was now obvious to whoever wanted the artefact that their deception had been seen through.

Aethyta didn't turn out to be the best pilot. She had barely avoided several large antennas on the way in. The shuttle scraped and banged all the way down the mining shaft, the inertial dampeners unable to compensate for the forces applied. If it hadn't been for the safety harnesses, all occupants would have rattled around inside. The final landing was an ear-splitting, spine-jarring affair. If the shuttle could fly again after experiencing it, Ashley would eat her helmet.

But they made it to the bottom without dying, and that was the important part. Ashley and Tali jumped out of the opening doors, sweeping their weapons over every nook and cranny of the dark cavern, the sunlight from above a mere soft glow. There was no welcoming committee, ironic or otherwise, just some thick buttresses in the strange grey alloys that the Protheans liked to use.

"Clear!" Ashley declared, "Come on out, doc."

"I think I have whiplash," Dr. Warren groaned, stepping out of the shuttle with her hands on the back of her neck. She massaged it, turning her head from side to side. A bit over the top, Ashley thought.

Aethyta exited next, and gave the lead-scientist a less-than-playful slap on the back. Dr. Warren yelped, and scowled at her attacker, before thinking better of it upon eyeing the assault rifle cradled in her arms.

"You'll be fine," the asari replied, "Where's the main ruins? This isn't it, clearly."

"Further down," Dr. Warren said, "The geology that prevented detection of the site with ground penetrating radar also prevented a safe vertical shaft the whole way down."

"How far then?" Aethyta asked.

"Not far, follow me."

Dr. Warren moved towards the only visible tunnel as casual as can be, like it was any other day. It was incredibly stupid.

"Wow, hold on there doc," Ashley said, "There are guards down here too, right? How do we know they're not compromised?"

"They're all up there," the lead-scientist replied, "And the elevator is slow, before you ask whether or not they can get down here. Designed to take very heavy loads, very carefully. By the time the thing gets up there, we can lock out the power source, which is down here. This was the main exploration shaft, we mostly use it to get equipment down here fast using the cranes."

The metallic click-click of Ashley's weapon rang out, echoing around the space, satisfying as hell. "You'll excuse us for not taking your word," she replied, "Hostile action by unknown numbers of unknown enemies doesn't tend to make me more trusting of what is supposed to be the status quo."

Tali hummed her approval. Wise beyond her years, Ashley thought fondly.

Dr. Warren nodded. "You're the soldier, not me," she said, "All I can do is tell you what I know was down here about an hour ago."

The asari present made a rolling asari shrug, and put her hand on the lead-scientist's shoulder.

"Doc, lead the way to the elevator so we can disable it," Aethyta cut in, "Stop them getting down here."

The lead-scientist's face lit up with relief. "This way," Dr. Warren replied happily, "I'll go first, maybe you can get the drop on them if they see me first." She moved off into the tunnel, Aethyta's eyes tracking her the whole way to it. Watching, assessing.

Ashley realised that there was suspicion there, but of what? Negligence or complicity?

Aethyta waited until Dr. Warren was out of earshot to make it clear. "Watch that one," she said quietly, "I'm not sure of it, but she could be working with whoever else wants what is down in this hole."

Ashley shook her head, as all three stragglers began walking, Tali keeping up with Dr. Warren. "I talked to her every day for a year," she replied, "There isn't a treasonous bone in that woman's body. She was always kind to us grunts."

Aethyta snorted slightly, unable to mask her disapproval that any stock would be put in that, where trustworthiness was concerned. Ashley had her doubts too, but they didn't loom so large as to make her want to show her hand. Betrayal could be motivated by more than just malice. Fear or greed did just as well.

Regardless, the lead-scientist soon brought them to the main elevator shaft. The elevator itself was moving, coming down. Dr. Warren had been right though. She disconnected the power supply to the main motors, pulling the large plugs out of their sockets, and the droning of the thing stopped at once. No more descending elevator. With that done, all that was left to do was go deeper, back into the tunnels.

The one leading to the main archaeological site was wider and taller than the one between the two descent shafts, with a more gentle, spiralling slope. It took twenty minutes to make it to the Prothean bunker complex, with cold artificially pumped air circulating around them the whole time.

When Ashley finally saw what it was, she felt like she had stepped back in time, and in more ways than one.

The entire space looked like the Ilos vaults, stretching on like they did for what looked like a kilometre at least. Smooth light grey surfaces in an arch shape, ceilings higher than a five floor building, buttressed against the pressure of rock above by huge pillars. The hibernation pods stuck out out the walls at regular intervals, like black studs, all the way from the floor to the roof, just as coffin-like as she remembered.

But unlike Ilos, there was no overgrowth of dead twisting vines clinging to everything, no rivers of water flowing through the complex, no broken rocks or debris. Just a coat of fine dust, as if she was on Ilos during the Protheans' long sleep, waiting for the Reapers to leave.

The only blemishes on the whole structure were signs of battle. Disintegrated sections of walls at angles that told the tale of a fight conducted with directed particle weapons; signature of the Protheans themselves. There were reinforced barricades and derelict emplaced-weapons, mangled or destroyed by explosions or impacts.

Not even Aethyta was immune to the sense of wonder it all provoked. But even as Ashley shared it, she wondered if it also provoked something else in the asari general, something she felt deep down in her gut; dread. This was a crypt, just like Ilos was. A monument to a failed, annihilated civilisation.

Tali was also oddly quiet, and had been since they had arrived.

"What's wrong?" Ashley asked her, as they all slowed for a moment to admire the place.

"The Protheans built all this to trick the Reapers, after having suffered defeat after defeat," Tali said at once, "Yet here we are, wondering if we're going to be attacked by someone who wants to steal their secrets. Do they not see how bad that is? We shouldn't be fighting among ourselves over this sort of thing. The knowledge we find down here needs to be shared if we're going to live, not stolen and kept away."

"Some people need to be kept away from that knowledge," Aethyta said, "They won't just fight the Reapers with it."

"I'm sure that's what whoever is trying to interfere is thinking," Tali said in admonishment, "I wish we could negotiate with them..."

"So do I," said Ashley, "But until the Reapers do show up, we'll be playing the politics game, as usual."

"Even after they arrive," Aethyta corrected, "Do you think the Reapers would be stupid enough to attack everyone equally at the same time? They'll play the divide and conquer game, I'm sure of it. Some of us will be attacked with absolute force, others will just get tickled. I'd be surprised if the Terminus was attacked at all while Citadel forces are still in the fight. No need to draw in the pirates to help us."

The science team was near where the tunnel met the bunker, white coats crowded around a particular sector of the hibernation pods. Like Dr. Warren had said, there were no guards, although there was a single Alliance presence, a female Navy officer with dark skin and long black hair, armed only with a heavy pistol.

The lead-scientist herself ran over as soon as she knew she could make the run in a single burst, and straight to a set of diagnostic screens that seemed to congregate around one particular hibernation pod, still lodged in the bunker wall. There was a great deal of commotion around the thing, as what Ashley presumed were electrical engineers placed wires on contact points and anthropologists attempted to decipher Prothean language script flowing over some of the screens.

The Alliance officer noticed the new arrivals before any of the scientists did, and almost stumbled over herself moving to make her introduction. The salute that came was sharp and energetic. Not a combat officer, Ashley said to herself at once.

"Staff-Analyst Maya Brooks," the woman said in a curious Anglo-Irish accent, blinking her big brown eyes, "Special Weapons Division, Defence Intelligence Directorate."

What a pup, the lieutenant thought.

"At ease," Ashley said, "Lieutenant Ashley Williams."

"I know," Brooks replied, her eyes moving to the quarian and the asari to the left, "And Tali'Zorah, XO of the SSV Honoria. And... actually, I don't know who you are. They didn't say you'd be coming."

"No one you need to worry about, kid," Aethyta replied, "It seems Dr. Warren has completely forgotten we exist, and we probably don't have a lot of time before we have a hostile force trying to take this discovery of yours from us. So, would you mind telling us what it is, before they show?"

"Certainly!" Brooks replied, "At once!" And said nothing more.

There was an awkward silence.

"So?" Ashley said, "What is it?"

"Oh, right!" Brooks continued, "Well, this entire group of pods seems to be soldiers, you see. At least, that's what the inscriptions over the section say according to Jacob and the other one. The Prothean linguists, I mean. There aren't any armouries, so Dr. Warren thought this would be the place to look for weapons or other useful military... things."

"Good bet," Ashley said, "So is that what we've found? Weapons?"

"No," Brooks began, "Well, yes, there are Prothean small arms in there too, but that's not what everyone is excited about. When they got the console half-working, that one there by our own computers, it said there was still one of them left alive in there."

Ashley's jaw dropped.

"A living Prothean?" Tali asked, incredulous, "But... how?"

"The VI indicated that the power systems were damaged just before the last occupants were put into stasis," Brooks said, "The system for automatically waking them was also damaged, so that's why they didn't just wake up after the Reapers left last time. It managed to triage the power according to rank, saving the most important sleepers for as long as possible, just like at Ilos."

"Until only one was left," Ashley said, "Jesus. Imagine being the last of your species, fifty thousand years later. That's terrible."

"But incredibly useful for us, if we can get them out of that damn box," Aethyta said, "The most important Prothean left alive? It's likely to be a scientist or a politician. Better someone who can explain Prothean weapons technology to us would be the biggest win, but I'd settle for someone who can relay exactly how the Reapers fought during the last cycle. We still have no concrete idea about numbers, ship classes, tactics, strategy... I could go on."

"It could be the thing that turns the war in our favour," Tali agreed, "If we can the pod open."

"They were having trouble just getting the pod out of the wall," Brooks said, smiling, "But it seems they've figured that bit out now, and were just waiting for Dr. Warren to get back so she can look over the plan before executing."

There was a sharp clapping of hands. "Okay people, this is it!" Dr. Warren announced, her hands still together, "We don't know if removing the pod from its slot will activate the awakening sequence, so give it plenty of room. Lieutenant, you may wish to cover it with your weapons, there's no telling what might happen."

Ashley agreed, and shouldered her weapon, keeping the barrel down but floating, ready to raise. Who knows how cranky the Prothean would be on waking up. Or if it had a weapon in there with it. Tali didn't do the same with her shotgun, she had put it away as they reached the bunker proper. No need to make a bad impression, as much as there was a need to discourage violence.

The collective breath of the scientists was held as Dr. Warren pushed a serious of keys on her glowing haptic interface, and with a low grind, the hibernation pod slid out of its place. The others moved a trolley under it quickly, whatever mechanism used to lower it to the floor rendered inoperative by time or battle damage. The thing clanked as it fell a half inch onto the wheeled-support.

Two of the scientists quickly wheeled the pod away to a separate area. Two others moved to inspect the place it had been in. The spare scientists split between observing the two tasks, but Ashley and Tali followed Dr. Warren to the pod, Aethyta and Lt. Brooks staying in place but looking in the same direction.

"There's an instrument panel!" Dr. Warren said excitedly, before tapping on it, "Now let's see if we can't find an awakening protocol..."

"That one!" a linguist hovering nearby said, her face covered with a sanitation mask, "The third from the bottom!"

Dr. Warren tapped it once. And then twice. And then repeatedly for five seconds, frustration causing a storm of wrinkles on her brow. Nothing happened, no matter how determinedly she pushed the button.

It looked like she might break the thing, Ashley thought. "Hey, doc..." she said, "The enemy might be any minute, just take it easy and explain what is wrong."

"It's encoded!" Dr. Warren cried out, throwing her hands, "We can't get it open, and cracking the code will take time."

"Does it have enough power for you to do that?" Tali asked.

"We can recharge it easily enough," Dr. Warren replied, examining the pod's interface again, "It seems to use the same power standards as other Prothean technology we're familiar with, and it's obviously built for longevity. And..."

The scientists around Dr. Warren all grinned. "They left us another gift," she smiled, "I think you two will appreciate this most of all." She tapped something else on the panel, and with a hiss, a side of the pod popped open a sliver, and slid upwards. A slight glow from it indicated that the pod did indeed still have power.

Curiosity overwhelming her, Ashley crouched to see what was inside. At one part was a collection of angular objects of unknown use, perhaps the personal items of the person inside the pod. However, the great bulk of the space was filled with something else; what could only be rifles of some kind. Three of them, elegant but as angular as the other objects. The pistol grips were connected to the stocks, and receiver glowed a strong blue-green. The things were still working, after fifty thousand years!

"Particle rifles?" Ashley said, standing up again, "Very cool."

"Very," said a unfamiliar voice from behind.

There was an ominous click, followed by a continuous artificial humming and a clatter on the floor. Ashley spun on the spot, bringing her rifle to bear in the direction of the noise..

Lieutenant Brooks was standing just behind Aethyta, all traces of the naïve young officer gone from her face, replaced with malice in the form of a smirk and narrowed, focused eyes. The asari general had a large metal collar around her neck, which she was pulling at violently. Her assault rifle was on the ground, under one of Brook's boots. Yet the intelligence officer's pistol was still holstered, but one hand was behind her back.

"Careful now, General," said Brooks, her accent now changed from Anglo-Irish to upper class British, "If you pull too hard on that, it'll explode."

"What is that thing!" Ashley demanded, moving slowly to get a better shot, "Take it off now, lieutenant."

"It's a biotic nullification collar," Brooks replied, counter-manoeuvring to keep Aethyta in the line of fire, "Distasteful, really. The Batarian Hegemony uses them to enslave asari. Once it's on, no more biotics. Lucky we had one prepared. We thought it would be Alenko who would be sent to respond to this. Our mistake, but lucky we made it, or else the general here might have torn us to pieces.

"I still might," Aethyta growled, turning around to face the traitor, "I don't need biotics to do it."

"Oh, and it can explode on command," Brooks added, sing-songing the words.

She held up her hidden hand, revealing a small silver trigger device. "A dead man's switch," she said, "Annoy me enough, and you're dead, general. Probably some of these scientists too, they don't have kinetic barriers. The yield is designed to try and kill other escapees."

Ashley groaned, knowing full well that she couldn't let the scientists die. The Alliance didn't have that many Prothean experts, and they'd be needing them to glean every last piece of possible data for the war effort. The Archives on Mars still held many secrets. She lowered her weapon.

"Put the rifle on the ground, lieutenant," Brooks said, "And go stand beside Commander Zorah. There's a good little dog, following orders. Dr Warren, you and your team move over behind the quarian too. No one needs to get hurt."

Ashley did as she was told, seeing no way of killing the woman without doing the same to the General. The scientists began congregating behind Tali as ordered, their hands held up at various heights in surrender.

"I-I don't understand," Dr. Warren said, "You... who are you? Is your name even Brooks?"

"No. I'm with Cerberus," Brooks answered readily, "You see Doctor, we think we have the key to that little treasure box you found. Unfortunately for all of us, your two guests here guessed something was wrong. Now, it doesn't look like anyone will be getting the prize. The message sent to the Alliance base at the spaceport was garbled, but enough for them to come investigate in force. We don't have time to move the pod now."

"Sounds like you're screwed," Ashley said, "Why attack us if you know you're going to get caught?"

"I might have worried about that," Brooks said, "I do have orders to not kill anyone unless absolutely necessary. Well, no one human anyway. The General here is expendable at best. The Illusive Man never was a fan of aliens, let's face it. Being surrounded might have been a serious problem, except you very kindly landed a shuttle in the shaft for me to take."

Aethyta snorted. "I landed that thing like a brick," she said, "I'd be surprised if it still flies."

Brooks tapped her ear. "My people are already inside it," she said, "They say it's good to go."

"Fuck," Aethyta said.

Ashley shook her head. "Why are you standing around talking to us then?" she asked, "What's the point of this little show?"

"Orders are orders," Brooks replied, "I'm to tell you that Cerberus is responsible, and that we're greatly dissatisfied with your efforts to protect the galaxy from the Reaper threat. Even more so now that you've allied with batarians. That little secret won't be so secret soon. Should create nice big riots. Perhaps the government will fall."

"Is that all?" Tali asked, "It seems a big risk just for something that you could have done with a call later."

"Well, security is going to tighten up after this," Brooks said, walking towards the pod, "So we're going to take second prize while we still can."

Leaning backwards against the trolley so she could keep watch while doing her job, the traitor crouched and began blindly grabbing each of the Prothean rifles, putting them on the top of the pod. She fetched a large bag from a table nearby, and began putting the rifles inside it, awkwardly as she had only one hand to do it with.

Ashley felt raw hatred rise in her throat. She couldn't let this go unchallenged. Cerberus couldn't be allowed to obtain Prothean weapons. A dark part of her brain also screamed a suspicion into her conscious mind; collaring Aethyta, rather than shooting her in the back of the head and taking the scientists hostage instead, meant one thing. Cerberus had no intention of walking away without the asari general.

She scanned her surroundings once more.

The first thing she noticed was that Tali still had her shotgun, slung on the small of the quarian's back. Brooks hadn't noticed it, or had and was simply sure that her hold over Aethyta was sufficient to stop Tali from using it. That would be a lot more useful than the rifles laying on the ground twenty paces away at this point.

The second thing was that Brooks' body language was very wary, moving with cat-like precision, always keeping her eyes on Ashley and the others, always keeping her front to them and her hand near enough her pistol to draw it in a heartbeat. This was a big difference compared with her casual speech pattern. Ashley knew not to trust the woman's words, now at least. She put two and two together; Brooks was more afraid than someone in her position ought to be.

But why?

Brooks had almost every advantage; a weapon that could kill all the unshielded people nearby, as well as the only biotic present, another that she could use to fend off the only two others that would survive the first, and a bag of Prothean rifles to boot. What was wrong that she was still afraid? Was it natural paranoia?

Ashley looked over Brooks' person again, and saw the key.

The traitor was wearing a standard Alliance navy dress uniform; blue with gold-inlaid lieutenant's stripes on the shoulders and lapels. Apart from the holster, there were no bulges or unusual thickness in the fabric. It was quite simply an ordinary uniform. That is to say, it didn't have kinetic barrier plates. Brooks was as unprotected from the explosives in Aethyta's collar as anyone.

Ashley's confidence rose, as she came to another conclusion; the dead man's switch wasn't set for an immediate detonation. Brooks needed to get out of this place with her loot alive, whether that was the cryopod or the particle weapons. Her disguise was as an analyst, not a soldier, so no barriers and a sidearm only. Blowing herself up didn't serve her purpose, and Ashley doubted it fit her personality either.

Doing a few quick calculations in her head about timing, Ashley Williams prepared to act.

"Well, it's been a pleasure, Ms. Williams," Brooks said with false cheer, "But I'm afraid I'll also have to take the bronze medal too. General Aeth..." General Aethyta is coming with me, was probably what she would have said.

The traitor didn't get to finish her sentence.

Ashley, letting the woman's little speech distract her, reached behind Tali and pulled the shotgun off the quarian's back. Swinging it around as it opened up into operational mode, she flicked the safety off with her thumb and aimed it at Brooks. The traitor, unwilling to detonate the nullification collar, went for her pistol.

The shotgun boomed first, the accelerated metal bursting from the barrel and spraying in a tight pattern into Brooks' hand. The one holding the detonator, right on target. Even as the detonator began to fall out of the injured hand, the pistol in the other shot in retaliation. Uselessly, the bullets impacted Tali's considerable kinetic barrier with loud pings and flashes of light.

Ashley, having dealt the damage she needed to, dropped the shotgun and burst forward frantically, taking as many steps as possible before diving forwards, hands stretching out to catch the thing Brooks dropped, even as the bullets found her own kinetic barriers and began wearing them down. It didn't matter if they made it through. She had to get her thumb on that button.

She made it, just. Landing on the ground and skidding on her side, the wind knocked completely out of her, she grasped the dead man's switch and squeezed it down, coming to a halt right at the traitor's feet.

Which promptly took off in flight. The booming of the shotgun behind signalled that Tali had recovered it and was putting it to good use. Brooks, her charade destroyed, ran for her life.

"NO!" Tali shouted, "Where'd she go!"

The shotgun boomed again, a speculative shot into the dark. No shout or scream of pain came in return. A miss, then, Ashley thought as she struggled to breath.

More came for the next minute or two, with the occasional answering shot at first. Whatever gun battle was happening, it was almost over before it started. Eventually, a set of black boots appeared in Ashley's vision.

"She had a tactical cloak," Aethyta grunted, her voice nearby, "Are you alright lieutenant?"

Ashley rolled over, and sat up. A tactical cloak could be as simple as a poncho-shaped cloth, easily hidden and easily thrown over someone on the fly. Far easier to conceal than barriers too. As she moved, she noticed something was wrong with the detonator. She shook it up and down, careful to keep the button at the top down while feeling the weight of it. It was light. A little too light.

"I'm alive," she replied, looking up at the asari, "But I don't think your collar has explosives in it after all. This thing is a little light. Might be an old style pen, actually."

"The lying bitch," Aethyta said, shaking her head, "I'd appreciate you not testing that though. You saved my life, the scientists, and the pod. No need to get us all blown up now, trying out a theory." The asari offered her arm in help.

Ashley grinned, taking the help and getting to her feet. Tali came over too, head lowered sullenly.

"She got away," the quarian said, "I sent Chatika to scan for her, nothing in our vicinity."

"Cut her losses," Ashley nodded, "Guess that means Cerberus get the particle weapons."

"Doubt they'll be able to reverse engineer them any time soon," Aethyta said, "Chin up. You took in your circumstances, found the enemy's weakness and exploited it to the best of your abilities, while prioritising what you should have. You'll get ten out of ten from me when the Council come asking about your Spectre evaluation, though you'll probably have to go through a real one at some point."

Tali's head shot up, her glowing eyes curving with happiness behind the mask. "Congratulations, Ashley!" the quarian said.

Ashley's spirits were raised, but she was too out of breath to thank the asari for her assessment.

She hugged Tali quickly but gently, and she offered her hand to Aethyta, feeling like she needed to do something to show her appreciation. The asari shook it once, mumbling about anthropocentrism.

For now, it still wasn't entirely safe. Both of them picked their own rifles off the ground, and went to see if Dr. Warren had stopped jabbering to herself long enough to organise a defence until Alliance troops could properly clear the site once more.

Not another single glance did Ashley give to the hibernation pod.