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"So," Lia said, "how should we play this?" She dreaded hearing the answer.

"Fuck it." Valeria glared at the main lobby doors across the street. "We'll just go right through the front door."

"I like it." Dakka laughed.

"So do I." General Kurakova shoved their captured mook ahead of her. "Lead the way."

Val, Kurakova, and the mook crossed the street. Lia, Dakka, Quint, and Chula followed closely, glancing around every few seconds to be sure no one else was creeping up on them. The mook opened the door and walked on, shaking and grimacing. Valeria kept her left hand clamped onto his shoulder and her gun jabbed between his shoulder blades.

They passed through the lobby to a set of stairs at the far end. What little light there was came from four small lamps in each corner, just enough for Lia to see without using her visor's light-amp feature. The stairs led past several floors with no light at all. Everyone remained silent for the next few minutes.

"Okay," the mook said, keeping his voice low, "two floors up from here, there's gonna be a couple guards."

"Got it." Valeria continued up the stairs. Dakka positioned herself in front of Valeria.

"Stand in a line. If they start shooting, I'm big enough to cover you."

"Thanks, but I'm not hiding from--"

Two men popped into the doorway on the next level and aimed their rifles at Dakka. She grinned at them and kept going. They glanced sidelong at each other and their eyes opened wider.

"Stop right there!" The one on the left ducked back through the doorway and leaned around barely far enough to aim his rifle.

"Nope." Dakka grinned.

Valeria stepped out from behind Dakka and flung her mook at the two guys. He stumbled into the one on the right both of them let out startled yelps as they crashed to the floor.

Kurakova rushed past Valeria and swatted the other guy's rifle away. He swung his left fist at her, but she caught his wrist, twisted it, and braced her other hand on the side of his head. Then she shoved him into the wall, grinding the side of his face into the metal, and gave his wrist another quarter-turn. He scrunched his face up and released a loud groan.

"We're here to see your boss," Valeria said. "Where is he?"

"Fuck y--"

Kurakova wrenched his arm farther back and increased the pressure on his head.

"Aaaaaauuuuuuuuuugh!"

"Shhh." Kurakova shook her head. "Answer the lady's question."

Lia forced her gaze away from them and onto the other two. Both of them had just begun to pick themselves up. The one on the right grimaced, shoved the other out of his way, and lunged at the gun he'd dropped.

Dakka stomped on his hand and pinned it down. Lia snatched his rifle, pointed it at his head, and sighed. She wasn't thrilled with being put into situations like this one, but since there was no way to avoid it, she decided to go all-in.

At least now I won't have to spend money on a decent gun.

The guy Kurakova had pinned to the wall gasped and groaned. "I--I--I--I can't feel m--my arm!"

"I know," Kurakova said softly. "Just answer the question, and you'll be okay."

"He's--he's in the billiards parlor! The...ow! Recreation area, t--two floors up!"

"That's better. Now, we're not going to kill you, but we can't have you sneaking up behind us or warning Kelham. Feel like taking a brief nap?"

"You're giving me a choice?"

"Not really." Kurakova pulled him away from the wall, clamped her arm around his neck, and bore down until he passed out. She dragged him out of the doorway, propped him up in the corner, and searched through his pockets until she found four heat sinks. She picked up his rifle and glanced up at the others. "Anybody need another one of these?"

"I could use a spare," Lia said.

"Here you go." Kurakova handed over the gun and the spare thermal clips. Lia hung the rifle on her back and pocketed the clips.

"Well," Valeria said, "you sure haven't lost your touch, Nana."

"It's coming back to me."

Dakka, still standing on the second guy's hand, swung her other foot around and connected with his jaw. He plopped face down, moaned, and faded out. Dakka searched his pockets and stole his spare thermal clips and a handful of credit chits. She handed them to Lia.

"Here, some ammo and a little spending money." Dakka picked up the guy's gun, popped the unused clips out, and stuck them into one of her belt pouches. She dropped the gun over the hand rail, sending it clattering off the rails below until it reached the ground floor.

"Aw, thank you." Lia smiled and pocketed the heat sinks and chits. My situation may not be ideal, but I'm with good people. I need to stop complaining to myself, stop dreading everything we get into, and actually start helping them out.

Valeria turned to the remaining mook. "Nothing personal." She cocked her fist back and knocked him out cold, dragged him into the stairwell, and propped him up beside the one Kurakova had taken care of.

"Okay," Lia said, facing the doorway and trying to force some enthusiasm into her voice. "Let's go get this guy."

#

"Who do we have here?" Chula crouched beside the doorway, leaned out just enough to get a clear look at the people standing around the pool table on the far end of the recreation area, and zoomed in on them. She counted over three dozen humans, plus Elias Kelham.

Half of the humans wore Cerberus uniforms and the other half were in civilian clothing, except one; he wore black armor and large goggles.

No, not goggles. As the guy turned to say something to Kelham, Chula realized the goggles or mask or whatever appeared to be permanently attached to his eye sockets. He had shoulder-length black hair and a smug smirk that remained in place as he talked. That's probably permanently attached, too.

"What the hell are those bastards doing here?" Lia crouched beside Chula and held her rifle ready.

"I bet those are the 'associates' that goon mentioned," Valeria muttered. "They're using Kelham's criminal organization for something."

"No wonder Baily's so reluctant to lay a hand on him." Chula pulled her glare away from the Cerberus operatives and took a slow look around. "They're probably holding something over him."

"Yeah." Quint scanned the area with his Omni-Tool and read the information on its holographic display. "Not picking up any mech support in here, but there's a half-dozen LOKIs and two YMIRs in the room behind and to the left of the dude in the armor."

The armored guy walked over to another of his men. His movement revealed a battered and bleeding man tied to a chair.

"Irving," Valeria whispered. Her grip tightened on her rifle.

"I'll cover you," Kurakova said. She raised her anti-material sniper rifle and lined up a shot.

Valeria nodded. "Let's go." Keeping her rifle up, she charged into the billiards hall with the rest of the gang close behind her. As soon as they'd passed through the door, they fanned out to cover the whole room and make themselves harder targets.

Irving noticed the sudden movement and looked up, confused at first, but then a look of recognition flickered across his face the instant he spotted Valeria. She made a quick motion with her hand, holding it flat out, palm down, and thrusting it downward. Irving responded with a barely perceptible nod and looked away quickly. He closed his eyes and grimaced, as if struck by a sudden pain.

One of Kelham's men turned slowly, shoving a cigarette into his mouth and lighting it. He looked up as he slipped the antique lighter back into his coat pocket--and spotted the intruders. He let out a startled grunt and whipped out a pistol.

Everyone else spun to face Chula and the rest, snapping their guns and rifles into position.

Irving braced his feet against the pool table and kicked, tipping his chair over backward. He dropped out of sight and out of the line of fire.

Still smirking, the armored man drew his sidearm.

Kurakova popped off a shot and drilled it dead-center into his chest. His kinetic barriers sparked and flared as the round punched through them. He stumbled backward, bumped into another pool table, and flopped over.

"I suggest you surrender." Valeria's helmet amplified her voice. "Kelham's the one we want. We couldn't care less about the rest of you--unless you get in our way."

The guy in the black armor grunted, sat up, and shook his head to clear it. He glanced at the dent in his armor and whistled softly.

"Jesus Christ." He laughed and grabbed Kelham's arm. To the others, he snapped, "Kill those assholes." He dragged Kelham through the door at the back of the room.

Wow. Chula shook her head as she ducked behind a blackjack table. Anti-material rifles were designed to punch through armored vehicles. The heaviest body armor was no match for it. This guy must have some serious shield generators.

The rest of her team took cover behind whatever was big enough.

Valeria shifted her eyes back and forth between her husband and the door Kelham had just vanished through. She snarled.

"Damn it!"

"I've got him," Dakka said. "You take care of your hubby." She charged into the middle of the hostiles and knocked them aside.

Valeria glanced at Chula and said, "Back her up, just in case. We'll handle these clowns."

Chula nodded, took a split second to double-check the charge on her barriers, and said, "Back in a few minutes." She launched after Dakka. One of the Cerberus guys sung his gun toward her. She swatted it away, clamped onto his arm, spun and twisted and flipped him over her shoulder. She darted through the doorway just as he crashed down onto the pool table.

"Uh, guys," Quint said over the comlink. "That's the room filled with--"

"Mechs," Chula blurted, scooting to a stop behind Dakka. The half-dozen LOKI mechs surrounded them, and the two YMIRs stood directly ahead, towering over both of them. Each YMIR, easily twice Dakka's size, aimed their built-in cannons at the two women.

Dakka roared and charged again. She tackled the nearer YMIR and knocked if off balance. It teetered back and flailed its arms, trying to right itself. Dakka toppled it with a casual shove and turned to face the second.

Chula loaded an app into her Omni-Tool and launched it at the smaller LOKI units, taking over their functions and directing them to target the YMIR. The giant mech detected the new threat instantly and turned its attention on its smaller brethren. The hack would wear off in a few seconds, but it would keep them distracted long enough.

"Nice." Dakka laughed and sprinted through the door on the far end of the room. "Quint, we got past the mechs, but they could still be a problem once Chula's hack wears off. Be ready to use your mojo on 'em."

"Thanks for the heads-up. We'll take care of 'em."

Chula hurried after Dakka, through the door and into a stairwell. Dakka was already bounding up the stairs. She pointed as Chula caught up with her.

"Kelham's already four floors above us."

"Really? The little shit's fast."

"Not fast enough." Dakka took the stairs four at a time.

"What about the other guy? The ridiculously clichéd cyberpunk-ninja wannabe?"

"I haven't seen him. Looks like they split up." Dakka shrugged as she reached the next landing and whipped around to the next set of stairs without breaking stride. "Fuck the other guy. Kelham's the one we want."

The last set of stairs led to a door that opened onto the hotel's roof. Dakka charged through, looked around, and pointed.

"Wow. He just jumped across to the roof next door."

"Huh. Just from looking at him, I never would've pegged him as the Parkour type." Chula reached up to adjust the angle of her hat as they sprinted after him. "Oh, well. Let's do this."

#

Dakka landed on the shattered roof with a grunt, thrust herself forward, curled up and rolled. She came up on her feet and sprinted after Kelham. She glanced over her shoulder and found Chula picking herself up and taking off after her. Dakka faced forward and caught a glimpse of Kelham hopping over a rail and dropping out of sight.

Chunks of walls and pieces of destroyed vehicles lay between her and the rail. She continued in a straight path, leaping over the smaller rubble and jumping up, bracing one hand on the top, and vaulting over the larger bits. She reached the rail and hopped over, grabbed it with her right hand, and paused for a second to take a look around.

There. A blur of motion in the corner of her eye--Kelham's white jacket whipping around the corner of the alley almost directly below her.

Chula stared at the street and shook her head. "Is this guy half monkey?"

Whatever he can do, I can do better. Dakka flicked a glance to the left, found the cracked and crumbling wall of a parking garage within jumping distance, and pushed off. She shot across the alley as she dropped, caught hold of a ledge one level below, and jumped again, launching herself back across to the hotel. She found a handhold, dangled just long enough to brace her feet against the wall, and thrust away again, bouncing back and forth until she landed on the street.

She glanced up, saw Chula descending the same way, and charged around the corner. She stopped, scanned the broken and rubble-strewn street ahead, and a human life sign blipped up in her HUD.

"He's already on the next corner." Dakka sprinted down the street, hopping craters and vaulting or dive-rolling over destroyed vehicles and huge chunks that had been blown off nearby buildings. She turned the corner and found a set of stairs, twisted and tilted slightly by an impact two years ago. She looked past it and found Kelham had already crossed another parking lot and was now climbing through a broken-out window into a shopping mall.

"Seriously?" Chula grumbled as she caught up with Dakka. "Half monkey, half jackrabbit. All asshole."

"Won't prevent the inevitable." Dakka surged forward again, jumped and braced her hands on the rail as she sailed over it. She thrust her feet forward and connected with another handrail just long enough to propel herself into the air, bypassing the staircase completely. She somersaulted and came down feet-first, rolled, and continued running.

An impact and rapid footsteps behind her told her that Chula was still keeping up.

Dakka continued on into the mall. Movement caught her eye and she looked up and to the right. Kelham charged across the catwalk on the second floor.

"Bloody hell," Chula muttered before taking several long, gasping breaths.

Kelham ducked into one of the stores.

Dakka rushed over to the wall, crouched, and leaped. She caught hold of the bars on the handrail, pulled her feet up and braced them on the ledge, and boosted herself over the rail. She bolted into the store without missing a beat.

An armored arm came out of nowhere and slammed across her chest. A second later, she was sprawled on the floor.

Lights flared on all around her and she squinted. She rolled over, crouched, and turned her head slowly.

"What the hell?"

Standing over her was the dude with the goggles surgically attached to his smirking fucking face. And, she realized, she was surrounded by more guys in armor. Slim and athletic, with blank faceplates on their helmets.

"You're pretty nimble for a krogan." The goggles dude laughed.

"You're not too shabby, yourself. Quite a trick, getting from the hotel to this place and waiting for me to show up."

"Oh, I haven't been waiting here." He rippled and suddenly Elias Kelham stood in his place.

Oh, fuck me. Dakka almost groaned, but held it in. I've been chasing a hologram.

"Kelham's nowhere near us." He rippled again and Goggles was back. "You've been chasing me the whole time."

"Wow," Chula grumbled as she walked over to stand beside Dakka. "What a prick."

He laughed again and pulled a sword from the scabbard on his back.

The dozen black-armored people around her and Chula drew their own swords.

"Really? Swords?" Dakka snorted. "For fuck's sake."

"Hey, don't knock it." Chula reached under her duster and pulled out two swords of her own. She turned slowly, looking around at them all before turning to face Goggles. She snapped into a battle-ready stance. "You wanna play? Let's fuckin' play."

#

The guy with the goggles burst out laughing and Chula glared at him.

"Oh, that's good!" He grinned and nodded at his squad. "But not good enough. Get rid of them, would you? I've got more important matters to attend to."

Chula took a half-second to scan him with her Omni-Tool, and his file appeared in her HUD. Hmm. Kai Leng. Escaped from prison before finishing a twenty-year murder sentence. On multiple most-wanted lists.

She tapped her Omni-Tool, launching a surveillance drone and setting it to record whatever happened next. There had to be a sizeable bounty on this guy, and if one of them managed to take him down but not recover the body, they'd need proof to collect the reward.

"You think you're such hot shit," Dakka growled, "but you're having your flunkies do your dirty work? How about you take care of us yourself? Or are you just a big pussy?"

Chula glanced around at the others. "Pay attention, now. If your boss is a coward, maybe one of you should be in charge instead. Get rid of him, and the rest of you get an instant promotion."

They continued staring at her without turning to look at Leng. Without moving at all.

Chula had the sudden feeling that they weren't even blinking.

Robots? She looked at the nearest one's chest plate and saw it moving up and down ever so slightly. Okay, organic, then. Probably human, but...there's something just not right about them.

"They're completely loyal." Leng smirked. "Nice try, though."

"Hey, Dakka, tell you what. How about you take this guy, and I'll take the rest."

Dakka flicked a glance at her and back to Leng. "That hardly seems fair."

"Not for them."

Dakka chuckled. "Okay, then."

"Want one of my swords?"

"Won't need it." Dakka grinned and faced Leng. "Let's dance."

"At least you know how to make it fun." Leng kept the smirk on and flicked his wrist at his goons. "Take care of the quarian. The krogan is mine."

The nearest cyber-ninja snapped his sword up, preparing to slice it through Chula's neck. She deflected it with the sword in her left hand and drove her other blade through his chest. The blade, designed to pierce armor, slid in cleanly. She twisted it before pulling it out and parried a blow from another mook before the first one collapsed.

She launched her combat drone and let it distract half of them by shocking one after another, leaving her to concentrate on the nearer enemies. In the corner of her eye, Leng whipped his sword at Dakka and she deflected it by slapping the blade aside with the palm of her hand. She followed it up with a closed-fisted backhand that landed with a pop that echoed around the small room. He spun around, staggered, and slumped over a counter.

Chula laughed as three of her opponents charged at the same time. Didn't expect a krogan to move that fast, did you? She spent a few seconds blocking and dodging their sword lunges. One of the blades hissed through the air toward her neck and she bent over backward to let it zip past her. The blade passed within a centimeter of the front of her mask. Her hat slipped off and plopped to the floor.

She whacked the blade farther away with one of her swords and rammed the other up through the guy's chin and out the top of his helmet.

Quick glance over her shoulder to check on Dakka, just in time to see Leng take another swing at her with his sword. Dakka flicked her left arm up and the blade struck her armor and glanced off. She followed it up with a lightning-quick slap to Leng's face. The impact knocked him stupid and he stumbled off to the left and fell to his knees.

Her drone fired an electric arc past her and into one of her opponents just as he'd started to whip his blade at her. He convulsed and toppled over, dropping the sword. Chula grinned and lunged at two others, managing to put them on the defensive. She drove them out of the store and backed them up against the rail.

"Behind you!" Dakka shouted.

Chula dropped to the floor immediately, not even bothering to check behind her. A blade whistled above her, followed by a gurgling scream. She looked up and found one of the guys clutching his throat, stumbling away, and collapsing. She flipped her sword around, thrust it backward, and ran it through the guy who'd just sliced his buddy's throat. Quick twist, yank, and kick, and he flopped over and pressed his hands over the wound.

Dakka landed another haymaker and Leng staggered across the room. He slumped against the wall, shook his head, and muttered, "Fucking hell."

Dakka laughed. "You're right, this is fun!"

Chula grinned and continued parrying the guy in front of her. He managed to hold her off for nearly a minute before she spun and pistoned her foot into his chest. He flipped over the rail, plummeted to the floor, and landed directly on top of his head.

Crack.

Chula turned and hurried back into the store--just in time to see Leng's blade punch through Dakka's chest and out her back.

A cold sensation gripped Chula's heart and suddenly she couldn't breathe. No! She dropped her swords and pulled out one of her hand cannons.

Smirking, Leng started to pull his sword out--but Dakka clamped her left hand around his and held it there. The smirk vanished, replaced by a look of confusion which quickly turned to fear. He pulled again, but couldn't budge even a millimeter.

He glanced at her huge hand wrapping around his, braced his other hand against her chest, and tried again to yank his blade out. And again, he couldn't move, and couldn't let go. He looked up at her and some of the color drained from his face. His breathing quickened and his mouth fell open.

"Nice blade. Think I'll keep it." Dakka shoved the blade back in, all the way to the hilt, leaned over, and laughed in his face.

He turned white and moaned softly. He continued tugging, but still couldn't break away. He braced his foot on her chest and pulled, straining and groaning, but she held him in place.

She raised her right hand slowly, clenched her fist, and sneered down at him. His mouth twisted into a terrified rictus and he sucked in a trembling gasp.

Oh, holy shit. Chula stared and shook her head slowly.

Dakka finally launched her fist down into Leng's head, ramming it into him with enough force to crack open a slab of granite. The blow produced a sickening crunch and a high-pitched shriek from Leng.

Dakka cocked her fist back again.

Goddamn. Chula managed to tear her gaze away for a second to check on the rest of Leng's team. Her combat drone still had them pinned down, zapping each one the instant he started to push himself up. She turned back to Dakka and Leng.

Dakka's fist crashed into the side of Leng's head and the left side of his goggles popped out of his shattered eye socket. His shriek became a muffled, gurgling howl.

Finally, she let go of his hand and he flopped over, sprawling on his side and continuing to moan and howl and gurgle. Dakka pulled the sword out, almost fell across the counter, and coughed.

Chula rushed over to her and reached out to hold her up. "Oh, Keelah," she whispered.

Dakka regained her balance and examined Leng's sword. "Hmm." She shook her head. "Nah, on second thought, it's too small. You can have it back." She casually drove the blade through Lengs' remaining goggle, silencing his already weakening cries, and stepped over the body.

"Are you...?"

"I've had worse." Dakka glanced at the body as she headed for the front door. "That guy was a dick."

"According to the file I found after I scanned him, he was one of Cerberus's top operatives."

Dakka raised a brow ridge, stared at her for a few seconds, and snorted. "If you say so."

Chula laughed, picked up her hat and swords, and tapped her Omni-Tool, setting her combat drone to keep the survivors subdued until she and Dakka were far away from here. Then she gave Dakka a quick scan.

"This is bad. You've got a collapsed lung."

Dakka shrugged. "I've got three more." She hopped over the rail and dropped to the ground, rolled, and crouched. She grimaced and held her breath for a moment, then grunted, "Come on. There's plenty more fun to be had back at the hotel."

"Fun. Sure. That's what I'd call it." Chula jumped over the rail and landed beside Dakka. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'll be fine. Come on, let's not keep 'em waiting." Dakka jogged across the mall floor.

"Right." Chula shook her head again before catching up with her. Wow. Just..._wow._