I first played Mass Effect 2 about a year ago (now playing ME3), and it absolutely blew my mind. Of course, ever since then, I've had various characters bopping about my head (some Shepard, some not), and I finally fell into a good place with this one; she was someone I wanted to write about. I want to tell her story, because I think it's a good one to tell.

Disclaimer: Terpsichore is my creation, no one is allowed to use her without my permission. All other characters belong to Bioware.

You might notice that my Shepard is a little different from the one portrayed in the video games. I tried to give him a little more of a realistic edge (if you're looking for an alignment, he's a Paragade; mostly Paragon slightly Renegade). In this story, I'm attempting to give a little more depth to each character's story. Feel free to leave reviews saying whether or not you felt I've managed to do it.

We begin just before the attack on Horizon, a weary Shepard slogging his way through the next Dossier mission...

Mission 1: Afterlife Bar

Dossier: The Vigilante

- Melee expert

- Stealth and guerilla warfare expertise

Terpsichore (no last name given) is given credit as being the most efficient stealth and melee expert in the Terminus Systems, despite the lack of official training. She is currently working at Afterlife on Omega.

John Shepard looked up from the datapad, the Afterlife complex quivering as the deep bass from the dance music thundered inside. He wondered how Aria hadn't gone deaf yet. Garrus and Mordin stood behind him, stretching themselves out, getting ready for more fighting. John had retrieved the two of them inside of 36 hours, as well as Zaeed Masani, and there was only one Dossier left for Omega. The Vigilante, as she was called, and she sounded dangerous.

Earlier, John had the Normandy take to the outer reaches of the system as Garrus was getting patched up. While that was happening, he used his Spectre status to find out more about the Vigilante. Terpsichore, no last name or race given, showed up one day at Afterlife as the new employee. She was an extremely capable fighter right off the bat, and Aria would often send her and other thugs to take out her opposition. There were vids of a woman in a hood popping kneecaps with thermal rounds from a pistol. John had a hard time imagining this woman, most likely an asari, dancing in some sleazy strip joint like Afterlife.

"It should be interesting to see if this asari measures up to Liara." Garrus said. "I heard that she was doing well on Illium. A step above this place aesthetically, but still takes a healthy dose of guts to survive, nonetheless thrive there."

"Sure she's an asari?" Mordin piped, as they approached the door to Afterlife. "Could easily be another race. Drell known for abilities in stealth, as well as—"

They were stopped by a batarian at the front, who told them that Aria was out for the next hour, but that they should wait at the bar to the left.

"Why the one on the left?" John asked.

"Aria specifically asked that you sit at the one on the left."

John and Garrus exchanged a glance, but continued in and sat at the left-most bar in any case. The turian at the bar looked them over, "What'll it be, boys?"

"Whatever you have on tap." John grunted.

"Cana on the rocks." Garrus said, sitting himself down next to John. Mordin just shook his head.

The turian nodded and turned, shouting, "Chor!" A human girl a few steps from him turned around and frowned, walking up very close to him and whispering something in his ear.

He shook his head, "Sorry, keep forgetting. Cana on the rocks and human tap; get on it."

She rolled her eyes and went to the back of the bar, grabbing a bottle of Cana. John looked at the turian and asked, "Was there a reason you yelled at her when she was standing less than a meter away from you?"

He coughed, "I keep forgetting that she's not deaf, is all."

"That's... an odd thing to forget." Garrus said.

The turian waved his hands awkwardly, "No, she had her throat slashed by batarians when she was young. Didn't die obviously, but her vocal chords seriously suffered. She learned universal sign language to communicate, though she can whisper now. But, you know, mostly deaf people use sign language. So I keep forgetting... that she isn't actually deaf."

"How in the hell did she survive?" John said, stunned as the casual nature of the turian's story telling.

"To be honest, no idea. Tough as a krogan, that one."

Chor came back with the drinks, put them on the bar, and left without making eye contact to tend to another customer. Garrus and John picked up their drinks, toasted, and downed as much as they could. The turian turned away from them, but kept an eye on the small group as they talked amongst themselves.
Soon Aria arrived. She glanced at the turian behind the bar, who nodded, and then looked at the group, "Shepard, follow me."

Shepard swallowed the rest of his drink and followed after Aria, leaving Garrus grumbling about how he was 'always paying for the drinks' as he shelled out the few credits he had on him.

Aria sat at the center of her leather throne, Shepard sitting beside her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before opening her eyes and giving Shepard a piercing look.

"So, now you want Terpsichore." She said, voice low and predatory. "You don't know what you're asking, Commander."

"Aria, I understand that Terpsichore has done a lot for you." He said, keeping an even tone and making sure there was respect in his voice. "She sounds like just the kind of asset I'll need to combat the Reapers. If you let me talk to her, she and I can figure out—"

"No." Aria quickly cut him off. "I guess Cerberus never informed you: Terpsichore was sold to me. She is a slave. If you want her, you pay me her worth."

John started slightly. Now Cerberus had him buying slaves? That was one of reasons why he fought against Cerberus; they condone some of the worst actions in the galaxy under the guise of the betterment of humanity. Meanwhile, they were trading aliens around like common supplies.

John sighed heavily, "Fine, how much do you want for her?"

"300,000 credits."

"... Excuse my language, but are you shitting me?"

Aria shook her head, "Terpsichore does good work. She's worth something to a lot of slavers out there, and I will get what she's worth."

"... I need to go convene with my comrades for a moment. Excuse me." John stepped off the throne and down into the bar area, where Garrus and Mordin were discussing guns.

"Gentlemen..." John said. "How many credits do we have left after our splurge at the Citadel?"

"Well..." Garrus started, plunking a couple buttons on his omni-tool. "After we bought my gorgeous new rifle scope, Mordin's omni-tool upgrades, Jack's special biotic ampliphiers, Grunt's specialized krogan shotgun and medical supplies for Dr. Chakwas... We come in just a little under broke."

John's head dropped loudly onto the bar, "Shit."

"We're all stocked up and there are plenty of paying jobs, Shepard." Garrus reassured.

"This girl we're after? She's a slave. She's worth 300,000 credits." John groaned.

Garrus staggered, "That's... more than I've probably made in my life. C-Sec never paid that well to begin with, but spirits... You have to be a criminal to have that much money just lying around. Or a politician. Same difference, I know."

Mordin put his hand to his chin, "Must be something Aria wants done, that's worth that much."

John looked up and slammed his hand onto the bar, "Of course. Aria knows I don't have that much money. I'll be back."

He straightened himself out and swaggered back to Aria, sitting down next to her with a knowing smirk lingering on his lips, "What do you need taken care of, Aria?"

Aria smirked in return, "That's what I like to hear." She stood up, and looked out onto the dance floor. "Some asari girls have started their own club. At first, I didn't think they would be a threat. Their business plan would fail, and they would disappear. But the Eclipse sisters are backing them, and their business is starting to take off. Their prices are low, desperate, and people are falling for it. I can't risk being directly responsible for their fates." She looked at Shepard. "I make as much as Terpsichore is worth in a week. But only when Afterlife is the only club people want to go to. Shut the Eclipse sisters down, and their bar will fall with them. I don't care how you do it."

John stood up, "And then you'll give me the girl?"

Aria looked away, "She'll be all yours."

John nodded, and returned to his comrades. They looked at him, stood up, and followed him out. "Eclipse sisters. Doesn't matter how we take them out." Garrus and Mordin nodded.

xxx

It was easy enough to track down the Eclipse mercs that were running the new club. It was called "Capricorn", and Aria had been right; they were practically handing out lap dances. The asari that they had employed all looked young enough, but they were ragged. Their skimpy outfits were stained with alcohol and other un-classifiable liquids; their scalps had lost their lustrous shimmer, and after hours stumbling around they were taking off their 5-inch stiletto heels and rubbing their feet, which were blistered and calloused.

"If this isn't the saddest thing in the galaxy, I don't know what is." Garrus said, shaking his head.

"We should find the head of the Eclipse sisters as soon as we can." John said, rubbing the back of his neck in irritation. "I think Aria's starting to get angry with me."

"Right..." Garrus murmured, tapping something on his visor as his pupils constricted. "According to the maps of the area, the main offices are right above the... Blowjob Arenas. Just tasteless, honestly."

The three of them paid the meager entrance fee of 2 credits per, and made their way through the overcrowded dance floors to the stairs near the Blowjob Arenas. They all averted their eyes from the doors and quickly made their way up the empty staircase as they pulled out their weapons. The doors to the main offices were open, a couple high ranking Eclipse asari with their backs to them. Garrus and John broke out their sniper rifles and took far positions as Mordin crept in close, tech at the ready.

"On three." John said, peering through the scope and lining his crosshairs up with one of the three Eclipse mercs heads.

"One... Two..."

"Three." John felt the cold steel of a barrel against his temple and he sighed, an Eclipse merc standing proudly above him.

"I knew it wouldn't be easy." Quicker than ever, Shepard whipped out his pistol and shot the merc in the face, alarming the others, but not before Garrus got a round into one of their skulls and Mordin froze another with a cryo blast, though she wouldn't stay frozen long unless—

brrrap

A quick SMG three round burst from Shepard cracked the frozen merc's head, and she was down. The last merc was cowering behind one of the desks, too afraid to pop up even for a second.

"Stay back!" She cried, pistol shaking in her hands. "I won't warn you again!"

John took a breath, and called back, "We don't want to hurt you. Aria is gunning for you and the rest of the Eclipse sisters backing this club; she wants you out. If you surrender yourself and the asari running the show, we will show mercy and let you go."

The asari merc calmed her breathing, and called, "The two asari will be back soon. They have the deed to this complex hidden somewhere, though with the low fees for just about everything, and the amount of damage the place has taken, it's been draining more money than its been earning. The asari were about to go to Aria anyway."

The merc didn't hear anything. She slowly poked her head from cover. They were gone, and she sighed.

"Thanks for the info." A three round shot through the temple, and she was down. John put the SMG away and turned to face his comrades.

Mordin was surprised, "Didn't take you for one who would break a promise so easily, Commander."

Shepard looked at Mordin, and averted his gaze to the floor grumbling, "I really don't like mercs..."

The three waited in the main office, Shepard swiveling back and forth in a spinning chair, Garrus cleaning off his new sniper rifle scope, and Mordin keeping an eye on the only door in or out. A shriek from the hallway meant the asari were back, and Shepard stood to face them. He could see a pair of blue hands holding a badly maintained pistol poking out from the doorway, and he shook his head.

"You're outmanned and outgunned. My name is Commander Shepard of the Normandy SR-2, come out with your weapons holstered and your hands above your head." He said in the most authoritative voice he could muster. In an instant, the gun was dropped, and the shaking girls came out from behind the door's archway. They looked terrified, and John scratched the back of his neck. Aria was such a bully.

"I don't know what we did, but we are so sorry, Commander Shepard." One of the two said, her bottom lip quivering.

John hated seeing girls cry. He sighed in frustration, "You two are fine. Just hand over the deed for this complex, and get out of here."

The two girls nodded quickly and shoved a painting of the Presidium on the wall aside, revealing a hidden safe. One of them opened it while the other grabbed a couple things from the desks. They handed over the datapad and were gone quicker than one could say—

xxx

"Easier than expected." John said, handing the datapad to Aria. "You're kind of a bully, you know that?"

Aria scanned the data, and answered without looking at him, "I'm queen. You don't fuck with the queen's source of income." She handed the datapad to her batarian thug and smiled a venomous smile. "Terpsichore belongs to you now." Her turian thug slapped another datapad into Shepard's hand. "She'll meet you at the Normandy. Take care."

Shepard input the data into his omni-tool; holding a piece of slaver data felt dirty and he was going to get rid of it as soon as he could. Finally done on Omega, he headed back with Mordin and Garrus to meet their new crewmate.

"A hundred credits it's an asari." Garrus bet while they waited at the entrance to the hanger.

"Two hundred it's drell." Mordin upped the ante.

Garrus laughed, "I'll see that bet. Shepard? Care to get in on this wager?"

John shook his head, "If I join, the Normany as a whole will be negative 400 credits in the mire. So no thanks, I'm good."

In that instant, a hooded figure arrived at the end of the hallway. The three glanced down the hall. She was wearing gloves, and it was too dark to see the color of the skin on her face. She wore trashy heels like the asari at the other club were wearing, but unlike them, she walked in them as if she were walking on bare feet. The glare from the lighting lit up a blue painted line on her bottom lip, and Garrus grinned, "Pay up, Doctor."

"Don't count chickens yet." Mordin said, pointing as she pulled off her hood.

Human.

She approached them, and whispered, "Good to be working with you, Commander Shepard. My name is Terpsichore, but please, call me Chor." Her voice carried just above the bass beats from Afterlife.

'The mute girl from the bar...' John blinked a couple times, and then broke out into a smile, "Good to meet you, Chor. For future reference, I am fluent in USL (Universal Sign Language). Good to have another human on board." He stressed the 'human' part, and Garrus rolled his eyes as Mordin placed his hand on his chin and analyzed the young woman.

"Mind if I sign?" She whispered once more, and John shook his head.

She quickly broke into a rapid stream of hand signals, lips moving just as quickly as she mouthed the words she signed. "I appreciate the opportunity to assist you in the attack on the Collector base, Commander Shepard. I've heard good things so far, as I'm sure you've heard things about me. I hope I live up to your expectations."

John almost had trouble keeping up with her signs, but just as he was about to react, Garrus took the lead. "We are happy to have you with us, Chor. Shepard has researched your abilities extensively, and we look forward to seeing them first hand in combat."

Shepard gave Garrus looks of surprise.

Garrus blinked, "What? This visor isn't just for its entertainment value and high quality audio; it actually has practical uses, like USL translation. We used to get all sorts of people at C-Sec, USL was a common language."

Mordin nodded, "Am also knowledgeable of common USL phrases; used it often when in hostile territory with Special Tasks Group."

Chor was unsurprised; she had heard from Cerberus that a few of the team members already knew USL, which would be helpful to her. "If you don't mind, I'd like to throw what few effects I have onto a bed or cot or floor..."

"No problem." John opened the door to the hanger, and the four walked inside.