hey folks! this is just a trial, depending on the feedback, i may change parts, re-write, or maybe even ditch this story, but yeah as you have no doubt guessed i have just replayed the entire series, YET AGAIN, i love this series, and i adore Garrus, so yeah here it is... please enjoy.
Being the little sister of Earth-Born, War Hero John Shepard was hard. Keeping it a secret was even harder. She remembered their days as orphans running around in one of the many slums of earth, with no parents and no money they were stuck fending for themselves amongst the drug gangs and low criminals of earth until they were eighteen and able to enlist for recruitment into the Alliance. As the population grew and the cities of earth expanded, Humans were soon left with only being able to build up to accommodate Earth's rapidly growing population, of course there were other worlds that you could go to and become a part of the small Alliance colonies but then again that cost money, and that was money the Shepard siblings didn't have. She couldn't remember her mother or her father and her older brother refused to talk about them, or what little he remembered about them, at least. He was two years older and soon reaching 18 he would be able to enlist, with the promise that he would take her with him. or at least come back to get her after he saved enough money to get a house on the wards of the Citadel or to buy a house in a colony or maybe even take her with him if he was assigned to a frigate.
But on the day of enlistment, it was obvious he wasn't going to be able to take small Jane with him and due to the strict training regime for the new recruits, it was going to be a long, long time before he was able to see her again. It would be another two years before Jane could enlist. And he didn't know if he could scrape together enough credits to keep her safe until then, he had put by small amounts of money whenever he done a job for the drug gangs for this exact moment. Enough to last her 6 months if she was careful. Of course he never done any of the drug running himself, but despite his poor nutrition, Shepard had filled out nicely and had an intimidating factor. He was a good looking man and the cartels knew who he was, he had made a small name for himself, mainly that neither he, nor his little sister were to be messed with.
Jane was a pretty little girl, and seen as a defenceless child by many, especially the drug gangs bosses; if they ever needed Shepard to do something they would always target her. They have never had to thus far; Shepard was always straight to the point, and had always done the jobs he was assigned to do, if it didn't include actually handling the drugs. This was neither the life nor the job John wanted for his little sister Jane, she was just as strong hearted and hard-headed as him, but what big brother didn't want the best for their sibling.
The day he was leaving Jane had followed him to the spaceport, she held his hand nervously as he weaved through the traffic of tourists and soldiers relieved from duty to see their families on earth for a few short weeks. John had a stern face, one Jane had not seen for a long time, he stopped at the back of a queue, that lead all the way to a large Alliance ship, capable of housing many of the new recruits. John had passed most of the prelims with flying colours and was thought to be able to rise through the ranks quickly. He had also made many friends among his fellow recruits showing he had the people skills and leadership to be able to command a crew, battalion or platoon in war or battle-like simulation tests with very few casualties, and using his crew to the best of their abilities, with very few rejections to his ideas. He never forced his leadership on his team, all recruits were equal, but it was easy to see after going through strategic simulators that Shepard had the mind of a leader and the personality that made others want to follow him.
This had provoked the higher ups into keeping an eye on him, and lead to Captain Anderson meeting john and Jane together for the first and maybe the last time. The ships docking staff filed on the recruits quickly, quietly and efficiently, and Captain Anderson welcomed each aboard thanking them for joining the Alliance, and wishing them the best of luck. Though Jane soon realised she was the only civvie in this line, the rest had stayed behind the ropes, watching as their loved ones left. As she and John stopped at Anderson, the man's eyes fell on her and her vibrant green eyes focused on his shoes. Anderson felt heartbroken, it was easy to tell from her clothes that she was an orphan, the alliance was an escape for most, but they had to be strong enough to survive until they were 18, and by then most had gotten into drugs, and then they weren't allowed to join the Alliance if they didn't clean up their act.
"I'm sorry recruit, but family aren't allowed onboard." Andersons voice rumbled with a relaxing tone, his voice was kind, she hoped John would get to work under him.
"Of course, Captain Anderson, Sir." Shepard saluted. He turned to his little sister ruffling her hair. He wasn't going to cry but it was easy to tell even without knowing Shepard on a personal level that this was difficult for him. "Janie listen to me," he pulled at her chin so she looked at him, her green eyes were very piercing, very few humans had this eye colour naturally, but Jane had gotten them from their mother. John had just regular blue eyes. "You have enough money to last you a while, after I start earning, I'll forward it to the account for you. Don't, whatever you do, turn to Jaxx for money. You can join the alliance in two years, or even go to college. You're a smart girl, and the best techie I know." She nodded silently at him. They both knew that Jane would never turn to Jaxx out of choice. "Answer me Jane."
"Yep Shep." She smiled but it didn't reach her eyes. This was the first time she would be alone, ever. She was more than terrified. Jaxx was the resident drug lord of their area, as he liked to call himself. He wasn't below backroom deals or kidnapping. Half his runners were kids from the streets that were kidnapped and fed a steady supply of red sand so they depended on it and were only given their next hit if they made a drop or 'did good' as Jaxx used to say after he used them for his own personal pleasure. "Just stay alive, okay? You're no good to me if you can't come back for me."
"I'd never leave you alone for long, Janie." He smiled back. It really was killing him to leave her unprotected.
"I'm sorry recruit but I'll have to move you along. Welcome to the alliance." Anderson said, his voice betraying his sadness. He was already thinking, that in two years this girl wouldn't be standing here to join the alliance, she was pretty, with unusual striking features, for an orphan it was bad to stand out, she wouldn't last long without her brother, but he was doing this to get her a better chance at life. Anderson had seen this too much in his long career, only the lucky ones made it through a life in the slums to become something better. Then the last thing he expected happened, the young girl took his hand and stood by his side. As john walked off to join his comrades he shouted back at them.
"Don't count her out yet Captain." Anderson looked back to the little girl, or should he say young woman, they must have read his face. They must have recognised the look in his eyes, pity, they were both strong and Anderson already assumed the girl would fall prey to the bastards of earth, but she had a defiant glint in her eye, she wouldn't go down without a fight, and that was the spark all Alliance marines had, from the frontline soldiers to the researchers behind them, everyone would stand united as one force and never backed down.