A poltergeist of biotic activity permeated the hidden reaches of the Citadel. Morinth runs though the dark alley, carrying her newborn. She ran as fast as she could away from her own mother, Samara. It had been years since Samara had this kind of chance to finally destroy the evil she helped create. Morinth was an Ardat-Yakshi, a title carried heavily in the Asari species. They are born with strange biotic abilities, dwarfing the power of any normal Asari. It is for this reason that they are located before they can do harm. And then transported to where they can do no harm.
Morinth however, was never safely transported away from society. Most Ardat-Yakshis would accept who they are and leave a possible normal life to protect their species and the rest of the galaxy. Morinth wanted to use her power to her advantage. She is the kind of Ardat-Yakshi that all species fear: A biotic whose goal is to deprive an organic of its functionality, its soul, its inner being. They deceive organics into believing that they are in love with them, allowing them to release the security in their minds. Asari are known for their ability to bond consciousness together to exchange important information. Morinth uses this skill, along with her biotic power to exploit the victim's weakness, draining them of their thoughts and feelings, leaving their body an empty shell.
These actions keep Morinth on the run constantly, only brief moments separating her and the grasp of the law. Samara has kept track of her daughters for 500 years, using her power as a Justicar to act in any way she sees fit, mostly in killing her most dangerous daughters. But it is her oldest and smartest daughter, Morinth, that has kept Samara on the hunt for 200 years.
The stasis field that Morinth held around her child kept it calm, not crying in fear. Samara did not know of Morinth's child, and Morinth wanted to keep it like that. If Samara found her grandchild, she would surely have it destroyed if it had anything to do with her Ardat-Yakshi daughter.
"You only run from that which will save you." Samara said as she flung a crate at Morinth.
"You only want to destroy that which will save the Asari!" Morinth shouted back.
Morinth looked down at her child. A beautiful newborn sleeping soundly in her stasis field. Most Asari would have considered the child a mistake, an abomination to nature. Not because it was the daughter of a dangerous criminal, but the child was in fact, a human.
During one of her recent "works", Morinth convinced a human male to release himself to her. However, Morinth was not as careful as she normally was. The process she used endangered herself of becoming impregnated with the child of the other person. Morinth had to carefully drain the victim quickly because of this. But Morinth let her guard down with this particular human. Just days afterwards, she began feeling strange. After being checked at a hospital (and paying for the testing with the murdered human's credits and being registered under his identification), she found that she was pregnant. The doctor had some other, unsettling news.
The doctor said "The testing shows that you are pregnant. Congratulations."
"I am?" Morinth asked.
"Yes... however, the baby is not Asari, it's human."
"Really? But... how? I thought Asari genes were dominant. Wouldn't it be an Asari?"
"It should be. But there are always exceptions to biological rules about outcomes of interactions between two completely different, independently evolved species. So the fact that your child is human is simply due to the freak chance you and your partner had."
"I...see." Morinth's faced covered with shock.
"Well, you should expect to give birth in about 2 years."
"2 years? I thought human's only took 9 months to be born."
"Well, since the Asari have very long lives, it would take longer for a human to be conceived, due to your slower aging and metabolism."
"Oh...well...thank you doctor. I guess I'll see you in 2 years." Morinth sadly joked.
Strangely, Morinth did not want to give up her child. She started to feel like her child needed a mother. But Morinth quickly remembered who she was, a dangerous criminal constantly on the run. But she felt she felt her child deserved a chance. A chance to prove to the world that the Ardat-Yakshis are a species to be respected in the galaxy. Morinth decided to keep her child, despite the circumstances.
2 years later, Morinth gave birth to a beautiful human boy. Since he was human, Morinth decided to give him a human name. She decided on Morgan, a name that meant "lives by the sea". Morinth liked that name. Always living at the edge of an endless land of crusades. Just like his mother. Morgan was a good name for him.
But 7 months later, Morinth is once again on the run from her maniacal mother.
While Morinth was running, Morgan awoke, revealing his hazel-colored eyes staring up at his mother. Morinth realized that her child was just as in danger of being killed as herself. No one in the galaxy would accept the spawn of a dangerous species, he would only end up the same fate as herself. Morinth needs a place to escape from Samara, she realizes that not only she would lose fighting with her mother in a biotic battle, but Samara would also have her "evil" grandchild. Morinth couldn't even think of what Samara would do to him; it almost brought her to tears.
Morinth ran into a nearby active cargo holding station, the moving machines and platforms to hide in could give her and Morgan some solitude.
Nearby, in an air duct shaft, a young Drell named Kolyat was wandering through the ventilation system of the Citadel as he normally did. C-Sec labeled him and his friends as "hoodlums". They were mostly abandoned children whom lived their lives in the streets and slums of cities. C-Sec is trying to track them down due to the fact that many of these children are contracted by criminals. These criminals use these kids to commit illegal practices. This had been most of Kolyat's life; living in a life of crime. Kolyat had no one to look up to, with his father abandoning him and his mother dead.
Kolyat climbed through the ducts, as his normal means of transportation and exploration. He climbed out an open hole at the end of a duct into a large, shipping area. He took a deep breath. His lungs filled with the dust and smoke that were a part of his life.
C-Sec officers were patrolling the area actively.
"I have to stay out of sight, I should probably stick to the higher area's and ducts." Kolyat thought.
As Kolyat sneaked his way to the upper part of the ventilation system, he could hear large crashing noises. As he went to investigate, he saw an Asari being chased by another Asari on a catwalk above him. Kolyat could point out that Samara was a Justicar because of the uniform she was wearing. Kolyat always needed to know who was and wasn't an officer, and the means of dealing with them.
"Oh wow! A Justicar! That crook doesn't look like she knows her way around if she's messing with one of those."
Morinth kept running, trying to put as much distance as she could between herself and Samara. Morinth began running along the straightaway of the catwalk. Below her was a seemingly bottomless drop to the ground of the cargo bay.
"This time Morinth, I will not fail." Samara said with great sincerity.
Samara focused her powers, charging up a biotic warp, making sure that this would finally finish her daughter.
Kolyat watched as a bright blue ball of energy formed inside Samara's hands. The ball grew larger and larger, increasing with power. Kolyat knew that if this Justicar blasted the criminal with that much power, she would surely die instantly. Kolyat always wanted to find some way to gain an edge on the authorities, to disrupt C-Sec's plans to imprison him and his friends. And most importantly, to help his fellow brothers and sisters, whom were never given a chance to become what they wanted to become. He had to help the woman get way.
Kolyat knew he couldn't directly fight the Justicar, that would be suicide. But he could try to distract her just enough to give the fugitive precious time.
Kolyat yelled as loud as he could "Hey Justicar! Over Here!"
This made Samara pause for a moment, dimming her blast. She looked down at the Drell in a ventilation shaft mockingly waving and smiling towards her.
Samara quickly remembered what she was doing and looked towards the quickly fleeing Morinth. She began to charge her blast again, but at a weaker state.
"I'm not going to kill her if she's too far away."
Samara decided to blast even though her powers were not at full strength. The ball of energy grew again, its blue radiance aimed directly at Morinth. Kolyat could feel the energy radiating from the warp.
Samara said with anger in her voice "You...must...die!"
Samara pushed with all of her might and launched the energy ball with tremendous force and speed at Morinth. Morinth saw for a brief second the energy ball coming towards her.
Morinth felt as if all time had slowed to near stop. She thought this was it, this was the end. She could see the machines at the bottom almost not move at all. She could see the energy ball slowly heading towards her, slowly pulsing. She couldn't even feel her own heartbeat. She could see Samara in the distance, her hands burning with biotic energy, her eyes solid black, and her face filled with anger.
Morinth knew that there was no escape this time, no way out, no hope. The energy ball would strike her and nothing would save her from annihilation.
She thought "Morgan... I'm sorry. I'm sorry that this how we must die. I'm sorry that you never got the chance you deserve. I'm sorry our condemnation was brought by my reputation."
She looked down at Morgan, somehow sleeping through the madness.
Morinth softly spoke "I... love you Morgan. I... I..."
She tried to form the words, but couldn't say it.
"I... I..." she said with sad frustration.
"No!" She said with fury.
"I will not let her hurt me or my one and only child!"
She used all of her might to surround herself in a biotic barrier. She felt time speed up again. The machinery moving once again, the energy ball moving faster and faster, she could feel her own heartbeat again.
The blast struck the barrier, causing a massive shockwave to blast from it. This caused Morinth to lose her balance and fall over. Pipes and walls shook from the blast, even causing some nearby machinery to malfunction and break.
The blast weakened Morinth. She tried to get up, but found that her body would not move. She clutched her baby tight, trying to protect him. Samara slowly walked over to the weakened Morinth. Her body lay shaking and hurt.
Samara saw Morgan in Morinth's arms and said "What's this? A human child? I've known that you could be capable of many unspeakable things. But this is truly horrible. Kidnapping a child only to devour its soul. You're even more worthless than you were before."
Morinth tried to speak, but her lips remained shut.
"Let's have a look at this human."
She picked up Morgan, held him in her arms and said "What a lovely child. Innocent and new. Beautiful life waiting for its acceptance into the world. How could you ever take away this child's life when it's barely begun?"
Samara didn't realize that was Morinth's child.
Morinth tried to move again, but her limbs would not respond. She saw the Drell looking with shock from the ventilation shaft. She could see the sorrow and pain in his eyes. He desperately wanted to help her, but there was nothing he could do.
Morinth thought "If my mother takes Morgan away, she would discover that he was my child and surely have him locked up in some monastery or executed on sight. There has to be something I can do."
She tried to think of ways she could make something fall on her mother, or in some way, incapacitate her enough so that she could get away.
"The Drell, that's it! If he can distract mother enough I'll escape. But how could he distract her? But... I don't know him, I don't know that he could or even would help us."
"Morinth, as disingenuously sadistic as this may seem, I actually enjoy watching you suffer." Samara said.
"That Drell could fight her for me. ... Wait...no, that's not right. I could just take Morgan and run. ... That wouldn't work either, I'm too weak to escape with Morgan alive. Wait... that's it! I've got it! But I have to do this quick. And I'm disappointed in myself that this my best solution, but I no other options."
She focused her power into powerful brain waves. It's said that Ardat-Yakshis are so insidious that they can communicate with others through biotic-powered telepathy.
The Drell began hearing voices in his head. They were calling out to him "Young Drell,... what is your name?
The Drell reluctantly thought back "Um...my name is Kolyat."
"Kolyat, the baby she is holding in her hands is my baby. She has been hunting us down for 200 years. I'm not able to escape with my him now, for I am far too weak. I need you to take him for now until it is safe again. Please, Kolyat. I need your help. She will do horrible things to my son."
"Who are you, and what are you talking about?"
"There's no time! She will kill my son if you don't help me!"
Kolyat thought back to his father, the assassin-for-hire. After Kolyat's mother died, his father left Kolyat to fend for himself in the streets. Kolyat never had a father who he could love. Kolyat never wanted anything bad to happen to anymore of his friends or his family. And that includes fugitives who were in the same situation as he was.
"Alright Morinth, may you find peace in the embrace of the goddess."
Samara began to kneel on top of Morinth, preparing to implode her daughter's skull.
"Alright, Alright. I'll help you. But where will I take him? Where will I go?"
"You will take him to the Zakera wards, in the food storage area tomorrow mid-day. There I will meet you."
"O...kay. But, what about you?"
"I'll figure that out. Are you ready?"
"For what?"
Morinth tried to stand up, she thought of Morgan and that he would live if she did something about it. She thought of that if this worked, she could survive as well.
She felt a surge of energy deep within her. She leaped off the ground and used all of her power to violently punch Samara in the face. This knocked Samara back and losing grip of Morgan. Morinth grabbed him and threw him down towards Kolyat. Kolyat realized his mission and extended his arms out to catch the child. He was ready to help his fellow criminal, even if this woman turned out not a criminal at all. Kolyat didn't care. This woman need evasion from the law and that's all Kolyat needed to help her out. His hands barely grabbed the baby. He pulled him up and into the vent where he was sitting.
Samara had this look of shock on her as she stared at the Drell. "What are you doing? You could've killed that child!"
"Success!" Morinth cheerfully thought.
But before Samara could turn and attack Morinth again, she dropped down the cavernous abyss of the storage area. She softened the impact of the near fatal fall by using her biotic levitation. Although she hit the ground hard, she regained her bearings and began to run away with a slight limp into hiding. Kolyat, relieved to see her okay, started to crawl back into the vent holding the baby.
Samara couldn't stop staring at the Drell that has just caught a baby that was just thrown across a massive chasm.
She shouted "You are under arrest for obstruction of justice! Get back here with that baby!"
Kolyat did not look back, trying to crawl away from the danger the Justicar presented.
As Kolyat moved back into the safety of the darkness, he could hear a faint whisper from the baby's mother "Good job, Kolyat."
"Are you okay? You took a pretty hard fall down there." Kolyat responded.
"I'll be fine, just a slight limp. Are you okay?"
"Yes, me and the baby are fine."
"Good. Take care of him until we meet again tomorrow."
"Don't worry, I'll take good care of him."
"Thank you so much Kolyat. You don't know what this means to me."
"Glad to help, Miss..."
"Just call me Morinth. Also, the baby you're holding, his name is Morgan."