The Purgatory was falling apart around them. Alarms were blaring, prisoners were rioting, the guards seemed to have given up any hope of containing things and were collapsing into an ‘every man for themselves’ situation.

And honestly? It wasn’t the most chaotic environment Shepard had been thrown into. She wasn’t even sure it cracked the top ten.

“Shepard, two on the right!” Garrus called out from his overwatch position.

“Got it! Miranda, watch my back.”

Shepard quickly located the two guards that decided fight was the better option than flight and charged one of them biotically. The rush of energy gave her a faux-sense that time slowed down so it seemed to take an eternity for her to jam the barrel of her shotgun into the guard’s midsection and pull the trigger.

The Turian’s armor wasn’t enough to save him and his chest burst open in a shower of dark blue blood. His friend didn’t fare much better when Shepard’s biotically empowered fist drove itself into his face and she felt bone give way.

A burst of machine gun fire behind her caused her to spin around, expecting to find another guard pointing a gun at her. Instead, she saw him slouching over with bullet marks in a neat little cluster on his chest and Miranda standing nearby looking for more enemies.

“Good job.” Shepard was privately a little wary of the Cerberus operative at the moment. What was supposed to be a simple pickup had turned into this giant mess and she wasn’t entirely sure it wasn’t because Cerberus decided to change tactics and wanted her out of the picture.

There was no reason for her suspicion. Miranda hadn’t been trying to stab her in the back at any point. The operative had actually been incredibly useful in covering Garrus and herself while they moved through the ship following after the force of destruction they were hoping to recruit.

When this was over she would need to schedule another meditation session with Revan. There was no way she was going to let these paranoid feelings drive a wedge between her and her crew with no evidence to back them up.

Shepard felt a headache starting to form when she realised that if they successfully recruited Jack then there would be two incredibly powerful people who could tear the Normandy apart with their minds living in pretty close quarters.

She could only hope that Revan would be the mature one there and back down if needed, since Jack had proved pretty definitively she wouldn’t hesitate to wreck the ship she was on.

…

Oh God, they were all going to die before they got anywhere near the Collectors weren’t they?

-o-

Gatis Nazagius wondered for the millionth time how an idiot like Kuril managed to find himself running an operation like the Purgatory.

Personally, he put it down to connections.

Kuril was lucky enough to know the right kind of people to get ahead in life, while people like Gatis were forced to claw the scraps from what was left.

Gatis was born to normal parents, had a normal education, and hadn’t exactly had the chance to stand out during his mandatory service. If he was the same as the rest of the populous he might not care, but he was smarter than that. He saw as Turians with half his intelligence were given special training and assignments based on who they knew or even who their parents knew.

He knew when he was passed over for Spectre training that it didn’t matter that he was better than his peers, only the people that already had a foot through the door could advance in the Hierarchy. So he struck out and joined the Blue Suns, and found that it was the exact same crap just less blatant.

Who cared that Kuril wanted to cash in on a bounty for that Human Spectre and go through the most convoluted way possible of capturing her? The female might’ve managed to get a whole bunch of other people’s accomplishments under her name by being the first human Spectre, but she was still just a single person. Instead of trying to lead Commander Shayfard or whatever into a cell and hoping she would walk in herself, Kuril should’ve just ambushed her with two squads in a hallway somewhere. It’s what Gaits would’ve done if he was in charge. No three man squad would be stupid enough to fight those odds.

Instead, because Kuril was an idiot, the human prisoner Jack was running loose, the human Spectre was still free, and Gatis was being ordered to breach and board the ship the humans came in on because Kuril wanted it as a toy or something rather than just outfitting it with some bombs on the hull and blowing it to hell.

When he ran things then people would finally have to listen to reason.

“Right, we’re going to split into three groups once we are through the door.” the sergeant was saying. “Group 1 will secure the flight controls, we don’t want them trying to leave before we have control. Group 2 will secure Engineering. Group 3, you’re on crew suppression. Try not to kill everyone. We need someone to tell us the access codes.”

Well, at least this sargeant wasn’t a total idiot.

They still should’ve cut through the top of the ship in Gatis’ opinion but it wasn’t the worst plan someone not as smart as him could come up with. He would need to stick to the back of the group though. Ship boarding was dangerous since you never knew what the crew had on hand to deal with boarders.

“What do you think we’re up against?” One of the lackeys asked another.

“Well, isn’t it a Cerberus ship? That human supremacist group? Probably just going to be a bunch of humans then.”

“No shit, I meant how many of the crew will actually know what they're doing.”

“How would I know?”

Gatis tuned out the idiots and focused on the airlock where an Engineer was busy breaking the access code. Pretty soon they would open the door and likely need to deal with a couple of the crew when they tried to hold them off.

“I think I got it.” the Engineer called out and retreated from the airlock back to where the rest of the groups were waiting. “30 seconds and the door-”

He stopped talking when there was a hiss of air as the airlock to the frigate opened up and a tall figure walked out.

Gatis pegged it as either human or asari based on first glance and the number of digits on the newcomer’s hands but he couldn’t say for certain given the rest of their body was covered in dark black and red robes. There were hints of bronze colored armor under all the black and gauntlets on her arms, but the biggest thing hiding her species was the grey and red helmet under her hood with a single black slit acting as a visor.

“Think she’s here to surrender?” one of the braindead humans that had joined on recently asked. Gatis rolled his eyes, a human expression he was quite fond of.

Of course the female was here to surrender, or at least negotiate for their release leading up the crew’s surrender. Clearly someone on the ship had a pair of brain cells to rub together and didn’t want to die. Gatis did wonder what the two metal cylinders in her hands were though.

The female walked calmly forward as if completely comfortable with over a dozen guns pointing in her direction. She had just cleared the connection hatch when the sergeant felt she had come close enough.

“Hold it! Are you here to negotiate a surrender?”

The female stopped walking and tilted her helmet.

“A surrender? Very well, I accept.”

For some reason the humans started laughing at that. The sergeant didn’t like it though. He always couldn’t stand someone mocking him and took anything he was too feeble minded to understand as an insult. Although Gatis did lower his opinion of the female a bit. It was one thing to show a bit of courage in the face of defeat. It was another to not understand when you had been defeated and should surrender.

“I want all of your crew to disarm and present themselves on this deck. Do it quickly and I won’t have a few of them shot as a demonstration.” the sergeant growled.

“No. Now leave or die.”

There was a brief lurch in Gatis’ brain as he realised that not only was this human, and she had to be human since no Asari could be this stupid, not realised she had angered the one leading fifteen Blue Sun’s mercenaries but was actually bold enough to demand they all give up even though she didn’t have a single visible gun on her.

“I...you...how dare-...” the sergeant was practically vibrating with rage at the dismissal and Gatis felt a small amount of pity for the crew of the ship in front of them. A few would probably be executed as examples because of this. Oh well. That’s what they get for choosing this woman to negotiate.

“Shoot her.”

Four guards opened fire. Gatis didn’t care what kind of shields the human had. Four rifles with no cover was a death sentence to all but the oldest Asari commandos… which was why he was stunned when the cylinders ignited into two blue and red beams of light and the dark figure was briefly hidden behind a wall of light.

…

Not a single one of the Blue Suns knew how to react to that. A Krogan might’ve managed to survive something like that if they had been in a bloodrage, but not just shrug off that much firepower without a scratch.

“Death it is then.”

There was a tiny movement in front of the human. The almost nonexistent amount of dust on the floor was blown towards them all in a way that reminded Gatis of a Biotic Push, but there was no corona of energy showing the dark matter manipulation. That didn’t stop the invisible surge of force from hitting him in the face along with the other guards and throwing them all backwards.

Gatis frantically scrambled back to his feet.

He knew it was a bad idea to let the woman out! They should’ve rushed the airlock as soon as it opened! Damned sergeant hesitating like some cocky asshole, this is exactly why Gatis should be in charge!

He didn’t look back as the area erupted in the sounds of screams and gunfire. He needed to get to cover! The others should be able to distract the female that long at least.

Gatis slid behind a barricade and looked back into a scene out of a nightmare.

The female had resumed her leisurely pace forward while the two devices in her spun arcs of light, disintegrating any projectile that came close to hitting her. Some of the guards had frozen up and could only stand there and fire helplessly into the approaching armored figure. Then, when the female was close enough, they would be effortlessly sliced to pieces. The ones outside of her reach were dragged closer by unseen hands. Slowly at first. Just to give them an illusion of escape.

Gatis knew the demon in front of them was playing with them when a rocket wielding guard managed to line up a shot and it was intercepted by the body of another guard throwing himself in front of the missile. Their body was torn to pieces by the explosion and the shooter was the next one dragged into the demon's glowing claws.

He had never really understood the distrust most Turians held for the Cabals. Other species seemed to control their biotics easily enough, so why did only his people watch them so carefully? It was because they knew. They knew that there were demons like this…

The screams fell silent and Gatis realised it was because everyone else was dead. The black and red demon turned towards him and Gatis knew he was going to die. The sights on his rifle wavered as the she-devil walked closer but he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. He needed to figure out how to escape! People needed to know that this thing was here before it could find more of its kind!

“So all but one decided to fight, huh?”

The unnatural flat tones of the non-Turian cut through Gatis’ growing panic. Noticing the demon had closed the distance much quicker than he was expecting, he threw himself backwards to try and escape the incoming claw and lost his rifle in the process.

There was no blinding pain like he half expected, so he looked up from his spot on the ground and found the demon looking impassively at him with it’s single terrible eye. He tried to make a sound, but nothing would come out but some strangled squeaking.

“Was this the only team attacking the Normandy?” the demon asked, but Gatis still couldn’t speak.

“Is Commander Shepard still free?”

“Where is the prisoner Jack?”

The demon kept questioning him but Gatis couldn’t-, no wouldn’t, speak to it. Spirits preserve him, he wouldn’t give it what it wanted.

“You’re going to make me do this the hard way aren’t you?”

He continued to say nothing as the demon raised an armored limb and placed it on his head. There was a...pressure...as the demon tried to corrupt him to be it’s servant but the Spirits protected him. It was more painful than anything he experienced and he wailed in his mind as the demon struggled to subjugate him, until the pressure just suddenly cut off. His thoughts were his own and the demon failed!

It drew back, defeated, and began to retreat leaving Gatis behind as it fled.

He noticed his Vindicator lying nearby and quickly retrieved it and aimed at the demon’s unguarded back.

He was the one chosen by the Spirits to clean the galaxy of these demons! And he would start-

*snap-hiss*

-with this one?

Gatis looked down, confused at the sudden burning pain in his chest and saw the demon’s claw glowing a hellfire red in the middle of it. He suddenly felt really tired and realised the demon must have somehow drained his strength with it’s weapon. A cowardly trick he should’ve expected. He wouldn’t...fall for it...next...time…

-o-

Revan watched in mild annoyance as the mercenary slumped over, dead.

She had been nice enough to only kill the ones that attacked her and was willing to leave them alone if they ran. But this stupid turian somehow decided it was a good idea to try and shoot her in the back after she let him go.

In a way, she was reluctantly impressed he had even worked up the nerve to attempt such a thing. He had recovered from her first Force Burst quickly enough that he had managed to find a cover position and aim at her near the start of the fight but hadn’t fired a single shot. She could even feel that he was nearly paralyzed by fear as well, so much so that she needed to pull the answers to her questions directly from his mind. Maybe she damaged something in the attempt? Those techniques were dangerous to use that quickly without a thorough understanding of the target’s biology.

Revan decided she might need to hasten her studies into the races in this galaxy if she was going to use the Force for interrogation without causing unneeded pain.

At least she managed to learn the Turrian language as well though. That would be useful.

Anyways, the attacking group was neutralized so her task was complete. Revan activated her comlink and called Joker.

“This is Revan, all hostiles outside the ship have been taken care of for now. I’m going to go pick up the Commander now before something else happens.”

”Uh...yeah...I’m good with that. I’ll just have the rest of the crew start polishing your throne for when you get back. Good luck Supreme Dark Overlady, have fun!”

Revan’s lips twitched upward at the irreverent comment. Joker was surprisingly good at hiding behind sarcastic comments, but she appreciated that he made the effort to act like he wasn’t terrified of her.

“You do that, Joker. If I approve, I’ll let you sit at my feet as a reward. I’m sure we can find something fitting for the occasion somewhere.”

”Did...did you just make a joke?” Joker sputtered incredulously. ”That was a joke right?”

”...Revan?”

Revan said nothing, but she was smiling as she closed the connection and spread her senses outward.

The prison ship was a maelstrom of fear and anger. Tiny specks in the force scurried around either fighting each other or searching for a way off the ship. Revan shifted her attention through all of them, looking for the signatures she had come to associate with the Commander and her companions. It helped that she was able to reduce the range of her search to somewhere close to the Normandy since this was supposed to be a pickup before the chaos. The human Spectre couldn’t have made it too far from them already.

A moment passed and Revan started walking deeper into the prison ship. Her earlier smile had vanished when she picked up on the presence the Commander had been getting closer to. It was a star of rage and hurt and hate that Revan had mostly seen in Sith Acolytes. Not something she was entirely surprised to sense on a prison ship in the middle of space but the intensity was abnormal.

Revan had a feeling that this was the person Shepard had been attempting to retrieve.

She quickened her pace a bit. She didn’t want to get there too late afterall.

-o-

Shepard had gotten a brief look at Jack when they had set her free but she had been a bit more concerned about the army of Blue Suns potentially around the corner to get more than first impressions. So when her squad finally managed to catch up to the rampaging biotic the first thing Shepard wondered was how the hell she wasn’t rubbing herself raw using a strap of what looked like leather as a bra.

The second was what had the near topless woman in such a frothing rage that she didn’t notice the Blue Suns merc charging at her until the last second.

Shepard swiftly pulled her Carfinax and fired off a shot, dropping the merc and getting Jack’s attention. Not wanting to kick off another fight, Shepard raised her hands placatingly and returned her pistol to its mag-harness.

“What the hell do you want?” Jack snapped, she was tensed and looking for the slightest signs of hostility. Shepard realised if she softballed this then Jack would try to walk all over her.

“Besides saving your ass?”

Jack started pacing, reminding Shepard of a cornered animal more than anything. “He was already dead. He just didn’t know it.” she snapped. “Now answer me, what the hell do you want?”

Okay, maybe that was a little too confrontational. Perhaps dialing it back a bit?

“Look, you’re in a bad situation, I’m going to get you out of here.”

“Shit, you sound like a pussy.” Shepard didn’t show any reaction to the insult. Despite the words, Jack had slowed her pacing a bit. “I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re Cerberus.”

Shepard could already tell Jack was wavering a bit despite that last statement. She didn’t miss the confused glances at Miranda and Garrus. The Commander could understand the confusion. Cerberus didn’t work with aliens if they had the choice most of the time. For a Turian to be in their group meant there was more going on that Jack wouldn’t be able to figure out at a glance, and that made her cautious.

“Why would me being Cerberus be an issue?” Shepard asked.

“They’ve been on my ass for years.” Jack scoffed. “Anytime I get free, they slap a huge bounty on me. That’s why that dumbass Kuril thought he struck gold when he caught me.” a sneer crossed her face. “It isn’t working out too well for him.”

“She's destroyed Cerberus property and killed quite a few Cerberus personnel. Hence the bounty.” Miranda clarified, but the other two women seemed to ignore her besides Jack narrowing her eyes and glaring at the Cerberus Operative.

Shepard briefly thought about the trail of destruction Jack left in her wake, the dead prisoners and mercs, and Kuril’s body lying on the ground somewhere behind them with half his face torn off from getting shot by Garrus’s sniper rifle.

“No, I guess it isn’t.” She agreed, deciding to ignore Miranda’s comment about the reasons for the bounty. She honestly didn’t care about it. “I’m here to ask for your help though. I’m not your enemy.”

“Good thing too. Being our enemy seems to be bad for people’s health.” Garrus ‘helpfully’ added, but it got Jack to snort in amusement so Shepard let it slide.

“Bullshit. You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. How stupid do you think I am?” Shepard was half convinced Jack was simply arguing to argue at this point, and while she normally wouldn’t care that much the Purgatory was in the process of tearing itself apart.

“Weeell,” Shepard said lightly. “We’re currently on a ship going down in flames. I’ve got a ticket out and I’m offering you a ride…” her voice hardened. “And you’re arguing. So you tell me?”

Jack bristled angrily but Shepard knew she had her. Unless Jack couldn’t see even the most blatant writing on the wall the human Spectre was her best bet out.

“Fine, you said you wanted my help?” Jack snarled. “Make it worth my while.”

Shepard smiled internally. Game, set, match.

“Alright, what do you want?”

Jack glared off to her right where past several windows the Normandy could be seen docked.

“Your ship, I bet it's got a lot of Cerberus databases.” Jack looked back at Shepard and continued after the Spectre nodded in confirmation. “I want access to them. See what Cerberus has on me. You give me that and I’ll join your little team or whatever.”

Shepard raised an eyebrow. “That's all you want?”

Jack nodded.

“Fine, then I’ll give you full access.”

“Shepard, you’re not authorized to do that!” Miranda gasped, quickly rising to the defense of her organization.

“Oooh, and it upsets the cheerleader. Even better.” Jack sneered and turned back to Shepard. “You better be straight up with me.”

Before the Commander could say anything, another voice called out nearby causing all of them to jump.

“I wouldn’t worry about that. The Commander is quite good at keeping promises.” Revan casually walked out from the shadows like she didn’t care she almost gave everyone a heart attack.

Jack spun immediately, a glow of biotic energy pouring off of her, and launched herself at the new arrival. Shepard raised a hand and took a step forward hoping to stop the biotic before anything happened but she was too late.

Jack collided with Revan and a shockwave nearly blew the rest of them off their feet.

Shepard recovered quickly and rushed into damage control. “Wait Jack! She’s with us!” but then she stopped as she took in the sight in front of her.

Jack, the human biotic so powerful that she was able to blitz through YMIR mechs and ship walls practically unarmed, was being held in place by the Sith Lord. With one hand.

Sure Revan at least seemed to be straining a little and needed to take a half-step backwards under Jack’s assault, but for all Jack’s raw power Revan clearly wasn’t taking her seriously.

“Your raw might is impressive,” Revan commented, only the tiniest bit of strain audible between the sound of Jack’s growling and the slight distortion from her helmet. “But you’re lacking control…” she paused and there was a pulse that sent Jack skidding backwards. “You’ll need to work on that.”

“Who the fuck are you?” Jack angrily demanded, the corona of biotic energy flaring higher.

“Hold it!” Shepard interrupted before the two could clash again. “Jack, that's Revan. She’s part of the crew. And Revan, what are you doing out here? I thought you wanted to stay on the ship.”

“The guards tried to capture the Normandy while you were chasing this one,” Revan tilted her head at Jack. “After I took care of them I thought you might need help, but by the time I arrived you had talked her down. It was well done.”

“I’ll show you well done.” Jack growled.

Shepard held her breath as the two locked gazes before Revan simply turned her visor to Shepard and ignored Jack.

“We should leave soon. The Purgatory is starting to shake itself apart. It won’t be long before a reactor explodes at this rate.”

Not wanting to let another fight break out, Shepard nodded. “Alright, let’s move out.”

The five of them quickly headed for the docking area with Jack muttering a string of curses at Revan’s back the whole time but when they passed by the remains of the Blue Suns boarding party she went quiet. Probably wondering how the hell Revan killed them based on the wounds.

Still, when the last of them stepped through the airlock and Joker pulled them away. Shepard felt a weight fall off her shoulders.

Mission complete and everyone made it home. She couldn’t ask for anything more.

“Okay. Jack, follow me and Miranda to the conference room and we’ll get you settled. Garrus, Revan, you’re free for now. We’ll do a debrief of everything that happened later. Dismissed.”