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Book I

The Colony at Brenn's Rock

1. Preparations

Rowels rolled out of bed the next morning feeling both proud of himself and a bit hung over. He stumbled into the kitchenette and poured himself a mug of yesterday's cold and stagnant coffee. He sipped it thoughtfully, recalling his very recent accomplishments, and he smiled at himself.

As the morning dragged on, Rowels went about his own business discussing the trading of supplies with other colonies, solving discrepancies between his own flock, and making sure that new technician he had just acquired was doing his job.

But mostly, what remained at the forefront of his mind was the meeting with the Gray Equinox later today and his gaining more credits than he could ever use which seemed to be more of a challenge than anything else, as he was quite sure he could spend them all one way or another.

After a quick and cold shower (a new water heater was near the top of his list of things to purchase), Rowels took a stroll around the colony mostly to waste time, but more to hear any talk of the aliens and, if need be, quell any concerns.

The last thing he needed was the seeds of dissent and paranoia being sown.

"Actually, I heard it was a prisoner of war who had kidnapped a salarian boy for his sick desires...," one of the colonists began to his wife, "You know, for..." he finished his statement by making the morbidly comic gesture of bucking his hips.

Rowels stopped in mid-step and listened, trying his hardest not to laugh.

"You're kidding, that's disgusting! What happened to him? I hope they shot his you-know-what off, serves him right!" the colonists wife replied, her voice a whisper.

"I'm not sure, but my sister says she saw one of the soldiers leading him to the makeshift prison cabin, and they put the boy in the hangar, not sure why, though."

"As long as it keeps him from that sick bastard, I'm sure the salarian doesn't mind, either. But, the hangar is awful drafty, isn't it?"

"I don't know, I've never been in there but seriously, it's better than being with the sicko, right? I wonder how they even do it..."

"Oh god, you're sick!" his wife covered her ears and babbled nonsense to block out her husband's voice.

Rowels tittered madly to himself and walked along, clasping his hands behind his back. He walked proudly, swinging his legs out in a wide arc (which looked rather comical, but in his own mind he was on top of the world) and he wore a large grin, smiling to passersby.

He continued to the prison cabin and stood outside of the door, sliding away a small metal panel to look inside at the turian. The proclaimed sick bastard sat on the bench, looking down at the floor. He wrung his hands constantly and tapped his left foot against the metal floor, creating a hollow thumping.

"Why, hello there my precious, precious prize!"

Rithe paid him no attention.

"Oh, that's quite all right, I planned on doing all of the talking anyway. You've been quite the well behaved little savage, haven't you? If I hadn't already promised you to the Gray's, I might - might - just have released you... or not, I'm not sure. Either way," Rowels looked at his watch, "Seems noon is coming around faster than I had anticipated, and I must get back to my cabin and prepare to meet our friends."

"Wait, it's almost noon already?"

"Just an hour off," Rowels eyed the turian. "Why?"

He stood there for a long moment, but when it became apparent that his prisoner was no longer acknowledging him, he simply said, "It matters not what you're planning. If you care about that salarian, you'll stay put."

Rithe continued ignoring Rowels, and when he left, the turian sighed and closed his eyes.

"Come on, Annike, hurry up." Rithe plugged in his amp and rolled his shoulders preemptively as he could already feel a headache forming.

As if on cue, the soldier came running up to the door of the cabin, casting a quick glance over both of her shoulders before unlocking the door and letting herself inside. Rithe began to ask her what she found, but the look on her face said it all: nothing. She walked over to the nearby wall and punched it hard, and cursed loudly.

She looked at him in both anger and fear, "I hope you have a backup plan, because we're fucked. Really."

Rithe paused, and then said, "Do you have your gun with you?"

The soldier nodded.

"Good, take me to the hangar where they're keeping Ilwen. Act as though you're escorting me as a prisoner."

"You sort of are a prisoner."

* * *

Ilwen had fallen asleep just after sunrise and when he woke up it was with a groan, shortly after which his back popped loudly. He placed a hand at the base of his spine and grimaced, then scowled at the cot upon which he had slept. He stumbled over to the hangar door, keeping his hand against his back. He let himself outside and looked around; it appeared to be noon.

Looking over to the west, near where he and Rithe landed, he saw a large ship like scab against the horizon. Ilwen panicked and rushed back into the hangar, his heart beating hard against his chest. He quickly whipped up his omni tool and relayed the information to Rithe.

As if on cue, the turian and the traitorous soldier quickly slipped into the hangar, causing Ilwen to cry out in surprise. He quickly waved his right arm at Annike and she went rigid as he hacked and took control of her suit. The salarian snarled angrily at her.

"Ilwen!" Rithe grabbed the boy's wrist and shoved it away, "She's on our side."

Annike, unable to do much else, simply nodded.

Ilwen narrowed his eyes and regarded her for a moment, then released his hold on her suit and apologized to her.

"It's all right, kiddo; you don't think I'd really betray my two favorite alien buddies, huh?" She grinned. "No, I had to fake it to get closer to Rowels and see if I could find proof of what he tried doing, and before you ask, I couldn't."

Rithe raised his hand, "It's all right, now that the mercs have arrived, our top priority is contacting your friends at the Alliance and doing whatever to get them here," he looked at Annike, then back at Ilwen, "and surviving long enough to get picked up if they send anyone, assuming the mercs are on foot then it will be a few hours... but more likely they've got some form of transportation and will be here even faster, so we just have to buy time for your friends, Annike. That will be the hardest part. It goes without saying that colonists are not to be harmed. I'm sure they will seek shelter in their cabins, but I trust you have some kind of stun rounds just in case. Mercs, however, are kill on sight."

Annike thought for a moment and rustled through one of the storage pockets on her suit. She brought out a box of clips and loaded one, keeping the others ready. She thought for a moment and then said, "You know, I don't know what it's worth, but Rowels did tell me that these mercs have some sort of honor code, we might be able to avoid any bloodshed if we can somehow make a deal with them or talk them out of it."

"Maybe. We'll have to see, but it won't hurt being prepared. But for now, be ready to kill them if you have to." Rithe nodded back and looked at the youngest of the three, Ilwen. "You're on crowd control. Armor suits, vehicles, their own battle drones if they have them; those are your sole responsibilities, all right? You don't have an armor suit like us, so stay in the shadows or behind cover."

The boy nodded once and raised his arm, his omni-tool glowing softly. "The suit hack will only work for a few moments ideally... but it should be long enough."

The turian looked around, "Is there a map of this place anywhere nearby?"

"No," Annike began, "but it's pretty much just one long road with buildings on either side. The housing and farms are at the west side, as you saw when we arrived, this hangar we're standing inside is near the center, and the communications tower is on the far east side; luckily the colony itself is rather small, and all civilians remain on the west side, so it shouldn't be that bad once they are in their cabins, even more so since the soldiers are still sick."

"Okay, good, since you are free to move around without suspicion, take Ilwen over to the comm. tower and see what you can do about contacting your friend... and for the love of your god, don't be shy about telling them to move their asses. I'll stay here and wait, as I obviously can't risk being seen. That is, assuming we weren't seen on the walk over here."

"I'm sure we weren't," Annike said and moved toward the door, Ilwen sliding next to her. "Be safe, okay?"

"You too," Rithe said, then looked at Ilwen, "And you, as well."

Ilwen nodded and for a horrifying moment felt sure this was the last time he would see the turian, but he shut his eyes tight and barreled out of the door after Annike without looking back.

1. Distress Call

The girl and the salarian let themselves into the comm. tower and took a moment, panting softly. There was a door at the far end of the room which, Ilwen figured, led into the actual communications room. This foyer was barren except for a metal couch-like object upon which sat a few magazines. A tube bulb buzzed overhead.

"Great, at best, everyone who saw us won't mention it to anyone else, at worst we have, what, fifteen minutes?" Annike said, looking out of the small port window next to the entrance.

"Then let's get to it," Ilwen whispered quickly, moving to the far door and opening it. It hissed as it slid open. Ilwen pointed to the two men standing at the communications terminal.

Annike nodded and pulled out her pistol and slipped behind them, striking them at the base of the neck. They went down, each with a surprised cry.

"Annike!" Ilwen cried out and ran over.

The girl made a face, "They're still alive, they'll just be sore when they wake up. Either way we have to get the Alliance here. The mercs aren't going to just take you, me or Rithe..." her eyes narrowed. "Rowels practically invited them in to just come and take whoever goes quietly and murder who doesn't." She laughed. It was empty and full of fear, "That dumb bastard might have killed us all for his shitty dream of wealth. Come on."

Ilwen nodded and moved quickly over to the terminal. He chuckled and looked surprised, "Wow."

"What, what? Can you not do it?"

"Of course I can! I was just expecting I'd have to hack it or something in order to communicate off-planet.

But I don't, I just have to..." He waved his arm, "There." The large monitor before them flashed a few times before they were shown an image of themselves, then an image of some office. "We're now communicating with the Alliance."

The woman on screen, taken aback at the sudden opening of communications stared for a moment before sputtering, "This is Samantha Cohen, Corporal officer of the Systems Alliance. Who is this?"

Annike gasped and smiled, "Samyra! You bitch, how are you!"

The dark skinned woman looked both surprised and offended and moved close to the screen, "Annike?"

The soldier grinned and nodded.

"Oh, Annike! It's good to see you again, how are things on... where was it?"

Ilwen cleared his throat.

Annike looked at the salarian, and then nodded. "No time, Sam. We're at Brenn's Rock on Borlaran and, making a long story short, we could use a few good men. Turns out the leader of this colony has been doing business with mercs. I don't have proof right now to show you, but I swear to high heavens that they're here," Annike tapped her fist on the console as emphasis, "and they're on the move to this very spot."

"Okay, Annike, calm down. I'll see what I can do."

"That's it? You'll see? God I hope these mercs do have some sense of honor so we can stall them."

"If I had something more to go on than your word, I could do something more than see, Annike. I believe you, I want you to know that, but after what happened last time you can't expect me to just send in the cavalry." Sam sighed heavily. "Exactly what group is it?"

Annike flushed and clenched her fists, then let out a slow breath. "Gray Equinox."

Samyra nodded slowly, "Is there a way I can contact you again to keep you updated if anything changes?"

"Yeah, after this call my little buddy here will disable the comm. tower since it's blocking all weaker signals, so you'll be able to get in touch with me directly. We'll be on the move so call only if it's important. Our plan is to incapacitate the mercs if we can, take Rowels alive for questioning and prosecution, as well as get my friends off this rock. They're into deep shit, but you'll have to get it out of them if you want to know anything about it."

The girl on the screen nodded. "Everything you just said sounds positively insane. But... I suppose it's the best course of action right now. Doesn't the colony have its own ships?"

"Sure but they're in piss-poor condition and would never survive the trauma of going through a mass relay. We would be torn to microscopic shreds."

Samyra sighed. "I don't know Annike, this is heavy shit you're laying on me. Again."

"Sam, you owe me, come on goddamnit!"

"I know, I know. Just give me some damn time. And Annike, stay alive, okay?"

Annike nodded and Ilwen shut the comm. tower down.

An ear-splitting alarm sounded, and the room suddenly became bathed in a red light.

"Shit, shit, shit," Annike screamed and drew her rifle, double checking her stun rounds. "Out the back, out the back!"

She and the salarian rushed out of the fire escape, and slipped from behind building to building until they were back at the hangar.

"What the hell did you do," Rithe hissed, his back pressed against the wall, his eyes scanning the view from the small dirty window nearby. "The entire colony is in a panic now!"

"Who coulda known shutting down the goddamn comm. tower would raise an alarm? Either way, we still have the element of surprise, we weren't seen coming back here, we just have to move... uh, quicker is all!" Annike forced a nervous smile. "I couldn't get us a definite pick up from my friends. We might be screwed."

Rithe waved his hand dismissively, "Whatever, when that time comes, we'll deal with it. We still have the chance that the mercs can be reasoned with."

"Ah, I see, so we just fend off the mercs until my friends arrive... Assuming they will arrive. Sounds like a death trap, I like it," Annike said.

"It might be the only course of action." The turian looked at Ilwen, "What about you? Do you have any ideas?"

Ilwen shook his head, "I'm not a fighter. I'm a scientist. I know this is no time for whining, but I can't form battle plans like you guys can, that's all."

Rithe nodded, "I know, Ilwen, and I appreciate you putting yourself in danger for us."

"Hush, hush!" Annike hissed and ducked under the window.

Outside, a few men ran by shouting orders and arguments at one another.

"Sounds like my comrades are up and at 'em again. From the sounds of it, they're still sick enough to not be worth much of a shit, but, yeah. Bullets are bullets."

Rithe nodded, "Annike, you're still a friend to them, go do something! And shut off that damned alarm!"

She nodded and let herself out, Ilwen following. After a moment she shouted in a harsh, commanding voice, "YOU! HALT!"

The three men turned clumsily toward her, looking at her stupidly. She marched toward them and stood over them, looking at each one with disgust.

"I don't know who told you worthless maggots that you were allowed to run around with half of your brains nothing more than soup, and the other half on fire with your asses catching, and with guns, but get your asses back into your barracks, now! And if one of you even thinks to do something so incredibly stupid as put everyone in danger because you're seeing hallucinations and think a little girl playing in the streets is two krogan fucking, then I'll make sure you get thrown out into the wilds!"

One of them spoke, his voice slurred and nearly unintelligible, "Buh... wha-about the tower?"

Annike waved away his question, "Nothing more than one of the moronic scientists pushing a wrong button, it's fine now. Get. Back. In. Bed."

They looked at one another, then at the tower, then back at Annike and started toward the barracks. Annike sighed and closed her eyes, chuckling to herself as Ilwen fiddled his omni-tool, shutting off the alarms.

The pair retreated to the hangar and Rithe gave them an approving nod. "All right, now to deal with the colonists and Rowels."

Overhead, speakers set throughout the camp sounded a chime once, before a droning out prerecorded message, ATTENTION, ALL COLONISTS ARE TO REMAIN IN THEIR CABINS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE FROM MASTER ROWELS. ATTENTION, ALL COLONISTS ARE TO REMAIN IN THEIR CABINS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE FROM MASTER ROWELS. ATTENTION...

"Well, I suppose that fixes one problem," Rithe chuckled as they looked out of the hangar window to see men, women, and children hurrying to their cabins. "They don't think anything of it."

Annike shook her head, "Nah, those messages are played whenever the geologists think a sandstorm or thunderstorm is coming. The storms here are extremely dangerous, so the colonists are required to stay inside. The windows have blast shields rigged to shut at the push of a button, too. Rowels must have triggered it so that there will be no witnesses to his dealing with the mercs. For all they know, it's gonna rain today, and nothing else. No mercs marching into the camp to take away the first alien they've seen in years, most of them the first time in their lives. No sir. Either way, it works in our favor."

"Won't they ask questions?"

"Damn, you know how people can be when in large groups, dumb as sheep."

"I see, indeed. Now, for the mastah, any ideas?"

The girl's expression darkened and she narrowed her eyes, "Let me do it, he hides behind his big words and shit-eating grin, but in actuality he's nothing more than a little bitch, and it's time he learned just how that feels."

Rithe chuckled darkly and nodded, waving his hand at her, "Go do what you have to do, just hurry, and be careful. Don't kill him."

"Come on, I know I was almost dead when we first met, but heat stroke is a lot stronger than anything Rowels can throw at me," Annike replied and grinned, tipping her head as she left.

"Will she be okay?" Ilwen asked as he rechecked his omni-tool.

The turian nodded, "She will be."