Story: Birthed By Fire (all chapters)

Authors: Shadowflame66

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Chapter 1

Title: Chapter 1: Sixteen

[Author's notes: Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. If I did, Miranda would still be a bisexual romance option and there would be an entire DLC focusing on fighting her father. Also there would be Force Choking.]

Chapter 1: Sixteen

April 11, 2170

Mindoir

There was smoke; it burned her lungs.

There was fire; it seared her skin.

There was ash; it stung her eyes.

Fear filled the young girl as she supported herself on her hands and knees, coughing. Blood from her forehead mixed in with her crimson hair and further obscured her vision as it dripped down her skin. The fear remained as more screams filled the air, but anger was quickly overtaking it. She reached a hand up and gripped a piece of rubble, forcing herself up. Her amber eyes spotted the marines a good distance away; they weren’t coming. They were pinned down, unable to move closer.

Unable or afraid. She was only sixteen, but her eyes narrowed towards the marines. They were here, they could help, but their own lives seemed more important. She looked down at a hand sticking out from the rubble, dirt-covered and bloodied; her mother’s. A tuft of brown hair was visible in another pile; her father’s. The only reasons she was alive, they’d covered her with their bodies when the house collapsed under the batarians’ barrage. The girl dropped to her knees, cutting her fingers to shreds as she ripped pieces of rubble away. One of her fingernails was torn off, another split, but she didn’t care, not enough to stop. She ripped the last piece from atop her father’s head… or what was left of her father’s head.

She then stumbled back, spinning around and falling to her hands and knees, vomiting. Tears joined with ash and dirt to burn her eyes, but that just fueled the rage. She forced herself up on shaky legs, taking a moment to gain her balance before making it over to her mother and repeating her actions. Lift rubble, toss aside, scrape glass away, ignore blood; she was almost running on autopilot. A sob escaped her as she yanked a piece of rebar out of the way; her mother’s eyes were open, looking at her. For one brief moment she thought she was alive, until she saw that the piece of rebar she’d removed was one of several others that impaled the woman’s body. The girl reached a trembling hand out to touch her mother’s neck, but it was obvious; she was dead.

The girl raised her head as a scream escaped her throat, a sound of mixed agony and rage. It drew attention, attracted slavers, but she didn’t care; something opened inside her mind, a wall she hadn’t even known was there. Her body felt alive, different somehow, and a new sensation awakened that she’d never known before. A batarian appeared in an opening, pointing his rifle in. “One survived in here, looks alright; I’ll grab her.”

The girl turned hate-filled amber eyes on the batarian, baring her teeth at him. He’d seen it all before and wasn’t intimidated in the least, but she wasn’t thinking about that; she wasn’t really thinking at all. She didn’t know why she did it, but as she stood she shoved a hand forward and the air bent around it. All four of the batarian’s eyes widened as a blue energy flared to life in the girl’s eyes and over her body. The biotic power hurled him two dozen meters to slam into a pile of rubble, shattering bones and splitting skin. The girl climbed out of the rubble and stood on the street with her arms at her sides, her body wreathed in blue energy that shifted and warped the air.

Batarians turned and fired on her but the energy wrapped around her, creating a barrier that kept the shots from connecting. Her crimson hair flowed around her eyes as she focused on another batarian, extending her hand with her palm up. He flailed and cursed as he was lifted into the air while the girl remained cold, raising her other hand. She turned her hands over, appearing as if she was holding a bar in them, and then twisted them, snapping the batarian’s spine in the air. As his body hit the ground the others fired and broke through her barrier. Metal slugs tore through her arms and thigh, sending her to her knees, but she roared in defiance and threw both hands forward, releasing a shockwave that tore through the group in front of her and scattered them.

A grenade landed at her side and she only had time to look at it before it exploded. Her biotic power wrapped around her again, shielding her from the blast, but she was thrown back and hit the side of a building, falling into blackness.

Mass Effect

Several Hours Later

She awoke at a time she didn’t know, in a place she didn’t recognize, under the gaze of a person she’d never met. She was a little surprised to wake up at all, but she had expected to be in a batarian slaver’s hold if she did. She was in some sort of medical bed, though; the taste of the air and feel of gravity led her to believe she was on a ship. The man near her wore a military uniform, obviously an officer. “I’m glad to see you’re awake,” he said in a voice that was entirely too composed in her opinion.

She tried to sit up but pain shot through her back; she did it anyway, leaning against the wall as she looked at him. “Where…?”

“You’re aboard the SSV Budapest, an Alliance cruiser. You’re safe now. What’s your name, miss?”

The girl looked at her hands, which rested uselessly in her lap. “Kira Shepard.”

“Well, Shepard, you’re with the military now. Everything will be fine.”

And that was how it went. The enlisted men didn’t know how to feel, and the officers didn’t care; “dangers of living in the Traverse,” they told her, as if that made any difference. “Safe with the military,” they said, as if she hadn’t seen them sitting impotently unable to help. Apparently her attack had allowed them to move up, and they made it into town in time to save her… but no one else. The batarians got away and no one was left but the dead. They asked about extended family they could send her to, but there were none. “Everything will be fine,” she heard over and over again. Nothing but words.

A month later Shepard found herself standing outside a building that looked more intimidating than they probably meant for it to; a military biotic training and research facility on some planet she’d never heard of. Her bag hung at her side, but there was really nothing in it aside from a few clothes the military had been able to get her. She didn’t own anything else. The man at her side reassured her again (“everything will be fine”), leading her into the building. Inside all the walls, floors and ceilings were cold metal with little color. Kira walked behind the man quietly; she didn’t remember his name and it wouldn’t matter for much longer anyway. They entered an office and a secretary pointed them through another door.

Inside a woman stood up from her desk, smiling; she wore nice white clothes and glasses, and had long blonde hair, a rare trait since it was a recessive gene. “You must be Kira Shepard. Welcome to E-3,” she said, looking directly at her and more or less ignoring the officer.

Shepard appreciated being treated like an adult after the way the soldiers acted around her, so she actually offered a smile, slight and weak though it was. “Thanks.”

The woman looked at the officer. “We’re done. Thank you for bringing her.” He looked extremely irritated at the dismissal but he seemed to decide it wasn’t worth an argument, as he left without another word. The woman turned back to Kira and her smile returned. “I’m Dr. Novanis. Students call me Dr. Nova because it’s an obvious nickname and they’re unimaginative,” she explained as she moved past the girl and gestured for her to follow as she left the office.

Kira walked after her with a smirk, slinging the bag over her shoulder. “Alright. Why is this place called E-3?”

“Because the military is even more unimaginative,” Nova said with a sidelong glance. “When they wanted to expand their number of research facilities to study and control the effects of Element Zero on humans, they created three primary facilities. Eezo-1 focuses on understanding the element itself, Eezo-2 studies its negative effects on some exposed humans such as deformations and tumors, and Eezo-3 studies and trains those given biotic abilities by exposure to the element.”

Shepard nodded, looking through a window as they passed a lab filled with computers, failing to read anything on the screens. “I always heard biotics were exposed to eezo in the womb and developed biotic ability during puberty.”

“Yes, since we have no records of you, I assume your situation is different. You’re sixteen? And when did your ability first manifest?”

Kira’s expression darkened. “A month ago, on my birthday.”

“Oh… Right. That was the first time…?” Dr. Nova stopped to look at her. “I’ve read the report of what you did. Power like that without an implant is unusual to say the least.”

Kira shrugged, looking away. “Wouldn’t know.”

“Biotics respond to emotions… The impact of those events could have boosted your power quite a bit.” When Shepard simply remained silent Nova sighed, resuming walking. “Well, we’re going to fit you with an implant and help you get control of those abilities.”

Mass Effect

Four Months Later

The surgery was a little frightening but Kira made no complaints, knowing it would make her stronger. After that she was “integrated” more fully into the program, but she never really felt like it. She didn’t get along with any of the others. She sat alone at all times, spoke little to others, and went to sleep in her bunk without a word. She didn’t really want anything to do with the other students, but some of them resented that.

Several months after she arrived (four months, thirteen days; for some reason she couldn’t stop keeping count), she found herself blocked from continuing down a hallway by three students. She’d noticed other students deferring to these three and figured she’d have to deal with them at some point. Her amber gaze ignored the male and female on the sides, they were more or less followers. The blond-haired, blue-eyed guy in the center was obviously the leader. He folded his arms and gave her a cocky grin. “I hear you’ve got some talent, Shepard.”

Shepard’s eyes focused on him through her crimson bangs, analyzing him. Alpha male. False bravado covering self-doubt. Arrogant but not confident. Slightly above average intelligence. Worried for his position because I’m an unknown element. He’s here to establish dominance or at least judge me. Kira, as usual, allowed no emotion to show on her face. He seemed to grow uncomfortable under her gaze, irritable even.

“What, you’ve got nothing to say?” His eyes narrowed a bit; anger. “What’re you staring at, freak?”

Insults; he’s already lost and is fumbling for control. “A straw man,” Shepard answered, her eyes never leaving his.

“A what?”

“A construction with the illusion of strength but actual weakness. It relies on others believing your image, which doesn’t always work.”

“Are you…” He blinked. “Are you calling me weak?”

Shepard had no intention of being the favored target of bullies during her time at E-3. She was here to gain actual power, not to mess around with adolescent power fantasies. “You already know you’re weak,” she answered simply. “That’s why you’re going to attack me.”

He clenched his teeth and fists at the same time, summoning visible dark energy. The two at his sides were angry as well, or at least the boy was; the girl, a pretty sixteen-year-old with brown hair and green eyes, was moving to the side, apparently deciding to see where this went. Kira could respect that. So far in this place the only person she respected was Dr. Nova; no one else had earned it yet, and this bully in front of her definitely wasn’t on his way to doing so.

Kira Shepard didn’t start fights. If she could get through a situation without fighting she’d take it; there was no point in risking injury unnecessarily. Dealing with bullies, though, had to be done a certain way, and she would have to show this boy that she wasn’t a target worth choosing so he’d leave her alone until she was done here. A good way of doing that would be to make the first move, she believed. This boy had several disadvantages: he had come here of his own will; she was here because she had nowhere else to go. He was training because he’d been told he was special; she wanted to make sure she was the best from now on. He had never killed before; she had several kills. And her anger was far, far worse than his impotent rage could ever achieve.

She dropped her bag and threw out her left hand, shoving his legs out from under him. He landed facedown and she raised her right hand, lifting him up to slam him into the ceiling. His ally sent a push at her but she deflected it with little trouble and threw his leader into him, sending them into a heap. “You bitch!” His curse and the others that followed didn’t faze her, but something was off; the two were getting back up. Obviously she hadn’t meant to seriously injure them, but suddenly that seemed… wrong somehow. Anger finally showed on her face as they moved towards her. A combined shove threw her into the wall and… that was it.

Hitting the wall again… that wouldn’t work. For a moment she saw batarians and she lost it. Dark energy lined her body as she threw out both hands, hurling the blond leader into the opposite wall. His shoulder connected and dislocated, drawing a cry of pain from him as his arm dangled uselessly. Kira vaguely noticed the brunette girl running down the hall as she turned to the other boy, flinging her hand to the side and slamming his head into the wall. He fell and curled up, holding his head, but her attention went back to the leader. He saw something in her eyes that frightened him, he said something to her, but she couldn’t understand it; control was gone now.

Using her biotics she yanked him to the ground in front of her. She knelt down and punched him before gripping his hair and slamming his face to the floor. The second time she did it she noticed blood spray from his nose as he yelled something, but he was still moving, still able to act. Not good enough. She did it again, and a fourth time. The girl returned with a guard right at that moment; a Taser hit her in the side, pain shot through her body, and she blacked out.

Mass Effect

Several Hours Later

Kira woke up with a headache at an unknown time. She was on a cot in what she recognized as the detention room; the room had steel walls, a small, uncomfortable cot, a sink, a toilet, and a transparent door. She hadn’t been here yet, having more or less avoided trouble, but she’d seen it. She turned and sat on the edge of the cot, sighing as her head dropped into her hands. “The detention room is used for dangerous and unstable students”, she remembered hearing. She couldn’t deny she fit that description. She heard the door slide open and looked up to see Dr. Nova entering the room.

The woman looked understandably disappointed as she moved to stand before Kira. “Two students in med-bay, both with concussions and one with worse injuries. You could have killed him. What was going through your mind?”

Shepard looked away, moving back onto the cot to sit against the wall with her knees pulled up. “Mindoir,” she answered honestly. “After that… I don’t know.”

Dr. Nova sighed, sitting on the edge of the cot. “After what you went through, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder is expected. But we can’t have you taking it out on other students.”

“He’s a bully.”

“A bully, not a slaver. That level of violence is completely unnecessary,” she said with a shake of her head. Shepard knew she was right, but she didn’t know what to say. She’d done what she’d done, and she’d probably do the same thing again. This lack of control seemed here to stay. Nova sighed again, looking at her. “Kira, one of our purposes here is to make sure you can fit into society.”

Kira glanced at her. “I’m not ever going to fit into society anyway, biotic or not.”

“That attitude might get you killed in the real world.”

“Anything can get you killed,” she replied. “Even just existing.”

Dr. Nova looked at her sadly. “Will you please reconsider talking about Mindoir? I think it could help.”

Kira remained silent, staring at her hands. There was still a bit of blood on one hand, she noticed. She sighed, looking away from the doctor again. “Maybe.”

“Please do. No one should deal with everything alone.” Dr. Nova stood. “I can’t give you a pass for something like this, but given your situation, you’ll only be in here a week. But they won’t trust you after that, and you can’t blame them.” Kira just stayed silent and the doctor shook her head again, leaving and trying to think of a solution to help the girl and prevent this from happening again.

Later that day, to her surprise, Kira got another visitor; the brunette girl who had been with the bully. Kira didn’t know her name (she didn’t remember anyone’s name), but she remembered she hadn’t been a part of the fight. Kira sat cross-legged on the cot, studying the girl through the transparent door. The guard apparently decided to let her through as the door slid open after a few seconds and she stepped inside, watching it close behind her. She didn’t seem nervous or afraid, which just made Kira more curious.

The girl leaned against the wall, looking at her. “That was… impressive,” she started, breaking the silence. “Dane had it coming.”

Kira’s eyes narrowed in slight confusion and suspicion. “Wasn’t he your friend?”

“It would be hard to be friends with a guy like that. No, he’s just sort of… He likes me, I guess. I don’t feel the same but at least he doesn’t bother me if I’m his friend. I don’t have the ability to do… what you did.”

“So why are you here?”

“Dane’s just the stereotypical bully. He’s one-dimensional and shallow.” She tilted her head. “You’re a lot more interesting.”

“Your loyalties switch that easily?”

“I’m not stupid enough to have any loyalties.”

Kira actually smirked at that. “I’m not looking for a follower.”

“How about a friend?” The girl pushed off the wall and moved forward. “Not because I think you need one, of course; no need to go berserk on me,” she said with a smile. “Just because I think it’d work.”

Kira raised an eyebrow. “You want to be friends despite what you’ve heard and seen?”

Because of what I’ve heard and seen,” she corrected. “Like I said, you’re interesting. My name is Faith, by the way, but you don’t have to have any in me.”

“I won’t turn you down,” Kira said, moving over as she nodded to the empty part of the cot.

Faith smiled, moving over to sit on the cot. “You seem pretty lone wolf-y. You sure?”

“I’ve been alone because I haven’t found anyone worth being with,” Kira answered with a shrug. “Being alone is only the best option when the people available would just hinder you.”

“You have a very pragmatic world-view,” Faith noted with a smile. “Where did you get it?”

Shepard’s expression darkened a little. “Mindoir.”

“Mind-… Oh.” Faith’s voice grew quieter. “You were there?”

“I’m the survivor,” she replied. “My parents and… people I knew, killed or captured.”

“I’m sorry,” Faith said sincerely. “I mean… I don’t want you to feel like I’m pitying you or something-“

“It’s fine,” Shepard interrupted. “What other response is there? Even I don’t know how to respond…”

Faith looked at her tentatively. “Have you… talked about it?”

“No.” She sighed. “I haven’t decided how to react to it yet. Do I try to forget it and move on? Do I ingrain it in my mind and let it drive me? Do I focus on it and getting revenge? Do I try to deal with it and accept it? I don’t know.”

Faith nodded, remaining silent for a few moments. “You know… My father was killed, back on earth. A few members of some gang were causing trouble and he tried to step in and help, and ended up getting shot.”

Kira looked at her, studying her. “And how did you decide to deal with that?”

“All of those ways, I guess,” Faith said with a shrug. “It was only a few years ago and still feels fresh. I guess forgetting it isn’t something I’m going to be doing. But it does drive me, I would like revenge, and… Well, as for accepting it, I accepted that it happens and decided to make sure it won’t happen to me.”

“That’s how I feel. I guess I don’t have to pick one. I’m certainly not going to forgive and forget, though.”

Faith smiled humorlessly. “I don’t know if anyone really does that. If you don’t let it affect you then it’s like it didn’t matter.”

“When it does.” Kira sighed. “All I know is… I’m done with being weak.”

Faith gave a more genuine smile then. “I figured that out in the hallway.”

Mass Effect

One Week Later

A week after she went in, Kira was let out of detention. She walked through the halls with no expression, ignoring the other students that stared and whispered as she passed. At least they let her out in time for lunch. The cafeteria was a small at E-3, only seating forty or so people at a time even though the place had two hundred combined students and faculty. To make it work, both students and faculty took meals when they had free time. Since she was late the cafeteria was more or less empty, though all four of the tables had a few people sitting at them. She got her food and sat at the end of one table. The students there stared at her for a couple moments and then moved to another table as she began to eat.

Works for me, she thought to herself, continuing to ignore them and eating quietly.

“Dr. Achon is an asshole,” Faith said as she dropped her tray on the table and sat across from Kira.

Shepard smirked, taking another bite of the food she barely even bothered to identify. “For any specific reason, or…?” Dr. Achon was one of the teachers at E-3 and was more or less insufferable. He was about as arrogant as one could get and thought he was the galaxy’s expert on biotics just because he could use it. He was at least somewhat smart – everyone at E-3 was – but not nearly at the level he pretended to be.

“Yes. New reasons. And old reasons. All the reasons,” Faith exclaimed as she took a bite of the food before grimacing in distaste. “This food never gets any better. You’d think I’d be used to it by now.”

“It works on the same principle as cough medicine,” Kira replied. “Is Achon being his normal self, or extra irritating?”

“Not just normal. Not just extra. I’m talking ’break into the main office and modify his files to send him into the middle of geth territory’ irritating.”

“That’s pretty irritating.”

Faith leaned forward on her elbows, her green eyes meeting Shepard’s amber ones. “Did you know biotics can be aided by stretching properly beforehand?”

Kira raised an eyebrow. “I did not.”

“Did you know it also, apparently, helps if a forty-one-year-old man watches his sixteen-year-old student do said stretches?”

“That’s a little suspicious.”

“And it helps even more if he records it. You know, so he can play it back for you and show you if you’re doing it wrong.”

“I see.” Kira narrowed her eyes. “Did you do something?”

“Do?” Faith sat back and licked off her spoon. “What could I do? I threatened to tell and he said it was legitimate. You know, as he casually erased the recording.”

Kira tapped her fingers on the table. “Right.”

Something about Shepard’s tone made Faith pause and look at her. “Kira… What are you thinking?”

Kira looked to the side. “I’m not thinking anything.”

She didn’t believe that. “They just put you in detention for snapping on students, but if you do it on a researcher…”

“Snapping? Who said I was going to snap?” Kira looked at her, her amber eyes glowing just a bit. “I just don’t like it. I just want to talk to him. I’m not as violent as I seem.”

Faith gave her a disbelieving look. “Just don’t get yourself thrown out. I’m not making myself any more popular by hanging out with you.”

Kira smirked. “I told you it was a bad idea.”

“I don’t really care.” Faith cleaned off her spoon again and pointed it at her. “As long as you’re here, it’s worth it. I’m just saying, don’t make me do it for nothing.”

“You could always get yourself thrown out after me.”

“Sure, that’s a great start to my future. My career options would be pirate, dancer, or whore.”

“You aren’t planning to be one of those things already?”

“As much as I would like to be a dancing pirate whore, I was hoping to be something a little more secure.”

Kira finished her food, shoving the tray aside. “What are you planning to do after you’re done here?”

Faith sighed, setting an elbow on the table and resting her head on her hand. “I’m not really sure. I don’t know if military life is my thing. Maybe I’ll try to become a biotics teacher or researcher. Or maybe I’ll ignore my biotics completely and do something unrelated. Or maybe the military will call to me at some point.”

“You’ve got options.”

Faith looked at her. “What about you? Are you going into the military?”

“Yes,” Kira answered without hesitation. “As soon as I’m eighteen and done here.”

“You seem pretty sure.”

Someone has to do things right.”

“Well, if anyone can…” Faith twirled the spoon in her hand, smiling. “I can see you racing around space saving the galaxy.”

“You’re dreaming pretty big. Sure you don’t want to start with something smaller, like a colony or even a planet?”

“Nah.” Faith smiled at her. “You don’t seem like a ‘start small’ kind of girl.”

Kira sipped her drink. “We’ll see.”

Mass Effect

Two Days Later

“Today was interesting,” Faith said as she appeared beside Kira in the hall.

She’d only been around her for about two days, and already Kira was getting used to Faith appearing suddenly out of nowhere. It was like she had some sort of special ability. “It’s the same as every day,” she said without bothering to stop walking.

“That’s not true. It’s not every day that Dr. Achon is quiet, nervous and apologetic during our class,” Faith responded, studying Kira closely.

“Maybe he had a change of heart,” she said, continuing to stare straight ahead and giving nothing away.

“Quite a sudden turnaround.” She caught Kira’s arm, finally stopping her and causing Kira to meet her gaze. “Thank you,” she said honestly. “It’s also not every day that someone stands up for me.”

“It wasn’t really that hard,” she replied, giving up on denial but averting her eyes. “I was serious, all I did was talk.”

“Then I wish I could’ve heard what you said to him.” Faith smiled, continuing to walk as Kira resumed her movement. “Can I ask why you did that for me?”

“I don’t know why. I guess I just have a very low tolerance for problems.”

“We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Kira glanced at her. “…I guess we are.”

“Well… Are there any problems I can help you with?”

“…Later. After my last session.”

Faith smiled. “Great!”

They parted ways there and Kira debated her thoughts as she continued to her scheduled session. She had numerous things she could talk about, but should she talk about them? It was a difficult decision… But if there was anyone she was willing to trust with it, it was Faith. For some reason she felt a connection to the other girl that she couldn’t explain. Either way, when she left her last session Faith was waiting for her in the hall. Kira nodded her head to the side and started walking, and Faith smiled and followed.

E-3 was on a dust planet, not the nicest place to be outside, especially with the sandstorms. Since they were unable to go outside for privacy they ended up in Kira’s room, which was shared with three other (unhappy) students. None of the others were in here, and even if they had been they would’ve left, so it worked for privacy. Kira sat in her desk chair and Faith took her bed, laying across it and looking at her. After several minutes of silence Faith chuckled. “Are you ever going to talk?”

“I’m trying.”

“You’re not doing very well.”

Shepard grunted and folded her arms, crossing one leg over the other and looking at the opposite wall. “It’s not exactly easy.”

Faith sighed, propping herself up on her elbows. “We both know what it is you need help with… What you need to talk about.”

“Yes, but I don’t-“

“It’s been months since you came here. Have you talked with anyone about Mindoir?”

Kira clicked her tongue. “No. Dr. Nova tried but I haven’t.”

“Well I’m not a doctor or a psychologist or someone who’s going to analyze you. I’m just your friend and I’d like to know you a little better. Maybe it will be easier if you tell me for me?”

Kira looked at her. “I just… What do I start with?”

Faith shrugged. “There’s no plan. Just say whatever you want to say. Jump around from idea to idea if you want. We’re just talking, Kira.”

She sighed, looking away again, this time choosing the floor to stare at. “I feel like it shouldn’t affect me this much.”

Faith tilted her head. “Why’s that?”

“My parents and I weren’t especially close. We didn’t fight all the time or anything like that, but I wouldn’t say we were any closer than your average family. We didn’t have long family vacations or go to amusement parks.” She looked up at the ceiling. “I don’t think I would have felt anything like this if I’d just left home.”

“Well there’s a difference between not seeing someone and having them die on you. Part of it is probably you being sad for losing your future with them; the events and closeness you could have had.”

Kira looked over at her, silent for a moment. “You’re smart. That sounds right… Feels right.”

Faith looked down at her hands, her fingers playing with the edge of the sheet. “Did you… you know… see them?”

Kira sighed, looking back at the floor. “Yes.”

“Both of them?”

“Yes.”

“I’m… I’m sorry.” She reached out enough to set a hand on Kira’s knee.

Kira looked down at the hand on her leg, her eyes defocusing a little. “I had to see. They were buried under rubble, but I had to. It was like… I couldn’t believe it unless I saw it myself.” She looked away. “Neither of them were… in good shape.”

“I wish that wasn’t your last sight of them.”

“So do I. But I was running on automatic pilot; I wasn’t really thinking or deciding on actions.” She closed her eyes. “We heard the sounds first… Screams, guns, explosions, all the things you get with any raid. We all grabbed weapons – colony worlds aren’t stupid, you know, you have to be armed because you’re a target.”

Faith nodded. “Did you fight?”

“We didn’t get much of a chance. Soon after we fired from the windows they hit the building with something heavy. I don’t really know what they used, all I remember is the house coming down.” Kira opened her eyes. “My parents covered me but things got… hard to understand. It was like the world was being flipped around, you know? I couldn’t even tell which way was up. The next thing I knew I was on my hands and knees in an opening beneath the rubble and both my parents were pinned under it. Maybe my biotics prevented debris from falling on me? But if that’s the case…”

Faith’s expression saddened. “If that’s the case, you’re now wondering if you could have saved them, too.”

Kira nodded. “If I’d just known about my biotics beforehand… I could do it, you know?” She shook her head. “If I was back there now, I could keep it from falling on us. I could’ve saved them.”

“You can’t… do that.” Faith moved up, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Things happened as they happened. You can’t talk about going back and changing things like that, it’s useless if you can’t time travel. For things that were your choice, yes, do wonder what you could have done differently, because it’s important to learn and remember. But things like this? None of that was your choice or your fault. You’ll just drive yourself insane thinking that way.”

“You’re right. And I know you’re right. My head, my brain, tells me what you’re saying is completely logical.”

“But… You still feel that way?”

Kira nodded, looking at her. “Emotions aren’t logical.”

“I know. When my father died I kept thinking I could have helped. You know, if I was with him, I could have stopped him from stepping in or stopped that gang myself.”

“You could have.” Kira sighed. “I guess you have to console yourself with the fact that you would have gone with him if you’d known what would happen.”

Faith nodded. “Still… It’s not our fault, you know? It’s theirs. The batarians and the gangs.”

“That’s why I want to join the military. The soldiers…” Kira’s expression darkened. “They just sat there. People were being killed and captured and they just sat there, pinned down. None of them made a move to sacrifice themselves or risk the fire. I did. I fought back. But those professional soldiers just sat there.”

Faith shook her head. “They cared more about their own lives? They’re supposed to protect people.”

“Well, I’m going to do it right. I’m going to kill the slavers and the gangs, the pirates, the criminals, the terrorists. I don’t think protecting works; it’s just reacting after people have already died. I’m going to go after them like they go after us.”

Faith watched her closely, hearing nothing she disagreed with, nothing she disliked. She tilted her head, thinking. “Maybe I’ll go with you.”

Chapter 2

Title: Chapter 2: Seventeen

[Author's notes:

Disclaimer: I don't own Mass Effect. If I did, ME2 wouldn't have been trying to convince me that Jack was a better biotic than my Adept. Also there would be Force Choking.

]

Chapter 2: Seventeen

April 11, 2171

 

Shepard stood in a hallway staring at an info screen that displayed various date for the students at E-3. She was looking for her name, and was very happy with the placement it appeared at: first. It’s something, she thought, imagining that her parents would be proud of such an achievement. She was still trying to decide if focusing on the event one year ago today was the best decision, or if trying to distract herself and forget it was a better choice. Still lost in thought, she blinked when Faith grabbed her hand (after once more appearing from nowhere) and pulled her down the hallway. “Wha…?” was the only response she managed before she was pulled into a supply closet.

With a grin, Faith yanked the door shut before pushing her against a shelf and kissing her solidly. Ah, she thought, forgetting all complaints and returning the kiss, resting her arms around Faith’s waist.

The brunette pulled back slowly, but not very far, opening her green eyes. “Happy birthday,” she said with a smile.

“Is it my birthday?” Kira said with a tilt of her head, her fingers on Faith’s back playing with the hem of her shirt.

“Don’t act like you didn’t remember,” she admonished. “I remembered.”

“I can see that,” Kira said softly, kissing her again.

Faith hummed into the kiss and looked at her as they pulled back. “It’s also almost a year since you came here, eight months since we met, and six months since we got together.” She tilted her head. “I know the anniversary that’s in the front of your mind, though, and I don’t plan on letting you sit around alone thinking about it.”

“What if I feel like sitting around thinking about it?”

“Then I’ll sit with you.”

Kira smiled, lifting her hand to brush some hair from her girlfriend’s eyes. “Honestly, when I first came here, I thought April 11 would be a much harder day than it is now. I thought this whole year would be harder.”

Faith smiled at her. “I’m glad that I help.”

Kira raised an eyebrow. “You just assume I’m talking about you?”

“Please, I’m the best thing you have going.”

Kira chuckled. “You’re right about that.”

“So…” Faith moved forward again, tracing a finger on Kira’s chest and tilting her head invitingly. “Wanna celebrate all of it?”

Kira blinked. Faith laughed as she was pulled out of the supply closet and towards Kira’s room at a rapid pace.

Mass Effect

Shepard hadn’t become any more popular with other students or faculty over the past year; in fact, she became less popular with most of them, and Faith by association, but the brunette just seemed to find it funny. Kira was glad to have her, and she still got along with Dr. Nova alright, but the others…

“I see you don’t think my lesson is worth paying attention to, Miss Shepard,” Dr. Marks said with irritation, even though Kira had only glanced at the door.

It was so petty and childish. Half the researchers here were less mature than the students. They demanded respect; Kira simply demanded respect be earned. She gave it to those that earned it. Those that didn’t, well, they tended to react petulantly and prove why she didn’t respect them in the first place. With a sigh, Kira stood even as he started the whole ‘why don’t you come to the front’ thing, mentally preparing herself. It would be a victory for him to see her fail, so she knew this wasn’t about to be fair.

She was right; he assigned three students to attack her in order to “show how biotics should work together as a team”. Bullshit, Kira thought as she glanced around at the three with a bored expression. She had learned early on that confidence was one of the most important parts of a fight, and she had confidence in spades. It was simply a fact that she couldn’t lose this, and so she wouldn’t; none of the others were going to try that hard even if they disliked her. At the instructor’s words they all started and Kira felt the lack of gravity that meant she was about to be hurled somewhere. Focusing on her rage, she threw up a barrier, her eyes flashing as she virtually batted away the weaker attacks.

Before they could switch gears she threw her arms up and created a Singularity, smiling as the other three were lifted into the air around her. She stepped up to one of them who was struggling as he was turned upside-down. “Biotics are enhanced by emotion,” she informed him as she flipped him around before throwing him at a wall, looking at Dr. Marks as she continued, “Your problem is that you’re simply… dulled.” She could see the irritation on the instructor’s face despite his attempts to hide it, and it made her smile.

Unfortunately, due to her distraction the other two students broke out of her grip and hurled her at the wall. As Kira hit it she snarled, a flash of batarian faces filling her vision. She biotically pulled one of them towards her and shoving herself off the wall to meet him in a midair tackle. She landed on top of him and extended her hand to lift the third student, slamming her into the ceiling and letting her drop before standing and placing her foot on the neck of the boy underneath her, beginning to press down. “Shepard, that’s enough!” Kira glared at the instructor before removing her foot from her fellow student and walking towards the door. “You are not dismissed!”

“I’m done anyway,” she responded, slamming the door behind her and heading down the hall. This would certainly come back to bite her, but honestly she was finding it harder and harder to care about consequences and punishment. Someone would lecture her, she’d be confined to her room for a period of time, whatever – in the end, they would keep her around because of her ability. She knew the limits she could push, and she was going to push them, partially because she despised them for letting her. No one here was worthy of respect, no one gave orders she felt a need to follow; she was just getting through it. Within a year she would be out of here anyway.

Mass Effect

“You have a way of causing trouble around here,” Faith said as she stepped into Kira’s room and shut the door behind her.

“Word travels too fast,” Kira responded from her position lying on the bed, staring at the bottom of the bunk above her.

“People like to talk.” Faith dropped her bag in front of the door and walked over, looking down at her. “Are you okay?”

“Just another flashback. Nothing new.”

Faith nodded, climbing onto the bed and resting her head on Kira’s shoulder, smiling as she felt the arm curl around her. “I heard you broke another rib.”

“Really? Whose?”

“The boy you apparently performed a ‘flying tackle’ on. Please tell me someone in the class recorded it.”

“Probably.”

“Think I could get a copy?”

“You need help with your obsession for watching these things.”

“Cataloguing incidents of your badassery isn’t an obsession, it’s a hobby. Trust me, when you’re famous across the galaxy, we’ll make millions off of these early vids.”

“You’re going to merchandise me, aren’t you?”

“Think about it! Kira Shepard posters, replica weapons and armor, movie and book deals, plushies…”

“Plushies?”

Faith grinned as she hugged her. “What? You’re more huggable than you think, despite your whole angry intimidation thing.”

“That’s really not going to help my reputation.”

“Yeah, but then you’ll punch a reporter or something and your reputation will be good again.”

“Are you trying to be my agent? What makes you think you won’t be the famous one? You’d be a far better public figure.”

“I just don’t have that quality you do. I’ll be known, though, don’t you worry – especially when people start asking about all the dirty details. My erotic stories are gonna sell like hotcakes.”

“I think we should break up.”

“Oh, don’t be grumpy – people will write those stories anyway! Shepard fanfiction, it’ll be the biggest thing. I just want to make sure they know just how hot the real thing is.”

Kira smirked. “You’re damn lucky I love you.”

Faith sat up. “What was that?”

Kira blinked. “I said, ‘you’re lucky I like you’…”

“No, no, you can’t go back on me now! I heard what you said!”

She sighed. “Fine, I love you, let it go.”

Faith grinned. “I’m never going to let it go.” She leaned down and kissed her, smiling as she rolled to rest on top of her. “I love you too, by the way.”

“I thought you were just going to tease me forever,” Kira said with a smirk as she looked up at her, brushing her brown hair aside.

“I’m going to do that, too,” Faith said as she tugged on a lock of crimson hair. “But that’s not what’s on my mind right now.”

“I think I can guess what’s in there,” Kira said, giving another smirk as her hand slipped between them.

Mass Effect

The instructor was telling them all what they were going to be doing, but Shepard wasn’t paying attention; her attention was, as usual, focused on the girl beside her as she snickered at a comment from the brunette. It was clear what they were doing anyway, they’d been told everything before, and Kira didn’t have the patience for repetition. She and Faith were too busy finding it funny that they’d been singled out and ‘handicapped’ for this exercise.

All of the students were being put through some survival training. They were split into teams and given a certain amount of supplies, and they were about to be flown out to various destinations where they would be dropped off to survive and make their way back to the base over the course of the week. The funny part was that every team was comprised of four students… except for their team, which was simply the two of them for reasons that were obvious to pretty much everyone. Shepard was disliked by the majority of the instructors and students, and Faith was in the same boat not only by association but because she had wholeheartedly embraced Shepard’s methods of dealing with other people and had angered or irritated a good number of them herself, a fact that Shepard found endlessly amusing.

They were being set up to fail, again, but both were just glad they wouldn’t have to deal with others for an entire week out in the wild. “If we had teammates they’d probably just end up dead anyway,” Faith remarked with a sidelong glance at Shepard.

“You think they’re that lacking in survival skill?”

“No, I think it would just be really naïve to expect them to survive through a week of annoying you with no supervision.”

Kira smirked. “Fair enough. This is certainly better for my health, but how do you feel about being stuck alone with me for a whole week, with no one else?”

“Are you kidding? This is what I’ve been wishing for since we got together. I’ve even been secretly planning to sabotage us so it takes us longer to get back.”

“You’re not very good at secret planning.”

“I decided to use my wiles instead, it’s easier.”

“You and your wiles.”

“I don’t hear you complaining.”

“Nothing to complain about.”

Since the instructor seemed to be ignoring them as much as they were ignoring him, they weren’t called on their lack of attention – the instructor was likely hoping they would miss vital details and end up failing the exercise, anyway. Ten minutes later they sat on a transport, and a few hours later they were dropped off and abandoned at their destination. As Faith looked around and took stock of their location, she sighed. “I see a lot of rocks, dust and sand. Given that information, I’ve narrowed our current location down to ‘anywhere on this fucking planet that isn’t inside the research station’.”

“There’s not a lot of variety,” Kira admitted, examining their surroundings. “One place looks just like another. We’ll just have to hope we don’t get any sandstorms; I can’t imagine being turned around even more would do anything to help us keep our bearings.”

“We’ll get one for sure, but we can keep our bearings by finding shelter before then.” Faith shielded her eyes against the sun and turned, pointing in a direction. “We came from that way, even though the transport flew off in the other direction to mess with us.”

“I’m glad you paid attention.” Kira adjusted the pack on her shoulder. “So, we’ve got a full day of trudging through a rocky desert to get through. Considering we’re probably a lot further out than anyone else, we should get started if we don’t want to be last.”

Faith sighed, giving her a look. “Are you sure we can’t take our time?”

“I’m not letting them win.”

“You’re so competitive.”

Kira raised an eyebrow. “Just imagine the smug looks on their faces.”

Faith paused. “…Okay, we can’t come in last.” She sighed again. “I guess we can have a vacation someday anyway.”

“We will, in someplace nicer than this,” Kira assured her as they started walking.

“What, you don’t like this lush, lovely landscape?”

“The only things ‘lush’ on this planet are the security guards.”

“Wordplay! I like it. Does that mean you want to play a game? Maybe The License Plate Game?”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Oh yeah, colony kid. It was a thing back on Earth a long time ago, using plates they put on cars.”

Kira gave her a look. “Great. You just point out the first ancient Earth vehicle we come across with one of those.”

“Fine. How about I Spy? Just pick a color you see, and I have to guess what you see.”

“Yellowish-brown.”

“Is it sand?”

“Yep.”’

Faith sighed. “I hate this planet.”

Kira smirked. “Well it’s not about to get better – looks like they dropped us right at the edge of the storm.”

Faith looked ahead and saw the approaching wall of sand, letting out a groan. “Those assholes! We haven’t even made it more than a few dozen meters!”

“I think that was the idea. We’ve got no cover, either.”

The brunette watched the redhead start to unfold the tent. “What do we do? That thing won’t hold up against the wind…”

“You’re right – this thing’s useless.” Kira shoved it back into the holder and through it back over her shoulder, flexing her fingers. “Let’s keep moving, huh?”

Faith looked from her to the storm, then back, before grinning. “Crazy – I like it.”

“I know, it’s why you’re with me.”

The storm approached at ridiculous speeds; it came like a wave, unstoppable and unavoidable. Kira stepped in front, cracking her neck before throwing her hands forward. The storm suddenly split around them like a river diverging around a boulder, joining back together on the other side of them – but the majority of sand and wind skipped them entirely. Faith was surprised it had worked, but she didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. The two of them moved forward under the biotic barrier Kira had created, walking against the weather.

When Kira started to grow tired, Faith took over, keeping them protected. Through teamwork they eventually made it to a rocky outcropping where they were able to take shelter by digging under it. Faith shook sand from her hair after warning Kira to shut her eyes, flinging it everywhere. “I doubt anyone else is doing that! Seriously, are they trying to kill us?”

“Maybe,” Kira responded as she brushed sand from her own hair. “It wouldn’t surprise me. That’s okay, though – it just means we end up stronger than the others.”

“Ohh, what if that’s the point?” Faith looked up at her. “What if they’re harder on the most promising students to make them better?”

“Then we must be the best damn students in the program.”

Mass Effect

Four were watching them as they walked. Kira recognized them as other students, though she didn’t bother to remember their names. When they made it within range, one of the four called out, “Surprised to see you still alive!”

“They honestly think we give a shit,” Faith said with a note of disbelief.

“As long as they don’t mess with-“ Kira stopped as a spiked tent pole stabbed into the ground in front of her, thrown by one of the others and causing their group to laugh.

Faith grimaced. “That was a bad move…”

Kira dropped her pack, looking up as the two boys from the group barred her way. She didn’t hear what they said – after that it didn’t matter. All she knew was that she’d been challenged – and she knew how to respond to that now. They were trying to slow her down, stall her so that she wouldn’t be first. These weren’t even the same assholes that had bothered her before; everyone on the planet was against her, aside from Faith; trying to hold her back. She’d decided early on not to be held back anymore, and as she tuned back into their taunts, she decided to remove the obstacles in her way in the best way she knew.

The tent pole was pulled from the ground and spun in the same movement, striking one of the boys across the face. Kira moved it low and tripped the other before turning back to the first, slamming the pole into the boy’s face and sending up a spray of blood, causing the two girls with them to scream. In the back of her mind she simply thought they were being weak, but she didn’t realize just how much she looked like she was going to kill one of them. As the boy lay on the ground cupping his nose, Kira turned back to the one she’d tripped, who was starting to get up. With a growl she shifted her grip on the pole and struck him in the side, knocking him back to the ground.

He turned onto his back and looked up as she stood over him, turning the pole again so that the spike was aiming down at him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the hell, bitch, are you crazy?!”

Kira ignored him, simply narrowing her eyes as she raised it.

“Kira!” She barely stopped herself at Faith’s yell, steeling her body as she glanced over. “Enough is enough – they’re done.” Kira looked back down, stabbing the pole into the sand next to the boy’s head before lifting her back and stalking away. Faith looked at the boys before running to catch up, falling into step beside her. “What was that? You looked like you were gonna kill him!”

“I don’t know,” Shepard answered honestly, keeping her eyes on the sand as she walked.

Faith considered her, her expression softening. “Instinct again?”

Kira nodded, sparing a glance back. “I would’ve killed them.” She looked back ahead, giving an almost imperceptible frown and continuing more quietly, “Still would.”

“They’re just…” Faith stopped herself, trailing off. She’d been about to remind her girlfriend that the boys were just bullies following the crowd and hadn’t even physically attacked her, but by Kira’s expression she surmised that she knew that already. Kira was just as confused as she was, and she could only imagine how frightening it would be to not have control or even understanding of your own actions. “It’s alright,” Faith said, deciding not to rebuke or reinforce Kira’s actions. “It wasn’t your fault. Honestly, after all that’s happened, anyone antagonizing you should know by now how it will end.”

“With a rage-fueled violent overreaction?”

“Yes, actually. Kira, if there was a particularly mean dog in your colony and you saw it bite people multiple times, why would you decide to throw a rock at it? And if you did, could you really blame anyone but yourself for being so stupid?”

“I guess… Dogs are just animals, though. I’m…” Kira gave her a worried look. “I think there’s something wrong with me.”

Faith stopped them and faced her, brushing Kira’s hair back. “We’ll fix it,” she assured her.

“What if I hurt you?”

“But you haven’t.”

“But what if I did?”

“But you haven’t. Maybe it would be safer to leave – but it would also be safer not to join the military, and we’re both going to do that. I know you won’t and that’s what counts – besides, you need me.”

Kira sighed, looking away. “Yeah, I do.”

“Hey – an abusive relationship is one thing, but this is something in your head.” Faith tapped her forehead. “Something that can be fixed, or at least helped. Besides, you only lash out at people you see as your enemies – which is everyone but me.”

“You’re right… You’re right.”

“Besides, I can take care of myself better than those losers.”

Kira smirked. “I’m holding you to that.”

Mass Effect

They’d made it back before anyone else, but they hadn’t bothered celebrating – as soon as the team they’d run into returned, Kira was put in a solitary room awaiting “review”. With a history of increasingly violent incidents, she didn’t really have an argument. She sat on the floor with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands, staring at the floor because she was afraid to close her eyes. She was struggling with emotions and a mind that she didn’t understand and couldn’t control; it was as if someone else took over at times and that other person only knew one way to deal with problems.

Her biotics were powerful, but lacked all control – being connected to her emotions, they were just like them. As it was she doubted she’d be useful to anyone, and a new voice crawled into her mind through the hole made by the doubt. How cold have I become? There was still blood on her clothing and it seemed to mock her. She was more of a bully than anyone who insulted her, and she couldn’t just hide behind a mask of “payback” and pretend they deserved it. After all the incidents that had occurred, she was the only constant between them – she was the problem. Worse, she had no idea how to fix it – it was like falling with nothing to catch onto.

She was afraid of bringing Faith down with her, possibly more than anything else. She knew she’d never willingly hurt her, but she simply didn’t have the control to guarantee that. Surely she should be in control of her own actions – everyone else was. Did she really have an excuse? Was there some sort of chemical imbalance in her brain, was something broken? Was it her fault? She had no answers for any of these questions, and her mind told her that she was alone – and that she deserved to be.

Mass Effect

Outside of the room, two people discussed the fate of the girl inside. One of them was quite adamant for their position; “She’s dangerous,” she argued. “She’s unstable, and she becomes increasingly violent under duress; she’s not reliable.”

The other, an older male, seemed to be bolstered by the ‘opposing’ argument. “All of those qualities would make her into a weapon,” he stated with certainty, looking through the one-way glass at the figure sitting against the wall. “The military isn’t interested in the weak, and she’s been proven strong.”

“Strong and unstable.”

“Stability can be taught, or enforced. She may even be useful as she is.”’

“She needs help-“

“She needs training. We can provide that. This is a military-funded installation – remember that. You will not expel her from this program. She will finish your training.”

The woman sighed. “Fine. What if there’s another incident?”

“Then we will handle the situation.”

“You mean sweep it under the rug?”

“I mean handle it.” The man turned back to the window. “How we choose to do so is none of your concern.”

Mass Effect

Kira was quiet after being released from her punishment, simply trying to avoid everyone. She hoped that no one else would try to antagonize her – at this point, she just wanted to fade into the shadows and go unnoticed. Faith refused to leave her alone – she walked with her on the circuitous routes she took to avoid crowded halls, and ran interference when it looked like someone was going to bother her.  Together, they managed to make it through their final year at the station – and the next one would be far better.

Mass Effect

Elsewhere in the galaxy, a 21-year-old woman was tired of running. Every night she slept lightly, and every morning she awoke early and was on the move in minutes. Tonight she was sitting in the bathroom of a hotel room with one blanket and one pillow, slowly nodding off. Sleep was difficult – any tiny sound would wake her immediately, and she would clutch the pistol in her hand even tighter every time. At the moment she was running on three hours of sleep during the past seventy-two hours, but she was built to run in bad situations. Even now she wasn’t planning to rest for long – resting meant her father’s men catching up to her, and that was not allowed.

A quiet squeaking sound snapped her awake once more and she tensed, straining her ears in the darkness. It happened again – a window being raised. A muffed sound followed and she stood silently, moving against the door and listening to the room outside. Three of them. Heavy boots – soldiers. There was a very small sound, but her ears picked it up. Static. Comm chatter – more outside. She listened carefully, placing a hand against the door – she’d already removed the hinges. At this point, it wasn’t even possible for her to enter a room without immediately thinking of every possible situation that could conceivably occur.

A second later she heard it – the soft sound of darts hitting the bed. She didn’t waste a moment, summoning her biotics and blasting the door outwards, taking them by surprise. The door hit one of them, smashing him into the wall. She stepped out and fired on the second, sending a round straight through his goggles with perfect precision. As the next one slid another dart into the chamber of his tranq rifle she took a few steps and ran along the wall for the last three before lashing out and kicking him across the face. As she landed in front of him she threw out her hand, using her biotics to shove him out of the window – one of the reasons she always picked the second-highest floor.

She then walked over and pulled the broken door aside, shooting and killing the final soldier before taking the comm piece from him and sticking it in her own ear. She quickly learned that there were three more outside, two snipers on separate rooftops and another in a vehicle somewhere below. She pressed against the wall, leaning slightly to look out the window, quickly spotting both snipers – she’d chosen a corner room to have two windows, and one was watching each window. That still wouldn’t be a problem – preparing herself for a run, she lifted one of the soldiers biotically and threw him through one window a split second before bursting through the other one herself.

The snipers were momentarily distracted, and that was all she needed; her jump carried her to the opposite building, where she managed to catch the edge of the roof with her hand. She vaulted up and wasted no time continuing the sprint; by the time the sniper on the next roof noticed her she was already in midair. She landed in a roll and kicked out, her foot hitting his face and stunning him. She finished the roll and slammed his head into the roof before finishing him with the pistol, and then dropped the pistol and immediately threw up a biotic barrier. The other sniper’s dart hit it, deflecting away inches from her face. She picked up the tranq rifle from the dead sniper, sighted on the other, and fired, hitting the base of his neck and knocking him out in seconds.

Four seconds later she was on the street below, pistol tucked into the back of her pants beneath her jacket. A simple dark jacket, shirt and pants were her chosen outfit, keeping her from standing out in crowds. Fortunately this area was full of people, so she just started walking. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a vehicle flying overhead, searching over the area, but she kept herself from looking directly at it and didn’t change her speed, continuing to walk casually even when she thought it had spotted her. Eventually it moved on and she breathed a little easier.

Finally she slowed down, feeling the fatigue hit her hard. She couldn’t go on as she was for very long; she’d end up dead or caught, one way or the other. But she was almost there – a Cerberus contact was waiting for her just a few days away (hours if she managed to secure transport that wouldn’t throw up a flag to her father’s trackers). He’d somehow managed to leave her a message, and though she was cautious due to her father’s ties to the organization, she knew it was really her only option. She couldn’t disappear, not alone – she needed the help of a powerful group like Cerberus.

When she finally arrived, the contact gave her a message from the Illusive Man himself – if she worked for them, they would provide protection from her father. For Miranda, it wasn’t even a choice – she was willing to do anything to keep out of his grasp, and while such a life would be dangerous, stressful, and even criminal, it would still be hers. Hours later she found herself on a Cerberus transport, heading away from the planet and the grasping arm of her father. And, for the first time in a long, long time, she fell asleep immediately.

[End notes:

I'm going to be trying to stick to a once-a-week update schedule (weekends) for this story, but don't hate me if I miss one. I managed to do it with Crimson Regret, but next year is going to be far busier for me; still, I won't leave you hanging for too long.

 Drop me a review if you can, I'll love you forever! Or at least for the next hour or so!

]

Chapter 3

Title: Chapter 3: Eighteen

[Author's notes: Disclaimer: I don’t own Mass Effect. If I did, Miranda would still be a bisexual romance option and she would actually join your team in ME3. (Also FemShep would be on all the posters instead of Generic Grunt Man.)]

Chapter 3: Eighteen

April 11, 2172

On her eighteenth birthday, Kira Shepard enlisted in the Alliance military. It was the best day she’d had in over two years – especially since Faith was enlisting right alongside her. The Alliance was willing to keep them together, sending them to the same place to train and promising they’d be in the same unit. That same day they were on a transport heading away from E-3. Faith was looking out the window as it faded, sticking out her tongue. “Hope I never see you again! In fact, I hope you take a meteor!”

Kira smirked, listening to her as she looked out of another window at the open expanse of space. “Think we’ll have any of the same problems at the new place?”

“I hope not.” Faith leaned back and laid her head on Kira’s shoulder. “Military discipline with keep that from happening.”

“You obviously haven’t seen the same vids I have.”

“Pff, we’re biotics – the military needs more of us. The higher-ups will be on our side.”

“Yeah, that kind of attitude will be popular…”

“It’s your attitude.”

“I know, and I’m expecting it to get me in trouble.”

“But you’re not changing it.”

“Nope.”

Faith smiled. “That’s what I was hoping.”

Mass Effect

Military training was hard, tiring and unrelenting, but Kira relished every second of it. Never before had she had such an outlet for her emotions; officers would point her at targets or special training rooms, and she would tear up everything in sight – it was so freeing, she found herself happier than she’d been in a long time. Even more surprising, she found that she got along with soldiers more than any other type of person she’d ever met, even before the incident on Mindoir. Unlike at E-3, she was finding herself on the right side of people for once; fellow soldiers were, for the most part, supporting her and even cheering her on at times.

Today she was about to do one of her favorite exercises: an obstacle course made to train biotics for open combat. She stood at the entrance wearing the lightest-weight clothing that she could – tight shorts and a sleeveless shirt, both black (personal preference). Her crimson hair was slightly longer these days, thanks to regulations being relaxed for biotics. She began stretching in anticipation, smirking at the whistles that came from her girlfriend on the sideline. There was a pretty large group there on certain days like today, since they liked to compete for completion times and ability. Kira wasn’t at the top of the board, not yet – she had the power, but not the precision or experience. She was intending to change her placement today, however.

She moved to the entrance of the course, tensing as it prepared to open. On the sidelines a few bets were placed, and Faith’s voice was rising above the others as it often did; “Show ‘em how it’s done, baby!”’ Kira smirked, shifting her feet and launching forward the moment the gate slid aside. Unwilling to fail – or disappoint her girlfriend – she hit the first target that stepped out – limited-AI robots meant to represent enemies – with such force that it splintered apart and shot pieces into the air that rained down over the rest of the course, eliciting cheers from the onlookers. Kira slid around the corner, spotting two more bots; a quick glance told her the one in front represented a civilian and the one in back an enemy holding them hostage, so she yanked the one in back straight up and down to her feet before jumping over it. Above, the officer overseeing the training marked another check on the screen beside him.

Kira went through at a dead sprint; the only issue was reacting correctly. If a bot stepped out, dropped down or popped up, she had to quickly identify whether it was a hostile, a potential threat or a civilian. “Hostile” ones she destroyed instantly; some she tore in half, running through the shredding pieces. Others, she slammed them into the ceiling above, the walls or the floor, doing a fair bit of damage to the walls in the process – one was even blasted through the wall, forcing her to hold back on sheer power for the rest of the course. If a “potential threat” bot appeared – possibly armed but without clear identifying colors, usually lacking armor – then she had to hold back even more, shoving them to the floor, disarming them or pulling them to the side to neutralize them. “Civilian” bots had to be pulled to safety out of the way or “saved” from the two other types.

The course was crude and simplified, but it was meant to get a biotic used to the quick thinking and faster reactions necessary in an open battle situation. Kira’s power was virtually unmatched among those at the base, but like anyone else she needed practice using that power – and so she ran the course every day that they let her, improving upon her weaknesses. The final obstacle was the most difficult – six bots in entrenched positions, with two “hostages”. Kira didn’t hesitate – she couldn’t risk failing to beat the top time again; one minute fifty-three seconds, she repeated in her mind, having no idea how close she was to it or if she’d gone over already. She continued running straight into the corridor, glancing over the set-up and yanking both “hostage” bots towards herself. Using one hand she guided them down behind her as she raised the other, summoning all she had and raising her voice in a yell as she threw it forward.

The ensuing tornado of force shredded everything – the bots, their cover, the wall behind them – sending a whirlwind of sparks and shrapnel outwards where it collided with the wall in a cacophony of shrieking metal. Kira skidded to a stop outside of the now-missing wall, catching her breath as she turned to look at the clock as the time stopped – twenty-seven seconds. Having never slowed from a dead run, she’d somehow managed to beat the current top time by nearly a minute and a half. One of the guys on the sideline gave a low whistle and the rest cheered, but Kira paid them little attention – she was already occupied as she had to turn and catch the girl that was currently jumping at her.

“Half a minute! Talk about a record!” Faith grinned as Kira set her down. “Any two of us would fail to beat that time!”

Kira smirked. “All you have to do is stop being careful.”

“Indeed,” an instructor said from behind, causing Kira to grimace and look at him over her shoulder. “And you certainly weren’t careful.”

“I didn’t hit any of the civilians…”

“No, but I find that more surprising than anything.”

Faith frowned. “Does that mean she’s going to be punished, or…?”

“No…” The man shrugged. “I still think you should be more careful, Shepard – you’ve got some dangerous power. But, you ran it flawlessly, so I’m not going to complain today.”

Kira grinned. “Thanks.” She looked back to Faith as the man left. “So how much did you make?”

Faith laughed, showing the number she’d won through bets. “Enough to have a pretty good time during the break…”

Mass Effect

 

Miranda slid the door shut, sealing it with one of the room’s computers. Guards started banging on it, but she knew she had plenty of time. She swept her dark hair out of her face, smiling as she spotted the small case she’d come for. She removed the cables from the rectangular silver case, picking up the reflective metal and sliding it into a small pack on her back. She zipped it up and then hopped on a counter, sliding aside part of the ceiling and climbing up before sliding it back into place behind her. She felt vindication for the time she’d spent memorizing the ventilation system of the research station as she made her way through, hearing the guards break into the room behind her.

She made her way to another room and dropped down, exiting the door and walking down the hallway at a steady pace. Never run unless you’re already picked out, she repeated to herself, smiling and nodding towards a scientist she passed in the hallway. She glanced behind her and spotted guards looking for her. As she made it to a corner she smiled and waved, drawing their attention. After they spotted her she stepped around the corner and slapped a silver disc on the wall without slowing, pressing a button on the disc and then continuing the same pace. She counted out twelve paces and slipped into a side room, placing her finger over a button on her belt as she looked out the doorway. The moment the guards came around the corner she pulled the door closed and pressed the button, detonating the charge she’d placed.

There were a few cries following the explosion and she stepped out into the hall, drawing her pistol and shooting the two survivors in the head. Moving to the bodies she knelt and picked up one of their comm units, then stood and pulled out a second silver disc charge. She tossed it up where it stuck on the ceiling above the bodies and then started walking again, turning another corner. Though it was the first day she’d ever set foot in the station, she knew its layout better than anyone who had spent their years working there; she never slacked on studying for missions. She turned corners and took paths without hesitation, holding the comm to her ear. When she heard guards reporting the bodies she’d recently left, she waited a few more moments before detonating the second charge, burning and bringing down the ceiling on the other guards.

She made it to the exit as two guards called for her to freeze from the end of the hallway behind her, raising their rifles. Without bothering to even slow her movements she swiped the stolen keycard to open the door, turning and shooting both guards in the same smooth movement as she stepped out of the door. Finally she started picking up the pace, paying attention to the voice in her ear. She slid her pistol back into its holster and broke off in a run, lifting another two guards with biotics. The next two she leapt into, taking one out with a kick to the side of his head, and the other with a palm strike to the base of his chin followed up by sweeping his legs and sending him to the ground.

She didn’t bother finishing any of them off; she only needed a clear path. She went into a full-out sprint, raising a biotic barrier around her as the guards behind began shooting. Without a moment’s pause she headed straight for the edge of the station, which dropped off in a steep, tall cliff. Moments before she arrived, a shuttle rose up above the edge with the side door open. Miranda jumped in and slammed the door shut behind her as the shuttle took off, heading for the atmosphere. She had barely taken a seat before the screen in front of her turned on to show the Illusive Man. “You were successful,” he stated.

Miranda smiled, removing the silver case from her pack and holding it up. “It wasn’t exactly a difficult assignment.”

“Nonetheless, it was important,” TIM said around the cigarette he was lighting. “Head back to your base – with luck, I’ll have a more challenging mission ready for you by the time you arrive.”

“That’s what I was hoping for,” she said before the transmission cut out. Working for Cerberus had turned out to be a dream job – it didn’t matter that most of the galaxy seemed to think of them as terrorists. Cerberus’ ideals were about uplifting humanity, improving their position in the galaxy – and they would do what was necessary to make humanity better. The pro-human organization was something Miranda could be proud of, and she was saving a lot of human lives, so she ignored what others thought. In her opinion Cerberus was her savior, her job, and her purpose; nothing else mattered.

Not even when she saw the news about the stolen bioweapon or the murdered scientists. After all… it was all for the greater good.

Mass Effect

It was her first actual mission, and the tension she felt was nearly overwhelming. Shepard was more anxious than nervous, but to her relief – and pride – Faith was doing nearly as well in training as she was, and thus was allowed on the mission as well. Faith had actually surprised her – she went at her training with immense effort and determination, perfecting everything that she could. While her biotics weren’t as powerful as Shepard’s, they were more focused, and she had discovered a couple talents that Shepard didn’t have – she was quite skilled with tech. While Shepard was power, Faith was finesse, and they complimented each other as well in battle as they did elsewhere.

Today, they would learn just how well that was. The top members from their training facility had been chosen to undertake their first active mission. Currently, six of them sat in a transport, clad in military-issue armor and carrying their chosen weapons. Three of them were biotics – that was Shepard, Faith, and a boy around the same age named Garret, who had taken advantage of the relaxed restrictions on biotics (as Faith had, keeping her brown hair long) to keep his dark hair a little longer than a crew cut, allowing him to gel it and leave it slightly spiked. He was one of the trainees that Shepard and Faith had become friends with, and was also the one who had held the top time in the obstacle course prior to Shepard’s victory. He wasn’t the most serious of recruits, which was probably why he worked with them – Shepard’s insults and Faith’s dry sarcasm were simply funny to him.

They had all received their designations, as well; Shepard had been classified as an Adept, specialized in biotics and receiving special training in them, beginning to learn to use abilities that not every biotic could. Faith was classified as a Sentinel, and was being trained to use a marriage of biotics and tech skills, making her extremely versatile. Garret on the other hand was a Vanguard, a specialist in biotic close combat; unlike Faith and Shepard, who were carrying the lightest weapons possible (pistols and small SMGs), instead of an SMG he carried a shotgun for when he got close, and his armor was slightly heavier.

The other three on the team weren’t biotics, but soldiers from the other part of the academy. They had all met a few times during basic or general training that involved things all soldiers needed to learn regardless of ability, and they had all gotten along well enough. Roland was their team’s Infiltrator, a man with a serious look and an even grimmer demeanor; he had a large sniper rifle compacted and resting on his back, and word was he was the most accurate shot in the entire academy. Their Soldier, the member with the heaviest armor and largest weapons, was named John, and he was a large, friendly man, bald and wide of frame but non-threatening outside of combat situations. The final member of the team was an Engineer, specialized entirely in tech and with a lot of unique gadgets, was named Leon; he was a jovial man with brown hair swept to the side, who preferred to joke about things if he could.

The team was perfectly balanced, an intentional decision in order to get every recruit used to working with other specializations. The team leader was John; while Shepard wasn’t sure he was the best choice, she was willing to do what he said. After all, he was in the same position she was. She focused on readying herself for the mission: a terrorist group known as Freedom’s Ring had taken control of a missile base on a planet with civilian colonies, thus giving them easy targets to use as leverage. They had a lot of demands that the military had no plans to answer; instead, Shepard’s team was their answer. They were to go in quietly, neutralize all terrorists in any way possible, stop any launches and secure the base.

Their shuttle went in low, setting down at a side entrance to the base. Their pilot wished them good luck and Shepard stepped off to see a beautiful night sky above rolling hills. “It’s a million times better than E-3,” Faith commented as she moved to stand beside her.

“And we’re here to make sure it stays that way,” Shepard responded, smiling at Faith before turning to the rest of the team.

“We’re going in quiet,” John said, resting his large rifle on his shoulder. “But there’s no telling how long that’ll last. I say we focus on speed above all, only stick to stealth as long as it lasts and then go all-out; these guys are on edge, they might fire those missiles at any time and I’d rather not take chances.”

It wasn’t the way Shepard would have done it, but she kept silent, deferring to their current leader. With no time to lose, the group headed inside immediately. Two guards were near their entrance and Roland activated his stealth cloak, moving behind one to take him out quietly with a knife while Shepard crushed the other before he could make a sound. The group moved forward with all speed at John’s behest, but doing so meant that a few minutes in, they tripped an alarm. Suddenly, stealth was out the window – lights were flashing and sirens were blaring, and before long, gunfire filled the air. The group didn’t slow but continued to push forward, heading for the missile control room.

John unloaded round after round from his heavy rifle, utilizing suppressing fire to pin down enemies. Kira and Garret charged right in to tear apart those that were pinned down, Leon and Faith both played support and guarded the flanks, and Roland took out any enemies that tried to switch positions. The further they went the more resistance they met, as every guard in the place knew exactly where they were so defenses were pulled from elsewhere. Kira wasn’t impressed with the way John’s plan was going, and she considered taking control and switching it up… and she would, if they wouldn’t make it in time. For now she stuck with the group.

As a hostile stood and aimed his rifle, she lifted him into the air before launching herself onto the rail he’d been hiding behind, firing a round from her pistol through his head as he was disabled. Two more took aim and she let herself fall back, watching the fire from John’s rifle rip them apart. A grenade came at her from a back corner and she caught it midair with her biotics, throwing it back where it came from. The explosion forced another man out of hiding and Roland’s rifle pierced his head instantly, splattering his blood against the back wall. Shepard vaulted up over the railing and came down with a large-scale biotic shockwave that suspended several people, and Faith’s warping detonated her effect, shattering most of the bones in the targets’ bodies.

Meanwhile, two soldiers came from behind and attempted to open fire, but Leon fried the systems in their weapons, overheating them and rendering them useless. Their moment of confusion was all Garret needed as he performed a biotic charge, crushing one against the wall and blasting the other with his shotgun. A soldier in heavy armor stepped out of a doorway, raising a grenade launcher and opening fire on them. Faith threw up a barrier, shutting out the explosions until Shepard used her biotics to wrench the barrel of his gun towards the floor, causing his next shot to impact at his feet. That explosion was the last of the room’s combat and the group hurried on without missing a beat.

They tore a path through all resistance regardless of what was being thrown at them. Shepard, for the moment, had no concerns or worries – everything was violence. Finally they arrived at their destination, and they didn’t wait to break in – but the terrorist group’s leader was ready for them.

The room was all sleek metal and screens, nearly brand new aside from a few scorch marks caused by the terrorists’ attack. On a large screen ahead was a view of the colonies, and John was about to rush forward to stop the countdown when Leon stopped him with a hand. “Hold on – that console’s linked to something.”

“Indeed it is,” said a bedraggled man with brown hair and a scruffy beard. He held a rifle and stood near a doorway. They all aimed their weapons, recognizing him from their Intel as the terrorists’ leader, but he chuckled and dropped his rifle, gesturing to the screens. “See that video feed?” He gestured to the screens, indicating one beside the view of the colony – a view of a couple dozen people locked in a room. “That room is located somewhere in this facility – and inside is every survivor of our attack. While you have made it through our forces in mere minutes… you stop here.”

“What’s your game?” John asked, keeping an eye on the missile countdown.

“Simple – if you stop the missile launch, the explosives in that room detonate, killing quite a few innocent civilians and soldiers. The only way to avoid doing so is to allow me to leave – and I will contact you with the code that my officer has, which will allow you to stop the launch without causing the detonation.”

John growled, reluctantly lowering his rifle. “Very well.”

What?” Shepard stepped forward, turning a glare on John. “You’re letting him go?!”

“We don’t have a choice.”

“Precisely,” the man chuckled, pressing a button to open the door. He didn’t get more than a step through it, however, before Shepard’s biotics yanked him back into the room to the ground at her feet. “This isn’t the deal!”

“Shepard!” John was moving forward, but Kira was ignoring him.

“Keep him here,” she said to Faith, who nodded and held the man on the ground with her own biotics.

“Innocent people are going to die!” John said, his rage growing.

Shepard fixed him with a cold stare. “And if we don’t stop the launch, even more will die. He probably doesn’t even have a code. And even if he does we can’t trust him to send it to us if we let him go. And regardless of all of that, if we let him go, he’ll do something like this again.”

“I’m not sacrificing those people to stop him!”

“That’s the difference between us,” Shepard said as she moved past him towards the console. “Their sacrifice will be remembered,” she said as she looked over the computer before pausing as she heard the click behind her.

“Stand down, Shepard,” John said in a hard voice, his rifle leveled at the back of her head. Everyone else was deadly silent as he spoke slowly, “I’m in command of this mission.”

“Forty-three,” Shepard said, watching the countdown on the screen. “Forty-two… Forty-one…”

“This is my call,” John continued. “And if you don’t follow my orders-“

“Too late,” Shepard interrupted, looking at him over her shoulder with one amber eye as she pressed the button on the computer. Several of the team members’ eyes went wide as the other video feed showed an explosion a moment before it went to static, but Shepard’s expression didn’t change at all.

John’s expression was somewhere between shock and rage. “You killed them…”

You killed them,” Shepard stated harshly, glancing to her left as she realized he was unstable at the moment; she continued after she saw what she was hoping for. “You decided to rush in,” she said as she turned to face him fully. “You made our entrance loud, you let them know we were coming, you gave them time to set this trap up… You put those people in that room.”

John leveled his rifle again. “On the ground,” he stated in a hard tone. “You’re going to have a lot to answer for.”

Shepard’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not going down for your incompetence. Lower your weapon.”

“I said get on the ground!”

“I said lower your weapon!”

The gunshot was sudden, but Faith’s barrier flashed into view and deflected the shot from Shepard in the same instant, as she’d expected. An unseen wind rose in the room as Kira retaliated, flinging John against the opposite wall and pinning him there. His gun hissed and clicked, disabled by Leon’s quick action, and Roland held a gun to John’s head as Garret began removing his weapons. “And this is just our first mission,” Leon said with a look at the rest of the group. “Not a good sign.”

“The rest of you did well,” Shepard said as she activated her comm. “Our mission was successful – launch disarmed. Yes sir; we captured the terrorists’ leader. Casualties of facility personnel - assumed one-hundred percent. Performance?” Kira turned cold eyes on John. “Team Leader John Ryan turned on us. Yes sir. Yes sir. We’ll head to the pick-up point.” She looked to her team. “They’ll debrief us on the way back.” She moved to stand before John, who looked up at her in anger.

“You’re as bad as they are…”

Kira shook her head, showing no sign of amusement. “It’s soldiers like you that get others killed. I have no idea why they picked you as Team Leader – you have no capacity for hard decisions.”

“You’re a traitor!”

“Is that so?” Kira tilted her head, folding her arms. “Then why is the team on my side?”

John looked around, but he had no argument – not one person was ready to defend him.

Mass Effect

The barracks were dead silent, as was usual in the hours shortly after midnight. Curfew had come and gone, and no one was supposed to be awake – but Shepard was. She sat on the bathroom floor, leaning her head back against the cool tile in the darkness. There was the occasional drip of water – a leaky pipe somewhere in the walls – but aside from that, all was silent. There was a subtle echo whenever she shifted, but she knew she wouldn’t wake anyone in the other room. She just needed to be… away.

Claustrophobia of a sort closed in on her. She didn’t panic of course, but there was an underlying anxiety caused by her knowledge that she couldn’t just get out or escape the place, not easily. Ever since the incident on Mindoir she’d been stuck in one place or another, and it caused a lot of stress. She felt trapped, even though it was her choice to be where she was now. It wasn’t a problem itself, but it compounded other problems, making them worse. With all the outlets she was given through military missions and training, her violent nature was sated and controllable – but that wasn’t her only problem.

She was lucky, though. John was gone – not imprisoned, but dishonorably discharged. She didn’t have anything against him personally, but she didn’t think he had what it took to be in the military, especially not as a leader. Instead, the team had been given over to Shepard herself; due to her performance in both training and on the mission a week earlier, she had been made Team Leader. None of the others seemed to have anything against the decision; in fact, they were all pretty supportive, especially Faith, who was just proud. All of them knew she would be a good leader.

But Shepard worried. John’s words bothered her – not because she thought she had made a wrong decision, but because she didn’t know if she would always remember where the line was. She was willing to sacrifice a few dozen people to save tens of thousands, but how far would she go beyond that? How many terrible acts would she end up committing for the ‘right’ reasons? There was that saying about a road to Hell, and she was pretty sure she was on that road. She knew she was willing to do whatever it took to make things right, but she was afraid – afraid that, in the process, she’d do so much that she’d end up making things wrong.

The people she had sacrificed on the mission – it had been easy, in the moment. Cold logic had dictated her actions, making it perfectly clear what the correct decision was. But late at night everything else dimmed and thoughts and fears rose up unhindered, and she couldn’t silence them with logic. Shepard opened her eyes and stared at the dimly-lit tile floor, feeling a cold chill go through her. It could be her, at some point in the future, deciding that some remote colony didn’t need the resources for such a heavy defense – a colony that would then be invaded by monstrous aliens seeking slaves. She could be the cause behind another Mindoir, or something even worse. It didn’t seem so far-fetched…

“Kira?” She lifted her head, watching Faith sit down next to her. “Nightmares?”

Kira smiled faintly, looking back down. “The real-life version. Like nightmares, but more truthful.”

“Tell me.”

Kira sighed, her eyes unfocused as her fingers picked at the grout between two tiles. “I feel like I’m balancing on the edge of an abyss,” she started softly. “And to my other side is a steep hill, and climbing that hill would be right, and strong, and better… but so, so hard.” She pulled up her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs, staring off at nothing. “But falling into the abyss would be so easy…”

Faith ran her fingers through Kira’s hair, gently resting her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder. “That abyss was created by tragedy,” she replied quietly, “and the hill by pain.” Her fingers toyed with Kira’s hair as she got more comfortable, leaning against her. “Over time you’ll heal, and that path you’re on will widen. That pit will fill up and the hill will level out, and you’ll be able to go in whatever direction you want. It just seems hard right now, but things will get easier.”

“Everything you say always makes so much sense,” Shepard said as she slipped her arm around Faith’s waist. “Without you, I don’t think anything would ever make sense to me…”

Faith smiled and closed her eyes, focusing on the sensation of Kira’s fingers tracing patterns on her back. “You just need another perspective, that’s all… You’re so hard on yourself. I just have to remind you what I see.”

“I don’t think anyone sees me the way you do.”

Faith chuckled softly. “Maybe not. But people here think a lot of you. And they’re impressed with how you handled that hard decision.”

“I’m worried about how I’ll handle future hard decisions…”

“I’ll be your moral compass, Kira – I’ll tell you when you’re about to go too far. You don’t have to worry.”

Kira smiled – the only scale she ever needed to measure herself against was Faith’s, and so long as she kept on the right side of that… things would be alright.

[End notes:

Sorry for the long gap between chapters, but the holidays were pretty hectic and I didn't have a lot of downtime. But hey, here I am getting up a chapter the day after my 25th birthday, so I'm off to a pretty good start this year!

From here on the chapters will get longer and less fragmented as our timeskipping slows down, meaning we'll get more detail and more into the story. Thanks to all who read, a special thanks to all who review, and I hope you enjoy the story!

]

Chapter 4

Title: Chapter 4: Alliance

[Author's notes: Disclaimer: I don’t own Mass Effect. If I did, Kai Leng would have died during the first confrontation with Shepard so no one would have to see him again.]

Chapter 4: Alliance

May 7th, 2174

Amber eyes opened. She was cuffed to a chair in a dark room, with a bright light shining directly in her face. How cliché, she thought as she blinked to clear her vision.

“Gunnery Chief Shepard,” a man said, drawing her attention as her eyes adjusted. He had dark hair and well-kept facial hair, and a pad that he set down on a desk between him and Shepard. He let out a low whistle. “You’re moving up the ranks pretty quickly, aren’t you? GC at the age of twenty… How do you do it?”

“I take out scum like you,” Shepard responded, testing out one of the cuffs a little.

“Of course,” the man said with a chuckle. “And lately, you’ve been going after our organization, haven’t you?”

“You’re working with the batarians.” Shepard’s eyes seemed to shine in the light. “You’re helping them to set up another attack, and that’s why I’m here.”

He raised an eyebrow. “To get yourself captured?”

“No,” she said as she glanced over his shoulder, “to get everything off your computers.”

He looked behind him as the screen mounted on the wall began flashing, showing an intrusion. “Shit!” He held a hand to his ear. “Get security together, there’s a-“ He was cut off as he was suddenly and violently yanked over the desk, his head hanging off the side that Shepard was on.

She smiled down at him as her biotics held him in place. “Thanks for bringing me to your office. I had no idea you’d be this helpful.” She threw a knee up into the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. She then used her biotics to drag his body into her lap and take his keys off his belt. After unlocking the cuffs she threw his body off of her and stood up, rubbing her wrists as she stepped around his desk and pressed a hand to the wall panel, causing the door to slide open.

Faith stepped through the doorway, smiling and kissing her. “I hope they weren’t too rough on you.”

“He didn’t even get to start,” Kira assured her as she stepped aside. “How long will it take?”

Faith moved past her and set her small laptop on the desk, plugging it into the man’s computer and beginning to access it. “Oh, not long – a couple minutes. Which I’m sure we have.”

“I take it that Roland’s in position, then?” Faith smiled, bringing up the comm chatter on the man’s computer, which was filled with confused men shouting about being trapped or down. Kira smirked. “Leon’s doing his thing, too.”

Faith nodded. “He and Garret are in the security hub. They’re causing all kinds of chaos. Honestly, I don’t think anyone here has a clue what’s going on.”

“Then everything’s following the plan.”

“It was risky, but it worked.”

“Where’s Rade?” Kira asked, before shutting her eyes and lifting a hand as an explosion in the hall nearly blinded her. “Nevermind.”

Janus Rade – the team’s soldier and heavy weapons expert for the past year – walked out of the smoke, brushing ash from her blonde hair. “I told him to get out of the way, I swear.” Considering Rade’s… fondness… for explosives, Shepard didn’t really believe her, and her look showed it as the blonde held up her hands. “Okay, maybe I wasn’t as convincing as I could have been.”

“I’m sure you tried your best,” Shepard said sarcastically, taking the earpiece that Faith handed her and inserting it. “Everyone doing alright?”

“If you mean all of us, yes,” Garret responded over the comm. “If you’re asking about them, then uh… not really.”

“Good to hear. Roland, are you holding position well?”

“They’re sitting ducks, ma’am. These splinter groups have no discipline.”

“To be fair,” Leon interjected, “neither do we. Personality-wise, anyway.”

“I’m not aiming for their personalities.”

“Point taken.”

“Done,” Faith announced, unplugging the cable and shutting her laptop. “Lot of data here.”

“Too much to transfer remotely?” Kira asked.

“Unless you want to stay here for an hour, yes.”

“Good call on bringing the laptop, then. We’ll bring the data to the Alliance the traditional way: by hand.”

Rade turned and drew the rifle from her back. “In that case, we need to punch our way out of here, then.”

“We’ve got the exit cleared as planned,” Garret responded. “Making our way there now.”

“I shut most of them in their barracks,” Leon added. “By the time they get reinforcements we should be gone.”

“Good,” Shepard replied, following Rade with Faith right behind her. “Roland?”

“Moving position, ma’am. It may take me a bit – they’ve got a mech.”

“Oooh,” Rade looked back at Shepard with wide eyes.

Shepard sighed. “We’re on our way. Garret, Leon – get to the exit and hold it, we need to get to extraction as fast as we can.”

“Understood.”

The three made their way to Roland’s position – he was holding the main hall of the building, having been preventing the main force from getting to any of the others. Now he himself was pinned down on a balcony as a soldier piloting a heavy mech was unloading a lot of ammunition in his direction. Exiting on to the same balcony, the three knelt down behind Roland’s cover with him. “Five hostiles with him,” he said, glancing over their cover. “Two to the left – one with a sniper and one assault – and three on the right, two assault, one heavy.”

Shepard nodded. “Alright – Faith, lock that mech’s weapons for a moment, then take out the two on the left with biotics. Rade, you’re going over with me and circling to the right – draw the attention of the three soldiers there. Roland, take out the heavy at the first opportunity, then get ready for your shot on the mech pilot. I’m on the mech. Everyone understand?” Receiving three nods, Shepard suddenly vaulted over the railing, with Rade right behind her. The mech targeted them, but its guns whirled without firing, beginning to smoke as Faith overheated them.

Though she had always been a loner, Shepard trusted her team, and so she took off running directly at the mech in full view of all hostiles. To her right, the heavy stepped forward with a launcher only for a heavy round to shatter his helmet and put him down. Rade split off from Shepard, moving to the right and opening fire on the two assault soldiers there, gunning one down and forcing the other into cover. To her left, the sniper who was lining up a bead on Shepard was interrupted by a sudden pulling sensation; a Singularity appeared between him and the soldier nearby, lifting them into the air and spinning them, disorienting them too much for them to do anything.

Shepard leapt into the mech with a yell, slamming it with such biotic force that it stumbled backwards. She landed in front of it, catching Faith’s warping ability detonating her own singularity and sending the two soldiers to her left flying in different directions, obviously down. To her right she caught Rade’s grenade landing at the foot of the remaining soldier, giving him only a moment before he was killed by the explosion. And in front of her, she saw the mech pilot’s eyes showing a hint of fear. He raised the mech’s guns, but Shepard was already raising her hands – and the mech was lifting into the air.

Pain shot through Kira’s body and every muscle strained, including her mind; an intense headache rushed into existence. But none of it stopped her as she lifted the mech above her and both hands visibly glowed. With a rising yell Shepard began to spread her hands apart and a crack split down the center of the mech’s viewport. The pilot was hitting every button in view, but none of them could stop what was happening. Sparks flew, metal groaned, and glass shattered as the front of the mech began to tear in half. The intense stress on it was finally too much – the center of the blast shield cracked apart, and the very moment that an opening presented itself, a heavy rifle round blasted in through the hole, shredding the pilot’s head.

Shepard released a growl and dropped the mech, an impact that caused the room to shake. Her breathing was heavy as she turned to find her team staring at her. “Exit,” she ordered, taking a step in that direction. Faith and Rade were at her side in no time, helping her go faster as Roland ran point for them. They met up with Garret and Leon at the exit, and all six were at the shuttle as it arrived. As it took off and made its way out of orbit, Rade gave Shepard an impressed look. “Remind me not to piss you off, boss.”

Faith grinned, sitting beside Shepard and taking her hand. “Your powers are getting kind of crazy, love.”

“I’m not the only one,” Shepard said with a smile. “You acted really quickly in both hacking and combat – and I noticed that singularity was even bigger than normal.”

Faith beamed. “I was hoping you’d notice! I’ve been working on taking out more people at once.”

Garret chuckled. “Considering how often we’re outnumbered, I’m thankful for that.”

“Combine that with your charging and we can take out a whole roomful at once,” Leon suggested.

“Everyone did well today,” Shepard said. “Roland held off a virtual army, Rade is better to have than a tank, Garret cleared paths in seconds, and you, Leon – is there anything tech-related that you can’t control?”

“I’m sure there’s something. No, nevermind – there’s not.”

Shepard chuckled. “Good. At the rate we’re improving, we’ll be the Alliance’s A-team within a few years.”

Leon raised his hand. “I call Mr. T!”

“Not what I meant…”

Faith smiled at her. “Should’ve seen it coming. You’re the only one here that takes everything seriously.”

Kira ran a hand through her hair. “As long as we keep performing this well, that’s alright with me.”

Mass Effect

Shepard yawned as she dropped into the chair, leaning her arms on her knees and grinning through her crimson hair at the officer that sat across the desk from her. He seemed unimpressed, and his expression was both stern… and reluctant. “Your methods,” he began, “are questionable at best.”

Kira cocked her head. “Buuuut…?”

He sighed, lifting a hand to rub his forehead. “But, your results speak for themselves. Nothing will change.”

“Uh-huh.” Shepard smirked, standing up.

“Don’t make me regret my decisions, Shepard.”

“No worries.” She paused at the door, glancing back over her shoulder. “Regret is my business; I don’t share it.” She opened the door and stepped out into the hall, and Faith pushed off the wall, smiling.

“That was quick.”

“I think he’s given up yelling.”

“Realized it’s no use, huh?”

“Yeah, I don’t really change.”

“For him, anyway.” Faith walked in front of her, turning to face her with a smile. “Lunch?”

The mess hall was crowded, because it was always crowded. Being on a major ground base wasn’t something Shepard really enjoyed; it was tolerated. She couldn’t wait until her team was sent out again, or stationed on another ship somewhere, or hell, even groundside on some colony. She liked being around people she knew and trusted, not strangers – even if they were all military. Still, she tended to go where Faith wanted to, even if it was the most crowded spot on the base.

Faith was the reason Shepard trusted anyone; they’d been together for around four years now, and in that time she’d shored up a lot of the damage Shepard’s heart and mind had taken. Her help and military life had enabled her to get a hold of her inner violence, and she only rarely broke down these days. Kira was growing stronger, and she was able to trust – and even like – her team, and Faith was the only reason. Rare was it that anyone saw them apart, but they weren’t given any grief about anything thanks to their reputation.

After following Faith through the food line, Shepard followed her to a table and sat, shutting out all the conversation around her. She noted that they’d sat with their team, and when she picked out her name she responded with a simple greeting, but she didn’t bother joining the discussion or looking up from her food. She just got like that sometimes, closing off from everything – it was another reason she preferred spending time with people she knew, as they had learned about this behavior and didn’t bother her whenever she did it. Instead they continued on normally, leaving her out – except for Faith’s hand on her knee, but Shepard didn’t mind that detail.

For her part, Faith didn’t mind or worry when Kira “shut off”, as she put it. She’d learned years ago that it had nothing to do with anything that was going on or anything being wrong; it was just something Shepard needed to do every so often. Faith doubted she’d ever be completely social, but it was something she liked. As usual, she kept an eye on Shepard (just in case she was needed), but mainly just talked with the others normally. “None of the officers really know how to react to us these days,” she said with a shrug, responding to something Garret had said.

“Right? But I’ve been thinking…” He leaned forward conspiratorially, forcing the others to do so as well in order to hear his lowered voice. “We’re different… So when do we get a unique name? I’ve got ideas.”

Faith rolled her eyes. “Do you really think that’s necessary?”

“It is if we wanna be cool. What do you think about ‘The Wild Cards’?”

“Do we each get named after a card?” Leon asked. “Because if so, I call Joker. And midnight toker.”

“That’s not a – fine. But I’m the Ace.”

Rade laughed as she joined the table with Roland. “You really think you’re our squad’s Ace?”

“Not likely,” Roland muttered gruffly.

Garret looked hurt. “Fine – who is our Ace, then?”

Faith raised an eyebrow. “You really have to ask?”

Garret glanced at Shepard, noticing she probably wasn’t even listening to the conversation. “Alright, Ace is taken then. So what are the rest of us?”

“You can be Jack,” Leon offered.

“If we’re doing this, I’m Six,” Roland said without pausing his eating.

“Why?”

“Reasons.”

“Right… Reasons,” Garret said, letting it go. “Rade?”

She thought for a moment before smiling. “Nine. It’s my brother’s jersey number back on Earth.”

“Makes sense.”

“Faith’s the Queen,” Shepard stated without looking up or pausing her eating, drawing everyone’s attention to her – which it wasn’t clear if she noticed.

Faith smiled, kissing her shoulder before nodding at the others. “Works for me. Any objections?”

“No, no,” Garret agreed with a glance between her and Shepard. “No arguments here.”

Rade snickered. “Bet you’d be scared of a rabbit.”

“Only if it can rip a mech in half with its mind.”

“The man’s got a point.”

Mass Effect

Miranda slammed the door shut and locked it before slumping against it, slowly sliding down to sit on the floor. She kept a hand pressed to her arm to stem the flow of blood and rested her head against the door, closing her eyes as she listened to footsteps outside rushing past. She’d broken the line of sight just in time – she wasn’t sure how much longer she could have kept running. Releasing her arm she reached up to the door handle and used it to pull herself up, stumbling to the bathroom and ripping a towel off the rack. She didn’t know whose apartment she was in, but that sort of thing rarely mattered at times like this.

She left the towel on the sink and moved into the kitchen, grabbing a knife, a bottle of the first alcoholic drink she found in the cabinet, a handful of napkins, and liquid soap. She went back into the bathroom and turned on the light and the faucet, using the knife to make a cut in her sleeve before tearing it off. She splashed water from the sink over her arm, cleaning the area. She then stuffed part of the towel in her mouth and held it in her teeth, sliding the point of the knife into her wound. She hissed into the towel, clenching her jaw tightly as she slowly worked out the metal round buried in her arm. It dropped into the sink, joining the blood there.

Miranda allowed herself a moment to collect herself to prevent blacking out, then poured the whiskey into and over the wound, thankful that the towel muffled her scream. Once that was done she used the knife to cut a strip from the towel, then wadded up the napkins, wet the top layer with whiskey, and pressed the wad of napkins tightly to the wound. She then tied the strip of the towel around her arm, pulling it tight by putting one end in her teeth. After she was finally done she looked in the mirror, taking in her haggard appearance.

Normally, she was a consummate professional – but no one had foreseen her father’s men finding her now, of all times, while she was in the middle of a Cerberus mission. She was twenty-four now, and had hoped the passing years meant her father had given up completely – but the thing with her sister seemed to have started it all over again. Everything had gone wrong this week, and now she was just trying to survive until she could contact The Illusive Man. She washed all of her blood down the drain and off the knife, then threw the part of the towel she’d bit down on under the faucet and left it running.

Her time was running out now – she left the bathroom and went into the bedroom, searching through the closet and grabbing a black trenchcoat to hide her outfit and injury. After putting it on she went back to the kitchen / living room area and crabbed a large carving knife, stabbing it into the largest bare wall. After a minute she’d finished carving: “TIM – Raven, Wounded Wing, Empty Nest.” She then dropped the knife and moved to the center of the room.

“Sorry,” she whispered to the apartment’s missing owner, closing her eyes and summoning her biotic power. Everything in the room shattered, flew around, scattered around the room and smashed against the walls, and even the windows were blown out. She desperately hoped that whoever owned the apartment was only out for the night. She opened the door and jammed it open, then took off.

Mass Effect

Faith stretched lazily, groaning as her joints popped. She sat up in bed, blinking in the early-morning sunlight and smiling – it wasn’t often that they were put in hotels, and she knew how to enjoy it. She looked over at the person she was sharing the bed with, who was of course already awake, sitting on her half of the bed absent-mindedly eating eggs as she watched the screen on the opposite wall. “Good morning,” she said with a smile, leaning across Kira and kissing her on the cheek as she took a plate from the tray beside the bed. “What are you watching?”

“Local news,” Kira answered, taking her eyes off the screen long enough to give her a faint smile.

“Anything interesting?” Faith asked as she bit down on a bagel. “Not bad for room service…”

“If weird is interesting,” Shepard said with a shrug. “Some sort of cult activity, they think.”

Faith raised an eyebrow. “What, like sacrifices and chanting monks?”

“Nothing that crazy. Just a weird break-in; the victim wasn’t home and is in protective custody since they were likely the target.”

“What’s so cult-y about a break-in?”

Kira rewound the broadcast to a specific part. “The strange message on the wall.”

Faith leaned forward as Kira paused it. “Wow, carved in – talk about dramatic.” She squinted at the screen. “Wounded wing…? Empty nest…? What kind of cult is bird-related?”

Shepard shrugged. “Never said I knew what it meant.”

“This kind of thing happened all the time on Earth,” Faith said as she leaned back. “There are crazy people everywhere. I bet it doesn’t mean anything at all.”

Mass Effect

Faith sighed, leaning against a wall and looking up at the night sky from between the buildings. The alley she was in was slightly cleaner than average, so that was a plus – but she was as bored as could be. Everyone had split up, searching for some guy. She hadn’t really listened too closely – she knew what he looked like and knew he was bad news, and that was enough. Mostly things consisted of walking around in boredom and asking people if they’d seen him. It was supposed to be a training exercise that improved certain non-combat skills; instead, it was nothing.

She missed Kira’s company. She wondered what her girlfriend was doing at the moment; if she was having any more luck, or if Kira was as bored as she was. But Kira was far more serious, and was probably taking her duties seriously at the moment; she rarely let that drop unless she was being cocky or, sometimes, when they were alone. Faith snickered, wondering what the rest of their team would think if they knew how their leader could be behind closed doors. She was about to give in and contact Kira when she heard someone stumble into the alley. She pushed off the wall and pulled out her pistol. “Who’s there?”

In front of her stood a woman around her age with dark hair, wrapped in a too-large trenchcoat and obviously injured. Faith lowered her gun and hurried to her, supporting her. “Are you okay?”

“After me…” the woman said, looking back over her shoulder.

Faith looked up and narrowed her eyes, watching a group of armed men enter the end of the alley. “Hide someplace safe.”

“I can still fight!” The woman straightened up and Faith helped her lean against a building, looking her over.

“Alright, well, do you have a weapon?”

“Biotics.”

Faith smiled. “Then let’s do this.” Without warning she raised her pistol and fired, sending a round straight into the head of the first guy. The other four immediately spread out as much as they could and returned fire, but they had little room to maneuver in the alley and no cover. Faith and the woman, however, were behind a thick dumpster, safe whenever they ducked behind it. “I’m Faith, by the way,” Faith said with a smile, leaning out to use biotics to lift one of the men into the air.

The woman stood and used her own biotics to slam the man back down into the street. She then ducked back behind cover and looked at the other girl for a short time; she was obviously Alliance military, but she didn’t seem like she’d be a threat to the mission. “Miranda,” she responded.

“Really? I had a friend with that name back on Earth. But… let’s hope this doesn’t end the way that did.” She slid out into the open, overheating all of the enemies’ weapons. She then created a singularity that drew all three into it and suspended them together in the air, allowing her to unload until her own pistol overheated from the stress. Miranda then stepped out and performed a biotic push that threw all three out of the alley; it wasn’t likely that any of them would be coming back.

Miranda then leaned against the wall again, checking her injuries for renewed bleeding as she caught her breath. Satisfied that she wasn’t currently dying, she looked back at Faith. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I’m Alliance,” Faith said with a wink. “It’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Miranda considered the statement. “Do you really think that’s where you can benefit humanity the most?”

Faith shrugged. “It’s the big one, right? I mean, I’m not into politics.”

“But there are other organizations. Other options.”

“Yes, but my girlfriend picked this one.”

“Ah…” Miranda smirked. “Sounds like you have your priorities figured out.”

Faith smiled. “I know what’s important. I enjoy this work, I find it fun, and most importantly, it allows me to work with Kira.”

Alliance unit, Faith and Kira… “Shepard?” Miranda asked, drawing a look of surprise from Faith.

“You’ve heard of her?”

“I’ve… heard of your unit,” Miranda responded, deciding not to tell her that Cerberus kept tabs on all Alliance Military personnel that were candidates for recruitment. Both Faith Victus and Kira Shepard were on that list of candidates… “What if I said I had a job opportunity for both of you?”

Faith raised an eyebrow. “Really? Well, I suppose if we’re both invited… What is it?”

“It’s the greatest opportunity for advancing humanity’s place in the galaxy, and protecting humans and human interests.”

“Human-focused?” Faith gave her a cautious look. “Sounds a bit bigoted.”

“Humans are behind in the galactic game,” Miranda countered. “We aren’t anti-alien, we’re pro-human; there’s a difference. We just want to help humanity achieve its potential. Surely you’ve noticed how the other races ignore humanity’s needs? Not allowing a place on the Council, no human Spectres, limiting our military, leaving our outer colonies to fend for themselves and not helping when they’re attacked? Some of the races even attack us specifically.”

Faith looked at the ground, thinking about what had happened to Kira’s family. “You make sense…”

“It’s not just that, either – this organization is secret, but exciting. And the amount of freedom you get is incredible; very few times do you get direct orders.”

Faith smiled a little. “She’d like that part, for sure… Maybe I’ll bring it up.”

“I’ll get in touch with you at some point,” Miranda assured her. “Right now I need to get out of here before more of those guys show up.”

“Oh, right,” Faith said as she snapped out of her thoughts. “Do you need help?”

“You’ve helped me enough.” Miranda pushed off the wall, continuing down the alleyway and glancing back over her shoulder. “Think about what I said.”

Faith watched her until she disappeared around the corner, and then sighed, contacting Shepard to report what had just happened and the men she’d killed. Humanity’s interests…

Mass Effect

Miranda grunted as she climbed into the transport, falling into her seat with a sigh – finally, she’d be able to get some rest.

“You’re pretty creative,” her pilot said as the shuttle took off. “Still, TIM isn’t exactly elated about you sending a message over the news.”

“It’ll be fine,” she assured the man as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. “People only see what they want to see.”

“I guess that’s how Cerberus works.”

“Working from behind the scenes to do what must be done,” Miranda said, parroting something TIM had said to her once. “It doesn’t matter; he was going to be angry either way.”

“Since you’re the only one I’m picking up, I could guess that your mission didn’t go as well as hoped; unless it was solo.”

“It wasn’t solo,” Miranda said, staring out the window. “The mission was a failure. Everything that could have gone wrong did.”

“What happened?”

“You know better than to ask about others’ missions,” Miranda reprimanded, getting a chuckle and a ‘backing off’ gesture from the pilot. “He will debrief me, and he’s the only one that need know.”

“Man, you’re Cerberus to the bone, aren’t you?”

Miranda didn’t bother replying, instead going back to looking out the window. Cerberus to the bone. She sighed. Part of her did wish she was in the Alliance with people like Faith; their work was full of passion, emotion and investment. Cerberus felt so cold most of the time, so clinical. It was all about statistics and duty. Faith was a soldier – Miranda was a tool. Still, TIM gave her a great amount of freedom, and he rarely gave her orders – he usually told her what outcome he wanted and she made it happen. She couldn’t get that kind of freedom within the Alliance military.

They also couldn’t protect her from her father, hide her from his grasp – or keep her sister hidden. No, she’d made the right choice – the only problem was that, sometimes, she wasn’t so sure that it was a choice.

Mass Effect

Faith sat in the hotel room watching Shepard out of the corner of her eyes. Their team had managed to get their target, though Faith had never seen him – she still had the most action. However, her thoughts were currently on the moments following said action, and now seemed like the perfect time to bring it up. “Kira? Have you ever thought about… leaving the Alliance military?”

Shepard paused in her packing, straightening up and frowning at Faith. “You want to leave?”

“Well…” Faith sat up on the bed. “I don’t know. That girl, Miranda, said she worked for some secret organization. Apparently they’re really pro-human and they do a lot of exciting secret missions, with a lot of freedom.”

Kira folded her arms and leaned a shoulder against the wall. “Does that sound like something you want to do?”

Faith sighed. “I don’t know. I guess I like having it as an option. The Alliance is… it’s fun, you know? And I like our team. But this is something I like to think about.”

“If it’s what you want to do, I’ll do it,” Kira said, drawing a smile from Faith. “I just think the Alliance needs us. And people need us – people like you and I were.”

“You’re right.” Faith got off the bed and walked over, sliding her hands over Kira’s shoulders and smiling as she felt the arms encircling her waist. “I like that you’d be willing to come with me, though.”

Kira kissed her softly. “Of course I would. You’re my top priority.”

“That’s what I said…” Faith caught her lips again, pulling her into another kiss that grew deeper the longer it lasted. After a full minute she slowly pulled back, looking at Shepard with half-lidded eyes. “Mmm… How long until we have to go?”

Kira smirked. “One hour.”

“We can pack in two minutes, right?” Faith said, smiling as she pulled Shepard towards the bed.

“If not, they can wait.”

Chapter 5

Title: Chapter 5: Time Changes Everything

[Author's notes: Disclaimer: I don’t own Mass Effect. If I did, Kai Leng would have died during the first confrontation with Shepard so no one would have to see him again.]

Chapter 5: Time Changes Everything

October 28, 2174

The mission had gone well for most of it. Shepard’s team was part of an important ground strike on a base, along with another squad. She led her team as she always did, well and with ferocity. They knew their jobs and they got them done. Shepard walked in through a door Leon got open as if there wasn’t a care in the world, beginning to outline what everyone’s part was… until the alarms went off.

They all looked around and Shepard glanced at Leon. “Find out what’s going on.”

It didn’t take him long to get into the system, and after that his face paled. He was reluctant to speak, but Shepard’s gaze was too hard to ignore. “It seems our allied squad tripped… well, all of the alarms. Apparently they caused an explosion.”

“They what?!” Everyone’s eyes went to Shepard as an expression of anger overtook her features. “This is supposed to be quiet. We were told that if this guy knows we’re coming he’ll take off! What the hell are they thinking?!”

Faith sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I guess they aren’t.” She glanced at her own Omni-tool. “It looks like they’re fighting. All tact is lost.”

Garret looked to their leader. “Well, what do we do? They’re gonna have all the security of this place coming-“

“Then they can deal with it.” Shepard pointed at Faith. “Get us a map of this place and pick out the fastest route to his exit point.” She looked to Leon. “I want every door in our way open before we get to it. Don’t make me slow down.” She then looked to the others. “We’re taking out everyone in our path the moment we see them. Try not to let them get a warning or alarm off.”

Rade shouldered her assault rifle. “Guess we’re goin’ in hard now.”

“Hard, fast and direct.” Shepard turned and started walking, with Faith directing her. “They can keep all the security distracted.”

“If they die,” Roland muttered, “It’s their own fault anyway. Told them it was quiet. We had it all planned out.”

No one had any argument. The other squad began contacting Shepard for assistance but she showed no change in attitude. “Negative,” she responded. “Continuing to mission objective.”

“We need help, Shepard!”

“Then you should have followed the damn plan.” Shepard cut contact, deciding they were better off having nothing to do with that squad. Their path was more clear now, and they would get the objective done despite having to deal with idiots, she was certain.

The team moved at a constant pace, passing through doors just as Leon opened them. When they encountered resistance it was put down in seconds. Roland put a round through a head, Leon hacked weapons or shut down alarm systems, Rade blasted someone off their feet, Garret slammed someone into a wall, Faith suspended a few helplessly, and Shepard just tore them apart. They went through room after room until they reached the landing pad just in time to see a shuttle taking off.

Shepard had no intention of letting that go; she stood on the platform looking up as the shuttle rose overhead. “Rade.”

“Got it, boss,” the blonde said with a grin, raising her rifle and firing a grenade from its secondary barrel. The projectile’s explosion took out one of the engines, forcing the shuttle into a spin – the shuttle’s pilot had to shut off the thrusters and rely strictly on the Mass Effect Drive to steady the craft. As soon as the craft was steadied and before the pilot could compensate, Roland’s shot penetrated the cockpit and the pilot’s skull.

Garret stepped up. “Faith?”

“Go for it!”

He took a running start and performed a biotic charge, feeling his momentum being amplified and directed by Faith’s biotics lifting him. He landed on the top of the shuttle and watched as Leon accessed its systems and opened the door, allowing him to slide inside. The scientist – their target – inside the shuttle had a look of surprise and terror, and Garret just grabbed him with a grin and fell back out of the shuttle. Faith’s singularity slowed their descent to the ground and the scientist looked around wildly. “Release me or you’ll all die!”

Leon ran a hand through his hair. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s gonna happen, dude.”

The scientist stood only to see that his ‘secret weapon’ – the four large turrets hidden all around the landing platform – were all aiming at the sky, groaning and smoking as they struggled to target the team. His eyes then fell on the glowing Shepard, who gave a final twist of her hand that rent the metal supports of every turret and sent the guns crashing to the ground harmlessly, sparks flying from the shorn metal. Shepard’s expression was hard enough that he gave no further struggle as they took him back inside. She shoved him towards the computer. “Call off all the security.” She then turned to her team as the scientist followed her orders. “Well done. I knew I could count on all of you.”

It was a few minutes after they’d called for extraction that three of the other team came in, looking worn and weary. Their squad leader stormed up to Shepard in a rage. “What the hell was that back there?! We needed help!”

The other two members of his team were the only ones that noticed when Shepard’s team all took a step back as she turned to face him. “We had an objective,” she said flatly. “We also had a plan. A plan that you decided to ignore. Had you followed it, you wouldn’t have been in trouble.”

“Things went bad – I didn’t think that would happen!”

Shepard just gave him a cold look. “It’s not my fault you’re incompetent. Your team should get a new commander like mine did.”

The man was practically seething now. “Three of my team died back there.”

Now Shepard was starting to look angry. “And you killed them. This is why not everyone is fit to be a leader – your decisions matter. You hold others’ lives in your hands. When you make a mistake, they pay for it. And you just killed two soldiers because you messed up. Deal with it.”

Everyone’s eyes then went wide, as that was when the other squad leader punched her. The ensuing biotic pulse sent everyone stumbling back, but it sent the man flying. He had barely even hit the wall when Shepard caught up, her hands wrapping around his throat and pinning him to the wall. He began to struggle, unable to breathe and trying to get her to let go, but in her eyes he saw a cold-burning hatred that told him she didn’t plan on letting go at all. The more he struggled for air, the more her grip tightened. He had made the wrong move at the wrong time. The man’s two remaining team members were there as soon as it was clear that she was going to kill him, but they couldn’t get her off of him – her biotics shoved them away, preventing them from helping, and all the while she never blinked, never changed her expression of anger, never looked away from the man’s eyes…

Until Faith appeared beside her and grabbed her arm. “Kira! Stop!” Shepard released the man immediately. He dropped to the floor coughing and choking, raggedly gasping for air as his vision slowly returned. Shepard continued looking down at him for a few more seconds before her eyes turned to Faith. “That’s enough,” Faith said quietly, receiving a nod in response. She then looked down at the man who was rubbing his obviously bruised throat. “Please have enough sense not to say anything else. This is over.” She pulled Shepard away, back to their own team to await their pick-up.

The rest of the team didn’t say anything about it and continued talking normally, but Shepard was quiet after that. There were no more problems, but it was obvious that the other squad leader wasn’t going to let things go.

Mass Effect

Armand sighed, looking over the screens and papers spread out around his desk. Being a psychologist and psych evaluator for the Alliance military was tiring on the best of days, but his next evaluation was looking to be the worst – this “Shepard” had the worst history of incidents he’d seen from someone that hadn’t been discharged. He figured he knew how this evaluation was going to go, but it was his job, after all, so with another sigh he tapped the button to contact his secretary. “Send Shepard in now, please.”

To his surprise, when the door opened a man in a very nice uniform walked in. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said, glancing at one of his screens. “I’m scheduled to evaluate Kira Shepard right now.” He gave the man a smile. “I’m pretty sure you’re not her.”

The man was obviously older than him by a good amount of years, with greying hair and a strong appearance. The man adjusted the cuff of his uniform, chuckling as he looked at the younger man. “You’ve got a good sense of humor; let’s hope your other senses are as honed. You won’t be meeting with Shepard.”

The psychologist frowned. “I’m sorry? But I was scheduled-“

“Oh, your scheduling isn’t wrong,” the older man assured him. “You met with her today, just as planned. You evaluated her, and passed her.”

“Passed?!” Armand shook his head. “Sir, with all due respect, I’ve got more incidents involving her than anyone else. Her violent tendencies are erratic at best and unstable at worst! She’s a danger to everyone around her and in my opinion there’s no way-“

“I am not interested in your opinion, Armand,” the man stated firmly, turning to the window and adjusting the cuff of his uniform sleeve as he appraised himself in the mirror, making sure nothing was out of place. “These are your orders, and they come from far higher than you have any ability to argue with. You met Shepard, you evaluated her, you passed her. Are we clear?”

Armand sat back, weighing his options before nodding. “Yes, sir. We’re clear.” He then sat forward, leaning his elbows on his desk – he wasn’t a coward, and he was curious. “Can I ask why? Is she related to a higher-up, or…?”

The man smiled. “This isn’t nepotism. Shepard has no relations, as you should see in your file – everyone related to her to any extent is dead. Let’s just say that we gave her our own evaluation and she passed.”

“You mean she’s useful.”

He chuckled. “Call it whatever you want. Have a good day, Armand.”

The psychologist watched the older man walk out. He didn’t feel right about following these orders, but he had no choice – and it wasn’t as if he could change it anyway. Besides, these were the people that made the decisions – it was their military, he just gave his opinion. He’d done so and made it clear how he felt, so what happened next was up to them. He knew that going along with it was his only option when he watched as the incidents Shepard had been involved in disappeared one by one from his computer’s records until her record was clean. He didn’t know who was changing his records, but he did know that he didn’t want to know. He let out a deep breath and gave her a “Pass” on her evaluation before deciding to take off early and get himself a stiff drink; it was best to just forget about this kind of thing.

Mass Effect

Faith woke up in the middle of the night; it was just as well, as her sleep wasn’t very restful. As she always did first thing after waking up, she looked over at Kira’s bed – this time, it was empty. This happened enough that it wasn’t uncommon, and she got up and dressed enough to go find her. A lot of times Kira’s mind just couldn’t handle things anymore and she either freaked out or broke down, finding someplace alone – often the bathroom – in order to struggle with herself. Faith always found her and did what she could to help, which to her eternal gratitude seemed to be a lot. She couldn’t fix her girlfriend – she’d tried for years and Shepard wasn’t exactly ‘better’ – but she could help her, make it easier, and fix individual episodes.

Seeing the girl she loved struggle with depression, rage, and even suicidal issues wasn’t easy, but she never even considered that it wasn’t worth it. And she made sure Kira knew that. Checking the bathroom she found it empty, as well as several other likely spots, but finally she found her in a training room, beating the hell out of some unfortunate punching bags. Faith stood back a bit and just watched her for a little while, sure that Shepard had realized her presence already.

Shepard was sweating a lot despite only being dressed in a sleeveless white shirt and dark shorts. Her crimson hair stuck to her skin as she repeatedly slammed her fists into the punching back, pouring her anger into the blows in an attempt to push it out of herself and purge her mind of rage. It wasn’t working as well as she’d hoped, though; her anger just amplified itself.

Faith watched until Kira finally stopped, breathing heavily and resting her forehead against the punching bag. “You should leave,” Kira said quietly, closing her eyes.

Faith just smiled. “But I like watching you work out, straining and getting all sweaty – it’s sexy.”

Kira opened her eyes and pushed the bag away, looking off to the side. “I mean you should leave me. I’m not getting any better; I’m just dangerous.”

Faith pushed off the wall and walked up behind Shepard, wrapping her arms around her and sliding her hands up and over her stomach as she laid her chin on Kira’s shoulder. “I’m never leaving. I don’t care what you say – I don’t care what’s easy or hard. Darkness isn’t all you are – you’re also kind, and strong, and impressive, and determined, and funny, and sexy. You have to stop telling me to leave. Seriously, it doesn’t work. I don’t want to leave, I want to marry you.”

Shepard turned around to face her, studying her eyes. “You want to… marry me?”

Faith smiled and blushed. “Well we’ve only been dating for like three years and I’m not tired of you yet, so I-“ She was cut off as Kira kissed her, not that she minded.

Kira pulled back and looked in her eyes again. “You’re sure? I mean… completely sure? Me?”

Faith laughed. “Yes, I’m sure!”

Shepard grinned. “Then let’s do it.”

“You mean it?” Faith beamed, but quickly gave her a wary frown. “Wait, does this mean I have to have sex with you?”

Kira rolled her eyes and pushed her up against the wall. “Let me remind you what we’ve been doing for those three years.”

Faith grinned as Shepard pinned her and started kissing her neck. “Oh, right…”

Mass Effect

September 5, 2174

Inter-Relay Text Chat Logs

LawBringer: Seems secure.

FaithfulAngel: Yeah, I get why you’re worried someone will spy on our chat about my love life. THE HORROR!

LawBringer: It’s just a habit, okay? You’re the one who wanted to chat instead of mail anyway. Now what is this about?

FaithfulAngel: Oh, right – I’m getting married!

LawBringer: You’re what?! Congratulations, when did this happen?

FaithfulAngel: Last night!

LawBringer: It’s hard to imagine what she did based on what I know about her.

FaithfulAngel: Oh, haha, no, we don’t do anything normally. It was just a ‘we should do that’ sort of thing. Frankly we’re already about as married as you can get.

LawBringer: Did you celebrate at all? One of my co-workers had some sort of party.

FaithfulAngel: You didn’t go?

LawBringer: I don’t like many co-workers.

FaithfulAngel: Why am I not surprised? Anyway, no, there’s no way Kira would enjoy anything close to a party. Although we did have our own party last night~

LawBringer: I really don’t need to hear about that one.

FaithfulAngel: Aww, come on, Miranda – it was really hot!

LawBringer: I’m sure it was.

FaithfulAngel: First she pushed me against the wall

LawBringer: FAITH!

FaithfulAngel: Then she did this thing with her hands that makes me

LawBringer: [USER DISCONNECTED]

FaithfulAngel: Ahahahaha, too easy!

End of recorded log

Mass Effect

July 3, 2175

Faith backed up into a corner, looking at the armored soldiers that had her surrounded. She gave them a bright smile. “You guys look kind of cool, you know that?”

“You seem pretty calm for someone who’s about to be thrown into a back room on a remote world and tortured,” one of them said menacingly through his helmet.

“Oh, I don’t think I wanna do that,” Faith said with a shake of her head. “I should probably tell you guys that I’m just the distraction. What you should really do is…” The door was suddenly ripped open and Shepard burst in like a tornado, sending the soldiers flying in all directions as Faith giggled and finished, “…meet my wife.”

Before the soldiers could even get off the floor Shepard and Faith had picked up their weapons and held them at gunpoint. Shepard smiled at Faith. “This is the last group of them. Good job.”

“So we’re done here?” Faith beamed at Shepard’s nod. “That means we’re done on this planet!”

“Which means we get time off for your birthday next week,” Shepard said, watching their own soldiers come in and start moving the captured ones out. “Anywhere specific you want to go?”

Faith grinned. “How about somewhere far away from action like this? Like the Citadel, or Illium!”

Shepard thought about it for a moment. “We’ve got enough money saved up since we never spend it. Either one is viable.”

“’Viable’. You’re so romantic with your words!”

Kira smirked. “It’s your birthday. You only turn twenty-one once; where’s it gonna be?”

“Well I did always want to see the Citadel… And there’s so much to do there, it’d be perfect!”

“Citadel it is, then.”

Five days later they were on a ship approaching the Citadel. Taking time off was something Shepard didn’t often do, which was one of the reasons Faith was so excited. While Faith was pressed up against the window watching their approach and the looming station, Shepard was instead watching her. She smiled every time Faith grinned at her, chuckling at her ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’. She’d never been to the Citadel either, but she just didn’t have the childlike awe that her wife did, so she found it a lot more entertaining to watch her – Faith’s joy was her reward.

As their ship docked, Faith grabbed Kira’s wrist and pulled her towards the exit, wasting no time. They made it through customs with no trouble, having left all their weapons behind – not that they would need them if they encountered trouble. They’d arrived at one of the Wards, and inside was a tapestry of light and sound. Faith stood with Kira’s hand in hers as she looked around, turning in a circle. “There’s so much! What do we do first?”

“This trip is about you,” Kira replied. “Whatever you want.”

Faith looked at her. “What about you?”

Kira smiled. “All I want is to see you happy. Pick whatever does that.”

Faith returned the smile and leaned up to kiss her. “But you’re already here.”

Kira chuckled. “Then pick something on top of that.”

“Okay!” Faith turned around and grinned. “How much money do we have?”

“Quite a bit. Several years’ paid on two salaries.”

“Shopping it is!”

Shepard laughed as she was pulled along through the crowd of people to the first shop. As they entered, a recorded voice stated the name of a turian commander she recognized along with the statement, “and this is my favorite store on the Citadel!” Shepard scoffed at it. “What a sell-out. Who would do that sort of ad?”

“Someone unscrupulous, I’m sure.”

“Didn’t you say you were going to merchandise me?”

“…Yeah, but that’ll be classy.”

“You mentioned plushies.”

Classy plushies.”

“I don’t think you know what ‘classy’ means.”

“Doesn’t it mean ‘something with a great ass’?”

“My plushies are going to have a great ass?”

“Well they have to be realistic!”

“I’m just going to take that as a compliment and let it go.”

“That would be wise.”

They came out of the first shop with Faith holding up a small bag full of water, watching a bright blue fish swim around inside. “That thing will never survive,” Kira stated.

“Shh!” Faith shot a glare at her. “Quiet, Kira, you’ll scare Pemberforth J. Esquire!”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“The Third.”

“I can’t believe that of the two of us, you’re the sane one.”

“Not sane, just saner than you.”

“Alright, well your fish is apparently licensed to practice law.”

“Is that what ‘esquire’ means? I just thought it sounded fancy.”

“It can go either way.”

“Good. Well, he’s a fancy fish.”

“Of course he is.”

Faith stuck her tongue out at Kira. “Pemberforth and I do not care for your sarcasm.”

“Am I second to a fish now? Is that what’s happening?”

“Not just any fish. A fancy fish. Anyway, I  think that since we’re getting our own place, we need to make it homier.”

“Alright, well in that case I welcome Pemberforth.”

Faith grinned. “The mere fact that you’ll say that name proves you love me.”

“And don’t forget it.”

Mass Effect

February 7, 2176

Elysium

 

It was a quiet morning, and Kira and Faith had a slow day. Elysium – despite the planet’s colony being only sixteen years old – was a very populous and high-traffic planet, with sprawling development and a population in the millions; this meant that their team had a lot of options for things to do, and were all out doing them along with all the other marines on leave. That left Kira and Faith to entertain themselves, which of course they had no trouble doing. After spending several hours in a private room, they finally made it outside, deciding to head to the city.

There was no early warning – as soon as the fighting began in orbit, transports were already entering the atmosphere. Everything went to chaos in minutes, and every member of the military on or near the planet got the same call – batarians. A huge force was entering from the Skyllian Verge, smashing into Alliance resistance and flooding onto the planet, targeting civilian centers. For Faith and Kira, they heard the warnings before they saw the evidence – they’d been inside a shop when they heard, and heading out onto the street they saw three shuttles coming down, unloading their soldiers – who began firing on every citizen in sight. One tossed a grenade into a store, laughing at the explosion and the screams.

Shepard’s eyes filled with rage as she saw the fighting start. “Batarians.” Faith heard the word she let out in a growl, but was unable to react before Kira was already off and running. Faith didn’t even bother yelling after her – she just followed. Words weren’t going to get through to her wife right now, so she let her own anger take over – what the batarians were doing was wrong on every level.

The first batarian that saw Shepard coming opened fire, but she used her biotics to rip up a piece of rubble and block it. She wasn’t wearing armor, had no shields, and only carried a pistol – but she wasn’t about to stop or even slow down. She wasn’t going to let those monsters keep killing. As she approached the shuttles she felt a familiar feeling – Faith had raised a barrier around her. Trusting in her wife, Shepard launched the piece of rubble ahead of her, feeling a sense of satisfaction as it smashed into a batarian, killing him on the spot. This drew the attention of others, who turned their rifles on her, but Shepard wasn’t worried.

To her left, a group of batarians were suddenly thrown together and lifted into the air as Faith’s Singularity formed between them; to her right, another group checked their weapons as they refused to fire, overheated by Faith’s skill. That left the group ahead of her, and they didn’t last long. Shepard leapt and came down in the middle of them with a biotic shockwave that threw them all into the air. She caught one in midair and yanked him back to the ground, stomping on his throat as she caught his rifle. She threw a warp into Faith’s Singularity, detonating it and shattering the bones of the batarians it held. In the same movement she spun and let out a shockwave towards the group whose guns had just cooled down, scattering them. She then let out a burst of fire to kill the ones on the ground around her before tossing the rifle to her right and catching another.

Faith caught the rifle just as she arrived, skidding to a stop with her back against Kira’s. The two of them let loose, firing in every direction and using biotics to defend themselves or distract or stun groups. More shuttles were arriving, but some of them were letting out Alliance troops, and more were coming in ground vehicles. The Alliance was pulling together in record time, organizing a defense utilizing every available resource; overhead the Agincourt had just arrived, and they could see the explosions as it eradicated batarian ships one by one. Shepard had never been more grateful for the reliability of the Alliance Navy, but they didn’t have much time to think it over.

Garret and Rade ran over to them, having arrived in one of the ground vehicles. “Shepard, Faith!” Garret slid to a stop near them. “Man I’m glad to see you two are alive.”

“Can you believe this?” Rade shook her head. “These bastards are attacking us! Our planet! Tell me we’re going to kill them.”

“We’re going to kill them,” Shepard said coldly as she and Faith tossed aside their rifles and took the Alliance weapons a soldier handed them.

“Where are Leon and Roland?” Faith asked, looking around.

“About twenty miles east,” Garret answered. “They’re helping with the defense there.”

“Good.” Shepard looked at them. “I’m going after their staging area. Moore, Rade – you two stay here and get this defense going,” she ordered, listening to the comm chatter talking about the ground the batarians had already taken.

“Yes, Ma’am!”

“Sir!”

Kira looked to her right. “Faith-“

“I’m going with you,” Faith said, giving her a determined look that said she’d take no argument.

Shepard smiled a little. “Understood. Let’s get going.” She looked back at the other two. “Be careful.”

“Give that warning to the batarians,” Rade said as she hefted a massive launcher and shouldered it.

Garret gave her an odd look before turning back to Shepard and Faith. “Don’t get yourselves killed now.”

“That’s not my plan,” Shepard assured him as she and Faith took an aircar and took off.

Minutes later they were back on foot, approaching a large building the batarians had taken over. “We’re ignoring orders,” Faith said quietly as she listened to Alliance transmissions.

“And?”

“Just thought it was funny.”

“Elysium will not be Mindoir,” Shepard said with conviction, marching right for the building’s main entrance.

“Please just… don’t let the revenge thing kill you,” Faith pleaded. “I know what you’re thinking of doing, but I’ve got an idea – if you’re willing to listen.”

Kira stopped and looked back at Faith, hesitating for a moment. She looked back at the building, clenching her fist tightly. She was being selfish… she knew that. She heard the fear in Faith’s voice, and decided that there were things more important to her than revenge. She let out a sigh, forcing herself to relax as she turned to Faith. “Alright, let’s go with your idea.”

Faith gave a relieved smile and hugged her. “Thank you.”

Kira didn’t even look back at the batarian compound as she returned the embrace. “I’m not going to die,” she assured her wife, “so long as you don’t.”

Mass Effect

Miranda felt a level of anger that was rare when it wasn’t directed at her father. She watched the screen with a barely-contained rage, though on the outside she appeared far calmer. “They’ve never been this brazen before. A raid here or there, small attacks on remote colonies – but nothing this big, look at how many there are! To make this kind of directed strike against humanity is unforgivable.”

“The batarians have made a mistake,” The Illusive Man assured her, watching his own screens in some unknown location. “Humanity is stronger than they know – they won’t get away with this.”

“They won’t.” Miranda turned back to her screen as TIM cut communications, likely to begin working on plans to respond to this. In the meantime, she felt different emotions as a camera showed footage of Alliance soldiers fighting in the streets; she recognized two of them. Kira Shepard and Faith Victus stood out easily – they had no armor and were in civilian clothes, but weren’t easily mistaken for civilians. The camera cut away soon after, but Miranda’s thoughts remained on them. “They’re going to pay for this,” she said out loud, mentally promising to put in for whatever mission The Illusive Man had planned for the batarians.

Mass Effect

The building that had been transformed into a batarian compound was a rush of activity; there were several places around the planet that they’d set up in, and each one was set up as a staging area for the districts around it. Batarians unloaded ammunition and equipment while others planned out where to direct their attacks. All of this was interrupted when the aircar came smashing through the front windows and exploded in the center of it all.

In the back of the building, batarians began funneling out and towards the front, leaving only the officers calling for aid, sending out warnings and trying to get things back under control. This process, too, was interrupted when two twenty-one-year-old women stepped in through a back door. No guns were fired; biotics were used exclusively, crushing lungs and hearts or breaking necks. Every batarian left in the back of the building was murdered without getting a shot off. When the last one was dead, Shepard contacted the Alliance with the location of the building and the information on the occupants. The Alliance gave them three minutes, which they assured those in command was enough for them to get out.

Shepard and Faith watched from a safe distance as an Alliance ship bombarded the building, killing every batarian inside. Shepard reflected on how, several years ago, that would have meant everything to her, the simple joy of seeing them die – but as she stood there, she found herself simply feeling relieved. She was relieved that Faith was still standing next to her. Part of her had wanted to just lose herself in the violence, but that part was quieted by the fear of putting Faith in that kind of danger… And even her lack of caring about her own life was shrinking, due to the pain she knew her death would cause.

Kira didn’t know what to think about these changes, but when Faith smiled and hugged her, she knew she didn’t regret them.

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