AN: Sorry folks, got to start off with a large little memo to you and myself. This is a story that I've had in my head for a while, and I really want to get it written down. This will be a sequel to my main story and crossover, The Cycle. However, it will hold only minor spoilers. So far, there will only be this prologue, that will set down the main characters (That is until the before mentioned story is finished. I have vast plans for the universe made in The Cycle, and I would like very much to share them with you. The only thing that will be spoiled for the previous story (For now) is Shepard's final love interest.
The love interest was chosen by you, the readers, through a poll I had posted months ago. So that's set and done. Everything else, including the ending and if Shepard lives, are up in the air. And will more than likely be chosen by you, so go and follow The Cycle already! If you want a chance to completely change this universe.
On another special side note, I want to point out a grammar mistake most of you will notice. Every species has their species name capitalized (i.e. Asari, Human etc). The reason for this is because the Halo races are capitalized, and it bugs me to only have half of them with a capital letter. For a more detailed explanation, go read The Cycle. (Think I have enough requests to go read that story yet?)
Prologue
A Diamond in the Rough
Thessia
On the Asari home world, one particular thing of beauty stood out over all the rest. One would be hard pressed to discover exactly what that would be. Thessia was overrun with beautiful sites. Most would guess the population, filled with Asari seen as stunning by every species imaginable, would be the top tourist draw. Others would be closer to the truth, proclaiming the natural landscape their sole desire to see. And if you asked a soldier, they would point you to the Reaper war memorial, a simple light placed into the country side of what used to be a sprawling city. Their reasoning was one of remembrance, remembering that the light shown out into the night sky, powerful enough to be seen from space, would shine forever. That the light would be there to always remind the galaxy of the billions who's light was extinguished forever.
However, as the young Asari Benese Shepard sat on a school bench, she didn't think of any of this. She never thought about war memorials, or nature, least of all about beautiful women, she was far too young to have such thoughts in her mind. Instead, Benese thought only about how alluring the sun set was.
She watched them, every chance she had. Her school seemed to have the best place to just sit and watch them, from the front balcony of the third floor. At that exact spot, Benese was able to see everything she dreamed about. It wasn't too high to have the view blocked by skycar traffic, but wasn't too low so as to have her eye sight obstructed by a tree line. Everything came together just right, so as to view the most spectacular sunset. According to her, Thessia must have the best sunsets in the galaxy. For it was only on Thessia, that the natural eezo could fly into the air, creating an amazing blue tint to the star as it passed below the horizon.
That moment of when the sun hit just the right angle in its descent, right as it touched the background of the horizon, she would always move to the edge of her seat, grinning wildly for the moment it would fade out of sight and mind. It made her gleeful every time.
However, on this feigning evening, Benese was not alone. Disgruntled by the visitor, she tried to ignore them completely, not willing to let anything run that perfect moment when the sun morphed into the tip of the horizon. Unfortunately, this visitor intended to stay.
"Hello, Benese. I thought you might still be here. May I sit with you?" Liara asked. Without waiting to be answered, she sat down on the bench next to her daughter, careful not to disturb her with any kind of contact. She folded her hands in her own lap, resisting every urge she had to just hug and coddle the girl next to her.
Never taking her eyes away from the horizon, Benese responded, "Of course, mother. It's not like I had a choice." She spoke in a sarcastic tone, careful not too make it harsh enough to receive punishment.
"Oh Benese," Liara sighed, "You always have a choice my love."
She looked towards her mother, tears welling up in her eyes. "Then I don't want uncle Joker to die."
"Sweetheart," grumbled Liara, who pulled the child into her arms, embracing her in a hug. "They say our life spans are some kind of blessing. But you have to understand, 40 years for you is a long time for Joker. He's been through so much, and has been sick for so very long."
Unable to contain herself, Benese buried her head into Liara's chest, water rolling down her bright blue cheeks between sobs.
"But it isn't fair!"
"I know Benese, life for a child is never fair."
Benese never was able to watch the sunset that day.
Earth
A few days later
Earth was something vastly different than Thessia. Unlike the latter, her landscape hadn't fully returned from the war, the cities seemed even less so. Even decades after peace, Earth still seemed to lag behind the Asari by a few years. Yet, for all Thessia's seemingly better qualities, Liara still loved the planet just as equally. Benese would often question her mother's motives on this subject, and was always meant with the same response. "That planet brought me everything I love, including you."
In response, Benese always asked, "But wasn't I born on Thessia? What did Earth ever have to do with me?" This normally caused her mother to retreat into solitude, always unable to answer.
However, this was Benese's first time visiting Earth, and she was bound and determined to dig up some kind of answers. For a child, she was heavily inquisitive, always rushing to clues searching for the next answer to some unsolved mystery.
Upon first landing on the planet, Benese was forced to admit there was a certain charm that came with Humanity. While her home was adorned in splendid colors, and plenty of blue, Earth sparkled with something different. Her people were unique, all of them their own special individual. Even the dock workers all dripped with the possibility of a story that evolved into its own splendid tale. Every face looked different from the last, and not one of them seemed to notice the difference.
She had heard of how Humanity played a role in stopping the Reapers and the Covenant. More than a role, they were the leaders in that fight. Even their enemies were forced to rally behind the banner of Earth. For some reason, her mother never wished to talk about the war, never wanted to discuss anything having to do with it. Benese never pressed her on this, she always assumed there had been something precious to her mother lost when the fighting happened. Something that Benese still wanted to know about.
Mysterious would have to be saved for later, now the only thing that occupied her thoughts was of her dear sick uncle.
Gripping her mother's hand, which easily dwarfed her own, Benese looked up to the seemingly all knowing figure before her. Liara was adorned in a simple outfit, white skintight pants and a purple shirt that hugged her tightly. What had caught Benese's eye, however, was the simple golden ring worn on Liara's left hand. That seemingly simple piece of metal, had become the biggest inquiry of Benese's young life. For herself, Liara had dressed Benese into a small green dress with slick black dress shoes and stockings, all had been supplied by Joker for a birthday long ago.
The two stood on a small train, which was travelling from the center of a large city, to a military Hospital near the city's edge. The journey didn't take more than a few fleeting minutes, but it was enough for Benese to view a great deal of the city. If each Human was a unique creature all their own, then their architucture reflected it. For every building she saw, two more appeared more fascinating than the last.
Taking a step back from her amusement, Benese thought about her mother's love for Earth once more. Still facing the window, she asked, "Mother, was my father from Earth?" Looking from the corner of her eye, Benese was only able to see a small flinch in Liara's other wise stone cold face. She never received an answer, but that had been enough for her to know.
Skidding to a halt, the train stopped at a platform that appeared to be floating in the sky. Once the door had slid open and the pair stepped off, Benese realized that it was just a large open stop, supported by pillars on the ground. Turning to her right, Liara pushed through the small crowd on the station, filled with Humans trying to board and disembark. All of them seemed to be in some kind of a hurry.
Focusing on her target, Liara rushed to the end of the platform. She gripped Benese's hand tightly as she walked, unwilling to lose her in the crowd. At the end of the platform, was a medium sized walkway, still suspended into the air by concrete pillars down below. Where the walkway ended, the entrance of the Hospital could be seen.
It didn't take long for Liara to quickly step down the path, dodging people as she went, child still in hand. Once the sliding doors opened, the Asari were immediately rushed with a gust of cool air conditioned air.
Noticing the front desk ahead of her, Liara walked up to it and waited patiently for the nurse behind it to finish her call. Once through, she looked up at her, grinning with an unusually large smile. Something about the nurse, seemed to scare Benese, who coward behind her mother's legs.
"And what can I do for you, dearies?" the nurse asked, eyes wide open, waiting for a response.
"I need the room number for Jeff Moreau. We're family friends, hoping to visit."
"Oh, you're here to see ol' Joker. He's right down that hall." The nurse leaned over the desk and used her pen to point down the hall on the left. "Third door on your left, sweetie. Oh and quick reminder, we don't allow any droids or pets while you're here."
With that, Liara nodded her thanks, and headed straight for the room.
What ever the pair had expected to see, seemed so much better than what was there before them. The center of the room housed Joker, who was bedridden and weak, hooked up to machines with multiple functions. He didn't seem to notice the two enter the room, that was until Benese ran up to hug him.
"Uncle Joker!" she screamed, jumping on top of him in the bed without care.
"Ow! Hey kiddo!" Despite his pain, Joker still wrapped his arms around her to embrace the hug he received.
"Benese!" Liara screamed, "Get off of him."
"Oh don't worry about it, Liara. The docs have me so drugged up, I'm lucky I felt a thing. But she probably broke a rib or two." This created a giggle from Benese, who moved over on the bed to sit by his side. His face seemed to brighten at their presence, and his entire demeanor changed to something more akin to his former self. "Thanks for coming."
Crossing her arms, Liara looked at him puzzled. "Surely we can't be the first to arrive?"
"Don't call me Shirley," Joker grumbled, before pulling himself up to look at her. "Garrus has been here for a while. Had to go down the hall to use the head. Old man bladder I guess. Ashley called, but is too busy trying to run the Navy, she said not to die before her next vacation. Adams and Cortez sent some flowers, very touching really. I think Thane's son actually sent me a card, didn't have anything it it other than a small alien prayer, but it's the thought that counts. Oh and Wrex stopped by to say hi, he just stepped out to find something to eat."
"Wrex is here?"
"Yeah I was surprised, the old son of a bitch actually took time off to see me." He looked towards Benese, who had giggled at his curse. Pushing his finger up to his lips, he gave her the signal for "shh," before continuing. "I'm not sure about Tali or any of the others. Not everyone was able to keep in touch ya know."
Benese recognized most of the names Joker shared, they were all people she had met at one point in her life or another. Though some were more familiar than others.
"Did somebody say my name?" The voice came from a deep and powerful source, one that could only be a Krogan. Turning around, Liara noticed Wrex standing in the door way. He looked out of sorts, wearing regular Krogan attire, rather than his normal full battle armor.
"Wrex, it's good to see you," Liara said, wrapping the Krogan in a friendly hug.
"It's been far too long Liara. I'm getting the feeling you don't want to visit Tuchanka any more."
"Well the last time I did, we were almost eating by a giant Thresher Maw." Benese's imagination ran wild with this, the idea of her mother actually on the Krogan homewrold was surprising. Hearing about the Thresher Maw, seemed to only heighten the ordeal.
Finally noticing the littlest member of the room, Wrex moved past Liara and up to Joker's bedside. "And who's this? Is this the little pip squeak I met before? No, couldn't be. I remember her being a bit less scared of me," Wrex teased.
Benese had hidden herself in Joker's arm, only peeping an eye out to gape at the massive alien before her. Prodding her to come out, Joker leaned in and said, "Oh come on now, Wrex's smell is a lot worse than his bite."
This brought her out a bit more, smiling as she showed more of her face to the world. Taking his chances, Wrex pulled the girl out and threw her into the air, which she loved every minute of.
A metallic voice interrupted the shrieks of pleasure. "I can see that everyone is getting along fine in here then. For a second there I thought those screams was some psychiatric patient down the hall. Liara, it's good to see you," Garrus said, coming up beside the Asari.
"Garrus, how is it running the Hierarchy?"
Giving her a wink, he said, "Like you don't know. A lot of stress trying to deal with the remaining Covenant species, among other things." He chuckled. "I can imagine it's a lot easier than dealing with her."
By now, Benese was on the ground again, looking up at the much taller adults in the room. "Uncle Garrus," she said, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Grinning, Garrus squatted down to be on eye level with her, "I forget that you are your mother's child. You're too smart for your age, might get you into trouble one day. Now how bout you go play with Wrex in the hall, your mother and I need to talk."
Growing a worried look on her face, Banese opened her mouth to protest. She didn't want to be shoved out of the room like a child, anything her mother had to do she could handle as well. However, Wrex had other plans.
"Come on pip squeak," he said, throwing the girl onto his massive hump to hold onto. "We've got lots of explosions to cause. Haha!"
The two rushed out of the room together, Banese too caught up in the rush to think about anything otherwise.
Now that the three were alone, Garrus spoke first, "She really does look like him. I know they're not supposed to, but she's got some of that Shepard charm in her."
Liara smiled. "I don't want to talk about it. Now come on Garrus, what's going on."
A few hours later
By the time Benese and Wrex returned, Joker had fallen asleep and Garrus and Liara were deep in discussion on the couch on the far side of the room. Noticing the duo enter, Liara stood up, rubbing out the creases in her shirt as she did so.
"Say your goodbyes, Benese. We'll be back later tomorrow." Liara strained to say the words, something had obviously shaken her.
Benese could see the wiriness in her eyes, feel the pain in her voice. It was subtle, but something she had been able to detect of the many years bonding with her mother. She wouldn't pester her about it now, only abiding by her wishes and bidding her goodbyes. She gave Wrex a particularly long hug, before moving onto Garrus, you gave her an odd feeling kiss on the head. When she moved on to give Joker a kiss as he slept, she noticed something strange. Despite his obvious snoring, Joker didn't appear to be slumbering peacefully. Instead, he appeared to be fully awake, trying desperately to fool the others around him. Looking to him in curiosity, Benese was about to push it into another one of her uncle's many quirks, before she noticed one of his eyes opened. Very carefully, and very quietly, he pulled out a box from under his pillow, and handed it to her. It was a cute little black box, with a note on it that simply read, "For Benese. Do not open until the time is right." Looking back to Joker, she watched as he put his finger to his lips, giving her the signal to be silent.
On their way back to the train, Liara seemed extraordinarily more distant than before. Nothing before had shaken her this badly, and Benese was more determined now to uncover the secrets her mother had been hiding.
AN: It occurred to me, halfway through writing this, that I had accidentally made a major choice in the ME3 campaign for this story.
I was supposed to wait to see if the readers of The Cycle wanted to cure the Genophage or not, before including Wrex into this story. Unfortunately, that little detail completely sliped my mind. Oh well, sorry folks but I doubt you guys really wanted to kill off Wrex. And if you did, you're probably a heartless bugger!
Great way to end a chapter there Church. Well, this will be expanded upon at a much later date. I just wanted to get the idea on paper. As always, thank you for reading, and please feel review to review and do the many other awesome things I'd love for you to do =).