So this will be where I will be posting any one-shots that are based in my Scars Not Physical Universe, with dates placed in the chapter titles so that people can better understand which ones which, and also when.
~ I do not own Mass Effect, all copyrighted Content goes to their respective owners ~
06.11.0052 - Post Reaper War
Thessia - Armali Central Stadium
Arisha Vasir had been both dreading and hoping for this moment.
The score was 4-4 dead, with 1 minute 40 seconds left on the clock, she would be damned if she missed this opportunity. Dad had even managed to plan in advance and was with Mom and her sister in the crowd, cheering her on.
Her teammates working together to get her the opening she desperately needed, the flare of biotics covering everyone on the field and adrenaline pumping though her veins. It was a unbeatable feeling, it made her feel invincible.
There was a crowd of over 10,000 people chanting and cheering in the stadium. More at home, watching them live. Most were Asari, though there was a notable mix of Humans, Turians and a small amount of Krogan and Quarians. Volus and Geth were also there, taking bets and predictions of who would take the win.
The Commentators were most likely analysing and commenting on everyone's move and action, as the game was set to be the most intense one of the championship yet.
The field itself was a wide rectangle with curved edges, and Thessian grass had been neatly grown to give grip and padding for the players. The stadium had an open roof, though it had giant metal and glass shutters that could be moved in place if it started to rain. Enormous glass and steel Holo Projectors were suspended high in the ceiling, showing closeups of both her and the enemy teams.
The game she was playing was Biotiball, where 2 teams of 9 biotics attempted to take a ball and get it to the other teams line, opposite each other on a rectangular pitch.
The rules were simple, no offensive biotic attacks, and players could only use Biotic Barriers, Charges, and Flash Stepping. Once a player had the ball they had to move forward, and they must be physically holding the ball as they touched the other teams line to win any points.
Dad had showed her a old Human ball game called Rugby, and she had noted the similarities, minus the biotics.
Arisha had become the Capitan of Attena's Biotiball team, The Attena's Tide, a little over ten years ago, and so far she had managed to reorganized them and turned them around to become one of the best up and coming teams on Thessia. They had defeated the long standing Champions, the Armali Crushers, last season and once she had her opening, they was going to do it again.
There!
One of Armali's newest players, it's left most defender, had gotten caught up in the excitement and had slipped, giving Arisha the best opening she could hope for.
She ducked around the middle defender and created a tunnel of zero mass, Arisha disappeared in a flash of light, followed by a clap of thunder, created when she exceeded the sound barrier. Blazing past the fallen defender and heading straight for the touch line as nothing but a blur of blue, the crowd was in uproar.
Arisha exited the tunnel merely a few feet away from glory, and she could practically taste victory when...
Boom!
The entire stadium seemed to shake as half of the ceiling monitors were enveloped in a raging fireball, before they came crashing down onto the pitch. Cries of cheer turned to cries of horror as players desperately used their biotics to get out of the way of falling glass and steel before they're crushed.
Pieces of ceiling were still falling when Asari with guns appeared out of the entrance tunnels, shouting at the players and pointing their weapons at them, ordering them to the center of the pitch.
Although Arisha had never seen one in person, her sharp eyes saw the sunken and blank eyes, pale skin and almost fevered voices, and realised that they were most likely Indoctrinated Remnant. She had seen pictures of them on the extranet, and the News sometimes talked about them, but Arisha had never seen any up close.
She had heard that most of them had been killed off by the Citadel Forces or had died from some sort of advanced mental decay that the IR apparently suffer from. Though another question burned in her mind, how they had managed to get on Thessia? According to her Mom and Dad it was meant to be impossible, as it was mandatory for all space ports in Council Space to be fitted with new Indoctrination Detection Scanners.
More armed Asari appeared in the stands, firing into the air and ordering everyone to sit down and be quiet. The previous noise of the crowd subdued with the threat of violence and death, and Arisha fervently hoped that her family was okay.
Finally, another Asari, this one armed with what looked to be a genuine Warp Sword walked out and onto the pitch, casting angry looks over the scared and equally angry looking crowd in the stands. She was dressed as a Matriarch, and from what Arisha could feel she felt like one as well, she practically emitted enough Dark Energy for a ship's Drive Core.
One of the IR Asari had wrestled a microphone from one of the nearby Commentators, and the Indoctrinated Asari handed it over to the apparent Matriarch as she walked to the center of the pitch, addressing the crowd.
"Fellow Asari! I have come here to open your eyes! To reveal to you the lies of the Republic, and to show you all the truth. Those of you who are non-Asari shall be exposed as the mindless Animals you truly are!"
Four more Asari came out, and these were carrying a obsidian black piece of metal that Arisha immediately realised was Reaper technology.
There was true panic now, as both her and the Armarli team tried to edge away from the mind controlling technology. While the people in the stands were becoming restless, looking ready to turn from a crowd into a mob as they mermerd with each other, clearly nervous about what was going to happen.
"While you have blindly followed the leaders of the Republic, I have seen the truth! We are the only True Race, the other races are nothing but barely intelligent Animals, causing war and destruction against our peaceful people for centuries."
The Matriarch grabbed the nearest player, one of Arisha's teammates, and started dragging her towards the black piece of Reaper technology. Ignoring her shouts of fear and the roar of the crowd.
Arisha was preparing to do a biotic charge to try and save her friend when chaos broke out.
A gunshot, followed quickly by another. The crowd screamed in a mixture of rage and fear as one of the armed Indoctrinated Asari in the crowed dropped dead with a hole in both her head and chest.
More gunshots. More dead IR.
Arisha quickly spotted the shooter, a Asari sniper in the ceiling scaffolds. Though before the IR could retaliate, more Asari, clearly professional Commandos, surged out of hiding places around the stadiums walls and killed most of the IR in the stands.
Gunshots drowned out the Matriarch's screams of rage, and those IR who were still alive were desperately jumping the dividers and retreating to the center of the pitch in an attempt to avoid their fate.
There was a pause as the gunfire settled, and the air felt as if it was almost charged with static electricity. The Indoctrinated Asari forces surrounding them as they retreated, thankfully, away from the Reaper device.
The Indoctrinated Matriarch was still screaming.
"You think you can stop the truth! I have seen the light! Nothing can stop it!"
Arisha watched nervously as the Commandos advanced, putting more bullets through some of the bodies in the stands, making sure that those who were down, stayed down.
Two other Commandos jumped onto the field, immediately snapping their weapons up towards the desperate and cornered Indoctrinated Remnant.
Two more figures emerged from the crowd, backed by two Commandos each as they jumped the barriers, and joined the Commandos on the pitch.
Mom and Dad!
Dad had gotten her swords from somewhere and was spinning them in slow circles, her open brown leather jacket was flapping slightly from the movement, with her white biotics swirling around her, giving her a ghostly appearance.
Her Mom however, looked pissed, and Arisha had only ever seen her this mad once before, and they had needed a new study built afterwards. Her biotics were opening crackling, little arcs of blue energy cracking like lightning on her feet and hands. The look of murderous rage on her face somehow both incredibly scary and unbelievably reassuring at the same time.
Her Dad spoke when she got close enough to speak without having to shout, looking for all the world like she wasn't in the middle of a massive standoff, with large amounts of guns and biotics pointed from both sides.
"They said the same about the Reapers, but I destroyed every last one of them."
Former Systems Alliance Captian and retired Council Spectre Zaire Shepard.
Her Dad was armed with her infamous duel dark metal Katana, surrounded by white biotic energy. Looking like death incarnate.
The Matriarch obviously recognized her Dad as well. As she unsheathed her own sword, looking a little nervous as she used her biotics to activate the Eezo in the blade, creating a sustainable Warp field around its edge.
The remaining IR were visibly nervous, shifting their eyes and weapons around as another two groups of Commandos joined them on the field. Arisha only now noticing the patches on their armour signaling that they were House T'Soni Commandos. She hadn't recognized them in the panic, though she felt slightly more calm and confident when she recognised Captian Yano L'voke, head of her parents Commandos, slowly moving towards her with two of her own Commandos at her back.
The Matriarch started ranting again, clearly, she had not expected the Destroyer of the Reapers herself to show up to stop her, and was obviously trying to stall for time.
"You cannot stop us, even you Commander Shepard, we cannot be stop-"
Dad had obviously lost her patience and had Charged, slamming into the ranting Asari mid sentence and sending her flying into the padded foam that lined the pitches walls.
The other Commandos took that as their cue and the sniper that was still in the rafters fired, taking out a Indoctrinated Asari who had been pointing her gun at the now silent crowd. Other Commandos both in the stands and on the pitch opened fire, cutting down half their number before they could return fire. While Yano grabbed her and encased them in a biotic bubble to stop the stray shots and biotic attacks whipping around them.
Mom and Dad had both moved after the Matriarch, who had gotten up and had flared her biotics, which despite the effects of indoctrination, were still incredibly powerful.
With a sharp gesture, a literal wave of Warpfire leapt from her body and seemed to eat up the ground as it flowed towards her parents.
Mom acted first, flaring her own considerable biotics and creating a wall between them and the Biotic Fire. Dad acting a second later, encased them in a biotic bubble of her own. Her Dads unique and ghostly white biotics seeming to spread out and form the bubble as if alive itself.
Half a second later and the Warpfire hit her Moms wall, splitting as it tried to get though the barrier, slowly eating its way though, it took long enough for the Commandos to finish off the remaining IR, and both Players and Commandos alike rushed to get off the pitch. The fight about to go down was not something they wanted to get in the middle of.
Arisha and L'voke met up with the other Commandos and helped them get the Players over the crash barrier, before getting themselves over the barrier to relative safety. Only as Arisha turned back to the pitch that she realised that the cameras were still streaming live all over Thessia and the Citadel.
Before she could think more on it the Warpfire ate through her Moms biotic barrier, traveled the few remaining feet and engulfed her Dads barrier.
Several people in the crowed cried out, but Arisha stayed calm as her friends moved to encircle her. Her Dad was perhaps one of the strongest Human biotics in the Galaxy, especially since Uncle Jack had retired. Mom had taken the brunt of the attack, Dad was simply blocking what was left.
Her belief was proven correct as the Warpfire died, and the last dregs of the biotic attack was blasted outwards as Dad released her barrier.
Her friends appeared surprised, but Arisha knew the how behind her father's strange biotics. Her father had both a reinforced nervous system and unique Eezo nodes in her body, meaning that combined with her mother, the daughter of two Matriarchs herself, they had a good chance of beating the Indoctrinated Matriarch.
Her friends were whispering around her, glancing between Yano and her. After all, Dad had disappeared from the public eye over forty years ago after the assassination attempt on the Citadel. The fact that Zaire Shepard had shown up at her game with her Mom was a complete surprise to them, as legally, Arisha's last name was Vasir, and nobody had yet connected the dots.
The attention quickly returned to the fight on the pitch however, as Dad moved forward, moving impossibly quickly and swinging her swords in a downward arc, clashing with the Matriarch's Warp sword. Though the contest of strength was quickly resolved as Mom moved to flank the Matriarch, releasing her own Warpfire, the Matriarch had to jump back to avoid both blades and biotics
Dad didn't let up, and pursued her opponent, Flash Stepping around the Matriarch while using sharp, precise slashes to keep the elder Asari on the defensive. Her Mom flanking around and sending a variety of biotic attacks at critical moments to keep up the momentum.
The Matriarch however, clearly had some expertise in using the sword she was wielding, as she managed to dodge one of her Dads strikes and created a barrier to block her Moms Warp. Before going on the offensive, letting her barrier absorb her Moms attempts at forcing her back on the defensive and used short stabs and slashes to push her Dad away and give herself some room to move.
One of the Matriarchs desperate stabs caught her Dad as she side stepped, leaving her brown leather jacket and black T-shirt with a long gash a cross her side. Her Mom stepped up her attacks, sending large and incredibly dense Warpfire at the Matriarchs barrier. Unable to cope, the barrier failed and the Matriarch had to dive out of the way, though the burns on her back indicating a slow reaction time.
Dad was using her own biotics, sending a more precise version of Warpfire herself, which the elder Asari attempted to dodge as well, only to cry out in surprise as the white Warpfire stopped, turned and followed, chasing after its pray with eerie intelligence.
Clearly seeing how out matched she was, the Indoctrinated Matriarch created a bubble around herself of pure Warpfire, which blocked her Dads attack.
Instead of dispelling her defence, the Matriarch instead increased the power, causing the bubble of blue energy to expand and condense. The sheer power that was being poured into the move was unbelievable, as even from hundreds of meters away, Arisha felt her teeth ache from the amount of Dark Energy present.
The swirling mass of energy paused, and then the Matriarch released it, in one, incredibly explosive, sphere of blue fire.
Arisha spotted a lone figure speed out of the player entrance, making a B-line for her parents, though as the wave of biotic fire consumed its way towards her parents Arisha couldn't tell who it was.
Blue Fire raged out across the pitch, in every direction, including up. Burning the grass to ashes and nearly hitting the roof. The force alone sending most of the crowd off their feet. The T'Soni Commandos diving for cover and for the players to grab something to hang on to.
The remaining Holo projectors clearly couldn't take the abuse, and fell to join the other broken screens on the pitch. Every piece of glass in the stadium shattered under the incredible wave of pressure that followed the attack.
It took a full minute for the biotic fire to die down enough for anyone to even look.
The once green pitch was now black and grey, with ash floating through the air and several people were coughing from inhaling it. But Arisha didn't care about them, what she cared about had been mere feet away from the epicenter.
The young Asari cried out in relief when she saw a white and blue biotic bubble where her parents had been, though it was far too dense to see into.
Arisha Vasir jumped the barrier, followed closely by Yano L'voke, and ran across the destroyed pitch towards the bubble, which died a moment later.
"Granddad!"
Aethyta Vasir, father of Liara T'Soni, stood next to Mom and Dad, all of them clearly exhausted, but alive.
Not bothering to stop, Arisha plowed into her Mom, knocking her down onto the small isolated patch of grass that had been protected from the blast. Her Dad giving a bark of relieved laughter and thanking Granddad for the timely intervention.
Aethyta roughly responded with, "You kidding? You were kicking her old blue ass until she blew herself up!"
Her Dad turned to Yano, who had been slightly behind Arisha herself.
"How's Iris?"
Her sister! She had forgotten she was in the stands as well. The Commando Captian nodded her head, with a happy, if exhausted, smile on her face.
"Safe in the car with two guards. She's safe."
Arisha blew out a breath, relived that her little sister was alright, and Mom looked relived as well. Yano however, was looking around the destroyed pitch.
"Ze, you know that half the Galaxy now knows your on Thessia with a family, right?"
Her Dad gave a tired nod of understanding. Helping her and Mom to their feet, before responding.
"I know, though I guess I couldn't hide forever."
The Asari Commando chuckled, "at least you made an entrance. Nobody's going to want to come at you after this!"
The group of adults shared a quiet laugh at that, her Dad patting Arisha on the head, apologizing for ruining her game as they waited for the authorities to arrive. The child of Zaire Shepard and Liara T'Soni only grinning and replying with a joke, ignoring the whispers of her friends back in the stands.
Edit: 27/04/2016 - some parts rewritten to adhere to the changes made to prior stories in the Scars Not Physical Universe. Arisha's last name changed to fit the universe as well.
Thank you for your continual support everyone, and thank you to those who Review, Please do read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not as much. Of course, reviews are my life blood as a writer on this site, and every time my email goes off it motivates me to write more. Guests can leave one as well, and it only takes a minute, even if it's just a 'Good chapter, keep it up' as it really does help.
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