Prime Effect 5 [Fanfiction]

[Apollo-XL5]

A/N: Here is the first chapter of the final instalment of the main series. Enjoy.

PRIME EFFECT 5

CHAPTER I

"Since the beginning of time, we have been here…" a stoic and commanding voice spoke as lightning struck down from the storm clouds that had blackened out the sky, hitting the wind-swept plains as smoke billowed out of the burning wrecks of the Aeonian tanks that were scattered throughout the battlefield.

"…for our species was the first sentient life in this universe, gradually evolving and growing into the bio-mechanical beings we felt that we had to become to earn our place in the heavens."

Then as wind-swept through the long grass, blowing the smoke to the south, footfalls could be heard as more Aeonian troops and tanks arrived on the scene.

They stopped just inside of the area of where the original battle was fought, though none of the soldiers could believe what they could see with their optics as two Commanders walked out from within the large gathering to the forefront.

One was male with orange optics, and wearing orange and black armour. While the other was female with green optics, and wearing armour which was green and silver as they looked out at the landscape that was littered with burning wrecks before the latter knelt down on one knee and looked at the ground below her.

"Our thirst for knowledge and advancement rapidly overtook our common sense and we quickly found ourselves outgrowing our world, moving out amongst the stars."

She then reached with her gloved hand and raked it through the dried-out soil, collecting some in her palm as she inspected its contents.

"It was here that we discovered that we were not alone in the cosmos, as many other worlds held life upon them. But these were organic life forms and each new race we came across was completely different from the next. It was an inspiring time for us Aeonians as we met more and more new species."

The Bot looked down at his Female companion, his optics focusing on the soil that she was looking at in her hand. And both their optics widened when they noticed that there was another substance mixed in with the soil.

"These life forms were nowhere near our level of evolution, though they were not the Neanderthals that we once were a few eons earlier either. But it was obvious that they did not understand what we truly were. For in their eyes, we Aeonians were as gods and so began to worship us as such."

In the grains of soil were black dust which made the Femme's face become pained and full of anguish, as did the male's for they then knew what had happened to their comrades just some hours earlier.

So the Femme then opened her hand fully and let the soil and dust fall back to the ground before she got back to her feet.

"And despite ourselves being more evolved and advanced, we lost ourselves to our pride and began to see ourselves as those below us did. So once we had discovered all that the universe could enlighten us with at that time, making followers of all younger species we had met, we decided to find a way to make ourselves truly what all believed we already were, though we never thought of what the consequences of achieving that would bring upon us."

Then the attention of the Commanders and their troops were caught by a deafening roar that made them all look to their right, and stare in disbelief at the jet-black giant who swiping the air in front of it with its hands, whilst stomping its feet onto the ground as though trying to squash something underfoot.

The Male Aeonian then raised his hand in the air, earning the attention of all those behind him, whilst the Femme drew her blade and stood ready as they all stared at what was rising up before them.

"We had discovered a way to draw energy from another dimension, energy that would grant us the very godhood that we believed we were entitled too. But we were so eager to become the very beings others saw us as, but we did not think about what dimension we were opening a door to and what we may be letting into our own."

The entity now stood over one thousand feet tall and was still growing as it stood before the Aeonian reinforcements, as it's glowing purple eyes and mouth were visible to them as it roared, which sounded louder than a clap of thunder as it echoed through the very air to them, earning worried looks from the troops.

But both the Male and Female Commanders narrowed their optics at it, letting the pain and hate for this being and the massacre it had committed fill their sparks.

"What came through was something we had never encountered before. A form of evil so strong, that it began affecting the sentient life not only in our home galaxy but the entirety of the cosmos. It's very presence in our reality affected their hearts and minds, feeding on their anger and hate as they started to fight and butcher each other. We at first could only watch as we fell victim to the pain and anguish we felt for what we had done. But as the cycle of life that began with us and had expanded outwards into the universe slowly came to an end, we chose to fight…."

"But it was to be a futile attempt, for the being had become too powerful for us and our advanced technology. So it slaughtered our armies and fed on their life force until only our few reinforcements remained."

Then just as the troops gripped their weapons tightly, awaiting the Male Commander's order to engage the Darkness.

Suddenly, a blue energy wave shot up from the ground and hit the monster's chest, causing it to cry out in pain.

"…But there was suddenly hope in the form of two Brothers, who stood alone against the monster. And their names…were Primus and Unicron."

Right there with the entity, both siblings stood with their entire bodies glowing as they let the energy flow over them.

The monster then swung his fist down at Unicron who narrowed his purple eyes and rolled out of the way, just before it hit the ground.

The gold and bronze armoured Aeonian then quickly recovered and thrust his glowing red Chaos Edge into the side of its fist and held on for dear life as the creature then pulled it's arm back high into the air.

Meanwhile, Primus continued to unleash energy waves with his glowing blue sword, each one impacting on a different area of the entity which made it grimace and cry out in pain, as it's jet black skin reacted like a stone being dropped into a pond as ripples expanded out and over its form.

"Together, they embraced the very power that we Aeonians had gained, the power that we tried to ignore in the face of the travesty unleashed upon our reality by our hubris. And this power gave them the edge in the following battle."

Unicron then climbed onto the arm, before running up it toward the Entity's shoulder. All the while small tentacle-like tendrils rose up from its surface and attacked the Aeonian, but he cut them all down as he ran with his optics glowing a bright purple.

Back on the ground, Primus came under attack from more of the shadow-clones as they grew out of the drops of the black liquid-like substance that dropped to the ground from his Brother's fighting.

The clones pounced at him, but Primus swung his blade around him and created a barrier of blue energy which made them disintegrate the moment they came in contact with it.

And he followed through from that with another energy wave which cut through the Entity's leg, which made it lose its balance a little as Unicron climbed up the shoulder, nearly losing his grip as the giant swayed a little and being under constant attack from more tentacles.

But he kept them at bay and reached the top, before running up to its head and driving the Chaos Edge into its neck.

This made the monster cry out in pain, causing lightning strikes and thunder from the surrounding storm clouds spiralled overhead.

Primus then took this as his cue and spun around, making his blade glow even brighter before unleashing another energy wave which flew up into the air and hit the Dark one right in it's face.

This made it lose it's footing completely and topple backwards towards the ground, while Unicron leapt up high into the air.

He was glowing with a purple/red like hue as he floated high above the ground and watched him and his Brother's Adversary fall onto it's back.

Primus then bent his knees and focused his power into his legs before launching himself high into the air to join his sibling, and together they both then flew down towards the Entity with their glowing blades thrust out before them.

The Aeonian reinforcements and their two Commanders could only watch as the Brothers buried their blades into the Monster's face, which suddenly made it cry out such a deafening scream, that the entire universe would have heard it.

And then the giant being exploded in a blinding flash of light, releasing a shockwave that spread out across the planet.

"Together, Primus and Unicron defeated our enemy and brought it's reign of terror and destruction to an end. And showed us that we had to embrace the very power that cost us so much to gain."

Once the shockwave dissipated, the other Aeonians were surprised to find that they were still standing there.

They looked at each other and found that all of their eyes were glowing, even the two Commanders before looking back over to where the explosion to find what looked like a giant, wide mountain.

After climbing up the new rock formation, both Commanders stood and looked on in awe at what was before them.

For the mountain was nothing more than the ejecta of a massive crater, one that was very deep snd at the bottom Primus and Unicron stood beside their blades which were embedded in the crater's centre, each glowing blue and red.

"With this victory, the brothers had not killed the Entity but instead trapped it inside the sealed breach between our reality and the one it came from. Their blades had absorbed some of the power we had received and became a lock of sorts, for as long as Primus and Unicron were alive then the breach would remain sealed."

Then as the remaining Aeons joined the two brothers, Primus looked over to Unicron and noticed his sibling's optics flicker from red to purple and back again, earning a concerned expression from him in return.

"Not long after this, we soon shed our physical bodies and became the very beings we had striven to become. But as it had come at such a heavy price with the first cycle of sentient life throughout the universe wiped out, one that almost included our own people, we decided that the only way to atone for our great sin was to watch over the next cycle of life that would soon begin to spread throughout the galaxy, with two of our brethren to watch and protect each galaxy in this cosmos."

But as Unicron had noticed this look from his brother, the gold and bronze armoured Bot sneered and turned away and narrowed his optics as though disgusted by Primus's look of worry at him as if he saw it as a sign of weakness.

"But we have learnt that even back then, we had already failed in our cause. For we had not noticed the seed of corruption which Unicron had been infected with for it would become the seed that would blossom an age of Chaos for the galaxy now called 'the Milky Way'. But over the time that both brothers watched over that particular galaxy, Primus had taken notice of Unicron's changing behaviour and set out to stop him. Creating something that could stop the self-titled Chaos Bringer and safeguard the galaxy while preparing for the inevitable return of the darkness. This was named the 'Trinity of Primes'…"

Then suddenly the orange and black armoured male Aeonian turned and looked as though he was staring at someone, his expression was calm and stoic.

"…and it is up to you to unite them!" he said in a commanding tone before everything then went white.

-PRIME EFFECT 5-

Suddenly, a woman covered head to toe in battle-worn black and red armour rose up on her seat, as though she had just woken from a nightmare.

Her face could not be seen due to the helmet she was wearing, but she looked through its visor to see that she was still in her passenger seat aboard a transport.

A Turian on the other seat in front of her and an Elcor both stared at her with puzzled expressions, but the female just ignored them and looked out of the window to her right, watching the star-filled void on the other side of the glass.

'Another crazy dream.' she thought as she sighed and looked down at the small table in front of her, with her eyes quickly coming across the holo-image device that was currently active.

'I forgot about that.' she thought as this image quickly changed her mood, making her reach down and deactivate the device, making the image of what looked like a man and a woman fade to nothing as a lone tear ran down her cheek from her left eye as it began to well up.

'Damn it. But I can't afford to take this off as I might get recognised.' she thought as she placed the holo-imager in one of the pockets on her utility belt and just leaned back into her chair.

The woman then just tried to listen to the silence and relax before the Turian suddenly activated his holo-tool and brought up a screen in front of him, earning a sigh from her as she looked at the screen while a news report appeared on it.

"…And in other news, it seems that the five hundredth anniversary of the Inter-Stellar Federation will again be somewhat of a sombre affair, as the once-powerful Alliance continues to slowly fall apart. It has lost members at a steady pace for the last century or so, mainly due to the lack of strong leadership from it's ever-shrinking Senate. But do we here in the Traverse care, can't say that we do…" the newscaster said, with the last part in an almost happy tone as the woman sighed and looked back out of her window, before the inter-com activated and gained everyone's attention with a chime.

"If I may have your attention please, this is the pilot speaking. We are now on final approach to Yamm, so may I ask that everyone now remain in your seats until we have landed, thank you." the male voice spoke before the message came to an end with the sound of another chime. So unknown female just continued to look out of the window, now seeing the oceanic world of Yamm now clearly from her viewpoint.

As the transport began its descent through the planet's atmosphere, the armoured woman looked away from the window as all that could be seen was a dense cloud.

She instead just closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on the reason she was on this vessel, to begin with.

'Go see Barla Vonn and find out where 'she' will be recruiting more Mercs to her 'Leviathan' group.'

And though she had tried to stay calm, just thinking of 'her' made the Woman's temper begin to boil. For 'she' was the main cause for the deep hole in this Woman's soul, one that she felt could never be healed.

For she had lost everything, because of 'her'. And now after so many escapes and near misses, the 'bitch' was now in her sights.

So the helmeted woman opened her eyes and looked back out of the window, noticing that they were now over a metal and concrete city surrounded by ocean.

The Woman suddenly felt the transport begin descending again as she watched the ground get closer, while the buildings grew taller before it suddenly touched the ground with a slight thud.

'Not exactly the most delicate of landings.' she thought as the others around her began to pick up their bags and walk toward the exit, except for the guy in front who was still looking at the news reel playing out on his holo-screen.

The woman stood up and picked up her brown long coat before noticing a familiar face that appeared on the screen,

"There have been reports of this….." the newscaster then began to say before the Woman tapped the Turian on the shoulder, earning his attention just as the person on-screen was being described.

"Huh, can I help you?" he asked with a slightly annoyed expression as he looked up at the helmeted person, who had been quiet for their entire voyage.

"We've landed." she replied, taking note that the video was still focused on someone who looked a lot like her, even going into detail about her armour and clothes looked like.

"Really!" the Turian replied in a surprised tone before looking around and noticing that most the people had already disembarked.

"Oh spirits, thanks for letting me know." he added while quickly getting up of his seat and deactivating his holo-tool without really looking at it, much to the relief of the Woman.

"You're welcome." she said back as she watched the Turian quickly grab his bags and leave the room, leaving her in there alone as she put on her coat and raised its hood over her helmet before exiting the ship too.

As she left the ship, the armoured Woman looked around at the city that surrounded her.

'New Karnak, Capital of Yamm. The city that floats on the ocean.' she thought while activating her holo-tool and bringing up a map of the city, revealing that the majority of it was in fact on the planet's body of water, connected to what passed as the mainland by three bridges which led to New Karnak's outskirts.

In fact, it that was where she needed to go, as Barla Vonn's last confirmed sighting was in its slums.

'He better be there.' she thought while walking over to a Human Male in a fashionable suit, who was renting out the hover-speeders which were positioned next to him.

They looked like futuristic versions of the motorbikes from twenty-first century Earth, except without wheels and far more aerodynamic.

So she began speaking to the Man, who in return smiled back and activated his holo-tool.

A few moments later and the Woman was flying through the air on one of the man's very own speeders, zipping between the skyscrapers as she headed for the mainland.

She had always enjoyed using such vehicles in the past, but now with everything that has happened in her life since those days, she just couldn't find it in herself to enjoy the moment now.

All that mattered was finding her, and this Volus was now the only link she had to that person's whereabouts.

So she instead just remained focused on what she had to do as her speeder carried out of the city's centre and over the ocean, giving her a perfect view of the two bridges that connected it to the mainland.

It wasn't a long ride to the slums as she descended down to the streets, which looked like they had just survived a war with the rusted and dirty look the small buildings had, a world away from the futuristic skyscrapers that were less than a few miles away.

In fact, they could be clearly seen on the horizon from that area, as the armoured Woman landed her speeder outside of a building that looked somewhat like a Tavern, though a very run down one that looked like it should have been a derelict.

She took in her surroundings and noticed the people in the area, mostly Humans by the look of them.

They all had the look of people who live in the slums with their ragged clothes and look of poor malnutrition, especially the children.

There were three sitting up against the front wall of the building next to the Tavern, on it's right.

They were just sitting there and playing with the objects lying in the dirt, looking as though they had not had a good meal in days.

This once would have made the Woman feel for them and want to help, but at this time she had bigger things to deal with and so blocked it out as she climbed off the speeder and walked over to the Tavern's entrance, which was basically a flimsy saloon style door.

So she put both hands on either lightweight doors, pushing them away from them as she entered the building.

This made those inside the building stare directly back at her with an unsure but certainly aggravated expression, as though her entrance had interfered with whatever they had done but since she still had her helmet on, they could not tell who she was or what she was likely thinking.

So she simply looked around the room in one fluid motion, taking note of everyone that was in there and their exact positions.

Like the two Vorcha who stood either side of her, both already had their right hands slowly moving down to the holstered pistols on their utility belts.

There was also the Hanar Bartender and two Turians standing at the bar, while to her right there was three Human Males playing a game of Poker.

But sitting in the centre of the room directly ahead of her was the Volus in question, who was seated at a table that had a few pads on it.

So she walked directly up to his table, looking at him through her visor while never forgetting the two Krogan behind her.

'They must be his muscle.' she thought as she stopped at the opposite side of the table to him, hearing the heavy breathing sound of his respirator coming from his pressure suit as he looked up at her with the yellow optics of his breather helmet.

"Ugh…this is a private table." he said in an unsure tone as he looked the armoured Woman up and down, taking notice that she was still wearing her breather helmet and had it covered by the hood of her long coat, which only showed some of her armour, but from how well it covered her obviously athletic figure there could not be any hidden weapons on her person.

"Are you Barla Vonn?" she asked while looking down at him through her visor, which made the Volus' posture change as he looked a little more agitated at the mention of his name.

"Ugh,,who? I am sorry but I am very busy, so can you leave me alone please?" he replied as he picked up one of the pads in front of him and began looking at it, trying to ignore this strange who had just walked up to him.

But the armoured Woman was not going to take this for an answer so she placed both hands on the table and leant down towards him in and swiped the pad from his hand in a more aggressive manner, making him look back at her in shock.

"Hey, give that back!" he shouted, but she ignored it and tossed the pad over her shoulder.

"Now that I have your attention, perhaps you will answer my question now. Are you Barla Vonn?"

But the Volus merely scoffed and looked behind her to the two Vorcha who then nodded and equipped their pistols and start walking toward her.

"Step back from…" the one on the right started to say, but the Woman just held her left hand in the air which began to glow with blue energy as she clenched it into a fist.

This suddenly pulled both guards into the air, earning gasps from everyone in the room as the Vorcha flapped their arms about in a panic.

Then the armoured stranger opened her hand and they were then instantly flung out of the Tavern through the window directly behind them, earning gasps from the people in the street.

"You're a Biotic, but that means…" the Volus stammered before he then looked over to the three Humans playing poker and nodded, earning her attention as she turned to see them quickly get up and point their pistols at her.

"Really..." she began to say in an unsurprised tone as her other hand started to glow while she raised it at the men, who looked at other with unsure expressions as they aimed their pistols at her.

"Well, shoot her then, you fools!" the Volus spat as he was now off his seat and slowly moving towards the back door, but then the men's table shimmered with blue energy before it and all that was on it began to float off the floor.

This caught their attention as they glanced at the wood-like structure and the cards and glasses that were in the air with it, making the armoured Woman smirk behind her visor as she then clenched her hand into a fist and made their chairs suddenly fly up from the ground and hit them all in the face hard, knocking the men out in one hit.

She then quickly lifted another chair off the ground and flung it at the Volus, knocking him to the ground as she looked over at the Turians at the bar.

"We...just...came in...for a...drink!" one said in a fear tinged tone as he stared back with widened eyes, while his friend's hand shook as he took a sip of his drink.

"Get out!" the Woman said in a commanding tone, which made the pair suddenly bolt out of the Tavern.

Even the Hanar-Barman had made a quick exit through the nearby door into the back of the building, leaving the armoured stranger with the Volus.

'That was fast for a jellyfish.' she thought as she looked back at the little fat pressure suited person, who was currently getting back to his feet.

"Perhaps now you will answer my questions?" she then said, which made him look around the room and then back at her.

"...Okay, you win."

"So, Barla Vonn." the Woman said back, earning a nod from him as he looked up at her.

"I am. So, what do you want?"

"I am looking for someone, someone that you apparently know….very well." she replied, earning what could only be described as a curious look from the Volus, who tilted his head slightly.

"I will need a little more than that."

"She is the leader of Leviathan." the Woman said back, instantly making Barla gasp as he took a step back.

"Then that makes you….!" he started to say, to which he stepped closer and looked down at him. And even though her face was hidden by the visor of her helmet, the Volus could imagine what she looked like now that he knew who it was.

"Yes, and now you know who I am, that should make this much easier." she said, interrupting him while clenching her fist as biotic energy began to glow around it, making Barla gulp when he saw it.

"I would help…but if I tell you, then she will kill me." he replied, making her lean over slightly and stare down at him as she raised her clenched fist slightly.

"And what do you think will happen to you if you don't tell me what I want to know." she said before suddenly the Volus became enveloped in biotic energy and lifted off the ground, making him panic as he flapped his arms and legs around.

"Arrgh….wait….wait…" he cried out.

"Now tell me, or I will flay the skin from your body." the armoured Woman replied with a serious and final tone to her voice, which made him nod back in a panic.

"Alright, Alright."

So she released him and made the Volus fall back to the ground with a thud, earning a grimace from him in return.

"So…?" she asked as the pressure suited alien looked up at her, while slowly getting back to his feet.

"She is here on Yamm, at an abandoned factory several kilometres from here in a mountainous area. It is being used as a meeting spot for the recruitment of another mercenary group into Leviathan." he said as he activated his holo-tool and showed her the location on a map of the continent. This made the Woman look away from Barla, a thoughtful expression on her face under the visor.

'Finally, I've got her.'

"So…..are we done here? Because if she finds out that I helped you then there will be nowhere I can hide, so I should make myself scarce." he added, gaining a nod from the Woman as she turned her back on him and began to walk out.

"But just so that you know, but if I find out that she has been alerted in any way whatsoever or was not there, to begin with. Then I will find and kill you well before she even knows of your betrayal." she said in cold tone before walking out of the Tavern, leaving Barla standing there and physically shaking inside his pressure suit.

-PRIME EFFECT 5-

The journey to the location given to her by the Volus took a few hours as the Woman flew between two snow-capped mountains, but the change in climate did not even bother the armoured woman as she already felt that cold inside.

It was even snowing heavily as thick cloud overhead began showering iced water down upon her, hitting the visor of her helmet hard.

But the Woman did not even flinch as she remained focused on the one goal that has been her only priority for all these years.

'Today, I will finally give that 'bitch' the justice that 'she' has been evading, ever since…..' she thought before suddenly stop, as she could not bring herself to think of what she had lost because of that 'woman', as she would just find herself crying once again.

But luckily for the armoured stranger and her thoughts, the factory suddenly appeared just ahead as she could just make it out through the onslaught of snow, with its towering observation tower and smokestacks.

'There it is.' she thought as she tightened her grip on the accelerator and gave her a sudden speed boost, making the snow hit her armour even more as her long brown coat was blown around behind her.

And in a matter of seconds, she had landed the speeder on the snow-covered ground and just as the snowstorm had stopped as the cloud had passed over and revealed the blue sky overhead.

She climbed off the speeder and looked at the factory which looked like it had been derelict for decades, with its concrete walls on either side of the large rusted metal door looking damaged and weathered.

As she stood there before it, there was no sound around her. Not even that of the wind as the storm had already died down and past by.

'It's too quiet.' she thought while slowly walking over to the door before an RPG was suddenly fired down from unknown location which hit the ground directly in front of the armoured Woman and exploded, engulfing her in flames.

But she simply walked through and came out the other side of the flames of the billowing fire, with only her long coat on fire as the rest of her was covered by biotic energy.

This made her simply rip off the coat and fling it aside, leaving it to the fire as it slowly burnt to ashes on the snow behind her.

But the armoured stranger then stopped and looked up at the observation tower, as that was the only place that the rocket could have been fired.

But she then simply took a breath before squatting a little as she put both hands together and held them behind her as she turned on her hips away from the door.

And suddenly the woman began to glow with biotic energy before she focused and made it traverse from her body and into her hands, making a ball of energy appear as she slowly began to pull them away.

As she did this, the armoured stranger could hear shouting coming from just behind the factory's metal door as she felt the tremendous power building up between her hands.

'My turn.' she thought before she then twisted her body back, thrusting both hands forward as she released the biotic energy ball which then flew towards the door at speed and hit it with such force that it blew them wide open.

And then the Woman instantly performed a biotic charge and sprinted through the now open doorway in a blue flash to find that the metal doors were still flying through the air, as was numerous mercs wearing grey and black armour.

So she finished her charge by running directly into three soldiers, and the force of the impact flung them high into the air before they hit two of three columns behind them.

The Woman then turned around and found that she was standing in the interior of factory's main structure which was littered with numerous columns, as well as many mercenary troops already raising their weapons at her as their hurt comrades recovered.

"Freeze!" one of the soldiers shouted as they looked down the scopes of their rifles at the armoured stranger, but she simply charged her biotics and covered her entire body.

"Make me!" she spat before swinging her right arm before her, creating a biotic whip which ploughed through several of the troops and knocked them flying.

"Let her have it!" another enemy shouted as they opened fire on her, only for the bullets to harmlessly impact against the biotic barrier that was hugging close to her body.

She then launched herself at the troops and hit the one she thought was the leader with a glowing fist to the face, shattering his helmet as he revealed to have a grimaced expression before forming a biotic whip and swinging it around her, swatting away several more troops like they were flies.

"Take her down!" a voice then echoed from the factory's inter-com as the Woman took down more and more of the troops, either with punches to the face of kicks to the chest and back or from more swings of her biotic whip.

And then she made another energy whip appear on her other hand and spun it around, hitting them all with both whips as she did so.

After she came to a stop, the woman looked around to see that all the Merc soldiers were now on the floor, groaning as they withered around in pain.

'That can't be all there is…' she thought before the sound of many footfalls behind her, so the armoured Woman turned around and saw even more Mercenary troops rushing at her.

'That's more like it.' she thought as she readied herself for another round and looked back at them, as the soldiers began to surround her and aim their weapons.

"Open fire!" one of the newcomers shouted, instantly making his teammates unleash a barrage of gunfire on the woman, but once again her biotic barrier absorbed their impacts as the bullets then fell to the ground around her.

'They never learn.' she thought as a sly grin appeared behind he visor as she then reached up with one arm before thrusting down at the ground, hitting it with a tremendous amount of biotic energy that suddenly expanded out around her in a wave that knocked them all flying.

As the troops all hit the ground hard, she was still in a kneeling position with her fist on the floor so she looked up and around her to see that the reinforcements had joined their comrades, but just as she turned her attention to the area in front of her, she suddenly stopped and stared in wide-eyed confusion.

For standing amongst the defeated soldiers was the man she had seen from her dream earlier, the Man in orange and black armour. He was just staring at her with a stoic-like expression, which made her feel uncomfortable before suddenly feeling the most aggravating pain in her back as she felt fifty thousand volts pass through her body.

For her attention had been distracted from the enemies around her and one of them hit her with a burst of stun bullets while her back was turned, making her fall to the ground, spasming as she lost control of her body while the soldiers that were still alive had recovered and surrounded her before she lost consciousness.

When the armoured stranger came too, she felt the armour on her knees scraping against the floor as two soldiers dragged her while holding onto her arms.

She looked through her visor to see that she was now in a circular room with quite a view.

'Must be the observation tower.' she thought before noticing that along with the two soldiers holding her, there were three more on either side of the room as well as a Batarian directly in front to which she was being taken to.

'Must be their Commander, but where is 'she'?' she thought as the soldiers and she stopped directly before him.

"Drop her." the Batarian said, earning a nod from both soldiers as they let the armoured woman go who then fell onto the ground face first, cracking the visor of her helmet.

the masked woman had to admit, she was still feeling the effects of the stun bullets and was a little out of it.

"Get up on your feet!" he snarled but the Woman would not comply, so he gestured to the two soldiers who grabbed her by the arms again and pulled her back onto her feet so that their Commander could look at her at eye level.

"Take off that helmet."

The Mercenary on her right then grabbed her breather-helmet on both sides and lifted it off the Woman's head, revealing a beautiful Asari who simply stared back at the Batarian with a cold stare.

"Ah, Myra Darby. Well, this is a surprise…." the leader said with a smile as he looked back at her.

"…don't you have something better to do than break into my operation?" he added before shaking his head.

"Oh wait, no you don't. Because you're a Rogue Autobot Spectre now, put on the disavowed list by the Federation for becoming obsessed with murdering my Boss."

"Where is Vasir!" she then spat back as she pushed herself forward, only for the two soldiers to pull her back as they held on to her arms. This made the Batarian's smile grow wider in return.

"I am afraid that our fearless leader is not here, though I am sure she would have been overjoyed to see you again…." he started to say before turning away from her and looking down at the Factory's exterior through the window that surrounded interior of the observation room.

"….so she can reunite you with your mother!" he added before quickly pulling his pistol from the holster on his utility belt and aiming it directly at the centre of her forehead, to which the Asari just stared back with not even an acknowledgement to this.

"But instead, I will get this honour. Putting an end to what basically has been an annoying thorn in Vasir's side for the last couple of centuries….Farewell." he then finished as before slowly pulling the trigger and firing the gun, which then earned a confused wide-eyed look from him and the soldiers.

For what they saw was the bullet floating directly in front of the Asari's forehead, with only the flickering of a small biotic field between her and instant death.

"What the hell?" he then said as the bullet then dropped to the ground, earning a smile from Myra.

So the Batarian went to fire his gun again, but then the female Darby's arms began to glow with a fiery biotic look to them and made the soldiers let go as it burnt their hands.

"Arrgh!" they cried out in unison as she then grabbed the Commander's arm and hit him in the stomach with a biotic punch, winding him as he fell backwards.

This also made the Batarian drop his pistol which she then caught in her hand as she turned around unleashed a biotic wave that sent every other soldier there flying out of the windows to their deaths on the ground far below.

The Commander could hear his men's screaming before they were silenced a moment later by the sounds of their bodies hitting concrete below, but this only angered him more as he activated his holo-blade.

But Myra was ready for this as she then waved a glowing hand in front of him and encased his arm in a biotic field, before then clenching her fist tightly and shattering the bones in that appendage.

"Arrrgh! You Asari Bitch!" he spat back with a venomous stare as his holo-blade flickered to nothing, but blue Darby just looked down at him with an uncaring stare.

"Please, I have heard far worse than that from others like you." she said while kneeling down and looking at him, as he sat up and cradled his broken arm.

"And you should know that my Mother was not the only person that Vasir murdered, and for that, I will make her pay. Now where she is?" she added with a mirrored look as she then tightened her glowing fist even more, making the Batarian grimace and squeal with pain as the inside of his broken arm felt like it was being crushed into dust.

"You…will….get….nothing…out….of….me!" he spat as the pain took hold of him, making the Asari shake her head in return.

"Too bad. Then you have no further use for me." she replied as she let go of his arm, making him take a deep sigh of relief as the pain numbed down considerably.

But Myra just stood back up and waved her glowing arm over him, flexing her fingers a little as he was suddenly enveloped by blue energy and lifted off the ground.

"Wait! What are you doing?" the Batarian Commander said in a worried tone as he floated in front of her.

"Seeing if you can fly." she just replied coldly before pushing her hand forward and sending him out of the broken window, letting gravity take hold as he began hurtling down toward the roof of the factory.

But Myra simply turned around and barely acknowledged the sound of his body hitting the concrete roof of the main structure below her.

'I have to get out of here and find that Volus weasel and make him pay for lying to me. she thought before lifting her hand to the com-link in her ear, but stopped suddenly as the sounds of shouting came from the floors below which were quickly followed by many footfalls that were coming from the stairs leading up to the room she was in.

'Alright, looks like I will have to fight my way out of here.' she thought as she clenched both her fists and made them glow with biotic energy as she looked at the main entrance to the observation room, and waited for the Merc reinforcements to appear.

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER II

The mercenary soldiers charged up the exterior metallic stairs on their way up to the top of the Observation Tower, clenching their rifles tightly as they did so. Their hearts were beating hard with their step they took as their ascended up the tower, for they had heard the screams of their comrades as they had fallen to their deaths moments earlier.

"Alright, we are nearing the top. I want you ready to open fire the second we enter the room, that bitch killed your comrades and our Commander. So let's not give her an inch, shoot to kill." the lead soldier said back to the others as they neared the top of the stairs, with them nodding in acknowledgment.

The moment they got to the open door, the lead soldier could see the Asari waiting for them inside the room as he and his men approached.

"Kill her!" he shouted before they all opened fire on her, forcig Myra to create biotic shield in front of her person just seconds before, causing the barrage of bullets to harmlessly impact against it and leave small vibrations with each and every hit to ripple along it's smooth blue surface.

"We can overload her with this!" one of the soldiers next to the leader said as he readied the grenade launcher on his rifle, gaining a nod from him in return.

"Do it."

So the other soldier took aim and prepared to fire, but the Asari noticed this and held out her hand and made the shield suddenly move towards the door while the troops continued to fire their rifles at it.

"You're in my way." she said as the shield began to shrink and reshape itself into a ball as it picked up speed, gaining a concerned and confused look from the leader.

"What the hel...!" he said before the biotic projectile came shooting out of the door and hit him and his men, exploding with enough energy that it sent the troops flying off the stairs and down to the ground, like their comrades before.

Myra then ran out onto the stairs and quickly took in her surroundings, just as the screams from the soldiers that had just attacked her had stopped with them hitting th concrete below.

'I need a way out of here.' she thought as she scanned the area around her before her eyes then focused on something of interest.

'They have a cargo transport parked at the back of this building.' she thought while looking out at the ship which was less than thirty yards from the aft of the building, before suddenly looking down to her right and spotting three Mercenary soldiers with RPGs aimed at her.

'Time to go.' she thought as they opened fire and launched the rockets that hurtled up towards her location at speed, which made the Asari jump off the stairs and fall to the ground as the rockets shot overhead and hit the stairs, destroying them in an explosion as she continued to fall. But then Myra began to glow with biotic energy as her fall slowed down and allowed her to land elegantly onto the concrete roof, while part of the stairs crashed onto the area directly behind her.

"Get her!" one of the soldiers said as they switched to their rifles and started firing at the Asari, who reactivated her biotic barrier that covered her body.

'Got to make this fast.' Myra thought as she started to sprint across the rooftop, while bullets harmlessly impacted against the blue energy shield protecting her.

But as she ran, more soldiers appeared on her left as they climbed out of an opening in the roof, joining the others' gunfire with their own as alarms blared out around the facility. But the Asari stretched out her left hand towards the new group and sent knocked them into the air, making them fly off the roof and onto the ground further back.

As Myra returned her attention to directly ahead of her, she saw that she did not have much roof left before her. So she performed a biotic charge and accelerated into a blue blur before jumping right at the edge of the aft end of the factory, making her soar into the sky before coming down fast again. But just like the last time, she started to glow blue before landing on the ground like a leaf kissing the surface of a pond while being stared at by another group of Mercs.

"Wow, look at that." one of the soldiers said as they witnessed the Asari, before having his arm hit by his friend who looked at him with an annoyed expression.

"Quit gawking and start firing." he spat as opened fire on her, with the others doing the same. This made Myra roll out of the way, before throwing a biotic projectile at the group which exploded in the centre of them and flung them up into the air and then back down to the ground hard.

'Okay, now to get to that transport.' she thought while running towards the vehicle again, before tapping the com-link in her ear.

"I hope you guys are monitoring this?" the Asari said with a glimmer of hope in her voice as more troops exited the factory's back door and gave pursuit.

"Read you loud and clear Myra, need a ride?" a female voice spoke back, earning an ever so slight grin from the Rogue Spectre as she listened.

"Yeah, Kat, I think I have over-stayed my welcome here."

"Roger that, we will be there in just a few minutes." the voice replied, making the Asari shake her head in return as she reached the transport.

"No, it's too hot here. I am getting out on a small transport they have here, you can meet me halfway for pickup." she replied as she brought up a biotic barrier between her and the approaching soldiers, with their gunfire harmlessly impacting while she opened the hatch and got in.

Once she had locked the hatch, Myra then climbed into the cockpit and began launch sequence as multiple holo-screens and an interface appeared before her. The gunfire could now be heard impacting against the hull as the enemies had now reached the transport as the biotic barrier had failed.

'Okay, it been a while. But my Dad always said flying was like riding a bike, you never forget.' she thought as she worked the controls and lifted the vessel off the ground, while the Mercs continued to fire upon it in vain as their weapons were not strong enough to penetrate the hull

'Here we go.' the Asari thought as the Transport then flew off away from the factory and back toward the grouping of mountains she had passed earlier to reach there, while activating her holo-tool and syncing its scanner to that of the ship's, revealing the direction of and heading of her friend's ship which was approaching from the south.

'Looks like I am home fre…..' she started to think before the transport's proximity alarm began to blare out, making the Rogue look over to the sensor screen and notice a blip heading towards her from the factory.

'Terrific...' Myra thought as she recognised the readout of the blip coming up fast on her rear.

'...they have a gunship, and I have no weapons whatsoever.' she added as she looked at the stats of the vessel she had acquired. But before she could do anything else, the lock-on alarm suddenly blared out.

"Scrap it!." She spat with an aggravated tone as she suddenly made the transport perform a barrel roll as she veered it around a nearby mountain, just as the gunship launched a missile which then hit that same rock formation and exploded.

'I don't think that I can do that again.' The Asari thought with a worried expression as the interface before her began flashing red lights over the screen that had the Transport's stats on

'Damn it! I put too much pressure on this old ship when I did that trick. Where are you guys?.'

But then the lock-on alarm activated again, making Myra look back in anticipation of the following attack, even though all she could see was the aft of the interior.

But suddenly another blip appeared on the scanner as it approached the gunship's rear, making the Asari sigh with relief as she recognized the new arrival.

'Thank the goddess.'

Meanwhile, the new ship descended through the sky and began to chase the Gunship, and it had a horizontal diamond-shaped main hull with two engines on either side and a cockpit module connected to the pointed side of its hull. And it quickly activated its cannons which slide out of openings on the ventral side of the hull and opened fire, destroying the enemy vessel as it exploded and showered the ground with its debris.

"Looks like that transport of yours is about to blow, want to jump ship." the female voice spoke through Myra's com-link, gaining a nod from the Asari as she left the cockpit and rushed over to the hatch while the ship began to shake around her.

"You read my mind, I am at the hatch now. Open the dorsal hatch and bring the ship into formation just beneath me." she replied as she opened the hatch, suddenly feeling the strong currents of air that were blowing hard against the ship as it kept moving.

"Alright, moving into position and opening hatch now." her friend said back while Myra watched the other ship did exactly that, earning a breath from her as the Asari readied herself for the jump. When suddenly one of the Transport's engines exploded, making the entire ship shake violently.

"Jump!" the other woman shouted, and the Rogue Spectre did just that as she launched herself out of the hatch. And her body began to glow with biotic energy as she controlled her velocity before landing safely on top of the other ship, while the Transport dropped out of the sky and crashed in a fireball at the base of the snow-covered mountains.

PRIME EFFECT 5

"I'm in." Myra then said as she closed the hatch behind her and climbed down into the ship's interior to find a Caucasian Human woman waiting for her, who had shoulder-length chocolate Brown hair and green eyes. She also had an athletic figure as she stood with one hand on her hip while giving the Asari a knowing smile.

"Told you that this mission would get messy."

'Katrina Mason, always the realist.' Myra thought as she returned the smile with a sigh.

"Yes, you were… and to top it off, Vasir was not even there."

Kat noticed the disappointment that appeared on her friend's face as she spoke so placed a hand on her shoulder while looking back with a sympathetic expression.

"I'm sorry, Myra…" she started to say before they were interrupted, as another man walked in on them. He was a Caucasian man in his late thirties with dark hair and yellow eyes and was wearing white and red armour. He gave both Women a friendly smile as he entered the room and approached them, earning a mirrored expression from the pair.

"So how many Merc bases does that make now Myra?" he asked with a curious but playful tone.

"I have no idea since I have been doing this for so long now that I've lost count." the Asari replied honestly with a slight smile which then gradually faded away as a more serious look, one they were more than used to seeing appear on her face.

"But 'she' was not there…again, so it's still not over." she added before walking past Kat and Crosscut and leaving the room, leaving them to look at each other with worried expressions before the former then glanced in the direction that her friend had left.

'I know that Vasir did something terrible to Myra, but what was it?' she thought while giving out a sigh.

Myra walked slowly down the corridor towards the cockpit of the ship, her mind wandering as she dwelled on the failure back at the Factory with the words of the Batarian Commander haunting her every thought.

'I am afraid that our fearless leader is not here, though I am sure she would have been overjoyed to see you again….so she can reunite you with your Mother!'

This re-ignited a wave of burning anger from deep within the Asari's heart. It was an anger that had been there for so long now that it now felt completely natural to her.

'To be so close, only to end up empty-handed… yet again.' she thought while stopping and clenching her left hand into a fist, the Asari's thoughts right now acting like fuel to the flames of her building rage.

'I will get Vasir, I swear to Goddess, I will kill her!'

Then Myra saw red as her enemy's face appeared in her mind's eye, making the Asari suddenly slam her fist into the corridor's wall, making her flinch slightly as a sharp pain erupted from her hand.

This made her look down at her hand, which had begun to shake slightly as the sudden pain snapped the Asari out of her thoughts.

"Did that help?"

The voice made Myra turn round to find Kat standing there and looking back with a concerned expression, her arms folded over her chest.

"Not really, not like it will when I get my hands around Vasir's throat." she replied as her Human friend's eyes focused on her injured hand, making her reach down into the pocket on the right side of her utility belt and pull out a Medi-gel spray.

"Here, use this." Kat said back before holding out the small can to her friend, which the Asari took with a slightly embarrassed smile.

"Thanks."

"So…are you going to keep taking your anger out on 'our' ship? Because I don't think that the others will appreciate that." Kat then said with a joking-like tone, trying to defuse the situation further, which made Myra's smile widen a little more.

"Don't worry, I've been living with this anger of mine for a long time and have yet to destroy a ship that I was travelling on." she said back while spraying the Medi-gel on her hand, earning instant results as it healed the injury. The Brown-haired Woman took this moment as an opportunity and stepped toward the Asari, who was focused on treating her injured hand.

"Myra, we have worked together for a good while now…" she began to say in a supportive tone, to which her friend then jumped in.

"..nearly a year," she added, gaining a nod from Kat.

"Yes, a year. And in that time I have felt that we have become good friends, in the same way as I count the others."

This made the Asari look up at her with slightly widened eyes, completely caught off guard by the Brown-haired Woman's words.

"Yes, I feel the same, Kat." she replied with a warm smile.

'You are a good friend and an excellent soldier, there aren't many people who I can trust with my life. But why can't I just come out and say that?' she thought as the other Woman smiled back before her expression returned to a more concerned one.

"So…I know I have said this before, but if you ever want to talk…about anything at all that's on your mind, then you can confide in me." Kat said back in a supportive and caring tone, which made Myra feel a little uncomfortable as she knew what her friend was actually on about. But instead of showing this, the Asari smiled back.

"I know.." she replied before her eyes widened slightly as she remembered something, earning a curious look from Kat.

"What is it?"

"There was a reason I was heading to the cockpit..." Myra said with a knowing tone as she walked past her friend, before stopping and looking past at her.

"…I want us to go back to the city and corner Barla Vonn before he has a chance to leave the planet."

"Well, let's go then." Kat said in return as the pair then walked together down the corridor to the door at the far end, with the Asari pressing the button on the control panel on its left side which then opened the door and allowed them access.

Once in the cockpit, the two women walked up to a blonde-haired Caucasian Man, who was wearing blue and yellow armour. He was currently piloting the ship as it was now flying over the hilly terrain as it had cleared the mountainous region already, which the three of them could see from the glass canopy that was in front of them.

"Evac, how is our ship?" Myra asked, making the Bot turn round in his chair and smile at her.

"The 'Eudora' is fine, all systems are a go." he replied while keeping his hands on the holo-controls in front of him, earning a disconcerting look from Kat.

"I still can't help but worry each time I see you doing that, piloting the ship without even seeing where you're going." she said, making him look up at her and show off his eyes which had what looked like holograms in his irises.

"Kat, I already told you. The upgrades I had done to my eyes allow me to see everything the Eudora's sensors do.." he said as he then activated his holo-tool.

"..and I can even pilot the ship when I am not even on it with this..."

"Alright, that's enough showing off ." the Asari then said, interrupting Evac as he and Kat turned their attention to her.

"Set course for the port-city that's near here, I have a Volus to catch up with." she added, gaining a nod from Evac.

"Roger that." he replied as he turned his seat back around and made the Eudora veer to the left as it headed back towards New Karnak.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Myra marched up to the swinging doors of the Tavern and with a flick of her hand which was glowing blue, she flung the pieces of wood from their hinges like they were made of cardboard. This made the Hanar bartender jump in shock as he quickly squatted behind the bar, fearing another attack.

The Asari then entered the building with Kat and Crosscut flanking either side of her, a completely serious expression on her face as she looked around the main room and noticing that Barla and his men had gone.

"Looks like he ran for it." the Bot said while Kat looked over to the bar, noticing a tip of what looked like jelly shaking silently behind it. So she tapped Myra on the shoulder and gestured to that spot, making her stretch out her glowing hand and focus.

Suddenly the Hanar was surrounded by biotic energy and lifted off the ground, making it flap it's tentacles around in a panic as the trio walked over to it.

"Looks like we caught a live one." Crosscut joked while Kat and the Asari kept their attention on the bartender.

"Where is the Volus?" Myra asked as she held the jellyfish up in the air, while Kat and Crosscut watched.

"He already left, please...this one does not know anything else." it said in a slow but obviously fearful tone, not that it mattered to the Asari who just stared back coldly.

"Really, I'm not so sure. You might be more cooperative after I pull off every one of your tentacles..." she started to say in return in a serious manner, making the Hanar make a squeal-like noise while Kat looked over to Myra with an unsure expression.

"No, this one swears by the Enkindlers that it knows nothing, the Volus simply left and quickly...but.." it said as it was turned upside down by Myra, earning a curious look from her as she caught the end of its sentence.

"But?"

"...I did see which direction he left in, i was south towards the dock." it replied, earning a smile from Myra as Crosscut looked at his holo-tool.

"I am detecting trace amounts of ammonia in the air."

This made the Asari drop the jellyfish, making it fall to the ground hard while her attention was caught by the Bot.

"That's what the Volus breathe, I must have damaged his breathing apparatus earlier." she replied before activating her own holo-tool, which gained a curious look from Kat.

"What is it, Myra?"

"If he is leaking ammonia, then we can track him…" the Asari said back before looking back at the Hanar, who had just lifted itself back onto its tentacles.

"…How long has he been gone?"

"…the Volus was quite shaken by your handling of him and only left inside of the last hour." it replied, making Myra turn back to her companions.

"Then we can still catch him, let's go." she said while heading toward the exit, completely ignoring the Bartender. This earned him a sympathetic look from Kat, while Crosscut simply followed the Asari out.

"Thank you for your cooperation, sorry for…." she started to say before the Hanar interrupted her.

"Please, just leave this one alone now." it answered in a toneless voice, earning a nod from the Human Woman before she turned around and joined her friends outside.

"Okay, I have a lock on the Ammonia traces and they appear to be heading in the direction the Hanar told us." she said while Kat walked right up beside her.

"Did you really need to do that to the Hanar?"

This made Myra look back at her with a puzzled expression in return

"I was only trying to scare it, otherwise that stupid Jellyfish would have remained tight-lipped, which is funny considering Hanar do not have lips." she replied with an almost cold tone, which made Kat look back with a disappointed expression, but the Asari ignored it as she looked back down at he holo-tool.

"Right let's get going, I do not want to lose him." she said while heading towards her new speeder, earning a shoulder shrug from Crosscut as he looked back at Kat before joining their leader on his own which was parked beside hers. But the Human Woman just shook her head in response as she sighed, but then reluctantly joined them as she walked to her own speeder too.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Down at the Karnak's Docks, Barla Vonn waited anxiously by his ship as the local Droids were finishing the final checks on it.

"Come on you worthless scrap-heaps, surely my ship is ready to fly."

One of the mechanical dock-workers close to him heard the Volus' whining and turned to face him with its one red optic.

"Sir, your ship will be ready momentarily." it replied in a singular monotone voice, making the short pressure suited Alien to clench his fists in anger.

"That's what you said nearly an hour ago when I got here." he spat back before noticing three of his henchmen walking over to him, so Barla turned around and faced him while choosing to ignore the Droid.

"There is still no sign of the Asari that caught up to us earlier, so I have left the others to keep watch at the Dock's entrance." the Human Male said while being flanked by both Vorcha, gaining a nod from the Volus.

"Very well, but I can't shake the feeling that Darby will still come here. Because after seeing how easily she handled us, I have my doubts that the contingent of soldiers that Vasir purposely stationed on Yamm to trap her will be enough."

"I had heard stories of her as a Rogue Spectre, but this was the first time I had come up against the Asari, and she certainly lived up to those stories." the Merc replied, which made Barla nod again before looking back at the Droids.

"Can't these mindless robots hurry up?" he snapped as they continued to work around him, while the Human Merc simply shook his head in return.

"Just calm down, everything will be….." he started to say before an explosion erupted just aways from them, at the entrance to the Docks. Making him, Barla and the two Vorcha who had remained quiet the whole time, turn around and look at it with widened eyes.

"What in the hell was that?" the Merc added with a questioning tone, while the Volus started to breath more heavily.

"It's her, it has to be….Is my ship ready yet?" he spat at the Droids as panic started to take a hold over him, but his friend simply tapped his com-link while equipping his rifle.

"What's going on over there?" he asked, but all he could hear was static on the other end. So he took the rifle in both hands and looked back at Barla.

"Better board your ship, we'll cover you." he said while gesturing to both Vorcha, who nodded and took positions behind two nearby metal cargo boxes and readied their rifles. But the Volus meanwhile just looked up at the lead Merc.

"But…the Droids….. have yet…. to finish." he stammered while pointing at the mechanical workers, earning a grunt from the Human Male who then suddenly fired at them, causing sparks to erupt from their bodies as he riddled them bullets before they fell to the ground dead.

"There, they are finished. Just get onto the shi…." he started to reply when at the far end of the landing pad, the doors on the surrounding metal fence were suddenly ripped from their hinges and flung back towards the group, landing on either side of the ship.

"Right!" he simply said back before turning and running toward the boarding ramp of his ship, just as the Merc leader and two Vorcha spotted three figures walking into the area through the damaged entrance.

"Looks like we got here just in time." Crosscut said as Myra, Kati and himself saw the ship, with the Asari taking notice of the Volus now running up the boarding ramp as the three remaining Mercs open fired on them.

"We have to stop that ship from leaving." she said while creating a biotic barrier in front of them, absorbing the gunfire as her friends took cover and fired back.

"Well, go get them. We've got your back." Kat said back while looking down the sights of her rifle, firing at one of the Vorcha who only just managed to duck in time to miss the bullets that flew over its head.

"Thanks." Myra said back as she then thrust both her glowing hands in front of her, suddenly making the barrier move towards the enemies as the began to run behind it. This made the Mercs panic as the boarding ramp of Barla's ship started to retract itself up into its hull, which did not go unnoticed by the Asari.

'No, he's not getting away!' she thought as the ship fired it's engines, slowly rising off the ground as it began to take off. So as Myra continued to run at the vessel, she brought her hands together in a clasp. This made the barrier revert into a ball of biotic energy, which then the Asari sent flying as she thrust her clasped hands in front of her. The ball suddenly hit the area between the three Mercs and exploded, with the energy spreading out and knocking them to the ground as they became enveloped in blue light.

While the Human Merc team leader remained on his back, both Vorcha had already begun to recover. But they were quickly taken down by precision shots to their hearts from both Crosscut and Kat while Myra stopped right in front of the ship which was now several feet above her, this made the Rogue Spectre reach up with her hands and focus on the vessel which became engulfed in the blue light of her biotics.

Both Kat and Crosscut could only watch shocked surprise at what their friend was attempting to do as she grunted while slowly pulling her clenched hands down towards her, trying to reel the ship back down to the ground.

The vessel started to shake as in the vessel's cockpit, Barla increased the power of the engines in hope that he could break the Asari's hold over it.

"Come on, let me go!" he said as he reached over to the holo-interface for the ship's weapons and pressed one of its buttons. This made a small hatch open on the underside of the vessel, exposing a small laser turret that descended and locked onto Myra, who noticed it and narrowed her eyes as she continued to pull at the ship.

'I can block that laser, but to do so would mean letting go of the ship. I can't do that, I have to pull him down.' she thought while not budging from her spot, even though the Asari could see the turret charging up as a red light could be seen inside its barrel.

"I won't let go!" she said defiantly while forcing the ship to descend slightly as it buckled, much to Barla's dismay.

"Fine, take this!" he said while pressing the firing button, making the weapon discharge.

"Myra, no!" Kat suddenly shouted while tackling the Asari to the ground just as the red blast sailed past and hit the ground behind them, leaving a scorched patch where she was standing. But the ship was released from Myra's biotics and flew up into the sky as Barla made his escape, much to Myra's frustration as she and Kat recovered as the latter watched her friend perform a biotic punch into the floor, leaving a small crater where she hit.

"Damn it!" she spat before looking over to her rescuer who just stared back with a supportive expression, making the Asari's face soften ever so slightly.

"Sorry….thank you." she said, earning a slight smile from Kat in return as she reached up to her com-link.

"Your welcome, now let's get a trace on that ship." the Human woman replied while tapping the earpiece.

"Eudora, come in? Evac, can you get a sensor lock on that ship that just left the Docks?"

"I am trying now, Kat, but I can tell you that it is already powering up its space-bridge driver…" he said as Myra just stared at her friend, hoping to hear good news.

"..Okay, I have a lock and…scrap! It jumped away, I got only a partial lock." the Bot replied, earning a disappointed look from Kat, one that the Asari could read instantly as she mirrored it.

"Evac could only get a partial lock on Barla's ship…" she started to say while Myra simply sighed before turning round to look down at the Human Merc, who was just coming too.

"Well, let's see what this guy has to say." the Rogue Spectre replied as he looked up and saw the Asari standing over him, her fists glowing with biotic energy.

"Forget it, Darby. I won't talk." he said back with finality to his words that earned worried looks from both Kat and Crosscut though Myra just smirked before squatting down beside him.

"Really? Because I have heard that kind of talk a lot…" she started to say back as she then raised one of her clenched fists and made it glow brightly, making the Man shield his eyes with his right hand.

"…but did you know that I can surround your brain with a biotic field and crush it, either quickly and painlessly or…..slowly and excruciatingly painfully."

This made the Merc's eyes widen in fear as contemplated his choices, taking a deep breath before speaking. This also gained similar reactions from both Myra's friends as they looked at their friend.

But then just as he was about to speak, the Man was silenced by a bullet bursting his head open. Blood splattered everywhere, earning shocked looks from Myra, Crosscut and Kat. With the two companions turning around and looking at their surroundings for the shooter, but Myra simply stared down at the dead Merc as he lay with a large puddle of blood and mushy flesh where his head used to be.

'Will I ever catch a break with this?' she thought as Kat turned back to look down at her friend, while their Bot friend kept his eyes and rifle set on the area around them.

"Eudora, better come and pick us up." the Human Woman said after tapping her com-link.

"On the way, ETA….two minutes." Evac replied.

Meanwhile, an armoured woman stood in a small alleyway in between two buildings on the edge of the landing area of the Docks, which had a perfect view of the trio. Her face could not be seen as the area was well concealed by the shadows, while she looked through the scope of her Widow Sniper Rifle which at this moment was locked in on Myra's forehead.

"Vasir, I have silenced the Merc and Barla has escaped….no, they do not know that I am here." she said into her com-link, before listening to the female voice on the other end.

"Okay, I will continue to shadow them and make sure that they do not find you." she finished before deactivating her Com-link and watching them from the safety of her hiding spot.

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER III

Several seconds had passed and Myra was still staring down at the corpse of the Human Merc she had planned on interrogating, only for someone nearby to put a bullet through that plan.

'I am sick of this!' she thought as her patience snapped and her anger took control, making the Asari spin around and glare at the area around her team, trying to spot who fired the shot. But instead, she saw nothing as sirens began blaring in the distance, earning concerned looks from Crosscut and Kat.

"That's the Authorities on the way, we need to buck." the Bot stated, gaining a nod from Kat who was looking over at the smoke billowing from the explosion Myra had caused at the Dock's entrance when she killed the other two Human Mercs.

"Yeah, we can't stay." she replied while turning her attention to the Asari.

"What are you doing, Myra?"

"The bastard that killed our lead is still here, we should go after them." the Rogue Spectre said back in a cold tone, which rang alarm bells in her friend's mind as she walked over and placed her hand on the other's shoulder.

"We can't let the Authorities know that we were here, so the Eudora will be here to extract us momentarily." gaining the Asari's attention with her looking back at the Human, all the while the sounds of the sirens grew ever closer.

"Okay." was all she could say before the Eudora suddenly appeared and turned its engines vertical while it landed next to them, lowering its boarding ramp for the trio.

"Here's our ride, let's go." Crosscut said as he led the way and entered the ship, while Myra nodded back to Kat before they both followed.

Meanwhile, the unknown woman who had watched them from the nearby alley, was still there as the Eudora then retracted the ramp and lifted itself back into the air before turning the engines back and blasting itself back up into the sky.

'I'll see you soon, Myra.' she thought before noticing the local security forces entering the landing zone, so un-equipped her sniper-rifle and turned around, disappearing into the shadows as though she had never been there.

As the Eudora left Yamm's atmosphere and headed out into space, Crosscut and Kat were packing away their weapons and armour as did Myra, storing it in their lockers in the ship's Armoury

"Okay, so Evac and I will start going over the sensor data and come up with a list of probable destinations that Barla may have gone to." the Bot said, earning a nod from the Human Woman.

"Hopefully it will small list." she replied while giving Myra an enthusiastic look, but the Asari merely nodded back with a disinterested expression.

"Yeah, lets hope so." she replied before turning away from the pair, who just watched her with concerned stares.

"I am going to my quarters, let me know when we have something okay?" Myra added, earning a nod from Kat in return.

"Yeah, sure." she added while the Rogue Spectre walked out of the Armoury, leaving the pair on their own.

"So I guess we won't be seeing Myra again until we find our next destination, isn't this becoming a common thing now?" Crosscut asked with an inquisitive tone, earning a knowing and concerned look from Kat.

"Let's just leave her be, okay?"

"Alright, but what is this like…the twelfth time now." the Bot replied with an annoyed look, which made the Human nod reluctantly in return.

"I know… when we started this team, Myra was very proactive in everything we did. But now….." she started to say before trailing off as she just looked out at the open door that her friend had walked out of.

'I can't begin to understand what Myra is going through, and it pains me that I can't help her. Not as long as she recoils into herself every time we get back here.' she thought while Crosscut looked back with a concerned expression.

"Kat, you alright?" he asked, snapping the Woman out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm okay." she replied, gaining a nod from the Bot as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, I am going to the cockpit and start analyzing the data with Evac. Join us?" he asked with a slight smile.

"Go on ahead, I will join you in a bit," Kat replied, to which Crosscut smiled before walking out of the room and leaving the Human to stand there with a thoughtful expression.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Meanwhile, Myra opened an old Metallic door and stepped inside, which was a small dimly lit room with a cylinder-like layout. There was a single bed-like berth connected to the wall running down the length of the room, with two shelves above that looked tobe growing out of the bulkhead. On the Asari's right there was a small desk with fold-up chair which was fixed to the structure's underside, while in the wall next to it was what looked like a cupboard. So she just lied down on the bed, not even bothering to get under the cover as she did so.

And while she lied there and looked up at the ceiling, making the female sigh before looking up at the control panel directly next to her on the same bulkhead as the two shelves. So she then pressed one of it's buttons and made part of the bulkhead directly next to her open up and reveal another shelf, which slide out of the opening and allowed her access as she then took the holo-imager out of one of the pockets on her utility belt and placed it on the shelf. Myra turned onto her side and stared at the device as it then activated and projected a blue orb, which reflected in her eyes as she stared at it.

But the Asari wanted to see something else and so raised her hand and waved it through the hologram, making it switch to another image. This one was of a man and a woman, the former was Human and the latter Asari.

'Mom and Dad, Goddess... how I miss you.' she thought while feeling her eyes starting to tingle, which was a sign that they were going to well up, which made her take a breath as she looked at the image and thought of her parents. It was then that the ocean of her memories washed over her, with Myra losing herself to them.

'The sun shone down brightly from the cloudless blue sky over the white sand of the beach that ran past one side of the Darby residence, but someone was watching it from the grass field on the house's other side and it was an eight-year old Myra who was lying on her belly, trying to hide in the grass which moved gently to one side as the breeze carried on through the area.

'They'll never find me here.' she whispered enthusiastically with a smile as she looked toward the house and saw an aging Ravage standing on the porch and looking out towards the grass, though had not seen her.

"Have you found her yet?" a familiar voice spoke as her Grandfather, an old Jack Darby walked around the corner and stood beside the aging Feline, who looked up at him and shook its head.

"You'll find her, Ravage. Old or not, you still have it." he said as he stroked the top of old beast's head with his synthetic arm, making it purr in return.

"Okay, the little tyke has been hiding long enough. Go get her."

The Feline then looked up and nodded back before taking off around the other side of the house, much to the little Asari's amusement.

'He won't find me over there.' she whispered before her attention was caught by the sight of her Grandmother exiting the house and joining Jack's side.

"Is our Granddaughter still evading you both?" she asked with a playful grin, gaining an embarrassed smile from him in return.

"Really, Arcee? You expect a seventy-three-year-old man and his aging Feline companion to keep up with an eight-year-old girl at 'hide and seek'." Jack replied.

"Men,…you give up too easily." she joked, gaining a surprised look from her Spark-mate.

"Do you remember me having such an attitude against the Decepticons, Quintessons or Reapers?"

"No, but you've let our Eight-year-old Granddaughter beat you when it is quite clear where she is." the Femme replied as she looked out at the grass field in front of them with a knowing look.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, making her point out ahead of them which made Myra gasp as she pushed herself down further into the grass.

'Oh no, Grandma knows.' she thought while listening to them.

"Myra is definitely out there since the beach is too exposed when you compare it to that long-grass field ahead which has enough cover to hide in…" the Grandmother added before Jack thought of something.

"But what if she…" he started to say, but Arcee simply cut him off by shaking her head.

"No, Jack. Myra is not back in the house. I wouldn't put it past her to do something like that, but I have already checked."

The Grandfather nodded in return before looking out at the field, noticing a movement in the grass that made him smile.

"What?" Arcee asked, having noticed his expression.

"I think you are right.." he replied, gaining a smile from the Femme.

"Of course I am right, call it ' a Woman's intuition'." she replied as Jack continued to watch the disturbance in the long grass, noticing that it was moving toward the field's center.

"Yeah, but I think our Granddaughter is about to be found."

Meanwhile, Myra simply watched her Grandparents from her hiding spot with a confused look on her young face, unsure if they had seen her or not.

'I should try to move to another spot.' she thought before suddenly hearing something move through the grass to her right.

'What was that?' she thought while looking in the direction of the noise when suddenly the blades of grass were suddenly parted as the familiar face of Ravage appeared beside her and sniffed the air around her..

"Clever, Ravage. You found me." she said before the Feline then licked her face with his tongue, making her giggle as she wrapped her arms around him in an affectionate hug. This earned the attention of both Jack and Arcee as they heard their Granddaughter's laugh, making them smile in return.

"Congrats, Ravage. We knew you could do it." the Prime said, making the Feline look up over the grass at his Master which also revealed the little Asari, who was still giggling as she hugged it.

"Aww.., how cute is that." Arcee said with a loving tone as Jack put his synthetic arm around her back and held the Femme close, earning her attention as they both smiled at each other.

"Yeah, it sure is." he said before they both noticed something approaching the house in the distance, something that made them both smile in return.

Myra sat beside Ravage and stroked the fur on top of its head, earning a long and affectionate purr from the Feline as the Asari continued to cheerfully giggle. But then she stopped as her hearing caught the sound of an approaching vehicle, so the little girl turned round and saw a sky-car flying down towards the farm.

This made Myra's smile grow wider, for she knew who was arriving at the house as the vehicle flew overhead and then landed in front of the house, while her Grandparents walked down the porch stairs to greet the new arrivals as its canopy opened to reveal Orion and Liara.

"Welcome back. Hope you had a good time?" Jack asked as he gave his Son an affectionate hug while Arcee and her Daughter in Law did the same.

"Yes, we had a lovely weekend together on Thessia." the Asari replied with a warm smile, while her Bond-mate put his arm around her lower back.

"So how has Myra been doing? I hope she has been behaving herself?" he asked, gaining a smile from his Parents.

"Myra has been as good as gold, we have enjoyed having her here again." Arcee replied, before his Father looked toward the field.

"Speaking of which…." he started to say with a loving stare, making Orion and Liara turn round to see their young Daughter running towards them.

"Mommy, Daddy!" she called happily while Ravage ran behind her, breathing heavily as he tried to keep up with the excited youngster. This made Orion run past the front of the sky-car towards his daughter before scooping her up in his arms, a big happy smile on his face as Liara watched lovingly.

"My little Princess." he exclaimed while scooping the child up in his arms and hugging her, making the little Asari's face light up as she hugged him back while Liara happily sighed as she walked over to them both.

"Miss us, Myra?" she asked, gaining a nod from their little girl as her Father planted a gentle kiss on her cheek, making her close her eyes and giggle.

"Yes, I did…" she started to say as Ravage lied down on his belly at their feet, panting as he did so while the Grandparents joined their side.

"…but I had a really fun time with Grandma and Granddad." Myra added, making both their smiles widen some more.

"Like I have said many times before, it was a pleasure to have little Myra with us." Jack said back, earning a nod from Asari while their Feline Companion let out a yawn, earning everyone's attention.

"..She even gave Ravage the most exercise he has had in a long time." Arcee added, gaining a curious look from Liara.

"You okay, Ravage?" she asked, making the former Decepticon Beast look up and yawn again.

"We were just playing a game of hide and seek before you got here, Myra is very good at it…..but Ravage still found her." Jack said, gaining a nod from his Son who looked at his Daughter with a proud smile.

"I know she is, but even at his advanced age…Ravage still has the touch."

"He sure does, but I think we should give him the rest of the night off..." the Femme replied, while her Spark-mate beckoned the others inside.

"...So let's leave him be and go back in the house, I'll make some tea for everyone…" she started to say before noticing her Granddaughter's confused look.

"…and hot chocolate for you, Myra." the older Femme added, turning Myra's expression into a happy smile as both Orion and Liara nodded in return.

"Sounds great. Let's go." the former said as he carried his Daughter in his arms and followed the others inside, leaving Ravage who had already fallen asleep as he gently purred on the balcony. Myra though was just happy to be surrounded by her family, feeling the warmth and safety of her Father's arms as she just closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder.'

This warm feeling filled the Asari's heart as she fondly remembered the moment while lying down on her bed, it was one moment of many that she shared with her Parents.

Myra's childhood was a happy one, one that she would not trade in for anything. She had a wonderful relationship with both her Parents, but it was with her Father that she felt the most connection to, as her Mother often said.

"Myra may have inherited my biotic prowess and natural beauty, but she has your stubbornness and drive to do exactly what she desires too. The two of you are so alike."

And her Mother was right, for Myra was as the old saying goes….'a chip of the old block' when it came to her and her Father, Orion made sure he was there for his Daughter no matter what. Even when something came up that required the attention of the Prime, he always made time for her.

'I miss you so much, Dad. Why can't you be here now?' she thought as her mind began to drift as a more painful memory surfaced and took a hold of her attention.

'Myra stood in the Hospital corridor looking at her reflection in the window, which gave her a view of the city of New Iacon at night. She was now fifty years old though you would not know it to look at her, for Asari retain their youthful appearance for most of their thousand-year lifespan. And even as she stared at the Capital City of the Federation which was still the jewel of Galactic Alliance after all this time, Myra still felt her attention wavering as her thoughts returned to her Father.

For he had been a resident of the Hospital for the last six months due to the fact that old age had finally caught up to the Eighty-year-old Prime. This was a difficult time for the Darby Family since both Myra and her Mother, Liara, were not used to seeing the most important person in their lives slowly deteriorate before their eyes.

Orion had been such a prominent figure in their lives as a loving Husband and Father, not to mention finding a balance with his responsibilities as Leader of the Autobots.

The fact that he managed such a feat was just another example of the type of man he had become since taking his Father's place as the next Prime, for under his guidance the Federation had prospered even more and truly had become what its Founders had planned all decades ago.

But right at this moment, none of that mattered to Myra. For all she wanted now was to see her Father, not only due to the fact that she had not set eyes on him in six months but also because she had a lot to tell him. Because the young Asari had been under assessment of whether she should join the ranks of the Autobot Spectres and had been training under the tutelage of Aunt Ser-Ket who also held the rank of Elite Spectre.

The former Predacon had really thrown herself into the job since the passing of her spark-mate Quickstrike, who died a few years earlier. The Femme had just thrown herself into her work since then, Myra originally thought that this was so that she would not have the time to really let her loss sink in and cause her pain.

But Ser-Ket later had told the Asari that she and her Spark-mate had been well aware of what was going to happen since her spark inhabited a Pretender body that had not been touched by the Primus wave that had converted the entire Cybertronian species at the end of the Reaper War. So she was always going to outlive him, and Quickstrike had asked Ser-Ket to promise him that she would continue to live her life and not let his absence pull her down.

It was then that Myra knew that both she and her Mother would have to do the same, when it came for Orion to become one with the Allspark…. as the saying goes. And that weighed heavily on her mind now while she looked out of the window. The Asari thoughts were then interrupted by the sound of a door sliding open behind her, so she turned around to see her Mother standing there.

"Myra, your Father is awake and wants to see you." she said with a light smile, earning a mirrored expression from the younger Asari who nodded and walked past her and into the room.

'My Mother has spent nearly every waking moment with my Father since he fell ill, makes me feel somewhat guilty for not visiting more. But Orion Prime had told her when this all began that he wanted her to continue with her training because he knew how important it had been for Myra. For her Father did not want his Daughter to watch him slowly deteriorate d before her.

Once inside, Myra noticed that the room was dimly lit and that there was only one bed with a chair either side of it as well as a life support machine on it's right side, and lying there was the frail form of her Father who was hooked up to it.

"Myra,….hello….., Princess." he said in a soft but pained voice as he smiled, which made the young Asari smile back slightly.

"Hi, Dad." she replied as she sat down at his bedside, taking a hold of his hand as she did so.

"Its good to see you." the Prime then said as he gently squeezed her hand in his.

"Same here, I would have come sooner…" she started to answer, only for her Father to shake his head slightly.

"There's…no need…to explain yourself,…Myra, I was….the one…who…told you…to keep at your training."

Myra merely sighed as she watched Orion struggle to speak for it was so hard for her to see him this way as he was so weak and fragile, the complete opposite of the Man she remembered him to be and was inspired by throughout her life up to that point.

"I know, Dad, but still…" Myra tried to argue, but again her Father simply cut her off with a loving smile.

"How…did it go…..with…your training?" he asked, which made his Daughter smile as she reached into a pouch on her utility belt and pulled out an Autobot Spectre Insignia, which made Orion smile back proudly.

"Oh, Myra, I knew you could do it." he said back warmly, as Liara joined the young Asari's side and mirrored her Husband's expression.

"Your Father always knew you would become a Spectre, Myra. We are so proud of you." she said, earning a nod from the bed stricken Prime.

"Yes,…we are. But then again….we .have always….been so proud of…you, Myra." Orion added with a content and loving smile, one shared by both his Daughter and his Wife. But then,, his life-support machine suddenly began blaring an alarm, which earned wide-eyed looks of shock from both Asari as Orion suddenly began coughing and breathing heavily at an increasing rate, like every breath he was taking was his last.

"Dad!" the younger one shouted, while her Mother ran to the door and opened it in a panic.

"We need a Doctor, somebody get a Doctor!" she shouted down the corridor, making the Hospital staff rush over to the panicking Asari.

"It's...going...be...alright,...Myra." Orion said between gasps of air as he looked into his distraught Daughter's eyes, which were starting to well up and distort her vision as everything around her was dulled out and all she could hear was her own breathing and that of her Father.

"...Dad?..." she started to say in return before she suddenly felt a hand grab her shoulder, snapping the young Asari out of it.

"Get her out of here and... Stat!" the Salarian Doctor snapped as he pulled Myra out of the way, handing her to a Human Nurse who took her out of the room to her Mother.

Both watched in shock as another Doctor and several Nurses entered Orion's room before the door slid shut, blocking their sight as they both suddenly felt their breath caught between their lungs and their mouths.

"Your Father's going to be fine, Myra. The Doctors will look after him." Liara said as she put her arm around the younger Asari, pulling her into a hug. But as Mother and Daughter hugged, Myra could tell the tone of Liara's voice betrayed the words she had said, for she did not believe their meaning...so how could her Daughter.

It had grown very quiet in the hallway as the pair waited, which was in spite of how busy it had become with Hospital staff and other Patients loved ones walking past in either direction. For all Myra and her Mother could think of was Orion and whether he would be alright once that door slid open, for the waiting was slowly killing them inside as each and every minute that passed felt like another nail in the coffin which held their hope.

But then after what felt like an eternity, the door slid open and the Salarian Doctor stepped out and faced the Asari. His face was stoic and expressionless like a robot as he looked at them.

"Mrs Darby..." he started to say, which made a lump appear in both hers and Myra's throats as they found themselves between hope and dread, unsure of what was about to come.

"...I am very sorry." he then said which immediately Deafened the Daughter as her grief and guilt suddenly over took her senses. She started to cry while Liara just remained shocked as she listened to the Doctor, unable to even speak in return.

"...We did everything we could to stabilise your Husband, but I am afraid that his body is starting to shut itself down. I am afraid that there is nothing more we can do for him, I am very sorry." the Doctor added, his tone both sad and respectful which made Liara look up at him.

'Orion is still alive?' she thought, earning a hopeful look from her daughter.

"Can we see him?" the older Asari then asked with a slither of hope to her voice, gaining a solemn nod back from the Salarian.

"Yes, but he does not have long, so go now." he replied before stepping aside and gesturing for the pair to enter the room.

Liara then turned to Myra, who had tears running down her face.

"Myra, we can see your Father now." she said in a soft voice, snapping her Daughter out of the silent grief that had surrounded her as she stopped crying and looked back, wiping her face as she calmed down.

"...we can." she said back, earning a nod back from her Mother before the pair walked past the Doctor and back into the room, while the other staff quickly left the room and left the Family alone in the room. So Myra and Liara walked over to the bed and saw Orion lying there with his eyes closed, looking at peace.

"Dad?" his Daughter then asked with a gentle tone, making the Prime open his eyes and smile as he gazed upon both the most important Women in his life.

"Are…you both…alright?" he asked with his breath still sounding weak and slowing, which made Liara's lip tremble as her building grief threatened to overcome her in the sight of her Bond-mate. But Myra took notice of her Mother's expression and quickly stepped in as she took her hand and gently squeezed it in support.

"We are both just relieved to see that you are okay, you gave us both a scare back there, Dad." she said as Orion looked over to Liara with a loving gaze.

"Sorry for….scaring you…" he started to say, earning an understanding nod from her in return as she smiled back, but his expression lessened a little.

"…But…I guess….the Doctor…has spoken to…you."

Mother and Daughter nodded back, their smiles lessening as they both knew what he was about to say.

"…yes,…my Love, …he did." Liara replied a little shakily while a single tear ran down her cheek.

"Then…you…know…that the last thing….I wish…to see is…you grieving for….me.." Orion said back with a pained expression as he breathed deeply, making the older Asari nod slowly in return.

"I know, Orion. I remember our talk." she replied, earning a confused look from Myra as her Mother leaned in close to her Father.

"I want to be strong…for you and our Daughter, but the thought of living my life without you in it is…." Liara began to say, only for the dying Prime to lift his hand up and cup her cheek affectionately, stopping her mid-sentence as she close her eyes and enjoyed his touch.

"You are… and have always… been the love of my life,… Liara. That will never… change, not even after… I have joined the… Allspark. Because I will… always be with… you…." he said while moving his hand down to her chest.

"…right here." he finished with a lopsided smile, earning a smile back from the Asari, who then leaned in and gently kissed him before pulling away enough to look Orion in the eyes.

"You always had a way with words. I love you, Orion." she said softly.

"As I do…you." he replied in a mirrored tone before his Bond-mate then pulled back, allowing the Prime to look over to his Daughter.

"Dad…" she said with a sad and yet guilty smile, earning nothing but a loving expression from him in return.

"Myra, oh…my darling Daughter, I know…that face." he said with a soft and knowing tone as he held out his open hand to her, so she took it in her own and held it gently.

"I do not…want you to…burden yourself with…unnecessary guilt, for not…being here…for me."

"But, Dad, I…" she started to say in return, only for her Father to cut her off.

"I…did not want you to…put your life…on hold for me, because I…know how important…it was for…you…to become…a Spectre. And no Father…could be…any happier…nor prouder…of you…than…I am." Orion replied, which made the young Asari feel as though she was going to well up again. But she held that off and continued to listen as her Father spoke.

"For you…have given me…so much joy and…happiness,…Myra, that even…as I feel…my life…slipping away from me…I can…pass into the…Allspark…knowing that…your Mother and I…have given…this world…a truly special…woman…that has left…me feeling truly….content and peaceful."

The younger Asari merely looked back at her dying Father, but could not help but feel a smile appear on her face. Despite what was happening and already knowing how he felt about her, to hear him say this warmed her heart.

"I love you, Dad." she said softly, making him slowly smile back in return.

"I….love….you….t…o…" Orion then said before he suddenly closed his eyes and appeared to drift off to sleep, which made both Asari look down at him with widened eyes as the heart-beat monitor on his life-support suddenly flat-lined.

"Dad…" Myra suddenly found herself saying as she looked down at the Prime's body, noting how peaceful he looked in his eternal slumber. Liara though stepped closer and leaned over him and planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Goodbye, my Love. You rest now." she said softly, while her Daughter just watched from behind as something caught her attention.

"Mom?"

This made Liara pull back and was about to turn around to look at her Daughter, but the older Asari's attention was caught by the same thing as they both noticed a white light glowing under the blanket that covered Orion's body.

It was coming from his chest and began to glow somewhat brighter, before suddenly floating up as the cover draped over it.

"What the?" Myra said as the pair watched the covers suddenly split apart and expose the Matrix of Leadership, which shown it's light throughout the room as it hovered over the now Former Prime's body.

"The Matrix…" Liara found herself saying, while her Daughter just stared at it for a moment as the light had her in some kind of trance.

But then suddenly it glow became so bright, that it made the Asari cover their eyes as they and the entire room was enveloped in the white light. It even caught the attention of the Hospital staff outside in the corridor, who noticed the bright light seeping out of the frame of the door.

"What's going on in there?" the Salarian said before he went to open the door, when just as quickly as the light had appeared it was then gone. So he opened the door to find Liara and Myra standing beside the bedside of Orion Prime, with only the flat-lining sound of his life-support the only thing anyone could hear.

"What happened in here?" the Doctor asked, gaining their attention as both Asari looked at him. He immediately noticed that their eyes were welling up and so he sighed in return and gave them a sympathetic expression in return.

"The Matrix has gone…and will not appear until the one that is worthy is ready for it." Liara replied, making Myra look back to her with a curious expression as she listened.

"Orion told me that this would happen, once he became one with the Allspark." the older Asari continued before turning to her Daughter, looking her in the eyes.

"Come here." she said before both Mother and Daughter embraced each other in a hug and quietly sobbed, ignoring the Doctor and his staff as they entered the room and surrounded Orion's bed.

PRIME EFFECT 5

All of a sudden, Myra was awoken by the sound of a chime-like noise coming from her door. This made the Asari rise up into a sitting position on her bed, having realised that she had fallen asleep.

"Come in." she said, before the door slid open to reveal Kat standing there in the doorway.

"Are you alright?" she asked, having noticed the single tear that had ran down the Asari's cheek. But Myra was quick to wipe it away as she looked down at the ground.

"Yes, I am fine." she replied, earning a slightly aggravated look from the Human Woman as she stepped into the room and stood in front of the Asari.

"You do realise that you are a terrible liar, as I can tell that there is something you have kept to yourself since the first day we met..."

Myra looked up from the ground to meet her friend's stare, with a curious expression on her face as Kat continued.

"…because the four of us are supposed to be a 'team' and I know only too well that secrets can only create trouble, so I decided to hack the Autobot mainframe and look up your personal file."

This made the Rogue Spectre's eyes widen as she looked up with a shocked expression, making her friend hold her hands up in a non-threatening gesture.

"I did it because I wanted to know what it is you don't want to talk about…" she started to say, only to stop as Myra got up and looked at her with an angry stare.

"How could you?" she spat, but Kat just looked back to her friend with a sorry but curious expression.

"I'm sorry for going behind your back, Myra, I really am. But I had to do something because whatever is bothering…'haunting' you is slowly becoming a problem, one that we have all noticed.." the Human Woman said, while the Asari just remained quiet and listened.

"..I mean we all came together so that we could help you take down Vasir, because we knew that the Autobots were not going to be able to do it while their hands tied behind their backs by rules and regulations, but you with your 'Rogue' status were able to act…so we joined your side."

"I already know this." Myra quickly jumped in before turning away from her friend and looking down at the holo-image of her parents which was still active, glowing a light blue as it offered a low illumination to the rest of the room. Kat noticed too and went quiet for a second, looking down to the ground and sighing in return.

"I know what happened to your Mother….Liara Darby." she then said, regaining Myra's attention as she turned back to her friend who looked back up at her with a sympathetic expression.

But as the two looked at each other, the Asari's memories were once again stirred back up from the recesses of her mind.

'Myra opened her eyes to find herself lying on the ground with her legs pinned under some charred debris, but she looked around to see that the once beautiful church around her now looked as if it was something from a post-apocalyptic nightmare. The last thing she remembered was saying her wedding vows before…, before a great force suddenly erupted from the ceiling and knocked her out.

Every part of her was aching as Myra felt blood trickle down her face from a cut on her forehead, but she could still feel her legs despite them being pinned by what looked like parts of the wooden beams that made up the ceiling.

'What about the others?" she suddenly thought, making her look around at the rest of the Church's interior.

But as she looked around and tried to make sense of what had happened around her, a gunshot blared over to her right and made the Asari look in that direction to see the silhouette of someone standing over her Mother, pointing a pistol down at her head.

"That was for Benezia, you traitorous pure-blooded bitch." the unknown person said though by the sound of their voice, it was definitely female. But that did not matter at this moment to Myra as her eyes widened at the image of Liara, who now had a smoking hole between her eyes.

"Mom!" she screamed at the top of her voice as she descended into turmoil and despair while the stranger looked over to her and gave off a small chuckle before walking towards the injured Asari.

"So, you're still with us are you." she said, with a voice that was familiar to Myra who narrowed her eyes and looked up as her Mother's killer stepped into view.

"..Vasir!" the younger Asari said in an angered and yet pained tone, while the woman smirked back.

"I promised your Mother that this day would come and now it is here, all that is left is for you to join her." she said while aiming her pistol at Myra's head, while the injured Spectre simply kept her eyes on Vasir as she stared back with a hateful glare. But just as she was about to pull the trigger, sirens began to blare in the distance. This made Vasir turn and look in their direction, earning a sigh from her before re-holstering her pistol.

"It's your lucky day, Kid." she said in a cold tone before turning her back on Myra and walking away, but this made the young Spectre grit her teeth as she then focused her biotics into lifting the debris off her legs, making purple energy surround the beam and slowly lift it up in the air before dropping it onto the ground beside her.

But just as she was about to lift herself into a sitting position while looking in the direction that Vasir had left, another very familiar male voice suddenly spoke up.

"Myra."

This made the Asari's eyes widen as she looked in around until her eyes widened at what she saw.'

"Myra?" Kat then said, snapping the Asari Spectre out of her thoughts to find her Human friend staring back with a confused expression.

"Sorry, I…" she started to say before wiping another tear from her cheek, earning a sympathetic sigh from Kat.

"You just remembered it didn't you? How your Mother died?"

"Yes, I can still see it like it was yesterday. 'Everything' I cared about was ripped from me that day, and I intend to make sure Vasir pays for it with her life." Myra replied as her facial expression became cold and feared, something that the Human Woman had seen more than a few times over the course of their friendship.

"I know, for having read your file. I mean, I now understand what it is that drives you in your hunt for Vasir. And I want to continue to help, anyway I can." Kat said back, earning a slight smile from Myra in return.

"Thanks, Kat. I appreciate that and I am sorry for not confiding in you sooner…" she started to say, before her Human Friend cut her off.

"There's no need to apologise, Myra, because I understand why you didn't mention it. But I know that keeping that kind of pain bottled up inside will do more harm than good in the long run."

The Rogue Spectre nodded in return, sighing as she did so.

"Yes, I guess you are right there…" the Asari said as she looked back at Kat.

'Perhaps I can confide in Kat, after all. Maybe with her help, I can lighten the weight that I have felt pushing down on me ever since that day.' she thought before continuing.

"..and if we can keep this between us for now, then I would be willing to talk more with you about my past." Myra continued as she sat on the edge of the bed and deactivated the holo-image device, earning an understanding smile from Kat in return.

"Of course, Myra, I won't say a word. It's your choice when you want the others to know, I am fine with just one of us knowing at this time." she replied, before sitting beside her friend, who had just gestured for her to do so.

"So what else did you learn from my file?" the Asari asked, having an idea where this would go next. But Kat looked back at her with an unsure expression.

"There is no need to rush with this, Myra. Take your time." she replied, but Myra gently shook her head in return.

"You obviously read it to competition, to when I broke away from the Autobot Spectres?" she asked with an inquisitive tone, earning a nod from the Human Woman in return.

"Yes…yes, I did."

"So you know about…." the Asari began to say before trailing off as she saw the image of a Human Man in her mind, earning a nod from Kat.

"Yes I know, that you lost more than your Mother on that day." she said with a sad expression as Myra simply looked ahead of herself at the wall in front of her.

'I guess I am going there then.' she thought before opening her mouth to continue speaking.

"His name was John S…" she started to say before the ship's Inter-com activated.

"Myra, Kat, Crosscut here. I think you should get up here to the Cockpit, for I am sure we have Barla's location." the Autobot spoke, earning both Women's attention as Myra was the first to stand up.

"Alright, we are on our way." she replied before deactivating the call with her holo-tool, while looking back at her Human Friend.

"We should see what the others have…" she said as her facial expression changed to the more familiar professional that Kat was used to seeing.

"…Continue this later?" she then added, surprising her Friend who gave her an understanding smile in return.

"Sure, Myra. Lets go." she replied before getting to her feet and following the Asari out of the room, with the door sliding shut behind them both.

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER IV

Both Crosscut and Evac were busy with their attention completely focused on the holo-map that was being emitted from the pilot's interface as Myra and Kat entered the Cockpit, the Bots did not even look over to the two Women as they joined them.

"So what do you have?" the Asari asked as she looked at the holo-image, which showed a particular area of the galaxy.

"We have managed to narrow down the window to two possible locations in the 'Serpent Nebula'…" the White and Red armoured Bot said as he typed on his holo-tool and zoomed into the image to reveal the two areas.

"Well, the first of the two locations is 'Unity', you know the space station built two hundred and fifty years ago by the ISF, to replace the long destroyed Citadel." he added, earning a nod from Myra.

"Yeah, I know it. I was there with my Mother, the day it was brought online…" she started to say as everyone listened, with Kat noticing her friend take a breath as she mentioned Liara.

"…It took over as the political, cultural and financial capital of the Federation…since the majority of Senate was no longer happy at remaining at New Iacon, despite them having done so for the previous two hundred and fifty years." she added with a touch of resentment to her voice, earning a curious look from Evac, but before he could ask why Evac jumped in.

"And the other place is Milgrom, Capital city on the planet Bekenstein. Which despite its location in Federation space, continues to be a safe haven for the criminal element." he added while bringing up the other planet on the holo-display, which Myra looked at with a thoughtful expression.

"Well, considering the first is the Capital of the Federation and the other has a more shady rep. Then I am going to say…. Bekenstein, it is…" she replied, gaining nods from the others.

"…since I doubt that Leviathan would be able to hide on the Unity station without the Autobots knowing about it."

"Okay, I will set course for Bekenstein and activate our stealth mode. We wouldn't want to alert any Autobots to our presence there now, would we?" Evac asked with a knowing look, earning a smile from Myra.

"Of course not." she replied as both Kat and Crosscut shook their heads in unison.

"We'll see about that." the Human Woman added with a knowing smile, while the pilot returned to his controls and started typing on it's holo-interface.

"Charging up the space-bridge drive now."

"Okay, take us there, Evac." Myra then said as she looked out of the canopy to the void ahead, before the pilot then gave the Asari a curious look.

"When you mentioned Unity earlier, you didn't sound like you were happy with the Senate's decision Myra?" he asked, gaining the Asari's attention.

"And you are right, Evac, my Mother and I were not exactly jumping for joy at the decision. We felt that they were betraying the Human and Cybertronian societies that had brought them together in the first place. I mean if it hadn't been for their Alliance, then the Reapers would have destroyed everyone and we wouldn't be here to talk about it." she replied, earning understanding looks from the rest.

"Well ever since the last Prime passed away centuries ago, the Senate has unfortunately not been as good at their job of holding the Federation together as they should have been."

Yeah, look at how many members have jumped ship in the last couple of centuries. The Asari, the Krogan, the Hanar, the Volus and recently the Salarians." Evac added, gaining a nod from the other Bot.

"Three of the founding members left inside of the few centuries that 'Unity' has been in operation, as well as several others of which some have already been mentioned." Crosscut said while gesturing to his friend. This earned a serious look from Myra suddenly.

"Well, that is all in the past, and we have a job to do. So let's get to it…" she said in a commanding tone before turning around and heading for the door, stopping at it as she looked back at the team.

"Kat and I will take to the ground and see if we can find our little Volus…" she said, earning a nod from her Human friend who walked over and joined her.

"Ready when you are." she said, gaining a smile from the Asari who then looked back to the bots.

"Crosscut, you stay on board with Evac. We will call if we need any back-up."

"Roger that, Myra." he added, while the Pilot turned around and gave the leaving pair a knowing look.

"I can also sweep through the Com-channels to see if I get a location or my Intel for you."

Myra gave him an appreciative smile in return.

"Good thinking." she replied before looking back to Kat.

"Let's suit up."

This earned a nod from her friend before they then both left the cockpit as Evac turned back to his controls, while Crosscut sat down at the station behind him.

"Opening a space-bridge in four….three…two…one." the pilot then said before a big green vortex appeared in front of the Eudora, which the ship then flew straight into.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Meanwhile, in the Bekenstein Capital, a group of Mercs in matching jet-black armour stood together in the centre of an old, abandoned-looking warehouse, speaking amongst themselves. This all came to a stop when the main door was opened, gaining their attention as they turned around to see Barla Vonn walking in. The Volus felt his heartbeat and breathing hasten as he looked at the group, for this was not what Barla had expected considering the call he made earlier. The group of Mercs were made up of Vorcha, Krogan and two Humans. But as the new arrival neared them, they separated to reveal a Batarian in their centre, who then took a step toward the Volus and gave him a narrow-eyed stare.

"What...is...going on here? I was told I would meet Vasir at this location." Barla asked with a slight stammer, unintentionally revealing his growing fear to the Men, who all grinned in return.

"And you will, but our Boss wanted to make sure she had some protective measures in place first." the Batarian leader replied, while the Volus stared back and breathed a little heavier.

"What do you mean?" Barla asked, which made the Batarian take a metallic orb out from a pouch on his utility belt and tap it on its top, activating it as it glowed in his hands.

"Here she is..." he started to say before letting go of the orb, which then floated in towards the Volus before an energy field suddenly appeared around it and formed the silhouette of a person.

"You disappoint me, Barla.." a familiar voice began to say as the holo-image formed the perfect projection of Tela Vasir, who stopped right in front of the Volus and glared down at him.

"But..., Vasir, I do not understand. What did I…?" he said back in a worried tone, unsure of what the Asari would say next. But she merely held her hand up, making him stop mid-sentence.

"First you get captured by the enemy, and now I hear that they are on their way to this very planet. Tell me, how does this look to you?" she replied, earning a gasp from the Volus who noticed that the Mercs were readying their weapons behind the hologram.

"But, there is no way that Darby managed to follow me. I mean her group were still fighting when I left, and there are no tracking devices on my shi…." he said in a panicked tone as he defended himself, but Vasir despite being a hologram, simply replied by kicking him in the chest and sending the little Alien onto his back.

"I do love this new hard-light hologram, now shut it, Barla, and listen." she said while narrowing her eyes at the pathetic Volus, who got onto his knees in a grovelling position.

"I did not turn up here today in person, because I have far more pressing matters to deal with…"

Meanwhile, at a secret location, the Asari stood in a large dimly lit area with a spotlight shining down upon her.

"…like trying to destabilise the Federation even more than it has already become." Vasir added as other Leviathan Agents took readings from what looked like a group of Cybertronians, who were all strapped down onto metallic semi-upright berths and hooked up to medical-looking equipment.

"So to prove you are still worthy of working in my organisation, I will have you stay here and set a trap for dear Myra Darby." she said with a slight smile, earning a gulp from Barla in return.

"Me…but I…" he started to stammer in return, gaining an eye roll from the Asari in return.

"For goddesses sake, Barla, spit it out." she said in return as he looked over at the Mercs standing behind her.

"…I don't think…these Mercs will be enough."

The soldiers gave him an angry stare in return, which made the Volus feel as though he was about to fill his pants. But Vasir sighed in return, before looking back at the men.

"They are not the only soldiers I have sent to help…." she started to say before clicking her fingers, making the door behind the group open and reveal another group of Mercs who then entered the room. Barla looked over at them and saw an Asari, a Turian, two Krogan and a Salarian. This made Vasir smile as she looked back at them, gesturing for the group to come closer.

"Barla, I would like for you to meet Alestia, Kuril, Salamul, Jax and Menos." she added, earning a nod from each member before they turned their attention to the Volus.

"They are amongst the best Assassins and Mercs this galaxy has to offer." the Asari added, noticing that Barla looked a little less nervous as his posture changed.

"Alright...but I would like a ready means of escape, just on the off chance that these Mercs aren't as good as you say." he replied with an unconvinced tone, one that made Vasir stare back at him with a blank expression before looking away from the Volus.

This was because one of the Asari's Agents had gained her attention as he stepped beside her.

"Good, I will be right there..." she said before looking back at Barla.

"...I am needed elsewhere, so will I leave the details of Myra's trap in your hands Barla. Vasir out." the Former Spectre added before her image faded to nothing, revealing the metallic orb which then flew back into the Batarian's hands.

"Right then, so what's the plan?" the Volus then said in what was supposed to be an enthusiastic tone, but came off as just half-hearted as the Mercs all rolled their eyes and sighed in return.

As this was happening, Vasir stepped out of the spotlight and looked at the Agent who had gained her attention earlier.

"Patch my com-link into the long-range comm-relay, I have another call to make." she said, earning a nod from him in return before he turned away and left the area. So the Asari looked over at the people who were strapped down to the medical berths around her like lab-rats before her holo-tool activated and beeped.

'Excellent, time to tie up a loose end.' she thought before linking it to her com-link and tapping the device in her ear.

"It's Vasir, have you arrived on Bekenstien... good. Now even if that little Volus manages to snuff out Darby, I want you to end him...I am glad we see eye to eye on this. I will leave it to you on how to deal with him, call me when it's done...Vasir out." she said before ending the call and deactivating her holo-tool, and looking ahead as a devious smile appeared on her face.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Meanwhile, down in the outskirts of the city, Mira and Kat walked down the Eudora's landing ramp and joined a large grouping of people queuing up to enter the city.

"Okay, we are on the ground. You better take off before someone decides to give the ship a real sensor scan." the latter said into her com-link, which then made the Eudora re-ignite its engines and lift off the ground as it closed its ramp.

"Roger that, Ground team. We will be close by if you require assistance. Good luck." Evac replied before the ship turned its engines back into a horizontal position and flew back up into the sky, leaving the pair on their own.

So now what? Queue up and get our IDs scanned so that they can then arrest us?" Kat then said to her Asari friend with a sarcastic tone, earning a lopsided grin from her.

"Of course not, that would be stupid." Myra replied before activating her holo-tool in front of the Human Woman, while two Salarians looked back at them.

"We use this, now hold my hand." she added while holding the hand out that had the holo-tool emitted around it, to which Kat smiled and took it in her own. Then suddenly she felt a fuzzy feeling come over her skin like a low voltage electrical current, and then the pair shimmered away right before the Salarians, making them wipe their eyes in disbelief.

A moment later, after passing through the customs checkpoint and turning down into an alleyway just aways from it. The two friends suddenly shimmered back into view, with both looking in either direction to see if anyone had noticed, but no one at either side of the small back street had seen them as they continued to walk past.

"Well, that was fun, sneaking past the guards like that." Kat said as Myra smiled back, before deactivating her holo-tool.

"I am just glad that this personal cloak of mine is still top of the line, or else we would never have gotten past the sensor grid that surrounds that Autobot checkpoint."

"I know what you mean, but how do you even have that device?" her human friend asked with a curious expression.

"I originally received this from my Dad, it sort of been passed down the Family. I got it upgraded five years ago so that I could pass through Autobot outposts undetected, I am just glad that they haven't cottoned on to it yet." the Asari replied, earning a nod from Kat.

"Okay, so any idea on where we should start looking?"

"Last time we found Barla, he was located in what could only be described as 'a slum'. But Milgrom has nothing like that, it's too much like Ilium, so…." Myra started to say before her and Kat's com-links activated.

"Myra, Kat, its Evac. I thought you should know that while going through the local com-frequencies, I have picked up something interesting. Take a listen of this…"he said before an unknown male voice suddenly spoke.

"I have set up security around the perimeter of your location, leaving a minimal force to guard your escape route on the south side should anyone attack."

"Very good, make sure my shuttle is ready to fly on a moment's notice." another more familiar voice spoke, making Myra's eyes widen in response.

"Barla!" she said, gaining a nod from Kat in return.

"Yep, that's him. But something doesn't feel right."

"I agree..." Evac began to reply, earning a thoughtful look from the Asari as she listened.

"...I mean the little Volus has his place all bottled up tight, except for his escape route." he continued before Kat spoke up again.

"It screams of a trap, giving us the perfect little way to get in there and block off Barla's escape."

This made Myra nod in return.

"Yes, I agree. Did they speak about anything else?" she asked.

"No, that's all I managed to hear before the signal cut off." the former Autobot Pilot replied.

"That's convenient, so we get just the right Intel we need. But did you manage to track the signal to its source?" Kat jumped in.

"Yes, it is in the Industrial sector about four kilometres to the west of your current position. Sending the data to your holo-tool now Myra." Evac replied as her holo-tool activated, revealing the location on its map.

Okay, Kat and I will head there now. And I think it will be a good idea for you to bring the Eudora too, add some firepower to our attack." she said, earning a curious look from her Human friend.

"You have something in mind?" the Pilot asked, making the Asari smile back confidently in return.

"We are going to spring the trap, just not in the way that Barla thinks. Now I will tell you on the way." she replied before gesturing to Kat to follow as the pair then walked out of the alley, back into the main streets.

Thirty minutes later, two of the black armoured Human Mercs stood on the roof of a building and looked over at another which looked same.

"I still can't believe that little shit called in more men, like our team was not enough to protect his Enviro-suited ass." one said to the other, who nodded in return.

"Well we're just as good and professional as any other Merc team, but he would rather have those 'Elite ones' with him right now."

This made his friend look back in a surprised state, shaking his head in response.

"Keep it down, we don't know if we totally alone at the mome..." he started to say before someone suddenly grabbed him by his head, twisting and snapping his neck in quick succession.

This made his mate turn around to see a Human Woman letting go of the man's head, with his body falling to the ground in a heap.

"...you're not, what a shock." she replied, earning a dumbfounded expression from the other guy.

"What!" he gasped as he looked between the now dead body of his friend and the intruder, then quickly re-composing himself and activating his holo-blade.

"You'll pay for that bitch." he snarled, while the Woman unsheathed a combat knife from her utility belt and held it before her.

"Well, let's find out then." she replied in a calm confident tone before the Merc suddenly swung his blade at her, making the Human pull back and deflect it with her knife.

But then she grabbed his arm and quickly stabbed it through his elbow, making him cry out before she kicked him in the knee and forced the Merc down on to it.

And then the Woman pulled the knife out of his arm and dug it into his neck and sliced from one side to another, making him bleed out and die in seconds as she let his body fall to the ground.

"Guess today's not the day." she muttered to herself before activating her holo-tool, making a holo-visor appear over her eyes as her com-link activated.

"Kat, I just received your signal. So you activated your 'Sentry Interface' then." Evac said, gaining a nod from her while she looked back at the adjacent building.

"Yeah, so can you see what I am seeing right now?"

"Of course I can." the pilot replied, earning a sigh from Kat.

"So, we can see numerous enemy contacts around the building in front of me."

"And I just found what we need for that distraction Myra wants." the pilot said as he highlighted what looked like fuel tanks just west of the building.

"Right, let Myra know then while I will get myself set up here." Kat replied as she equipped her sniper-rifle and looked through its scope.

"Just did, she is making her move now." Evac said before the Human Woman tapped her com-link to end the call, so she could focus on her next task.

Meanwhile, down at the building's south entrance, another Human Male and a Batarian stood guard with their weapons ready while looking ahead at Barla's escape ship, which was just aways from them as the latter tapped his com-link.

"Nothing yet, everything is quiet." the Batarian reported in a cold tone though unbeknownst to either him or his comrade, a long piece of metal cable was slowly moving up into the air behind them like a snake while dimly glowing with biotic energy.

"Did you hear that?" the Human then said as the very bottom end of the cable scrapped itself over the floor, gaining a nod from his comrade as they both turned to see to investigate the noise.

Their eyes widened in disbelief at what they saw, while the blue glowing cable floated in the air before them.

But before either man could say a word, the cable moved with lightning-fast speed as it wrapped around their necks and constricted like a Python, making them gasp for air as both Mercs grabbed at the cable and tried to pull it off.

Then just as their eyes started bulging from their sockets as they opened their mouths wide in a vain effort to breath.

The cable tightened one last time, earn a loud snap from their necks before both men fell to the ground dead with the cable still wrapped around them.

Then as both bodies lied there on the concrete floor, with their faces permanently fixed in the expressions of their last moments.

A shimmer suddenly appeared over them and changed to reveal Myra, who stood and looked down at them while her blue glowing hand died down as she tapped her com-link.

"I'm in." she whispered, before looking down at her holo-tool which had a red blip on it's screen.

'Looks like the cloak s put of use until it recharges.' she thought before deactivating the tool and looking back into the open door entrance.

'I don't need it now anyway.' she added while taking a breath and then entered the building.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Barla stood in the very centre of the room, with two more Mercs standing either side of him while the little Volus typed on his holo-tool. Both soldiers kept their attention on the perimeter of the building as they held their rifles ready before the one on his right turned to him.

"Mr Vonn..." he started to say, before he was suddenly flung off into the far right wall in a flash of blue energy.

This made Barla jump almost out of his enviro-suit as he spotted Myra, pointing at her in a panicked state.

"There she is!" he spat, making the other Merc turn and aimed his weapon at the Asari.

But she simply waved her glowing blue hand to her left, suddenly flinging him in the said direction like a rag doll until he hit the wall there with a cracking sound.

"So..., Darby, you've... found me." Barla stuttered through his breather helmet, earning a smirk from Myra in return.

"Did you really think I wouldn't?…" she asked in a knowing tone, before clenching her fist and making it glow.

"So I'll give you two choices..." she carried on as Barla's heartbeat quickened again, making him breath faster and heavier.

"...you can either tell me everything you know about Vasir and I will kill you quickly, or you can stay silent and I will slowly flay you alive...with my mind." she added with a cold stare, one that brought a chill down the Volus's spine as the Asari walked right up to him.

"Do it now!" he suddenly shouted, earning a curious look from the Rogue Spectre before she was hit by a biotic blast, sending her to the ground hard.

"Not so fast, Darby!" a feminine voice spoke as Myra recovered from the hit, turning around to see another Asari walk over from the other side of the room to her. This made the Spectre smile as she recognised this new arrival.

"Better stay down, Myra, unless you want more of this." the Asari warned while clenching both her hands into glowing fists.

"Why's that, Alestia?" Myra asked in return as she got back onto her feet, wiping a trickle of blood from her mouth.

"I know your biotics are good, but they don't match mine." she added as her skin started to glow blue in return, but her attention was then caught by two red dots that appeared on her chest.

"Perhaps... but unlike you, I didn't come alone." Alestia replied as two shimmers appeared on either side of her and revealed themselves to be a pair of Krogan, each had a perfect aim on the Rogue Spectre's heart.

"Don't move, Darby, or else we riddle you with bullets." the right one snarled, making the Asari Assassin gesture to both.

"Jax, Salamul, just keep her in your sights."

This made Myra's eyes widen a little in surprise as she looked at the three of them, which did not go unnoticed by them.

"Alestia, Jax and Salamul. Somehow I doubt Barla could afford your help, even if he sold everything he owned." she said as she gave the Volus a knowing stare. But before he could say anything, a Turian shimmered into view right behind Myra and held his holo-blade to her throat.

"You're right, Myra, he couldn't afford us." he said, gaining a glare from the Asari in return.

"You remember me, dont you?" he added with a smirk.

"Kuril, you bastard. After you killed those civilians on Horzion and pinned it on me, I'll bury you six feet under." she spat while gritting her teeth.

"Let her go Kuril, we already have someone who can hold her." Alestia said with a slither of authority in her voice, making the Turian reluctantly release the Spectre.

"I would say that your lucky Myra, but we have something more imaginative planned for you." he sneered while removing the blade, earning breath from her in return.

"We will see about tha..." she started to reply before out of nowhere, holo restraints appeared around her feet and arms, with the former being lifted into the air.

"What the..." Myra spat as a Salarian walked around to her Left side into view, his attention focused on his holo-tool.

"I believe you know Menos?" Alestia then said while gesturing to the Salarian, earning a nod from Myra in return.

"Of course, he is a Tech expert and the only Salarian to hack the Federation's financial accounts and killed the ."

"Pleasure to meet you, Myra Darby. I admire your work...despite it being against our employer." he said in a matter of fact tone.

"Honour among thieves, right?" the Asari replied, gaining a nod from him in return as the five Assassins stood before her.

"Five of the best Assassins in the galaxy...and they are after little old me, I'm flattered." Myra said with a sarcastic tone, while Barla walked around to join the others.

"So, since the little shit there could not afford one of you...let alone five. I know that there is only one that could." she then said with a knowing expression on her face, earning a playful stare from Kuril.

"I think she wants us to talk..." he started to say, only for Alestia to cut him off.

"We don't need to, you already know who it is."

"Yeah, Vasir,...so tell me where she is." Myra replied with little to no worry in the tone of her voice, gaining a surprised look from both Krogan.

"The Asari is demanding answers from us?" Jax asked, earning a curious stare from Alestia.

"Myra, what do you think is going to happen here? I mean, you came here alone and are now completely helpless before us."

But the Rogue Spectre simply gave her and the others a lopsided smile in return.

"Who said I came here alone?" she said before Kuril noticed her clench one of her hands, making her fingers tap a holo-button that appeared on it's palm.

"What was that!" he spat while pointing at the Asari's hand, but suddenly there was an explosion outside which shocked the Assassins as their com-links activated.

"We are under attack, I repeat we are under attack..." one of the soldiers guarding the perimeter shouted down the com-link, which made Barla gasp as he noticed a knowing grin from Myra.

"...a ship has destroyed this building's fuel tanks and is now firing on u..." the Merc continued before he was suddenly silenced by the sound of a rifle-shot, which made Alestia stare at their Asari prisoner with a questioning look.

"Who do you have with you?" she spat with anger lacing her words, but Myra simply stayed mute and smiled back. When suddenly the skylight overhead was shattered into pieces as Crosscut dropped while hooked on a line from the Eudora.

"Hello!" he cried out in a happy tone as he opened fire on the Assassins, making Alestia form a barrier before her as the others opened fire back. But the Bot had noticed that his friend was in a Tech-trap and spotted the Salarian with his holo-tool, so fired his right gun and took the Tech expert down via shot to his gut.

This deactivated the holo-restraints and freed Myra, who performed a quick biotic flare that blew out energy around her and made the Assassins drop back as Crosscut joined her side.

"Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?" he joked while firing at the two Krogan, who dived out of the way.

"Thanks for the save." she replied while Kuril looked over at Alestia.

"Get that little shit out of here, we will handle Darby." he said as he activated his holo-blades, making one appear on both arms.

"But I am the only Biotic here, so I should..." she started to say before the Turian cut her off as Salamul was taken down by a shot to the head.

"Just go!" he spat as he turned round to see the Rogue Spectre launch herself at Jax, before wrapping a biotic lash around his neck and snapping it.

"Come on!" the Asari spat as she grabbed the Volus's hand and pulled him away from the fight, towards the south exit.

"Yes, get me out of here." he spat with a cowardly tone as Kuril turned his attention to Myra.

"So you going to have your friend just shoot me, or do you have the guts to face me yourself?" he said, making her gesture back to Crosscut.

"Kuril's mine, go after the other two and slow them down." she said, earning a nod from the former Autobot before he gave chase and left his Asari friend with the Turian.

"Come on!" he then spat while launching himself at her.

Meanwhile, outside the building, Alestia and Barla neared his escape transport. Only stopping when the sound of a bullet hitting the floor behind them gained their attention, turning around to see Crosscut catching up.

"Freeze!" he shouted, making the Asari smile before throwing a biotic blast his way. This made the Bot dive to the ground, just missing the projectile as it impacted the floor where he once stood. But he performed a forward roll and ended up back in a kneeling position, before firing back at her.

Alestia though quickly erected a barrier between her, the Volus in her protection and their attacker.

"Enough of this!" she spat before launching two more biotic projectiles at Crosscut from behind her barrier, with the first hitting the ground next to him and stopping his attempt at evasion. This allowed the second to hit the Bot directly in his chest, winding him as he was knocked to the floor hard.

"Move!" Alestia then snapped, gaining a fearful nod from the Volus as he ran up the landing ramp of his vessel, with the Asari close behind while her barrier faded to nothing.

Once inside the ship, Barla hurried through the passenger room to the cockpit as he saw his Mech pilot sitting there at the controls, its back to him.

"Power the engines and prepare for launch." he said while Alestia stood in the cockpit's entrance, looking back towards the ship's exit ramp.

"You're good now, right? Because I should head back and help Kuril." she asked, earning a nod from the Volus as he kept his attention on the Mech.

"Yes, yes, go if you must." he said before noticing that the Pilot had done nothing yet, so grabbed it's seat and spun it round to face him.

"What's wrong with...you...?" Barla began to say, as Alestia turned back to see what he was on about. Only for both their eyes to widen in response to what they saw, as the Mech pilot was completely deactivated with its chest blown open and internal circuitry fried.

"What! That's not possible." he spat, while the Asari began to turn around as she clenched her fist and made it glow.

"Maybe Myra's team already..." she started to say before her attention was caught by someone standing directly behind her in the passenger room, her eyes widening in surprise as she recognised the new arrival.

"It was you? But I thought we were on the ..." Alestia started to say before she was suddenly silenced as she was cut off by the other person, who spoke with a feminine voice while grabbing the Asari's head with lightning-fast reflexes.

"Not anymore." she said before snapping the Assassin's neck and earning a cowardly squeal from the Volus, who saw the whole thing and fell on his arse in fear while fumbling around. But the unidentified female simply dropped Alestia's now dead corpse to the floor and entered the Cockpit, stopping directly in front of the scared Barla and looking down at him.

"Please…I…can prove…myself to her, just give…me…another…" he stuttered before she grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him off the ground.

"You have been given enough chances Barla, now all there is for you to do…." the Woman said as held them with a vice-like grip around his enviro-suited neck.

"…is to look into my eyes." she continued before the Volus suddenly screamed in pain, which could be heard from even outside of the ship.

Back inside the building and Myra and Kuril clashed again as the Asari blocked yet another attack from the Turian, as his holo-blade hit the biotic barrier which covered her entire body.

"I am getting sick and tired of your cowardly biotics…." the Assassin sneered as he leaned in towards the Rogue Spectre, but she simply responded by knocking him back on his ass with a biotic punch to the stomach.

"…why don't you face me without them." Kuril added as he got back onto his feet, earning a smirk from the Asari in return.

"Okay, have it your way." she replied before the blue glow of her barrier faded away, leaving Myra completely defenceless as she took up a defensive stance.

"Finally." the Turian said before launching himself at the Rogue Spectre, swinging his blades left and right which she evaded with dodges, and making Kuril grit his teeth more with each and every miss as his anger started to build. But then he lunged with his right holo-blade, with Myra responding by stepping aside so that his inertia would carry him past her. She then turned around and elbowed him in the back, knocking onto his hands and knees with a grunt.

"Bitch!" he spat before quickly getting back to his feet and spinning around with his holo-blades, catching the Asari on her arm and drawing blood as a little spurted out and onto the floor, which this time made the Assassin grin in return.

"One cut down, and I have plenty more like that to give you." he said, earning a cold stare from Myra in return.

"Oh no, you won't." she replied before rushing at the Turian, making him attack in return as he tried to slash her again. But the Asari kicked his right arm away and got in close so that his left arm could not strike her, before grabbing it with his right arm.

"This ends now!" she added while punching at his stomach with her left arm, which was met by the sound of something sharp stabbing through his armour and the flesh underneath it.

This made Kuril suddenly cough up some blood before looking down to see a glowing blue holo-blade stuck in his gut, before looking back at the Asari's face with a surprised expression.

"That's a biotic blade, you Turian Bastard." Myra said back before twisting it in his wound, making him grimace as his blood spilled out onto the floor even faster.

"You….Bit…" he tried to say before his life slipped away, which the Rogue Spectre replied by pulling her blade out and letting the Assassin's body fall to the ground.

'Now time for Barla.' she thought while turning around and running back out of the south exit, while the biotic blade disappeared from her arm.

The Asari's eyes widened as she exited the building, for just ahead of her was Crosscut who was just getting back to his feet.

"What happened?" she asked with a look of urgency on her face, while the Bot dusted himself down.

"That Alestia knocked me out with her biotics, I told you I should have handled the Turian." he said in return, earning an annoyed look from the Asari who was about to answer before her eyes fell upon the ship which was still there before them.

"What? How is the ship still here? I mean…" the Rogue Spectre asked in a confused tone, only to be cut off by the Bot.

"Maybe the ship's broke down and Barla's cowering in there."

But the Asari ignored him and tapped her com-link.

"Kat, how's it going up there?"

"Evac and I have cleared the area of Mercs." her human friend replied, gaining a calm nod from Myra.

"Good work, Crosscut and I have the Volus trapped in his ship. Finish up and come join us."

"On our way." Kat said back before the call ended, making the Asari look back at the former Autobot.

"Let's go get him." she said before turning away and walking toward the ship, earning a sigh from Crosscut in return.

"You're the boss."

And together the pair walked up the landing ramp of the ship and into its interior which was dimly lit, so the Cybertronian activated his torch which cut through the darkness and revealed two bodies lying just beyond the entrance to the Cockpit.

"Myra…" he started to say, but the Asari had already noticed as she made her left hand glow brightly, illuminating the ship's interior with blue light as she walked into the cockpit and knelt beside both bodies.

"What in the goddess?" she exclaimed in a shocked tone, while Crosscut joined her side and activated his holo-tool before taking a scan of the Asari and Volus bodies.

"Myra...they are both dead." he replied while reading the data appearing on the holo-screen above the tool. but when his friend did not answer, he looked up and saw the confused and agitated expression on her face as the Rogue Spectre stared down at both bodies.

"How...?" Myra asked, only for Crosscut to quickly cut her off with his answer.

"Alestia's neck was snapped, so she died instantly."

"And what about Barla, I mean there is no signs of damage to his enviro-suit?" the Asari replied while looking over the Volus' still form.

"My scanner confirms that his suit is in full working order, but his entire nervous system is completely fried. I haven't seen anything like it." the Bot said back, earning Myra's attention as she looked at him and then at his screen, her eyes going over every detail on screen.

"I have..." the Asari began to say before she was cut off by the others arriving on the scene.

"The remaining Leviathan Mercs have retreated, so this place is now under..." Kat started to say, before her eyes fell upon the two corpses.

"What happened?" she then asked, gaining a similar look from Evac as he stood behind her.

"Barla and Alestia were already like this when we got here, looks like someone beat us to them." Crosscut replied as he deactivated his holo-tool and stood up, but Kat took note that Myra was still knelt down beside the body of her quarry, looking back down at it with a hard to read expression.

'Once again Vasir has somehow managed to get the upper hand on me, it's like she knows my every move.' the Asari thought, before Evac's holo-tool activated and gave off a warning sound.

"Guys, we have to move. The Autobots are on the way here, I guess someone alerted them to what was happening here." he said, earning a nod from Kat.

"Okay, I think we have overstayed our welcome. Let's get back to the Eudora and get out of here." She said, earning a nod from the guys before they turned and walked out of the Cockpit.

Kat was about to follow them but looked back to see that Myra was still looking at Barla's body.

"Myra, it's time to go." she said in an understanding tone while placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, which earned a nod from the Asari.

"We will find another way to get Vasir." the Human added with a somewhat confident tone, but the Rogue Spectre merely sighed in return as she walked past Kat and out of the ship, earning a worried expression from her before she followed and left the bodies where they lied.

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER V

Evac flew the Eudora away from the scene of their last fight as fast as it's engines could take it, piloting the vessel like a master as he flew just over the rooftops, much to the chagrin of the others as they watched from behind his seat.

"You know, Evac, you could fly a bit lower? I don't think my survival instincts have fully kicked in yet." Crosscut said with a sarcastic yet fearful tone, while gripping the back of the pilot's seat alongside Kat and Myra.

"Quit your moaning, Crosscut. If the ship hadn't received the damage it had in our last battle, no matter how little it was…" the former Autobot Pilot began to reply as he took one hand off the controls, pointing over to the holo-screen on his left which showed a flashing red section of the Eudora."

"…Then the cloak would not have been damaged, so I would not need to fly below the level that Autobot sensors work at." he continued, earning further wide-eyed stares from his friends.

"For the love of God, Evac, don't take your hands off the controls." the white and red armoured Bot pleaded, earning an eye roll from his friend before placing both hands on his holo-interface.

"Relax, I could fly this ship with one hand tied behind my back and both eyes closed." he replied confidently, which gained a nod from Kat.

"I won't disagree with you there, Evac, but please tell me that we will be ascending a little higher soon?"

"In the next ten seconds I can, just wanted to be sure that we were past the range of their own long-range sensors first." the Pilot replied, making the Human Woman look over at Crosscut.

"Are you happy with that?" she asked, which made the Bot nod reluctantly in return.

"Yeah… I guess." he replied sombrely before walking out of the Cockpit, making Kat roll her eyes in response before turning he attention to Myra.

"Crosscut can be such a whiner at times, huh?" she asked, but the Asari just looked out of the canopy, as though she was just staring out into space.

"Myra, you alright?" Kat then said, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, I am fine. Just thinking..." the former Spectre replied as she looked back at her friend, who noticed the disinterested expression on the Asari's face.

"I know you feeling disappointed that we have no further leads on Vasir, but I am sure something will come up." Kat added with a reassuring smile, but Myra merely looked back out of the canopy to the sky while Evac pulled the Eudora up and took it skywards once more.

'I know Kat is just trying to help, but….' she started to think before turning to the Pilot, ignoring her friend entirely.

"You need to land somewhere to make repairs right?" she asked, gaining a nod from Evac in return.

"Yeah, I was thinking of landing us at the City of Silver-Coast, which has an automated repair dock that doesn't ask questions."

"Good." the Asari replied with a slightly cold undertone before looking back out of the canopy again, earning a concerned stare from her Human friend before she turned back to the Bot.

"That's…a good idea, Evac…" Kat said, trying to make sure no one there noticed how agitated she was by Myra's snub just now.

"…how long until we reach it?" she continued, focusing her attention on the Pilot while the Asari just continued to stare out of the canopy.

"We should be there in a few minutes as it is the next closest City to Milgrom." Evac replied while keeping his focus on his flying, while the City in question appeared on one of his holo-screens as the Eudora continued to fly through the sky to its destination.

Meanwhile, back at Milgrom, the Autobot forces had taken control of the affected area of the Industrial zone.

There were Human, Cybertronian and Turian soldiers going over every square centimetre of the site, scanning away and checking for any clues as to who was fighting there. But just aways from the area, a hooded woman hid behind the wall of an alleyway and peeked out at the soldiers as she tapped her com-link.

"It is done, Vasir. Barla Vonn is no more…. Yes, unfortunately, the Assassins failed in their mission to terminate Darby. Do you wish for me to continue shadowing her?…..very well." she said before activating her holo-tool and looking down at it's screen.

"I still have a sensor lock on her ship, so I can still follow them...yes of course...yes, the armour our forces are using is still unidentifiable to the Autobots. So they have no idea that Leviathan was here, or that Barla had ties to us." the mystery Woman added before deactivating her holo-tool, turning away from the Autobots.

"...I will get back to my original task and continue to follow the Eudora, you just have to ask if you need anything else."

Then the call ended, and the hooded person walked away, exiting the alleyway at its other end and stepping into a sky-car which then took off and flew up into the sky.

PRIME EFFECT 5

The Eudora had landed on one of the service platforms of the automated repair dock at Silver-Coast, and the Mechs there started scanning the ship immediately as Evac and Crosscut walked down the exit ramp and met the Mech that was waiting for them.

"Dear, Sir, we are now running scans of your ship so that we can identify what needs to be repaired." it said while staring at the pair with its lifeless red optics, earning an eye roll from the Pilot in return.

"I already told you what repairs we need while we were on approach, why are you even wasting time with this needless scanning?"

But the Mech droid merely continued to stare back at him.

"Please Sir, we have a schedule to create for your repairs, so please will you allow us to continue?"

"Okay, get on with it then." Evac said as he waved the droid off, who turned around and walked back to the others as the Bot turned to his friend.

"Man, I hate droids. If I had the choice, I would rather do the repairs myself." he said with an aggravated tone, making Crosscut look back with a slight smile.

"You know, five hundred and…so years ago, our species weren't that different from them."

"No, our ancestors were fully autonomous robotic life-forms. Nothing like those walking toaster-Ovens over there." Evac replied, his tone still laced with annoyance, but the other Bot simply smiled back.

"Okay, whatever. But in the meantime what are you going to do, stand here and watch them while they repair the ship?"

"Hell yes, I want to make sure they don't damage my baby." the Pilot replied before looking up at the Eudora with an affectionate stare, making Crosscut roll his eyes in return.

"Okay, whatever. But please don't call the ship…'that'…ever again." he said back before walking back up the ramp, leaving the Pilot to stare daggers back at the druids as they worked.

"I swear that Bot….." Crosscut started to mutter to himself before he was cut off mid-sentence by the appearance of Myra, who was walking down the ramp from the ship.

"Myra, what's going on?" he asked as she approached him.

"Just need some air, I will be back in a few hours." the Asari replied with a disinterested tone as she walked past and left the ship, earning a confused look from the Bot as he watched her disappear behind one of the large repair machines that surrounded the Eudora.

"Myra?" Kat then called from inside, making Crosscut turn around and look back up the ramp to see her.

"Our Rogue Spectre has left the ship, said she wanted to some air." he said back, noticing the concerned expression on the Human's face as she approached him.

"How did she seem?" Kat then asked, which gained a knowing look from the Bot in return.

"Exactly the same as Myra has been for the last few months, why do you even ask?"

But the Woman just looked past him and towards the Repair Dock's exit, which connected directly with the City.

"I am going after her." she said with a determined tone while walking past Crosscut, who started to follow.

"I think she wants to be alone right now." he said back, earning the Human's attention as she stopped and looked back at him with a 'matter of fact' expression.

"Tough."

She then turned back and walked down the ramp, gaining Evac's attention as he looked away from the droids and at her instead.

"Kat, I just saw Myra heading out of here and into the city. She looked kinda upset." he said, gaining a nod and smile of appreciation from her in return.

"Thanks, Evac, I'm going to catch her up now." she said back, which made the Pilot look back with an understanding smile.

"No problem, I'll make sure we are ready to fly by the time you two get back." he said before turning his attention back to the Mechs, shaking his head as he watched them.

'Oh come on, I could do better than that!'

Neon lights shone down on Myra as she walked through the crowded streets of Silver-Coast, waves of coloured light spanning the entire spectrum danced around each other in a graceful display, much to the appreciation of the people below. But Myra merely carried on walking through the scores of people enjoying the show, not even acknowledging what was happening around her. She had a sad but thoughtful expression on her face while looking directly ahead of herself, and looked as if she was completely alone despite the amount of people surrounding her at that moment.

'I do not know how much more disappointment and failures I can take.' she thought as those who watched the display cheered as blue and yellow waves of light hit each other and caused an explosion of green light which showered everyone there.

'I have chased 'her' for two hundred and fifty years, and have jack squat to show for it.'

But then something ahead of Myra caught her attention as red and blue waves blended into each other, making a purple light glow brightly and reveal a Human Man and an Asari talking to each other.

This made the Rogue Spectre stop and stare as she watched the pair, who were quite clearly flirting with each other as the light show overhead brought about a romantic atmosphere. But Myra found herself engrossed by these two people, as it awakened memories of her own that came up to the surface of her mind.

'It was about two hundred and fifty-three years earlier as a younger Myra stood in a very simple but elegant looking office, with the Asari staring out of the large window that took up the entire length of the right wall of the room and looked out upon the beautiful gardens of The New Iacon Gardens. She smiled down at the sight which had such a wonderous mixture of colours as the flowers were now on full bloom. This made Myra feel peaceful and content as she stood there, which was not how she was feeling prior to being ordered to the Elite Spectre's office.

'Why was I called off my assignment whilst in the middle of it, it doesn't make sense.' she found herself thinking, but then the door to the office opened and snapped the young Asari from her thoughts as she looked over to the person entering the room.

A Caucasian woman in green and yellow armour entered, and from her appearance looked to be in her mid-forties, due to silver streaks in her raven-black hair that came down to her shoulders.

"Commander Ser-Ket." Myra said while saluting the older Woman, who returned the action in kind.

"At ease, Major." the former Predacon replied, before stretching her arms out either side of the Asari.

"Now come and give me a hug." she added with a warm smile, gaining one in return as Myra and the older Woman then entered and affectionate embrace.

"Hi Aunt, Ser-Ket. Its good to see you." she replied before they both then pulled out of the hug.

"Same here Myra, it has been too long." the Commander said back before walking to her desk and taking a seat there, while the young Asari looked back from the opposite end.

"Now I am sorry for taking you off the assignment you were working in the Traverse…" she started to say before Myra cut her off.

"With all due respect, I was very close to ending an operation involving smuggling large quantities of Red-Sand throughout the Federation by a yet not identified Mercenary group. I would have rather completed that mission first, before being handed another." she said with disappointment lacing the tone of her words, but Ser-Ket simply looked back with a stoic expression.

"Myra, even though we are family. I would prefer for you to keep up your professionalism when we are on duty….and not interrupt me when I am talking." she said back, suddenly making the young Darby remember her place as she stood back to attention.

"...yes, Sir, I apologise for my outburst. It was inappropriate of me." she replied with a sheepish tone, gaining a nod from the former Predacon.

"Apology accepted. But believe me, I do understand your frustration. There were missions... where your Father's timing was well off the mark, when he wanted to change tactics or put me on something different altogether. But I did exactly as I was told, for he was not only my Cousin in law...but also my Commanding Officer." she said in her stoic tone, though there were hints of understanding present too which made the Asari nod back in return.

"I understand."

"And do not worry about the Mercs, I have already assigned another Spectre to take over that assignment." Ser-Ket replied, gaining a curious look from her Niece.

"May I ask which Spectre?"

"Lieutenant Williams." the Commander said back, which made Myra's eyes widen in surprise.

"Ashley Williams, are you sure that is a good idea? I mean she is not a big fan of aliens, and I was working with some Salarian Intelligence Agents before being recalled."

"Williams will just have to suck it up and deal with it, because I need you for something more important." Ser-Ket replied before picking up a pad that was lying on her desk, which Myra noticed was next to a photo of Quickstrike.

The Autobot was her Father's Cousin, her Uncle and had been Ser-Ket's Spark-mate for many happy years until he passed away just a year after Orion.

But before any of her happy memories of him could emerge in Myra's mind, she was snapped out of it as the Elite Spectre held out the pad to her.

"Take a look at this." she said whilst handing it to the Asari, who began reading it instantly.

"You can't be serious…." Myra replied with a surprised expression after reading the text on the pad, gaining a nod in return from the Commander.

"I am afraid so, twenty-four hours ago the Turian Senator was found dead in the apartment he uses while staying here on Earth. There was no sign of forced entry or of any struggle inside the property, and his body showed no physical injuries that might explain his death." she explained, earning a confused expression from the younger Spectre.

"Then what killed him? I mean you said it was murder…"

"Yes, I did. That's because once the Senator's body went in for an autopsy. The Autobot Medics discovered that his entire nervous system had been fried, killing him almost instantly. They said it was like something had overpowered his body, dominating before it was completely overloaded." Ser-Ket answered, changing Myra's expression to a more thoughtful one which caught her Aunt's attention.

"Myra?"

"You...have no idea how this happened?" the young Darby replied, making the former Predacon nod back with an inquisitive expression.

"Our Medics don't, no. What about you Myra, ever heard of something like this before?"

"...Yes, I have..." the Asari started to say back, though reluctantly.

But Ser-Ket just kept her focus on her Niece, waiting for her to carry on.

"...but it is not a topic that we Asari like to discuss, as it is a controversial matter...more like a Taboo subject for our people. One that we do not wish to share with the Galactic community."

"Do I have to order you to tell me what it is, Myra, or are you just being cute with me?" the Commander replied, with a stare that Myra could see meant that the Elite Spectre was very interested in what she had to say.

"No, Sir, I will tell you." she said back, earning a hand gesture from Ser-Ket in return.

"Then please, continue..."

"Ardat-Yakshi." the young Asari then said, making her Aunt look back with a confused expression.

"Come again?"

So Myra told Ser-Ket about the Ardat-Yakshi, Pure blooded Asari that... despite the species being able to mate with either sex of any species in the Galaxy... are unable to do so.

Because their own nervous systems do not gently meld with those they mate with, but in fact overpower and dominate it until their Mate's Brain haemorrhages, which more often than not...kills them.

The young Darby went through every detail of the sterile Asari with her Aunt, who listened intently and only asked questions when she felt it was necessary.

After Myra had finished, Ser-Ket gave her an understanding look in return.

"I can see why the Asari Matriarchs would not wish for this information to be public knowledge, and it seems that the Turian Senator was a victim of one of these Ardat-Yakshi." she replied with a sigh, earning a nod from the younger Spectre.

"The last murder by one was way before my time, my Mother told me about it along with everything else about the Ardat-Yakshi when I was a Teenager."

"I see, well I want you and your partner to find this damaged Asari and bring her to justice. Because the murder of one of the Federation Senate is a crime that can not go unpunished, so find this killer and put her down...just like your people would if they had found her." Ser-Ket said back with a serious tone, though Myra merely looked back with a confused expression.

"Sorry, but you lost me at 'Partner'?"

This made the Spectre Commander roll her eyes and sigh in response, before reaching to the com-link in her ear.

"Oh...yes, of course. He is waiting outside now..."

"Who is waiting outside, and why do I need a Partner?"

But Ser-Ket just gave the Asari a reassuring smile while holding her hand up to her com-link, ready to activate it there and then.

"Myra, you are one of my best Spectres. You have done me and your Parents proud with your service to the Federation, and now I need you to partner a member to the Autobot Spectres who has been with us for the last year. He has the rank of Lieutenant Commander and already has a few missions under his belt, many of the Top Brass believes that he...like you will be an Elite Spectre in the not so distant future." she continued before tapping her earpiece.

"Have you been listening...okay, come in."

The Former Predacon then deactivated her Com-link while gesturing to Myra to look back at the door, earning a curious expression from her in return as she turned to see a Caucasian Human Male enter the Office. Myra gave him a curious look as he walked up to her side and saluted Ser-Ket, who returned the action.

"Major Myra Darby, meet LieutenantCommander John Shepard." the former Predacon said as both Spectres turned to each other, with Myra taking a glancing look at the new arrival. For he looked to be in his early thirties with short black hair and blue eyes, he also had a stubbly chiselled jaw and looked like he had seen his fair share of combat if the scar that was on the left side of his hair-line was any indication. Shepard gave the Asari a friendly smile as he held out his hand to her, which she shook in return.

"Major." he said, earning a nod in return as a slight smile graced her face.

"Lieutenant Commander."

'Okay, he's cute.' she thought before turning her attention back to Ser-Ket, who had a knowing look on her face.

"Right…so Commander Shepard, are you up to speed on the Ardat-Yakshi situation?" she asked.

"Yes, Sir. I was listening to your whole conversation prior to being called in here." the Man replied, earning a look of surprise from Myra in return.

"Good, so there is no need for us to go over it again. Okay, I will let you both get to know each other and stop wasting your time. Dismissed." Ser-Ket then said, earning a salute from the pair, though the younger Darby still looked somewhat confused and surprised as she turned away from her Aunt and headed for the exit with her new Partner, only for the former Predacon to catch their attention again.

"Good luck, I know you two will do our ranks proud once again." she said back with a confident tone as she smiled at the pair, earning mirrored expressions from them in return.

"Yes, Sir." Shepard replied as the door opened, stepping through first while Myra simply nodded back.

"Good hunting." Ser-Ket added before her Niece then walked out of the office, with the door closing behind her.

The moment the door shut, having noticed how the Asari had reacted to his earlier admission, Shepard looked over to her with an honest looking smile.

"I won't tell anyone, Major…that's a promise." he said in a good-hearted tone, which earned a smile from Myra.

"Thanks, I appreciate that. And you can call me...Myra." she replied in a friendly tone.

"Myra,...okay, and I'm John...but my friends just call me Shepard." he said back with a slight grin, which felt like it had broken the ice even more between the pair.

"Alright, so I guess we start at the crime scene. Let's grab a sky-car and get going." the Asari replied as the pair walked over to the nearby elevator, earning a gesture from the Human Spectre.

"Sounds good..." he started to say as he pressed the button on the control panel next to the door, making it open to reveal the empty elevator interior.

"...Ladies first." he then gestured, earning another smile from the Asari as she walked into the small room, with him following behind her.

And it was at that moment, she would not admit it, but Shepard had made a good first impression with her.'

Myra was then brought out of her thoughts when someone suddenly bumped into her shoulder, knocking the Asari forward slightly.

"I'm walking here!" an inconsiderate and angered voice spat, making the Rogue Spectre grit her teeth and clench a fist tightly as it began to glow while noticing that the couple ahead were now gone.

"What!" she said back with a wave of building anger in her voice whilst turning to face whoever it was, who suddenly floated off the ground as he was enveloped in blue energy.

"Waaah...!" he suddenly cried out in fear as Myra came face to face with the man, who was nothing more than a terrified Human Man. The Asari stared daggers at him before noticing that everyone around the pair was watching, their attention completely focused on her.

"Watch where your walking!" she instead in a threatening tone, gaining a quick nod from the Man in return.

"Sure thing." he said in a panicky tone before the Asari let go of him, resulting in the Human falling onto his ass.

But Myra had already turned away and walked away as nervous people stepping aside, creating a path for her through the crowds.

Myra started walking in the direction of the harbour, though that meant navigating through more crowded streets as the light show continued overhead.

But her mind drifted back to her memories of John Shepard, letting herself sink into the past once more.

PRIME EFFECT 5

'The two Spectres travelled from one end of the Galaxy to the other as they attempted to locate and terminate the Ardat-Yakshi responsible for the Turian Senator's murder which it turned out was more difficult than first thought, since she was always one step ahead of them.

It did not matter what leads they had or Intel, the killer Asari was always just out of reach. This went on for several months as Myra and Shepard worked closely together, with their partnership blossoming into a true friendship as they fought Mercs, Pirates and Slavers.

No matter what the Galaxy threw in their path, attempting to hinder their mission at every turn. The Asari and Human Spectres dealt with each and every obstacle until finally they came upon one final lead, one that took them to the Planet Korar.

Myra looked out of the window, which gave her a perfect view of the reddish-brown, barren landscape of Korar. It was a lifeless rock of a world, not exactly the jewel of what was once the supposedly great Omega Syndicate. But it did have large deposits of Thorium, a useful metal that is used in radiation shielding.

So someone decided to build a Colony and Mine on this forsaken world, which unfortunately for the Asari was her and Shepard's current location.

The place was a death trap, with it's barely functioning controlled interior atmosphere and it's heavily rusted metallic corridors.

This made her sigh as she turned away from the glass to see Shepard back down the corridor towards her.

"This place makes my skin crawl like I am going to catch something if I touch the walls." she said, gaining a nod from the Human in return as he joined her side.

"Yeah, well that's what happens when you have a mining operation run by Mercs and not the Federation. They are running the mines with minimal staff right now, and they can't afford to upgrade the colony…" he started to say, only for Myra to cut him off as she looked at their surroundings.

"Can't afford to, more like won't. This is after all a Merc operation, they aren't known for putting the welfare of their workers before their own. People who lose their way in the Federation, fall through the cracks down into this." she said while gesturing to the squalor, gaining a nod from Shepard in return.

"Yes, I know. It's difficult to see people like this. But 'we' aren't here to help them, not that we could even if we wanted to."

"Well, I can't stand seeing people living like this, so lets finally get this hunt over with and find that Ardat-Yakshi. That's as long as the Intel you picked up on Surkesh is reliable?" the Asari replied, earning an honest and taken back look from her Human Companion.

"I got it straight from the Special Tasks Group, as I have a friend on the inside there. Apparently one of their Agents reported that he had come across an Asari who was about to murder one of the civilians here, he intervened and stopped her. But the Asari ran and he gave chase, then there was nothing but silence from him after that, which was two days ago."

"Sounds to me like our target killed the unfortunate Salarian and ensured that no further information about her made it out, but that doesn't mean that she is still here. The Ardat-Yakshi could have left anytime between then and now." Myra replied, only for Shepard to shake his head in return while also sporting a slight smile.

"I just got back from speaking to the Dock Master here, and he says that no ships have neither come nor left in the last two days. This means that our Asari should still be here, and she doesn't know that we are here either…so we have the advantage for a change."

"I'm not sure…" Myra started to reply, giving her friend an unsure look.

"…I mean given how she has eluded us for the past several months, this Ardat-Yakshi has obviously been at this for a very long time…centuries probably."

"She sounds like a highly evolved Predator." he said back with an agreeable nod before a sudden noise from behind the pair caught their attention, making them both spin around and target the pile of crates stacked there, Shepard aiming his pistol and Myra with her glowing fist.

"Come on out, we know you're there." the Asari said in an ever so slightly threatening tone, earning another noise from behind the pile before a scruffy, and filth covered Human Boy who looked about ten years old stepped out with his hands in the air.

"Please don't kill me." he said in a fearful tone, earning a more understanding stare from the two Spectres as they stood down.

"It's okay, we won't hurt you." Shepard said back reassuringly as he stepped toward the Boy, making him stumble backwards.

"Wait, it's okay." Myra followed through in a similar manner, hoping to ease the Boy's fear. She could see that he had been severely mistreated as he had multiple bruises, also looking as though he was suffering from severe malnutrition. So as the child stared at the pair with fear in his eyes, unsure whether to stay or run, the Asari opened up one of the pouches on her utility belt and pulled out a ration bar.

"Here, I think you need this." she said in a soft tone, as the boy's eyes fixed upon the wrapped food.

"It's okay, take it." Shepard added with a slight smile, making the Boy step forward and take it from her hand before ripping the wrapper off and devouring the bar.

"Wow, never thought I would see someone eat one of those things so fast. Especially since they taste like cardboard." the Human Male added as his smile widened, earning an understanding look from his Partner.

"What's your name?" she asked with a caring tone lining her voice, making the boy look up at her as he chewed the food.

"…David." he managed to say despite having a full mouth, earning a humorous expression from Shepard in return.

"David, you can trust us. My name is Myra and this is Shepard, we are…" the Asari started to say as the child swallowed the food down and breathed.

"You're Autobot Spectres." he replied while pointing at the insignia on her chest plate, earning nods from the pair in return.

"That's right. We are here to…." Shepard added, only for the Boy to interrupt them again.

"Find the Scary Asari. I overheard you talking while I was back there."

"That's right, but what exactly were you doing behind those crates…other than hiding?" Myra replied.

"I was looking for something to eat, but when you two appeared I decided to hide." David said back, making Shepard reach into one of his utility belt pouches and hand the kid another ration bar.

"It's alright, David, here is another one. What do you know about the scary Asari?" he asked as the Boy gave the bar a hungry stare, before returning his attention to the Spectres.

"I saw her in the Brown district a few days ago, I was there looking for something to eat. The place smelled bad..." David described, earning a disbelieving look from the pair in return.

"Bad, really?" Myra replied while mimicking a sniff,which made the Boy nod in return.

"Yes, it smelt worse than this...much worse. I had never smelt something so disgusting in my life, it smelt like death. I was about to leave when the Asari came out of nowhere and surrounded me in blue energy before throwing me out of the area."

"She used her biotics on you." Myra said back.

"Well if that didn't scare me, the look on her face certainly did. She had the most ferocious stare I have ever seen, and I have seen some bad guys while being here." David added.

"How can we reach Brown District from here?" Shepard then asked, earning the Child's attention as he looks up at them.

"I can show you if you have a map." he replied, to which the Human Spectre responded by activating his holo-tool and making a hologram of the colony's layout before them.

"It's right here." David answered while pointing at a specific point, gaining a nod from Myra while her Partner planned the quickest path to the location for them.

"Thank you, David. I only have one question for you now. Where are your parents?"

The boy then sighed as he looked down at the ground.

"They...they died some time ago, I have lived on the streets here ever since...just trying to stay alive."

This made Myra look at Shepard with a slightly anxious expression, earning an understanding nod in return as he knew what she was thinking. This made her smile back before turning back to the homeless boy, who just looked up at them with a confused expression.

"David..." she then started to say as she activated her holo-tool and brought up the map again.

"...we are going to go and take care of that Asari but when we get back, how would you like to leave this place and come back with us to the Federation?" she asked, earning a wide-eyed stare from him in return.

"What? Really, you would do that for me?" he asked in a stunned fashion, making the Spectres nod back with a warm smile each.

"You've helped us, David. The least we can do is give you the chance for a better quality of life. This is not the sort of place for a nice kid like you to grow up." Shepard said, beating his Asari friend to it.

"Yes, thank you. I would love to get away from the daily beatings and the never-ending hunger." the Boy replied eagerly.

"...Alright, well our ship is in bay ninety four in the ship dock. Go there and wait for us." Myra continued as she showed David where their ship was, earning a nod from the ecstatic child.

"Thanks, I will wait for you there... Good luck." he replied before running back down the corridor, leaving the Spectres to themselves.

"It's like you said earlier, we can't change anything here..." the Asari then said while giving her Friend a knowing smile.

"...but we can help one of them at least." she finished, earning a likewise smile from him in return.

"Alright, so what's the plan with the Ardat-Yakshi, one of us act as bait to draw her out?" Shepard then asked, making Myra shake her head.

"No, she probably knows what we both look like and can probably anticipate such a tactic. I have a better idea..." she said before looking back with a questioning look.

"How's your acting skills? I mean I know from working with you for the past several months that you're not just a handsome face." she added, earning a surprised but appreciative smile from Shepard, who quickly recovered and looked at her with a confident grin.

"You think I'm handsome?" he said back with a coy tone underlining his words, making Myra roll her eyes in return.

"Don't let it go to your head. Come on, I will fill you in on my idea on the way." she then said as they both started walking in the opposite direction to David, heading towards the Brown district.

And while Shepard walked beside his Asari friend as he let her lead the way, Myra could not help but let a smile grace her face.

'Yes, you certainly are...John Shepard.'

Just a little over an hour later, both Spectres entered what was known as Brown District. And boy did it live up to the name, though neither of them thought that it was given the name on purpose. The place was in an even worse state than what they had already seen in the other areas of the mining colony, making Myra pinch her nose to stop the horrid smell from overwhelming her nostrils.

"by the Goddess, that is horrendous." she said with a disgusted tone, earning a not so surprised look from Shepard as he turned to her and shrugged in return.

"Hey, you wanted to check this area outright. So don't complain when you discover a fresh new smell, I did say we should have gone to blue District instead...but no, you wanted to come here." he said back in an aggravated tone, which made the Asari stare back angrily.

"What? Afraid to get yourself a little dirty. After all these months of working with you and hearing you complain is really starting to annoy me." she replied, making the Human Spectre walk back up and point at her.

"Annoy you? I annoy you?! No, no, no. I am in no way more annoying than you and your Asari superiority, looking down at me like some lower life form." he spat back, making Myra go right up at to his face, with both feeling each other's breath on their skin.

"Well, if you are that offended by my presence, then why don't you just leave?!" she spat back, making Shepard narrow his eyes at her in return.

"Oh no, you were the one moaning about this place...you leave. I can check it out on my own." he replied while unbeknownst to the two Spectres, someone was watching from the shadows with a smile gracing her face as she did so.

"Fine, you think you can do this without me, then go ahead. I will go and check out Blue District instead." she spat before turning around abruptly and storming off, earning a huff from Shepard in return.

"Fine, I am a Spectre too after all. I work better alone!" he shouted back as he watched her leave.

"Fuck you!" she spat in return, earning a self-pleasing smile from Shepard as he turned his back to his partner and equipped his pistol.

"Stuck up bitch." he said as he aimed the weapon in front of him and began to search the area, little knowing that he was still being watched.

Several minutes past as Shepard continued to search through the filth that surrounded him, only to come up with nothing.

"Oh come on, what's a guy got to do to get some attention around here?" he then said with an aggravated tone.

"Not much really…" a feminine voice then spoke with a coy tone, making him turn around as an Asari with a slender figure appeared and looked at him with a piercing stare.

"umm…you are handsome and from what I've seen, quite stubborn….just my type."

"I don't think so…" he said as he aimed the pistol at her, but she merely looked back without a care as she slowly advanced towards him.

"You can stay right there, because I know what you are." Shepard said back, only for the Asari to continue towards him.

"Yes, just like I know what you are…Spectre. And you're here for little old me, I am very flattered." she replied while walking within a foot of him, with Shepard finding that he suddenly could not pull the trigger as he looked into her eyes, which had changed from blue to black and finding his resolve slowly leaving him.

She then reached out with a hand and gently placed it on the barrel of his pistol, making him lower its aim at the ground.

"You don't need that, not for what I want us to do…together."

The Ardat-Yakshi then put slipped her arms around Shepard and pulled him closer, making him look more into her eyes.

They were like miniature black holes that not only looked like they could draw in all light, but he could feel his sense of individuality and control being siphoned from him and into them too.

"What is your name?" she asked with a curious tone, earning a stutter from the Spectre as he tried to fight it before finally succumbing.

"….Shepard…"

"Shepard, that's a strong name. My name is Yanis, it's my pleasure to meet you." she replied with a smile while continuing to hold him close, knowing that he was now under her control.

"And now I am going to give pleasures that will blow your mind….literally, so kiss me."

Shepard nodded and began leaning his face towards hers, making Yanis's smile widen ever so more devilishly as she did the same.

Their lips came within millimetres of touching when suddenly the Spectre's eyes broke contact with hers, making the Asari's narrow in return.

"What!" she spat in surprise as while noticing that he was looking over her shoulder, so spun around to see what could have pulled him out of her thrall.

But before Yanis had the chance to see what it was, her eyes were blinded by a blue glow before she was sent flying onto the floor just aways from her prey.

"Shepard!" Myra suddenly shouted as she ran over to her Partner, her fists still glowing with biotic energy as came up to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Snap out of it, Partner. I need you." she added as her friend's eyes blinked while they remained focused on her.

"…Myra?" he said slowly, earning a relieved smile from the Asari as she sighed, while Yanis recovered slowly on the floor to their left.

"Yes it's me. Now pull yourself together because I need your help. We still have a fugitive to take care of." she replied before looking over to the Ardat-Yakshi, while earning a nod from, Shepard as he took a breath while kneeling to pick up his pistol.

"So…was that all just for show, the falling out between you two?" Yanis asked as she got back to her feet, which made the Asari Spectre nod back with a satisfied smirk.

"That's right." she said back while raising her right glowing fist at her quarry, who in return did the same.

"You Spectres are as bad as the Justicars, you just can't leave us alone can you?" the Ardat Yakshi spat back as Shepard rejoined his friend's side and aimed his pistol at their enemy.

"If you and your kind didn't have death following in your wake where ever you go, then there would be no need for us to do what needs to be done. But you and other Ardat-Yakshi, who aren't smart enough to live in peace and seclusion at the Lesuss Monastery deserve nothing but death. Because that is all that you can give the galaxy, and it has seen more than enough of that already." Myra replied with a stoic tone, making Yanis grit her teeth in return.

"My kind and I are the genetic destiny of the Asari...or so another like myself has said, so I have no intention of dying with my back to the wall." she spat while taking on a threatening pose, making the Spectres react in return as Myra launched a biotic projectile and Shepard pulled the trigger of his pistol and fired three bullets at their quarry. But Yanis managed to bring up a biotic barrier that covered her entire skin that deflected the bullets, while also throwing a glowing blue projectile of her own which intercepted Myra's, merging them into one gigantic sphere of biotic energy that they both tried to push towards the other.

"Let's see how powerful you are, Spectre." Yanis then said as she brought both hands before her and made them glow, slowly making the giant sphere move towards Myra.

She in turn had to do the same just to make it stop as she bit her lip and focused, which did not go unnoticed by her Partner who then fired three more times. But the Ardat-Yakshi's biotic barrier merely deflected them again, earning a sly smile from her in return.

"Nice try, Handsome. But I will have you later." she replied before waving her left hand and enveloping the Human in a blue glow, which then sent him flying into the wall just aways from the fight.

"Shepard!" Myra shouted in return as she took her attention off what she was doing to look at her friend, making Yanis smile in return.

"Now your mine." she replied before charging the energy of her barrier onto her hands and forcing the biotic sphere forward, making it impact the Asari Spectre and send her flying into the wall behind her with a thud.

"Arrgh!" Myra cried out in pain as she fell to the ground, feeling as though she had just been hit in the stomach with a sledge-hammer. But as she tried to get back to her feet, she was knocked down onto her back, just in time to see Yanis leap onto her in a straddling position and look down at her in a predatory manner.

"You are stronger than most Asari I have killed. But just like all the others, you have fallen to me...now look into my eyes." the Ardat Yakshi said as her eyes turned black, with Myra finding herself unable to look away.

"No...I...won...t..." she struggled to say as her free will began to drain away, making Yanis smile at her coyly.

"I am going to enjoy this..." she replied before leaning down to give the enthralled Asari a kiss, but then heard a noise from behind and turned her head to see Shepard who froze on the spot as he carried a broken piece of pipe.

His eyes caught by the black stare of her own, making him lose control of his body again.

"Wait your turn." she said back with a commanding tone, while Myra slowly began to come too and looked up to see her Partner.

"...Shepard..." she whispered, which gained his attention as he glanced down at her as his eyes refocused.

"Myra." he said back, making Yanis narrow her eyes and stare back at him in anger.

"...N...N...No!" he stammered as he fought to regain control of his body, managing to take a step towards the Ardat-Yakshi. Making her exert more of herself to regain control of him, but in doing so.

She forgot to watch Myra, who managed to reach up with her left hand and grab her throat.

"..Now!" she shouted, earning a shocked look from Yanis as Shepard then broke free of the thrall and thrust the metallic pipe through Yanis's torso, spilling blue blood out of it's exit wound as her body went limp and fell to the ground beside the Asari Spectre.

"Are you alright?" Shepard then asked, gaining Myra's attention as she looked up to see him standing over her with his hand held out to her.

He gave her an affectionate smile as she took his hand in her own, allowing him to help her back onto her feet.

"How...how did you manage to...?" she then started to ask, only for the Man to cut her off in return.

"How did I fight off her thrall?" he replied, earning a nod from the Asari as she looked into his eyes.

This made him look back with an honest expression and warm smile, which unbeknownst to him, made the Woman's heartbeat just a little faster.

"I don't know, it's just that..." he started to say, before noticing that she was staring back in a curious yet peculiar way.

"...every time you came into view, it was like whatever hold that other Asari had over me...just disappeared." he added, which made a smile slowly grace the beautiful blue woman's face as she stood before him.

And then as if instinct had completely taken over, Myra then pulled Shepard into a kiss.

Earning a shocked look from the Human Spectre, which lasted but only a split second before he let himself go and kissed her right back, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her more into him ad she did the same.

Their lips pressing tightly against each other for what felt like a blissful eternity before the pair separated, pulling back just enough to look into each other's eyes.

"What was that?" Shepard asked with a happy yet embarrassed tone, which made Myra blush slightly in return.

"I wanted to...thank you, for saving my life. You understand?" she asked with a coy-like tone and smile, which made the Human Spectre look back with a mirrored expression.

"No, I think you will have to run that by me again." he replied, making her smile grow wider.

"Then come here." she said back with a seductive tone, and the two then kissed again.

This time for a little longer as they locked lips, with Myra run her hands up onto the back of Shepard's head, with him doing the same.

After a long moment the pair pulled back again, though this time so that they could both take a much-needed breath.

"By the way, I didn't mean what I said when we were…." the Human Spectre then said with a worried expression, earning a knowing look from his Asari Partner.

"It was only an act to fool the Ardat-Yakshi…and it was successful." she replied with a smile, earning a relieved sigh from Shepard as he now had a thoughtful look on his face.

"So...doesn't our kiss sort or complicate our working relationship now?" he asked as they held each other's hands between them, looking into each other's eyes.

"Does it matter? I for one, want to see where 'this' could go..." she said while gesturing between them with a finger.

"...that is...if you want this as well?" she said back with a hopeful look, making him nod back in return with a loving smile.

"Of course I do, Myra, I have wanted to for a few months now, since I felt that we had this connection between us. But I wasn't sure if I should make the first move..."he started to say back, his face became slightly more serious as the Asari's expression became more understanding.

"You mean with your 'previous relationship'?" she said as she cut him off, gaining a nod from the Human Spectre in return.

"Yes, like I confessed a while ago...I was previously in a relationship with a woman I worked alongside when I was in my early Twenties, but neither of us were ready for balancing our life with our work. And it was made even harder when she fell pregnant. In the end, she left me and I never saw our child again." he replied before looking away from the Asari, an ashamed expression on his face as he remembered the mistakes.

But Myra could sympathise with him, after all the young Darby felt that she made her own fair share with her own family, and that was a burden that would remain with her for the rest of her life.

"We all make mistakes in our lives, even me…" she replied as she cupped his face in her hand, bringing his eyes back to her own.

"…but we can't let them dictate what we do with the days that are ahead of us, we can only learn from them so that we do not make those same mistakes again." she added as they looked into each other's eyes, earning a nod from Shepard.

"..I want you, Myra." he replied, making the Asari smile again.

"And I want you,…Shepard."

This made the Human Spectre look back with a knowing smile, earning a curious look from her in return.

"I think I would prefer it if you called me…..John." he replied, making Myra mirror his expression.

"Alright,…John, now close your eyes." she said, with her Lover doing just that, showing that he trusted her completely. She could not help but feel her heart warm at this, while leaning her head towards his own and closing her eyes.

"Embrace Eternity." Myra whispered before opening her eyes to show that they had turned black, while their minds joined together, with the pair starting down the road to becoming bond-mates and more.'

PRIME EFFECT 5

As Myra continued to think of the time she spent with her beloved, the Asari had long since left the crowded party-like atmosphere of the light show behind her.

It was now a peaceful quiet as she walked down a small street toward the harbour, which let her thoughts flow more coherently and easily.

After the events on Korar, the Spectres took David back to the Federation where he was given a good home by their Adoption service.

Meanwhile, Myra and Shepard continued with their roles as Autobot Spectres, working together to defend the ISF while also exploring where their relationship would take them next.

They were together for a year and six months and was good times for the pair, filled with many happy memories.

The Asari felt the warm glow of those memories as she allowed herself to experience them once more.

But before Myra could lose herself to the happier times of her life, which now felt like an eternity ago.

She came upon the view of the harbour and it was easy to see why the City was given the name of Silver-Coast, for it was definitely a beautiful sight.

Even now at night, the ocean had a silver-like glow to it.

The Asari walked up to the seafront and sat down on the bench, giving herself a view of the ocean. With the light-show now far behind her, the Rogue Spectre could see the clear night sky which was filled with stars. And this vista stirred up one of Myra's most treasured memories, which made her sigh as she looked into it once more.

'A full moon and a night sky full of stars shone down on the massive lake, the still water acting as a mirror as it reflected it back up.

Myra and John Shepard walked along the Marina at Derwent Water in the Lake District of what was once called the United Kingdom.

They had spent their much-earned shore-leave at the National Park, visiting each Lake and Town as they travelled from one to the next.

And it was here on this Sunday evening with the stars and Moon shining down upon them, that the two Lovers stopped at the edge of a wooden walkway and turned to each other, as they had now come to a dead-end with nothing but the water of the lake ahead of them.

John was wearing a smart-looking pair of light blue jeans, bike boots, white t-shirt with black leather jacket.

While Myra wore a blue and white summer dress that came just past her knees, while showing her back and some cleavage.

The two of them looked lovingly into each other's eyes, before the Asari sighed and turned her attention to he vistas ahead of them.

"This is beautiful, John. I am so glad that you had the idea to come here for our shore-leave." she said, making the Human Spectre smile in return.

"I knew you would like it, after all a little peace and quiet can be hard to come by these days." he replied, earning a nod from her.

"You're not wrong there, everywhere else we've been to in the past has been busy, frantic and loud. I think we get enough of that with our day-jobs." she said back as she closed her eyes and listened to sounds of the boats tied to the walkway as they floated on the water, as well as the sound of her Man's calm breathing as he held her close.

"That's why I chose this area since it has hardly changed in the past two hundred and forty-something years that Earth as been part of the ISF. Everywhere else has moved on with the times, keeping only some of its history. But here...it's like walking into the past, to a simpler time." he replied while joining his lover in admiring their surroundings, looking out at the lake and the wooded hills that surrounded it.

Myra found herself looking down at the water, noticing the reflection of the night sky that made the lake look it was full pf diamonds.

"You know, John, this would make a nice place to retire...don't you think?" She then said, making him look back at her.

"Sure." he replied with a content tone to his voice, while the Asari then pointed out at the island which could be seen at the Lake's center.

"We could build a house on that island, just for us and spend the rest of our days there in peace...together." she said with an optimistic tone, which made John smile in return.

"Yeah, I could picture that. Except that the Island and most of the woodland area around the Lake is protected." he said back, making Myra look back at him with slight disappointment on her face.

"You always have to pick holes in my fantasies, don't you?" she replied with a playful tone while trying to give him a meaningful scowl, but just gave up as he smiled back at her with a caring expression.

"You are so cute when you try to act upset." he said back affectionately, earning a reluctant smile from the Asari in return.

"That's only because I can never get mad at you." she replied, while he pointed over to the Town of Keswick that was to the east of their current location.

"If we have a home here, why not just go for one of the houses on the outer edge on the lakeside of the town that has a good view of the lake." he asked, earning a surprised expression from Myra.

"You're serious?" she said back, gaining a nod in return from John.

"Well, it sounds like you've given this a lot of thought, retiring and everything that comes with it." he replied with a thoughtful expression, making the Asari stare back with a mirrored look.

"Well I guess, I don't want to spend my entire life fighting, I mean it's been an honour...being an Autobot Spectre. But recently I have just started wanting something more than just that in my life..." she started to say while looking back out at the vistas, only for the Human Spectre to cut her off.

"I know what you mean because I have thought the same thing...about the two of us." he said, which made Myra look back at him again.

"Really? You have?" she asked, earning a nod from John in .

"Yes, Myra, and I can't tell you how much it means for me to hear that you have thought the same." he started to say as he reached into the right-hand pocket of his jacket, before pulling out a small white box.

The Asari noticed this, which made her feel a lump in her throat as she realised what this meant. John though held the box in his hands and looked back at her with a loving smile.

"Because I love you more than anything else in this world, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you..." he then said, making Myra's heart beat faster with each and every word in that sentence as she watched him get down on one knee and hold the box before him, opening it to reveal a beautiful gold ring with perfectly cut sapphire firmly atop it.

This made the Asari take a deep breath as John looked up at her with a loving yet slightly shy expression.

"Myra, will you marry me?" he asked, but before he had time to take a breath and wait for an answer. The Asari suddenly leapt into his arms, barely giving the Man a chance to get back to his feet.

"Yes!" she cried out ecstatically, as he spun they spun around in each other's arms before ending it with a passionate kiss.

But before the need for air became a big enough issue for the two to separate from the said kiss, fireworks suddenly fired up from the Island at the center of the lake. Earning the pair's attention as they watched the small coloured rockets soar high into the night sky, only for them to then explode in a multitude of multi-coloured explosions that lit up the lake.

"Was that your idea?" Myra asked as she watched the firework display, earning a nod from John as he held her in his arms.

"Yes, I managed to get one or two of the locals to help me set that display up on the island, they have waited there most of the evening." he replied, gaining a little chuckle from Myra in return.

"What would they have done if I said no?" she asked, but John merely looked back with a knowing smile.

"I never doubted what your answer would be." he replied, which made Myra smile back lovingly.

"I love you, John Shepard." the Asari said as she held out her right left hand to him, while he held her in his arms.

"I love you." he said back before slipping the ring onto her wedding finger, and then they clasped their hands together and kissed once more as the firework display continued overhead.'

No matter how many times she relieved that memory in her mind, Myra always felt exactly the same emotions as she did on the night each and every time, though it never lasted.

Because just like someone pulling at a loose thread of a beautifully crafted tapestry, causing it to unravel and become ruined.

The darker memories of her life would suddenly come to the surface, and so just as she had experienced one of the happiest moments in her long life, the Asari was again confronted by the darkest.

'Myra found herself limping into the center of a half-destroyed church, wearing a Wedding dress that was tattered and burnt and no longer the bright white it was supposed to be. She tried to take a deep breath, but nearly choked on the smoke that was still lingering in the air from the small fires that littered the building.

So Myra attempted to breath again through her nose, only for the smell of burnt flesh and wood to overcome her. The Asari ached all over as she walked until coming to a stop, looking with wide eyes at what surrounded her.

Because lying around her were the lifeless bodies of family friends and guests, all of them had died on what should have been a most wondrous day for all gathered there. But as she looked down at the ground in front of her, trying to focus on something other than the bodies that littered the large room.

Myra took a breath and gasped in shock, as lying there at her feet was the corpse of her Mother...Liara Darby.

Tears ran down the younger Asari's cheeks freely as she stared down at the body, her heart aching with despair and anguish.

But then her attention was suddenly caught by the sound of a familiar male voice calling from behind her.

"...Myra..." he called out with a painful tone to his voice, earning another gasp from her as the Asari recognised who it was in an instant.

"John!" she cried out before turning around, blinking as she did so...'

But When she opened her eyes, Myra found that she was still sitting on the bench and felt someone watching her, so looked up to see that Kat was standing beside her.

"Myra,...are you alright?" she asked with a caring tone, to which the Asari nodded in return.

"I just wanted to get some air, and I ended up..." she started to reply, only for her friend to cut her off.

"Thinking about the past?" Kat said back with an understanding tone, which made the Rogue Spectre nod once more.

"Yes."

Her Human Friend then sat down beside the Asari and looked out at the ocean view.

"Want to talk some more?" she asked, earning an ever so slight smile from Myra.

'Kat, you never give up. I like that.' she thought before nodding in return.

"Alright."

"We talked about your parents the last time we spoke alone, but I know there is more to what..." Kat started to say before their com-links activated simultaneously, earning a sigh from the Human.

"Kat, Myra. Its Crosscut. You there?"

"Yes." they both said at the same time, though the Asari could not help but be thankful for the timely distraction.

"I took our scan of Barla's corpse and ran it against Autobot records..." he started to say, while both Women listened intently.

"...and I came up with a match. Funny thing is….that your name comes up on the file in question, Myra." the Bot added, making her eyes widen as she remembered something in return.

'Of course, why didn't I see that the first time.' she thought before raising her hand to her earpiece, gaining a curious stare from Kat.

"Are the Eudora's repairs nearly complete?" the Asari asked in return, to which she then heard Crosscut speaking to someone else off mic for a moment.

"Evac says the 'blasted toasters' should be done by the time you get back." the Bot then replied, earning a smile from Myra.

"Good. Tell him to set a flight course for Lesuss. We'll head there the moment Kat and I return, Myra out." she then said before deactivating the com-link and standing up, though her friend simply looked back with a questioning expression.

"Myra, what's going on?"

"I might know someone who can help us, it's a long shot. But it's better than nothing." the Asari replied with a hopeful tone, earning a smile from Kat.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." she said before getting to her feet and walking back the way they came, in the direction of the Eudora.

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER VI

As the sun had long descended past the mountains at the Monastery on Lesuss, the stars filled out the cloudless night sky.

An Asari sat in the centre of the large gardens of the temple and mediated in almost complete silence except for the sounds of her own calm breathing, and the soft breeze which gently shook the leaves of the white blossom trees that stood around her.

As she shut out everything around her and focused on her inner peace, another older Asari walked over to her from a doorway leading into the Monastery.

She stopped beside the other and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It is time to come inside, Tolae. Curfew will begin in a few minutes and you should be in your room." she said, earning the younger Asari's attention as she opened her eyes and looked up at the older Woman.

"I apologise, Superintendent Jethra. I completely lost track of time. I never felt so calm and in control, as I did just now, the hunger that has plagued me since my adolescent years was nowhere to be found."

This made the older woman look down at her with an understanding smile in return.

"I am very pleased with the progress you have made, Tolae. You're developing self-control is something to be commended. You are more than ready for the visit to Thessia in a month's time, but now it is time to retire for the evening…come." Jethra replied with an encouraging tone, gaining a nod from the younger Asari as she got to her feet.

But just as both women had turned and began walking back towards the Monastery, the sound of a ship in the distance caught their attention, making them look back towards the mountain range that surrounded their home.

"If I may ask, Superintendent Jethra, are we due another re-supply? Because I saw the previous one only a day ago when I was out here in the gardens." Tolae asked, making Jethra shake her head in response.

"No, there is nothing scheduled until next week." she said as they spotted a ship on the horizon and fly towards them, making the Superintendent activate her holo-tool.

"Tolae, please go to your room…"

The younger Asari nodded and did as she was asked while Jethra tapped a button on her interface.

"This is Jethra to Monastery Control, do you have an ID for the incoming ship?"

"Yes we do, Superintendent. It is the Eudora. And it's Federation IFF has all the current codes, so should I allow it to land?" the female voice on the other end of the call spoke, earning a nod from the Superintendent in return.

"That depends, what is their business here? Because we don't generally receive visitors unless it is relatives of our patients." she said back in a stoic tone.

"The Eudora's Pilot said that they are here to see the Justicar currently stationed here." Monastery Control replied while Jethra stared up at the ship as it came ever closer to the Temple.

"Very well, let them land and let our Justicar know she has visitors. I, meanwhile, will meet the new arrivals on the landing pad, Jethra out." she then answered before deactivating her holo-tool and re-entering the building, while the Eudora flew overhead.

Meanwhile, in the ship's Cockpit, Myra stood behind Evac's chair and watched as the Pilot brought the Eudora around for one last pass.

"Roger that, Monastery Control, we are landing now." he said before looking over to his Asari friend, who noticed the holo-irises over his eyes and could not help but look at him with an unsure expression.

"I don't think I will ever get used to those they look..." she started to say, making the former Autobot smirk back knowingly.

"Welcome to the future, Myra, it won't be long before ships are flown purely by the Pilots own thoughts."

This made the Asari roll her eyes in return while Kat and Crosscut entered the room, joining them.

"So how did it go? Did the codes pass?" the blonde Bot asked, gaining a nod from Evac in return.

"Yep, they bought it. Where did you get authentic Autobot IFF codes from anyway?" he replied with a curious tone, which made Myra and Kat look over to him.

"Can't say I am not interested, since as a Spectre...even a Rogue one, I know for a fact that Command holds all codes close to their chest." the Asari said in return.

"Well, I have my resources." Crosscut said with a wink, while the Pilot just smiled and continued to fly the ship, despite having his back to the canopy and not looking at what exactly he was doing.

"Landing the ship now." he said, earning the others attention as they looked back at him as he typed on the holo-interface in front of him.

"Could you at least look at what you're doing please?" Crosscut then said with an agitated tone, making the pilot roll his eyes before turning back around.

"...You just want to suck the fun out everything." he muttered whilst the Eudora then extended its landing struts as it hovered over the LP, its engines already turning into their vertical landing/take-off position.

After another second, a gentle thud was felt by Myra and the others as Evac finished typing on his holo-interface.

"Disengaging engines, we have landed." he said with a slight smugness to his voice, while the Asari turned to the others.

"Alright, Everyone, time to stretch your legs..." she started to say, earning surprised looks from Crosscut and Evac.

"We are all heading out?" the Pilot said, beating his friend to it.

"Yes, the Superintendent who runs this Monastery will not allow anyone to stay on their ships. Instead, they are just to lock them down." Myra replied, making Evac look back with an unsure expression.

"Why?"

"Because this Monastery is home to a large number of Asari who are Ardat-Yakshi, and so the Superintendent does not want to give any of the more dangerous residents ideas." she said back, making the two Bots stare back with widened eyes in return.

"Ardat-Yakshi? You mean the Asari that kill you by mating with you." Crosscut said with a surprised tone, gaining a nod from Myra.

"That's correct. So when we leave the Eudora, I will need you to activate her security lockdown protocol." she said, earning a reluctant nod from the Pilot as he returned to his holo-interface..

"Myra, I have a question..." Kat then asked, gaining the Asari's attention.

"Sure, Kat, what is it?"

"With the fact that you're a Rogue Spectre and Lesuss is under Federation law, aren't you worried that they will report you the moment they realise who you are?" she asked with a slightly worried tone, gaining an appreciative smile from Myra.

"I wouldn't worry about that, Kat, the person we are here to see will vouch for me and ensure it doesn't happen."

"I see, so who exactly are we here to see?" she then asked.

"Like I told Evac to tell the Monastery's Control, we are here to see an Asari Justicar. After my...partner and I faced an Ardat-Yakshi..." Myra then started to say before stopping for just a moment, a pensive look on her face which Kat had noticed...for she too knew why.

"...we then sought the help of one who had centuries of experience in dealing with those Asari with cursed genes, because we wanted to be fully prepared in case we ever came upon one again." the Asari finished as Evac pointed out of the Cockpit's glass canopy.

"We have our welcoming Committee outside." He said as two Asari exited the Monastery and walked over to the ship, so Myra gestured for her team-mates to follow.

"Alright, let's go say hi." she said as they then left the confines of the Eudora, and met their hosts.

The Rogue Spectre and her team walked down the landing ramp and saw the two Asari waiting at it's end, one was dressed in a formal-like dress while the other wore red and black light armour that complimented her athletic figure.

"Hello, Samara, it's been a long time." Myra said in a friendly manner, earning a similar if ever so slight smile in return from the latter.

"It's been too long, my Friend." the Justicar replied as she held out her hand to Myra, who took it in return and the pair shook hands before a rather bemused Jethra.

"Excuse me Samara, but you know who these people are?" the Asari asked with a questioning tone, before looking at each of the new arrivals as though she was taking a mental photo of them.

"…Because even though their ship has the correct codes to land here, I do not trust people who I do not know myself." she added, gaining an understanding look from the Justicar in return.

"I understand your meaning, Jethra…" she began to reply, while giving Myra a knowing glance as she did so.

"…But these are acquaintances of mine, so please allow me to take responsibility for them during their visit." Samara added with a calm tone, which earned a nod from the Superintendent.

"Very well, Samara, just be sure that 'they' follow the rules for the duration of their stay, because I do not want them to interfere with the peace and tranquillity that we have made here for our residents." she replied before turning away and heading back to the Monestary, leaving the Justicar with Myra and her friends.

"Please forgive Jethra's demeanour, she is usually very approachable." she said, gaining a nod from the younger Asari.

"I understand, we did come here unannounced after all."

"And why are you here, Myra Darby? Because as your friend, your appearance here has left me in somewhat of a tricky position." Samara said back with a conflicted expression.

"I know, I'm a Rogue Spectre and your code dictates that you must either arrest me or kill me, depending on what I do next..." Myra replied, earning worried glances from Kat and the others as they watched their friend and the Justicar talk.

"…but I believe that since we are both friends, who have watched out for each other on the battlefield can overlook my current predicament with the law." she added with a slight smile, gaining a nod and similar expression from Samara.

"Indeed…if it was anyone other than you, Myra, then I would be compelled to bring them to justice. But since I know first hand that you are an honourable warrior, who was forced into this current 'predicament' by the very laws that govern our galaxy. I will there for not oblige the code at this time."

This earned sighs of relief from the rest of the Eudora's Crew as Myra then turned her attention to them and gestured for her Justicar Friend to do the same.

"Everyone, this is Samara. And Samara, this is Kat Mason, Crosscut and Evac."

"Good evening and welcome to Lesuss, you must all be honourable warriors if you are working with Myra. Because I know she only works with the best after all." the Justicar said which made both Kat and Crosscut nearly blush with slight embarrassment, with only Evac looking somewhat proud with himself.

"Well…I'm not one to blow my own trumpet…as the Human saying goes, but.." he started to say with a gloating-like tone, only for Kat to jump in.

"Thank you, Samara, we are honoured by your words." she said which earned surprised looks from everyone there, including Myra.

'That was smoothly put.' she thought while Samara nodded back in appreciation.

"You are most kind, now please if you will follow me. I will have a meal made for you before showing you to your rooms, for it is after Curfew…" she started to say while gesturing for them to follow her.

"…And perhaps we can talk some more, Myra, for I am intrigued with your reappearance after nearly two hundred years." the Justicar added, earning a nod from the Rogue Spectre as she walked alongside Kat.

"Nicely said back there." she whispered, which made her friend almost blush once again.

"Thanks, Myra, but I can't take credit for that. I simply knew some things from my mother, who was a Diplomat." Kat replied back with a smile as the group walked towards the entrance to the Monastery, while their new Justicar friend started talking to the others.

Meanwhile, in orbit around Lesuss, a space-bridge vortex quickly formed and then disappeared just as fast, though not before a small vessel flew out and began to slowly descend towards the planet's atmosphere.

In its Cockpit sat a Woman who was looking at the holo-interface before her, which was the only source of light in the room. Her com-link began to beep, so she reached up to her eye and activated the device with a single tap.

"Vasir, I have arrived at Lesuss." she said, before a recognisable voice spoke back.

"Is the Eudora there?" the Leviathan Leader replied with a curious tone, earning a nod from her agent as she turned her attention from the view of the planet through the glass canopy and returned it to the holo-screen to her left.

"Yes, it has landed at the Monastery there. But that is all can tell from here, perhaps I should go down and watch it's crew more closely?" the Agent asked with an enthusiastic tone.

"Negative, you of all people should not go anywhere near that particular temple. Stay where you are and wait for them to leave, then purse course and report their next destination to me. For though I do not actively pursue that Darby's death, I will not have her catch me off guard. Not when we are so close to one of my goals." Vasir replied.

"But….surely…" the Woman tried to say back, only for the former Spectre to interject.

"No. You will do nothing to tip them off to us. You have your orders." Vasir then said before cutting off the call, leaving the Agent to look out at the planet and narrow her eyes.

'I am sorry, Vasir, but I cannot obey that order.' she thought defiantly as she took the vessel down into Lesuss's atmosphere.

'I will cloak the ship and land on the outskirts of the colony, they will not even know I am there.' she thought as a sly smile appeared on her face.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Myra sat with Samara in the Dining Hall, the others had finished their meals and retired to their rooms for the rest of the evening, leaving the two Asari alone as they both watched the holo-light display which interacted with the fountain as it's patterns of light danced around the water that was shot up into the air and back down into its basin.

It was now the brightest light source in the room since the wall lamps had dimmed somewhat as to show that the twilight hours were almost upon them.

"Your friends are certainly a spirited group, Myra. It pleases me to see that you have a group that cares about you...especially Kat, she seems to care a great deal for you." Samara said before taking a sip from her glass, earning a nod from the younger Woman in return.

"Kat's a good friend and a terrific soldier." she said in return, gaining a knowing smile from the Justicar as she put her glass down on the small table between them.

"Indeed she is... and more."

This made Myra look back with a curious expression.

"More? What do you mean, Samara?" she asked, only for her Friend to continue staring with a growing smile on her face.

"After the last time I saw you, I feared that you would lose yourself to the grief and rage brought on by the murders of your Family. But now you before me again and have surrounded yourself with people who care about you, I can see that my fears were misplaced." the Justicar replied, earning a calm look from Myra which betrayed nothing of the darkness that still ate at her heart.

"I was in a dark place when we last stood together, Samara, but even after the last few centuries I can not say that anything has changed in that respect. Because I still want to tear Vasir's head from her body, giving my John and my Mother the justice they deserve."

"I understand your feelings in this matter, Myra, for you know that I have suffered such a loss myself." Samara said, which earned an understanding expression from Myra.

"Your Daughters..."

"Yes, my three daughters…Morinth, Rila and Falere. As I reminded you long ago, Ardat-Yakshi have always been seen as Abominations in the eyes of our people. A mistake brought forth via copulation between two Asari, which is part of the reason why our people decided that mating with individuals from other Species was more beneficial to our civilisation, and would lessen the chance that another Ardat-Yakshi would be born…" the older Asari replied, earning a nod from the Darby in return as she listened intently.

"…but it is a way that Asari have not fully embraced, as we still have the right to choose who we bond with…be that an Alien or another Asari." she continued, before taking another sip from her drink as she looked away towards the illuminated fountain.

"When I began my Matron stage, I settled down with an Asari that I loved and we had our three Daughters to complete our Family. But to our horror, they were all Ardat-Yakshi."

"You became a Justicar so that you could hunt down your eldest...Morinth, right?" Myra asked, earning a nod from Samara in return.

"Yes, and after pursuing her across the galaxy for nearly three hundred years, I finally caught up to her on Lorek and killed her."

"I remember you telling me, the two of you fought in one of the Planet's big power-stations, which takes advantage of the frequent thunderstorms and absorbs the lightning to power the colonies." Myra replied, gaining a nod from the older Asari.

"That is correct. I threw Morinth into one of transformers there and the energy over-load disintegrated her. I found traces of her DNA in what was left of the transformer, but her body was no more."

The Rogue Spectre gave her friend a sympathetic look, who looked back with a stoic but saddened expression.

"Morinth was the strongest and smartest of my daughters, she never accepted the life that fate and our people demanded of her. I became a Justicar so that I could bring her to justice for the murders she committed, but still…I 'was' so very proud of her for fighting for what she believed."

This brought a questioning expression to Myra's face, one that Samara noticed too.

"You never told me that, and why did you say 'proud' in the past tense? And while I know of Morinth, you have never spoken about your other Daughters." the younger Asari replied, earning a nod from the Justicar.

"Yes….like I said, I was proud of Morinth for standing up for what she believed in. But that all changed after she visited her sisters in this very temple…"

"What happened?" the Rogue Spectre asked, feeling as though she could guess what her friend's answer would be.

"My eldest daughter came here to free her sisters, believing that they should be like her and not bound by Asari laws. But Rila and Falere did not believe as Morinth did, for they wanted to isolate themselves and not tempt what they might do outside of the Monastery's walls, so they denied her request and tried to have her arrested. Morinth saw this as the deepest of betrayals, with her view of them now as enemies like myself….and so killed them." Samara answered as her voice carried the sadness and guilt that she felt inside.

"I am….so sorry, Samara." Myra replied as she reached out to the older Asari's hand, only for the Justicar to pull away slightly.

"I appreciate your concern, Myra, but I do not ask nor require your pity. For I know in my heart that what happened to my daughters was my fault, it was my disregard for our people's beliefs that brought them into the world as Ardat-Yakshi. And it is also my fault for what transpired afterwards, there is no redemption for what I did and I will live out the remainder of my days with the burden that knowledge brings." she said back, but the younger Asari shook her head in return.

"You are wrong, Samara. I see it quite differently, your daughters were each given a tough choice in life by being born as Ardat-Yakshi. That was not your fault, because it cannot be detected until puberty amongst Pure-blood Asari. This all lies on the shoulders of your children, for they had two choices. Either give in to what they were born as or fight the urges and instincts that come with being Ardat-Yakshi, trying to be better than what they are…"

As Myra spoke, Samara just found herself listening intently as she stared back.

"…now Rila and Falere did this, they chose to turn their backs on what they were born as. Morinth did not, so in my eyes….they were stronger than her. So in the end, the only person to blame for what happened is her. Don't sully the memory of your younger daughters by taking the blame for something that was not your fault, your better than that, Samara." The younger Asari added as a thoughtful expression came over the Justicar's face as she looked down at the floor, while Myra took a sip of her own drink in return as several seconds of silence passed between them.

"I have lived for almost a thousand years, and have witnessed the birth and death of my Family in that time. It is not something I would wish on another soul, for no Parent should outlive their children. I had become convinced that the fates of my daughters were my fault and my burden to bear, but you today have reminded me of how special and strong they were...thank you." the Justicar said with a humble smile, earning a nod from her friend.

"You're welcome, Samara." Myra said back before the older Asari then stood up.

"Well, it is late and we should now retire to our beds. I have much to ponder now since you opened my eyes..." Samara replied, with the Rogue Spectre watching her as she did so.

"...but before I do, allow me to do the same for you." she continued, gaining a curious expression from the younger Asari.

"What do you mean?" she asked, which made Samara stare back stoically.

"You have been hunting Vasir for the last two and half centuries because she killed your mother and your husband to be. But even though you wish to avenge their deaths and brig Vasir to justice, you should be aware that there is a fine line between justice and vengeance. I pray that you stay on the right side of that line, my Friend, for it is easy to fall into the darkness that vengeance surrounds itself with….I should know, for I nearly fell into it myself."

"How did you keep yourself from doing that? Because the only thought that is consistently on my mind is to find Vasir and tear her apart. I don't think I will really be able to rest until I've done that, and this is something that has driven me on for the last two hundred and fifty years, but still 'she' evades me. I don't know how Vasir does it, but it just frustrates me further and that feeling just continues to gnaw away at my very soul. It frightens to me to think of what I might become if this were to continue for even longer." Myra replied with a thoughtful and sad look over her own, but Samara merely looked down at her with a supportive smile.

"Myra, the only thing that kept me from slipping into a vengeance fuelled rage was the Justicar's Code. It kept me centred, focused on what needed to be done. It was difficult, but I had given myself to the cause I believed in…and that was enough for me. But though you are not aware of it Myra, you have already taken steps to ensure that you don't fall into vengeful wrath..." she said back, while the younger Asari just listened intently with a curious look.

"…because you chosen not to continue on alone, but instead surrounded yourself with friends. They care about you and wish to see you succeed, take strength and comfort in that." she added before holding her hand out to Myra,

"Now come, we can talk on the way to our rooms."

The young Spectre nodded with an understanding expression as she took her friend's hand and stood up, before they both walked out of the Hall and into one of the joining corridors. But even as they talked about what Myra had discovered about Barla's cause of death, the Darby could not help but feel that Samara's advice might be a little too late.

'I have already done things that I am not proud of in the last two centuries, things that I would never have considered before my life was turned upside down. And I guess that will not be changing any time soon.' she thought as the Justicar looked at the data on her holo-tool as they walked down the dimly lit corridor.

"Yes, I can confirm that this Volus was indeed killed by an Ardat-Yakshi. Though this one must have been feeding and murdering for longer than any other, because it appears it is powerful enough to kill without attempting to mate with its victims." Samara said with what could only be described as a slither of worry in her voice, which Myra had never seen from he friend before that day.

"So Vasir has an Ardat-Yakshi working for her and not just any Ardat-Yakshi, but a really strong and experienced one…..terrific." the young woman replied while the Justicar deactivated her holo-tool.

"I find it hard to believe that Vasir would be able to control such a creature, let alone be able to use it in her plans."

"Well…" Myra began to say before recognising the door to her room, as the pair stopped in front of it.

"…I guess we can talk more about this in a couple of hours then, see you at breakfast." the younger Asari added as she opened her door.

"Yes, we can. I'll see you then. It was good talking with you again, my Friend." Samara replied, gaining a nod from the Rogue Spectre.

"As it was with you, Samara. Good night."

"Good night." the Justicar said back before Myra stepped into her room, with the door closing behind her. Leaving Samara alone in the corridor as she carried on towards her own room.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Crosscut was awoken by the sound of what could only be described as a wounded Varen crying out, which made the Bot sigh with a building annoyance as he looked over to see Evac snoring away in the bed on the other side of the room.

'For crying out loud! How is anyone supposed to get any sleep around here!' Crosscut thought as he picked up his spare pillow and threw it at his friend, hitting Evac squarely on his face and earning a spluttering cough from the Pilot.

"Shut up already!" Crosscut spat with an agitated tone, earning the most bewildered expression from his friend who looked back with one eye closed.

"What?…What hit me?…" Evac started to say before noticing the extra pillow, then looked back at the other Bot.

"..Why?…did you throw that at me?"

"Because your seismic snoring woke me up, that's why!" the angered Bot replied, earning an embarrassed expression from Evac in return.

"Oh..., sorry. I didn't know...wait. Did it really sound that bad?" he asked as he gave Crosscut a curious look, which made the other Bot nod back.

"Yes it did, I am actually surprised the Monastery hasn't been woken up by it now."

"Okay, I'm sorry..." the Pilot said back with a slight smile, for he could not help but find Crosscut's annoyance amusing.

"...Let's just try to get back to sleep." he added while throwing the pillow back to the other Bot, before lying back down on his bed, though Crosscut gave him an unconvinced look back in return.

"Yeah, that's funny, considering once you get back to sleep, it will just start again." he said before doing the same, after repositioning his spare pillow.

Then for a moment, the room went quiet as both Men attempted to fall back to sleep, but then just as Crosscut could feel himself slowly drifting back to unconsciousness, the sound of bed-sheets shuffling caught his attention and made him frown again.

"What now?" he then asked, the tone of his voice getting increasingly annoyed while turning to see Evac getting out of bed.

"Just heading to their loo, need to take a leak." the bot replied as he picked up his t-shirt and bottoms, gaining a confused expression from his friend.

"I thought you already went before going to bed?" he asked, while the Pilot dressed himself.

"Well, now I need to go again. Probably shouldn't have drunk so much of their fruit wine, though it was tasty." Evac said as he put on his T-shirt, before walking towards the door.

"But we are supposed to stay in the room while curfew is in effect, can't you wait until tomorrow?" Crosscut asked, making the Pilot shake his head in return.

"No can do, nature calls. But don't worry, I will be there and back before anyone even knows I am out there."

The other bot then just watched as Evac opened the door and walked out. The door closed behind him, which earned a sigh from Crosscut.

'He will never learn.'

It did not take Evac long to find the toilet despite how similar the corridors of the Monastery looked, especially since it was now night and all the lights were only just illuminating the place.

But again, the Pilot was well-known for having a photographic memory...when it counted.

The trip to the loo did not take very long, and then even less time had passed once he was in there and taken the 'leak'.

So he reopened the door back into the corridor and looked down both it's directions, only to see no one either side.

'Yeah, I'm like a Ninja.' he thought to himself proudly while closing the door.

But then when he turned back, he came face to face with an Asari, which made him almost jump.

"Oh!" he gasped, earning a bewildered expression from the Woman standing in front of him.

"I apologise, I did not mean to scare you." she said back, making Evac shake his head back at her in return.

"Nah, you didn't scare me. Just caught me off guard a little. That's all." he said back reassuringly, though the Asari did not look completely convinced as she then looked him up and down.

"You are one of the visitors?" she then asked.

"Yes, my name is Evac." the former Autobot replied with a smile, having just noticed how beautiful she was, so held a hand out to Asari looked down at it with a little hesitance at first which did not go unnoticed by the Bot, but then she looked up at him and saw his kind smile so took it in her own hand and shook it.

"…My name is Tolae, I feel that I must apologise again, for it has been a long time since we last had proper visitors here, not including those who re-supply this Monastery." the Asari said while returning his smile, looking as though she was starting to relax somewhat.

"I see. Well, no biggy. So what are you doing out here? I mean I just came to use the Loo." Evac said with a curious tone, which earned a confused expression from Tolae.

"Loo?"

"Oh, I mean Toilet…" the Bot replied as he gestured to the door behind him, which made her look over his shoulder.

"…It is Human-slang for Toilet." he added, which made the Asari nod back.

"I see, well I came out here to find what was making that sound not long ago."

"Sound, what sound?" Evac asked with an uncertain tone, fearing where this part of the conversation was heading.

"Well, it sounded like a wounded creature, I could hear it from all the way from my room." Tolae added while pointing back down the corridor, which made the Bot gulp.

'Damn it, Crosscut was right!' he thought before she turned her attention back to him, and noticed his expression.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am fine. And I never heard any sounds like that...nothing, nada." he replied, gaining an inquisitive look from the Asari.

"Okay... well, whatever it was, it must have gone now since I haven't heard any more from it for the last few minutes." she then said, earning a nod from Evac.

"Yeah, so..." he started to say before the sound of footsteps coming from the other end of the corridor caught their attention, making them both look that way.

"By the Goddess, someone's coming. We have to get back to our rooms, now." Tolae said with an urgent tone, which made the former Autobot nod back.

"Okay, well perhaps we can talk more tomorrow?" he asked with a hopeful tone, one that once again caught her by surprise.

For this was a situation that the Asari had not counted on happening again, not in her lifetime.

"Oh...you want to, I don't...know...if that would be possible." Tolae replied, the tone of her voice was full of uncertainty and shyness. Which Evac noticed right away, as he stared back in confusion.

"Why not?" he asked as the footsteps in the distance got a little louder, making the Asari start to panic.

"We will have to see... but for now, just get back in your room." she said in a hurried tone, making the Bot nod back in return.

"Alright, I look forward to talking with you more tomorrow then." he replied with an enthusiastic tone and smile, earning an expression from Tolae that was both happy and worried.

"Yes, till then." she said back before they then left each other's company, with the Asari heading away from the approaching footsteps and the former Autobot unfortunately towards them.

'Damn it, this is cutting it close.' he thought as he ran back to the door to his and Crosscut's room, with the footsteps sounding like they were right around the corner.

The bot quickly pressed the lit panel beside the door and opened it before almost diving in, then quickly closed it again on the other side. He then heard whoever had walked towards him go past and sighed with relief.

'That was too close.' the Pilot thought before taking off his shirt and bottoms and getting back into bed, taking note of Crosscut who was now fast asleep.

'Got to say, looking forward to tomorrow now.' he thought with a smile, while he closed his eyes and drifted back to sleep.

Elsewhere in the Monastery, Samara entered her candlelit room and placed her gun on the table beside her bed.

The Justicar then sat on the bed with a thoughtful expression on her face, as she dwelled on her conversation with Myra earlier.

So she looked down at the ground and closed her eyes, breathing in a calm and slow manner as she relaxed.

"Dear Goddess… I hope that this prayer reaches my daughters, who are forever resting in the warmth of your loving embrace. For I wish to give them my most heartfelt apologies, as I have been proven wrong after so many centuries…" she said in a soft tone, only to be stopped by a familiar female voice.

"A little late for that now, isn't it?"

This made Samara look up to see a figure standing in the corner of her room, shrouded by the darkness that the candlelight had not extinguished.

"That voice, it can't be…." the Justicar replied as her eyes widened as the person stepped into the light, making Samara's eyes widen in complete surprise as standing before the Asari was Morinth, her long believed dead Daughter.

"But it is,….Mother!" the younger Asari replied as she narrowed her hateful eyes at Samara and clenched her hands into fists, which began to glow blue with biotic energy that lit up the room as her Mother watched in absolute shock.

"And now you will pay for trying to kill me!" Morinth added before hurling a biotic projectile at the Justicar.

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER VII

The sun rose up over the mountains that surrounded the Monastery, shining it's warm light across the land as Night gave way to Day once again. In the Bots room, the sunlight shone through the window and broke through the tiny gap in it's closed curtains.

"Crosscut, wake up..." Evac then said, making his friend open his eyes slightly and look up at the Pilot with a half-asleep expression.

"...It's Nine AM, time for breakfast." he added, gaining a yawn from Crosscut who slowly sat up in his bed.

"Wait…*Yawn*…I thought we were supposed to get up at eight-thirty AM?" he asked, which made the Pilot look back with a knowing look.

"Well I did try, but you seem to be quite the heavy sleeper…and hypocrite."

This earned a surprised look from Crosscut.

"What did you say?" he asked with a hint of curiosity and anger in his voice at his friend's words.

"I mean, when I got back from the Loo last night, you were already fast asleep…" Evac began to reply, only for the other Bot to interrupt him with a smirk.

"Yeah, I remember it well. Peace and quiet…it was bliss." he said in a half joking-like way, only for the Pilot to shake his head slightly.

"…well, I tried to get to sleep then…only for you to suddenly erupt into a snoring-fest that went on for over an hour…an hour." Evac added, which made his friend's eyes widen in shock.

"That is a stone-cold lie, I am not a snorer!" he exclaimed defiantly, which made his room-mate smile as he activated his holo-tool.

"Really? Then listen to this." he said before tapping the interface, which then played out a recording of Crosscut's snoring to the completely surprised Bot.

"I…I did not know I did that…" Crosscut said as Evac then stopped the playback and deactivated the holo-tool, as a smirk grew on his face.

"Well, I am just going to have to make a recording for you, and then play it for everyone to hear…" he said as his Pilot friend gave him a knowing smile, only for the Bot's expression to change to one more cautious.

"…but I will have to wait until we have landed on a planet, because if I play it while we are on the Eudora whilst traveling, then it will shake the ship apart."

"Very funny. Now could you please get dressed so we can get to breakfast already?" Evac replied, gaining a chuckle from Crosscut as he nodded back.

"Okay, give me a moment then." he said as he picked up his trousers and t-shirt off the floor beside his bed, while the Pilot watched with a little impatience showing in his face.

Meanwhile, in the Dining Hall, Myra and Kat sat at a table and were eating from the small buffet that was left for them. The Asari finished chewing and looked around the room with a puzzled expression, which gained her friend's attention.

"Myra, what is it?" she asked while using her fork to move some of her food around the planet.

"What is taking Crosscut and Evac? They were supposed to meet us here at Eight Thirty AM." the Rogue Spectre replied, which earned a confused look from Kat.

"Yeah…, why was that again?"

"So that we do not interact with the Ardat-Yakshi here, as they have already had breakfast and are now studying." Myra said back, making the Human Woman nod back in return.

"That's right, I remember Samara telling us that and the other rules last night." she said before a person the entered the room via the North doorway and caught her attention as Mason looked over Myra's shoulder at the arrival.

"Speak of the devil, here she is now." she added, making the Asari turn to see the Justicar who had the look of someone with a lot on their mind.

"Good Morning, Samara. Care to join us?"

"That is a most kind invitation, but please accept my apologies…for I am not hungry." the older woman replied as she started to walk past the pair on her way to the Southern exit, which made the Rogue Spectre nod back.

"Okay, but we can always just talk some more…." Myra started to say, stopping the Justicar in her tracks as she turned round to face them with a stoic expression.

"…for I know Kat would like to know more about the Justicars." the younger Asari added, gaining a friendly smile from her Human friend. But Samara ignored her and continued to look at the younger Darby.

"I am also quite busy, perhaps we can talk later. Now if you would please excuse me?"

"..uh, yes of course. Later." Myra replied, which earned a nod from the Justicar who then turned back around and continued out of the Dining Hall, leaving the pair by themselves again.

The younger Asari fixed her attention back to her meal and was about to start eating again when she stopped and looked at Kat, who had a concerned look on her face.

"Kat, something wrong?"

"I don't know, I just felt that something was off with Samara for a moment there." the Human replied, making it Myra's turn to look back with a curious expression.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know Samara better than I do. Did anything seem off with her right now?" Kat asked, which made the Asari look away with a thoughtful stare for a second before returning her gaze back to her friend.

"No. She just looked like she had something on her mind, that's all. Why do you ask?"

"It's just when we all talked with her last night, Samara paid attention to each and every one of us. Like it was almost the height of bad manners to look like she was ignoring any one particular person." Kat replied, gaining a nod from Myra in return.

"Yes, I know. Samara is a very well-spoken and polite individual. I would expect no less from someone who has had nearly a thousand years to perfect her social etiquette."

"The short time that she stood here with us, I would completely agree." the Human Woman said back, though the tone in her voice sounded somewhat worried and this did not go unnoticed by the Asari.

"Kat, what are you saying?" she replied with a patient and understanding tone, as the two of them looked into each others eyes.

"Perhaps you didn't notice it because you have been friends for a long time, so some things get missed in the moment. Maybe it is because I have an Outsider's perspective, but it's just that last night when Crosscut, Evac, and I turned in for night, Samara looked at each one of us as she said good night. But just now when she left us, the Justicar blanked me out…" Kat said, which made her Asari friend look back down at her meal.

"…now call me crazy, but even after only knowing Samara for one night. I never got the impression she would do that, it didn't seem like it was even in her character." Myra's friend continued, earning a nod from the Rogue Spectre.

"Now that you mention it, that doesn't seem like her. I guess I missed that. Nice catch." she said back affectionately, earning a slight smile from Kat in return.

"Thanks, so why don't we go and see what is bothering her then?"

"Yes, that's a good idea. But first, we should find out what has happened to our friends." Myra replied, gaining a nod from her friend as she reached for her earpiece, only for the Asari to give her a knowing look.

"Remember the rules. No unauthorized com-links or holo-tools to be used in the Monastery without the Superintendent's say so, as only the staff and Justicars are allowed to do so."

"Right, so we do this the old-fashioned way then." Kat said back with a little agitation in her voice, gaining a smile from the Rogue Spectre.

"Exactly….we look, or we can go to the Control Center at the south side of the Monastery and ask them to check their sensors." she replied, which made the Human Woman smirk at her.

"Okay, that sounds better." she replied as the pair then left the Hall via the southern doorway.

A few minutes after the ladies had left the room, both Crosscut and Evac stood in the Northern doorway to find themselves looking into the now-empty hall.

"That's great, either Myra and Kat are late or we have missed breakfast." the former said with anger lacing the tone of his voice, which earned an innocent expression from the Pilot.

"Hey don't blame me! I tried to wake you earlier. It's not my fault that you could sleep through a bomb explosion."

"I would have had a full night's sleep and been able to get up on time, had it not been for your snoring." Crosscut said back, earning an eye roll from the Pilot as he walked ahead of his moaning friend, having noticed the buffet on the table.

"Anyway,…at least there is something left to eat." he said before picking up what looked like a bagel from one of the plates, while the other Bot joined his side and looked down at what else was on offer.

"I think I'll take the cherries." he said before picking up one of the fruit bowls and taking a bite from one, gaining a knowing look from Evac as he chewed slowly.

"So that is how you sleep so well."

"It can help, but I just prefer to have some fruit for my breakfast." Crosscut added.

"So, are we going to try to and find the others? There are only two options available to us." the Pilot asked while gesturing to both doorways, earning his friend's attention as he was about to eat another cherry.

"I guess we split up and check both directions, one of us should be able to find them."

"Alright, I'll head back out this way then." Evac said as he gestured to the northern doorway, which made Crosscut nod back.

"Okay, that leaves me with the south. Just remember not to speak to the residents, you don't want one of these Ardat-Yak-whatevers to kill you with a kiss…do you?"

This made the other Bot look back at him with a knowing look, raising his left eyebrow as he did so.

"I don't think it works exactly like that, Crosscut, besides if I happen to run into the Asari staff member I spoke to last night, then I think I will be okay."

"You met an Asari last night, other than Samara? When was this? Because the only Asari I remember us meeting was the Justicar." his friend said back with a disbelieving tone, only for Evac to stare back with a smirk.

"I met her on the way back to our room from the loo. She seemed nice and friendly if a little on the shy side." he said back with a slightly affectionate tone, which just fuelled Crosscut's disbelief even more.

"Really? What's her name then?"

"Tolae." the Pilot replied in an honest tone, but his friend just continued to look back at him with the same expression as before.

"Tolae? Fair enough…" he said back while placing the bowl back on the table, though Evac did not feel that his friend totally believed him.

"… let's get back to finding our friends okay." the Bot added, earning a nod from the Pilot as he turned around and walked out the other exit while finishing off the bagel.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Meanwhile, Samara walked through one of the Monastery's identical-looking corridors, moving in the direction of the Landing pad as she came up to a crossroads.

So the Justicar took a right turn and immediately stopped as she took note of the Asari Commando standing guard at said doorway, who saw her in turn.

"Justicar Samara, what are you doing here?" the soldier asked as the older woman walked up to her.

"I am in need of some fresh air, so if you would please allow me to pass.." she started to say, only for the Commando to look back at her with a stoic expression.

"I apologise, Justicar, but this landing-pad is in use and no one but the crew of the ship standing out there may get access to it."

"Yes, I know. It is the Eudora standing out there at this moment. I met its crew last night and I am also a good friend with its Captain. I am trusted by her." Samara replied, but still, the soldier would not move.

"It is not a question of trust, Justicar. You have been a valued member of our staff for the last few centuries. But I still cannot let you passed, I am sorry."

"I understand. but unlike my Mother…" the older Asari started to say with a different tone and accent as she began to turn away from the Commando, whose expression changed to one of confusion as she looked back.

"..I don't follow the rules..." Samara added as she suddenly grabbed the soldier by her throat with a vice-like grip, making the other woman gasp for air as her eyes widened in shock.

But the Justicar just tightened her grip more, making the Commando struggle even more as her killer leaned in close and looked directly into her wide-open eyes.

"…for I am Morinth." she added before the other Asari's neck suddenly snapped, which made the Ardat-Yakshi drop her corpse to the floor and press the door controls on her left.

The doorway then opened to reveal the Eudora on the landing pad just aways from her position, with the Murderer taking not that snow had just started to fall from the dark clouds overhead.

'I will never understand how anyone can choose to live their entire life on this snowball.' she thought before picking up the Commando's body and exiting the Monastery, feeling the cool breeze and snowflakes as they touched the bare skin of her face as walked over to the edge of the landing platform.

'This is a good a spot as any.' she thought before dropping the corpse of the side, watching it fall down into the river in the rocky valley below. But then just as she was about to turn her attention to the Eudora, a glowing object could be seen in the corner of her eye. So Morinth turned to see a holo-drone floating there beside her, looking as though it was about to scan her. But rather than look worried, the Asari merely smirked.

"Go ahead, scan me." she said in a soft tone, with which the drone obliged as it then swept her whole body with a light beam.

"No life form detected, continuing with patrol." it then said in a synthesized voice before flying off to another area, which made Morinth look down at the small metallic device that was clipped to her utility belt.

'Being part of Leviathan does have its perks.' she thought as she gently tapped it.

'This gizmo keeps me off all sensor grids that the Federation/Autobots have running all over their Empire…' she added while turning back to the Eudora.

'…So then, back to the task at hand.'

The Ardat-Yakshi then walked over to the Eudora and activated her holo-tool, pointing it up at where the boarding ramp was stored.

"How does that Human saying go... open sesame." she then said while her holo-tool beeped, and the ship acknowledged by making a mechanical noise which was followed by the boarding ramp opening up and granting her access, gaining another smile from the Asari as she then walked up into the Eudora's interior.

Once inside, Morinth walked directly into the Cockpit and sat in the Pilot's chair, which activated the holo-controls and interfaces around her.

'Let's see if Vasir's little tracking beacon is still working fine.' the Murderer thought as she typed a sequence of keys on the holo-interface and brought up a screen, earning a nod from her in response.

'Good, the tracker is still online and unnoticed by Darby and her friends.'

Morinth then had a thoughtful expression appear on her face as an idea came to mind, so she started typing a new sequence into the computer.

'Let's just put another program in there, a guarantee that Myra shouldn't pose a problem in the future, Vasir should appreciate that.' she thought as she continued working away at the interface.

Back in the Monastery, Evac had been searching for the last thirty minutes for any sign of Myra or Kat as he walked down the corridors, though they were not the only Women the Bot was hoping to come across.

'This would be so much easier if I could just use my com-link.' he thought as he walked past one door which had a window, and a figure inside caught his attention as the Pilot stopped in his tracks and looked through the transparent glass to the room's interior.

For there was Tolae sitting on a couch at a small table, looking at a number of data-pads that were on top of it.

"Tolae." he said with a sudden buzz to his spark as he gently knocked on the glass, earning the Asari's attention as she looked up at him.

"Evac?" she replied with a surprised look, gaining a nod from the Bot as he looked back at her through the window.

"Yes, it's me. What are you doing in there?" he asked with an interested tone, which made her get to her feet and walk over to the door and open it.

"I am studying. What are you doing here?" she replied with a questioning tone.

"I'm looking for my friends, a Human woman and another Asari. You didn't see them go past, did you?" the Pilot asked, to which Tolae shook her head in response.

"Sorry, I have not seen anyone walk past in the last hour or so. But then again, I have had my head buried in those data-pads back there." she said back while gesturing to the pile on the table behind her.

"Oh, okay. Thanks. But what are you reading over there anyway?" he asked, earning a sigh from the Asari.

"You should carry on looking for your friends because you don't belong here."

"Why not…?" he started to ask, before a noise from further down the corridor caught Tolae's attention, so she looked in its direction and spotted an Asari Tutor stepping out into view.

"Great! Get in here." the Ardat-Yakshi then said as she opened the door and pulled Evac in, gaining a surprised look from the Bot.

"Whoa, easy there. You have quite the grip." he replied, before being pushed out of view of the window.

"Just do me a favour for a moment and stay here, please?" she asked with an almost pleading-like tone, which made the Pilot look back with an understanding expression.

"Okay." he said in return, gaining a slight smile from the Asari before she returned to her table, picked up another data-pad and began to read it as she sat back down.

'What is she not telling me?' Evac thought as he watched her reading from the pad in her hands, before both their attention was caught by a knock on the window of the door to the room.

"Just a second." Tolae then said as she got up and walked over to the door and opened it, earning a thoughtful expression from the Pilot as he heard another female voice speak.

"Tolae, I just thought I would check on you and see how your studying is faring?"

"It is going well, Tutor Gallae, I should have it all memorised for the classes this afternoon." she replied while keeping her attention from Evac, who continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"That's good, very good in fact. And I spoke to Superintendent Jethra earlier, she told me that you are also well ahead with your meditations." Gallae replied, earning a nod from Tolae in return.

"Thank you. That is kind of you to say."

But as she and the Tutor spoke, Evac's eyes widened as something came to mind. Something that suddenly made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, for he realised who his new friend really was.

'Oh no, I really am in trouble now.' he thought as he watched Tolae wave goodbye to the Tutor, feeling his spark beat somewhat quicker as his fear began to build.

"Yes, alright. I will see you at the lesson, Tutor Gallae. Till then." she said before closing the door, turning back to the Pilot.

"Sorry about that, Evac. But if you were caught here...with me." she started to say, only for her to stop as she noticed the way the Pilot was looking at her.

"Evac? What's wrong?" Tolae asked with a taken aback tone.

"You're... you're a Arad-Yakshi." was all he said in return, which made the Asari sigh in return and look down at the ground with an ashamed expression.

"Yes...yes, I am." she replied, making the Bot look somewhat more worried as he stared at the door.

"I have to go, I shouldn't be around you." Evac replied as he started to leave, only for the Ardat-Yakshi to step aside and sit down on the couch.

"I did tell you." she said back as the tone of her voice started to sound slightly shaken, which gained the Pilot's attention as he stopped and looked down to her as she sat there, looking at the table.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" he asked.

"I wanted to, wanted you to keep away. But you just talked to me like I was a regular person, I forgot what that was like…" Tolae started to say as she kept her attention away from the Pilot, who then sat down beside her on the couch.

"…so I guess I just wanted to feel normal again, if only for a moment…" she added before looking back at the Bot, and he found himself looking back as they stared at each other.

"…and you also reminded me of someone I used to know." she finished with her voice sounding as though it was breaking ever so slightly with that last sentence, which did not go unnoticed by Evac.

"Really? Who was that?" he asked with a sympathetic tone, but Tolae simply turned her attention back to the door.

"If you don't mind, I would rather not talk about it." she simply said, before pointing to the door with her hand.

"You should go before anyone sees you."

But Evac just sat there and looked at her, as a friendly smile appeared on his face.

"No, I am not going anywhere." he said back, earning a surprised look from the Asari.

"Why?…I mean,…I am a monster. Ardat-Yakshi even means Devil of the Night winds in Asari." she replied, but the Bot just continued to look at her with a smile.

"Before coming here, I did not know much about the Ardat-Yakshi other than that they were killers, monsters that needed to be locked away. But then I met you…" he said in an understanding tone, while Tolae simply listened.

"…and on first impressions, I would say that you are a kind and caring person. And now that I know what you are, that hasn't changed my impression of you." he added, which made the Asari sigh in return.

"But.." she started to say, only for the Pilot to cut her off.

"But what? You certainly do not look like the monster that your people want us all to think you are, you look more like someone who needs a friend." he replied, making her look back at him with widened eyes.

"You…want to be…my friend? But you don't know me." she said.

"But I want to, if you'll let me?" Evac replied, which made Tolae look back at the ground for a moment.

'I killed the last person who was a 'friend' to me…' she thought before feeling something touch her hand, and so looked over to see that the Bot had put his hand on hers in a supporting gesture.

'…But maybe this could work since he knows what I am.'

"So…if you want me to go, then I will go." Evac then said, making the Woman look at him as a slight smile graced her face.

"No. I have lived for over three hundreds years without a friend, and if I let you walk out that door then I guess I won't have another chance."

This made the Pilot's smile widen as he gently stroked the side of her hand with his thumb in an affectionate manner, which unbeknownst to him had made her heart warm slightly.

"But if another Tutor heads this way, then you will have to hide again." Tolae then said with a more serious tone, gaining a nod from Evac in return.

"Of course."

"So what shall we talk about?" the Asari then said, which made the Pilot turn to look outside the window as it snowed outside.

"I didn't realise that it snowed here." he said in a surprised tone while getting to his feet and walking over to the glass, earning a curious look from Tolae as she joined his side.

"Yes, it does snow here a lot over the year. I would have thought that the snow-covered mountain tops would have given you a clue?" she asked with a slightly sarcastic tone, which earned a smirk from the Bot.

"I did see them, but when my friends and I arrived it was not what I would have called cold, and the sky was completely clear. I had heard from Samara that this was generally the type of weather that Lesuss had during the year."

"While that is true, we do still get snow storms a number of times a year. Do you like snow then?" she asked, having noticed how Evac was watching the snowflakes as they fell down before them.

"I love snow. Back home where I was born, the entire area is covered by snow for almost the entire year." he said, earning a curious look from Tolae.

"Where's that?"

"A small town called Barrow in Alaska, back on Earth. Despite that, it can be bitterly cold almost all year round and we would have bouts of never-ending day and night in the Summer and Winter respectively each year, there was always a lot to love about the place. I mean there was so much life there, despite the harsh conditions. There were always Polar Bears and numerous types of birds to see like Snowy Owls and Eider Ducks, I even managed to spot a Whale or two during my youth there, watched them poke their heads up out of the holes in the ice to breathe before going back under and swimming to wherever they would go." he said, with the Asari remaining quiet as she watched him, taking note of the smile on his face as he reminisced.

"You sound like you're a bit of an animal lover." she observed, making him look at her and smile.

"Does it show? Well,…yes. I guess, I am. I mean, my family owned a couple of Alaskan Malamutes which my Dad would use for Dog Sledding, he even took me a couple of times and it was a lot of fun. I remember we did it one night and the sky was so clear that it was like you could see every single star in the galaxy overhead, then suddenly multiple waves of colour appeared above us. It was the Northern lights and my Dad stopped us and we watched it for a couple of hours with the Dogs, it was magical." he added, which made Tolae sigh in return.

"Sounds nice. I always wanted to see other worlds. But..." she started to say, earning a saddened look from Evac in return.

"But you then found out that you were an Ardat Yakshi." he added, gaining a nod from the Asari.

"Kind of killed any chance of me exploring the galaxy. I mean, I did not even get the chance to leave Thessia."

"How did you find out?" the Bot asked, which made her look back with an uncomfortable expression.

"Can we talk about something else? I don't feel like speaking on this topic for the time being." she asked, earning a nod from the Pilot.

"Okay then."

It then went quiet between the two people as Evac looked out of the window, trying to find something to restart their conversation.

"Wait? What's that?" he then said while pointing down below the window, gaining his friend's attention as she looked at what he had noticed.

"What do you mean?" she said back as they both saw an object on the a cliff-side just below the monastery, which made the Bot narrow his eyes.

"It looks like a ship." he replied, earning a confused expression from Tolae.

"How and why would anyone land their ship down there, it's almost a suicidal act."

"Perhaps whoever did it doesn't want the monastery to know they are there, and it isn't that difficult to land in a spot like that. I mean I could do it, for one." he said back with a knowing look, before turning his attention back to the Asari.

"Want to go and check it out?"

"You want to go out in that, to check out an unknown ship?" she asked with a worried tone, earning a smirk from the Bot.

"Yeah, and I want you to join me." he replied, which made her look down at the object with a thoughtful expression.

"I have been a model resident here for a long time and even though I have already broken the rules by even talking to you, I really do not want to break any more…" she then said, earning an unsure expression from the Bot.

"…But that being said since we cannot just call up security and have them check it out. It would probably be more prudent of us to look into it ourselves." she added, which made Evac smile back at her.

"That's the spirit, so shall we go now?" he asked, gaining a smile from Tolae in return.

"Yes, let's go." she replied with an enthusiastic tone as they then turned and left the room, heading towards the nearest exterior door so they could investigate the unknown object.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Inside the Monastery's Control Center, Jethra was overlooking the work of the other three Asari Commandos as they worked at their individual stations.

"How is the detection grid holding up?" she asked, which made one of them turn to face her.

"It is working at hundred percent capacity and we have had no disruptions since yesterday evening, which as you know was down to a pack of mountain Varen."

"Yes, I do remember it well. We thought one of the residents was trying to escape the Monastery but found that all were accounted for with our internal sensors. I hope you have recalibrated the detection grid so that the local animals aren't curious to try that again?" the Superintendent replied, gaining a nod from one of the other two Commandos.

"Yes, Sir, I have retuned the individual sensors to emit an ultrasonic frequency that should ward off the local wildlife." she said, gaining a nod from the older Asari in return.

"Good, so now…." Jethra started to say before everyone's attention was caught by Myra and Kat who then entered the room, making the Superintendent turn around and face them.

"Excuse me, but this area is off-limits to civilians. I will have to ask you to leave at once." she said in a stoic tone.

"We were told by Samara last night that if we ever needed help, we were to come to the Control Center as it is the only place where we could get help." the Rogue Spectre replied, which made Jethra pause for a second as she considered it.

"It will depend on what you want?" she replied in return, while the Commandos just watched.

"We are looking for our two friends, Evac and Crosscut…" Kat said, before her Asari friend stepped forward.

"And also Justicar Samara, since she seemed a little off earlier and we wanted to make sure she is alright."

"We should be able to do that, though only because Samara had said so." the Superintendent replied before turning her attention to the Commando sitting closest to her.

"Bring up the internal sensors for the Monastery." she then said, earning a nod from the other Asari as she typed on her holo-interface which made a screen appear which they could all see.

"Well, it appears that Samara is in her room…" Jethra said, gaining a curious look from Myra in return.

"But that is impossible, since her room is in the northern part of the Compound. Yet, we saw her leaving the Dining Hall from it's southern exit, but there can't be any way that she would have made it back there by the time we got here, could she?" she asked, earning thoughtful looks from the others in the room.

"No, now that you mention it. It doesn't seem possible, wait…allow me to contact her." the Leader then said before tapping her com-link.

"Jethra to Samara, come in please." she said, only to receive static in return.

"Perhaps her com-link is malfunctioning." one of the Commandos said back, just as Crosscut then stood at the entrance.

"Oh, there you are." he said with a relieved tone, earning everyone's attention as he walked over to Myra and Kat.

"Crosscut, what are you doing here…..and where is Evac?" the Rogue Spectre asked as she looked either side of the Bot, gaining an annoyed stare from the Superintendent again.

"Evac and I split up so that we had an equal chance of finding you. I guess, I was the lucky one." he replied before noticing the angry stare from Jethra.

"What you guys doing here anyway?"

"We're here to find out where Samara went too." Myra replied, regaining the Asari Leader's attention as she once more attempted to call the Justicar on her com-link, while Kat meanwhile looked back at Crosscut with a questioning expression.

"You left Evac alone in this place?"

"Nah, Evac told me that he would be alright if he ran into one of the staff here that he met last night. I thought he was making her up, but he was quite adamant about her." the Bot said back, gaining curious looks from his two female friends.

"What's her name?" the Asari asked.

"Tolae, he said her name was Tolae." Crosscut replied, which made Jethra turn back and look at him with widened eyes.

"Tolae, how do you know that name?" she asked with an urgent tone to her voice, surprising the group.

"My friend said he met one of your staff last night, goes by that name." he replied, making the Superintendent shake he head in return.

"She is not one of my staff. Tolae is one of our residents!" she replied, gaining wide eyed stares from Myra and her friends.

"You mean she is an…." the former Autobot started to say, only for Kat to cut him off.

"..an Ardat-Yaksh!"

"Yes. We must find and separate the pair at once. I mean, she has been one of our most well-behaved residents, but if she…." Jethra started to reply before Myra got her attention by pointing to the holo-screen.

"We don't have time to waste then, you and I will head for Samara's room and find out what is going on there. Meanwhile, Kat and Crosscut can go and get Evac. Where are they now?" she said as she turned her attention to the Commando manning that station, who then typed away and brought up to signals at the Monastery's exterior.

"We have them. Evac and Tolae are outside." the Asari said, making Myra look back at her friends with a purposeful stare.

"Go and get him." she said, gaining nods from them both as the Bot and Human Woman turned and left the room in a hurry.

"Jethra, after you." Darby then said, earning a respectful look from the Superintendent as the pair then left the Control Center themselves.

Ten minutes passed before both Asari arrived at the door to Samara's room, with Myra reaching up to her com-link as she gave Jethra a questioning look and gained a nod in return.

"Myra to Kat, you read me?" she said after tapping the device.

"I read you. So we are allowed to use these now?" her human friend replied.

"I think the situation has allowed it for now, anyway….where are you guys now? Because we have just reached Samara's room." Myra said back as the Superintendent pressed the door control at it's side and rang the chime.

"We have just exited the building and are now heading down the path that Evac took with his 'friend'. Will keep you posted, Kat out."

Once the com-link deactivated, the younger Asari turned her attention back to the Older one who had just rung the door chime again.

"I do not understand. Our internal sensors read Samara as being in her room and yet she does not answer." Jethra said, which then made Myra activate her holo-tool and begin to hack the door control.

This earned a surprised and somewhat disgusted expression from the Superintendent, who watched in disbelief.

"You can't do that. I am the only one here with…." she started to say, though Myra simply kept her attention on the holo-tool which had three wheels of light spinning around her forearm, with one after another locking into place as the door unlocked and opened.

"We needed to speed things along and I am not in the mood to apologise for that, not when one of my friends might be…..in trouble." she started to say before both hers and Jethra's eyes fell upon the interior of the Justicar's room, for it was in complete disarray. The pair entered the room which looked as if a war had been fought in it, as the furniture was in pieces and spread out around them.

"By the Goddess! What happened here?" the Superintendent asked with a worried tone, while Myra just stared at there surroundings as there was still no sign of their friend.

"Is Samara's signal still coming from here?" she asked, which made Jethra look down at the screen on her holo-tool and nod back.

"Yes, she should be right in front of us." she said back while pointing down at the destroyed bed, so the younger Asari got down on her knees and started to lift parts of it up.

"Help me." she said back with an authoritative tone, making the Superintendent join her side as she lifted a wooden plank and revealed a blue hand.

"Samara!" Jethra said aloud with a worried tone as she then used her biotics to lift the rest of the bed up into the air, revealing the Justicar as Myra pulled her body out from under the rubble.

"Is she alright?" the Leader replied as she dropped the broken bed back onto the ground, while the Rogue Spectre checked Samara's vital signs before shaking her head gently.

"No, she is dead…" she said back with a saddened tone while looking down at the Justicar's body, before activating her holo-tool and taking a scan.

"…My holo-tool says that she has been dead for hours." the younger Asari added, gaining a similar and yet confused look from the Superintendent in return.

"But who were you talking to earlier? If Samara's body has been here all this time?" she asked, earning a thoughtful expression from Myra before she tapped her com-link.

PRIME EFFECT 5

The snowfall had increased somewhat by the time Evac and Tolae had reached the cliff-side where the unknown ship was parked, but it was not enough to hinder the pair as could easily see their target.

"We were lucky that the snow hasn't fallen at a faster rate, because that would have made our climb down somewhat more interesting." the bot said with a relieved tone, gaining a similar smile from the Asari, before she looked back up at the Monastery with an unsure stare.

"What is it?" Evac asked, having noticed her expression.

"It's just this is as far as I have ever been outside of the Monastery during my time here." she replied before looking back at the ship which was just aways from them, earning a nod from the Pilot as he looked in the same direction.

"Well, considering your good behavior up until now, perhaps they will let you out more once we have uncovered what's going on with this ship?" the Bot said with an enthusiastic tone, which made Tolae look back with a hopeful yet restrained expression.

"That would be nice, though I doubt it." she answered, before gesturing to the ship.

"So, have you seen this type of craft before?" she asked as Evac activated his holo-tool and took a scan, earning a nod in return.

"It looks like a standard one-man shuttle, but my sensor readings are picking up numerous upgrades to its systems." he replied, gaining a curious look from the Asari.

"Can you tell what exactly has been altered?" she asked, making the Pilot shake his head in return.

"Unfortunately, no. I am picking up a low-level energy field surrounding the vessel which appears to be hindering my scans. I can only tell you that improvements have been made to the ship, but no more detail than that." he replied, while the Ardat-Yakshi took a few steps closer to the shuttle, earning a wide-eyed look from Evac as he held his hand put to her.

"Tolae, don't step any clos..." he started to warn, though the Pilot was suddenly cut off by the sound of the ship powering up, making them both look at it with surprised expressions.

"...er, because it might be booby-trapped " he finished his sentence, gaining an embarrassed look from Tolae in return.

"Sorry, I didn't..." she started to say back, only for Evac to give her an understanding look back.

"It's okay, lets just get ready for whatever this ship is going to do next." he replied, earning a nod from the Asari in return as he equipped his pistol, with Tolae powering up her bitoics.

But just as they were ready for the Shuttle to fire a hidden weapon back at them, the hatch opened up and granted them access.

"Okay, was not expecting that to happen." Evac said with a bewildered tone, with Tolae looking back with a similar expression.

"I might be somewhat new to this, but I thought booby traps were supposed to be harmful to trespassers. Not opening up what they were protecting without a fight?"

"Perhaps it has malfunctioned, in which case...I'd call that a win..." the Bot began to reply, but found himself cut off by a Mech suddenly climbing out of the ship's hatch and revealing itself to the pair.

"...but my luck has never been that great." he finished while looking the robot up and down, while it glared back with it's aqua blue optics. For this was not the standard version of Mech that he had been used to seeing around the galaxy, since it had a more armored form and yet it still looked like it could move fast, not being slowed down by its extra weight.

"It's only a Mech, these things have never been much of a threat, even back before I was sent here." Tolae then said with a slither of over-confidence in her voice, before launching herself at it with a biotic charged punch.

"Tolae, wait!" he shouted as suddenly the droid stepped to the left, dodging the Asari's attack before grabbing her arm and throwing the woman back to the ground hard in front of him.

"Tolae!" the bot cried out as he rushed to her side, firing his pistol at the Mech. But it activated an energy barrier which deflected the bullets safely away, while the Asari recovered.

"Never seen a Mech move like that before." she replied as Evac helped her to stand, all the while continuing to fire on the enemy and keep it on the defensive.

"Yeah. Or one that has the ability to activate its own defenses, they don't have the power requirements for such things." he said back before his pistol stopped firing and began smoking, which earned worried looks from them both.

"Great, now my pistol has overheated." he then added, before the droid then shut down its force-field and activated twin holo-armblades, one on each arm.

"Okay, that's not good." Tolae said in return with a worried tone, gaining a similar look from the Pilot.

"Yeah, looks like we going to get physical." he replied while activating his holo-blade before the Mech suddenly launched itself at the pair.

Meanwhile, back at the Eudora, Morinth had just deactivated the Cockpit's holo-interface when her holo-tool activated and began beeping at her.

'That's interesting, no one has ever come across my shuttle before.' she thought with a curious expression, while looking at the warning screen that was being projected over her arm.

'I should get back, since it looks like I have overstayed my welcome.' she added as she tapped the holo-screen, bringing up another which showed the layout of the monastery.

"Prepare to activate emergency Ground-bridge." she said, gaining a beep from the holo-tool before looking back at the interior of the Eudora.

"Computer reinstate security lockdown, code shadow-Beta-two." she then said, making the ship power down once more.

'Now...back to my ship, I am done here.' she thought with a smile as she tapped her holo-tool's interface, which made a person-sized Ground-bridge portal appear in front of the Asari and illuminate the Eudora's interior.

As that was happening, Evac and Tolae were still fighting with the Mech as it lunged at the Bot with its holo-arm blade. But he managed to deflect the attack with his holo-blade, which then left him open and allowed the droid to punch him in the face and knock him back.

"Leave him alone!" the Asari spat as she threw a biotic projectile at their enemy, hitting it square on it's back and sending it to the ground.

"That thing sure packs a wallop." Evac said while holding his jaw, as Tolae joined his side and helped him up.

"Are you alright?" she asked with a concerned tone, which gained an appreciative smile back.

"I have had worse, believe me." he replied before looking back at the Mech, who was recovering just a few feet ahead of them.

"This thing fights like a person." she said back while readying for the next attack, gaining a nod from the Pilot in return.

"Yeah, and it hits like a Terracon. But..." he started to say before the robot pounced at the pair again, but Tolae only just managed to stop it as she created a biotic barrier between them and it, which it stabbed with its holo-arm blades.

"What the?" the Ardat-Yakshi said with a wide-eyed stare as she and the Bot watched as the Mech's arm blade suddenly penetrated the barrier, creating large cracks around the breach and weakened it considerably.

"Holo-weapons have never been able to damage biotic constructs...never!" she said back in surprise before a green glowing vortex suddenly opened up just aways from them

"What now?" Evac then said while the Mech continued to force it's weapon through the barrier before another Asari walked out of the portal, gaining relieved looks from the pair as they recognised her.

"Samara, great timing!" the Bot exclaimed while Tolae sent the barrier crashing into the droid, making the energy field shatter into tiny glowing blue fragments that then disappeared as the enemy was sent onto its arse again.

"Please, Justicar Samara, help us." Tolae pleaded to the newcomer, while the droid got back to it's feet and attacked them again.

"I would if the Mech wasn't just defending my ship, and I do hate people who try to touch my stuff." the other Asari replied whilst staring back with narrowed eyes, gaining a surprised look from Evac while his friend sent the Mech to the ground again with a biotic charged kick.

"That's not Samara." he said, earning a nod from the newcomer in return.

"And what gave me away? The fact that I do not wear my mistakes and regrets like a badge of shame, or perhaps that I simply think for myself." she replied before throwing an energy ball between the pair, which then exploded and sent them both flying in separate directions. The Mech meanwhile joined the attacker's side as Evac got onto his knees, a look of confusion on his face as he stared back.

"Who are you then, because you're the spitting image of Samara." he said, which made Tolae's eyes widen as she realised who this other Asari was.

"You're Morinth, Samara's first daughter and an Ardat-Yakshi like myself." she said, gaining a nod from the Murderer as the Mech then leapt and tackled the Pilot back onto the floor.

"That's correct. Did my mother tell you that?" she asked with a curious tone.

"No, I learned of you via your sisters Rila and Falere. For they were kind to me when I first arrived here and I thought I had made some friends that day, but then the next day I found out that they had been killed during the night." Tolae replied with a regretful tone, which earned a smirk from Morinth in return.

"That's right and I should know...for I killed them myself..." she started to say, gaining a horrified look from the younger Asari.

"But they were your sisters! How could you do that!?" she spat while lunging at her fellow Ardat-Yakshi with a biotic charge which was suddenly intercepted by the Mech, who punched her in the face and followed though with a kick to her stomach that knocked the wind out of Tolae as she fell to her knees.

"Because my sisters were more concerned with denying what they were and so betrayed me to my Mother. Of course, I killed them...and now Mother has joined them too at last." Morinth gloated as she looked down at the younger woman, who held on to her aching stomach and fought through the pain she was feeling to look back with a judging-like stare.

"You killed Samara too! You're a monster!" she spat, which gained her a biotic slam into the ground from the Murderer who looked at her with a smile, while Tolae felt every part of her being throbbing in pain.

"Yes, I am. That is what we Ardat-Yakshi are supposed to be…" she started to say back, as Evac tried to recover while under the observing optics of the Mech.

"…the Alpha Predators, top of the food chain in this galaxy." she added before turning around and looking up at the Monastery.

"If I had more time, I would rip this entire temple down and kill all the others like us here who have chosen to hide their true selves behind a doctrine of shame and fear. forced upon us by a Government who are afraid of the power we hold, for we are the next stage of Asari evolution."

"Dear God, doesn't she love the sound of her own voice." the Pilot suddenly said with a hint of sarcasm to his voice, gaining Morinth's attention as she pulled him into the air with her biotics.

"Yes, I do. But there is something I love more…" she started to say while stepping closer to the Bot, staring back with a seductive gaze.

"…And that is to kill my victims with a kiss." she said, earning a wide-eyed stare from Tolae who realised what Morinth was about to do.

"No, don't…." she said, raising her hand to the Arad-Yakshi as she tried to get back to her feet. But the Murderer simply swiped her hand beside her, knocking the younger Asari onto her back with a biotic backslap.

"Stay out of this. It's only a little kiss." she said before looking back at Evac, her eyes turning black as the Bot suddenly found himself losing control as he stared into them.

"So do you want me to kiss you, embrace you and…..blow your mind?"

"Yes, I want you." he said in a toneless voice, which made her smile back.

"Then kiss me." she replied before leaning in close, with the Pilot unable to do anything other than what she wanted as he leaned in to kiss her.

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER VIII

Tolae could only stare in wide-eyed fear at what was happening before her, as the Monstrous Asari called Morinth held Evac in her grasp. She felt that this Cybertronian had the potential to be her first real friend in centuries, just as the sisters of the Murderer standing before her could have been until that same Asari had killed them, and it was about to happen all over again and there was nothing Tolae could do as Morinth spoke once more.

"Then kiss me." she said in a seductive tone, one that the former Autobot could do nothing but obey. So he leaned his face into close towards hers with their lips only millimetres apart while his horrified friend watched.

'I can't let this happen, not again!' she thought while instinctively raising her arm up towards the embracing pair, which began to glow with biotic energy.

The Mech took notice of this as it stood over her and raised its holo-arm blades, preparing to strike her down.

Then suddenly something hit the robot, causing a small explosion of sparks to erupt from its armour as it was made to stumble backwards.

"What!" Morinth snapped as she looked towards the Mech, her eyes though falling upon Tolae who simply narrowed her own back at the Ardat-Yakshi.

She could not look at where the gunshot had come from, instead of remaining focused on getting the murderous wretch away from her friend.

"Get away from him!" she spat before unloading a powerful biotic blast upon Morinth, which hit her hard and sent the Asari flying a few feet away while Evac then fell to his knees and held his head in his hands.

"Evac, are you alright?" Tolae asked as she looked over to the Bot while slowly getting back to her feet, though unbeknownst to her.

The Mech had recovered enough to reactivate its holo-arm blades and once more lunged at her, only for a barrage of weapons fire to strike its chest and send it back onto the ground.

"What the..?" the Tolae said aloud as she looked round to see the robot on it's back, before turning back to see two new arrivals entering the scene.

This made the Ardat-Yakshi feel nervous and so she raised a glowing biotic fist at the brown-haired Human woman approaching her, who lowered her weapon while looking down at the Asari with a friendly expression.

"It's okay, we won't hurt you." she said while kneeling down beside Tolae and offering her hand, to which the Asari looked at it and then took it in her own.

"I saw what you did to save Evac, so you're an ally in my eyes." the woman added, gaining a nod from the Ardat-Yakshi in return.

"Even though you know what I am?" she asked with a slight hesitance in her voice.

"Yes, like I said….actions speak louder than words, Tolae, and you can call me Kat." the Human replied before looking over to her friend, who had similarly knelt beside Evac.

"How is he, Crosscut?"

"He should be alright." the bot said back, gaining a relieved look from the Asari before she then noticed Morinth getting back to her feet.

"Look out!" Tolae shouted, which made Kat and Crosscut look back to see the murderous Ardat-Yakshi who looked back at them with narrowed eyes while clenching her fists tightly.

"Alright, let's see what you've got then." she replied while a blue glow surrounded her body, which made the pair aim their weapons at her.

"Tolae, we've got this. Can you keep an eye on that Mech behind us?" the Human woman asked, gaining a nod from the other Asari as she got up and looked back at the robot, which had down the same.

"Yes, but be careful. Don't underestimate Morinth."

This earned a smirk from the murderer in return as she looked back, ignoring the two standing before her.

"Don't worry, I will get back to you in a moment." the Ardat-Yakshi replied casually, which riled up Crosscut somewhat.

"I don't think so, we have you dead to rights." he said while pointing his twin pistols at her, as did Kat with her rifle.

"Enough talk!" the Human then said as she opened fire on Morinth, gaining the same reaction from her friend before a barrier appeared between them and their enemy.

Their combined gunfire only impacting harmlessly against the energy field, which only made the Asari's smile widen in return.

"You people and your guns, you never learn." she replied before punching a fist before her, which made the barrier collapse into pure energy that then flew into the pair and knocked them onto the ground.

Meanwhile, Tolae had begun fighting with the Mech once more, with the droid swinging its blades at her.

But the Asari dodged each and every attack, using small biotic fields to deflect and stop the blades from hitting her as she moved around the robot.

Suddenly it lunged forward with one of its sharp weapons, which made her fall to her knees and lean back as far as she could so that the attack would go right over her.

Tolae then focused all of her biotic energy into her hands which she then pushed into the Mech's armoured chest and released the energy.

This created a blue explosion of light that sent the robot flying over her and into the side of the mountain behind her.

'I hope that was enough to stop it.' she thought while getting back to her feet and looking back at the droid which had fallen to the ground with a thud, before the sounds of gunfire and biotic energy blasts caused her to sin around to see Morinth fighting with both Kat and Crosscut.

Tolae could tell that the Murderer was toying with the pair, playfully dodging their attacks and only hitting back when an opening appeared.

As their adversary hit the Human Woman in the back and knocked her away, the former Autobot came back at her with his pistols firing.

But Morinth simply covered herself in biotic energy again which deflected the bullets again, before hitting him with a biotic blast.

Kat got back to her feet and equipped her combat knife while turning around just in time to see her friend hit the ground hard once more, so she gritted her teeth and lunged at the Ardat-Yakshi.

Morinth, though, saw her coming and managed to duck below the attack and began to throw a biotic punch, only to be stopped mid-attack by Kat who kneed her in the face.

This made the Asari stumble back while the Human then swiped her combat knife and sliced her enemy's arm, earning a grimace from her as she then threw a biotic blast in retaliation.

Kat then spun around and backhanded Morinth in the face, knocking the Ardat-Yakshi onto the ground.

"Stay down!" she warned while quickly re-equipping her rifle with her free hand, but the enemy Asari simply looked up at her and wiped the trickle of blood from her mouth with a smile.

"There are so few others who have made me bleed, I like you." she replied with a seductive tone, but Kat simply stared back with disgust.

"Save it. You're not my type."

"Pity, the pleasures I could give you before you die." Morinth replied whilst slowly moving her left hand over her right while keeping her eyes on the woman in an effort to maintain her attention.

'That's it, look into my eyes.' she thought, but Kat noticed her sleight of hand and tightened her finger around the rifle's trigger.

"Stop what you're doing, right now!" she said before suddenly Crosscut got up and grabbed the Ardat-Yakshi from behind.

"That's it, I've got you now." he stated, earning a smile from Morinth as Kat looked on in surprise.

"Have you now?" she asked with a curious tone while taking note that Tolae was moving towards them, so she tapped the top of her right hand and activated her holo-tool.

And even though Kat and Crosscut both noticed this, they did not get a chance to say something as Morinth's nearby ship suddenly powered up and lifted off the ground.

"What the..!" the Human exclaimed in both surprise and confusion at the craft, earning a smirk from the Ardat-Yakshi as it's weapons then targeted the two women and fired.

"Get down!" Tolae shouted as she tackled Kat to the ground just in time as the shot hit the area where they had stood, sending snow and earth into the air.

"Kat!" Crosscut shouted while holding onto Morinth who herself noticed that despite the strong-hold he had her in, that he was now more concerned with his friend and so his attention was elsewhere.

So she channelled her biotics through her body, which then burst out like a pulse which electrocuted the Bot and sent him flying off the cliff behind her.

"Crosscut!" Kat screamed as she watched with a horrified expression as he started to fall out of view, but then a blue light enveloped him and stopped his fall while Morinth was suddenly hit by a biotic blast from above, which knocked her onto her back.

Everyone else looked up to see Myra and Jethra drop down to them, their bodies glowing as their biotics slowed their fall so they could land gracefully beside the others.

"Myra, you made it!" Kat exclaimed while the Asari then brought Crosscut back onto solid ground, while the Superintendent kept her eyes on their enemy as she slowly recovered.

"Get Evac to safety." Darby replied, gaining a nod from the Bot while the Human looked back at her questioningly.

"But...?"

"You guys are no match for her biotics, now go." the Asari said back, earning a reluctant nod from Kat before she joined Crosscut and picked up the Pilot while Tolae joined Jethra.

"I wish to help, to make Morinth pay for murdering her 'entire' family." she said, gaining a friendly though stoic smile from the older Woman.

"You should help your friend, let us deal with her."

"Very well, be careful." the Asari replied before joining the others as they started to leave the area, so Jethra and Myra returned their attention to Morinth who was now on her knees.

"Stay down, Morinth." the Superintendent said in a commanding tone, which gained a smirk from the Ardat-Yakshi in return as she looked at the pair.

"Or what? You going to 'sucker punch' me again? I thought you Matriarchs were more civilised than that."

"Why did you do it? Why kill your own Mother?" The young Darby asked, her voice laced with anger and a small slither of confusion.

"Because she deserved it. Samara was not the woman who raised my sisters and me. She betrayed me, tried to kill me...so I just returned the favour...though one more permanent." she spat back.

"We should not attempt to reason with her, Morinth is nothing more than a murderous animal now. Killing Samara...and her sisters as Tolae says shows that there can be no redemption in this life for her..." Jethra said back, earning a hateful stare from their adversary.

"...All that is left is for us to deliver the justice upon her that her victims deserve." she added, making her fists glow as she clenched them.

"Oh, but my dear Superintendent. Are you aware that you have not one, but 'two' fugitives in your midst..." Morinth then said with a knowing look, which earned a questioning look from Jethra as the Murderer slowly got to her feet and pointed at Myra.

"...or do you not recognise Myra Darby, Rogue Spectre. Are you sure you even want her help?" she continued, hoping to inflict some doubt between the pair. But Jethra looked over to the young Darby, a slight smile appearing on her face.

"I already knew who Myra was when she arrived..." she started to say, gaining a surprised look from the Rogue Spectre.

"...Samara vouched for Myra and that was all I needed to know that she was not as the Autobots would have us believe, and I still have yet to see any evidence to contradict that view." she added, which made Myra nod back with an appreciative smile before they both returned their attention to the Ardat-Yakshi.

"Nice try, Morinth. But you're not going to make this easier for yourself by taking our attention from stopping you." the younger Asari replied, which made the Ardat-Yakshi smirk back in return.

"Like I need any help to beat you two. After all, I have my ship behind me with its guns aiming directly at you..." she started to reply, only for Jethra to cut her off.

"That is only if you get the chance to program it with your holo-tool, which we will not give you."

"Then let's get on with it!" Morinth then spat as she swiped her glowing arm up in an uppercut-like motion, sending snow up at the pair as a distraction.

But as the two Asari brought up an arm each to protect their faces from the iced water, Myra fired another biotic blast which the Ardat-Yakshi narrowly escaped by leaping to her left.

She ducked into a roll and finished in a kneeling position with her finger ready to activate her holo-tool, but then the Superintendent tackled her to the ground before she had a chance to.

"I already told you that wasn't going to happen." she said again while holding down the younger Asari's hands, earning a grunt from Morinth as she gritted her teeth as she struggled.

"Did you really think I would take you and that pathetic Darby on 'my own'?" she managed to say, earning a wide-eyed look expression from the older woman as she looked back to Myra.

"Look out!" she shouted, noticing a figure walking up behind the Rogue Spectre.

But just as the younger Darby started to around and face whoever it was, she was suddenly backhanded in the face and fell onto her back.

This made Morinth smile as it was revealed to be the Mech, though ever so slightly damaged in it's chest armour as it then stormed at Jethra.

The Matriarch had no choice but to let go of the Ardat-Yakshi and defend herself, with the droid swinging it's holo-arm blades at her.

But she managed to defend herself by blocking each and every attack with her forearms which were surrounded by biotic energy, but the older Asari was so focused on keeping the relentless Mech's attacks at bay, Jethra unintentionally gave the Ardat-Yakshi the moment she needed as Morinth sprang up and grabbed the Superintendent's head.

"What…!" she managed to say in surprise before the murderer began to focus her biotic energies around the older Asari's head.

"Working for that Darby's 'enemy' really does have it's advantages, but there are things I like to do myself." she said while making her hands glow even brighter as they grasped either side of the older woman's head.

This made Jethra grimace and moan in pain as it felt like her head was slowly being crushed, so she reached up with her hands and tried desperately to pry the others off her. But this left her at the mercy of the Mech, who simply attacked again and stabbed the Asari deeply in her stomach with one of its arm-blades.

"Arrrgh!" she screamed in pain, earning a wide-eyed stare from Myra as she got back to her feet.

"No!" the younger Darby exclaimed as Morinth then smiled back darkly, before throwing the fatally wounded Asari to the side with her biotics.

"I do not always need to do things myself." she started to say as the Rogue Spectre lunged at her with a fist, only for the Mech to block and hit her back.

"Keep her busy while I escape because unfortunately, I can't kill her." she said, earning a nod from the droid before then attacked Myra again. The Ardat-Yakshi then tapped her holo-tool and made her ship fly a little closer to the edge of the cliff, dropping its landing ramp as she watched the Darby and her Mech fight.

"So long Myra." she then said loudly before jumping onto the ramp, gaining an angered look from the younger Asari as she looked over the druid's shoulder while grabbing a hold of it's right arm.

She could do nothing but watch as Morinth disappeared into her ship before it pulled away from the cliff, before turning around and flying out of sight as it ascended high into the cloud-covered sky.

Myra then turned her attention back to the Mech, who was staring back at her with its blue optics as it struggled against her hold which itself was being strengthened by her biotics.

For her hand was glowing a bright blue as she gritted her teeth and then yanked her arm back, ripping the Mech's arm from its socket which exploded with sparks as it stumbled forward.

Myra then swung the arm and smacked it against the Droid's head, making it stumble backwards before the Asari then made her left fist glow even brighter while her body became enveloped in biotic energy.

The robot then corrected itself and immediately attempted to lunge back at her with its only remaining arm, but then suddenly the Rogue Spectre unleashed a biotic charge and punched her fist clear through its chest while using her inertial to send the droid smashing into the cliff face once more.

She then stood there and watched Mech slump to the floor with a fist-sized hole in its armoured chest that had blue liquid spilling out of it, while its optics flickered to nothing.

'That droid took some killing.' she thought before a faint painful moan caught her attention, making the Asari turn around to see Jethra lying in the snow just away from her.

"Jethra!" she exclaimed while joining the Superintendent's side, quickly taking out the medi-gel spray from her utility belt and treating the wound despite the amount of blood that was pouring out from it.

"You're going to be alright." Myra said as she tended to the wound but then a hand grabbed hers gently, making her look at Jethra's face.

"No, it's...too late for...me." she said with a little blood trickling from her mouth, while the younger Asari also noticed how bloodshot her eyes were. And then for an ever so quick moment, Myra froze as she looked down at her injured acquaintance.

'No, she looks just like…' she thought as the image of Jethra lying before her brought up a very painful memory of hers, one that has haunted the Rogue Spectre for most of her life as her eyes began to well up.

'No, not now!' she thought while refocusing on the present, burying the pain back beneath the surface as she activated her holo-tool and took a quick scan, looking ever more horrified as the results appeared before her.

"Your skull...it's...your…haemorrhaging..." she started to say with a shocked tone, only for the Superintendent to cut her off with a splutter as she coughs up some more blood.

"...Like I said...it's too late, for I will...be...dead before anything...can be done for...me..." Jethra started to say as she took Myra's arm in her hand, moving it and the Medi-Gel she was holding away from her wound and allowing it to remain open and bleed out, which made the younger Asari look back with a surprised and saddened expression.

"...so you should...deal with Morinth, as...she will...lead you to...who you seek." the Matriarch added, making Myra double blink in return.

"What do you..." she started say, only for the dying Asari to cut her off again.

"She is…working for…Vasir…"

The mention of that name made the young Darby's eyes widen, earning an ever so slight smile from Jethra despite the pain she was in.

"…so…go after her. And take…Tolae with you, I…know she will…want to help."

"But she's an Ardat-Yakshi too, shouldn't she stay here?" Myra replied with a curious tone, making the Superintendent shake her head slightly.

"No, I have not…yet told her. But I was going…to let her…visit the Home-world…next month, Tolae more than deserves…that chance. For she is…unlike…most of…our residents, so…let her join…your crew…and tell her…that I…am…very…proud…of….." she started to say before her bloodshot eyes glazed over and her head tilted to the right, as she breathed one last time before finally succumbing to her injuries while Myra's holo-tool showed the flat-line on its screen.

So the Rogue Spectre deactivated that function before turning her attention to the now-dead Asari, closing Jethra's eyes as her hand moved over them while the snow continued to fall around them.

"I will honour your wish, Jethra, and Morinth will pay for what she has done… I swear." she said in a soft yet resolute tone before standing back up and looking out at the snowy mountains around her.

'No matter where I go, no matter what I do, someone always dies and…Vasir is always a part of it. This has to stop.' she thought when suddenly her holo-tool reactivated and beeped, snapping the Asari out of it as she looked down and gave a puzzled expression at what she saw.

'That's the Energon detector, why would that activate?' she thought while looking down at the screen which showed a map of the area she stood in with a bleeping blue dot just aways from her, making the Rogue Spectre turn around and face the direction it was in.

'How can I be getting an Energon reading, there has been none in this Galaxy for over five hundred years now.'

But then her eyes fell upon the aqua blue liquid that now stained the body of the deactivated Mech while a small puddle lay at its feet, gaining a wide-eyed stare from Myra in return.

"That's impossible.' she thought while running a scan of the liquid with her holo-tool, before tapping her com-link.

"This is Myra, anyone reading me?" she said before a female voice spoke back a second later.

"Kat here, are you alright? Did you stop that Asari?" her friend asked, which gained a sigh from the young Darby.

"No, she got away…" she started to say before going quiet, which earned a worried tone from the Human in return.

"Myra? What has happened?"

"…Morinth killed Jethra, I couldn't save her." the Asari replied with a guilty tone.

"I am so sorry, Myra, I really am. But whatever happened, please don't blame yourself for it is not your fault." Kat said back in a supportive tone, which the Rogue Spectre could not help but agree with.

'Kat is right, I should not feel responsible for what happened. Morinth is the one that should bear the weight of this, which is something I want to ensure she comes to know.' she thought before the Human woman's voice snapped her from her thoughts.

"Myra?"

"Yes, I'm still here and you are right." the Asari replied with an honest tone as she looked down at the Mech's body.

"Of course I am, now are you on your way back?" Kat asked, making Myra shake her head.

"No, I want to bring Jethra's body back with me and there is also something else….so if Evac is feeling better, then I need him to get back to the Eudora and activate a ground-bridge for me."

"Yes, Evac can do that…..he is on his way now. What did you mean by there is something else?" Kat then asked with a curious tone.

"That Mech Morinth had with her, there is something really off about it. I want to get it back to the ship for further study." Myra said back.

"Okay, I'll get Crosscut to go through the vortex to help you when we get back to the Eudora. Will you be alright until then, because it will be another few minutes?" her friend asked, earning a nod from the young Asari.

"Yes, I'll be alright. Myra out." she then said before deactivating the com-link and looking back out at the mountainous terrain that surrounded the Monastery, noticing that the cloud was clearing in the distance as the blue sky could just be seen through the snow fall.

PRIME EFFECT 5

A few seconds later, Morinth's shuttle had left Lesuss's atmosphere and was now flying out of the system as fast as its sub-light engines would allow it, with the Ardat-Yakshi sitting in the Pilot's seat in its Cockpit as she worked its holo-controls.

She was smiling to herself as she looked out at the vast expanse of stars just beyond the glass canopy before her, with the only real light in the room coming from the red and orange glow of the ship's interface.

"Computer, how much time remains until the Space-Bridge Generator can be activated?" she asked while looking at a holo-screens being emitted to her right, showing that particular device powering up.

"It will reach full power in approximately three standard minutes." a red holo-drone then replied as it appeared to the Asari's left, gaining an angered sigh from her in return.

"Very well."

'Despite how good it felt to finally make my Mother pay for what she had me endure throughout my life, I just want to get away from this star-system and bring an end to the constant surveillance of that Darby Bitch…' she thought as she waved the right holo-screen away and brought up another one, this showing the modifications Morinth had made to the Eudora.

'…After I tell Vasir of what I did down there, she will hopefully agree with me and allow me to finally do more with my abilities.'

But then the holo-drone moved in front of the Asari and beeped, bringing Morinth out of her thoughts as she looked back at it with an annoyed expression.

"What is it?"

"You are receiving a coded transmission, should I recalibrate our communications array to make contact?" it asked in its synthesised and emotionless voice, earning a nod from the Pilot in return.

"Very well, put it on screen." she said, which made the Drone move back to her left as another holo-screen appeared before her and activated to show the face of Vasir staring back with an aggressive tone.

"Hello, Morinth. I want you to meet me at these coordinates. Because I think it is time we had a chat." she said with a calm tone, yet the Asari could tell that anger underlined her words.

"What is this about? I am now heading back to base." the Ardat-Yakshi replied with a curious tone, but the Leviathan leader just stared back with a knowing expression.

"Don't play coy with me, did you think I would not hear about what you did the moment you did it. Just meet me here, now!" Vasir replied with a commanding voice before her image fizzled to nothing on the screen, gaining an unsure look from the Asari.

'Oh shit.' she thought before the drone reappeared beside her, flashing a green light within its holo-form.

"Space-Bridge Generator powered up and ready for use." it said back, earning a nod from the Ardat-Yakshi as she typed in the coordinates that Vasir had sent her.

"Very well, opening a vortex in three, two, one…" she started to say before a green portal opened up before her shuttle which then flew right into it before closing again.

Meanwhile, Vasir stood in the CIC of her ship, looking around at the various alien members of her crew that manned the stations around her.

There were numerous Asari, Krogan, Turian, Salarian and even the odd Human or two.

It had not been hard for the Asari to gain followers, especially since much of what had befallen the Federation and its members over the last five hundred years had been of her own doing, from behind the scenes of course.

'Thanks to Benezia's teachings of subterfuge and espionage from her time as the Shadow Broker, I have managed to build all of this in her name.' she thought while looking back out at the starfield just beyond the CIC's glass canopy, for Leviathan was very much the continuation of the work started by the Shadow Broker.

Even most of the resources that had been built up under Benezia's leadership had been used by Vasir in her plan to not only bring about the downfall of the Cybertronians and their Federation but also bring an end to the one person who killed the Leviathan Leader's Mentor.

'Even after all this time, Liara T'Soni's death still brings a smile to my face. I know Benezia would feel the same.' she thought with a smile before one of her crew walked up to her and gained her attention, pulling Vasir from her thoughts.

"Yes, what is it?" she asked, which made the Turian pass her a pad in return.

"Here is the current status on all Leviathan projects…" he started to say, gaining a nod from the Asari as she looked at the pad before then switching the data to a holo-screen that covered the canopy.

"…as you can see, they are all on schedule for the calculated completion times. Even Project: Titan is moving faster than our original projections, it should be completed within the next week or so." the Turian added, which brought a smile to Vasir's face.

"Excellent, when it is completed I will be moving my flag to that then. In the meantime, how is Project: Crimson Rage progressing?"

"Funny you should ask that?" another male voice spoke from just away, gaining the attention of the pair as they saw a man in red and aqua blue armour walking towards them with a pair of Mechs behind him.

'Inferno, my pet Terracon.' she thought as the Con stopped before them.

"We have hit a snag in its development." he replied, gaining a widened stare from the Asari as she gestured for the Turian to leave.

"What kind of snag are you talking about Inferno?" After all, you did say that the serum was coming along well." she replied with a questioning tone.

"The serum as you know is a combination of the aspect of the narcotic 'Red Sand', namely the part that super stimulates an Asari's Biotic potential. As well as a formula that replicates the Terracon's ability to use its Beast mode, so anyone who uses this serum if used by Asari would overpower their biotics while also increasing their strength, stamina and endurance by one hundred percent. While if any non-Asari were to use it, then they would gain temporary Biotics as well as the rest of its benefits as well." Inferno started to explain, only for the Leviathan Leader to cut him off.

"Yes, I know all of that. What is your point?"

"Your lab has successfully synthesised the serum and it works, but only before the subjects are driven insane by their own increasing rage and savagery." the Man added, making Vasir slam her fist into the computer terminal beside her.

"Damn it! All I want is to give Leviathan the advantages it requires to meet my goals, the Mechs infused with the fully refined Synthetic Energon are a start…" she then started to say while gesturing to the droids standing nearby.

"…as well as our other 'discovery' on Tuchanka, which is nearly completed by the way. But this serum would ensure that Leviathan, an Organisation made up of those who wish to see a Galaxy run by them… is more than a match for the crumbling Federation and its Autobots." she continued to rant while activating her holo-tool and bringing up another larger screen before the pair, showing the Milky Way and numerous data about its separate Alien governments.

"Look, the galaxy is at a tipping point. All of our patience and hard work is paying off, the galactic community is falling apart and is ready for war. The time for us to come in and take control is rapidly approaching. So please, tell me what it is that is currently bringing us up short of readiness?" Vasir finished, which made the Terracon smirk and activate his own holo-tool as he then transferred data to the main screen.

"As you know, I, like my Terracon Brothers, am a clone. We were produced by the long-deceased Manic known as Galvatron to be mere cannon fodder for him during his personal war with the Autobots. And therein lies the problem…" he started to say, gaining a confused look from the Asari.

"The problem being?" she replied.

"…as clones, our CNA is not pure enough to fix the problem with our serum. We need a purer sample from an already existing Predacon. So we basically need….'hers'." he added while bringing up the image of a woman on the screen, which made Vasir stare back with wide eyes until a smile graced her face.

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go get her."

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER IX

Everything was quiet inside the Great Hall of the Lesuss Monastery, despite all the residents and it's staff present inside it's walls.

For right at this moment, they were holding the joint funeral of both Superintendent Jethra and Justicar Samara.

Myra and her friends were also in attendance as they stood amongst everyone else as they paid their respects to the two deceased Asari, as well as listening to each person who took to the stage and said a few words, which mainly was them reminiscing about the times they had shared with either of the pair.

This brought sad smiles and tears from many in the audience, as they all took the time to remember the pair for who they were.

Even Myra and Tolae took their turns to share their experiences with both Women, with the Rogue Spectre commenting on the Justicar's strong resolve and loyalty to those that she cared about and that it was an honour to have fought alongside and learned from such a woman, while Tolae spoke of both Jethra's and Samara's teachings to her and their encouragement to become better than what her life had led her to believe she was.

The latter even began to sing an Asari-hymn, one that every other joined in with, even Myra did as her friends remained quiet and listened while the entire room sang in unison as their voices echoed throughout the Great Hall.

This brought a smile to Kat and Evac as they looked on at their respective Asari friends, watching them both give their all as their vocals led the rest in harmony. And while they sang, sunlight shone down through the massive stained glass windows and enveloped the two coffins in its warm light.

When the ceremony came to an end, the residents and staff started to exit the Hall and return to their daily schedules as Crosscut, Kat and Evac waited at it's entrance, while Myra and Tolae took a moment to speak to another Asari.

"That was a very touching ceremony, thank you both for your contributions. I know Jethra and Samara would have appreciated it." she said, gaining thankful smiles from the younger pair as they stood before her.

"Matriarch Gallae, Tolae has told me that you are now the acting Superintendent of the Monastery." the young Darby said, gaining a nod from her.

"Yes, I would rather not. No one knew how to keep this Monastery functioning quite like Jethra, but apparently, I was her choice to be next in line should anything happen to her." Gallae replied with an unsure tone, so Myra placed a hand on her shoulder in support.

"I am sure you will live up to the faith that Jethra had in choosing you, she had an adept skill in reading people so I know that she since has singled you out as the one to follow on from her that you are the right choice." she said back, gaining an appreciative smile in return as the older Asari nodded back.

"Thank you, Myra Darby, and after updating myself on Jethra's journals, I will honour her wish not for the Autobots to be informed of your part in the events that have transpired here. I feel it is the most I can do for what you did to help defend this Monastery, I wish I could do more…" the acting Superintendent replied before turning her attention to Tolae.

"…and I will also honour her wish for you to go with our new friends here, Tolae, for I too have seen that you are more than ready to see what lies beyond these walls."

"Thank you, Matriarch Gallae. I am honoured that both you and Jethra believe I am ready...I will not let you down." the Ardat Yakshi replied, which made Gallae nod back with a smile.

"I know you will not..." she said, before returning her attention to the Spectre.

"Tolae is now a member of your crew, Myra. Take care of her."

"We will, she has already done a lot for us so we will do the same for her..." Myra replied, before the Superintendent's com-link activated and cut her off.

"Yea...they are here, in orbit. Okay, thank you for informing me. Have them come down and land in the next thirty minutes, Galle out." she said.

"Let me guess, that's the Autobot cruiser entering the system." Darby said back, gaining a nod from the older Asari.

"Yes, they will be here soon. So, I guess you should leave before they arrive."

"Alright, we will get out of your hair then..." Myra started to say before looking back at her friends.

"...Evac, power up the Eudora. We are leaving."

"Way ahead of you, Myra. The Eudora is ready to fly." the Pilot replied with a wink as he typed on his holo-tool, earning a smirk from both her and Tolae.

"Well, I wish you luck and hope you can catch up to Morinth and bring her to justice for what she did to our Monastery." Gallae then said while holding out a hand to the younger Asari, who then shook it with her own.

"I will and then Vasir will suffer a similar fate."

"Of course. Farewell, Myra, until we meet again." the Superintendent replied before turning around and leaving the pair, who did the same and headed back to the others.

"Alright guys, we are heading out." Darby then said as Kat and Crosscut walked either side of her, while Tolae joined Evac.

They gave her a warm smile as they followed the others towards the Monastery's exit, which unbeknownst to him made her heart warm.

"You have a beautiful singing voice, did you know that?" he asked, making her blush slightly in return as she looked down at the ground.

"I never really thought about it, plus no one has said it like that before." she replied, before looking back and noticing the golden glow of his irises.

"Your eyes. I never noticed that before." Tolae then said, which earned a surprised look from Evac as he saw the way she was looking at him.

"What do…you mean?" the Bot replied, feeling a little uncomfortable with the way she was staring at him as they walked.

"Well, they just appear to be glowing." she said back whilst looking into his eyes like she found them enchanting.

This made Evac's eyes widen as something came to his mind all of a sudden.

"Oh, you mean my implants." he said, making the Asari look back curiously.

"Implants?"

"Yes, I had my eyes fitted with ocular implants that allow me to view the Eudora's sensor readouts and my holo-tool upgraded with a mobile piloting program, meaning I can fly the ship without needing to physically be in the Pilot's seat." he replied, earning a smile from her in return.

"Impressive, but it is only visible if active…right?" she asked, gaining a nod from the Bot.

"Yes, that's correct." he said back.

"Good, because even though it looks nice. I do prefer to look into your more natural green ones." Tolae replied with a kind smile, earning a similar expression from the Pilot as they walked together.

"Hey guys, I am the only one here who thinks Evac and our newest team member look rather cute together?" Kat whispered as she glanced back at the Pilot and Asari, gaining a nod from Myra while Crosscut looked a little unsure.

"I know she helped us against Morinth and saved his life, but can we really just leave them alone together. I mean she is still an Ardat-Yakshi after all?" he whispered back, which earned a nod from the Rogue Spectre.

"I understand your hesitation, Crosscut. But Jethra assured me before she passed away that Tolae would be fine with us. And I have not seen anything like Morinth's behaviour in the way she acts, have you..?" she replied, making the Bot shake his head in return.

"…And I can't help but feel that harming Evac is far from what she wants to do to him." Myra then added, gaining a nod from Kat.

"I agree, I think she generally cares about him and is more likely to harm those that would harm him."

"Yeah, okay. I get what you both are saying." Crosscut replied with a defeated tone as the group exited the building and saw the Eudora hovering over the landing platform ahead of them.

"What did I tell you, it's ready and waiting." Evac then said in a happy tone as he tapped his holo-tool, which made the entry ramp drop down and grant them access.

This earned an eye roll from Crosscut who just sighed and walked up into the ship's interior, while Kat and Myra simply smiled back at the Bot.

"Good job, Evac. Once we are airborne, take the ship into the mountains and activate the Space-bridge Generator." Darby then said, gaining a nod from the Pilot.

"I get it. Use the mountainous region to hide us from any possible sensor scans that the Autobot ship might make." he replied before the Asari and her Human friend then turned around and followed Crosscut, leaving the Bot with Tolae as she turned around and looked back at the Monastery with a thoughtful expression.

"What's wrong?" he asked, bringing her attention back to him.

"Oh, it's nothing. But now that I am leaving, I find myself somewhat reluctant to go." she replied before looking back at the temple-like building, while Evac joined her side.

"I understand, leaving home is never easy. I went through it myself when I joined the Autobots…" the Bot started to say, regaining the Asari's attention he continued to speak.

"…I was Eighteen at the time and thought I was ready for everything like Teenagers do. When the moment came, I began questioning myself. But it was just nerves and it passes, they always do." he added, gaining a smile from Tolae in return.

"You're right. Wouldn't think that such wise words would come from one so young. I mean when compared to one such as myself." she replied with a respectful tone, which made Evac smile back with a slightly embarrassed expression.

"Okay, well I don't know if the others would agree with you…but thanks." he said back, as her smile widened.

"You're welcome."

"So, all aboard." the Pilot then said whilst gesturing to his friend as he turned back toward the Eudora, gaining a nod from her in return as she joined him. But just as she stepped onto the ramp, the Asari then looked back at the Monastery. This did not go unnoticed by Evac as he was just behind her, so he tapped onto his holo-tool and made another holo-device appear around his left arm.

"Okay, how about I give you a good view of the place then." he said, making her stare back with a confused expression which just made him smile back as the Eudora suddenly began to rise up, which surprised the Asari as she grabbed onto the safety rail beside her.

"It's alright, you're not going to fall." the Pilot then said as she stepped beside her, while she looked out as the ground appeared to shrink below them as the ship ascended up into the air.

"What are you doing?" Tolae asked.

"Making your last look at the place a memorable one." he replied as he then made the ship fly over the Monastery, giving the Asari a perfect view of the entire facility as it passed beneath her slowly. Once it had gone out of her view, the Woman then looked back at him with an appreciative smile.

"Thank you." she said, making him smile back as he then pressed another button and made the entry ramp ascend, taking the pair into the ship's interior.

"You're more than welcome, Tolae." he replied before the Eudora then descended down into the mountains before flying into a bright green vortex, which disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Morinth walked down on of the many corridors of Vasir's ship, having arrived from Lesuss only a few minutes earlier, and she could not help but feel that everyone she passed by was staring down at her, like they knew what she had done on that planet.

The Asari could feel their eyes on her while she simply looked ahead and focused on heading to the CIC.

'I swear, I will kill someone if I have to continue being stared down at for much longer.' the Ardat-Yakshi thought as she walked past a pair of Turians, who simply looked back with disgust.

This made Morinth clench her right hand into a fist, bringing the blue hue of biotic energy out as it enveloped the appendage. But even this look of possible retaliation did not deter the stares, as numerous crew members stopped what they were doing and looked at the Asari.

Despite the gauntlet of angry stares that Morinth had to endure on her way from the Shuttle-Bay, she did make it to the CIC and saw Vasir standing alongside Inferno.

She narrowed her eyes while staring at the Terracon, for he was yet another person she did not trust or particularly like.

'Great, the Machine which plays at being a 'person' is with Vasir now.' she thought as while watching the pair from the room's entrance. For she did not trust Machines or at least ones that believed they're real people.

'The only good Synthetics are the ones that do as they are instructed and do not think for themselves.' she added, before being brought out of her thoughts by the Leviathan Leader.

"Morinth, get over here." Vasir said in an unreadable tone as she glanced over at the Ardat-Yakshi, earning a smirk from Inferno as he looked back at Morinth who walked over to them.

This made the Murderer grit her teeth in response, for she wanted nothing more than to wipe that grin of his face, but she quickly brought her attention back to the Vasir who had her back to the Murderer as she joined the pair.

"Vasir, about…." the Asari began to say, only to be cut off by the Leviathan Leader who spun around and backhanded her in the face.

"I don't want to hear your excuses." she spat as Morinth fell to the ground, earning a chuckle from the Cybertronian as he looked down at her.

"You disobeyed my orders, went down to Lesuss and murdered not only your Mother…who is also a Justicar, but also the Superintendent of that Monastery." Vasir continued, while Morinth spat out a trickle of blood before looking up at her.

"I went down there to check on the homing beacon I placed on Darby's ship, to make sure that it is still operating properly."

But the older Asari simply looked down at her with a knowing expression as she activated her holo-tool.

"Oh really? Well, as you can see the signal from the Eudora has worked perfectly fine from not only the time before it arrived at Lesuss, but even now that they have left." Vasir said back while motioning at the large holo-screen that had appeared overhead, making her shake her head before continuing.

"No, you went down there to kill your Mother. I knew I should have called you back here the moment that Darby and her friends set course for that planet…" she added before looking back at Morinth who was no on her knees.

"…you just couldn't help yourself, and in doing so have brought Leviathan and myself into the spotlight." Vasir then finished, earning a surprised look from the Ardat-Yakshi.

"What, no. Myra has no idea of my connection to you, I swear." she replied with an urgent tone, which made the Leviathan Leader look back with a knowing expression.

"Are you sure about that?" the Asari said back, earning a somewhat worried look from Morinth.

"Well…I did tell that Superintendent before killing her but…no, there is no way that Myra or her friends would know."

"You better be right about this, Morinth,…" Vasir then said with a cold-hearted stare, pointing her finger at the Ardat-Yakshi who began to look worried as Inferno smirked.

"…because if you're wrong, then I will flay you alive. I already informed everyone in my organisation of your disobedience, so you will have to work extra hard to regain their and my trust." she added, gaining a grateful nod from the Murderer in return.

"I understand." she replied with a sigh, while the Leviathan Leader turned her attention to the large holo-screen overhead.

"You can start by assisting Inferno here in capturing the Autobots Elite Spectre…Ser-Ket." the Asari continued as she brought up the Femme's image on the screen, but then the Terracon gestured to Vasir and gained both Women's attention.

"Actually, Vasir, I would prefer you not team Morinth with myself." he replied, not even trying to hide his discontent towards the Murderer.

"And why is that?" the older Asari stated with a curious tone, which also earned a narrow eyed look from Morinth as she stared daggers at the Con.

"Because I don't trust her. Never have, never will. And I do not need the help, for I already have at team of my own."

"I was not aware that you had recruited anyone?" Vasir then asked, still looking at Inferno with a curious expression.

"Every time I hunted down fellow Terracons for you, I gave them a choice first. Either work with me or die, though the latter was not going to happen till after you had experimented on them first." he replied before tapping his com-link and looking back to the CIC's entrance, which made both Vasir and Morinth look back too.

And just as they did so, four Caucasian-looking Cybertronians walked in towards the trio. Three Cons and a single Femme, all wearing similar-looking armour though each had a different colour scheme.

"We have Scylla…" Inferno started to say while gesturing to the female Terracon, who had a red pixie-cut hairstyle and wore silver and bronze light armour over her athletic frame.

"…Hardhead…" he added as a Man long black hair in a ponytail stood beside the Femme, while wearing purple and blue armour over his rather built physique.

"…Archadis…" Inferno then said while gesturing to another Man who had short blonde hair, and was wearing bronze and red armour.

"…and finally…Devron, my second in Command." the Terracon finished as a rather calm and calculating Con with a shaven head joined the group, wearing black and orange armour.

"These four believe as I do, that we Terracons were created for more than just guard duty, which over the last five hundred years is all we have been doing under the Autobots." Inferno then said, earning a nod from Vasir in return.

"I see, and you think that you will be enough to capture Ser-Ket?" she asked while looking around the new group before her, which earned a confident smile from Devron.

"Believe me…, Vasir, we would like nothing more than to bring you the 'one' that has led our kind astray."

"It would be our genuine pleasure." Scylla added, gaining nods from both Hardhead and Archadis in return. This gained a smile from the Leviathan Leader as she looked at each of them, before returning her attention to Inferno.

"Very well. So, you and your Terracon team…" she began to say, only for the Con to cut her off suddenly.

"With all due respect, Vasir. But even though we are Terracons, that is not a name that we wish to be referred to from this moment onwards." he said, gaining a surprised yet curious expression from the older Asari.

"So what should we all call you then?" she asked, which made Inferno look at the other Terracons standing with him, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face.

"Over the centuries since our reawakening by the hands of Galvatron, we have managed to recover a fair amount of our memories from the time where we ruled Cybertron with our Predacon Masters. And there was a group made up of the only Terracons which Predaking himself considered the most fearless and ferocious of our kind, which we wish to honour now." he said, gaining a bored expression from Morinth.

"And they were?" she replied while almost yawning in return, regaining the Con's attention as he looked back at the Asari pair.

"Destrons, that is what we will be referred to now. And we will do the name proud by delivering

...this Predacon traitor Ser-Ket to you."

"Very well, you have my support in this. But even all that confidence that you are exerting right now, would not be enough to get you near Ser-Ket. For her Command is situated on Unity Station, the current heart of the Federation." Vasir replied, gaining a knowing look from Morinth as the others watched.

"And who was it that gave them the incentive to even build that floating community in space, I mean has as many defences as the Citadel used to. And only the Reapers had the strength for a full on assault." she said, earning an annoyed expression from the older Asari.

"It may have been Leviathan and myself that helped create the circumstances that brought about it's construction, but you are right about it's defences Morinth. We can't reveal ourselves with an all-out attack, nor do I wish for us to attempt to kidnap Ser-Ket with a stealth mission." she replied, which made the Destrons and even Morinth look back with confused and curious stares.

"And why is that? For it seems to be the most logical choice available to us." the Murderer asked.

"Because I have interests on Unity that could be compromised with even the smallest mission taking place there so no, I will not sanction missions there since." Vasir answered, which made Inferno smile as he finally decided to speak.

"Then in that case, how about we lure Ser-Ket away from the safety of Unity and ambush her at a place of our choosing." he said, earning a smile from the Leviathan Leader.

"Now that is what I call a good idea, What did you have in mind?" she asked, making the Con's smile widen as he used his holo-tool to change the data on the large screen overhead.

"Well let's start with..." he began to say as the group started to plot Ser-Ket's demise.

PRIME EFFECT 5

Meanwhile, Myra, Kat and Crosscut stood around the heavily damaged husk of the Mech as it lied on the main table in the Eudora's workshop...or as the latter like to call it.

He was currently scanning the wreck with his holo-tool while the Women watched, their attention solely on what was happening before them.

"So you have been scanning this for a few minutes now, found anything of interest yet?" the Asari asked, which made the Bot tap his holo-tool again and transfer the data to the nearby screen.

"Yes, not only was this thing fuelled by the stabilised Synthetic Energon formula, meaning that it could last for considerably longer than the average Mech. But it also allowed the robot to use far more upgrades than a design as it should have." he said while pointing to the data on-screen, which earned a curious look from Kat.

"What kind of upgrades are we talking about here?" she asked, which made Crosscut bring up two sets of schematics onto the screen.

"As you can see, the basic design is very bare and allows the Mech to be very quick and agile compared to the older Mech models. But this one we fought on Lesuss has been greatly upgraded, which gives it an unparalleled advantage. We are talking polarised armour, strength and agility enhancers, holo-weapon projectors and anti-biotics hardware, and that is only a third of the capabilities of this Mech. This thing is a real piece of work, you were lucky that you managed to beat it. If one of these things is that tough, imagine taking on a whole army of them."

"So who apart from the ISF would have the resources to create this Mech." Kat then asked as she looked between her friends, knowing full well what the answer would be as Myra took her attention from the schematics and back to the others.

"We all know who it is….Leviathan, I know from what Jethra told me before she died that Vasir is working with Morinth and she's the only person I believe would be able to build, let alone conceive this monstrosity of a Mech." she replied, gaining a nod from both Kat and Crosscut. But then the latter gave her a curious look.

"I am sensing a 'but' coming."

"But... what I don't get is when did anyone manage to complete the Synthetic Energon formula? I thought it was supposed to be impossible?" she then said, which made her friends look back in surprise.

"Myra, no offence, but do you ever watch the news?" Crosscut replied before tapping his holo-tool controls and changing the data on the screen once more, earning a disinterested look from the Asari.

"No I don't, I have too much on my mind to care about what goes on in the Galaxy." she said back before looking away, gaining a sympathetic stare from Kat.

'I know exactly what she is on about.' she thought, while the Bot continued as he gestured to the screen.

"Well, it was not publicly broadcast throughout the Galactic community, but Doctors 'Felix Adle' and 'Alcazar' made the break-through with 'Synthergon' just over two years ago for the Federation before they then…simply disappeared. Now Adle was later found dead in a crashed ship on an island in the South Pacific and was ruled as an accident, but Alcazar was never found."

"Wait, doesn't that sound…suspicious, I mean both Scientists die just after completing a formula that would give the galaxy a potentially unlimited source of energy." Kat then said, earning a nod from the Bot while Myra simply listened.

"Yes, Autobot Intelligence suspected that Alcazar tried to sell the formula to another party, only for his colleague to get in the way…hence his life then became forfeit."

"And how do you know this?" the Asari then asked, which made the Bot smirk back.

"I had a friend in Autobot Intelligence for a while, but I lost contact with him a year ago. I guess he was found out."

"Well, since we now know that Vasir has her hands on Synthergon, it would make sense that this Alcazar is the one to have handed it to her. But it would be good to confirm that first…" she started to say before activating her holo-tool, making her friends look back with confused expressions.

"And how will we do that, I mean we can't exactly just call up the Autobots and request the Intel we need." Kat replied, which this time made the Rogue Spectre smile back knowingly.

"I know someone who could give us the information we seek. Her family and mine have been close friends for a very long time. I just need to contact her…" Myra started to say, gaining a curious look from her Human friend.

"Why have you rerouted the communications system to your quarters?"

"Because my friend works in Autobot Intelligence and is quick to distrust others that she does not know, I will have to make the call in private. Don't worry, I know what I am doing." the Asari replied with a confident smile before turning around and leaving the room, leaving Kat and Crosscut with the wrecked Mech and unbeknownst to them, its optics flickered to life for just an instant before shutting back down.

[Apollo-XL5]

CHAPTER X

Myra stepped into her quarters and sat down on the side of her bed, activated her holo-tool and brought up a screen and keyboard interface in front of her person before typing in a com-frequency which caused the screen to flicker and buzz with static, earning a hopeful stare from the Asari.

'Come on, I know you always keep this channel open.' she thought before the static started to form an image and voice could just be heard through the noise.

"…can…you…hear…me, am I…coming through clearly?" a Female voice spoke through the interference as the image cleared up to reveal a Drell looking back, her eyes widening as she recognised the Rogue Spectre.

"You're coming through fine now, Yikrah, it's been a while." Myra replied with a smile, earning a similar expression from her friend.

"It certainly has, Myra. The last time we talked was what …four years ago?"

"Three and a half…and unfortunately, like last time, this isn't a social call." The Asari replied, gaining a knowing nod from the Drell.

"I understand, not that we could have a lengthy chat on this particular frequency for long anyway as it will only remain undetected for the next few minutes."

"Yeah, I know. So, I need some information?" Myra said back, which made Yikrah look back with a knowing expression.

"Well I am not surprised, since that is my job here at Autobot Intelligence..." she replied with a smile before tapping the holo-interface before her.

"..so what can I help you with?"

"I need to know if you have any Intel on a Doctor Alcazar?" Myra asked, earning a curious look from the Drell.

"Why does that name sound familiar?" she said before returning her attention to her terminal, which nearly made the Asari reply before her interface then beeped.

"Oh right, he is one of the two Scientists that completed the Synthetic Energon formula. Yes, I have intelligence on Alaczar. What would you like to know?"

"Where is he now?" the Rogue Spectre replied, which made Yikrah stare back at her even more curiously.

"What makes you think that 'we' know where he is?

"Because he knows about the Synthergon and you wouldn't just leave him to roam around the place without a leach, am I right?" Myra answered with a knowing stare, which made the Agent nod back in return.

"Even after all your running around the galaxy, you still haven't lost that inquisitiveness of yours, have you?"

"Just because I haven't been with the Autobots for a long time, doesn't mean that I haven't been doing my Spectre duty. I've just been concentrating on one 'singular' case." the Asari replied.

"Yes, Tela Vasir, the Rogue Spectre who had betrayed us to the Shadow Broker. You have been after her since she killed your mother, Liara Darby, and Fiancé, John Shepard…" the Drell began to say, earning a thoughtful look from Myra as the mention of her family brought back those painful memories.

"…you started to hunt her down and while doing so, came up with the theory that she had continued with your grandmother's plan to sabotage the Alliance and bring down the Cybertronians. But no one in the Autobot Command believed you on that particular detail, so you broke away and continued on your own." Kikrah continued, which made the Rogue Spectre look back with a pained expression.

"I do not need to be reminded about that, thank you. My whole life from that point has been one long bitter disappointment. Every time I get close to Vasir, those one time moments where I could have done with some backup…and it is nowhere to be found because no one believed me." she said with a poisonous tone, while her eyes screamed at the screen as she stared back at her friend.

"You always think that don't you, Myra? That you were always alone. That there weren't 'those' that wanted to help you if you needed it, that believed in you even if most of the galactic community did not. But there was, you just did not believe it yourself, did you…" Yikrah said back with a hurt tone, which snapped Myra out of her anger and she sighed while noticing the hurt look on her friend's face.

"…but 'we' were here and wanted to help you. But if we spoke out in your defence then we would have lost the ability to help you from within the system, while you worked better outside of it." the Drell continued.

"I am sorry, Yikrah. It has been so very hard living all these years without 'them'. I mean, I know that it is difficult for you to know what I mean since you were not even born back when 'they' had been murdered…" Myra started to say, only for her friend to cut her off mid-sentence.

"Myra, you don't need to explain yourself to me about what you have been through. I am your friend like my family has been to yours for like forever now. I am here for you, just say the word and I am there." she said, and those last few words echoed through the Asari's mind as though she had heard them before, or in a context from someone else.

'I am here for you.' she thought as though it was spoken in another familiar female voice, which calmed her down as she took a breath.

"I know, and you're right. I guess I have spent so long on my own that I have grown used to relying on myself and no one else." she replied, earning a worried look from Yikrah in return.

"Sounds like you have travelled alone for far too long, you shouldn't do that."

"I haven't, I mean I have three others working with me now." the Rogue Spectre answered, which then made the Drell stare back with a knowing expression.

"But it sounds like you have kept your distance from them. Do me...and yourself a favour…don't. Because if they are helping you, then it is because they care about you and want to help…so let them." the Agent said back, once again making those words from earlier echo in Myra's mind.

'I am here for you.' she thought once more, making her smile as she looked back to her friend.

"I'll take it under advisement, thank you. Now about Alcazar, I think he has given Vasir the Synthergon formula because we came up against a Mech that was being powered by it." the Asari replied, with her tone becoming more professional again as the Drell's eyes widened in response.

"That sounds like trouble, any Mech powered by such a power source would be extremely strong and dangerous."

"It was, believe me. I need to know where the Doctor is so I can…ask him about it." the Rogue Spectre replied, which gained a knowing nod from her friend.

"I get it. Alright, I will find out his current location and forward it to your holo-tool."

"Thank you, Yikrah." Myra said back with a smile, which earned a similar expression from the Drell.

"You're welcome, Myra." she replied before the call was then ended, and her friend's image disappeared from the screen as the Asari sighed and leaned back on her bed.

Meanwhile, at Yikrah's location, the Drell's attention was caught by the sound of her com-link bleeping, so she tapped her earpiece and received its signal.

"Yes, Yikrah Krios speaking." she replied before a familiar Female voice spoke back.

"Yikrah, it's me. Was that Myra who contacted you a moment ago, because my VI has just alerted me to one of our encrypted com-frequencies being activated."

"Yes, Commander Ser-Ket, it was Myra. She wanted to know the location of Doctor Alcazar, for she believes that he has given the completed Synthergon formula to Vasir." Yikrah replied, earning a relieved sigh from the Femme.

"Good, then she is on the same page as we are now, and funnily enough, is the only hope we have of getting closer to Vasir and ending the threat we know she poses…"

This made the Drell's expression change to one of uncertainty as she listened to the Commander, which did not go unnoticed by the Femme even though she was not there.

"…what is it, Yikrah? What's wrong?"

"I am happy to help Myra in any way I can. You know that, Sir. But if I might be frank…" Yikrah began to say, earning a smirk from the Femme on her end of the call.

"No, by all means, you've never held back before and I don't expect you to now."

"…why are we sitting on our hands if we know that Tela Vasir is a threat to the Federation, I mean is it not our duty to defend the Federation from all threats, so why aren't we going after Vasir?"

"Because there is more going on in the galaxy than just Vasir, you've seen it too. The ones that we once called Allies, even friends, have turned on us over the past few centuries and now they are turning on each other." Ser-Ket replied, gaining a knowing nod from the Drell while she looked at one of her holo-screens.

For it showed an escalating situation between the Krogan and the Turians, while the Asari and Salarians relationship was starting to dissolve as were numerous others.

It was as the Commander was just saying, the Galactic Community that been brought together in the time since the Reaper War was now falling apart before them.

"I know." was all Yikrah could say before the Femme continued.

"Now, while I suspect that Vasir and this Leviathan of hers have been a catalyst for some of these building conflicts from within, I don't believe that it is all their doing. There is 'something else' in play here, so we need to keep our eyes on the whole board and not just Vasir. But that is where Myra comes in, for she is our wild card."

"Well, I think she could benefit from knowing that we have her back, I think she feels that she is all alone in this." the Drell replied back with a knowing tone.

"Don't you think I want to help Myra, she is my niece after all, as well as the only family I have left. But if we come out and openly try to help her now, then we would be declared traitors and arrested for helping an enemy of the state." the Commander said back with a regretful tone, gaining a knowing nod from Yikrah in return.

"And we would not be able to help her at all. I know, I told her this myself just moments ago."

"So we do what we can for her, under the radar. Let her deal with Vasir, while we stay vigilant against the chaos that is slowly building up around us." Ser-Ket replied, earning a nod from the Drell.

"Yes, Sir. I understand. So, I will send the data packet to Myra the moment we finish this talk."

"Good, now I have to go. Because I have had several messages appear on my interface and they need to be dealt with, Ser-Ket out. The Commander replied before terminating the link, which Yikrah return her attention to her main holo-screen as she began to work on Myra's Intel.

Back on Unity Station though, Ser-Ket sat behind her desk and began looking through the new messages that had appeared on her holo-screen. Each one had a title that did not bring much comfort to the Femme as she scrolled down the list, which just cemented what she was feeling after her talk with Yikrah.

'Riots on Thessia, Government Buildings bombed on Palaven, Salarian and Krogan fleets on the move…surely there has to be a little good news somewhere in this list.' she thought as she looked through the list of messages that all had very similar titles.

But then her eyes fell upon one message near the bottom titled 'first Guardian class Dreadnought ready for launch', it was a completely different title which made the Commander want to view it and see some news that might actually make her feel a little better in her spark now. So she opened it and began to read its contents and by the time the Femme had reached its end, she did in fact have a smile on her face.

'Now that was certainly interesting, I hope it all works out like they hope it will.' she thought before her com-link activated, pulling Ser-Ket from her thoughts.

"Commander, we are getting an emergency transmission from the Dinobots." a female Autobot spoke, which earned a wide-eyed look of shock from the Femme in return.

"Put them through to my console now!" she replied before another holo-screen appeared next to her, on it was an image of a Caucasian Man who had a shaven head and a scar down the left side of his face.

"Commander Ser-Ket." he spoke loudly over the sound of gunfire and explosions.

"Sharp-tooth, what is going on?" Ser-Ket replied, her face looking ambivalent towards the situation unfolding on the screen.

"We are on Kahje trying to help end the riots that had erupted between the Hanar and the Drell, but have come under attack and are heavily outnumbered." he said back.

"What? Are the Hanar and Drell both attacking you now? I mean I don't understand how two species that have lived together for as long as they have can suddenly turn on each other, but I can't believe that they would attack…." she started to say, only for the Dinobot to cut her off.

"No, it's neither of them. We are under attack by Mechs that we have not come across before. They came out of nowhere."

"Alright, I will have a Space-bridge opened to your location so you can retreat back to us." she replied.

"I don't think that is a good idea, we are being hammered here from every angle. We need to…." Sharp-tooth started to reply before suddenly being cut off by an explosion nearby, which left the Femme listening as the battle continued over the active com.

"Sharp-tooth, come in! Sharp-tooth!" Ser-Ket shouted, her eyes wide as she waited for a response.

But then she could hear breathing again on the Bot's end, making her sigh with relief in return.

"You scared me for a moment there…" the Femme began to say before being cut off.

"I'm not Sharp-tooth you traitorous wretch." an unknown voice suddenly spoke, earning a shocked expression from the Commander.

"What? Who is this?" she said back, gaining a sinister chuckle from the unknown person.

"You really don't remember, do you? Well, I will make it simple. If you wish for the Dinobots to survive, then you will transport yourself to these coördinates. And you will do so alone, or their lives will be forfeited. Don't be late now." the voice replied before ending the call, leaving Ser-Ket sitting at her desk with a worried and unsure look on her face.

"Sir, what do you want us to do." the female Autobot spoke again, having heard the entire exchange.

'It's obviously a trap, but I can't leave the Dinobots in their hands. Not after I mentored and trained them into the team they are now, true successors to the original Autobot team. I have to go to them.' she thought as her face became calm and focused.

"Ready the space bridge and target it for these coördinates, I will be going through alone once I have suited up."

"But..." the female Autobot began to say, only for Ser-Ket to cut her off.

"That is an order. Now follow it!" she said in a commanding tone as she got up from behind her desk, taking a deep breath before walking out of the room as she headed for the armoury.

'I do not know what I will face there, but I am not going to let that uncertainty stop me from helping my friends.'

PRIME EFFECT 5

In the Cockpit of the Eudora, Tolae was sitting in the co-pilot's chair and observing Evac as he piloted the ship.

The Asari just sat there and smiled as the bot typed on the holo-interface that was surrounding him, for it had been a very long time since she last saw someone enjoy what they were doing.

As the pilot concentrated on his flying, he could not help but smile as he felt the Asari's eyes on him.

So he looked over to her with a fond expression, which made her own smile widen in return.

"What?" he asked while looking slightly embarrassed and puzzled.

'He is very cute.' she thought before answering his question.

"After living at the Monastery for so long, it is refreshing to see someone love doing what they are doing." she replied, earning a nod from Evac in return.

"You know I have never been happier than when I am behind the controls of a ship. It's like I was born to fly." he replied with an enthusiastic tone while looking over to her, but then one of his holo-controls beeped and gained his attention.

"What is it?" Tolae asked.

"Sensors have detected a nebula off our starboard side…" the Pilot started to say as he veered the Eudora in it's direction, making the interstellar dust cloud come into view of the pair through the Cockpit's canopy.

The Nebula had a star shining brightly at its center while a layer made up of blue and violet-coloured ionised gases circling it, though the very edges of the astronomical phenomenon changed colour to a more faint red as it slowly dissipated into the void that surrounded it.

"It's beautiful." the Asari stated as she looked out at it, gaining a nod from Evac as he piloted the ship closer to it.

"It is, isn't it. Kind of looks like an eye from here, doesn't it." he observed before looking over to her.

"Yes, it reminds me of the 'Eye of Athame'." Tolae replied, earning a curious look from the Bot in return.

"What's that?"

"It is nebula situated about twenty light-years from Thessia and can be seen by the naked eye at a certain time every month of the year." she answered, which made Evac stop the ship and turn his seat to face her.

"Tell me about it?" he asked, showing the Asari that his attention was purely on her at this moment.

"Okay…" Tolae started to say while feeling her cheeks heat up, liking how her new friend was interested in what she had to say. So she smiled before looking back towards the nebula just aways from them, and her expression changed to a more thoughtful one as pictured it in her mind.

"…it looks similar to this one but was made up of both bright green and blue colours with the blue dwarf star at its center, and it's light complimented the nebula in the most beautiful fashion. Ancient Asari believed it to be the last remaining part of the Goddess Athame's essence after she disappeared from our world. It was said that she ascended to another plain of existence and that this eye was her way of watching the Asari continue from wherever she was now. But of course, now we as a people know better since science overtook religion and her doctrine were largely dropped, but I guess that even though I never believed in religion while I grew up. I did always like the stories of our past and the beauty of the Cosmos." she said with an equally enthusiastic tone before looking back at the Pilot, noticing his content expression on his handsome face.

"What?" she asked, feeling slightly embarrassed as a hint of shyness slowly came over her.

'I could listen to her talk all day.' he thought as he smiled back at her.

"You sounded very passionate about that then, were you into Astronomy?" Evac asked, earning a knowing smile from the Blue Woman.

"Does it really show? Yes, I studied both History and Astronomy when I was younger." she replied before looking back out at the nebula, with the Pilot noting how in awe she was with the colourful phenomenon.

"Would you like a closer look at it?" he asked, regaining the Asari's attention as she looked back to him with a hopeful expression.

"Really? Yes I would like that, very much so."

"Alright then, it is a little far to fly to at sub-light so I will make a tiny jump via our Space-Bridge..." Evac replied while Tolae sat back down beside him, never taking her eyes off him as he spoke.

"…I am sure Myra won't mind." he added before pressing in a key combination on the holo-interface before him, which instantly opened up a pulsing green vortex in front of them that enveloped the ship.

Then instantly the Eudora was back in space as it exited the vortex, which closed behind it as the nebula was now just a hair's breath away.

"Wow..." Tolae said faintly as she watched as the interstellar dust appeared to brush against the glass canopy of the ship as it passed into the cloud, creating a ripple like effect not unlike the kind that occurs when a boat moves through water.

"…this is amazing." she added as the lights in the Cockpit suddenly deactivated, letting the blue and red hue of the nebula illuminate its interior, making her look over to Evac with a curious expression.

"What just..?" she started to ask, only for the Bot to cut her off while pointing to one of his controls.

"I turned it off as thought that it would improve the show." he said with a look that was one part hopeful and the other embarrassed, but Tolae simply smiled back at him in return.

"Well, your right. It certainly does." she replied before looking back at the red and blue glowing stellar cloud as it swirled around them, which once again made the Pilot smile as he watched the Asari marvel at it all.

"So what made you stop?" he then asked, which regained Tolae's attention as she looked back at the him.

"What made me stop what?" she asked back as the blue hue suddenly illuminated the cockpit for a moment, making her own blue skin glow that little bit more which caught the Evac by surprise.

'Beautiful.' he thought before the hue was then remixed into the red and snapping his focus back to the Asari as she looked at him curiously.

"I mean…what made you stop your studies?" he then asked, which immediately changed the mood as Tolae sat back down in her chair with a sombre look on her face.

"What's wrong..." Evac began to ask before it dawned on him why the Asari's attitude had worsened, so he set the ship's controls to automatic and turned his chair to face her.

"...it's because of you being a...isn't it?" he then added, earning a quiet nod from Tolae in return.

'Oh perfect, I have really put my foot in it this time.' he thought while the Arad-Yakshi's eyes slowly began to well up, for memories that she did not want to relive were stirred up in her mind.

"I am so sorry, Tolae. I didn't mean to..." the Pilot then said, gaining a nod from the Asari as she looked back out at the nebula beyond the glass canopy of the Eudora's Cockpit, which had darkened as the ship had turned away from the nearby star which resulted in the two coloured gases mixing into a dark purple which reflected the atmosphere inside.

"I know you didn't, Evac,... It's just.." she started to say back, her voice beginning to tremble slightly while she spoke.

"...I wasn't...expecting that."

But then Evac gave her a unsure look, like he wanted to ask a question.

It was one that the Asari could easily guess, while also being one that she did not want to answer.

But then the bot placed his hand on hers as it rested on the armrest of her chair, looking back at her with a sympathetic expression.

It was like he knew what she was thinking, and she found herself slowly calming down while looking back at him.

"You can confide in me, Tolae. I will never judge you, never hurt you or push you away. Because I am your friend... and will always be here for you." he then said in a soft and gentle tone, one that Tolae found to be very disarming, as she slowly took a breath and sighed.

'I know he is telling truth, because since we have met he has never been anything other than himself. Everyone else I have met since that terrible day has either shaped themselves to be something they believed I needed, a teacher, a guardian but never just a friend. Perhaps I can ease this burden I have kept inside my heart by sharing it with him.' she thought before looking down at the ground for a moment, to which Evac simply waited patiently, leaving control of the situation entirely in her own hands.

"You know...those of my Species who are Ardat-Yakshi, they aren't recognised as such when they are born. It is not until we enter puberty that it can manifest and show up, so we really do not know unless it is picked up in a medical examination or by..." the Asari began to explain, only for her words to stop as though she could not continue to say them.

Evac was about to enquire why she had stopped, but he then noticed the look on her face which was still very hurt, full of guilt and regret, and this gave the bot his answer as he looked up and took a breath.

"My god, I am so very sorry." he replied, earning a sad nod from Tolae who then began to reminisce, for it was as if she had just needed that little push to get over that hurdle that was in her way.

...I was never that really into socializing when I was a teenager, I was far more into my studies though I did have a small group of friends throughout that part of my childhood. But when I was Nineteen, I laid eyes on a Krogan Male at the same University as myself. He was discussing his theories in the same fields that I was majoring in and I found myself drawn to him, not for is ideas but for how he presented himself to everyone. He had such a way of expressing himself, that I found myself attracted to him in a way that I had not even considered before, let alone experienced..."

As Tolae spoke, Evac simply remained quiet as he listened to her every word whilst never taking his hand off hers, even when she looked at her reflection in the glass canopy, as though she could almost picture the Krogan there.

"...when our eyes met, I swear it felt like time itself had frozen around me. And then when we began talking, we found that we shared a great many interests and it was there and then that I made the biggest mistake of my life, a mistake that I swear I wish I could have taken back. Because we became fast friends and then lovers, it happened all so fast that neither of us had a chance to think it through, though we didn't want to either. We were just happy to have found each other...and it was then, three months into our relationship that we decided to go a step further and bond. And it was that night that my corrupted and cursed nervous system completely overtook and burnt out his, killing the Man I had begun to love on the night that was meant to be the start of the rest of our lives...the night I found out that I was an Ardat-Yakahi." she then said before her eyes began to well up again, making a single tear run down her left cheek.

"I am sorry...I am so very sorry for you, Tolae, but do you think that 'he' would want you to blame yourself for something which clearly wasn't your fault?" Evac began to say, which made the Asari simply look back at him with an unsure expression.

This action revealed the tear to the Bot, who could see it due to the reflection of the nebula's colour as it continued to slowly run down her cheek. So he reached up to wipe the tear away with his finger, while Tolae just remained still and watched him.

"You're as much a victim of this as he was, and you're nothing like the rogue Ardat-Yakshi that you have had the misfortune of being labelled as." he added with a warm and caring tone while wiping the tear away, which made the Asari's heart warm at his thoughtful words and soft touch.

"You're a good person." he then finished, before then gently pulling the Blue Woman into an embrace. This did not surprise Tolae at all as she simply allowed his arms to wrap around and hold her close, resting her head on his shoulders as she returned the embrace.

"Thank you, Evac. You don't know how much that means to me. After all the years that I spent at the Monastery, no one ever said..." she started to say before the Bot cut her off again.

"Sssssh." he whispered while holding her, which returned the Cockpit to the silence of that moment once more. Just as the nebula returned to it's red and blue glow, banishing the dark purple away as the pair pulled away just enough to look into each others eyes.

And it was at that moment that both bot and Asari suddenly found themselves leaning towards each other, in what felt like the most natural thing for them to do despite everything they both knew.

'I shouldn't be doing this, but he is a caring and good friend. And I want to thank him for his kind words.' she thought as they continued to slowly lean into a kiss.

'I shouldn't let this happen, but yet I know Tolae would not hurt me...how much can one kiss hurt?' Evac thought in turn as they then came within a few millimetres of each other's lips, feeling the breath of the other on their skin as they paused for what felt like a lifetime.

But before a decision could be made, before their lips either touched or did not, the pilot's com-link suddenly beeped and snapped the pair out of it as they pulled away.

"Uh... Evac here. What's up?" he asked with a flustered tone, while Tolae simply sighed in return as she looked away.

"Evac? It's Myra, you alright?" his friend then replied in a confused tone, gaining a nod from the Bot as he looked back at the Ardat-Yakshi.

"Yeah, I am fine." Evac answered while noticing that Tolae was as red-faced as he was.

"Okay, well I have our next destination. Please set course and take us there immediately?" the Rogue Spectre replied.

"Roger that, receiving and loading your coördinates into the navigational computer now." the Pilot said back.

"Thanks, I will join you momentarily. Myra out." his friend replied before the com-link deactivated, just as Evac had set the Eudora's next course. So he turned his seat back to Tolae, who was still looking out at the nebula.

"Tolae, about what just..." he started to say, which made the Asari shake her head in return and cut him off mid sentence.

"There's no need to apologise, Evac. Myra just saved us from a big mistake..." she started to say, before turning round to face him with a caring smile on her beautiful face.

"But I want you to know, that I am really grateful for what you just did for me, and that I truly value your friendship." she added, earning a nod from the Pilot who mirrored her smile.

"As do I. So, what do we do now?" he asked, which earned a knowing look from Tolae as she glanced back to his holo-interface.

"Well now, we should probably do what Myra just asked you to do. we can talk more afterwards." she answered, gaining a nod from the Pilot before he turned back to his holo-controls, while she re-positioned her seat beside his and watched as the red and blue colored cloud as the Eudora turned around and flew back out of the nebula before then disappearing into a Space-bridge vortex.

Meanwhile, Morinth was sitting at the desk in her quarters, looking out at the void of space through the window next to her.

'I can't believe Vasir would trust those lifeless androids over one of her own…' she thought before a small device on the desk activated, gaining the Ardat-Yakshi's attention with a high pitch beeping that made her stare back with a worried stare.

'That doesn't sound good.' she thought before tapping it, making the holo-interface appear with an orange hue that illuminated the room. The Asari then began typing on it's holo-keyboard which made a screen appear before her, showing a map of the galaxy.

'Wait…this isn't, it can't be?' Morinth thought while she suddenly tensed up, as a blinking yellow dot appeared on the map. This made the map then zoom in on the dot, revealing it to be entering a particular system.

'Eudora now entering Erebus system, the chances that its destination is the planet Nepmos and Leviathan Informative seven two zero is more than Ninety six point five percent.' a message on the screen then read.

"Oh shit, if Myra reaches 'him'….then I am dead." the Ardat-Yakshi said to herself after reading it, before her face then became thoughtful as she looked away.

'I think it's time for my fail-safe to be activated.'

So the Asari typed in another set of commands into the holo-interface, which brought up another small screen within the larger one.

'Signal sent, 'programs' activating.'

This made Morinth smile as she read the message, before looking back out at the stars.

"Farewell, Myra. See you in hell."