Chapter: 1

Atraya

Atraya leaned against the alley wall with a heavy sigh. She was tired of this assignment, tired of the depressing sights, and tired of the stench that crept along the slums of this backwater planet, and seeped into every pore.

She knew she was expendable, but the opportunity was too good to pass up. Just to leave the isolation of the monastery if for no other reason. She just prayed to the Goddess that the SPECTRE evaluations weren't going to involve to many more missions like this one. Before they granted her full agent status.

This wasn't the most difficult assignment the High Council could give her, and that was exactly the problem. It wasn't hard for her to infiltrate this society that was so primitive, they were almost pre-spaceflight.

She started with language lessons, which didn't take her long to master. Clothes to match the locals, and some human "flesh-colored" body paint. Then that itchy, constraining, and hot worthless patch of fur for the head. What was it called? Oh yes, a wig. Was all that was needed to disguise her true species from the humans.

Asari are more humanoid than most other species in the galaxy. Aside from the blue skin, head fringe where Humans have hair, and the more than a thousand year lifespan. They look just like human females.

But as for what Atraya thought... (For Goddess' sake, I'm an Asari Huntress. A trained commando, and almost a damned SPECTRE! Not some dress-up doll. Ugh!) It was maddening at times how trivial some jobs could be.

Her orders were simple. :

#1 - Infiltrate the Human's home planet, known as Earth. (Now being cursed as 'Hell's armpit' In ancient Sari.)

#2 - Work her way into this new pro-human group calling itself Cerberus.

#3 - Bring back any available Intel.

Shaking her head to release the grip of the negative energy that had slipped in. "Snap out of it Atraya," She mumbled to the humid air that filled the alley way. "At least it stopped raining and he has not yet realized he is being followed."

This was cause for serious thought. (This new radical human group is not affiliated with the Human Alliance military, and yet they have seemed to find military backing. At least by the look of the equipment being paraded around the facilities. If the human military isn't the one supporting Cerberus, is this all mercenary? Where could they find that many credits? It would take a planet's ransom to run labs, and pay the soldiers. Not to mention the upkeep on the small fleet of star ships. Very curious, but still, what threat that make them to... Well everyone in the known Galaxy?) With a wave of her slender, dark-tan painted hand. Atraya swatted away the internal conversation like an annoying insect.

With a heavy sigh, she pushed herself off the alley wall she had held up for the last half hour. Stepping out to the grimy street Atraya blended in with the local humans. All of them with their heads down, and quick feet. Looked as if they were on an important mission to escape the squalor of this slum.

Hopefully she could wrap this up soon and then go on about her way. (Ah, to get home, and then a shower or six. It will take at least that many to get the foul stink of this planet off me)

She followed her target for about six more blocks. Then into a smaller alley, where she ducked behind a rotting dumpster. Her eyes burned causing tears to slide down her face as the smell assaulted her nose. "I hope this paint doesn't wash off, yet."

A quick peek around the corner of the bin showed her the building she needed to enter to keep up with her prey. Climbing atop the dumpster, she worked her way to the ledge of an abandoned looking warehouse and squeezed her way into the air duct. She was more than ready to get off this polluted stinking rock and back home to a hot shower, clean clothes and a nice warm bed. She was most definitely not ready for the sight she saw as she emerged from the air duct, into what appear to be a medical bay.

A lone operating table with a small human child. It was hooked up to monitors. Someone had drawn incision guides all over him, the blue lines crisscrossing his already numerous surgical scars. His eyes were open, but unseeing. He was prepped for surgery. This all would seem normal in a hospital surgery room, except for the clamps restraining the child. But this was a warehouse, and a filthy one at that.

Atraya tried to check for a pulse but could feel none on its wrist or neck. Thinking back on her commando training. "Think, think... OK main artery just inside the thigh where it joins the hip! That should be enough to get a pulse."

Atraya lifted up the thin blanket that covered the little human. "Poor thing, so pale, are they supposed to be that pale?"

With a shake of her head she reached out and placed her warm hand against the cool skin of the child's leg. "Oh good, it has a pulse... and... It's male? Strange little creatures."

She noticed something at the base of its (his) skull. "That looks like a biotic amp interface! is that where humans put their amps in? At this age? He looks no more than three, and they already put an amp in? Humans are fragile, aren't they risking losing him? No wonder the Elder Council stated this group is dangerous. If they would do this to one of their own children, what would they do to another race?"

The child stared at her glassy-eyed, and quiet. But curious. He moved sluggishly, as if recovering from heavy sedation. "Why such large clamps to restrain you little one?" Atraya asked the pale child as she turned her attention to the only active terminal in the room.

"Hmm let's see…"


Project: Zeus

Division: Shepard

Subject: J

Damper Unit design: #4 notes.

Technical Analysis of prototype unit 4 shows promise. That is only if subject J can refrain from emotional outbursts, causing premature failure and loss of control.

It is the lead technitions opinion. As long as subject J remains in emotional control and someone is ready to subdue, then his training should proceed with caution.

Project Oversight: Recommendation: I advise subject J be terminated. (Protocol Four [4]) Should he attempts to use his "talents" when angry again. The damage done will be exponentially worse than last time. Read energy output analysis documents (attached).

Dr. Amanda Kenson Psychoanalytical Attaché: Subject is starting to show signs of PTSD, although he is very adept at hiding it. Recommend subjects emotional detachment be monitored closely. Also, Unit 4 should be standard equipment for all agents/operatives in his vicinity should there be another unit failure.

Personal note: Should make any and all medical staff aware of subject J's "special needs" taking away any possibility of accidental replacement of damper unit. With an actual biotic amp.


With a tired smirk playing at the corners of her mouth Atraya spoke to the only other person in the room. "Riiight, researchers, their notes are Oh-So helpful. But I'm sure someone back at the Citadel will find it useful. Better copy all of it to disk. OK, now button, button where is the button? Ahh! Here we go! Restraint release unlocked. Now what to do with you little one?"

Removing the restraints from the limp child, she scowled at the IV tubes. Thick liquid, in every color known to the Goddess, flowed from at least a dozen bags hanging on metal hooks attached to an array of complicated looking machines.

"What am I doing? This child isn't part of my mission. Sure the Intel on the disc may be useful, but a human child?" The last clamp sprang open in her hand. Atraya now spoke directly to the curious child. Frustration creeping into her voice as she turned in tight circles looking around the med-bay.

"Oh Goddess! I can't just leave you here, and I can't take you to the local authorities. They ask too many questions, and Cerberus owns most of the city. They would probably just bring you right back. That's it!" She declared to the boy.

"You're coming with me. Once I get off this Goddess forsaken rock, I will find another human colony to drop you off on. One with a good med center." As gently as time would allow. Atraya began disconnecting the multi-colored tubes from the boys arms, neck and thighs.

Bright green fluid sprayed from the tube at the base of his throat covering her hands. "Ah, it stinks, what is it with humans and foul smells, Varren waste doesn't smell this bad." Trying to cover her nose with her right hand, and carry the naked boy slung unceremoniously over her left shoulder. Atraya crept down the stairs and disappeared into the darkness.

"Who would put valuable research Intel on an unsecured terminal, and leave what reads as an unstable and possibly dangerous patient this close to an unsecured exit? It almost seems too easy." As she pondered the possible reasons. Rampant stupidity aside. A human sat watching her seemingly daring escape. From a secure room, covered floor to ceiling in monitors. Images throughout the facility flickered in front of him.

Atraya was unaware of plans set in motion long before she had even arrived on Earth, were falling into place. A red ember glowed in the muted darkness of the observation room, briefly outlining the mans profile as he exhaled blue smoke toward one of the flickering screens. A low chuckle followed the smoke as he spoke aloud to no one. "Oh, it was easy my dear. I made sure of that."

When the project lead's image blinked to life on the main screen behind him, it was quite plain how disturbed the Doctor was at the break in. With his back to the screen, the man stayed in the shadows. Dr. Lawson was eager to have a unit sent out to find the Asari. "We need to get Subject J back now Sir..."

The man in the shadows cut him off mid-sentence. "Doctor, the research has been a success, not to worry. The tracking unit is in good working order. We know where our little lab rat is. He isn't about to fall off our radar. I have a team in place, and a plan in motion."

Taking another drag off of the nub of a cigarette he exhaled slowly. "Look at it like this Doctor, it is just good business to let the aliens house the weapon of their destruction for us. They can fund the upkeep and deal with its disastrous side effects. In the meantime humanity goes about their daily lives. And we will make good use the data from the child, without risking the Alliance stumbling on to our research. It is all part of my plan Doctor. I didn't want to have our esteemed Asari agent leave empty-handed, only to return and dig deeper into who we are. Throw a dog a bone Doctor, and it will happily trot off to bury it."

Dr. Lawson agreed reluctantly. As an afterthought he interjected. "But Isn't there the possibility that they will simply terminate him?"

A smile slipped over the shadowed mans lips. "Henry, I assure you that they will in no way harm subject J. In fact I am quite sure that it will work out the other way around. The alien interlopers will wish they never met a Human, much less one that has to have the Unit 4 damper put in place of a biotic amp."

The man lit another cigarette and took a long drag. "Besides, with the genetic structure that we built-in to subject J it would take an act of God, or worse, to actually kill him." Slowly spinning his chair the shadowed man made eye contact with the Doctor. "Now that we have that settled you may take copies of the results and see to that family of yours. Although you may want to tone down the power quite a bit, If you don't want to burn out your next daughter."

The link closed with a beep and went dark. Then he selected a screen and activated the comm. "Agent.. I want your team to follow her, make sure she is properly motivated to leave the hospitality of our planet well behind her, but don't kill her."

Atraya had finally exited the dark corridors of filth and climbed the arduous steps back up to the slimy gutters of San-Angeles. A sprawling metropolis built on the bones of the poor, filthy, and starving. The dingy apartment was in reach, just another fourteen blocks when she noticed the tail. (Goddess! How could they know where I was?)"Well so much for the hot meal and a good night's sleep child."

With an exasperated sigh she turned and headed for the transit station, hitting some keys on her Omni-tool she keyed in the hot extract signal. She had made it to the transit station and boarded a ground shuttle heading for the city outskirts. She held the boy close to her as she sat in the open top ground shuttle, taking notice of the lack of interest everyone took in her and J.

She thought she heard the sound of incoming fire, turning slowly to avoid drawing attention to herself. Atraya saw the flare of muzzle flashes and then the flicker of her shields as the rounds were deflected. She ducked down, instinctively covering him with her own body.

"Goddess I hope this Omni can hold the shield up long enough to get to the shuttle." The incoming fire damaged the tram to the point it just slowed to a stop in the middle of the street. She hopped over the side of the shuttle and took off toward the extraction site.

Some civilians were caught in the open and went down from the Cerberus fire. She didn't have time to stop and help, or even the ability at this point. She was carrying J in both arms cradled to her chest to keep him out of the line of fire.

If she were to stop or try to return fire. She ran the risk of the underfed pale child becoming the next one wounded. Atraya just couldn't bear the thought of that. She ducked in behind some of the wrecked vehicles in this graveyard of transportation. As she readjusted J's weight she jostled him causing him to stir.

"Not much longer now little one. We shall get off this stinking shi..." Atraya took a calming breath. "I mean we will leave this place, and go talk to the Matriarch's. They will know what to do with you. After we get a hot meal and an even hotter shower." When he opened his eyes and looked at her. She marveled at just how blue and inquisitive his eyes were. He smiled at her as he put his hand up and touched her face, tracing the line of her cheek with his hand. Effectively smearing the paint off her face, when he saw the deep blue underneath. His smile grew impossibly wider.

She shook the smile off her face (Snap out of it Atraya! Now is not the time to get sentimental.) She crept down the row of disabled and abandoned vehicles until there was no more cover to be had. She looked down at the child.

"The shuttle is just over that rise, I can see the trail from here but we have no more cover. We can either try to sneak over to it, or make a run for it. What say you little one?" He looked up at Atraya and smiled, then snuggled himself deeper into her bosom, clinging tightly. The sight of his smile and the feeling of him in her arms made her heart ache. (In another time, In another life, I would be... Mother.)

"OK then run it is." Atraya whisper to him, she gave him a kiss on his forehead 'for luck' she told herself. She stood up and hugged J as tightly as she could, then ran for the waiting shuttle. It wasn't long before the Cerberus troops noticed her and started firing wildly, only managing to make one out of several shots impact her shield. The shuttle was in reach, when the Omni tool beeped letting her know how long before it went down.

(Shit! less than ten seconds left on the shield… just have to pray that the Goddess wills it.) Atraya ran with all she had. A wave of relief came over her as she jumped on the shuttle hearing the slugs bounce harmlessly off the shuttle's hull when the door shut.

(Filthy and unreliable how would they be a danger?) Atraya couldn't wait to get home. She hadn't been paying too much attention to her charge. But now she was trying hard not to notice how his body had snuggled into her during the flight from captivity. It was impossible to ignore now, as he was fully aware and wrapped in her arms.

She ignored the smug and knowing looks she got from the commando's in the shuttle and held him close, for his closeness had awakened something in her. Something that she didn't think she could ever have. Atraya could never be a mother, she had found out when she reached maturity. A cruel act of fate. Had deemed her never to know the love of another, not mentally anyway. In Asari terms she was an Ardat Yakshi, which translates to (Demon of the Night Winds) in the eldest dialect of Sari. It is a horrible genetic mutation that keeps her from bearing any daughter, well that is the least of it. The worst was that she would kill anyone who tried to partner with her.

In the most gruesome way that fate had, Atraya watched her first love perish. Her nervous system overloaded and burned out to a mindless shell of a person. She swore to the Goddess, she would never allow this to happen to another soul. Solara was her first, only, and her one true love….

That was until she found this little young human curled up on her breast. Snuggling into her warmth making it clear that he had not had any affection as of late, if ever. She vowed that for better or worse, she would be a mother to him. For Solara if no one else.

She quickly found that the Elder council of Matriarchs did not care what happened to J, as long as he did not become a problem. "Why don't you take him home with you." Matriarch Aethyta told her with a cheerful smile.

Clearly an attempt to make her angry or was it just a ploy to get rid of their little problem quietly? Either way she would keep him, raise him, and educate him. With his biotic power he could clearly be one of the strongest human biotic's Atraya had ever heard of, much less seen.

So she took him "home". Which just happened to be a monastery for others of her kind, to keep them from the temptation of killing "normal" members of society. She vowed that she would make it a home for him, and teach him all that she could about biotic control and combat as well as compassion and understanding of others.

She learned he had no audio translator installed but he seemed to not speak Human at all. He was however learning the different dialects of Sari at a remarkable rate.

"Are all humans this quick to take to alien language?" Sister Rila asked Atraya, leaning over her shoulder curiously.

"Shush Rila I am teaching him his language as well, He has no translator but I do switch my omni to human to help with those language lessons." Atraya said trying to shoo her away.

"OK Atraya... but which human language? I understand they have many?" Rila told her, ignoring the attempts to run her off.

"English Rila, It is the most common among the residents of where I found him." Atraya sighed, finally giving in to Rila's interruption.

His only downfall in Sari was he couldn't quite make all the pitch sounds as they did, so it was Sari with an accent. But he was a natural, and took to it well. So he preferred to talk to her in native language.

Atraya was Mother, and her roommates were his aunts. He loved his mother and his aunts and his studies were coming along well. He especially loved meditation as it seemed to give him some peace with the feelings he always had boiling just below the surface.

He loved taking walks with the Matriarchs, asking them endless questions about life and the different cultures of the universe. Which they seemed to actually enjoy answering for him. For the most part the whole place treated him as family.

He was, as they were. Someone no one wanted, who was now trying to live a life of peace amidst the turmoil fate so often threw at them. His aunt Rila and Falere were his favorites. They were so smart, pretty, and patient. His aunt Mirala on the other hand, was always brooding and trying to get him into trouble. But for the most part he resisted.

He was close to nine years old when he first got into real trouble. When they saw for the first time, that what they had. Was not what they thought.


J was tired, but it was the good kind of tired. The mental exercises his mother put him through were exhausting but calming and useful. She loved him and would never harm him, but that didn't mean she trusted any of her "sisters" with his life.

Atraya taught him self-defense, commando tactics, and how to put up mental barriers to stop unwanted intrusion into his mind. These would be useful in short time, when the others learned just how powerful this small human could be when provoked.

Being a possible SPECTRE candidate meant she was one of the few at the monastery who were allowed to practice their biotics.

She included him in the lessons, constantly surprised at how much he grasped for such a young age, as if he already knew but was humoring her with his ignorance. She often pondered this, but she knew her boy and he would not lie to her especially about something as important to her as this.

But she was aware of the fact that his biotics rivaled her own. His 'night terrors' were only survived by her training and the strength of her barrier. How much more would they be without his 'control damper' or even an amp? She would find the answer to half of this question more troubling than she could have ever known.

J woke up when he heard shouting, (Someone shouting at mom? No, mom was on floor warden duty and everyone else was asleep, besides no one had reason to be angry at her.) As he snuck down the hall the considerable distance from his room to the sound of the disturbance he was able to make out some of the conversation.

From the venom and condescending tone of voice he could tell it was a Matriarch. But he did not recognize the voice, and the person being scolded was quiet. So he did what mom had taught him to do when you need more Intel. He pushed himself low and against the wall and listened.

"How could you waste this chance? How could you throw away this opportunity? For what? Some misguided attempt at Motherhood? How pathetic! A monster such as you should never be allowed to even look upon a child much less be in charge of raising one! I can't believe you threw away the SPECTRE candidacy just for the farce of raising some hairless ape! Really if you wanted a pet you should have informed me!" The unknown voice screamed in a demeaning tone.

Then he heard a voice he knew all too well. "How dare you insult my son! He hasn't done anything to anyone. He isn't disruptive to any part of our home"

(Mother?) He crept closer to the room and started to peer between the three commando's, still oblivious to his presence. His heart was starting to beat faster as he watched the room for any sign that it was okay to enter. He wanted to be by her side. Tell her that he was sorry he caused this, and would do anything to make it better.

He caught a glimpse of his mother's face and saw the tears she was trying to hold back. His face suddenly felt hot. His blood felt as if it were fire rushing in his head. As he forced his way past the commando's, the Matriarch saw him. The look of malice on her face was obvious, as she smiled towards Atraya.

Atraya was worried he would be hurt just to punish her. She called out to calm him down "It's alright J. Please just go back to bed. Lady Modessi may we please just leave him out of this? It was my decision."

Matriarch Modessi spun on Atraya "How dare you address me so informally! I see that I must remind you of your place monster!" She spat with venom and then hit her with a backhanded fist glowing with biotics. She laughed as Atraya slumped against the wall, blood pooling around her face where it lay on the floor. The cruel Matriarch, opened her fist and shut down her biotic field.

He felt his blood boil at the sight of someone talking to his mother this way. She was kind and loving and did not deserve this treatment [he felt a pain just around his control damper] and then she hit mother! (NO!)

The commando's holding him would later swear, before they lost their grip. They both heard a low animalistic growl, then a faint sizzling sound followed by a beep. They could smell burnt electronics. Then the world turned to hell.

J felt another sharp pain, then he heard the sizzle. The pain was wavering then he heard the beep, as the damper injected the mood altering drug into his system. Then it felt as if the world was placed into slow motion.

Atraya couldn't see it, her eye was blackened and vision blurry from the blood. But she had heard the beep, and could feel the anger. No this was not anger, it was rage! A rage so strong it seemed to make the air too heavy to breathe. It was palpably strong enough, that for the briefest instant. Atraya simply thanked the Goddess that it was not aimed at her.

He felt his anger boiling over instantly, seething he ran for his mother. But Modessi caught him by the arm "And what is this, Hmm? Hello little pet."

She jerked him off the ground hard by his arm, and started yelling at Atraya. "You should know by now what happens to your pets! Why did you think you could keep this one? You monsters deserve worse than death for what you have done to our beautiful society. We have to hide you out of shame like criminals and you go and throw away the precious gift the Matriarchs have given you!" Modessi screamed as she tried to hold J in place by his arm.

(No! no! no! no!) J was seething with rage. His temper was boiling. But then he remembered something. Something from the time before home, before love, and before Mother. He reached back to take out the control damper at the base of his skull but found himself lifted once again by his arm.

"What's this Hmm? Are we trying to use our teeth pet? Maybe I should pull them before you hurt yourself?" Modessi held him close, her voice menacing.

Modessi then grabbed what she thought was his biotic amp, and made the biggest mistake anyone has ever made.


The foolish Matriarch had taken the leash off of the Devil himself.


Atraya could just make out the shapes in the room. Through blurry vision she saw J come for her before Modessi caught him. She saw her reaching behind his head. Then it got warm, the air in the room got very warm. There was heat in wave's of almost tangible fire coming from J. Her son had turned into a furnace and at first, she didn't know what it meant.

But then something clicked, and it all became clear. As to just why they hadn't tried to really stop her from leaving, just conveniently chased her off world those years ago.

Cerberus hadn't been experimenting on a small sickly child.

They were crafting a weapon.

Her son was a weapon.

J felt something release inside his head when Modessi removed the control damper. The first thing that happened was the commando's realized they were trapped inside a very serious Stasis field and had no way to move, all they could do for now was watch.

He threw a singularity at his own knees then a warp blast just as he jumped up. About the time the singularity caught hold of him. The warp blast hit it, causing the unstable mass effect field to explode.

The explosion was bad, worse than he had wanted. But it worked, he was now fourteen feet off the ground and as he came down he drew all the dark energy he could muster into his bones. Most specifically his left elbow. The Matriarch turned just in time to see him coming down.

With a bewildered look on her face she felt something she had never felt before… Pain. He made contact with her nose in his descent. Modessi was now reeling on the floor with a broken nose, fractured jaw, four missing teeth, and a broken collarbone.

If not for the surprise of the attack making her flinch ever so slightly out of his intended path, she would have been injured much more severe.

She cursed him and yelled for the commando's she had brought to kill the alien child. But to her surprise, no one came to her aid. She looked around in wonder at the commando's frozen. Then noticed everyone but herself and Atraya locked in place, a look of utter shock on their faces.

She noticed something else too. Something easily as impossible as a nine year old human managing to put every powerful Asari in the room in a stasis field.

He was glowing, but not with the normal white-blue associated with the use of biotics. He was glowing with a darkness that one would associate with a black light. It was beautiful and deadly all at the same time. She watched him with a sense of wonder in her eyes, as he walked. No stalked over to her.

A deep throaty animalistic growl reverberated from his chest. He had a predatory look in his eyes, as he told her in a very low and commanding voice. "No one EVER hurts my Mother!" With a dark glowing backhand. He sent her flying off into the wall, hard enough to shatter the concrete.

He then walked over to Atraya and offered her his hand. "Mother, let us return home." As she took his hand and he helped her stumble out of the room, the stasis field slowly released all the women inside.

The other Matriarch's in charge of the Monastery were released first. Then the commandos, for no other reason than to prove a point. When they came free of the oppressive field, they were quick to state that they never even felt him buildup the necessary biotic energy for the stasis. It had been instantaneous. First Matriarch Delinga simply sat down at her desk, with a sad knowing smile.

The Commando's filed out of the room, drawing their weapons and training them on the alien monster. Expecting this, he quickly put up a barrier around himself and his mother. He turned and saw Atraya grimace and try to raise her own barrier, but she was unable to do so before the shot rang out.

Atraya flinched in fear as she heard the weapon fire. But the shot bounced harmlessly off his barrier. She was trying unsuccessfully to do something, anything to protect him.

J looked at his mother. The blackened eye, the blood on her face. Growing more angry each second. Then he saw the fear in her eyes, and the fury it brought forth. Killed what little kindness was left in him.

He started drawing in all the dark energy he could, building up for the most powerful attack he could produce. The static started dancing across his arms and from his back to Atraya's outstretched hands. The lighting started to fluctuate, seeming to dim in pulses. He reached out putting his palms toward each other, a dark-blue biotic sphere blinking to life between them.

He started pouring every ounce of energy he could muster into that ball of cataclysmic death. Not seeming to notice, or even care as the slugs bounced uselessly off his barrier.

He did notice that they were only aiming at him, so he moved away from Atraya as far as he could and still maintain the barrier. J started walking forward, as the ball grew to almost touching his hands and chest. The lights started to go out around him.

The Commando's watched in a mixture of fear and awe as the lights went out. The darkness expanding from where he was. "I've never..." "Have you ever seen?" "What do we do?"

He was about to release the ball of death upon them, when Atraya calmly placed a hand on his arm. She kissed his cheek. "J... It's ok son, let them go... please."

He looked at the commando's, the hate on his face clear to them in the dim light of his biotics. He finally decided to slowly lower the power he had put into the weapon, once it was small enough to not cause any harm. He clapped his hands together, crushing the field and causing a small biotic detonation to occur between his hands.

He didn't say a word, not one word. J pointed at the elevator doors, and they all got the hint quickly. "I say we leave before that monster changes its mind... or gets hungry." "Agreed" They gathered the wounded Matriarch and fled the monastery, hoping to never cross paths again.

J knew he was in trouble, but he was so worried about mother he didn't care. While he was watching to make sure the commando's didn't return. Atraya slumped to the floor trying to piece together what just happened, where this level of intuition had come from, and what to do next.

In the gloom of a darkened hall, Mirala stood silently watching, taking curious note. Of just how fast he had turned from loving son. To a destructive monster capable of injuring a Matriarch and running off an experienced Commando unit. Without so much as a scratch put on himself. (He seemed to be ready for their actions even before they were! And he literally smiled at them, as they fired at him. Smiled! I knew the boy was special. But this? No. This is something to be nurtured, cared for, trained, and allowed to grow into a much BIGGER monster... One capable of taking out a certain Justicar.)

She quickly formulated a plan. Rushing to Atraya's side, she was promptly knocked back against the wall by J. Mirala noticed in adoration, how quickly the 'ball-of-death' as it were. Had sprung back to its former size, if not slightly larger. As he approached she heard the growl. The sound reminded Mirala of a dangerous animal guarding its young. "I mean no harm young one, I only wish to help Atraya."

He crept forward studying her, (She's lying, but if she's willing to help Mother to get what she's after, Who cares.)

He got close enough for her to see a glimpse of what lay behind his eyes, and it frightened her. "Mother" Mirala cocked her head as she looked at him. "Mother" he said again. "She is my Mother." The energy seemed to be absorbed inside him. He leaned down and scooped Atraya up in his small arms, then straightened up and stood there stone still.

This would look impossible to anyone else. But Mirala had caught a peek at just what lay behind those eyes, and she knew that to provoke its wrath. Was to make an appointment with the void itself.

Mirala had to smile at that, (To think... that a monster could love and care for another monster unconditionally! I wish I had that) "Well then J, follow me and we shall get her cleaned up and make sure she is okay. Before we make a plan to get you out of here."

He nodded then followed her through the halls to her room. Making a mental map of how far she was from everyone else and how many exits there were to use if you had to leave in a hurry. None of which did any good if you didn't have a ship to get you off world.

He lay Atraya on the bed, seeming to ignore the disgruntled sound Mirala made when the blood started to seep into the bedding. After Atraya was comfortable he addressed Mirala without turning to her. "We will be leaving soon, do you really wish to complain about bloodstains on this blanket?"

She looked at him, wondering (What had to happen? Just what stars had to line up so perfectly for the universe to create such a wonderful and beautiful creature as this human?) "No J, I don't care about the blanket. I was merely thinking on the lack of care you have for others things... What if I had cared for the blanket? Or what if I had decided to stay behind? Would this not matter to you?"

He looked amused at her questions. Smiling to himself he answered. "No, the only thing that matters to me is Mother." He stated matter-of-factly, as he started to clean Atraya's bruised face as tenderly as you would treat a newborn.

The door burst open and he and Mirala spun on the intruders both bringing up their biotics. She did notice however, that the barrier he had put up. Now included herself as well as Atraya.

"Calm down you two. Sheesh it's like you're both expecting the second fleet to come through your door." Rila exclaimed as she rushed to Atraya's side. "Goddess! Sister Atraya? Can you hear me? Here J give her this medigel it should help stop the bleeding."

Rila stood and looked at Mirala then back to the door at their youngest sister Falere "Do you have a plan Sis?"

Mirala looked at them curious. "Not yet."

Rila motioned for Falere to come in. "Then we shall make one."