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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, Alpha Origins	By : Veyron722skyhook Category: +M through R > Mass Effect Views: 6173 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: 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
- 4
- 5
- 6
I'm very pleased with this one. It took far less time, and I've been able to do it before I go away on holiday in two weeks. As before I will use the time away to continue writing. I'm told though that this time the place where my family and I are staying will have free WiFi, so I'll be able to stay connected.

Anyway, the chapter. This one has practically become a cameo galore chapter. Some characters we're already familiar with, and a few who will have a part to play in later years.

Plus, there's some nice character development I hope you enjoy and of course there's the ME2 easter egg I mentioned last time. I look forward to seeing who spots it. ;)

Enjoy! Chances are my next chapter won't be until after my holiday, so see you then!

YEAR 2, The Criminal Element

2174: 13 months after the battle of Elysium

14 Years Before the Battle of Arkadia

"And that arms deal was only the start. Not long after New Year's eve 2173, we were given a very special assignment. Things however went to hell very quickly. Not only that, but we also had our first encounter with an enemy that would soon lead us into something far worse."

Chapter 5

The Helldiver Slayer

Sat all around a ring table with a holo map of the Terminus systems in the centre, sat The Termnius crime lords, the richest, most powerful and most dangerous criminals. Smuggling, theft, crime, drug trafficking, it was all controlled by them.

There were 8 of them, three humans, two Asari, a Batarian, a Salarian and a Vorcha. At the front of the others and sitting slightly higher was the head of the crime lords, the Kingpin.

He was a giant of a man. Dressed in a simple white suit, 40% fat, 60% muscle and bald, the mere presence of him meant business.

"International smuggling revenues are up 14%. Theft up 43%." He said. "Fellow crime lords, looks like we are set to have a most profitable year."

The others simply smiled and chuckled to one another. Only one however, a purple Asari dressed in a black and white outfit with the symbol of Omega on her back had a different attitude to this.

"So it would seem, for now. But what about the future?" Aria T'loak asked.

"The future?" the Kingpin asked, confusedly.

"Kingpin, how long do you expect all of this to go unnoticed?" Aria asked rhetorically. "True we have nothing to fear from the Citadel council. Even if they did know, they would never dare go after us in the Terminus systems."

"Then what have we to fear, T'loak?" the Kingpin asked, still questioning why Aria had any reason to be concerned.

"I think we all know the answer to that." Said Aria as she pressed a button on her desk. The holo map of the galaxy map then changed to show the symbol of the Helldivers.

"The Helldivers?" the Kingpin laughed, causing everyone else to laugh with him. "They're more worried about the Batarians, not to mention all the other things they concern themselves with."

"They're growing bolder, Kingpin. Recent intel is showing that they're activity in deeper parts of Terminus space is growing, as is their presence. They have also become aware of us. It is only a matter of time before they attempt to make a move. We'll lose all our territory, our businesses, everything, and soon, that's going to cost us all a lot of things far dearer." Said Aria seriously.

No one was laughing now. It seemed that now Aria had managed to get through to the others and they now shared her concern. The Kingpin's expression remained unchanged, but he could sense the concern in everyone now.

"Hate to say it, but I agree. If this continues, the crime cartel will lose respect for all of us." Said the Salarian.

"Not to mention that I hear rumours they planning right now to make move on us all. Especially you, Kingpin." The Vorcha snarled. "If we not act, all of this before nothing."

"At this rate, we'll have to go into hiding, all of us." Said the Batarian.

Murmurs of agreement followed from all the crime lords.

The Kingpin took a deep breath and stood up, causing a sudden silence as he rose from his chair and stood at his full height. He then turned his back to the others and gazed out of the window at the vast cityscape of Ilium.

There was a long pause before he finally spoke.

"Even so, I want them to make the first move. Not the other way around." He finally said.

"We just sit and do nothing?!" one of the human crime lords asked.

"No. If the Helldivers insist on forcing our hand, then we don't want to disappoint them." The Kingpin replied. He then walked back to his desk and pressed a button, opening a comm channel. "Get me the Helldiver Slayer."

New years day, 2174 is standard Earth years. It had been quite the party last night in Alpha apartment. It was any wonder how none of the squad had hangovers.

However it wasn't all song and dance. A few of Alpha had just woken up to a freezing cold apartment. Their heater had broken. Rather than instantly call maintenance though as other Helldivers did, Austin at least wanted them to see if they could fix the problems themselves first before calling for help. A habit he'd been taught by his mother and father ever since he was a child.

"So… cold." Sandra shivered as Austin put a blanket on her.

"Leena, any progress yet?" he asked, doing his best to not shiver. Cold worked better for him than heat, but at this sort of temperature… way too much.

There was a faint banging coming from within the vents as Leena crawled through. For a normal Quarian, this would be easy. For a large muscle bound Quarian like Leena however it was a painfully tight squeeze.

"Not yet." She grunted.

"Morning, everyone." Alex yawned as she came out of her own bedroom. "Why is it so cold in here?"

"The heater's broken. Leena's trying to fix it." Austin replied.

"Yeah. I'm crawling around in some damn tight vents. Even in this suit its freezing." Said Leena, her voice muffled and echoing slightly through the metal.

"Anything new from the Arkanes this morning? Kraan asked, somehow the only one unaffected by the cold.

"Not yet." Austin replied. "I expect there will be eventually though."

There was then a loud clang from within the vents quickly followed by a gentle hum and then finally everyone felt warm air in the room again.

"Right. Did that do it?" Leena groaned.

"Yep. Seems to be fixed." Austin replied.

"Good. Now how do I get out of here?"

The metal on each part of the vents distended slightly as Leena tried to move.

"Leena, be careful! That part looks loose!" Austin yelled.

"What?"

Too late. The metal came apart and Leena fell out, crashing right into the Christmas tree and taking down a few decorations at the same time.

"Did I break something?" Leena groaned as she picked herself up.

"Yeah." Austin sighed. It was a shame admittedly, that had been a nice tree.

"Well, we needed to take down those decorations eventually." Said Sandra.

Next Alaara exited her room. However, rather to everyone's embarrassment, she was once again completely nude.

"Morning, all." She said. She noticed however that everyone was giving her an odd stare. "What?"

"What have we talked about, Alaara?" Sandra asked in reminding manner.

Alaara then realized that she had nothing all.

"Oh. Sorry." She said. As she went back to her room, she noticed how Dash seemed to be staring lower than the others. "Dash, eyes up here!"

"So what do we do until we get a new mission?" Leena asked as she dusted herself off and sat down with the others.

"Just enjoy the time we have off, I guess." Said Alex.

"Calm, peaceful, tranquil… wake me when it's over." Kraan groaned.

"Or we could try to get to know one another better?" Austin suggested.

"How do you propose we do that?" Leena asked.

"Well, we all have our own little stories to tell." Austin replied.

"There's no story. Go ask the Quarian if you want a story." Said Kraan.

"The Quarian" has a name, Kraan." Said Leena crossly.

"Guys, come on. It's the start of a new year. What better way to start that new year than by… strengthening our friendship. We're stuck together as a squad and as roommates, we may as well to get to know one another better." Said Austin. "Take me for example, I'm a spacer kid. Grew up on ships my whole life, never staying in one place for too long."

"I thought you were Earthborn?" Sandra asked surprised.

"Common misconception actually." Austin corrected.

"Wasn't it lonely?" Alaara asked.

"It was a bit. Yeah. I was never around long enough to make any friends." Austin sighed. "I only had my sister."

"You have a sister?" Alex asked.

"Yeah." Austin replied as he activated his omni tool and brought up a photo of him and a red haired woman sat in front of a the view of a beach. "That's her, Sarah."

"Wow. She is beautiful." Said Sandra.

"Takes after her mother." Austin smiled.

"Mmmm. Pretty." Dash smiled suggestively.

Austin though gave Dash a very serious look. The scout quickly got the message.

"Sorry." he apologised.

"Hang on though. How does she have red hair if you and your parents have brown hair?" Alex asked.

"She dyed it red. She wanted red hair ever since she was a little girl." Austin explained.

"And you both grew up on starships?" Sandra asked.

"Yep. It wasn't all bad though. We got to see plenty of different sights." Said Austin.

"Why were you even on ships that much though?" Ventra asked who had just joined the group.

"My mother's in the alliance. She was XO when I was born, now she's Captain of her own ship." Austin explained.

"I thought your father was a Helldiver General?" said Alex.

"Errrr… he is." Said Austin, still a bit confused as to why the others didn't understand.

"But… how?" said Alex. "So let me get this straight. Your mother's in the Alliance, and your father's in the Helldivers."

"Yes?" Austin replied, still struggling to understand what all the confusion was about.

"Huh, I didn't think something like that was possible." Said Ventra.

"Thanks." Austin simply replied, unimpressed. "What about you, Sandra? What's your story?"

"Well, I am Earthborn. I grew up on the streets of Russia, learned to look out for myself." Said Sandra.

"No parents?" Alaara asked.

"My mother died in child birth unfortunately. She had a friend, but she had too many financial problems to look after me."

"Oh dear."

"Hold on though. You don't sound fully Russian though. Where's the partly American accent come from?" Dash asked.

"I'm getting to that." Said Sandra. "Some time later, when I was older I eventually ended up on the streets of New York and I stayed like that until I finally joined the Helldivers at 18."

"Not hearing much about your father, what about him?" Austin asked.

"Never knew him. From what my mother's friend told me, he left when he learned my mother was pregnant. Never made any effort to try and find me." Said Sandra.

"I'm sorry to hear that." Said Austin sympathetically.

"From what I was told though, he was a Helldiver. Somehow though, when I joined and tried to find him, I couldn't find his name in any records at all." Said Sandra. "My best guess is he simply lied about being a Helldiver."

"So is that why you're only half Russian, because your father was American?" Alex asked.

"Pretty much, yes."

"What's going on?" Alaara asked as she rejoined the others, now wearing a bathrobe. It did seem awfully loose though, and there was an undeniably occasional flash of one of her breasts.

"We're sharing stories with each other." Sandra replied.

"Oooohh. What sort of stories?" Alaara asked interestingly as she sat down with everyone. She had to temporarily snap Dash out of it when she noticed he was still staring.

"Just life stories. Nothing sexual." Sandra corrected her seriously.

"Aw!" Alaara sighed jokingly.

"Didn't you tell me you were the daughter of two Asari pornstars?" Austin asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah, but… I'm not sure if I'm comfortable talking about that." Said Alaara hesitantly.

"We're not gonna judge you, Alaara." Said Sandra.

"Well, there's not much to tell." Said Alaara as she sat down with the others, quickly readjusting her robe so that a gap in it didn't show off her Azure. "My parents conceiving me wasn't too special, and was kind of an accident. They were doing a scene and since they were bondmates, they often used Unions to truly enhance the vids they made. But then one time they ended up going far deeper into the Union than they had before. My mother got pregnant with me, and so they were forced to temporarily stop their "business" while they raised me. They attempted to continue in secret, but I eventually found out. And… well…"

"What? Well what?" Dash asked keenly.

"They… err, they gave me a bit of… education on…" said Alaara, struggling to fin the correct words.

"They didn't!" Austin asked in shock.

"I'm afraid they did." Said Alaara.

"You… and your parents?!" Alex asked in shock.

"Nothing I'm proud of, but it did give me the skills and knowledge I've been able to put to good use as a Helldiver, so I won't hear a word said against it." Said Alaara.

"You're a little scary sometimes. Do you know that?" said Dash.

"You've no idea, boy." Alaara smiled naughtily. "Very few can use sex as a weapon, I'm one of them."

"So both your parents were Asari?" Sandra asked.

"Yes."

"Isn't there a word for that? Pureblood was it?" Dash asked.

The moment the word "Pureblood" left Dash lips however, Alaara suddenly threw a biotic warp at him that toppled him off his chair.

"Hey! What was that for?!" the scout yelled.

"Don't you ever call me that again! You understand?!" said Alaara crossly.

"Alright, alright! Sorry!" Dash apologised.

"You should know better than that Dash. If you'd listened in training, you'd know the term "Pureblood" is a cruel term, and Alaara certainly doesn't deserve to be called that." Said Austin supporting.

"Here, here." Sandra agreed.

"How about you, Leena? What's your story that led you here?" Austin asked.

"It's not a nice story." Leena replied.

"We're prepared for that."

"Okay. Well, like all Quarians, I grew up on the Migrant fleet. None of that was anything special to be honest until I met him." Said Sandra.

"Him?"

To everyone's surprise, Leena took out a locket out of a compartment on her suit. Inside it was the picture of a younger version of her and a male Quarian cuddling each other. Looking at Leena now, it was weird seeing her as thin in the picture.

"He was my boyfriend before he went on Pilgrimage. We had to go our separate ways when we went on Pilgrimage, but we still kept in contact." Said Leena, her tone changing to a slightly sad one as she looked at the picture herself.

"What happened to him?" Ventra asked.

"He'd found something first and returned from his Pilgrimage before me. While I was still searching for something, he later said something that hurt me. He told me that he was finding life on the Flotilla boring and useless and that he'd had decided to lend his skills to the Helldivers. He told me that we might not see each other again, but I refused to give up on him. Eventually I decided to give up on my pilgrimage and joined the Helldivers too." "Only… when I joined, I found out that he'd…. he'd been killed in action."

"Bozhe moy !" Sandra gasped.

"We never realized… Well, that does certainly explain a few things." Said Austin.

"Don't feel sorry for me. It made me stronger." Said Leena. "And as you've seen, I often channel the anger and rage of that in my fighting."

"Yeah. Remind me to never get on your bad side, unless I want to know what it feels like to have a Tomahawk in the head." Dash agreed.

"What about you, Dash?" Sandra asked.

"Hmmm… where to start? Well, I was born and raised on the colony of Mindoir." Said Dash.

"Oh."

"Yeah. I think you can probably guess what happened." Dash nodded. "I had to watch as my parents were killed. So you can probably imagine where my grudge against Batarians comes from."

"No kidding." Said Sandra.

"Nothing truly special after that to be honest. I joined the Helldivers when I was old enough, was in the same training unit as Sandra, and now here I am telling you all this now without breaking the fourth wall."

"I think we are curious about your… let's be honest, odd sense of humour." Said Austin.

"I don't know. I guess it's my way of maintaining some sort of control and remaining positive. I'm an optimist." Dash shrugged.

"Nothing wrong with that. I'm a bit of an optimist myself." Austin agreed.

"Okay, Ventra. Your turn." Said Dash.

"Well, I grew up on Palaven like every other Turian. I'd hoped to one day join the Turian military, and eventually I achieved that." Said the Turian.

"What made you change your mind though?" Alex asked.

"We got deployed to this jungle planet once for a recon mission. It didn't go well. A sudden Predator attack killed my entire squad and took me believing I was dead too. When I awoke, I managed to kill the creature, but I was all alone. I could get to a base, but it would take me some time. It was during that time on that planet all by myself that I learned to hunt, to truly kill, to stalk prey and above all learned how to use a bow and arrow. Without any other choice, I was forced to fashion one and I gradually homed my skills as I hunted to stay alive. When I returned to civilization however, the Turian military didn't have the same appeal I thought it had. After all, they wouldn't let me continue using the new weapon that I had mastered. But then I learned that the Helldivers had no such restrictions when it came to tactics and weapons. They used everything from modern day technology to old fashioned hand held weapons." Said Ventra. "That's pretty much how I ended up here."

"A survivor and a hunter. Impressive." Said Kraan, quite humble for him.

"When it comes to situations like this, you're left with the ultimate choice: Kill or be killed." Said Ventra. "Shepard will know this, he faced a similar situation on Akuze."

"Hmm." Austin simply nodded.

"How about you, Alex?" Sandra asked.

"There's nothing to tell really." Alex shrugged. "Dropship piloting runs in the family all the way back to my great grandfather who was a helicopter pilot dropping off human soldiers on recon and combat missions."

"Well, still. I'm sure you're ancestors would be rather proud of you following in their footsteps." Said Austin.

"Thank you, Shepard." Alex smiled.

"Kraan, you're the last one. How'd you end up here?" Sandra asked.

"There's not much to tell. Grew up on Tuchanka, originally was a Blood Pack member, found it boring and joined the Helldivers instead." Kraan simply replied.

"Wait, you used to be a Blood Pack member?!" Alaara asked.

"For a time, yes." Kraan replied.

"And you found it boring?" Ventra asked.

"Guess I'm more bloodthirsty than other Krogan. Plus, the food was terrible." Said Kraan.

"You have an odder appetite than other Krogan as well." Said Austin.

Although no one had made a very long conversation, it was still nice that everyone had been willing to share stories with each other. Austin especially was glad to see that although it was still rusty, it was nice that everyone was starting to forge a friendship with each other. He couldn't help but give a little smile at the thought.

There was a temporary peaceful silence before Alaara eventually broke it as she stood up.

"Well, if no one has got anything else planned, I think I'm gonna go take a long relaxing bath." She said.

After about 2 hours, Alaara finally came out. By now, some of the others had gotten to doing their own thing and so only Austin, Sandra and Alex were lifting in the living area while Dash was watching the holo TV.

"So, how was it?" Sandra asked.

"It was amazing! I feel all clean and relaxed. Thank you so much for telling me about human baths." Said Alaara happily.

"Anytime." Sandra smiled.

As Sandra got up and headed into her room, Alaara temporarily stood there as she continued staring at Sandra before finally taking the woman's place on the sofa next to Austin.

"How are you and Sandra getting along?" Austin asked.

"Not a bad friendship if I'm honest. Still a little bit rusty here and there though, but don't worry. I'll get her to warm up to me. If there's one thing I know... it's women and covert operations."

"Ummm... those are two things." Said Alex.

"Believe me: They're not." Alaara smiled.

The silence was then interrupted by a beeping from Austin's omni tool.

"Aaaaaaaaaaand, that would be our next assignment." Said Dash.

Putting down his magazine, Austin opened up the message from the Arkanes. Once he'd finished reading, he stood up and cleared his throat.

"Suit up Alpha, we're going after The Terminus Crime Lords!"

The still cold winter weather did make the conditions awfully windy and snowy. Alex was only just able to fly normally.

"So what do we know about these "Terminus Crime Lords" exactly?" Sandra asked as she checked her gear.

"They've been praying on the Terminus for a long time." Alaara explained. "Crime, Slavery, illegal weapons dealing, you name it, they're doing it. Eclipse especially have had a lot of deals with them in the past.

For a moment, Alaara's tone almost sounded like regret, but no one caught that.

"So what's the plan?" Dash asked.

"The one we're going after is Garth Kallun, he's pretty much the weapons dealer of the crime lords. Our mission to take him in alive so the Arkanes can interrogate him on the others. From there, we take the rest down one by one until only the Kingpin is left." Said Austin.

"Should be interesting." Said Kraan.

"The Arkane's contacts tell us he's got some goons doing a small arms deal nearby. Hopefully, we can make one of them tell us where he is." Said Sandra.

The dropship soon reached its destination and hovered just low enough that Alpha could jump out.

"This is as close as I can get you, guys. Weather's starting to pick up." Said Alex.

"Alright. Alex, put her down here and keep the engines warm. We shan't be long." Said Austin.

Despite the snow and cold weather, Alpha soon found the destination.

"Time to disappear." Said Austin.

With their cloaks on, Alpha simply waited until the dealers arrived. One side Kallun's all human thugs, the other Eclipse mercs, all Asari.

Austin noticed that Alaara did seem somewhat uneasy at the moment. For what reason however, he didn't know. But that would have to be a conversation to wait for another time.

"Where's your boss?" the Asari asked.

"He couldn't make it. He sends his apologies." Said one of the thugs.

"As this is not our first time with these deals, I'll let that slide just this once. You have the weapon?"

The main thug nodded to one of the others who opened up the case to reveal the weapon inside.

"And the money?" he then asked.

One of the other Eclipse mercs opened her case, showing the money.

"Mr Kallun will be pleased, I'm sure."

Alpha meanwhile the whole time had been slowly getting into position to make their move.

"Marking targets." Said Ventra through the comms as he and the others lined up sniper shots to take down all but one of the figures while Sandra snuck up on the one in charged.

"Ready, Sandra?" Austin asked.

"Ready." Sandra replied.

"On my mark. 3… 2… 1…"

Every shot hit it's mark and all but the lead thug fell dead. Sandra quickly grabbed him and knocked him out with a single punch.

When the thug finally woke, to his horror, he found himself hanging upside-down from the very top of a building.

"Where's Kallun?!" Austin demanded as he swayed the thug a few times to show that he wasn't afraid to let go.

"I don't know! Please, let me go!" the thug begged.

Before Austin could threaten to drop him, he noticed the thug's omni tool flashing with a call.

"Seems we have what we want now." He said.

"No, please! Don't drop me! I'll tell you everything!" the thug nearly screamed in fear.

"Too late, mate." Said Austin.

Rather than drop him though, Austin instead threw him back onto the roof and Kraan immediately knocked him out again. Austin then scanned his omni tool and accessed the call the thug had missed.

"Sandra, can you trace this?" he asked.

"Just watch me." The Russian smiled.

Using her equipment, Sandra began tracing the call's source. Within just 1 minute, she had the source highlighted on a holo map.

"There he is." She said.

"The slums. No wonder we haven't found him sooner. Someone as rich as him, it's unexpected for him to be down there." Said Alaara.

"According to this, he's hosting a fight tournament tonight." Said Sandra.

"Well then, let's invite ourselves." Said Dash.

Getting there unnoticed was the trickiest part, but soon Alpha managed to reach their intended destination.

From the top of the rafters, hidden out of sight, the Helldivers observed the fights going on. Brutal to say theleast. Some of them even involved aliens against humans, those were the nastiest.

From up top on the higher ground was Kallun.

He looked fairly elderly compared to what had been said about the other crime lords. He was probably around his early 60's with white hair, a fair amount of wrinkles and a rather slim build.

"That the best you can do? You hit like a ponce!" he said as he observed the fight with everyone else.

"There he is." Said Austin, keeping his voice down.

One of Kallun's assistant then came up to him.

"Sir, the Helldiver Slayer has arrived."

"Excellent" Kallun smiled. "Have fun with the fights, boys. I have some business to attend to. Make sure I'm not disturbed."

With that, the crime lord disappeared into his office while the fights continued.

"Who's the Helldiver Slayer?" Dash asked.

"I've no idea. Never even heard that title before." Austin replied.

"Something we should be worried about?"

"Most likely it's just a name. There's no one in this universe that's killed more than two Helldivers and lived to tell about it. Whoever this Helldiver Slayer is, I'll bet he's just some fighter who brags a lot."

"Alright, Alpha. I think we've done enough sneaking." Said Austin.

Disengaging their cloaks, all of Alpha leapt down into the arena just as the fight ended and the winter stepped out. The crowd was mo0mentarily shocked into silence and then started to murmur to each other.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" said the announcer. "A team of Helldivers this far from Arkadia? I'd say they deserve a proper greeting, right lads?"

The rest of the crowd began cheering as a huge figure suddenly stepped into the spotlight and leapt over the railings into the arena.

"He's big." Said Dash.

The figure was clearly atop fighter due to his immense size, scars and damaged looking armour. It was logical assumption this was the so called Helldiver Slayer they'd heard about.

"I'm gonna enjoy this." He said, banging his fists together in an attempt to be intimidating. He then turned to the entire crowd "ARE YOU READY?!"

The rest of the crowd cheered as he readied for a fight. Now they were certain they didn't have to worry about the sudden appearance of these Helldivers.

So far though, Alpha weren't intimidated. They'd faced far worse than a pit fighter with a mouth who thought he was invincible.

"Tell me where your boss is and this won't get ugly." Austin demanded.

"I ain't here to talk, I'm here to kick your asses." Said the slayer as he waited for Alpha to make the first move.

"Last chance, mate." Austin warned.

"You're about to be taught a lesson in pain!"

The slayer then slammed his fist into the ground so much that it dented.

"Now, come and meet your fate!"

Austin simply shrugged. With a quick but at the same time casual move, he simply pulled out his pistol and shot the slayer in the chest. He fell to the ground almost instantly.

"You first."

The crowd's cheers went completely silent in shock.

"Hmm, so much for a Helldiver slayer." Said Alaara.

"Who wants to show us where your boss is?!" Austin yelled to the crowd.

"Don't just stand there, you idiots! Get down there!" the announcer yelled panicking.

The entire crowd leapt into the arena and began surrounding Alpha. They dared not attack yet though. They were obviously still in shock after Austin had just shot the slayer. They seemed especially scared of Kraan.

The Krogan of course could see this, and he quickly decided to use this to their advantage.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGHHHHHH!"

Almost immediately, everyone fled the arena in fright.

"RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY!"

"You incompetent morons! What the hell is the boss paying you for?!" the announcer yelled as he retreated to warn Kallun.

The moment the last person had fled the arena, Dash burst into laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, I'm glad my suit recorded that! That was priceless!" he laughed.

"Nice job, Kraan. That nearly scared me too." Austin smiled proudly.

"I have my moments." The Krogan shrugged.

Having managed to intercept the announcer on his way to Kallun's office, Alpha now had the element of surprise.

As they observed from the shadows, they noticed that Kallun appeared to be interrogating someone. Their suit's database identified the prisoner as Thornton Arma, a struggling weapons manufacturer. His business had often been known for being in a somewhat heated rival with Kallun's.

Kallun slowly walked up to Thornton and suddenly hit him the face with his cane. In his other hand was what appeared to be a telescopic stun stick of some kind.

"Now you best listen, Arma. Because this is the last time I'll ask." He said. He then started pointing the stun stick at Thornton's face. "What are you gonna tell your company?"

"That we're getting out of the weapons business. I promise. I'll make 'em do it." Said Thornton.

"I see your lips flapping, birdy. But they ain't making the sound I wanna hear." Kallun laughed as he mockingly pocked Thornton several times with the stick.

Before he could do anything more however, it was suddenly shot out of his hands by a round. Kallun quickly spun round to the source to see Alpha uncloaking.

"Knock knock!" said Dash.

"Get them!" Kallun yelled.

His thugs quickly attacked. Unlike the ones in the arena these ones weren't afraid. The room quickly turned into a free for all fist fight. Despite this though, Alpha held their own and it only took a few punches to take the thugs down.

"Are you waiting for a personal invitation?! Punch 'em in the face!" Kallun yelled.

Alaara had a slightly harder time since she was fighting the most muscled one of the thugs and he was quite tough. Dodging under a heavy swing, Alaara felt her foot knock something. With little time to think as the thug swung again, Alaara quickly picked up the object which she found was Kallun's stun stick. Without hesitating she quickly hit the thug with it as many times as she could. The constant electrical surges and forcefulness of the hits eventually proved too much for the thug and he was quickly knocked out cold.

As she got her breath back, Alaara looked at the stick. It wasn't all that bad to be honest. It was telescopic, so it could be collapsed for easy carrying and it packed quite the punch in a fight. After all, she'd been in need of a melee weapon anyway.

"Hmmm. Not bad. I think I'll keep this." She said.

Soon the last thug fell, leaving just Kallun. Thornton had taken this opportunity to flee while he could. To be honest, that didn't really matter to Alpha. They were here for Kallun, not him.

"Now hold on! Hold on a bloody minute!" said Kallun.

Leena though suddenly grabbed him and threw him against a glass case causing it to crack.

"The rest of the crime lords, where are they?!" Austin demanded as Leena forced Kallun against the cracked glass.

"I don't know what you're talking about! I've never even done anything bad!" said Kallun.

This however was followed by Leena grabbing him, and hauling him up by the neck

"You want teeth?! We want answers!" Austin yelled as Leena added a punch to Kallun's face.

"Alright! Alright! I… I'll do as you say. Take me into custody… I'll gladly come quietly, just don't hurt me." Kallun choked.

"Who are the others crime lords, and where are they hiding?" Austin asked.

"They…"

But before Kallun could continue, Austin suddenly felt something attach to his foot. Before he could do anything, the Helldiver was instantly hauled off his feet by some sort of grappling line and pulled out of the door just as it closed.

"SHEPARD!" Alaara yelled as she and the others attempted to force the door open, but ti was sealed shut.

In the suddenness of the moment, Leena suddenly realised she'd let Kallun go and he had already made a break for the other door.

"He's running! Get him!" Alaara yelled.

Dash quickly gave chase, but despite this he just wasn't fast enough and Kallun managed to seal the door behind him.

"Fuck!" Dash swore as he skidded to a halt just before he hit the door.

"Kraan, break down that door!" Alaara ordered.

A simple head butt from the Krogan smashed the door off it's hinges. By now sadly, Kallun was inside the safehouse part of the building. No getting in there.

Sandra then noticed a glass window that overlooked the arena. They could see Austin as he appeared to be hanging upside down with the grapple line still attached to his foot.

"Over there!" she said.

The glass was strong for them to break so the best they could do was hope Austin could get himself out of this and hopefully handle whoever had done this. Another figure suddenly appeared and walked up to Austin, drawing a sword at the same time.

Austin however was quick to punch the figure away. He then drew his own sword and cut the line causing him to fall into the arena, rolling back onto his feet as he landed.

As Austin landed however he soon saw the attacker follow as it jumped into the arena after him.

"What the hell?"

The figure appeared to be dressed in some black robed armour. The armour parts however looked like they were… parts from a Helldiver's armour. Mostly it was just the black robe with armour plating around the gauntlets, some reinforcements on the bicep areas, large armour on the shoulders that stuck out a bit, body armour around the midsection and armour on the feet parts that weren't' hidden by the robe. In addition to that, the figure wore the upper part of a Helldiver helmet over where the eyes would be while a separate armour plate covered the mouth. A black hood over the helmet topped it all off. There was also a sniper strapped to his back, a pistol on his left hip and a SMG on his right while two swords were strapped to his hips, one on either side.

This now corrected Austin. That large figure from the arena had not been the Helldiver slayer. This bounty hunter in front of him was. Strange though. He'd never heard of this bounty hunter before, nor had anyone. Perhaps it was a criminal underworld thing. Regardless, this bounty hunter was here now, and Austin knew he had a fight on his hands. Most likely this one would not go down as easily.

Both opponents slowly stood and began to circle one another.

"It appears the game is over before it even begins." Said the Slayer, his voice deepened by the plate over his mouth, but undeniably male.

"I'm not playing games, bounty hunter." Said Austin.

"Good. I'd hate for you to go down quickly."

"Can't we just talk about this?" Austin asked.

"I'm not being paid to talk, Helldiver. I'm being paid to protect Kallun. Killing you will be a bonus." Said the Slayer.

"Well then I hope you're used to disappointment."

"I expect this will be the fight of your life. Enjoy your final moments." Said the Slayer as he drew a telescopic staff from his back and it unfolded.

He attacked first, forcing Austin to bring up both his arms to block the attack. He then followed it with his own counter attack. The Slayer just managed to push the staff upwards enough that it blocked Austin's fist. He then jumped back slightly to prepare for another swing.

"Who's that?" Alaara asked.

"A bounty hunter by the look of him." Said Ventra.

"Why does he look like a half completed Helldiver though?"

As Austin continued to block and counter attacks with his fists and arms, he was beginning to realise this Helldiver Slayer was not any typical bounty hunter after all. His speed, his ferocity and his fighting style was unlike those that other assassins and bounty hunters had. He definitely wasn't a Helldiver, but he moved and fought like one. The Helldiver pieces he wore as trophies and armour had obviously been taken from ones he'd managed to kill. Judging from the different part types he had, it looked as though he'd killed at least 5 Helldivers.

Very few could say that they had killed a Helldiver, but even fewer were lucky enough to say that they had killed more than one and had lived to tell about it. To kill 5 Helldivers and survive… that was enough to make you both feared and respected by Helldiver and criminal alike.

Austin's thoughts were brought back to the fight at hand when the Slayer made a long swing which he just managed to duck under. He then attacked back with an upward punch which the Slayer just avoided as he rolled to the side.

"No more!"

Before the Slayer could attack again though, Austin acted quickly. As if on instinct, and without even thinking if this could work, he pulled out the standard issue grapple gun that all Helldivers had for climbing and such and fired.

Much to both the Slayer's shock and surprise, the mechanical claw attached to his armour and locked. Not wanting to risk any exploits, Austin quickly acted on instinct and pulled. The Slayer staggered forward as he lost his balance and stumbled right into Austin's punch which knocked him backwards and off his feet. Austin then swung downwards on his midsection, causing him to smash into the ground hard with a loud clang.

"You'll regret that!" the Slayer growled as he rolled and leapt back onto his feet.

Austin however followed with two more punches. The Slayer managed another opening and attacked only for Austin to grab the staff and throw and kick the Slayer over him. However, the Slayer managed to land on his feet and quickly swung at Austin. The Helldiver unfortunately failed to react in time and the staff hit him right in the face, almost immediately disorienting him and causing him to fall to the floor, his vision blurring and his head throbbing like mad.

"You have skill, but lack experience." Said the slayer as he twirled the staff. He then stood over Austin, ready to deliver the final blow. "You got guts, kid. Too bad I gotta rip 'em out of ya."

Right as he raised and thrust however, Austin rolled out of the way. He attacked back with a punch, but the Slayer blocked it with his staff. He then swung one end at Austin's face, knocking him in the side of his helmet. With Austin temporarily disoriented again, the Slayer attempted a spinning attack. Just in time though, Austin regained his senses and managed to block the end of the staff being swung at him. He then pushed it away and at the same time punched the Slayer right in the back.

As the Slayer spun back round to face him, Austin aimed a kick which the Slayer blocked his staff. At the same time, he counter attack with another swing. This time though, Austin was ready for it. Grabbing the end with both hands, he then yanked it forwards and as the Slayer was pulled forward with it, he then smashed the staff right into his helmet with a loud bang of metal.

The Slayer backed away as he tried to regain his senses. When he finally did, Austin could tell he was cross with that.

"That was a mistake!"

He then threw a flashbang grenade at the floor which temporarily blinded Austin. The Slayer then suddenly leapt at him from another and began striking so fast that Austin was only just able to block each one using the small blades on his forearms. Sparks flew with each blocked strike.

He finally managed to grab hold of the staff and pin it down. Before the Slayer could do anything more, Austin then head butted him in the helmet and followed this with a series of quick and hard strikes.

"Come on, Shepard. Kick his ass." Dash cheered.

With the Slayer temporarily disoriented, Austin punched him two more times before finally doing a jump attack that has so much force in it that it smashed the Slayer's helmet and mouth plate right off.

"Oooh! That had to hurt." Said Sandra.

"Score 1 for Shepard!" said Dash.

When the Slayer turned back to face Austin however, a most surprising sight was revealed. Instead of the face of a man as had been expected, the Slayer's face… was a woman!

She had scars on her chin, forehead and right cheek, and a blue glowing cybernetic right eye. As it turned out, the deep voice from earlier was simply a voice changer. It was almost frightening though that someone like her was that big even without the robes and armour. She was almost as tough as Leena.

"Whoa! The bounty hunter's a chick?!" said Dash in shock. "Now I feel kinda bad for calling her a bitch."

This caught Austin off guard and he hesitated, giving the Slayer an opening. She swung her staff, hitting him right in the helmet and causing him to tumble to the floor, his head spinning and vision blurred.

"And yet another opportunity you failed to exploit." Said the Slayer, now using her natural voice as she lowered the tight hood she'd had around her head when wearing the helmet, letting her medium length jet black hair loose.

The fight continued with both opponents exchanging a blur of blows and counters.

"Your chance for a painless death is over!" the Slayer taunted, upping the speed and intensity of her attacks.

A sudden swift strike from the Slayer's staff knocked Austin in the side of the head. She then followed this with an upward strike which she quickly followed with a spinning downward attack. Austin was just able to sidestep the attack in time. The Slayer however quickly attacked again with another long swipe. Austin however ducked under the attack and then suddenly grabbed her. Despite the weight of her armour pieces, he was still able to lift her over his head and then threw her to the floor hard.

"Not such a pushover after all."

The Slayer once again threw another flashbang at the floor, temporarily blinding her opponent. She once again repeated her multiple attacks which Austin just managed to block. The speed at which this bounty hunter moved and moved was oddly familiar somehow, but Austin couldn't quite put his finger on it.

He finally managed to pint he staff down again and once again attacked with a series of quick and focused attacks. The Slayer managed an opening and attempted to bang the hilt of her staff into Austin's helmet, but he managed to grab it in both hands. Austin then kicked the Slayer hard in the stomach, causing her to stumble backwards and let go of the staff. Without even hesitating, Austin brought the staff down onto his knee and it smashed in two.

"Now she's screwed." Said Dash.

He spoke to soon though as the Slayer drew her dual swords.

"…Or not." The Scout added.

At the same time, Austin also drew Excalibur and the two went into battle stances as they circle one another.

"This should be interesting." Said Sandra.

"What do you mean?"

"Shepard doesn't just carry that sword because it looks cool."

"You are not gonna like what comes next." The Slayer taunted. "You prefer steel, or lead?"

Austin didn't reply and simply waited until she made the first move.

The Slayer attacked with just as much speed as her earlier attacks. This time though she could now attack twice as much due to her dual swords. As soon as Austin blocked one attack he had to almost instantly move to block the other.

As the second blade clashed against his own, he just managed to push against the Slayer before she suddenly spun and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to stumble back.

"Not bad, bounty hunter." He panted.

"You'll find I'm the best." The Slayer smiled, her cyborg eye glowing a bright but rather evil blue.

She attacked again, but Austin blocked both her attacks. His sword parried one to the side, while his arm parried the others. With both swords pinned either side, Austin suddenly headbutted the slayer using the flat part of his helmet. The Slayer staggered back, her head clearly spinning from that.

The fight continued for a long time with neither opponent appearing to have the upper hand. As they both used every trick and special move they knew, Austin was beginning to think that perhaps this bounty hunter had even studied how some of her Helldiver targets fought in order to learn their skills herself and use them against them before she killed them. No wonder her fighting style was so familiar.

Still, some of her moves did for some strange reason remind him of his mentor, General Zartrack. Some of her moves even appeared to mirror some moves he only taught to select students perfectly, and as far as Austin knew any students who did know those moves were still alive.

Finally, Austin managed an opening. With his blade pinning both the Slayer's he almost immediately thrust a punch forward with his other hand, catching her right in the jaw.

"A few tricks left, I see." She said as she leapt and once again threw another flashbang at the ground which once again blinded Austin for a third time.

"What is it with bounty hunters and flashbang grenades?" Austin groaned in his head.

The Slayer once again leapt at Austin and attacked so fast she was practically a blur. Finally seizing an opening after blocking each one, Austin pinned her blades, heabutted her and then punched her multiple times with both his fist and the handle of his sword.

The Slayer though managed to break this and swung at him again. Her blade however ended up becoming wedged between the gap where Austin's arm blade and the wrist. Actign on instinct, Austin quickly pulled his arm aside so hard that it pulled the bounty hunter's sword out of her hand. Now with only one sword, the Slayer attempted a desperate attack, but Austin parried it and with a swift move of his arm he disarmed her. He finally finished this with a kick that sent her against the wall.

"It's over, bounty hunter." Austin panted, raising Excalibur and pointing it at her.

"Not by a long shot!"

The Slayer threw a smoke grenade at the floor. Blinded by the blast, Austin lost sight of her as she fled the area, taking her discarded and damaged equipment with her.

When the smoke finally cleared enough that Austin could see, she was gone. When his mind turned back to Kallun however…

A hologram of Kallun suddenly appeard on the screen overhead. He looked to be in the inside a ship now.

"Nice seeing you, Helldivers." he taunted. "Good luck trying to find me and the others after this."

To say that Alpha were down after this was a mild understatement. This was probably the first time they'd failed, and on such an important mission too.

"I can't believe we screwed this up!" said Sandra. "We'll be dammed lucky if the Arkanes don't court martial us for this!"

"Everyone calm down! We're not getting disbanded for this. Both we and the Arkanes obviously underestimated these crime lords. It's hardly our faults!" said Austin.

"But still, what are we going to do now?! Every single one of those crime lords has gone into hiding." Said Ventra.

Before anyone could answer, Austin's omni tool bleeped. This was an actual call rather than another message. He quickly activated it. No one else could unfortunately hear what the caller was saying.

"Yes?" Said Austin.

There was a long pause.

"I understand, Councillor."

Austin's expression then suddenly changed to surprise.

"You're serious?" you're asked.

There was a another long pause before the Commander finally spoke again.

"Well, thank you very much, Councillor." He said. "Absolutely. I'll make sure we're all ready for this."

He ended the call and turned back to the others. He still looked as though he'd just received some good news.

"What was all that about?" Sandra asked.

"That was Councillor Spartan who just got out of a most interesting meeting with the rest of the Council… and one of the crime lords." Austin explained.

"WHAT?!" everyone practically said together.

"Apparently, one of the crime lords, some Asari named Aria T'loak, had a change of heart. She came to the Arkanes with a proposition. She'll gladly surrender vital info on all the other crime lords. Where they're hiding and how to find them. In return she gets pardoned and diplomatic immunity." Austin explained.

"And the Arkanes accepted?" Leena asked in surprise.

"It was probably the best and only opportunity we'll have. Without it, we may never have any other options of finding the crime lords." Said Austin. "And that's all. They're sending us back out to finish this. Hunt down all the crime lords, take them down one by one until only the Kingpin himself is left. And I'm also told… we won't be alone in this hunt."

At that moment, the door opened and another Helldiver walked in. Alpha only had to take one look at her to be surprised. They knew who this was.

"Wènhòu, ā'ěrfǎ xiǎoduì." She said in Chinese. "I am Xhi Shang Ren, but you may call me Xun."

Aria T'loak sat in her throne in the Nightclub Afterlife on the asteroid she ruled over, Omega. All around her were various Asari dancers while loud club music bellowed from the speakers.

Her recent… defection from the crime lords surprisingly did not have her as worried as she normally would be in this situation. She'd just betrayed them all to the Arkanes and the Helldivers. She knew that they never gave up and if there was one thing they definitely were, it was persistent.

Nevertheless, Aria wasn't popping the cork just yet. Hundreds of years of experience had taught her to be cautious.

One of her dancers, an Asari with white tattoos from practically head to toe slowly walked up to her.

"My Queen, the Krogan has arrived." she said.

"Excellent." Said Aria as she sat up.

The large Krogan Bounty hunter slowly stepped up to her podium until he stood in front of her, looking down as she remained seated.

The Krogan was Urdnot Thrax, one of the most ruthless and respected bounty hunters in the galaxy. Though not necessarily known as the best, he was known for this relentlessness, toughness, reputation for surviving events that would kill any other and his results.

"Never been summoned by the great Aria T'loak before." He said impressively as he admired Afterlife. "You must really want someone dead."

"That would be one way of putting it." Said Aria. "I've betrayed the other crime lords to the Helldivers. They plan to take all of them down, including the Kingpin. But I'd rather he was taken down on my terms. Simple contract, I want you to find him and kill him. As for the money, let's say I'm willing to pay you whatever it takes."

"200 million." Thrax eventually said.

There was a temporary pause. Even for Aria, that was an awful lot of credits. She'd be very lucky that didn't bankrupt her. Still, she was desperate. There was every chance that the Helldivers the Arkanes sent after the Crime Lords might fail. With them out of the way, the others would soon learn of her betrayal and there would almost certainly be repercussions. Situations like these made her very desperate.

"If that is what will get you to accept, 200 million it shall be." She finally said, doing her best not to sigh as she said it.

"Then we have a deal." Thrax nodded as he turned to leave.

"Oh, and I should warn you, a team of Helldivers is after him too. So you're probably going to have some competition." Aria quickly added.

"They get in my way, I'll crush 'em under my foot." Thrax simply said.

The Kingpin stood in his large office, overlooking the vista of Illium. He soon heard he footsteps of his

"What is it?" he said.

"Have you seen the news? Somebody talked."

The Kingpin simply smiled.

"Somebody always does."

You can probably guess what inspired this chapter. ;)

You can also expect the Slayer to show up a lot more. She'll play an important part in things yet to come.

As I said before, will be off on holiday in two weeks so next chapter won't be until after that.
Until next time. Leave reviews! :)
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Mass Effect: The Helldiver Saga, Alpha Origins