Chapter 1-Death
AN: I wrote this after a long time away from the Mass Effect universe, and perhaps due to a subconscious desire to reenter it. Since playing the first game, I was enticed by the thought of contributing to such a complex story as the one woven in the series, but was unable to come up with a plot that I felt was compelling enough to justify writing. Then I had the idea for this, for a story based on the tale of one of Benezia's companions. In Mass Effect it is revealed that they weren't brainwashed, and I started wondering how it would be for one of them to survive the fight, having been convinced that they were remaining true to their Matriarch. How would the universe react to her? How would she react upon finding out what had been done by those she placed her faith in? In a lot of ways, this could become a cliche tale of redemption, but I don't think that is in the cards for Irasi. The asari commandos have never seemed like the most upstanding of galactic citizens to me, and my hope is that I might explore this aspect more as the story progresses. So please, feel free to take a look and let me know what you think of this first (and admittedly short) chapter.
"Have you ever faced an asari commando unit before? Few humans have." Irasi tensed at the words, watching as her squad mates entered the room through a small metal door. As the last to enter, it was her job to cover the exit. In only a moment, Irasi had taken in the scene. She remained calm amidst the screams of one of her companions who had been lifted into the air by a biotic attack from somewhere. Damn it, Irasi thought, they weren't supposed to have any biotics. Matriarch Benezia had told the commandos that Shepard would only have a quarian and krogan to back him up. There were only three tangoes fighting against Irasi's unit, but one of them was definitely using biotic powers. Irasi knew she had to deal with whoever it was or the whole commando squad would be torn apart. She leaned out from her cover as the vital signs of another commando went dark on her hud. She thought she could just make out the outline of Shepard's biotic, an asari by the looks of it. Irasi raised her gun and squeezed off a few shots to cover Benezia, who was fleeing to a piece of cover beside her.
The shots rebounded off the asari's armor harmlessly. Next to her, Irasi thought she hear Benezia mutter, "My own damn daughter!" For a moment, Irasi was tempted to stand up and see if she had heard right. Could it be that Liara was the biotic with Shepard? But her instincts knew better than to stand up in the middle of a firefight, and they kept her from making that mistake.
Still, Irasi knew the situation was not improving for her fellow commandos. While she and Benezia had found cover, Shepard and his companions rained fire at the only remaining asari. Well, the only remaining patriot asari. Whoever the biotic with Shepard was, she was obviously a traitor. Irasi tried to use her powers and pull the krogan off his feet, but something blocked her. She raised her pistol and fired, yelling at her last squadmate left, Mortrix, to run to the cover Benezia was still crouched behind. Mortrix left her own cover and sprinted toward where Irasi was standing to provide cover, but before they could meet up a well-aimed shot caught Mortrix in the knee. Irasi turned to her friend as the asari dropped, and reached out as Shepard's biotic lifted the helpless Mortrix into the air. Irasi tried to use her own biotic powers to prevent it, knowing that if she didn't help, her friend was about to become an asari pin cushion. The other asari's powers were too strong to oversome, however, and Irasi watched as Mortrix slowly rose into the air. She turned to Benezia for help, hopeful that the matriarch could lend her considerable abilities to the tug of war, but Benezia did nothing.
Determined to do more than simply watch her friend die, Irasi ran to close the gap between her and Mortrix. By the time she reached her friend, Mortrix was already floating high enough that shots from Shepard and the krogan were bouncing off of her armor. Irasi dove at Mortrix's legs and yanked. In normal gravity it would have been enough to send both of them to the floor, but the gravity on Noveria was weaker than average and Mortrix was caught in a biotic gravity well. Irasi rose with her friend, and felt the heat as dozens of shots found their marks. Mortrix's vital signs went dark and Irasi fell to the floor with her friend as Benezia cowered in the corner.
Irasi grabbed for her pistol, only to remember that she had dropped it in the desperate effort to save Mortrix. She saw it on the ground only a short meter away, but it might as well have been on the other side of the system. Irasi knew that the moment she exposed herself to Shepard and his companions, she was done for. Her instincts told her to sit tight and assess the situation, but she couldn't listen to them. The pain of losing her friend allowed Irasi to forget all of her training and do something truly stupid. Diving out from her cover, she loosed a blast of pure biotic force at the platform where Shepard was standing, and reached for her pistol as he recoiled from the blow. Irasi rose, pointed her gun at the trio above her, and fired shot after shot as she sprinted straight at the stairs that would lead her to them.
In the ten meters it took Irasi to reach the stairs, almost a dozen shots glanced off her armor. Her hud showed that it wouldn't last much longer, but she didn't care. Irasi rounded the corner and charged up the stairs. Her armor went down, and a searing pain in her shoulder told Irasi she'd been hit, but she ran on. She gathered the last of her energy and leveled one last biotic blow at Shepard. It tossed him several feet, but the krogan and biotic were barely knocked back. Irasi stared at them as she felt the familiar feelings of soul sickness overcoming her. Before she could pass out, Irasi saw the krogan aim a rather ugly shotgun at her stomach. Not there, you fool, shoot me somewhere where I'll die quickly.