Morrigan checked through ground level windows of a multiple story street side apartment, reminiscent of old-world Italy she had seen in history books, built out of slabs of white and beige stone. Inside, she could see a living room decorated with simple yet alien furniture, brightly colored end tables next to a flat sofa that looked uncomfortable to sit on. What caught her attention though was a picture frame on the closest end table near the window.

  Cautiously, she tried sliding the door open finding that it was unlocked. She furrowed her brows in confusion as she stepped inside, tuning out the idle conversation of her team that echoed throughout the street. Along the floor she found alien toys, something she recognized from advertisements she saw as a little girl that caused her heart to sink.

  Moving carefully towards the end table, she picked up the picture frame, her heart beginning to race as she examined the photo of a long eared man, woman and little girl with brightly colored eyes and hair.

  “What are Eskarii doing here?” She questioned, her mind reflecting on the Eskarii in the fields below the city. She looked back out into the streets, scrutinizing the buildings before setting the frame down, “This is a Terran world yet, Eskarii live here…”

  She tried to recall as much detail of the Eskarii they saw on the way down to the surface, noting the brief glance of dirty clothes and sluggish movement as they dug, harvested and dove in fear as gunfire targeted her ship.

  “Something isn’t adding up…” she whispered, as she stepped back into the street and looked up at the plateau where the mansion sat. She feelings fought between worry and anger as the uncertainty slowly shifted to a dark hypothetical situation in her mind.

  Wasting no more time, she whistled sharply and signaled for her team to regroup as she stalked up the winding road towards the plateau, knowing that who ever had been up there would likely confirm her suspicions.

  They stalked towards the mansion at the top of the winding road, a simple yet, with dark red walls of some kind of clay or stone with white shutters framing dozens of windows. The grounds expanded into neatly trimmed hedges and small trees placed strategically around the outer perimeter of the lawn, bringing the focus to the white marble fountain that, to Morrigan’s surprise, gently poured water unlike the one they originally saw in the city square.

  Her suspicions solidified even more as she eyed the multitude of garbage strewn about the yard and along the building, having been vandalized by empty shell casings, empty or broken bottles and various other types of refuse.

  The architecture of the mansion and grounds were clearly Terran yet the fountain had an alien aesthetic, like a warped number six that stretched into a point which also confirmed more of her suspicion, causing her anger to slowly rise.

  Morrigan cautiously pointed at the front door, signaling for the team to stack up forgetting that none of the three knew Inquisition hand signals. To her pleasant surprise, trio understood the gist of her intentions and mounted up near the door, Xol taking position on the other side ready to shatter the door.

  Morrigan pushed towards the front as she drew her gunblade, “Listen, there is at least one person here but I’m unsure where exactly. With how weird this has been, expect anything, okay?” she informed the group.

  Her four companions nodded to her as she reached for the handle of the large dark wooden doors. To Xol’s disappointment, the door was unlocked, letting Morrigan gently push the doors open to reveal black and white marbled tiles followed by deep red wood hand railings that arced up to the second floor to her right all the while scrunched her nose at disgusting cream-colored fleur-de-lis molded walls and ceiling.

  “This is… I have so many feelings,” Morrigan muttered lowly as she cautiously stepped in with her weapon at the ready, her team following in behind her closely.

  Henry leaned closer to Taylor as he pointed his rifle towards the second floor, “This is worse than that resort,” he commented with a face that matched Morrigan.

  Morrigan nearly spun on her heels as Xol stepped inside, his weight causing a loud echo throughout the seemingly empty mansion before listened within the silence, hoping to catch the sound of movement.

  “Okay, so, if I was someone with a lot of desire, where would I be hiding?” Morrigan asked aloud without thinking, unknowingly receiving confused looks from the three newest teammates; Xol very much used to her talking to herself.

  Ladies room? Apollyon interjected which nearly caused Morrigan to snort as Taylor spoke up.

  “The common place is some type of central office or executive suite however; we don’t have the schematic for this place so it can be… anywhere.”

  It made sense to Morrigan, looking at the various doors lining the walls and visible sections of the hallway. There were two different sets of double doors, one set directly ahead and one set directly above on the second floor which led her to believe those would be the closest match to what Taylor mentioned.

  “Okay Xol, take the right side, Henry goes left. Taylor takes the center while Stephanie takes the upper left. If you find anything just whistle, Stephanie,” Morrigan ordered. She watched as everyone nodded and made their way to their respective search zones, Xol now taking care to be as quiet as possible before she stalked off behind Stephanie up the stairs.

  She watched Stephanie use her wrist to guide herself along the railing, toe stepping up each step with both weapons at the ready as she moved with near inaudible steps.

  If I didn't know any better, I’d say you were checking out her ass, Apollyon snickered in her head as Morrigan’s gaze landed right on the mark, watching Stephanie’s hips shift pleasantly as the woman crouched, stalking up the stairs.

  Morrigan blushed furiously, “I wasn’t until now!” she rebutted, “But… I can definitely see why he chose her…”

  Apollyon cackled loudly in her head, laughing hysterically as if it were a cosmic joke, Going for sisters huh? Never would have expected that from you, Mori.

  Morrigan paused, letting Stephanie move away from her as she glanced down the stairs towards the only person she could see, Henry slowly opening a door with his rifle pointed into the room as he swept it for targets before moving towards the next room.

  “That is NOT happening! It's awkward enough as it is… as tempting as it is… yeah, no, not happening,” she argued in her head, more with her own intrusive desire than Apollyon’s teasing.

  Being in her head, Apollyon hummed in disbelief, knowing the various images that swept through her mind before forcing herself to refocus on the mission. Despite the embarrassment, she couldn’t help but smile at the humor of the situation as she focused her gaze on her target door.

  She moved up to the door silently, her fingers wrapping around the handle of the door as the sound of something thudding against wood came from beyond the door.

  She touched her comm bead and whispered, “Upstairs, middle room. Guard the building.”

  Cracking the door and peering in, Morrigan was greeted by the sight of a room pack with mediocre and moderately valuable items, all loosely packed in poorly stacked boxes and stacks of paper money sitting in piles.

  She furrowed her brows, her anger responding to the wrongness of the sight as she stood up straight and pushed the door open, abandoning stealth for the desire of answers.

  Sitting behind a modest dark wood desk similar to something one would find in a bank back on Earth, sat a middle-aged man with a squared military haircut, heavily tattooed and smoking a cigarette as he dug through a box of items considered valuable: statuettes, ornate picture frames and utensils made of seemingly precious metals.

  The door swung open silently until it bumped against a stack of boxes, forcing the man to look up in confusion.

  “Who the fuck are you?” he demanded defensively as he quickly shoved his hands under the desk followed by an audible click before he leaned back in the high back chair he sat in.

  “Lord Inquisitor Clarke of the Inquisition,” she stated coldly, feeling her anger rise even more as her right hand clutched the handle of her weapon even tighter, reality realizing her suspicions.

  “The what? Oh… uh, what can I do for you?” he asked, as if suddenly remembering what the Inquisition was and back pedaling on his attitude.

  Morrigan took a step closer, scanning the room with scrutiny before locking eyes with the man, “First, by telling me who you are,” speaking in a smooth, threatening tone.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I am the governor of this city…” he said with a cautious flourish, “but that doesn’t answer the question, Inquisitor.”

  Morrigan ground her teeth as she watched the man, who was clearly not a leader of any sort, lie straight to her face, “I am here to requisition supplies, as is the Inquisition’s right- “

  “Oh, well if supplies are what you need, I’m sure we can sort that out easily,” the man said interrupting her, his grin transparent and fake as some of his teeth, those teeth having been replaced with metal ones.

  She shouldered her massive gunblade, showing off just how dangerous the weapon she carried was, “However, I’ve become curious. Upon inspecting one of the farms, my dropship came under small arms fire, and witnessed Eskarii working the fields instead of machinery, as well as an empty city. Care to explain?” her question less inquisitive and more demanding.

  The man’s eyes widened as he sank into his seat, “That’s… because, we don’t use harvesters here. You see, everyone pitches in and works the fields during the day, equitable labor and distribution of pay and… and,” he trailed off, seeing the clear disbelief on her face as her eyes narrowed on him as the sound of old combustion engines could be heard arriving in front of the building followed by the footsteps of her team moving throughout the building.

  Taylor, Xol and Stephanie moved towards the front door, shutting it as they saw three old world pickup trucks pulling up on the far end of the front yard with half a dozen people in each truck bed.

  At a glance, Stephanie immediately knew what was going on and turned to Taylor, signing to him.

  Taylor’s face went slack in disbelief, “Uh, Mori? We got pirates!”

  Upstairs, the man's face paled as her scowl turned into a sadistic smile, a burst of crimson energy crackling across her body as she raised her free hand to touch the comm bead in her ear, “I’m well aware. Kill them all,” her command as cold as she was deadly.

  “Oh, fuck this!” the man shouted as he pushed himself back in the chair raising a large pistol, the thunderous boom that came from it as her domed crimson shield she created removed the bullet from existence. It took only a thought to manifest the shield of power that nearly caused her to fail in becoming an Inquisitor; causing her to realize that creating a shield was no longer as much of a struggle as it used to be though still requiring most of her focus as the shield wavered, her rage howling for blood at the sight of the man who fired upon her, the one that enslaved an entire city and stole everything in a meticulous scheme.

  She grinned, her crimson eyes and revealed fangs causing the man to flinch in shock as the gun trembled in his hand, “Now, you’re going to answer my questions, one way or another,” she announced in a tone that promised dark things he couldn’t comprehend.

  ◇◇◇

  Morrigan’s instructions were clear for them as Henry broke out a window with the barrel of the assault rifle as he checked to ensure the firing mode it was in, in one swift motion. Taylor mimicked his teammate’s action as he watched three truck loads of pirates rush towards the front door, only to stop half way across the courtyard and aim their weapons as the windows broke.

  Without much warning, a wall of gunfire battered the front of the mansion causing everyone to take cover. Taylor and Stephanie blind fired over the lip of the window as a constant stream of gunfire assaulted them in hopes to force some of them to take cover.

  Henry listened carefully, waiting for the direction of the impacts to move towards his two teammates before peeking out from behind cover and taking three pot shots, scoring two hits before taking cover again.

  Xol hissed angrily at the constant assault pinning them down, dropping the head of his mace against the tile floor and adjusting the handle into an under-the-arm cannon to activate the ranged mode. With his weapon adjusted, he activated the energy shield Yekku had designed for him before stepping in front of the door before looking at Taylor who he deemed to be too close, “Move,” his gravelly voice biting the Terran word as he raised his weapon in front of the cut out in the shield.

  Taylor looked back at Xol in confusion before his eyes widened and he dove, tackling Stephanie to the side as Xol fired at the door. The front door shattered into shrapnel as it exploded outward in a concussive blast, firing again at the fountain that exploded like a grenade that battered the enemy.

  The pirates took cover as Taylor, Stephanie and Henry returned fire, seizing the opportunity before the enemy could recover.

  Xol roared as bullets bounced off his portable energy shield, stepping into the door frame like an unstoppable tank as he fired his weapon into each truck; old Terran vehicles that burst into balls of fire as each blast ripped one of the trucks apart.

  With the pirates’ escape cut off and Morrigan’s team having the superior defensive position, the fire fight ended within a few short minutes, leaving them unharmed and all of the pirates dead except for one, whose high-pitched wails of agony echoed throughout the mansion.

  “Stop! Please, stop… ah! No!” could be heard between the perpetual cries of pain.

  Henry looked at the group with raised eyebrows, uncertain of whether or not his curiosity was worth finding out what was going on, “Um…” he started before cutting himself off.

  “Chieftain does not… tolerate slavery,” Xol rumbled out, as if knowing what had been going on the entire time as he deactivated his shield and began converting his weapon back into his mace.

  Taylor looked at Xol, “Slavery? Why, why didn’t you mention they were enslaving the Eskarii if you knew?”

  Xol let out a low hiss, the meaning lost on the trio, “Does not matter… Chieftain need solve, no matter. Now, she solves,” he stated as he set his mace next to the door and leaned on the door frame to wait for Morrigan.

  Taylor’s curiosity got the better of him as he began making his way towards the stairs, Xol letting out a warning hiss as he passed him, “Would not. Mirina Sor is not in good mood,” his granted title for Morrigan leaving Taylor looking confused as he looked back at Xol.

  Taylor tried to process Xol’s warning but could only shake his head and make his way up the stairs and towards the main room, both Henry and Stephanie taking Xol’s advice and waiting as they tuned out the horrific screams.

  What Taylor found was Morrigan’s gunblade buried halfway into a wooden desk, a pool of blood spread across the top as a limp arm connected to a dislocated shoulder lay bent awkwardly across the table, the meat and sinew stripped from the wrist down to the elbow in a savage flaying.

  Deep, long gouges bled down the face of a man who was held by large crimson claws, who wailed as Morrigan demamded, “How many of you are there? How many Eskarii are there?” pushing his face closer to the edge of her gunblade again.

  The man panicked and screamed before answering, trying his hardest to resist another brush against the large black blade again, “nearly 160! And there’s roughly 1000 of them! They’re all in the fields!”

  “Mori… is, is this necessary?” Taylor asked with a mix of caution and horror, watching both of their eyes look up to greet him.

  “Dude, help me! This bitch is crazy!”

  Morrigan’s eyes turned back to the man sharply as she let out a deep, animalistic growl before putting in some effort, slamming the man’s face into the edge of her gunblade. A sickening crunch resonated throughout the room as the man’s skull split deeply, silencing him forever.

  She carelessly dumped the body on the floor and pried her weapon from the table as her claws faded from existence, looking up to see that Taylor’s face had turned green as he refused to make another comment, absorbing her gore splattered visage.

  She could feel his judgement, the unbridled disgust and fear that was clear on his face as he watched her torture the man; as if Taylor had any right to condemn her actions. She reminded herself that he had no idea what she went through, what she had seen or what she knew she had to be done to ensure the safety of those who lived within the galaxy, especially the Marmuro’k and Eskarii.

  She tsked with a jerk of her chin before holstering her weapon, stepping around the desk and stopped next to him. With a cold look, she gave a simple answer with no room for argument, “Yes,” before storming out of the room and down the stairs, leaving Taylor to reconsider his position.

  Stephanie and Henry both eyed the blood stained Morrigan stomping down the stairs, her anger high as she paid no attention to them and stepped outside. Xol on the other hand, gave them both a sharp nod of approval as he glanced up at Taylor who still stood in the doorway of the office, finally looking back to see she had already left.

  Outside, Morrigan activated the connection to the Archangel, “Shepard, ready all dropships for deployment, assault pattern. Pirates have enslaved a town’s worth of Eskarii and has them working in the farm lands around the capital. We’re giving it back,” she ordered, her fury prevalent in her voice, “Oh, and scan for any ships. If you find one, destroy it,” she demanded before cutting the connection without giving Shepard the opportunity to respond, truly testing the authority bestowed upon her.

  Ready to go play, little goddess? Apollyon inquired in excitement and pride.

  “Yes, none will escape their crimes here,” her voice cold as her rage peaked, her team exiting the mansion just in time to see her crimson skeletal wings flare to life and long spectral blades coming from her forearms appear into existence, before she darted into the sky at incredible speed and diving towards the fields miles away.

  She had nearly forgotten why they had come to Iriath II in the first place, her emotions too focused on the memories of Castile V as her mind projected the possibility that the Eskarii had suffered as much as she had, leaving her with an insatiable bloodlust that turned her towards the skies like a bird of prey; one by one hunting each and every pirate slaver she could find in the expansive fields below the city.

  Within an hour, the sky rained down fire as two dozen dropships pushed through the atmosphere to join in her hunt, Inquisition troopers sweeping the land in a strategic execution of the pirate slavers while freeing the beaten and bloodied Eskarii slaves.

  In a matter of six hours, every Eskarii forced to work the fields were freed and were transported to the empty capital that had once been their home, the gore soaked Morrigan having met with the leadership of the Eskarii and returned their land to them once her temperament waned.

  As tentative as the Eskarii were to accept assistance from the new humans that massacred the old oppressors, the Eskarii and half-Eskarii of the Archangel ensured their safety and earned the reward Morrigan had been searching for, the coordinates to the Eskarii home world, Gelia.

  She then decided no supplies would be taken from Iriath II. She learned from the Eskarii that she could not request supplies from the other towns sprawled across the world, a plague having wiped out the human population before the current occupants made a home in the capital city, Iriath II bled dry by the pirates already and their ships. With everything the survivors had gone through, she knew not only that they deserved as much normality as possible but needed it as well, something Morrigan understood down to her bones as a new hatred took root in her heart.

  Taylor hadn’t spoken a word, not even to Stephanie as they returned to the Archangel, Morrigan ignoring the rift drawn between them as the fire of her anger finally extinguished. Her only desire was starting the journey to Gelia and getting a much-needed shower as she tried to banish everything she saw; Taylor’s look of horror, beaten Eskarii of all ages while evil reaped the benefits of their misery. It was a lot to accept, even with knowing that the flesh and blood of that very evil now fed crops they forced them to harvest.

  She spoke to no one, resigning the report for the following day as she cleaned herself of the evidence of the evil she removed from the galaxy; coming to the realization of how painful her job really was, the nature of its duality, to take solace and pride in helping others while erasing the evils of man from existence, the evil that perpetuated her job as an Inquisitor.