I don't know if people notice it or not, but often times aliens of gender get described with 'Man' and 'women', which are distinct human gender-associations...I don't give a shit about this so I'm going to refer to males as men and females as women sometimes, if you don't like that well...I'll piss in your cheerios.
Tali groaned as a rough hand held her by her throat against a wall. The sensors in her suit picking up extreme amounts of pain and transferring it to her, causing the young Quarian to whimper and gasp, cursing the designers. Whimpering once more, but this time in fear as the man holding her chuckled along with his two friends, a Turian and a Krogan. Their armor was unfamiliar to Tali, but they all wore the same. Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted as pain suddenly exploded from her abdomen resulting from the punch the human holding her had just thrown.
Soon after she got tossed the ground, her arms pinned above her head and the human snarling down at her evilly. Tears sprung from the young Quarian's eyes as she sobbed slightly, before gasping as another punch landed on her stomach.
"Shut up, street-rat!" The human snarled viciously, wrapping his fingers around the thin throat. "Tell us where the data is and we'll kill you quickly!" He growled, ignoring the sobs to stop that continued from Tali. Soon she was struggling, her limbs trying to flail around wildly, ignoring the constant barrage of punches to make her stop.
"I-I-I do-don't know…" Tali screamed, her voice now going hoarse from the yelling she was doing, but deep inside of her mind she was saying goodbye to all those she cared about, knowing that these moments would be her last. Suddenly all thoughts ceased to exist as the most painful moment in her life came to be, in the form of a rifle butt hitting her leg, shattering it with the help of biotics. Under her mask her eyes went wide with agony, with pure unfiltered pain as tears came like a river, no voice but silence was her enemy.
"TELL US!" The Turian who had broken her leg broke the other, and Tali had almost fainted from the sheer pain she was feeling. Her vision began to show black at the edges, immediately she knew she was beginning to faint when the Krogan kicked her in the side of the head, jerking her aware once more.
"P-Please…" Tali begged, at this point she wanted to just die and get it over with….But the data…The data she had gathered on the rogue Spectre Saren, it was worth more than her life…She would die before these thugs destroyed it. "I-I don't have it…"
"YES YOU DO!" The Krogan bellowed, pulling out a pistol he aimed it at her shoulder, preparing to fire when suddenly the hiss of a door enveloped their senses, the sound came from at the end of the small alleyway. All three mercenaries turned towards the sound, and their eyes widened at what they seen.
Standing in the middle of the doorway was a woman slightly taller than the Quarian girl in their grasp. Snow-pale skin shone through her violet colored kimono, a purple sash decorating her stomach. Her angelic face was marred with a single scar running down her right eye, which was closed. Silver hair hung loosely from her head, coming to an end on her middle back, and on her feet were a pair of Geta's, the wood being a charred looking color. Long slender legs accompanied the old wooden shoes. Tucked into the left part of the sash, the woman had a katana, odd for that current time. It's black scabbard seemed normal enough until one got to the handle, where pink diamond colored markings were present.
"What's going on here?" Her soft voice sounded out in the alley and Tali shuddered at the undertone of anger in it. Was this woman her savior? Was she going to rescue Tali from these brutes?
"Nothing that concerns you, girl, just run away now before you get hurt." The human snarled at the woman in the doorway, raising a pistol to her person. What shocked the thugs, however, was the fact she didn't even flinch, her cool stoic stare remained, and then a soft sigh broke that, she closed her left eye as if in annoyance.
"I think…Torturing a sentient being is reason enough to get my involved, boy." She hissed, her left eye shot open, a purple slit down the middle now and an aura of malice pervaded the alley, halting the breath of those three beings. "I should…Destroy the entirety of your existence…Make you feel immense pain…But if you leave, I will spare you." The woman spoke, the threat hanging in the air like a thousand swords poised to strike them down.
"No!" The Krogan roared, undaunted by the killing intent this woman was producing. He was a Krogan! Master of all things battle and he wasn't going to let a frail human keep him from his money! With a roar he charged, the full brunt of his attack now coming to bare at the lone woman, though her expression did not change.
The Turian and Human noticed this.
Calmly, the woman raised a single finger and as the Krogan came closer, his bulking muscle mass bulging beneath his reptilian skin. He roared even louder now as he was a mere foot away from her, closing his eyes and aiming his head forward, he rushed even faster.
Then he felt no more movement.
He heard gasps behind him, fearful and amazed gasps that sent shivers down his spine at their meaning…But he still felt no movement. He wasn't moving.
He wasn't moving…
He wasn't moving…
Opening his eyes, he could scarcely believe what was happening.
The human female was holding him back by her finger…By that lone, pale, thin looking finger…He's broken bodies in half, charged at Geth with reckless abandon and came out on top, he's challenged fellow Krogans to blood battles and earned his right to bear the Krogan name. He was a great fighter, and no one had stopped him…Not like this. She looked like she wasn't even straining, as if he were a mere nuisance to be dealt with…That thought brought rage boiling into his being, a deep primal urge to show this female who was the prime here, who was the alpha. With a growl he reached for his shotgun, but before he could a flash of silver light shined in his eyes before pain erupted in his very being.
He heard the thump of flesh as it hit the metal ground beneath him, and his face went as pale as a Krogan could…Shakily looking down he saw a limb that was very familiar to him holding a very familiar shotgun. Gasping he started to feel weak, his Krogan regeneration not powerful enough to heal the grievous wound. The Krogan staggered back, still shocked that the human had cut through him with a sword of all things…A weapon that hasn't been used by his people for hundreds and hundreds of years! He looked up, noticing the blood on the woman's blade.
"I warned you." Her voice was like poison as it carried through the corridor, swishing her blade she flicked the blood off, her one eye never leaving the Krogan before her. Walking silently forward, the woman brought the silver blade above her head, her right arm straight, the metal gleaming in the artificial light. The two other thugs belted out a warning, but it was too late. Within a split second the Krogan froze, before slowly coming apart down the middle, blood spraying all over the walls and the woman.
"Are you two going to make the same mistake, or am I going to have to eviscerate you?" She asked, startling the two remaining beings. Quickly they ran, screaming in terror before this woman of unimaginable power…But they didn't get very far as two bolts of lightning struck them through their chest, their hearts being exploded instantaneously. The Turian fell first, his body dead before it hit the ground due to its inner fragility, but the human man shakily turned around, his eyes wide as he seen the woman with her finger outstretched, smoking.
"B-But…" He spoke, falling to the ground. Dead.
Sighing, the woman turned towards the Quarian girl who was now propped up against the wall, her chest heaving up and down as she struggled for breath amidst the pain.
Tali was gazing up at the human female who had shown power beyond what she thought possible…Keelah… Tali couldn't help but cringe when the…human reached out to touch her. She couldn't help it at that point, being as she had just gotten tortured and the pain was making her delirious. She whimpered as the hand gently reached her neck, stroking the sore skin underneath, thanks to the sensors in her suit.
"My name is Natsumi…I'm not going to hurt you." The now named Natsumi whispered, her voice filled with kindness and sincerity. Tali gasped as the soothing sensation multiplied thanks to Natsumi… "You poor girl…" Natsumi muttered, gently bending down next to the Quarian girl and hooking her arms underneath Tali's legs, careful not to put pressure on the broken bones, she placed her other arm behind Tali's back and hoisted the Quarian up, causing said being to whimper in slight pain.
Tali blushed at being handled so personally, so intimately, before snuggling deeper into the kimono the woman wore. It smelled of the Earth fruits apple and strawberry…Tali liked it.
Suddenly Natsumi stopped, sensing three presences beyond the door before them, tensing, she readied to make a quick escape. The doors hissed, much like they did when she made her entrance, and opened to show quite an odd sight, Natsumi had thought.
There was a group of three. One human male, a Turian, and a Krogan. The similarities between them and the last group were not lost on Natsumi, so she tensed, reading to attack and evade. Carefully, with her lone eye, she watched as they marched towards her, no weapons drawn as of yet, and no hostile expressions on their faces.
"Who are you?" Natsumi asked, a guard in her voice. The human seemed to notice this and stopped a few yards away from her. Raising his hands in a placating way he spoke.
"Commander Shepard of the Alliance military…Next to me is Urdnot Wrex and Garrus Vikarian. " The two aliens grunted their own greeting. Natsumi relaxed slightly, but only slightly. These three people were still possible threats to her and the young Quarian, who seemed to be sleeping now.
"That's all well and good for introductions, so what do you want?" Natsumi asked, her voice stoic and radiant. Shepard sighed but paused, looking at what exactly was in the young woman's arms. Both Garrus and Wrex seemed to notice line of sight as well and grinned; they had found her.
"What I want, in fact, is the young Quarian in your arms." Shepard said….Before he was blasted into the wall, his entire body feeling pain. Soon Wrex and Garrus joined him, all three men groaning as they dropped to the floor with a loud bang. Shepard looked up and gasped as a silver-like energy radiated from the woman and along with it a pressure.
As if gravity was increasing.
"As if I would let you harm this Quarian, I should have you know that your three comrades before you have been dealt with and are now no longer in existence…Choose your next words carefully human." The woman spoke human with such scorn it sounded like she wasn't one…Shepard shook his head of such thoughts, he couldn't focus on that now. Apparently there had been a misunderstanding…And she spoke of others, so it explained why she was so apprehensive, and "Tali", the young Quarian in her arms, looked bruised up as well. Shepard sighed, that really had been a stupid thing to say.
Slowly standing up he raised his hands, showing he meant no malcontent.
"Easy there…I don't want to harm her, but she has data that could prove useful in a case against a rogue Spectre…Saren." Natsumi's eye had widened at the name of the Spectre…She knew that Turian well, well enough to hold a grudge against the bastard that had killed her sister…But logic took over at that moment, causing her eye to narrow.
"How do I know…" Was all she said before she felt a small tug on her Kimono. Looking down she noticed Tali was awake, looking up at her.
"T-They…T-They are c-c-correct…" Tali muttered, coughing violently as she tried to speak. Natsumi panicked, shushing the young Quarian with promises of survival.
"Tali…Save your energy, alright?" Natsumi whispered, noticing the young Quarian drift off to sleep once more. Sighing, she looked up at the band of three, their odd looks being ignored.
"Very well…I believe you." She spoke once more, and Shepard smiled before turning around, only to freeze as an immense sense of doom and death poured out of a single point in the alley…and he knew then, he knew that this woman transcended mortals, normal sentient beings. "But if you are lying to me…I will make sure your existence is no more." Natsumi spoke, following the trio of people, staying behind them if…
They boarded the elevator, heading towards the human embassy. Natsumi heard a soft sigh and felt the Quarian's mask try to snuggle closer to her. A small smile adorned the "humans" face as she looked down, feeling an odd protective instinct kick inside of her…Natsumi had never felt like this, she wasn't sure what was happening but if it didn't hurt her she didn't care.
"Natsumi…" Said woman jumped, looking back down at the Quarian.
"Yes?" Natsumi said softly, holding Tali just a little closer.
"Don't…Don't leave me alright?" The young Quarian stated, her voice groggy and sleepy.
Natsumi couldn't help but coo at how adorable it was.
"Of course my beautiful new friend…Now rest."
-Udina's Office-
"I can't do anything about The Council until we have proof, dammit Anderson you know this!" Udina roared, slamming his hands down upon the desk.
"I'm aware of the need for proof, Ambassador." Anderson's deep voice spoke smoothly across the office, his eyes never leaving Udina's. "I do know, however, that you can stall them. Keep them from putting the investigation off, because if they do then all that Shepard has done will be worthless!" He finished, narrowing his eyes as Udina scoffed.
"The lot of good he's done us, Anderson. He's off gallivanting around, acting as if he's the hero to save the da-"
"Ask and you shall receive, Ambassador." Shepard's deep baritone voice resided over the office, causing Anderson to smirk and Udina to stutter out. The five person group stepped out of the elevator, causing Anderson to gaze curiously at the young woman carrying the obviously injured Quarian.
"Captain…We brought the Quarian, but as you can see she's injured…" Shepard muttered, gazing at the women beside him who still had the stoic expression on her face. Silently she walked over to the couch, ignoring Udina's cries of stoppage, and placed Tali on the couch gently, shaking the young Quarian awake.
"Tali…" Natsumi whispered, bringing her face close to Tali's mask. Tali stirred, groggy and murmuring a quiet yes. Natsumi smiled brightly at her. "We need the data that you have…About Saren." Natsumi gently said, her voice still but a whisper. Weakly Tali lifted her left arm off of her body and held it out to Natsumi. Said human smiled and activated Tali's Omni tool, downloading the data and only the data about Saren…She wouldn't betray the trust Tali had given to her, a stranger.
Standing up, Natsumi activated her own Omni Tool, shocking the occupants in the room as they had seen no device on her person, but soon their own Omni Tools buzzed with information being sent to them, and each of them looked at it, their faces going pale.
"S-So…It's true." Anderson muttered, his eyes roaming over the data. A matriarch, Geth involvement, a never-before seen ship…All of these factors added up to an ass whooping on their part if they ever engaged Saren directly, and Anderson didn't like that. Sighing he was about to ask who this young woman was when Udina opened his mouth, this time for worse.
"Why is it…That the street-rat had her hands on this information, but the best of ours did not?" Udina snarled, glaring daggers at Shepard, but soon stopped as he felt an intense pressure seize him in his place, squeezing his very being as if he was nothing but an insect on a high gravity world. Death seemed to be hovering about him as he felt another thing; pure power. Looking behind him, he seen the woman who had brought the Quarian in, her lone eye slit now and silver energy exploding from her being. Silver hair whipping about, papers being tossed around by an invisible wind.
"DO. NOT. CALL. HER. THAT." Natsumi roared, her voice carrying across the entire area around them, rumbling the walls and knocking pictures down and overall frightening every single inhabitant in the room. Soon after the pressure stopped, letting the effected beings gain their breath and think about not angering the woman before them and her strange…biotics. Udina, however , had no reluctance to spout his thoughts.
"Just who are you to talk to me that way?" He hissed at her, his arrogance seeping out like a river. Natsumi snarled, rising just a bit higher, her left hand moving to the katana.
"I'm COUNCILER SPECTRE Natsumi Morikomo you ANT." She belted out, causing all within the room to stiffen at the titles. Udina sputtered, startled and pale if what this person said was true…But there was no human Spectre, there was no human Councilor…So she couldn't be right, it couldn't be true.
"You know, impersonating a Spectre is a crime that'll lock you up for life…Impersonating a Councilor will give you death." Anderson spoke, his voice calm and controlled but had an undertone of a threat. Natsumi herself narrowed her eyes at the Alliance Captain, but swiftly turning towards the Councilors vid-com receivers and powered it on despite the protest of Udina and Anderson.
Suddenly the three Councilors appeared in their holographic forms, and immediately their faces shown in shock at Natsumi, confusing the others in the room.
"Councilor Morikomo…What are you doing there?" Councilor Tevos asked, a slight tilt of her head indicating her curiosity. Udina and Anderson gasped at the title bestowed upon the girl before them…Then anger coursed through them.
"DO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THAT YOU WENT BEHIND OUR BACKS AND MADE A HUMAN INTO A COUNCILOR AND A SPECTRE?" Udina roared, marching up to the vid-com. Anderson angrier if not even further than that, but with a level head. Shepard himself stood there blankly, looking at the Councilors with a leer.
Tevos suddenly scowled at the two humans. She was about to open her mouth to give them a scathing remark when Natsumi suddenly spoke, her voice icy, stoic, unfeeling. It was as if a blizzard had come through and sent them all into a freeze.
"You humans are always so quick to judge, always so quick to think you know what's going on." Natsumi roared, and everyone there, including the Councilors, flinched at the tone. "Think, baka, if they had named a human Councilor behind your back then how would they ever make decisions based on the Human race without notifying your top tiers of Government? The sheer fact that a Spectre would be announced to the entirety of the Human race could clue you in…" Natsumi continued, her bitter satire stinging into their pride.
"Then what race are you?" Urdnot Wrex asked, his deep rumbling Krogan voice carrying in the silence. Natsumi craned her head, looking deep into the Krogan's eyes.
"I am the last of my species…The now last of a great race that has spanned for millennia…My species communicated with the "Protheans" and those before, we have come across technology that would make your insignificant species cower in fear, nightmares that you can scarcely imagine and beings who are destroyers of all…We are Thrak." Natsumi spoke, her voice coming across as a flat stoic voice. Everyone there, except the Councilors, had their eyes widened with awe. Here was an alien, the last of her species, that has spanned across time before even the Protheans. The sheer fact that she was of such old birth astonished all those there.
"That's impossible!" Udina roared, getting right in the face of Natsumi despite the protests of those on the Council. "You claim to be of such an old race, how come we haven't heard of you? Surely being the last of your kind would conceive some sort of galactic importance, perhaps at the reclamation of your own race. Why hide in secrecy? Why being on the Council and become a Spectre if you have no one to reside over?" He finished, snarling at the still stoic Thrak.
"You dare…" Natsumi's voice was low and guttural, the same pressure that was exerted before was back. "You dare accuse me of lying…Then come to say I should be made a baby maker for the continuation of my species? I WAS ALIVE WHEN YOUR SPECIES WERE SCROUNGING AROUND IN THE DIRT FOR BRONZE AND IRON, I WAS ALIVE WHEN THE ASARI WERE STILL STAR GAZING, WONDERING ABOUT WHAT WAS OUT THERE. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A CHILD TO ME, A BEING HARDLY WORTH KILLING, SO DON'T PRESUME TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME OR MY SPECIES YOU ANT." Natsumi roared, the sheer force shaking the building and causing a groan to appear in the back of the room. Almost if on a switch Natsumi's face morphed into worry as she made her way to the back where Tali was, sitting half way up the couch looking around as if confused.
"Are you feeling alright?" Natsumi asked worriedly, kneeling down and checking over Tali's injuries, finding most of them healed much to the confusion of those present during the first introduction. Natsumi, while walking with the group, had subtly used a healing technique on the poor Quarian girl, slowly mending the bones and bruises and adding strength to her immune system. This was part of the reason Tali was so tired, due to the technique having to use some of the body's natural energy.
"Y-Yes…I think so." Tali muttered weakly, still not completely awake. She had remembered getting brutally beaten in the alley…Natsumi…Saving her? Being picked up, which brought another blush to Tali's cheeks, then feeling her bones mend and her bruises lessen in pain, but then exhaustion hit her like a spaceship…Being in Udina's office, handing the results to Natsumi…Tali sighed and hoped she could trust the woman who had saved her, that data had Flotilla information on it along with the information on Saren.
A small cough brought both Tali's attention and those around her back to the three standing councilors, the look on their faces radiated impatience with the proceeding. Natsumi growled low in her throat but held back the scathing remark she was going to make. Checking over Tali once more, Natsumi turned around and activated her Omni-Tool. Soon later the Councilor's activated as well, and soon their respective eyes had widened, mouths sputtering open in disbelief.
"Where did you get this information, Councilor?" Sparatus snarled, his mandibles twitching in anger.
"The Quarian over there, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." Natsumi spoke, having known about the Quarian way of introducing themselves, and since the data transfer, Tali's own name. Sparatus narrowed his eyes at the Quarian, preparing to open his mouth to make a scathing rhetoric but was suddenly nudged by Councilor Tevos, the Asari councilor.
The Councilor had seen the way Natsumi had looked at the Quarian and the way the Thrak had obvious affections for the young Tali'Zorah. While Natsumi had dwarfed her own age by several thousand, Tevos was more experienced in the manners of relationships. There was obviously something budding between the two…If Sparatus had continued that line of talking then she very much knew that the Turians would need a new councilor.
"Thank you for the information, Tali'Zorah." Tevos said politely, bowing slightly to the now stammering Quarian, a small smile on her face.
Valern, noticing the action Tevos has done, wisely kept his mouth shut, though he didn't exactly have anything against the Thrak, he was just annoyed at the proceeding. While they now had evidence of the rogue Spectre Saren, it was exceedingly annoying how the humans had marched in and demanded things from them, and the way the Ambassador demanded things from the Thrak of all things. The one being that had the power to decimate an entire species by herself was being harassed… Valern sighed, but nodded his head towards the young Quarian who had caught the attention of said Thrak.
"Are you sure you're okay? No other bruises, are all of your bones mended?" Natsumi fussed over the secretly blushing Quarian. Tali had never been fretted over such as this, not even by her own father, and the more Natsumi did it the more Tali liked it…To be cared for like this, to have someone care about her wellbeing, and to have a named instead of "street rat".
"Y-Yeah…Just t-tired now…Thank you, Natsumi…" Tali whispered her face looking down at her feet, a fire burned underneath her mask. Said Thrak giggled at the shyness of the Quarian and patted her knee before standing up, coming face to face with a sneering Udina.
"How stupid do you think we are? If you were alive when our people had first found metals and the Asari space travel, then that would make you close on 10,000 years old." He snarled out, causing Anderson and Shepard to groan…Natsumi on the other hand snarled at the ignorant human, her hand itching on her sword as she jumped up from her kneeling position.
"You dumb Human, my people have lived for far longer than any other that this Galaxy has seen, you can't even comprehend the vastness of my existence, the vastness of my knowledge and power. If I so willed it, I could wipe your "Earth" off the face of the Sol System you stupid monkey!" She snarled, making Udina step back in fear and the Councilors to wince. Many of them had been on that line of threatening…It wasn't pretty, but Udina had brought it upon himself.
"Does that mean you've seen the Protheans?" Anderson asked, his face scrunched up in confusion. Natsumi gazed at him, her eyes still ablaze with their silver fierceness.
"I have not. While I am ancient compared to your short-lived species, I am still young to my species, only 10,000 years old." She stated, causing people there to gasp even more than what they were…10,000 years old was inconceivable to most organisms, not being able to comprehend the sheer age she was claiming…
"Natsumi, you said you were the last…What happened to Sayuki?" Tevos asked, her eyes held sadness at the news. Natsumi paused in her threatening, tears brimming at her eyes…
"Saren took her, Tevos." Natsumi whispered, feeling suddenly vulnerable and small.