Chapter One:
Jason
Jason was sure of three things, 1. a ship needed more than three people to run, 2. a ship that was on fire definitely needed more than three people to run, and 3. his ship should not be talking to his engineer in Morse Code. Yet here he was, up on the bridge as the ship burned, listening to Leo chat with the ship, almost casually, as he attempted to keep the burning ship out of the nearest planet's orbit. Piper stood with her back to them, her hands glowing blue with biotics (Biotics is the ability of some lifeforms to create mass effect fields using element zero nodules embedded in body tissues. These powers are accessed and augmented by using bio-amps. Biotic individuals can knock enemies over from a distance, lift them into the air, generate gravitational vortices to tear obstacles or enemies apart, or create protective barriers. Mass Effect Wiki) as she attempted to hold a protective barrier around herself and her friends. Really, if the fire reached the door, Piper would be the only thing between them and certain death. Jason had just accepted their all to soon death as inevitable when a voice cracked over the comms.
"This is the S.S.V. Argo, is anyone there?" asked an unfamiliar male. Jason practically jumped on top of his ship's own comm system, he had to get his friends out of here alive.
"This is Jason Grace, commanding officer of the Festus, I'm on the bridge with two of my crew mates and we need imminent evac, I repeat imminent evac." Jason's voice broke on the word crew mates, Leo and Piper where so much more to him. They were his best friends. Already he could see sweat beading on Piper's forehead and her arms where shaking, he didn't dare interrupt her.
"Can we get off?" Jason asked, turning pale blue eyes on Leo. Running his hands through his hair, Leo pulled up a map of the ship on his omni-tool, (Omni-tools are multipurpose diagnostic and manufacturing tools as well as computers used for a variety of civilian and battlefield tasks, such as hacking,decryption, or repair. Higher-end omni-tools are equipped by Engineers, Sentinels, and Infiltrators to make use of their tech talents and powers. When activated, an omni-tool can appear over either of a person's forearms and/or hands, and occasionally both, as an orange hologram. Mass Effect Wiki) the orange light mixing with Piper's blue biotics to cast odd shadows over the cabin.
"I think we could get to the airlock, it's right outside," Leo answered, but his usual bravado was missing. Then the comms crackled to life, followed by a voice. A woman this time, Jason couldn't help but notice.
"This is Commander Chase, we are preparing to board." Leo gave a relieved shout, and even Piper cracked a smile. The whole ship lurched as the Argo attached it's self. Jason imagined he could almost hear the hiss of the airlock.
"Let's get out of here, Pipes," he said, laying a hand on her shoulder. He couldn't help but notice how she seemed to sway on her feet. The glare she shot his way stopped any concerns he might have voiced.
Once they were safely in the airlock of the other ship, Jason felt like he could breathe. Piper leaned against the wall, he knew how much using her biotics drained her. Now, he felt a little guilty that he hadn't used his own to help her, but at the time he had been a little preoccupied. Leo was spinning some kind of computer chip between his fingers, looking sad.
"Hey," Jason said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, "there was nothing you could have done to save the ship." Or your illegal A.I. you got against my better judgement, Jason added silently. Talking about A.I. tech on a Systems Alliance Navy ship did not seem like a good idea. Leo didn't look at him. Jason wasn't an idiot, he knew that Leo blamed himself for what happened to the ship, but it wasn't like Leo could have predicted that Dylan would go crazy and blow up the engine room with himself inside of it. Jason didn't even want to think about all of the crew who hadn't made it.
The ship purred and Jason felt the floor lurch forward as the Mass Effect Core started. That got Leo's attention, no doubt as soon as their rescuers took their eyes off him, Leo would find his way to the engine room to make some 'improvements'. Walking over to Piper, Jason leaned against the wall next to her.
"You okay, Pipes?" He asked, pitching his voice low, allowing some of his genuine feelings to slip through his hard exterior. Before she could answer, the airlock door opened with a hiss.
Two figures walked in, a woman, probably Commander Chase, and a man who was big and bulky with a tattoo of a... rainbow? Commander Chase's eyes roamed over the three people in front of her.
"You're not him," she muttered. Though she sounded disappointed? Upset? her commander facade never broke. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, leaving her face all sharp angles, while her eyes flashed the color of storm clouds. She was gorgeous, there was no mistaking that, but it was a hard kind of beauty, like a statue. She didn't look like the type of girl, and girl she was because there was no way she was older than eighteen, Jason would want to mess with.
Chase turned and whispered to the big guys, before sending another glance at Jason. Her stare made her skin tingle, and not in the warm and gooey butterfly way like when he caught Piper looking at him, but almost like she could see right through him.
"Annabeth," the big guy said, and Jason felt a flicker of recognition at the name, "they still might know something."
"I was so sure," Annabeth muttered, "I was so sure the Beacon meant that he would be here."
Leo let out a whistle, "You're Annabeth Chase? As in the youngest girl to be admitted into the N7 program? She who repelled the attack on Elysium single handed?" (N7 is a vocational code in the Systems Alliance military. The "N" designates special forces and the "7" refers to the highest level of proficiency. It applies to marines who have graduated from the Interplanetary Combatives Training (ICT) program. Mass Effect Wiki) Leo looked like he was going to pass out... or ask for her autograph.
Annabeth narrowed her eyes, but seemed to decide that he was harmless, and just shrugged. "Not single handed."
Jason knew now why her name was so familiar, it had been all over the vids now. It was rumored she was going to be the first human Spectre. (Spectres ,Special Tactics and Reconnaissance, are agents entrusted with extraordinary authority by the Citadel Council, including the power of life and death over the inhabitants of the galaxy.) He heard Piper gasp beside him, and Leo was grinning like a madman, but Jason was distracted by what she had said a few seconds before.
"Who's 'he'?" Jason asked, running a hand through his blond hair. If she heard him, Annabeth ignored him, walking out of the airlock leaving the big guy behind.
"What's her problem?" Leo asked, "she looked like she wanted to kill us."
"Go easy on Annabeth," the big guy shrugged, "she's had a rough week."
"But who was she hoping was with her? Maybe we know who he is." Jason asked, sharing a concerned glance with Piper.
The big guy shrugged again, did he do that a lot? "The other day she found a Beacon, and it showed her a vision of a ship, um your ship, burning. She thought it would be the answer to finding him."
Jason wanted to scream. "But who are you guys looking for?"
"Her CO," the big guy said, "a guy named Percy Jackson."