Shepard breathed a sigh of relief as the Normandy slid into the dock with no additional issues.

The trip back from the Collector base had been more than a little nerve-wracking considering all the things that broke down on the way to Illium. The entire crew had been helping Tali and Revan hold everything together and the fabricators had almost melted themselves trying to print everything they needed for patch jobs.

Shepard wasn't even kidding about holding the ship together. At one point Revan was literally using her powers to hold two cut cables together so they wouldn't lose life support while their engineers scrambled to weld supports for the coolant lines that had broken loose and severed them.

The Normandy was going to need a long time in a full drydock to get everything sorted, but it got them to Citadel space. And with a few things fixed up while the crew got some downtime on Illium they wouldn't need to worry about the ship falling apart around them at least.

Well, the crew that was staying on at any rate.

With the mission done and over with, Shepard was going to lose most of her specialists before she made her way back towards the Alliance. The non-humans simply didn't have a reason to go to that sector of space and a few of the human ones had pretty good reasons to avoid it anyway.

So that meant her team was likely going to disband here, but considering how many of them had already come to her to talk about preparations for the Reapers Shepard felt like they were making actual steps towards preparation.

Revan was already preparing to leave the ship so she could head to the Perseus Veil and deal with running her new Empire.

But that was future talk! Right now Shepard was going to grab Liara and drag her to a reunion with the other Normandy survivors from the first Collector attack. It was time that they had a celebration for finally getting some long deserved payback.

But when the Commander saw a bunch of security officers outside Liara's apartment and the whole area taped off, she just knew that something was going to get in the way of that celebration and triggered her comm. "Hey, Garrus, Tali. Something's up at Liara's place. Mind giving me some backup?"

"Sure thing, Shepard. Heading your way now." Garrus sent back.

Now Shepard just hoped Liara was okay.

-o-

Revan looked up as Tali'Zorah and Garrus rushed to meet up with Shepard in full combat gear after their call.

Curious, the Sith pulled on the Force in an attempt to tease out what was happening in the future but all she got was vague impressions of a battle surrounded by lightning and danger directed at herself.

Not particularly useful on its own due to her own tendency to use Force Lightning in battle. Still, the knowledge that another battle was close made it worth it.

Revan took a moment to collect her thoughts given the new information and how it would affect her immediate plans. All her belongings were being transferred to a secure holding area until they could be loaded onto the ship that was going to deliver her, Tali'Zorah, and Legion back to the Migrant Fleet and then onto Rannoch. But considering Tali'Zorah had just run off, Revan had to consider that the danger might be coming from two different sources and that they might end up separated for one reason or another.

That wasn't too much of a concern. Shepard was trusted enough that Tali'Zorah staying behind would be seen as the young Quarian helping a friend and not as Revan trying to remove a political opponent or something.

The Sith was under no delusions that despite the Quarians publicly accepting her as their Empress she had truly unified them or that they followed her with no reservations at all. There were absolutely going to be pockets that demanded complete destruction of the Geth or resisted her leadership in other ways.

Revan probably didn't have to worry about anyone competent trying to twist Tali'Zorah assisting her friend as a malicious act on Revan's part.

It did unfortunately mean that Revan would have to handle the final registration of the ship they were going to use and the preparations to leave Illium herself because there was no way the port authorities would accept a Geth wandering around instead and someone needed to keep watch over the relative treasure trove of things hidden away here.

It was actually a little nostalgic and reminded Revan of all the times on the Ebon Hawk that despite being one of the most powerful - and at times infamous - people in her galaxy with some of the most skilled companions following her, she had to do much of the grunt work herself for one reason or another.

"Legion, I'm heading out to take care of the ship details. Wait here, if anyone tries to steal our stuff message me or EDI." They might not technically be part of the Normandy's crew anymore but Revan was willing to bet the newly liberated droid-mind of the ship wouldn't mind sending help to a fellow synthetic. Shepard wouldn't either, assuming she was available.

"Understood, Revan-Empress. We will wait here." The Geth replied simply.

-o-

A group of five Asari were huddled around a single screen, watching as a cloaked figure exited a transit station and walked out of frame. The screen swapped to another view as the figure continued on, unaware they were being watched. This repeated several times from several different angles until the five figured they could pick out the target in the middle of a crowd in seconds.

The screen shut off and the five stood around waiting until a sixth Asari made her way into the room.

The other five instantly stood straighter. An unconscious reaction to a Justicar honoring them with her presence.

"I trust that everyone here has memorized what our enemy looks like?" The Justicar asked redundantly. As if any of them would slack off on an assignment like this.

"Of course, Justicar." The apparent leader of the five said, stepping forward. "But I have to ask, is this much effort really needed for just one human? My huntresses alone should be more than enough…"

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The Justicar was already shaking her head. "This enemy is not Human. It is not Asari or Drell or anything like you would have encountered. It is Sith, an ancient enemy that comes from many races seeking to corrupt and subjugate whatever it can with dark and unnatural powers. I have no doubt that you and your huntresses are skilled, Nurana, but this one can only be felled by one from my Order."

"Then…what is my team supposed to do?"

"Don't worry, I'm not about to use your team as bait for some monster." The Justicar said with a smile. "The five of you, along with one other agent I will introduce you to soon, will ambush the Sith and lure it away from the general public following my directions. Once it is tired and disoriented, you will lead it to an arena my associate has prepared to prevent it from escaping and I will kill it."

Reassured her team wasn't about to be used as fodder for whatever creature the Justicar was hunting, the leader relaxed. "And when will your associate be joining us, we will need to move soon if we don't want to lose your target."

"Oh, she just arrived. Why don't you come introduce yourself Tela?"

If any of the huntresses doubted this was a serious matter for some reason, the sight of an annoyed Spectre joining them put those thoughts to rest.

"You still need to tell me how you always seem to know when someone is nearby, Keayla." Tela Vasir said as she joined the group. "Tech? Biotics? Whatever it is would be really useful for my own investigations."

The Justicar, Keayla, simply smiled. "It's a skill, but one available to only a chosen few. And not one I can teach."

"Tch, fine. It was worth a shot." The Spectre scowled. "We ready to move then? Your target just stopped for a bit."

"Yes. It's time for us to rid the Galaxy of one of its greatest threats. Let us go, under the Light of the Goddess."

-o-

Someone was following her.

It wasn't a feeling Revan was unused to for several reasons, and most times she would have made note of it, judged the threat to herself, and then act or ignore the ones following her based on the result. And from what she could initially tell, they were not immediate threats. Normally she would keep her pursuer in the back of her mind and continue on, but she would be an utter fool to ignore a suspicious presence when she had predicted a conflict only earlier today.

Revan reached for the Force and felt the same whispers of danger she had noticed earlier, but the lightning was missing. And now there was something else brushing against the edges of her future sight, an unknown she didn't have time to meditate on right now.

Did that mean that she would be restricted from using her lightning somehow? Was the lightning specifically tied to Garrus and Tali for some reason? Had something changed? What could that unknown feeling be? Revan had no idea and was once again frustrated with the vagueness of future visions.

For now, there was nothing she could do but wait and see.

With that in mind, Revan continued with her task of getting ready to leave Illium with very little to make note of. The 'padwork was completed, filed, and approved in short order and no unexpected surprises. By the end of the day Revan and everyone going back to the Quarians would be free to go on their way.

And since the danger Revan sensed hadn't weakened at all, that meant her pursuers were planning on making their move before then.

In fact they were probably going to make a move soon.

Another two watchers had joined the first while Revan was taking care of her errand and now they had her roughly surrounded. She really doubted they would do that without some kind of goal in–

The Force screamed as three slightly staggered shots rang out. Revan's lightsabers were out and ignited in a flash and she managed to disintegrate two of them before they hit her, but she was surprised when the third didn't come from one of the three watchers but from the same street level she was on. A fourth agent! Revan staggered a bit as the round slammed into her back but thanks to her personal shields and armor she was unharmed.

Revan turned to face her closest assailant.

A fully armored Asari stood there with a heavy pistol still pointed at the Sith. The gun barked three more times, but now that Revan was aware of her attacker she easily blocked the shots and moved to capture the Asari. Someone had set this up specifically for her. She wanted to know who.

But before she could get close the last watcher fired a rocket at her while the two snipers continued to target her. Revan had to pause to not only deflect the gunshots but also so she could focus on redirecting the more explosive threat. A clawed hand reached out and the Sith Empress seized the rocket in a telepathic grip before throwing her arm to the side. Tiny motors on the body of the projectile tried and failed to redirect it back on its intended course as the rocket collided with a parked skycar nearby.

Revan twirled her red saber once again to block a fifth sniper round and looked back towards her target.

The armored Asari had long since fled while the streets exploded into chaos. Pedestrians panicked at the sudden gunfire and explosions and most of them were doing their best to run away from Revan. Either because they realized she was the one being attacked or at the sight of her lightsabers Revan couldn't tell.

Either way they were doing a wonderful job of hiding Revan's attacker among them. Or they should have been.

Spotting a single Asari out of the hundreds fleeing should have been an impossible task. Even a novice assassin would have known to use the crowd to hide them as they ran or used the chaos to duck down an alley unseen. Yet there she was, clearly visible waving her handgun around before ducking around a corner once she was sure Revan had seen her do so.

These attackers couldn't have raised a bigger sign yelling 'trap!' if they rented one of the billboards and advertised it there.

Unfortunately if Revan wanted answers, she was going to have to spring it.

Still, no reason to be reckless about it.

Revan put a finger to her ear and activated her comm unit, having long adjusted the technology in her mask to be compatible with this universe's methods of communication…only to quickly discover everything was being blocked by a jamming signal. The only device she could call was the upgraded module she had built for Legion.

…the one she hadn't installed because his frame needed to be repaired or replaced on Rannoch and she decided it would be easier to add it then.

"Fine then." Revan muttered under her breath. "You want me by myself? Let's see how prepared you are for that."

-o-

As Revan quickly found out, far more prepared than most people.

Whoever was calling the shots for this ambush knew how to fight Force users. Revan had dismissed the snipers being specifically prepared for her because slug weaponry was so common compared to her own Galaxy. No energy or particle weapons meant nothing to reflect and theoretically no way for Revan to touch them. But it was the traps they had set up along the assassin's path that tipped the Sith Empress off.

Every single one of them were indirect or area of effect attacks Revan could only dodge or block with a Force Barrier. Explosions, flamethrowers, sonic weaponry. All of it designed or hidden to be as hard for Revan to tell where the flashes of danger were coming from until the last moment. If she didn't know better she would have assumed it was the work of a Mandalorian.

The chase was almost over though.

The Asari assassin had stopped running and was waiting for Revan to catch up just ahead. The three other assassins had also rejoined their teammate or were at least spread out in the vicinity. They even added two friends to their number, though one was oddly…small…in the Force. It was weird to describe.

There was no one else in the area though. It seemed whatever this group was, they didn't want normal civilians around for the final confrontation.

She briefly considered acting as if she was tired or injured during her pursuit but discarded the idea. On a personal level she never really liked acting to be at a disadvantage and on a more practical level this group wasn't likely to underestimate her on perceived injuries anyway. Though there was a chance they might come full circle and think she was hiding any fatigue or injuries by acting unaffected by the various traps they laid out.

Brushing that thought aside Revan strode into the park that had been chosen as her ambusher's battleground. Lots of open space, long sightlines for the snipers, and very little cover that would be more than an inconvenience to even a basic weapon.

And in the middle of the park stood the armored Asari assassin and the oddly small Force presence, another Asari. Though that one was outfitted very similarly to what Samara wore. Another Justicar?

Neither side said anything as Revan stalked over the open ground, unignited sabers in her hand but ready to bust to life at the slightest sign, until the three of them were separated by only a few feet.

After all the effort to lure her here Revan was fully expecting one of them to be at least a little talkative, and she wasn't disappointed. Once she got close enough the Justicar spoke up, "I think that's far enough Sith. I'm afraid this will be the site of your death, but as a final mercy I will give you the opportunity to reflect on your sins and beg the Goddess for mercy."

Revan was getting flashbacks to some of the more fanatical Jedi she dealt with from time to time. "And what sins would those be, Asari? I've acted against no one but the Collectors and if you are an agent of theirs…you are late to act."

"Do not try to hide it. The very title Sith reveals your crimes against the Light of the Goddess. You are the corruption waiting in the dark and unknown places. And it is the sacred duty of my Order to see you destroyed."

Revan tilted her head curiously. "You would judge me purely by a name? I've encountered other species who have tales referencing the Sith, yet none of them have decided to hunt me down because of it."

A bit of a lie considering the only people in a position to do so were members of either Cerberus or the Normandy's crew. For all Revan knew there were fanatical orders from other races bent on hunting her down after she named herself Sith Empress of both the Geth and Quarians. Even if she hadn't made any moves to broadcast that the news had surely leaked by now.

But the Asari shook her head. "Wordplay won't save you. Unlike the other more ignorant races, our order was blessed by the direct teachings of a Saint. A being sent by the Goddess herself to enlighten us of the teachings of the noble Pius Dea. And through the teachings they passed down we know there can be no reconciliation with the monsters of the Sith. You clearly have no intention of repenting so I will not waste time. Sith Revan, you have been judged by the Justicars and the Jedi Order of Athame's Blades. The sentence is death. May the Goddess be merciful on your wretched soul." The fanatic finished, reaching behind her back.

A bright blue blade ignited with an intimately familiar snap-hiss, and then Revan was locked in a five-on-one battle for her life.