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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Last Cycle	By : Veyron722skyhook Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6104 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or it's characters. They belong to Bioware and EA. No money/profit is made by me from this.

Chapter List
- 22
- 23
- 24
Phew! I very nearly almost didn't finish this in time. A new College project came out of nowhere and things got very busy. Can only imagine they want to finish a few things up before Christmas.

Anyway, this one once again goes back to my previous Citadel chapter, partially based off my favourite film. Apologies if it didn't include everything you expected. There will hopefully be another one.

Chapter 23

A Small, & Well Earned Break

Rannoch had been a bittersweet victory. Although there was peace between the Geth and the Quarians and they now had their homeworld back, it hadn't been without it's losses. X-5's death had hit everyone hard.

Alpha had worked with him for such a long time, so it was hard to believe that after all this, the robot was dead.

Kaiden's death had also been hard for the crew of the original crew. Ashely especially had been quiet for a while.

Two memorials had been held that night. Kaiden ahd been given a proper funeral and so had what was left of X-5.

Austin had kept the upgrades that the robot had given him because they really did make him unstoppable. The problem as however that he could not use this upgraded form for very long. Even though is armour was now fully repaired and functioning again, his power core just didn't' have enough strength to power both the suit and the upgrades. In fact no Helldiver power core was powerful enough for both.

Dell however had made a promise. In honour of X-5 he would continue working on a prototype power core he'd had the idea for. He had said that if he ever managed to get it working, it would e three times as powerful than the power core of a normal Helldiver and would be more than enough to sustain the upgrades and allow Shepard to maintain his powered up form.

For now, things were mostly quiet. The Geth and Quarians had already joined in with the construction of the Crucible. Nazara's experiments on the Dark Energy had also proved helpful and had proved an extremely valuable contribution to the construction. It was fair to say that the completion was maybe only a month or two away at most. Although that still left the problem of finding out what the Catalyst was. So far though, things were going well so the Normandy crew had at least earned a small breather from it all.

Austin was simply laid back on his bed, simply relaxing for now. He was enjoying the quiet while it lasted. Eventually the Normandy would have to back out and recruit even more races into the Resistance.

Just as the Major felt himself starting to drift off to sleep, he was suddenly woken back up by a bleep from his private terminal. Stretching as he stood up and giving a quick yawn, he walked up to the terminal and accessed it. A message from Emily requesting another interview.

The Helldiver simply shrugged. Where was the harm in it?

"Traynor, can you send up Emily? She wants to talk with me." He asked into the comm.

"She's on her way up, Major." Traynor's voice replied.

Emily walked in a little while later, her camera following close behind.

"I'm sure you've got a million questions." Said Austin.

"I narrowed it down to 40. Let's see how you do with the top 10." Said Emily.

He camera got into position and started recording just as Austin cleared his throat.

"Major, the last time most of us heard about the Geth, they were attacking the Citadel alongside Sovereign and Nazara." Said Emily.

"Yes, and you should know that was a separate faction of the Geth. A small minority. Most of them are not hostile to organics." Said Austin.

"Is that how you explain that they're allies, and no longer "dangerous robots who stick humans on spikes"? Emily asked.

"What you have to realize is that despite their reputation, most Geth are not inherently violent. Nazara enslaved all of them one by one, robbing them of their free will. Then they attacked the Quarians and they fought back in self-defence. Now that we've freed the Geth from Reaper control however, they'll want payback for their enslavement." Said Austin calmly.

"But you're going to take an army of machines to fight Reapers with untold hacking abilities. What's keeping the Reapers from reprogramming the Geth, like they have before?" Emily asked.

"The Geth are extremely intelligent, and they've put incredible thought into solving this problem. They're now immune to the Reapers and will oppose them any day. They're not going to turn again. I'd bet my life on it." Said Austin.

"Now, here's a question from a Batarian on Omega: "Major Shepard. If the mass relays can be destroyed…"

After what really was 40 questions, the interview finally finished.

"So, did I miss anything? Do you have any questions?" Emily asked.

"You going to file your story now?" Austin replied.

"Well… if you don't mind." Said Emily.

"Go tell the galaxy we've got another fleet."

"Aye, aye, Major."

Deciding that another visit to the Citadel was in order, Austin had already set the destination and the Normandy was already en route.

In the meantime, Austin went down to the drive core to have a talk with Tali. As to be expected, the young Quarian was already busy working and mumbling to herself.

"Can't be… no, I guess that's right."

Austin caught her attention when he gently touched her shoulder and she turned to face him.

"Hey, Tai. How's it going?" he asked.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't hear you." Tali apologised. "I just got communication from the flee… sorry, from Rannoch. In the old days, I'd send any new technology I found back to the fleet. I should probably be doing that with agriculture samples, now. I… I don't know anything about raising crops."

How are your people doing?" Austin asked.

"It's crazy. The Geth are… helping. Setting up housing, adapting power systems. They're doing in weeks what would have taken us years." Said Tali. "Geth are even uploading into the suits of Quarian volunteers. They're rewriting environmental functions, jump-starting our immune systems.

"That doesn't sound possible." Said Austin, slightly amazed at what he was hearing.

"The Geth are software, not hardware. They can transfer themselves from a normal body into anything with enough processing power. They're mimicking infections, so the host can adept without getting sick. It's like making a vaccine." Said Tali.

"So the Quarians eventually won't have to wear those suits anymore?" Austin asked.

"It doesn't seem possible, but… yes. In a few years, with Geth improvements, we won't need them. We might still wear them. The suits have become part o our society. But a rupture won't be a death sentence." Said Tali, smiling proudly under her mask. "Today, on Rannoch, there are Quarian children who will grow up healthy and strong, thanks to the Geth."

"They owe that to you." Said Austin.

"No. I'd have killed the Geth with no regrets. And I'd have been wrong. Thank you, Austin." Said Tali.

The Quarian then gently hugged her friend. Austin didn't even object and hugged her back.

"You're welcome, Tali." He said.

Rebuilding was still being done after the attempted coup by Cerberus. But so far, the Citadel, and most especially the Presidium were in much better shape than last time.

As the Helldiver walked down the steps to check out the stores, he spotted EDI, along with Joker sitting not too far away.

"Hello, Shepard." she said.

"You look like you're gathering data." said Austin.

"That is a safe assumption."

"Anything and world-shaking? Man's inhumanity to man? Does objective really exist? That kind of thing?" Austin asked, slightly sarcastically.

"I was running scenarios in my head to analyse Jeff's behaviour. I believe he has a strong affectionate attachment to me, but he has not stated it to anyone yet." EDI exaplined. "Shepard, you have firsthand experience. How do you know when someone is romantically invested?"

"Errrrr, well..." Austin tired to say. This had been very unexpected and it was a rather uncomfortable subject to talk about, especially to someone like EDI. "Well, they'll usually show sings they can't stop thinking about you. You know: asking you out, giving you presents, maybe playing music."

"I lack material wants other than hardware and software upgrades, and my core programming does not assign values to music." said EDI. "Perhaps we could discuss how to provoke Jeff into an emotional commitment."

"That's not how to think of it. It's got to be natural. You need chemistry." said Austin, trying to be more clearer. In a way, it was like trying to explain all this complicated adult stuff to a child.

"There are a number of pharmaceuticals I could inject to stimulate the desired emotional state."

"That's not what I meant. I meant do something you both like. Something simple. For example, you both like humour."

"Correct. I will see if there are comedic entertainment shows being presented on the Citadel." said EDI. "Scanning... Do you think he would like "The Man Who Hung Himself?" It appears to be about a amorous plastic surgeon."

"EDI, the most important thing is to have a good time, wherever you go. And if you're having fun, he probably will too." said Austin.

"Then the outcome is an unknown quantity, but you are I should attempt it anyway."

"Nobody ever fell in love without being a little bit brave. That's how Liara and I first started." said Austin, a small smile appearing on his face as he remembered the times when he and Liara had first fallen in love. Neither one of them would forget those days not he original Normandy.

"I see. I believe you have improved my chances. Thank you, Shepard." said EDI.

Austin felt it best to simply leave EDI to it. As he walked up the stairs however, he suddenly heard a voice calling his name.

"Shepard, is that you?!"

Austin turned and saw most unexpected, but familiar face staring back at him. Gianna Parasini.

"Gianna? What a surprise. I hadn't expected to see you here." He said.

"With the war on, I got recalled. I've now been posted here to try and find a saboteur." Giana exaplined.

"Saboteur?"

"Yes. Been hacking key systems. Power, communications, it's bad."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Austin offered.

"Absolutely. I was hoping you might ask. But I can understand if you're busy, being the leader of the Reaper Resistance and all that. If you've got time to help, check out this console." Said Gianna.

Austin activated his omni tool and examined the console. His armour's systems were quick to find what he was looking for.

"Hmm. Looks like a collection of access codes. More specifically, Batarian diplomatic codes. Back from when they had an embassy on the Citadel." He said.

"If you can use your Spectre status too… oh, wait I forgot. You're not a Spectre anymore." Said Giana.

"No, but I may still be able to find them. Helldivers have very similar privileges to a Spectre, especially when it comes to things involving Batarians. I should still be able to help." Said Austin.

"If you think so, find them and then I can shut them down." Said Giana.

"If I find anything, I'll let you know." Said Austin.

"Thanks, Shepard. Always had a feeling we'd meet again."

"Same here."

Meanwhile in the Presidum Embassies, Griffin was busy carrying out a job Austin had assigned him. Just as the Helldiver had started the working on the Batarian codes, he'd got another message from Primarch Victus. It implicated that Volus ambassador Din Korlack was a possible Cerberus informant.

Although Cerberus was technically nothing more than indoctrinated servants now, and any others had defected tot he resistance, they did still seem to be operating in an at least stable way. Still, without the Illusive Man they were definitely crippled. When this war eventually ended, they would no doubt crumble from within and Cerberus would eventually just be more than a memory.

Griffin then snapped his mind back to the task at hand. For now, Korlack wasn't in the office, so he needed to find out where the Volus was.

The Helldiver walked up tot he terminal and accessed the latest messages.

"You've never been this uncooperative with us before, Ambassador." said a female voice.

"That's because you were actually doing some good in the galaxy before!" said Volus, obviously Korlack.

"We understand it took a lot for you to reach out to Cerberus, Ambassador Korlack. We ask that you trust us a little longer."

The next recording was dated just after the coup, and before the Illusive Man's base was assaulted.

"You people are monsters!" Korlack yelled.

"Ambassador, please-"

"Hundreds dead, Udina betraying the council! I should have cut ties with you ages ago!"

"And what will that accomplish now?" asked the Cerberus agent. "The risks you took by passing information to Cerberus… it's left you in an interesting position. If you sever contact, we can't protect you from the consequences."

"I don't… I have no time for this." said Korlack.

"We'll speak again. Have a good day, Ambassador Korlack.

Now it was just the final the recording. Grffin could only hope it had some clues, at this point anything would do now.

"The Turians think I'm still working for Cerberus. They've put a price on my head!" said Korlack. "I can't' go to C-sec or the Helldivers, but Cerberus has plans. And entire colony rests on my life. If anyone finds this, I hid a tracking receiver in the office suite beside the human embassies."

There was then the sound of struggle.

"What are you-"

Then the sound of someone being kicked out followed, and to Griffin's surprise, another voice joined the message.

"Damn Cerberus has them everywhere nowadays." said the gruff voice of Zaeed Massani.

"You gonna go on about them all night?" said a female voice.

"Just get the car up here quick. Little bastard's even heavier than he looks." Zaeed replied.

Griffin was very taken aback by this. He hadn't expected to hear from the bounty hunter after his contract with them ended, let alone in this sort of way.

"Zaeed?"

Austin investigated the hospital first for any signs of the Batarian code. Pretty soon, he found one in a nearby terminal.

"Gianna, this is Shepard. I found one of the code locations." he said into his comm.

"Okay, I'll shut it down. Just need to authorise your Helldiver status. Someone used this to cut off power to a dozen life support machines in the hospital." said Gianna."Okay, that access code is officially disabled. Can you find anymore?"

With Austin currently busy, Sarah had been asked to deal with another matter requiring attention. Austin had received a message from C-sec asking for assistance in something.

The N7 marian walked down to the C-sec station in the Presidium commons. Two Turian guards were waiting.

"I'm Commander Sarah Shepard. My brother sent me to handle this. You mentioned in your message that you had a situation that required our attention?" Sarah asked.

"This man was caught with Cerberus intel. There's firm reason to believe he's a Cerberus spy but he keeps saying he's a deep cover operative working for the Helldivers. Said also that he's a friend of your brothers." said one of the guards.

Sarah looked over the guard's shoulder to see someone she didn't' think she'd see again. He brother's old fan, Conrad Verner.

"Oh for the love of..." she sighed. "Let me talk to him. I might be able to get the truth out."

"Go ahead." said the guard.

Sarah walked past the two Turians and up to where Conrad had been handcuffed to his chair.

"Conrad Verner."

"Sarah?"

"You better have a good explanation for this, Conrad. Otherwise I really will shoot you in the foot this time." said Sarah, folding her arms.

"Sarah, I promise this isn't what it looks like. I'm not really with Cerberus." said Conrad defensively.

"The explain why you were found with Cerberus intel." said Sarah.

"After you and your brother helped me out on Illium, I began to hear the rumours that your brother was working for Cerberus. Even I have common sense and know that a Helldiver would never work for Cerberus. I refused to believe the rumours. And the end, I saw that the only true way to honour our brother was to do his job properly. So I joined the Helldivers." Conrad explained.

"You mean you actually got proper training this time?" Sarah asked, slightly surprised by this.

"Not exactly. I'm not a soldier you see, they felt I'd do a better as deep cover operative like I was pretending to be. They gave me training in that sort of field of work. Now I work as double agent for them inside Cerberus. I've been feeding them critical intel on Cerberus' moves for months." said Conrad.

"That is a very convincing story. I'm very inclined to believe you. Do you swear you're telling the truth?" Sarah asked.

"On my own life, Sarah." Conrad replied.

"One moment." said Sarah.

The N7 marine turned her back to Conrad and activated her omni tool. A holo screen of Xun appear in front of here.

"Sarah. What can I do for you?" the information broker asked.

"Can you tell me if there is a Conrad Verner in the Helldiver deep cover operative group?" Sarah asked.

"I believe I can. Give me a minute..." Xun replied. She took a quick moment to access one of her databases. "Right, here we are. Yes. Verner joined the Helldivers a year ago and was recruited as a deep cover operative. After proving himself capable on many assignments he was later posted within Cerberus as a double agent. He's be a regular contact of mine."

"Thank you, Xun. That's all I needed to know." said Sarah.

"Anytime, Sarah."

Sarah ended the call and turned back to Conrad.

"Seems I believe you, Conrad." she said. She then walked back tot he two guards. "This man's telling the truth. He's a deep cover operative inside Cerberus for the Helldivers. He doesn't appear on systems as a result. Let him go."

"As you wish." said the guard.

The two Turians unlocked the cuffs and allowed Conrad to stand up. With their job done, they left leaving just Sarah and Conrad.

"Thanks, Sarah. I hand't meant to get caught. I was hanging out with this Asari when she accidentally found that intel on me. She called C-sec before I could explain." said Conrad.

"Next time put it somewhere safe. My brother and I aren't going to be there to bail you out all the time, especially with this war going on." said Sarah.

"I know, and I'm sorry. I don't mean to screw things up." Conrad apologised.

"It's alright, Conrad. We all mistakes, even the Helldivers." said Sarah. Normally she wouldn't' be this supportive of COnrad, especially after he tried to flirt with her 3 years ago, but this recent revelation that he was doing a decent job now had given her a change of heart about the young man. "What can you tell me about your Cerberus contacts, or what's left of them I guess?"

"Not much. With the Illsuvie Man dead and the Takaal running things, there's not much else I can do. And I have to be careful otherwise I could risk getting indoctrinated. They were hoping to try and get me to recruit some people near the medical station." Conrad replied.

"Which was sabotaged, just recently in fact." said Sarah.

"I knew it. I didn't think they'd really want to recruit people, they just wanted a distraction. Seems they succeeded without me though." Conrad sighed.

"You didn't do it?"

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing I'd sent people to their deaths. Cover be dammed." said Conrad defiantly.

"Well anyway, I'm sure my brother can deal with it. Just don't try to help him though. You could blow your cover again fi you're not careful." said Sarah.

"Okay. But I might be able to give you and your brother some other help. That device that's being worked on for example..." said Conrad.

He was stopped though when Sarah gave him a stern look.

"...which I'm not supposed to know about." he finished.

"It's an accent, Prothean, dark-energy device to stop the Reapers. No offence, but I seriously doubt you could help with that." said Sarah.

"Well, I did write my doctoral dissertation on xenotechnology and dark energy integration." said Conrad.

"Really?"

"Yes! In fact, I may be able to find some ancient tech schematics that could help you with construction." said Conrad."Hang on, I have an old contact."

He pressed his finger to his ear for a moment.

"Aw, come on, Hossle. Help me out! Sorry. The war has him scared." he said.

"Hossle? Gavin Hossle, the tech researcher? My brother did him a favour once on Feros. Tell him this is for him." said Sarah.

"I had no idea they knew each other! Small universe! Okay, he's forwarding the schematics over." said Conrad.

He then activated his omni tool and began going over the schematics.

"Oh, no. It's in an ancient Asari select. We'd need a lot ancient Asari writing to translate..." he said.

Sarah then activated her omni tool and uploaded some Asari matriarch writings that one of her N7 special forces team had recovered from a mission.

"Would this collection of Asari Matriarch writings help?" she asked.

"Um, yes. Yes, it would. Okay, it's auto translating. Let's see.. Oh, no. The technology falls under an existing patent. I can actually access the schematics without a license from... let's see... Elkoss Combine." said Conrad.

For Sarah though, that also wasn't a problem. Her brother had the necessary access for that, all she needed was his authorisation. And when it came to these sorts of things, she didn't even need to ask.

Sarah once again captivated her omni tool and uploaded the license.

"How did you even? Well, this is great!" said Conrad. "Okay, here you go! Hope this helps in building that dark energy-device!" "Anyway, good luck fixing the medi-gel dispensers. I'll just be here... not touching anything."

Griffin managed to find the tracking recover Korlack had mentioned. The voices of Zaeed and the two bounty hunters he was obviously working with greeted his ears.

"How long till we will Korlack?" Zaeed asked.

"Once the credits go through. Was beginning to think you weren't interested in the money." the female bounty hunter replied.

"I'm not." said Zaeed.

"Because Korlack worked for Cerberus? What'd they do to you?" said the other bounty hunter, most likely a Krogan judging from the sound of his voice.

"None of your goddamn business! He waking up?" said Zaeed.

Griffin felt this was the time to try and make contact with Korlack.

"This is Alex Wilson of Alpha Squad. I'm a friend of Major Shepard's. Can you hear me?" he asked quietly.

"Yes! Yes, I can hear you." Korlack replied quietly.

"Tell me where you are." said Griffin.

"Ah… we're still near the Presidium. C-sec will check Selkish Arms when they realize I'm missing." said Korlack.

"They won't give a damn when they realize you sold them out to Cerberus." said Zaeed.

"Wait, Cerberus is planning to attack a colony that-"

"Stay calm. Help's coming." said Griffin.

The next one Austin found was in the docks. Sometimes it did surprise him that the Citadel didn't have better security systems than this. It made the prison on Arkadia seem like a deadlock in comparison.

"Gianna, I found another one." he said.

"Holy crap! These are the remote navigational codes. Last week's crash at the docks was thought to have been accident. Shepard, there were 117 Alliance soldiers on that ship, all human, just like the patients at the hospital." said Gianna.

"Batarian codes and someone with a grudge against humans. I wonder if…" said Austin.

"Okay, this code's offline now as well. Should just be one left." said Gianna.

"Damn it. Wrong door." Griffin cursed.

He was trying to find Korlack. He was close, but still unsure where exactly the Volus was.

"He needs you alive to stop Cerberus." he said, trying to get Korlack to stall the bounty hunters and buy him a bit more time.

"Cerberus is after a Turian colony. Kill me, and they get it." said Korlack.

"Drop Shepard's name." Griffin added.

"Shepard's investigating. He's a recent acquaintance."

"How recent?" Zaeed asked.

"Very." Korlack replied.

"All right, I'm listening." said Zaeed.

Griffin then heard the sudden sound of gunfire coming from another door. He quickly hurried inside.

There was Zaeed, resting with his back agaisnt the window, and the bodies of the other two body guards lying not he floor in froth of him.

"Been a while, Zaeed." Griffin smiled under his helmet.

"Griffin. Glad I wasn't just making an ass of myself over a hunch." said Zaeed. "Undiscplined bastards. This is what I get for signing up at the last minute."

"Where's Korlack?" Griffin asked.

Zaeed indicated over to a corner of the room. The Volus was right there.

"I'm here. I… You saved my life. I almost died because the Turians thought I was still with Cerberus!" he said.

"Did those mercs hurt you?" Griffin asked.

"I'm fine. They wanted me alive until the fees were delivered for my capture. They didn't care about what I had to say." said Korlack.

"You kept mentioning a colony in your message."

"Information on a Turian planet's defence system. They'll strike soon. But… if I tell you which planet they're attacking, Cerberus will know I turned traitor."

"Turned? You already betrayed your own people." Said Zaeed.

"We saved your life! Tell us what planet you put in danger!" Griffin demanded.

"I can offer a bargain! The Volus bombing fleet. In tactical terms, it's worth far more than a colony." said Korlack.

"Or you could give us both."

"You can warn the Turians there'll be an attack. That should be general though to ward off suspicion." said Korlack.

"All right. I tired playing nice. Maybe my friend can get you to see reason."

"Now wait just a moment…" said Korlack nervously.

"You mind, Zaeed?"

"It'd be a goddamn pleasure." said Zaeed, cracking his knuckles.

"I'll leave you to it. It'll be a while before anyone shows up for him." said Griffin.

"It's Aephus! Cerberus will attack a colony called Aephus for its shipyards." said Korlack quickly.

"And the bombing fleet?" Griffin asked.

"Yes. It's yours." said Korlack. "I'll speak with Citadel security about this… incident. You have my thanks."

"Took him long enough to pit that out." said Zaeed.

"Zaeed, what are you doing here?" Griffin asked.

"Later. C-sec's on their way. Won't be too pleased with the mess we left them." said Zaeed as he left for the door. "Catch up with me at the docks if you like."

The final console was in the refugee camp.

"Gianna, this is where the last access code was used." said Austin.

"One sec, Shepard. I'm losing your signal." Gianna replied.

Austin then felt a gun press against his back.

"Shepard."

Austin instantly recognised that voice. A Batarian that he had fought many times before.

"Balak. I should've known you'd be behind this." said Austin.

"You should've killed me back Elysium when you had the chance. I have been waiting a long time for this. Everything that has happened to my people is your fault." said Balak.

"What did you expect? Your kind made enemies throughout the galaxy. And now you've paid the price for it." said Austin.

"We were a proud race, a beautiful race! Have you seen what the Reapers have done to us?!" said Balak angrily. "I'm trapped on this Citadel. Our warships only know the locations of Reaper forces because I've tapped Council transmissions. I am the highest-ranking military officer left in the Hegemoney and I can't' save my people! But I can end you."

"You won't pull that trigger. You know what I'm doing out here." said Austin.

"Yes. Forging alliances with the Turians, the Krogan… Killing you will tear all the other races apart." said Balak.

"And then the Reapers wipe out everything, including the last of your warships. The last of your people." said Austin. "And you know that. If you truly care about your people…"

"I could kill you. I… could do it right now." said Balak hesitantly. The eye patched Batarian could not deny that his old enemy was right.

"Aaah!"

Austin felt the gun rescind and he turned to see Balak walking off.

"Our ships are yours." he said.

Gianna then suddenly rushed out of the crowd.

"Shepard. Are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine. You won't have any more trouble with those codes." Austin replied.

"Was that… Do you want me to arrest him?" Gianna asked.

"I want you to put a bullet in his head… but we're all making some sacrifices today." said Austin. "Let him go."

"As you wish, Shepard. And thanks again." said Gianna. Shen then gently planted a kiss on his cheek. This time though she didn't both to ask if the Helldiver could remove his helmet like last time. "Sometimes, I envy your wife. She's a lucky Asari."

"Before you go… I know it's a bit much to ask, but the Reaper Resistance needs all the help it can get." said Austin.

"There are a few favours I could possibly pull. I can't promise anything, but I'll do what I can. You've helped me out three times now, time I started returning the favour." said Gianna.

"It's been a pleasure, Giana. Take care of yourself out there." said Austin.

"You too, Shepard."

Now that just left Austin with fixing the media-gel dispensers. It didn't take him long though.

"I've fixed the sabotage. The media-gel dispensers should be working now." he said to one of the doctors.

"Thank you! I'll get patients moving through triage immediately!" said the doctor.

As the doctor went to work, Conrad soon joined Austin.

"Great work, Shepard! And listen, I'm sorry for..." he went to say, but he then suddenly noticed someone. "Hey, that's him! That's my Cerberus contact! Hey! Hey you! You're under arrest!"

The man looked at Austin and aimed a gun at him. Conrad quickly acted and threw himself in front of Austin just as the gun fired.

As Conrad fell to the floor, Austin quickly grabbed the Cerberus contact and broke his neck. He then knelt down beside Conrad.

"Shepard. Shepard... did I help?" Conrad asked.

"Yeah, Conrad. You helped." said Austin.

"I don't feel anything." said Conrad, slightly surprised.

"Actually, I sabotaged his gun. It might've looked like it fired, but that was just the thermal clip overheating." said a redhead woman. "Hi, Major. It's me, Jenna. You helped me a few years ago when I was working undercover at Chora's Den."

"And now you're volunteering here?" Austin asked.

"Chellick showed me a few little tricks when he had me working undercover. Guess that paid off, huh?" Jenna replied.

"You... you saved my life!" Conrad asked as Austin helped him up.

"I can't believe you were willing to lay down your life for Major Shepard. You're so brave!" said Jenna.

'Oh, the Major and I go way back. Let me give you and a hand, and I can tell you about it..." Conrad offered.

Jenna smiled and he and Conrad walked off. As Austin watched them leave, he couldn't' help but smile. He was impressed that Conrad had come this far. To think that 2 years ago, he would've been happy to let Sarah shoot him in the foot. Funt how time had a way of changing the most unlikely of things.

Griffin soon showed up a while later. He found Zaeed was in the section containing the Batarian refugees.

"Wondered if you'd show up, Griffin. Figured you and Shepard would be too busy recruiting goddamn armies for this war you're fighting." said the Bounty Hunter.

"We could always use more help." said Griffin.

"I'll bet. I've seen footage of what the Reapers and Taakal are doing out there." said Zaeed. "Tell you what: I'll see if some old contacts of mine are still around. Can't promise you anything, but if enough of them are still breathing… I can lend a hand."

Sarah simply stretched as she walked into her cabin. It wasn't easy managing all of the N7 special forces out there.

Things were going very well so far though. The Resistance keep getting new allies every day, and she was more than happy to let them assist out in the field. The recent addition of the Geth and the Quarians in particular was a huge leap forward. Since they'd joined, hundreds of key locations had been won back and the Reaper forces were being pushed back a lot. The Takaal though still put up a hell of a fight, but fortunately most mission concerning them were handled by the Helldivers, something that Sarah was very relieved of. Compared to the Helldivers, there were only so many of the special forces. They could not afford to lose too many soldiers.

Sarah sat down on her double bed which she shared with Traynor and lay back. Just as she was about to try and catch 30 winks however, she heard what she was pretty certain was the sound of running water.

"Please tell me I didn't leave the shower on again." she sighed in her head.

Just as she was about to opeN the door however she heard another sound. A rather pleasant and blissful, sighing sound.

"Guess I didn't." Sarah smiled to herself.

Taking care to be extra quiet, she gentle opened the door. Sure enough, she found the love of her life standing in the shower and letting the hot water run over her body.

Sarah already felt her arousal climbing as she watched Traynor's dark skin shine and glisten in light and water.

Being careful not to be seen, the N7 marine gently closed the door and worked on removing her clothes. She then gently opened the shower and stepped inside.

Traynor was caught completely off guard as she felt Sarah's hand wrap around her.

"Hello, darling." said Sarah. "I'm not complaining, but what have I told you about showering without me?"

"I didn't know you'd be back so soon. I was hoping to look my best for when you did." Traynor replied, sighing blissfully as she settled into Sarah's embrace, letting her love's hands gently stroke her wet tummy.

"You always look your best, Sam. Don't let anyone say otherwise." said Sarah. "You're always beautiful to me."

"You always say the sweetest things." said Traynor, giving a gentle moan as Sarah's hand gently moved lower until she began to feel the touch her lower regions. "I do like you better without all that armour you wear."

"I feel naked without it." said Sarah teasingly as she began to gently rub Traynor's core with one hand while her other snaked back up and began to squeeze and fondle one of her breasts.

"You say that as if it were a bad thing, princess." Traynor chuckled.

Sarah simply smiled and turned Traynor around. Both lips locked together in a passionate kiss. Traynor felt her heartbeat increase in excitement as she let her love take control. She also felt her fingers tingle every time she touched Sarah's smooth wet skin. For the both of them, this was absolute heaven.

Traynor then got a little bolder and gently pushed Sarah against the shower wall, her mouth latching onto one of her lover's large breasts as she kissed the nipple. One of Sarah's hand meanwhile stroked Samantha's smooth wet hair, while the other gently snaked down to her nether regions.

Traynor started to moan as she felt Sarah's fingers enter her pussy. She sighed and moaned with each finger stroke into Sarah's ear, making the N7 marine shudder in arousal.

Traynor decided to return the favour. While one of her hands remained on Sarah's breast as she continued to kiss it, her other made it's way down and mirrored Sarah's actions perfectly.

The two women moaned in union as they fingered each other.

Sarah then started to increase the speed of her strokes even more, making Traynor moan even louder until she finally couldn't hold it in anymore. Traynor nearly scream just as Sarah felt her own release start as well. They both came at the same time.

As the two panted, coming down from their joint orgasm, they felt the water start to go cold. So that they didn't suddenly go cold themselves, Traynor switched the shower off.

The two women simply stood there for a long time, kissing passionately. When they finally parted, they left the shower and Sarah took a towel from the nearby rail.

Traynor found it unbelievably arousing as her lover started to dry her all by herself. Sarah teased the poor girl as she dried her hair and then focused on her body.

Traynor gave a pleasured smile as she let her lover dry her in such an arousing and teasing way. Particularly when Sarah focused on drying her breasts and rear did she enjoy those bits.

After she was finally dry, Sarah then dried herself, almost doing it in such a way that it felt like she was doing a strip tease for Samantha. With her lover almost hypnotised by the show, Sarah slowly led her into the bedroom. She finally threw the towel aside, exposing her body.

Rather to her surprise, Traynor suddenly pounced on her and tackled her onto the bed.

After several long kisses, Sarah suddenly flipped Traynor around. Knowing instantly where this was going, the two started to 69 each other. Despite the many times they had done this, they never could get enough of each other's taste. Eventually, they felt their next orgasm of the night approaching. Both increased their speed and moaned together as they both came.

Several more rounds passed that night. When it was finally over, the two were both spent.

"Been a while since we did that." Sarah sighed happily as she cuddled with Traynor, the comm specialist's head resting on her breasts.

"Maybe too long." Traynor smiled blissfuly enjoying the feeling of Sarah stroking her back. "I love you."

"I love you too." Sarah smiled, gently planting a kiss on Samantha's head.

Bit of an apology to my friend, Mastermind. I just got so stressed for time with the last bit. Still, it's okay at least. Better than nothing.

Right, next chapter is planned to be the Omega DLC. Secretly, I have been dreading this one. I'm ashamed to see I've never played that particular DLC. I haven't even bought it. So I will have to use some gameplay vids.

Just fair warning, it might not be as good as you think. I've got one or two idea changes, but nothing too drastic.

See you next week.
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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, The Last Cycle