Opening Notes; Archer83; Welcome to the final chapter of Razor's Edge. I hope everyone who has taken the time to read this work has enjoyed the ride. Thank you one final time to all those who reviewed, followed, and faved this story. I would like to give special mention to two of you for every different reasons.

To LegionN7, your interest in this story blew me away and gave me the motivation, along with all of your other kind fellow reviewers, to power through and FINALLY finish my first novel length story.

To alienyouthct, thank you for showing me how to turn highly negative feedback, into a burning desire to see this story completed as I originally envisioned it. You got the Shepard you wanted in this story after all. She just happens to be the evil clone version and not the decent, honorable one.

Oops, Spoiler Alert if any of you haven't figured that out already! Let's get this show on the road!

Vergil1989; This is a day long anticipated. We have finally completed a story. YAY! Almost makes a tear come to my eye. :P In all seriousness, let me repeat Archer's sentiment and thank everyone that has favorited, followed, and reviewed our story. And to my partner, Archer83, who may have driven me insane along the way, for coming up with this idea in the first place.

And as for alienyouthct, as much as I want to say you are a terrible reviewer with a horribly closed mind, you did do some good in the end. And as he said already, you got the Shepard you always wanted, from a certain point of view anyway. :P

I'm not as nice as he is, sue me.

Chapter 13: Staring Into The Abyss.

Private transport ship, the Emperor's Will.

Currently docked in the Chimera's main hangar bay.

Twenty minutes later.

"What do you have to report, my young apprentice?" As expected, Palpatine had been waiting for her to call him, and as expected, she was kneeling before his image of her own volition. Six months of this would have gotten old for some people, but she wasn't most people. Her new life in this new galaxy had demanded she adapt, and for what Palpatine had given her, submitting to him wasn't such a bad thing in her opinion. A pair of glacial blue eyes flicked up to stare at the imposing tyrant. A tyrant with powers that make the Reapers seem like a broken child's toy in comparison.

While she had plans to eventually overthrow Palpatine, something he no doubt expected from the history of the Sith he had shared with her, she didn't plan to do anything just yet. She was able to admit to herself that she still had a lot to learn of her new skillset, and she was patient. That was something that was genetic rather than learned in her case, but Cassandra Shepard, as she called herself, wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Not after what she had endured just to get here. As much as she hated her original donor's 'source material', the woman had given her a lot in the end. The will to survive the impossible was just one of them.

Reluctantly meeting Palpatine's shadowed face, Cass kept the fear she felt at bay, focusing on her rage for her arch nemesis, Alexandra Shepard. "I was unfortunately too late to capture Shepard or Kirk again, but I am closer than I have been since I started this hunt. I believe I know where they're going. I also believe I can successfully draw them out." She was quick to add in, knowing first hand Palpatine's powerful rage which put her own to shame. Cold fury took on a whole new meaning with the Emperor.

Sensing his apprentice's intentions, Palpatine found himself asking the obvious question. "How?"

"When your query goes to ground, leave no ground to go to. They rely on the people's good will to remain in hiding, as well as finding out of the way worlds to set up shop. While you have done some good work in limiting their allies through fear and intimidation by extreme force, I propose another way. I think the great Commander Shepard needs to show the galaxy just how determined she is to defeat the Empire. Just how pragmatic she can be about saving this galaxy."

"You wish to discredit her 'good works'? Intriguing, but there is the risk that they might try to do the same to us." Palpatine countered, his experience in the political arena still very much with him, and there was a myriad of ways this could go wrong. Even so, the benefits of such a plan could potentially cripple the Rebels' ability to find new recruits and suppliers for their war against his Empire. As for his emphasis on that single word, it paid to have a near identical woman of one of your greatest enemies on your side of the war.

"Nothing so simple, my Master." Even her fear of Palpatine's enormous power couldn't stop Cassandra from looking up into the man's darkened image as a sinister smirk formed on her lips. "I wish to tear down the glowing image the people have of her. To show them that if she feels the many will benefit from the destruction of a few...she will slaughter or abandon them every time. Even if those relative few are billions of innocent lives."

Even his rigid control over his emotions slipped as a grin of his own graced Palpatine's face. He was glad that he had let Cassandra off her short leash. While she hadn't found the Rebel leadership, she had destroyed countless synthetic and Rebel forces alike wherever she found them, her true worth was only then starting to come to light.. "And how do you propose to show them, my cunning apprentice?" Even Vader wasn't this imaginative, and he has proven himself countless times before. On the other hand, he doesn't look like this annoyance, Commander Shepard, but we still could have faked footage surely? A smear campaign can potentially harm us if the truth comes out, but by then the damage will have been done.

Palpatine found himself mildly impressed when her entire demeanor changed. Her glacial blue eyes filled with sorrow, her tone ashamed, yet firm. If not for the Red Guard uniform, which she had insisted on, Palpatine would have sworn he was looking at the good Commander herself. "My fellow galactic citizens...it is with a heavy heart that I took part in a daring offensive against one of the Empire's most valued military holdings. The vast refineries and mines of Kashyyyk are now smoldering ruins, permanently depriving the Empire of their resources. While this has dealt a crippling blow to the supply lines of the Imperial war machine, it also resulted in the loss of millions of innocent wookie lives, and the destruction of many of their ancient forests planetwide. While I am used to making hard decisions such as this, know that I mourn for each and every innocent life lost in this campaign. But this is war, and in any war, you will always have collateral damage. May the Force be with all of you."

An evil cackle filled the small holocomm room and sent a nervous shiver down Cass's spine. "Good, gooooood! I see that you know your opponent better than I could have imagined! I will make the preparations to have you go on HoloNet across the galaxy. Come back to Coruscant as soon as you've overseen the destruction of Kashyyyk and the extermination of the population. And then, we will finish the Rebel Alliance once and for all."

"It will be done, my Master." The smirk on Cassandra's face was back in full force as Palpatine's holographic image disappeared, leaving her alone in her ship. She could have easily seized control of one of the luxury quarters aboard virtually any Star Destroyer, but she preferred her privacy. Besides, it forced the officers to comm her or find her directly, putting them on her home turf. Every advantage was hers, and Cassandra preferred it that way. And speak of the devil, looking to her cockpit console, she nodded for her pilot to open the comm line. "Yes?"

"We have a problem ma'am." The captain on the other end swallowed nervously, knowing full well the woman he was speaking to was known to be just as 'forgiving' of mistakes as Lord Vader was. If that was even possible. "I have Admiral Velkin in custody. He and his men tried to sabotage our weapons systems in an effort to no doubt save the Rebels and their alien allies on the planet below. While we were able to capture him and his men, they were successful in crippling several emplacements on every ship still operational in this sector. It'll be will be at least a day before we can repair the damage. They were annoyingly thorough."

Cassandra rubbed at the bottom of her chin and considered this turn of events. "You have twelve hours, I'll be checking on your progress in six. And Captain...don't think that I'll be letting your utter incompetence slide." Before the captain could respond, she cut the link, and took a breath as she put in a call to the Emperor again. If Palpatine was surprised by her swift response, he didn't show it as Cassandra laid out her slightly improvised plan. The evil grin on his face was all the reply she needed.

Crew Quarters, the Defiant

In transit to Hoth

Two hours later...

Shepard's arms were crossed as she leaned against the open door frame, glaring daggers at her Galen the whole while. "Nice work down there, never seen someone chop the 'head' off an AT-AT before. You are officially crazier than Ace. Congratulations." Galen barely got to open his mouth before she had grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked him down to her eye level. "If I ever catch you doing something that stupid again, I will make you eat those lightsabers Galen."

"May I ask if he'll be wearing his armor at the time? Because, for the record, that maneuver wasn't my idea." Both of them just glanced at Chief's familiar green and gold helmeted avatar as Galen's omni-tool display activated of its own accord. "If this a bad time..."

A faint glimmer of amusement lit Galen's eyes as he ignored the geth's question, before his semi permanent frown fell back into place. "I would love to see you try Shepard." Alex sighed and let him go, eyeing the bag he was filling with rations, clothing, and replacement parts for his saber hilts. "Before you say it, I'm leaving Alex."

"And why would I want you to leave?" She asked as she stared up to Galen, planning to stop him by force if she had to.

"I lied to you for starters. I always had this feeling after the vision I had in that cave...I knew deep down he was still alive. I sensed him, growing closer and closer until we ran into him seemingly at random on Kashyyyk, but we were drawn to each other. At least Juno ended up with the real deal and not the pale shadow. Even if he is a...I think 'colossal prick' is the term I heard you mention." A wry grin pulled at his lips at his own bad joke.

"It was." Fighting the urge to grin, Alex instead merely shrugged as she crossed her arms, cocking her head to the side for a moment. "You only omitted certain facts, you didn't actually lie to anyone. Now put that bag down Galen."

"I'm leaving Alex, that's final. You can't have two of us running around and..." Alex didn't need to feel Galen's worry and hesitation to see it on his face. "Who knows if...I might be just like Antares for all you know. Another Imperial play toy for them to spring on you when you least expect. I'm not taking that risk, and neither are you."

"Don't tell me what to do Galen. You should know by now that doesn't work with me." Putting a hand on his shoulder, the tremors passing through the clone's body ceased as he stopped packing at the same time. "Galen….sit down. There's something I need to tell you. I probably should have brought this up after you discovered the truth in that cave. " Galen paused for a moment before throwing another shirt in the bag. Before he could grab another though, Alex spun him around to face her. "I said, sit down. You're worse than me you know that?"

"Fine!" After being spun around to face her, it was only then that he noticed he wasn't the only one emotionally shaken up. He recognized the haunted look in her eyes and could only groan, knowing what was likely coming. "Oh great. This is going to be one of those times where you share something very private from the depths of your soul and I end up feeling like an even bigger ass, isn't it?"

"Pretty much." Alex managed a weak grin as she sat down next to him before looking at the deck between her feet. The geth in Galen's armor wisely transferred out of the room and back to his physical from several decks away as Shepard snapped her fingers and pointed to the door. Pacing slowly back and forth in front of Galen, she quickly gathered her thoughts, and dredged up memories she would have gladly wiped from her mind if she could. Except for one small issue. It involved her final farewell to David Anderson, her mentor, the man that had pulled her off of Mindior, and the man that had inspired her to be a marine to begin with. "I never told you the whole story…..about David Anderson….about how he died."

And there's that sick, twisting feeling in my gut. "You told me that he was killed by a man named Tim, right?"

"You're half right, about his name and about...what happened. His nickname was TIM, or The Illusive Man as he was known by my military back home. I later learned that his real name was Jack Harper, but that doesn't matter. What matters is, he didn't kill Anderson. I did…..and not by choice." Looking at her left hand, Shepard clenched and unclenched her fist as she recalled everything that had happened as if she was there all over again. "The same synthetic parts that Cerberus gave me….it allowed a Reaper 'upgraded' TIM to control me like a puppet. I fought….God I fought him….but I still put a shot into Anderson's chest. It was only afterward that I broke through TIM's indoctrination, and he shot himself, but by then….the damage was done. I had to sit next to David and watch as he died because of me. The man lived through more than I did, the first time anyway, and he gets taken out by one shot from my weapon. Pretty fucking ironic don't you think?"

I'm a horrible person for even thinking of abandoning her. I can't just leave her...not after she trusts me enough to bare her soul and share one of her darkest secrets . Despite his own fear of doing something similar to her against his will, Galen still trapped her against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her back. He knew how much Anderson had meant to her. After David had sacrificed himself for them, she had told him a great deal about the man that had made her who she was now, but not how he had fallen….until now.

"Don't….don't you dare think I'll just let you run away from me...I need you Galen." Hearing the honest desperation in her words, he threw subtlety out the airlock. The only thought in Galen's head was the feeling of her lips against his own, his bag entirely forgotten as it dropped to the deck. When they pulled away, Galen listened as she continued to pour her heart out to him. "You've been the best thing that happened to me since I got dumped in this galaxy along with Kirk, and I am not giving you up without a fight."

An Imperial battalion couldn't drag me away for you. "I'm not going anywhere. Alex, you're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'd be a fool to throw that away now." It was Shepard's turn to be pleasantly surprised by his sudden boldness as Galen pressed her tightly against him, his brown eyes gazing intently into her immensely relieved glacial-blues. While he was still afraid of being 'hacked' much like she had been, Galen didn't let it stop him from trying to comfort her for once. "I think it's time you let someone else take charge Alex. You don't have to stand alone anymore." All Alex could do was whisper his name before his lips found hers again.

The Defiant's Bridge.

At the increasingly uncomfortable looks on Marek and Ahsoka's faces, Jim looked away from the main view screen to the two behind him. "Okay, what's going on? You too look like you just had a nice little quickie in the nearest supply closet, and don't want to draw attention to yourselves. Ahsoka...I'm waiting." Jim's goofy grin was the only thing that made it possible for the togruta to say anything.

"Yes Master Tano, Galen, I am curious as well." Juno chimed in, only adding to the tension in the room rather than taking it away. Unlike Jim, she wasn't being playful. She had issues with a clone of her Galen running around, and she had already made her opinion known since boarding the ship.

Rubbing the back of her head, Ahsoka nervously explained what she and the deeply brooding man beside her, and that was saying a lot compared to Alex's Galen, were sensing. "Let's just say, I wouldn't go down to a certain crew cabin for the next few hours." Ahsoka quietly mumbled, and Marek could only nod his head rapidly in agreement.

Ahsoka's face dropped in shock at Jim's wide grin, and she didn't have to hear his next words to know his intentions as he practically bounded from his chair. "Well, I'm off to investigate what could be a possible danger to the ship. Jenkins, Dashik, keep an eye on these two, I'll be right back."

Quickly making his way to the turbolift, which for some unknown and no doubt creepy reason had made Alex nearly weep tears of joy the first time he had shown it off to her, Jim headed straight for the crew quarters. He was just reaching for the door controls when he heard a heavy thump followed by a series of moans and groans he knew all too well. "Oh you gotta be karking kidding me! On my ship?! I was gonna christen her first dammit!"

"With me I hope?" Jim jumped at the sound of Ahsoka's voice right by his ear. Quickly realizing that she had followed him down, Jim's grin returned with a vengeance.

"Well duh 'Soka. But still, seems I'm a lot more understanding and patient than some people. But Shepard...I mean, that's a little underhanded don't you think? Taking advantage of an emotionally distressed guy. Geez, just horrible right?" Way to go Shep, even if you did cruelly steal this particular 'first' from me.

"Actually Jim," Ahsoka started, her earlier grin disappearing as she looked to the door. "it was the other way around….sort of. They needed this, although Alex….she needed it more than she realized. The whole nervous act upstairs, that was for the pair we picked up. I might have a brief history with Marek, but I don't trust him with half as much as I trust our Galen, or Alex, or even Legion for that matter."

Yeah, I might not be all chummy with Galen sometimes, but compared to this new guy- Hey, wait a minute... "I'm somewhere on that list, I hope? Because if not...I know roughly twenty-three people that would love to know you wear neon green underwear. Never heard of anyone accessorizing lightsabers before."

"That's actually not so uncommon. Coed showers were common on starships when I was in the Clone Wars. Hhmmm, I kind of miss those days. Maybe I'll join your crew in the locker room next time instead of selfishly using your private one. Who knows what might happen."

Someone had been hanging around Alex a little too much, either that or Jim hadn't realized how just how playful Ahsoka truly was. Either way, Jim couldn't help but grin despite the fact he was trying not to fall for her obvious teasing. Oh crap, now I can't get that image out of my head. It's a trap, and I could care less. "I've found I don't like to share my sexy Jedi." Unless you want to invite some adventurous women to join us? Oh thank god, I didn't actually say that out loud. I get the impression she isn't into sharing either. "Not even with my loyal crew, who would no doubt be suicidally loyal in a hurry if I did. Sorry 'Soka, but captain orders, you have to keep using my private head."

Ahsoka's grin was more than contagious as she walked her fingers up his chest and to his chin. "Only if you're in it."

The Defiant, Captain's quarters.

Ten hours later.

(For Added Effect Please Play - The Way by Zack Hemsey)

"NNNOOOOOO!" The blood curdling scream was more than enough to jolt Kirk out of his sleep as he rapidly turned to the gasping woman next to him. One look at a sobbing, emotionally torn apart togruta, and Jim's confusion instantly turned to outright concern. Another agonized yell burst from her lips before her hands flew to the sides of her head, as if she was trying to block out something only she could hear.

Jim quickly reached across the bed and grabbed onto the shaking togruta before she almost fall to the deck. "Ahsoka! Are you al-"

Rapidly shaking her head, he could see her huge blue eyes darting everywhere in confusion and fear. The Jedi leaned into his grasp as if it was the only thing keeping her from drowning. After a moment, she spoke a in quiet, hesitant voice as if she had regain some modicum of control over whatever was happening to her. "So much...fear and death. It's like my mind...my mind is filled with countless terrified screams. I can still hear them….begging, pleading for someone to save them."

Kirk did the only thing he could and pulled her against his chest, his arms wrapping around her as if he'd somehow shield her from whatever she was sensing. While he knew it'd pass, it still tore him apart to be powerless to help her get through this Jedi stuff. "It's alright, we'll get through this." He whispered into her ear as he felt rather than saw her trembles slowly start to slow down before they picked right back up again.

"Oh no...no, no, NO! This can't be true, it's impossible!" If anything, the fear in her eyes somehow seemed to grow even worse as she lowered her hands and tightly grabbed onto him for all she was worth. If not for his enhanced muscle strength Kirk would have been worried she'd dislocate his shoulders, if he hadn't already been far more concerned for her. "I need to warn Blue. Jim, stop her from seeing her- James..." Just as she was about to let him go, Ahsoka's eyes widened as she pulled Kirk closer to her again, apparently still in desperate need of his strength. "Don't go! I can't let you go!"

"Ssssshhhh, it's ok. If you sensed it, then Alex, Galen, and Galen Lite already know what's happening too. It's okay 'Soka, well it's not okay but…." I hate the idea of leaving her like this, but I need to get to the bridge and find out what the hell is happening. She can yell at me when I get back. "Everything is going to be alright, I promise. I'll be back soon as I can Ahsoka. Stay or come with, it's up to you, but I have to go. I have to know what's going on" Ahsoka could only nod, but Kirk saw in her terrified blue eyes that he wouldn't like what he'd find once he reached the bridge as he quickly slipped his boots on. I hope you're wrong.

"Captain, we have a problem. Might want to get yourself and Master Tano to the bridge as soon as possible sir." Kirk's XO, Serena Antares, who was far too grateful for that position in Jim's not so humble opinion, appeared on the display over his arm, only confirming Ahsoka's vision or dream or whatever she'd call it when Jim noticed the deep concern on the twi'lek's face.

"I'm on my way, I need a quick sitrep." Jim turned back to gaze at Ahsoka as he gently cupped her face in his hands. "Ahsoka, whatever this is, it's gonna be alright. I promise, I will be back."

Serena meanwhile, having missed the entire incident, could only shake her head as she replied to Kirk's earlier request. "I wish I could Captain, but you really need to see this for yourself. It's….not good."

I need it see it myself? Dammit, why doesn't she just answer me? "What the hell does that- nevermind. I'll be there in a minute." Leaving the Jedi in their private quarters with one more quick whispered promise to come back as soon as he could, Jim didn't see how Ahsoka sat down heavily onto their bed and put her head in her hands.

Running to the bridge, Kirk soon stood beside an uncharastically quiet Serena as his blue eyes fell upon the image of Kashyyyk in flames. Every continent was being bombarded by green turbolaser fire from the remnants of the Imperial fleet they had just left behind. To the bridge crew's horror, they could see several of the remaining severely damaged cruisers and Star Destroyers literally falling out of orbit and impacting on the surface over the next hour and a half. "My God…." It was the only thing Jim could think to say as the massive explosions obliterated countless lives, both sentient and not alike.

"Those Imperial bastards are going to pay if it's the last thing I do." Kirk turned at the loud growl behind him to see that Alex and Galen had entered the bridge.

Oh boy, this could get rough. Noticing that Shepard's rather blunt boyfriend was making his already nervous looking newly recruited helmswoman even more uncomfortable, Jim placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You can be relieved early if you like, I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to be on watch right now." I'd rather be anywhere but here myself. I can't imagine what's going through our barely former Imperial pilot's head.

Katrina merely glanced at his hand for a moment before turning back to her console. "No thank you, sir. I'm honestly still stunned you offered me a place among your crew instead of simply tossing me in the brig. I'd rather not receive anymore special treatment."

Ignoring the conversation between the Imperial that was Kirk's new helmsman and navigator, and Kirk, Marek turned his head to his doppelganger. "If you really are me, clone, this shouldn't surprise you at all." Marek jerked his head to the image on screen to emphasize his point.

"Marek, shut up before you end up in the brig yourself." Alex's tone brooked no argument from the man as she rounded on her Galen next. "And you, calm down, we knew something like this might happen." It hurt to even say that, but Alex had expected the Empire to escalate their efforts to take down the Alliance. It hurt more to see the proof of how far they were willing to go to accomplish that goal. "They have finally let slip the dogs of war on this galaxy. We called it 'total war' back home, the purposeful elimination of any 'laws' of war to decimate your enemies' morale." As if something as horrible as war could have rules and regulations in the first place.

After another horrific twenty minutes of viewing the images of Kashyyyk in flames, Kirk's comm officer stared wide eyed at his display before getting the attention of the entire bridge. "Sir! You need to see this! Sending it to the main screen now."

"El'Karis, what's going-" The galaxy wide broadcast that was being displayed for them proved to be something far more terrifying, which was saying something after watching a planet burn. As hard as it was to comprehend, Kirk immediately identified the woman on the screen for who she truly was as she started to speak. Well, this is definitely new. She looks awfully good for a corpse. The worn looking uniform and the giant Alliance flag behind her certainly is a nice touch. I'd congratulate them if I wasn't freaked out right now.

There were slight differences between them, such as a few scars that were in different locations on her face, but overall, the resemblance was uncanny. But it was the cold gaze in her blue eyes that gave her away as far as anyone who actually knew Alex Shepard was concerned. While she tried to hide it, the woman onscreen was enjoying herself, was privately enjoying the opportunity to smear Shepard's name and drag her through the dirt in front of the entire galaxy. "My fellow galactic citizens...it is with a heavy heart that I took part in a daring offensive against one of the Empire's most valued military holdings-"

"By the Force…." The distracted group failed to noticed the simultaneous comment from Galen and his look a like. Galen didn't know what to think about what they were seeing as he forgot his issue with Marek, who was just as stunned as he was. All he could think about was what Alex was surely thinking, or feeling for that matter. I'm going to personally rip this woman's throat out for doing this to Alex.

Marek and Juno meanwhile were silent, lost in their own thoughts at the duplicity that was unfolding in front of them. Even they weren't immune to the fact that the Alliance had just been given a potential death blow.

Alex stared in shock at her own twisted likeness, as the Cerberus clone she has thought long dead addressed billions of beings across the galaxy, once again using her name for her own ends. Legion tried to warn me of this possibility, and I didn't listen. I didn't want to believe it was true, despite the evidence. Alex had long ago convinced herself that the clues left on Mustafar, and several other battle sites since which pointed to her clone's involvement, had been a clever ploy by Mara Jade to entice her into a trap. Now it seemed she had been utterly, horribly wrong, and they were already paying in blood and innocent lives for her mistake. She's going to burn my name and reputation to ashes like she did those countless villages, and I can't do a damn thing to stop her. Not yet anyway.

"This is a sick joke." Galen knew it wasn't, but he had to say it anyway. "This is exactly what Vader and the Emperor would do, if given the chance." What he wanted to know, as did Alex no doubt, was how this imposter had found her way to this reality, if she wasn't just another clone like himself. "Is it really her Alex?"

"It's her. I can feel her from here." It was like looking into the dark mirror all over again, except her doppelganger wasn't a mere figment of her imagination this time. It was real, and there was no 'waking up' from this nightmare.

"-used to making hard decisions such as this, know that I mourn for each and every innocent life lost in this campaign. But this is war, and in any war, you will always have collateral damage. May the Force be with all of you." The guilt filled, yet confidently determined 'Commander Shepard' finished her little speech and motioned towards someone off screen. A collective gasp filled the bridge as the new speaker looked into the holocamera.

All eyes fell to the center of the bridge as Kirk stared dumbfounded at the screen and took a step back to sit in his chair, only to stumble to the floor in shock. "No….you bastard. It can't be…." One look at Alex confirmed Jim's growing horror, as she slowly shook her head at his denial. It was all horribly real, just as her clone was real, and it seemed the 'Kirk' on screen was about to burn his world down as well. While there was no mistaking the resemblance, there were also minor differences between them. Even so, it wouldn't matter in the end. Not to the galaxy at large. "How'd you cheat your way into this galaxy you vicious fuck…."

Just as Alex was about to ask him about what he meant by that, 'Kirk' started speaking, and complete silence fell over the bridge. "You have no doubt heard of me by now, but for those of you that haven't, my name is James Tiberius Kirk. Also humbly known as The Hero of Dantooine." Those same baby blue eyes that normally shone with humor and a bit of arrogance at his own achievements, were just as cold if not colder on the doppelganger's face. This was a man that enjoyed inflicting harm and mayhem on anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. "While this was indeed a major victory for the Free Allied Planets, as the Commander has said. But we must never forget the costs of taking back our freedom from an obsessive Imperial regime that has for so long-"

"Turn it off….I said turn it off!" Finding a pair of infuriated blue eyes locked on him, the comm officer immediately followed Alex's yelled order. The reason why became obvious when everyone turned back to Jim, only to find he had started gasping for air, clearly having some severe form of panic attack as he futilely tried to save his composure in front of his crew. Alex was having none of it though. "Stripes, get your ass up here now!" Alex shouted into her omni-tool, wishing she had been there already as she turned to Jim next.

Jim was still in shock for all intents and purposes, and he hadn't moved since falling to the deck. "Just had to be you, didn't it...you sick bastard. It was bad enough I had your psychotic crew on my ship….it was bad enough with what you did... to them...to her."

And just like that, it was like he was standing in sick bay all over again, Bones patiently trying to explain to him why Uhura couldn't so much as look at him with anything less than disgust or outright fear. Jim, you need to leave. We all know it wasn't really you, but she doesn't want to see you right now. Just give her some time to calm down. Please Jim, I'm a doctor, not a shrink, but even I know you're not doing her any favors by sticking around. You need to get out of here, preferably before she goes into cardiac arrest again.

"-ar me Jim. Jim can you hear me?" Kirk's eyes focused, only to see Alex kneeling next to him, her worried gaze only inches from his. "There you are." The relief in her voice was abundantly evident as she did the worst thing anyone could do to James T. Kirk. She stared at him with an equal mix of pity and sympathy in her blue eyes.

"I don't need you reassuring bullshit Alex, everything is not going to be alright. Not with him here." Kirk growled as he batted away her hand and slowly climbed to his feet. In all of her time around the captain, Alex had never seen him so upset over, well anything. Not even the discussion involving his gene mods had been this tense as he headed towards the hatch. "Chair's yours Antares, keep me posted."

"Sir...wait. Sir, maybe you should-" Serena dared to block his path as she hesitantly spoke up, not sure what to say to her emotionally compromised Captain. How can I give him back even a fraction of the pride and confidence he's lost after this?!

"Just do your goddamn job Number One." Jim snapped back as he made a hasty getaway, the door slamming shut two seconds too late to stop Alex from following him.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Alex said as she quickly caught up with him in the corridor. As much as she wanted to slam him into the nearest bulkhead, all she did was pin him against the wall with her hand on his shoulder. "Jim, if anyone on this tub knows what you're going through right now, it's me. Don't shut me out. Believe me, I've tried that and it doesn't help." It took Ahsoka getting into my head to make me realize that.

"You have no fucking clue what he is capable of Alex!" Jim shouted, but sighed and shook his head as he turned away again. "Khan nearly destroyed my ship, killed me, and almost killed my entire crew while he was at it. That was understandable at least, if not forgivable, because of the crap Admiral Marcus pulled with him and his crew, his family. He might have been a 'superior being', but he still cared for his people. But that thing you saw on screen….he's a whole other monster, Alex. He's everything I'm not, every bad quality you could imagine in me, magnified exponentially."

If he's half as bad as Jim makes him sound... "I can't even blame you for hiding yet another secret. It seems pretty obvious that you expected to see this twisted version of yourself about as much I as expected to see mine."

"Yours is a just clone though. I wish mine was, that would make this cosmic shitstorm of bad karma you and I have going on a little easier to explain." Even in his emotional state, Jim knew his choice of words had been bad when he saw the deep frown on Alex's face.

Okay, he's been through the grinder right alongside me. So I'm going to let that go...who am I kidding, no I'm not. "Just a clone? You think a woman that was almost as successful at screwing me over as this Khan of yours was is just a cl-"

With a thoroughly guilt ridden expression on her face, Ahsoka walked over to Jim, who sighed heavily again as he hugged her tightly, needing her support now more than ever. "I'm sorry James, I wasn't able to warn you fast enough... It was all just so horrifying and painful to take in. I didn't want to believe it was true at first."

"I won't even ask how you knew 'Soka. I wish I had listened to what you were trying to say. Still, you're here now, and that's all I can ask for." If it wasn't for you, I'd have totally lost it by now.

"So, did you tell her who he is?" As Alex's frown turned into a confused scowl, Ahsoka quickly held up her hands. "Don't be upset Alex, Jim didn't share this with you for the same reason he never told us about his abilities until you discovered them."

"What she's politely trying to say is that I didn't want you to be afraid of and/or hate me, knowing that he is the man I could have become, but didn't. All because I wound up getting the short end of the stick, and he was apparently among the lucky 'chosen' on Tarsis IV. Well that, and the shit load of evil stuff humanity did instead of the good we managed to accomplish in my reality." Taking a moment to gather himself, Jim looked to the two women at his side. "Long story short, when we made first contact with our first alien species, the Vulcans, like Spock, we didn't shoot them and steal their technology or their ship. His people did...and his galaxy went to shit because of it." I really shouldn't have given into my morbid curiosity and read those data files Scotty managed to bring back.

Most people might have been more curious about the alternate reality Kirk had mentioned, but Shepard just stared blankly for a moment at him and Ahsoka before holding up her finger. "Wait a sec. You trust Ahsoka more than you trust me? If I wasn't so utterly confused right now I'd be mildly insulted. Well that, and I'm shocked that you actually go into a mature relationship where you share your feelings and secrets, with anyone." Nicely done Stripes, you should get a medal or something.

"Basically Shep, an ion storm messed with our transporter tech on the Enterprise, and dropped three of Evil Me's crew into my reality, while taking those same three from my crew and dropping them on his end." Somehow Kirk managed to make that sound like your average Tuesday on the USS Enterprise.

And I thought I had to deal with some really weird shit. A giant plant that controls its victims with spores strangely doesn't seem as odd now. "Let me get this straight. Because of some weird storm in space, your ship's matter transporter sent three of your people to some bizarro 'mirror universe' where everyone was basically an asshole version of themselves?"

Kirk's answer was short and to the point, while still managing to somehow sound as arrogant as usual. "Yup. Pretty much."

"Oh good, for a second there I thought one of us had gone completely insane." The odds were pretty even, honestly.

"Not yet. Give it time. That whole thing was one of my simpler missions, if you can believe that." The brief smirk that had appeared on Jim's face disappeared moments later. "Evil Me made me wonder when I heard about him later….and what he had done to my people when he discovered the truth on his end. I think the only reason we got them back in one piece at all was because he wanted his people back just as badly as I did." It wasn't hard for Shepard to imagine what must of happened to Kirk's crew from the haunted look in his blue eyes.

"I can't even begin to imagine…..and I can imagine quite a bit." As much as she would have loved to beat the man's face in for what he had done to Jim and his people, not to mention Kashyyyk, Alex could only sigh and shake her head, knowing where her anger would likely lead her if she wasn't careful. I'd probably be on that screen next, playing puppet to Palpatine's puppeteer.

"So, are we done with this little confab slash pity party? I need to get back to the bridge and start planning how I'm going to find those two and rip their beating hearts out. And that whole 'death to the Empire' thing we got going on too. No offense Shep, at least your evil petri dish experiment is better looking than my darkly mirrored self."

"None taken, but before you get ahead of yourself, she isn't entirely at fault for where she is now. Don't hate her too much, that's all I'm saying. But your guy, I don't plan on offering him a chance to surrender." If Alex expected Kirk to be insulted, she was slightly surprised as he nodded in agreement.

"No prisoners huh? You better get in line then because if I get to him first…." Neither Ahsoka or Alex needed him to finish that sentence for them to get what he intended for his evil alter ego.

"Normally I wouldn't encourage revenge….but I can tell this isn't something I can talk you out of James, or you for that matter Alex. Be it as it may, know that both of you won't be facing them alone. I can think of a certain crew and Jedi who aren't going to let you face this alone. But, I will offer one piece of advice. This is a dangerous road, for all of us. What might start as justice can easily become something worse."

"If we start to slip, I trust you to get us back, master." Alex solemnly replied, hoping it didn't come to that for any of them. In the meantime, if the Empire wanted to play the clone game, she could turn it around on them. "I'll be right back. I need to make sure Marek and Juno haven't killed anyone, and then send them on a special assignment. They were a dangerous force before, they can be so again."

Alex shouldn't have been surprised when Jim stopped her. Just as she reached for the door controls, Jim halted her 'retreat' by making one of his rare but dead on observations. "And Shep, I know what you're doing. I'm not the only one good at stalling and misdirection. That had to be just as hard for you as it was for me, probably worse." You're just better at hiding all that pain and rage than I am, but I don't need to be able to sense that stuff to know it's there. "You ever need to talk with somebody, besides Galen, I'll always be there to lend at ear."

"Thanks, Jim. I'll keep that in mind." It figures that the two of us can't even get blissfully shitfaced for a few hours thanks to all the crap we've gone through.

Just as she was turning back to the bridge, Galen quickly intercepted her. "Alex, Mothma and Ackbar are on the holocomm, they're demanding answers, from both of you." Nodding their heads, Alex and Jim followed Galen back onto the bridge, knowing their day was only going to go downhill from here.

Imperial Star Destroyer Chimera, Main Bridge.

Outer Rim Territory, near the Mustafar system.

Two months later.

Most people would have taken the time to dress appropriately for their arrival on the bridge, but Tiberius wasn't most people as he stomped his way over to the command deck in a hastily thrown on undershirt, pants, and boots. "So Cassie, what's the big emergency? Did someone finally get laid? Because you certainly look a little more chipper today."

Displaying her usual hatred towards the man behind her, Cassandra didn't so much as look at him as she nodded to the window in front of them. "Look outside jackass. What do you see?"

"My God, it's full of stars. Oh wait, it's a giant patch of empty space." Tiberius snarked before she suddenly jerked him forward and violently turned his head to where she wanted him looking. "You really want to take your hands off of me bitch. As much as I hate to admit it, we're in this together, but that doesn't-."

"Shut up and look!" Cassandra growled back as she pointed to the odd, glowing disturbance just barely visible off of the massive vessel's starboard bow. "That, right there, is not natural, wouldn't you agree, Jim?"

"I told you I hate that fucking name. And what exactly are we looking at? It's a storm in space, we have those at home, whoop de fucking doo. You dragged me away from three highly skilled and properly motivated twi'lek slaves for this?" And I was just getting to the good part too. God I love that look in their eyes when they realize they're in for a rough night.

If only I had crushed him with my biotics when I had the chance. At least Alex was kind enough to 'give' me her amp when she royally screwed up and let Jade live. A dead enemy has a much harder time trying to escape. That good heart of hers will be the death of her yet. "There are two ships coming out of it Jim. And I recognize one of them."

"The other one looks vaguely familiar." Tiberius's eyes lit up as he walked over to the nearest sensor console, and roughly shoved the ensign manning it out of the way. "I'll be damned. Got a warp signature coming off of her. Weapon smugglers favor them. Kilmorian or something. I think my far more inferior buddy is cheating again." Huh, three humans. "Let's see who's in the other ship shall we? Huh, this thing says one human and two 'unknown lifeforms.' One of them is giving off strange energy readings though."

Cass jerked her head to where Tiberius had ran towards and hopped down next to him. "Son of a bitch. Someone's called in half of her original crew. I'd be willing to bet from these two readings that it's an asari and a quarian. Has to be Liara T'Soni, Tali'Zorah vas Shitheap, and yet another human traitor in the 'Cult of Shepard.' This could be a problem."

"What's the big deal over some human, one of those 'thieving suit monkeys' you talked about, and some 'blue space slut', I believe was the term you used for those sexy blue tentacle heads? Hey, I'm talking to you!" Tiberius stopped in his tracks when Cass started to glow bright blue. Remembering how she had constricted his windpipe with a mere wave of her hand, James wasn't so eager to test out her amp again.

"The 'suit monkey' on that ship is a gifted engineer and a genius hacker. Even if she is quarian scum, she could make a mockery of any electronic shielding we could hope to put in her way, and I wouldn't bother trying to search her suit. Those things have more pockets than we could hope to find. And as much fun as it would be to take it off of her and simply cough in her face, I want her, and that blue cheerleader pretending to be a soldier, alive."

"Just be sure they survive for a few hours after you're done with them." Tiberius only grinned all the wider at Cass's angry glare. Oh how I'd like to get that pissed off body of yours in some heavy duty restraints. Then I'd gleefully show you just how pathetic you really are. "What? I fancy myself a connoisseur of fine alien ass. It's a weakness of mine."

"We are being hailed, ma'am. Should I patch it through?" At the question, Cass nodded to the comms officer and patiently waited for the screen to show who was comming them.

"How did someone as fucking moronic as you ever get his own ship? T'soni doesn't even need her biotics to kill you, which are substantial in their own right. Rumor has it she was the new Shadow Broker, and she has no doubt been trained in advanced hand to hand, just like her precious Commander. As for the quarian, were you paying attention to a damn word I said? She's able to make an omni-tool out of scrap parts and burned circuits. I doubt she'd have a hard time outwitting you, or for that matter, throwing together a grenade and shoving it up your ass."

"So they've got spirit, huh? Sounds like fun." He hadn't missed the venom in Cass's voice as his grin turned into a head splitting smirk. "And you really hold a grudge, don't you? You can't help that you're just a bitchy petri dish experiment, so why get angry at 'Mommy Dearest' and her cult, eh Cupcake?" The hand he had meant to playfully slap on her cheek with was grabbed and crushed in a vice like grip, making Tiberius bite his tongue as pain lanced up his right arm from his broken fingers.

"Don't call me Cupcake, Jim." Tiberius could almost hear his bones being ground into dust as Cass's grip tightened further. "You get me, ladies man?" Tossing his hand away, she completely ignored his string of curses as she walked back to the center aisle of the bridge before stopping in front of the main window once more. "The Cult of Shepard is mine, Jim. Touch any of them, and I'll crush more than your hand next time. Now put a smile on that face, looks like you're up first Captain."

"Fine! Get ready for an oscar worthy performance, bitch. And what's it to you? You're a walking collection of spare fucking parts and neural implants. Why do you give a shit about them? You're just gonna kill them anyway." Tiberius growled as he walked over to the nearest holocam station. He didn't get far as Cass managed to get the last word in yet again.

"There's a fundamental difference between us. I can restrain my baser urges, which helped to impress the Emperor enough to let me off of my leash, unlike you. Besides, I want to make Alex watch as I torture her friends to death and burn her Rebels to ash... Then she will have my permission to die horribly."

Tiberius could barely contain his dark glee at the very familiar face in front of him. Uhura?! Wait, she seems different like... Oh, this is even better. It's Jimmy Boy's little xenolinguist. I could never forget the naive, trusting look in those brown eyes, right up until I hit that pretty jaw of hers and knocked her on her ass. Somebody out there must like me, I'm certainly going to be forgetting about those alien head tails in a hurry. If not for Faux Bones and his engineer buddy, she wouldn't have gotten away so easily the first time. Oh well, second time's the charm. "Nyota?! Christ, it's good to see you! I never thought-" Damn. She knows. Looks like we'll just have to do this the fun way instead. Charming smile still in place, the former Terran Empire captain knew the game was up before it even began as he met Nyota Uhura's furious gaze. He remembered too late that no one called her by her first name, not if they wanted to walk away anyway. What he didn't know was that her growing rage had nothing to do with his minor slip up.

Oh my God. I know those cruel, cold blue eyes. He's not Jim! "You... Don't bother trying to play that card with us you bastard. You are not my captain!" 'Us' being Montgomery Scott and Leonard McCoy, who were seated behind Uhura, their faces also a study in barely contained rage and shock.

Scotty quickly jumped up from his seat and moved out of camera range, having seen enough of Evil Jim to last him a lifetime. Well isn't this a fine mess we've gotten ourselves into ten bloody minutes after departing. The fact our jump didn't vaporize us is a plus, but ah almost wish it had now. At least we have some unexpected friends. Pulling out the comm device from his back pocket, Scotty made sure he was in engineering before getting their unexpected allies in this rather insane situation back on the comm.

A brief look passed between him and Cass as she waved her hand, indicating he should keep her on the comm. "Awe! You remembered me! I'm touched. Really. I just can't wait to meet you all in person again. Especially your own little glowing 'Star of Freedom', in Swahili, right?" Tiberius's now predatory smile only widened at the intense scowls directed at him. "What? I read. You aren't gonna be free for long sweetheart."

"Give me two minutes on my operating table, I'll show you who'll be touched." McCoy growled back, briefly forgetting he was a doctor, not a psychopathic criminal, like some people. "How in the Hell did you get here you insane nutjob?!"

"Language Bones, I thought your ex wife would have beaten that out of you by now." Crossing his arms over his chest, Tiberius could only shrug. "As to how I got there, I actually don't know. I woke up next to some strange alien scum street vendor, but I was picked up by the local authorities almost an hour later. How's that adorable little Joanna of yours Bones?"

McCoy looked ready to jump through the screen and strangle the man with his bare hands if given half a chance. "Far, far away from you, you sick son of a bitch. Like we're going to be any second now."

Tiberius just examined his broken right hand for a moment before gazing back up at the infuriated doctor. "Really? Because if you're desperately hoping Scotty will pull another amazing feat of engineering out of his ass at the last possible moment, I wouldn't count on it."

"Hey! I heard that ye daft bastard!" While he was out of sight, he wasn't out of earshot as he stuck his head out of the compartment far in the back before disappearing again. It wasn't the warp core he was worried about this time, having already made the adjustments needed to make a fast getaway, but the evil nutcase didn't need to know that.

While James kept them talking, Cass turned to another member of the bridge. "Have you locked onto the ships yet Captain Falleste?"

The Chimera's new commanding officer had been smart enough to wait patiently within earshot while observing the rather explosive pair. Dozens of veteran officers and crew from that very ship had been executed on the Hand's orders not so long ago, and Captain Sevrin Falleste wasn't about to tempt her wrath. "The vessel that contacted us is already on approach to the hangar bay. We are currently attempting to get a tractor lock on the second, but we're getting interference from the strange energy source aboard. The ship's mass seems to be rapidly changing, even though that should be impossible. We can't seem to get a tractor lock on it-" The officer's confused expression instantly turned to mild surprise as the vessel minutely shook underneath them. "Both ships are firing on the main tractor emitors! Minimal damage, but the mass fluctuations are getting worse. They're moving to ram us! Intensify forward firepower! I don't want anything getting-"

Cassandra's eye narrowed at the ridiculous maneuver the small ship manage to pull of to avoid any direct turbo laser hits as it rapidly closed the gap. Only one person could pull off something so crazy and live to tell the tale, normally, but it seemed his luck had finally run out. "Moreau." Cass growled as the familiar scout sized ship from her universe slammed into the tractor emitors, no doubt taking that sack of brittle bones with it, as well as T'Soni and Zorah. As for the other ship's occupants, she could only watch in frustration as the second vessel flashed out of existence a split second later. No doubt engaging its 'warp drive' as her unwanted partner would say. Great. Now I have a new group of outsiders to worry about. At least Moreau, T'Soni, and Zorah are gone. That's three less members of the Cult of Shepard I'll have to worry about later. I would give anything to see Shepard's face when she finds out she just got three more of her idiotically loyal friends killed.

"I don't know why you're smiling. His people still got away." Tiberius said, fuming at having narrowly pulled defeat from the jaws of victory. He had been so close to getting his hands on Jim's old friends, and then they had slipped right through his fingers.

"And do you really think they're going to last long out there? You're one of the top faces of the only group that would take them in, and recruitment dropped considerably once you came out as a ruthless butcher alongside the great Commander Shepard." Cass smirked at the rage in Tiberius's baby blues as she playfully smacked his cheek. "Don't worry Cupcake, dead or alive, we'll find them."

The End.

(Credits Music: Where Is The Edge by Within Temptation)

Our daring heroes will return in:

Razor's Edge: The Needs Of The Few.

Final Authors' note: Archer83; But first, I owe Vergil a ton of help on his stories after all the work both of us have put into my profile lately. So be sure to check out Vergil1989 the Crossover King's profile for updates. Soonish. : ) We also write a gorram good Firefly / Mass Effect fic called Effect of the Verse, among others, if you haven't read it yet.

Vergil1989; For those that aren't into Mass Effect crossovers like some people, I have a few other stories such as A Song of Ice, Fire, and New Heroes, Twin Destiny, and Welcome, to the Soul Society. Until next time ladies and gentlemen, live long, and prosper, may the Force be with you, and whatever other fond farewells I can sneak in lol.