Chapter One

Damn why can't this thing go any faster? Katlyn thought to herself as she tore up the distance between her out of the way shack and the colony on her old speeder. Not an hour ago a massive thunderous crack had ripped through the atmosphere. Curious and suddenly rather nervous she'd gone to her telescope to try and find out just what the hell it was. It hadn't been heard to find. The biggest ship she'd ever seen in her twenty-five years of existence had touched down in the middle of the colony. Freedoms Progress was under attack!

Living so far away from the colony had its advantages. Wide open space with a great scenic location. Lots of non-judgmental animals for her to hang out with and live out her dream of being a veterinarian. NO people hassling her. Peace and quiet, just the way she liked it.

But it also had its disadvantages. It took her a couple hours on a speeder to go to the colony for supplies... basic food she had pretty well covered with her tiny veggie garden and she also hunted. Things like earth spices, sweets, and meds were not things she grew in her little plot. So every few weeks she'd have to make the trip to stock up at Freedoms Progress. The people left her alone for the most part; the crazy hermit-ess was something she was perfectly happy playing at. But just because she was avoiding people didn't mean she didn't like them or wanted them, FUCKING ABDUCTED BY ALIENS! Knowing there wasn't anything she could do for them she'd waited and watched. One girl with an L2 implant and a couple guns wasn't going to make a damn bit of difference other than get her killed. But watching had been heartbreaking. The fear and stress was wreaking havoc combined with her ADHD and she was having great difficulty sitting still on the speeder.

So now here she was speeding towards the colony on her old and run down machine she'd bought for as little credits as possible and was learning a great deal about mechanics in having to fix up constantly. The ship had taken off and she needed to see if anyone, anyone had been left behind. Her hands were shaking, in fact all of her was shaking and it wasn't due to the speeder. Reaching into her pouch she withdrew a chocolate cube she laced with caffeine and her meds and popped it into her mouth. It was a little recipe she's created during her time with Reds on Earth and it saved her life in the midst of a heated exchange many a time. She felt herself calming down a fraction and exhaled in relief.

Finally arriving at the colony she parked her speeder and began her search. After awhile Katlyn heard a shuttle land. She froze the door to the pre-fab unit she was currently searching through was wide open but there wasn't anything she could do about it without attracting attention.Had the aliens come back? Was it pirates who had come to take advantage of the abducted colony? She held her breath and pushed herself along the floor to hide.

First she heard a man say something but he was too far away for her to make it out. Then she heard a beautiful accent of a woman after him. They were getting closer to where she was hiding; she could hear the clicking of high heels and combat boots.

Clearly Katlyn wasn't hiding well enough as a woman in armor notices her and points her gun at the young girl. "Who are you? How did you get here?" Her tone was commanding it was a voice that sent a shiver down the girl's spine.

She rose with her palms in front of her showing that she was not a threat, "I'm Katlyn Westen, please don't shoot! I was outside the colony when I saw this huge ship touch down, I ran home to use my telescope to try and see what was going on. I saw these aliens that had guns and they were defiantly not Batarians taking everyone. When it left, I came here as fast as I could to see if I could find anyone but I haven't…, I haven't been able to find anyone," Katlyn's voice was ragged and she was fighting back tears with everything that has happened and now a bunch of strangers were holding her at gunpoint.

"Why were you outside of the colony?" The leader asked narrowing her eyes in suspicion.

"You see, I live out there because I'm not much of a people person." She replied glancing in the direction of her house and wanting to just curl up in bed pretending this hadn't happened.

"Well Katlyn why do you have those guns on you?" The leader asked.

Katlyn looked back at her and shrugged, "Force of habit, I guess. I grew up on Earth in the San Francisco slums. I was a part of the 10th Street Reds until I turned 17 and finally had enough money to get here. I live here, well out there and while it's a nice world it's still dangerous living on your own."

"You were part of the Reds; did you know an Evelyn Parks?" The leader in armor asked lowering her gun slowly.

Katlyn nodded but with a bit of a frown wondering how this woman knew that name. Cautiously she replied, "I've heard of her. I heard she went into hiding after she killed one of the Lieutenants. She became quite the legend amongst the Reds."

"So you know why she killed Betty?"

The girl nodded again and said, "From what I heard, Betty had someone kill Parks' girlfriend Rosa and when Parks found out she gunned Betty down. I don't remember why Bitchy Betty had Rosa killed, I'm afraid, and for Parks only being a 12 year old that was pretty impressive. Then she disappeared."

"Well besides the guns are there anything else we need to know about you?" The man asked lowering his gun as well.

"I'm a Biotic and I'm pretty decent at making singularities, I was implanted with a stolen outdated L2 when I was nine at the same time as my sister was when we joined the Reds together. Once we adjusted we taught each other how to use our biotics and do all the fancy moves as well. I also have a pretty good understanding on how to hack stuff for credits and data." She answered, wondering why the man was asking her that at all.

"Alright, how about you come with us, Katlyn?" The leader said obviously not trusting to leave her there. She looked to the man, who nodded and she turned her gaze to the other woman, who was clenching her jaw.

The other woman with the strange but gorgeous accent didn't look happy so Katlyn tried to light the mood."Excuse me ma'am, you know if you keep making that face it's going to freeze that way," she said cheekily.

"Don't call me that, my name is Miranda Lawson, that's Jacob Taylor and Commander Lenn Shepard." Miranda growled at the girl, clearly annoyed by the interaction.

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Miss. Lawson." Katlyn said with a bow and a smart ass smirk, which made Shepard and Taylor smirk, Miranda just glared at her and walked out the other door.

"Burrrr... What's her problem?" She asked as she ran her hands up and down her arms pretending to be cold.

Jacob smiled, "Don't take offence, she's always like that."

"Eh, I've met worse, hell I've been worse." Katlyn shrugged nonchalantly. It seemed that they'd warmed up to her enough they weren't about to shoot her anymore, much to Katlyn's great relief.

"What do you mean?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Being nice, cute, and cuddly in the Reds was just begging to be raped. To the men, all you are is a pair of tits and ass that could be groped anytime. That's mostly the reason why I started to carry a gun. Most guys would leave me alone, but the ones that were too drunk, too stupid, or even a combination of both, they were the ones I usually had to send flying into a wall, with a knee to the groin." He blanched, "So fair warning if we ever go to a bar, got it?" He nodded quickly, understanding completely. Lenn smirked as he walked away to join Miranda.

"Come on, let's join them and get this over with." Katlyn nodded and followed Lenn outside; she smiled at Miranda who just rolled her eyes as they followed Lenn and Jacob to the door. That's when she heard the whirl of machines she didn't know if the others heard it but she heard them on her right and in front.

"Oh shit! Get down guys, mechs ahead and on the stairs." She yelled as she sprinted behind a barrier and shot at the ones across the gap, while everyone else shot at the FENRIS and LOKI mechs on the stairs. Soon all was quiet.

"They should have recognized us as human." Jacob said as he walked to the next door.

"They were reprogrammed to attack anything that moved." replied Lenn with her Omni-tool lit up.

"I don't like this." Miranda said wearily.

"Neither do I, apparently I'm not the only one left here." Katlyn shivered, they nodded in agreement. They continued passing through buildings until they came across a group of Qurians that were huddled over a deactivated mech.

"Halt Cerberus..."

"Prazza put your weapon down now we don't... Lenn is that you? You're alive?"

Lenn smiled recognizing that voice and said, "Tali did that geth data get you on the Neema?"

"Lenn it is you and yes it did." The Qurian sounded very relieved as she ran into Lenn's arms and hugged her.

"It's okay Tali." She whispered pulling her closer and they rocked back and forth.

Katlyn frowned at Miranda who still hadn't lowered her gun. She walked over and put her right hand on Miranda's gun and her left on the woman's shoulder, Miranda glared at the girl but Katlyn ignored her, tightening her grip on the woman's shoulder and she whispered,

"Please put it down, we don't need any more trouble than what we already have; they are probably just looking for someone on their pilgrimage." Everyone looked at her like she suddenly grew another head,

"You know Veetor?" Tali asked as she let go of Shepard.

"Umm... no I don't, all I know is there was a male Qurian here on his pilgrimage. I heard he was skittish and figured he'd be the reason why a bunch of Quraians would be here." Katlyn shrugged like it was no big deal.

Miranda finally lowered her gun and she released her grip on her with a nod and walked up to stand next to Lenn.

"Who are you?" Tali asked cautiously.

"My name is Katlyn Westen, I live outside the colony." She replied as they shook hands.

"Tali, why were you ready to attack Miranda and Jacob?"

"Their people attacked the Flotilla." Prazza yelled as he stepped closer to Miranda, on instinct Katlyn stepped in front of him. Miranda was surprised by the young girl's actions as she growled at him,

"BACK OFF right now or so help me dude, I will biotically throw your worthless ass so hard your grandchildren will scream, OUCH! when they're born, that or there will be no point on wasting anti-biotics on your sorry ass." She got a questioning look from the commander. "What? Just because I live alone and in a shack doesn't mean I don't do my homework. I happen to find Qurians fascinating." Katlyn returned her attention to the hostile Qurian marine, "So Prazza step back unless you want to go home in a body bag."

He did so begrudgingly.

Katlyn moved to stand next to Miranda, while Miranda just stared at the former Red silently wondering why she had just done that.

"I think we should team up to get Veetor, so I can get him home." Lenn said breaking the silence.

"I agree we'll keep in radio contact." Tali nodded and they left.

After they took down a few more drones Tali's voice came over the comm saying that Prazza wanted to get to Veetor first.

Katlyn groaned, "Of course he would, and apparently he didn't get the message that I was not to be crossed with." Lenn nodded,

"Lawson take right, Taylor take left, Katlyn and I will take point." They nodded and went to their spots. "Okay Tali open the door."

It opened and they ran in. Katlyn saw theHUGE heavy mech. "Holy Mother of God that thing is HUGE!" She yelled out turning white. Lenn looked at her and flashed a wicked grin,

"Yeah, but the bigger they are the harder they fall. Lawson use overload on its shields, Taylor help her destroy it. Katlyn, when it goes down wait for me to hit it with a singularity then you and Miranda hit it with the best warp you can make." They nodded and Miranda let an overload loose while Lenn was charging her singularity and as soon as the shield was down she threw it. "Now Katlyn, Miranda hit it with your warp." Under the combined assault it blew up in spectacular fashion.

"Get down." Katlyn said running to the side as the hunks of metal started to fall. She looked up and noticed most of it was going to rain down on Miranda, so she ran to her while Lenn ran to Jacob and they both erected a barrier over themselves and the person they ran to. Once all the shrapnel had stopped hailing down on them Katlyn knelt down next to Miranda, having noticed that she was breathing really hard. Then she saw it when Miranda looked up at Katlyn with a surprised look on her face, she had her hand covering a slash on her other arm. Now that the metal rain had finished Katlyn called over to Lenn. "Lenn throw me some medi-gel, Miranda got clipped pretty good in the arm."

"I'm alright Katlyn; really it's just a scratch."

"No you're not, now hold still so I can see it, or I will put you in a stasis field." Lenn and Jacob laughed as they came closer, she handed her the tube and she set it down by her feet. She looked at the wound and it was deeper than it had originally appeared. "Okay this is pretty deep so I might need another just in case." She said as she opened the tube. "This might be a little cold, are you guys alright?" Katlyn asked them as she applied it to Miranda's wound, Miranda hissed softly when it came into contact with her skin.

"We're good Katlyn just a couple scrapes."

"Jacob and I will go ahead and help Veetor, you take care of Miranda, and I'm sure Tali's taking care of what's left of her team." Lenn said as she continued helping Miranda, they nodded and she watched them walk to the garage where Tali said Veetor would be. Miranda was looking away from her and was quietly seething.

"Miranda what did I tell you about clenching your jaw like that? Just so you know that is not good to do. Just relax okay." Katlyn shirked at Miranda.

Miranda glared at the ex-red and noticed she had ripped a piece of her shirt off, she was able to catch a glimpse at the bottom of a tattoo but she couldn't tell what it was.

"I'm serious until that stuff kicks in its best to keep it covered so it doesn't get infected. So I need you to relax you arm so I can tie this around it." Miranda nodded as she went about doing so.

"You should have said something about your barriers being down; if I didn't run over here as soon as I did you would've been Swiss cheese right now. There that should do until we get back to the shuttle."

"What do you mean us?"

"You honestly think that I'm going to stay in this ghost town, Hell Fucking No! I'm coming with you guys. Now up and at'em, let's go join the Commander and Taylor." She stood up and offered her hand to the older woman, she took it and Katlyn pulled her up.

Miranda was a little exhausted from the fight so she actually collided into Katlyn. Katlyn braced herself and snickered. "I guess that warp you made just about kicked your ass just as much as the mech's, here I got something that will help you." she said as she shifted Miranda so her good arm was on Katlyn's shoulders and she reached into her special cold pouch, grabbing a piece of her chocolate.

"What is it?" Miranda asked looking at the piece of candy. Katlyn giggled and held it between her index and thumb.

"Its animal shit, what do you think it is? Wait you never had chocolate before?"

"My Father never allowed me to have any sweets." She replied as she shook her head.

"Well this here piece of chocolate has enough caffeine in it to equal 3 cups of coffee. You see I can't stand the taste of it and I needed something to keep me going when I was with the Reds. Currently because I'm out here I can't get the medicine I need to control my ADHD without visiting a real doctor and not the basic doctors we had here well before all this. So at least once a month, I would go out and buy a few bars of it, melt them down, add the coffee extract along with some stuff for my biotics, and refreeze them. Now open your mouth unless you want me to eat it and drag your heavy ass back to the shuttle. I would carry you but your too damn tall compared to me, it's a miracle that I am able to hold you up right now." Katlyn said with a subtle teasing tone in her voice.

She glared at her as she started to bring the candy to her mouth. Katlyn smiled when she noticed the blush starting to form on Miranda's cheeks as she watched her, when she was about say something Katlyn popped the candy into her mouth. Her eyes went wide from the intrusion and chewed on it. A few moments later she was able to stand on her own.

"Better?" Katlyn asked the grumpy looking operative. Miranda nodded reluctantly.

"Good now let's go." She said as she walked away and to the place where Shepard and Taylor went. They were joined by Tali as they walked to the door. She nodded to Lenn who nodded back. An hour later Lenn finished talking to Tali and Veetor, they helped them to their shuttle and watched as the shuttle took off, before they headed to their own. "I'm coming with you, I can't hide here anymore, and I'm not going to wait around for slavers to show up." Lenn stopped and looked at Katlyn.

"What do you mean by hide?"Fuck! She thought. Well I guess I have no choice but to tell them.I grasped my hands together and took a deep breath, "Yeah, you see I have been hiding here for almost 3 years."

"Why?" Miranda asked,

"Fuck!" She muttered under her breath, sighing she said, "Okay how about we take off first, then I will tell you." They nodded and they climbed in.

TBC